June 15, 2022
Reliving the worst day of her life offers a teenager the chance to change her murdered sister's fate. Alice is your typical horror movie-loving high school student, an aspiring forensic pathologist in Omaha, Nebraska, who knows all the best movies and all the details of their gruesome murders. Her world is turned upside down on Halloween night, however, when cinematic gore enters real life, and she finds classmate Chloe in a corn maze with her arm cut off. Attempting to flee from the maze to get help, Alice then witnesses her sister, Claire, die at the hands of college student Owen Maddox. Now getting ready to serve as a witness at Maddox's trial one year later, she has been inundated by people who think he's innocent, including a look-alike of Sidney Prescott from the Scream franchise who gives her the worst gift possible. After being hit on the head, Alice is thrown back a year and forced to live through the day her sister died, but there is a catch: If Alice can solve the mystery of who attacked Chloe, everything she changes during that night will remain, offering her a chance to save her sister. This book offers readers strong pacing that parallels that of slasher films, with a dash of mystery and a pinch of meta-horror, making it hard to put down. Main characters are White, and there is some diversity in race and sexuality in the supporting cast. A delightfully twisted story. (Horror. 12-18)
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July 1, 2022
Grades 11-12 Alice is an expert on murder--at least those that happen in the movies. But no movie could have prepared her for her sister Claire's very real murder at the hands of a chainsaw-wielding maniac. One year later, a sullen, distant Alice is set to testify against Claire's killer. But just before the trial begins, she is attacked by a strange girl who knocks her out. When Alice awakens, she is somehow back in the past with a chance to alter Claire's fate--and hers along with it. But can Alice stop the killer in time to change the future? With this paean to Scream and the self-aware slashers of the 1990s, Valentine has woven a twisty mystery worthy of sequels. The action is relentless, which helps smooth over some of the more implausible plot developments, and a thread of magic runs through the story, making it unique enough to defy predictions before the fateful finale. Due to violent imagery, this is a book for older readers, but it will absolutely satisfy thriller lovers.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 25, 2022
Like most of the characters in Valentine’s gruesome horror debut, academically gifted Omaha East High School junior Alice Lawrence is a true-crime and slasher-film enthusiast. Alice and her older sister, Claire, 18, are invited to Chloe Bree’s Halloween party at a corn maze, and they’re excited to immerse themselves in the holiday’s eerie ambiance, until things turn deadly. Chloe appears in the middle of the maze with her arm cut off, and Alice stumbles upon a wounded Owen Maddox, who subsequently murders Claire in front of her. A year later, Alice no longer talks to her surviving friends, and her parents have split up. While attending Owen’s murder trial, she’s accidentally knocked unconscious and catapulted a year into the past. Suddenly, Claire is alive again, and this time around, Alice is determined to keep last Halloween from repeating itself. An intriguingly meta plot shift makes for an ambiguous resolution. Nevertheless, Valentine successfully imbues this slasher-flick-worthy novel, grounded by a propulsive mystery and fierce heroine, with ample amounts of ghastly gore, foreboding atmosphere, and plenty of scares. Alice and Claire read as white, and there is racial diversity throughout. Ages 12–up. Agent: Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners.
August 1, 2022
Gr 9 Up-Alice is obsessed with horror movies; she is starting a podcast that intersects true crime and horror movies with two of her best friends. But, on Halloween Alice's life turns into a real-life slasher movie when she witnesses her sister's murder. One year later, on the day of the murderer's trial, a Sidney Prescott look-alike sends Alice back in time to the night of the murder with instructions to learn the truth. Alice knows what she saw that night-Owen Trevor Maddox is the killer-but as the death toll grows and new evidence emerges, Alice comes face to face with suspects she never would have imagined. Once Alice is sent back in time, the plot unfolds much like that of a slasher film, making for a fast, hair-raising, and at times gruesome read. There are a few twists that, while not hard to discern, add to the atmosphere of uncertainty throughout the novel. Though readers may find themselves frustrated at Alice's stubbornness and unwillingness to see the truth, the author's choice to narrate through her perspective creates a high stakes and emotionally fraught thriller. All main characters read white, but many secondary characters are diverse. VERDICT A must read for slasher fans, and sure to delight any readers looking for a thrill.-Mariah Smitala
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