About the Book
-
Author:
- Lily Anderson
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Horror
- Voices:
- Afro-Latinx
- Cis Girl
- Multiracial
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Peas in a Pod
Talky Talk: Spooky Silly
Bonus Factors: Haunted Houses
Factor: Gore
Relationship Status: Stay Cool
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
This cover is the perfect mix of unserious and spooky and gives off a vibe similar to those old timey movie trailers (?) where phrases would splash across the screen in a “thrillery” style font. (There’s likely an official term for those, but I have no idea what it is.) My only complaint? The stuff in the cup looks more like a thick chocolate ganache than it does blood.
The Deal:
Arden Lozano Flack used to have everything planned out. She’d graduate high school—as valedictorian—and then go off to a fancy university to study medicine. Eventually, she’d become Dr. Arden Lozano Flack, and she’d be happy.
But then her parents, Bucktown’s premiere realtors, buy the Deinhart Manor. With Arden’s college fund. And they make a plan for her to join them in their realty business, even though she has no interest in doing so. And then they split up, unable to collaboratively decide on what to do with the supposedly haunted mansion.
So Arden does what any just-graduated young adult needing to make money so her future won’t be completely ruined would do: Hold a graduation party in the mansion, and charge people for entry. Little does she know that the house has more in mind for the teens than just a wild night of celebration.
BFF Charms: Peas in a Pod
I get Arden. She’s envisioned a life for herself that takes hard work and a lot of sacrifice, and she’s well on her way to making it happen. But when a setback happens, she practically falls apart. She can’t see a way out of the mess, and so creates an even bigger mess by trying to force her path back onto the track she’d been going down. I was a lot like her coming out of high school. I had big aspirations and the overconfidence to think it was what I wanted. But once I got into college, I realized it was OK to fail. It was OK not to be the best at everything. And it was OK to lean into strengths, even if they might not be the ones you thought you needed/wanted. Arden has to experience something massively traumatic to come to this realization while I just had to squeak my way through a computer programming class. But she gets it in the end, and her life will be all the better for it.
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
Arden runs into her old makeout partner Nathaniel, whom she doesn’t really like. And not in an enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers sort of way; his need to constantly correct everyone and one-up everyone in conversation is annoying, to say the least. The two work together to beat the house, but reluctant friendship is as far as Arden’s willing to take things. (There’s a bit of romance from secondary characters, which is why I scaled it to a 2, rather than a zero.)
Talky Talk: Spooky Silly
Anderson has a great comedic wit that shines, even through a novel about gruesome murders and paranormal frights. Her characters always seem very real, and complex, with dialogue that’s as quippy—though not as unrealistic—as the Gilmore Girls.
“I don’t understand why anyone wants to name the container that life fits into when we still don’t understand all the pieces. Like, we barely understand dreaming. Or yawning. Or ghosts, apparently. But we figured out the exact nature of reality?”
“Counterpoint,” Nathaniel said. “The Matrix movies rule and if we could wake up from the simulation, then we could fly. Or do kung fu.”
“Counter-counterpoint, kung fu is a skill you could learn without downloading it to your brain. But, yeah, okay, flying would be cool.”
Ed. note: I pulled this quote from an advanced review copy; the final text might differ.
Bonus Factor: Haunted Houses
I enjoy reading about haunted houses. Houses that are home to things “other.” Houses that cause people to do crimes. Houses that give off certain sinister vibes. Do I want to actually go into one of said houses? Absolutely not. But, like I said, they’re really fun to read about.
Factor: Gore
While I don’t have a problem stomaching paranormal violence and blood, and the gory scenes definitely add to the ambiance of the story, it might be too much for some folks. So this is a not exactly (content) warning. More of just a heads up!
Relationship Status: Stay Cool
While I would likely have chosen to go to Sober Grad Night at the high school over a party in the utterly frightening (even before knowing it was haunted) Deinhart Manor, Book, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy our time together. From behind the Kindle app. From the very safe comfort of my well-lit own home.
Literary Matchmaking
Leon Kemp’s Trespass Against Us features an abandoned religious school/juvenile detention center, missing kids, and a sinister “something.”
Trang Thanh Tran’s She is a Haunting takes place in an in-progress renovation of a spooky old house that’s more than just lumber and nails.
Lauren Muñoz’s Suddenly a Murder is more people-sinister and less paranormal-sinister, but also involves a graduation party and murder.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Killer House Party is available now.
