The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Devon and her brilliant twin sister, Drew, have drifted apart ever since Drew started attending a prestigious private school, as opposed to the public school Devon goes to.
Devon has made her peace with the fact that Drew is going to leave her behind. That’s why when Drew announces she’s graduating high school a year early, Devon’s not too surprised, but she still doesn’t feel great about it.
In an effort to spend some more time with Drew prior to her departure, Devon comes up with a plan: The Best Summer Ever. This includes a list of activities to do with their entire neighborhood friend group before summer ends.
One of the first items on the list is to attend a party thrown by one of the kids from Drew’s private school, Avery. Devon doesn’t really know anything about Drew’s school life, so she’s never met Avery before and she’s curious.
Thus, Devon, Drew and their other close friends, including Devon’s long-time crush, Yaya, head to Avery’s house for a night of fun. Truth be told, it’s a little uncomfortable at first, but they try to make the best of it.
Once the Ouija board comes out though, they realize it isn’t going to be quite the type of party they anticipated. Avery seems to be showing off. Drew calls it his typical party trick, but it makes Devon and the rest of the crew uncomfortable.
It’s after that night that The Best Summer Ever quickly devolves into the most Demonic Summer Ever. With a demon stalking them, seemingly following the rules of Horror, Devon and her friends must figure out how to defeat the beast before it kills them all.
The Blonde Dies First was an wildly-entertaining ride that kept me guessing throughout. It wasn’t perfect, but there is so much I appreciate about Wellington’s work.
While I feel that the Contemporary elements were the shining stars, it is still a very solid YA Horror story that I would recommend to YA Horror Readers.
As with Wellington’s previous novel, Their Vicious Games, I did really like the mix of the heavier contemporary topics with the dark horror action and intrigue.
There were so many jaw-dropping events in this book that I didn’t see coming and it absolutely had me guessing the whole way. I loved the friend group and how they banded together to try to figure out what was happening to them.
I also loved the way Wellington incorporated the classic rules of Horror that all Horror fans have embedded in their memories. I thought that was just such a fun little nod to the overall genre. It made me ridiculously happy to see it here.
The Contemporary elements were highly successful. The relationship between Drew and Devon was fantastic. Their friend group was lovable and believable. I also appreciated the discussion on the gentrification that was happening within their NYC neighborhood.
With this being said, I did think a lot of the scenes involving the demon, like one set at a hospital, were written very well and had great descriptions too. Also, I loved the various Horror elements incorporated like the Ouija board session, the demon itself, and the talk of horror cinema.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this. Wellington’s style definitely fits my tastes and I’m looking forward to whatever she releases next. I’ll be the first one in line.
Thank you to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is a good one!