Temple Baker knows about the evil in her blood being the daughter of an serial killer named the North Point Killer, but when she fallows her dads clues back to their old home site to try and find her mother and lay her to rest she gets the shock of her life.
This book is such a wild ride with all its twists and turns, and suspense and action that goes on for days. Being a young adult book I am not sure if it would be a thriller or horror, but it was very good and I liked the characters a lot. This is a book that will have you up past your bedtime.

I'm not sure how I feel about it if I'm being honest; I really enjoyed the first half, but once the second half got into full swing, there was so much going on that I found it hard to keep track of everything.

I will admit that it's nothing like I thought it was going to be, and I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I found the synopsis a little misleading.

Oh man this was a book that I thought I was going to love. I am from Virginia where this book is set, I am a fan of YA horror/ Thriller books, I love that there is queer rep, and I love supporting black authors. But this was just not good. Very immature characters. I found myself very bored with this one. The main character just gave me no reason to root for her. This was also a hard book to follow. This missed the mark for me.

This story had an intriguing premise and it mostly delivered. Having not only a story with a queer protagonist, but a black queer protagonist was a novelty to me - and having the majority of the secondary characters slot into the POC queer umbrella as well felt revolutionary! Temple's story is definitely unlike any other I've read before, however, it did feel rather disjointed at times and I often had to reread paragraphs to realise what had happened or how the story had suddenly got from A to B without any warning. Despite that, it was a fun read that was more grotesque than horror and had multiple one-liners that I laughed at. If you're looking for a book rife with representation or a soft horror flick, then this is the book for you!

A brilliant ya thriller

I had such a good time reading this book it was intriguing and left me guessing where it was going to go

The opening paragraph is very hooking and left me wanting so much more.

The book is set in a camp where our main characters temples father set about his killing spree years before and tempest is trying to find out what happened to her mother

Although Temple is not very likeable I did find myself rooting for her throughout the book.

4 stars it was very good

Absolutely loved this YA horror. It had fantastic and unexpected twists and turns. This will definitely satisfy YA readers who want spooky mysteries.

2/5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of this book.

I was really looking forward to this one but I’ve got to be honest, a quarter of the way through and I was ready for it to be over.
The writing was all over the place, the characters unlikeable and the motivations convoluted and hard to understand. It also wasn’t very scary. Graphic, yes, but not scary.

The premise itself was very interesting but unfortunately it wasn’t very well executed.
I do find it interesting that there is a lot of positive reviews, maybe it just wasn’t for me.

Temple applies for a position as a counselor at a queer girls horror themed camp. She doesn’t have to watch the movies or read the books to know what horror is, however, because she lived it. Temple’s father is a convicted serial killer and while she saw the aftermath of his kills, she can’t help but feel there’s something else lurking in the shadows.

This was a multilayered that was a wild ride. The characters were well developed and most of their backstories were explored, which made them easier to relate to. I also found the story to be unique and not one I had read before. There are also a lot of twists and turns that will keep you guessing.

I did, however, struggle a bit with this one. The main issue for me was the pacing. I get it was a slow burn with a detailed backstory and I still felt the story just plodded along. I wish it had gotten to where it was going a little faster. Also, while I found the characters relatable, I didn’t much like any of them. Three of the characters sort of turned. It around in the end for me and that was a long time in coming.

Despite my issues with it, this is a good book. My advice would be to read it in the middle of the day because you never know what’s going to come out of the shadows.

Teen Summer Camp Slasher type stories are having a bit of a moment in YA horror right now. My general librarian philosophy is to give the kids what they want, and to that effect I've been reading a lot of these types of stories. Comparitively, this one ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack.

The set-up is strong. "My father was a serial killer and now I'm back at the camp where he killed" is a premise a potential reader will immediately be drawn to if this is their kind of story. I like it when horror books initially leave you wondering whether the goings-on are supernatural or not. In my opinion, this book makes it clear which side of that line it comes down on a little bit too early, but that is very much just a matter of taste.

The main reason I don't rate this book higher than I do is because there's something about the way that it's written that's just kind of... confusing to me? I found myself often having to reread sentences a few times, because it was often unclear to me who was speaking to who, or where things were supposed to be, or sometimes even just what was going on.

Overall, I'd say this would be a pretty good buy if you've got a lot of horror reading teens, but I'm unsure if it would appeal to readers not already kind of savvy to the genre.

Rating: 3.5 (rounded up)

Content Warnings: murder, violence, gore, death of a parent, desecration of bodies, stalking, child abuse, fire/fire injury

Temple, the daughter of an infamous serial killer, returns to the woods in which she was raised - the woods where her father's victims were discovered - hoping to find the truth of her mother's disappearance. But the woods, now a campsite, are still a site of multiple missing persons cases, and Temple soon finds herself investigating a possible copycat of her father's crimes.

So, this was definitely different than I was expecting, but I think it was different for the better! Ellis definitely does a good job invoking the energy of a horror flick with this book - her writing sets the spooky atmosphere, and the descriptions of gore, while not my exact cup of tea, are definitely reminiscent of a slasher film. Going into this, I was definitely not expecting a paranormal kind of horror, but once this element is introduced, it works really well. Plot-wise, I think this is really great. It's full of twists and turns, and it's fun to see all of the various plot threads introduced throughout the book come together to create a cohesive narrative. My only issue with it, really, was that I wished we were given more information sooner, because frankly, I don't think I fully comprehended what was actually going on here until the 90% mark or something. I totally understand wanting that 'unfolding mystery' vibe with your book, but for a little too much of this book, I just felt a little too out of the loop, which didn't make for the best reading experience. That being said, totally possible that I'm just dumb and other people would totally have grasped everything earlier! And everything did totally come together - definitely a case of 'when it clicks, it CLICKS'.

Still, I think plot was the strongest element here. I really wanted to like Temple as a character, but she sort of gave off 'not like other girls' vibes. (Like, come on, aren't we over calling other girls 'Barbie' as an insult?) Ultimately, I think her character arc was pretty good, but I did find it difficult to warm up to her. I'm really glad the book didn't have a romance though - I was worried it might and it SO didn't need one, so I was glad everyone was just bestie vibes only at the end.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Sami Ellis, and Amulet Books for the eARC!

Your Father is a Killer, a now on death row a serial killer convicted of killing 20+ people and one of them was your mother
We follow Temple as she poses as a Camp Counselor at her father’s killing ground turned overnight camp. When a girl ends up dead, Temple goes on a mission for answers To protect her fellow campers she must face that her father may have not been the only monster in these woods…
This book was definitely a mixed bag for me. I really wanted to and say that I loved it, but I didn’t. I can’t say that I hate it either, so it pretty much falls in the middle for me.
First and foremost, I got lost so many times with the way the author wrote this book. A lot of the jumping back-and-forth between past dialogue/scenes and case notes had me so confused. I just wanted it to be a straightforward story about a girl trying to protect the campers from an unknown entity. And to add on that a lot of the characters didn’t get as much development time as they should have. I can’t really say that any of these characters, including the main character, are my favorite. Which is kind of a bummer because you really want to like the main character or at least a character. The all kind of felt like they were on one level if that makes any sense.
What I liked:
I did like that it was LGBTQ+Friday the 13th inspired type of novel mainly and a good portion of the dialogue had me cracking up in its wittiness.
The big reveal was kind of a shocker. Cause I honestly didn’t see it coming which is a plus but the way that it ended was kind of like being left with a severe case of whiplash. And not necessarily a good case.
Overall, this book was a so-so book. I was kind of expecting more from the spooky cover and the synopsis. It just felt like a lot of parts were rammed together to create this story and I wouldn’t say they connected the way I would have liked.
Would I recommend this book?
I’m always the kind of person that wants every reader to give it a chance. Just because I didn’t particularly like it, doesn’t mean everyone won’t like it. I would give it 3 stars. A wobbly queer inspired slasher novel that left me confused and unsatisfied.

Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for ARC of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

A fantastically fun YA horror set at a horror camp, with the main character Temple searching for her mother’s dead body. The setup and premise are thrilling and the writing is snappy, the stakes are clear, and the setting is spooky. While not totally scary, parts in the woods and creaky houses are definitely creepy.

The book does try to do quite a lot within a short space of time which at around the 30% mark is a bit disconnecting, but I found that I started to get sucked in all over again after this point.

As a lover of all things Scream and slashers, this appealed to teenage me who loved to be scared while rooting for amazing characters. Temple might not always be likeable, but she’s relatable and isn’t trying to be every other YA MC.

Definitely recommend for YA horror and thriller lovers.

I love campy queer horror (especially set at a summer camp), so on paper this should have been a book I loved. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. I disliked the main character, and I thought the way information was revealed was confusing. I never quite connected with the story. I’m sad that I didn’t enjoy this one. If you like YA horror that has a lot of different elements in it and is more action-heavy, you might like this better than I did.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Temple goes to a camp for girls who like girls and tries to blend in while also looking for her mothers body after being sent there by her father who's a serial killer. First off, Temple was just unlikable imo. She was mean to everybody for no apparent reason and in her mind everybody was out to get her. I struggled to get through the beginning of this book and the end wasn't shattering. Yes, corpses come back and are chasing her around the camp but zombies are zombies. This book isn't horrible and if you're looking for a "campy" lil spooky read, this one's for you.

(3.5 stars!)
I’m not too sure on this one. The first half was just super confusing for me and I felt like I wasn’t getting enough information, everything seemed very cryptic and was starting to annoy me slightly. But when people started dying and stuff started happening I started to really get into it and thought the idea was actually quite inventive and clearly a lot of thought was put into the plot! There was also a lot of good character progression which I enjoyed, some of the dislikable characters start to become likeable and I do love that in a book! I would recommend this if you love a good slasher read, especially if you love a campy one at that as it’s very LGBTQ+ representative!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amulet books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a blast and I need to read more horrors! A YA slasher horror where everything isn’t quite what it seems when Temple goes in search of her presumed dead mother’s body at a summer camp which was once home to her and her serial killer father.

At first Temple was quite a dislikable character, with her the world against me attitude. But she grows so much throughout the story, plus given her history, it’s understandable! The story is told in third person, but Temple’s name was repeated a lot, in very quick succession which did get annoying.

This is the only criticism I have because I loved the story, I loved how everything wasn’t clear cut and several complications were thrown in for the girls to deal with. Sprinkling in some comedy and over the top gore helped to make this a fun read perfect for any slasher horror fan!

So well written, so entertaining and original! This kept you on your toes and engaged the whole time.

This book was SPECTACULAR. I was enraptured and could not put it down. The book opens with the main character, Temple, trying to dig up a corpse her father claimed to have killed, so you know what you're in for immediately. What follows is twists, turns, ghosts, and gore like you've never seen. It's probably one of the best YA horrors I've read, and it was probably the best paranormal thriller/slasher/mystery I've ever read. Highly recommend!

A gripping, terrifying book from start to finish, Ellis does a spectacular job pacing her story so you're always satisfied with reveals while itching for the next one. This book is a rollercoaster without a second to breathe, moving adeptly through every terrifying new revelation. Dead Girls Walking is a horror novel written by and for lovers of horror.

Overall pretty good for a YA Horror - I'm into horror as a genre but get put off by strong gore, and this was a perfect middle ground for me.

The FMC was slightly irritating - I didn't love the 'I'm not like other girls' stance and while it's great to see LGBTQ representation, it seemed to be the only thing she talked about and made it her entire personality.

Overall an easy, fun scare that I will recommend but character development could use a little work!

It’s every gay for herself.

Temple Baker is going to a girls camped aimed at the gays and horror lovers, but she isn’t going for a good scare. She is trying to find her moms body that she knows her serial killer dad killed.

This is a great YA horror novel for someone who is trying to get into horror or just wants a good scare with not in detailed gore.

I mean this book does make being gay this girls whole personality. The line at the top is literally from the book…

The story did start out pretty slow feeling very YA with Temple starting out talking about how she’s like not other girls and she hates everyone.

About the 50% mark it finally picks and we get to the good part. The last 50% really speeds up and we are sent through a wild ride. The twist at towards the end of the book… 🤯

This is also a good book if you are looking for Queer / BIPOC rep

Genre: YA Horror
APK: Ebok
Pages: 368
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone.