3 Stars

Let’s Split Up has a premise I couldn’t resist—Scream meets Scooby-Doo, with a group of teens investigating the brutal murder of their high school’s golden couple in a supposedly haunted manor. On paper, it’s everything I love about campy YA horror: urban legends, reckless decisions, and the kind of “don’t go in there!” energy that begs to be read on a stormy night.

And to be fair, it delivers some of that fun. The multiple POVs give us a mix of personalities, and there are enough creepy moments and nostalgic slasher tropes to keep the pages turning. The small-town setting works well, and the Scooby-Doo-style mystery vibe definitely shines through.

That said, the execution left me mixed. The characters often felt flat, and I struggled to stay invested in them, which made the big emotional moments fall a little flat. Some of the dialogue was awkward, and a few of the twists were easy to spot long before the reveals. I also noticed moments where the book’s supposed 2001 setting didn’t quite feel authentic, which occasionally pulled me out of the story.

Overall, Let’s Split Up is a fun, fast-paced read with some solid spooky vibes, but it doesn’t dig deep enough to leave a lasting impression. It’s more Scooby-Doo-lite than truly scary slasher, but if you’re looking for a light, campy mystery with horror nods, it’s worth a read. Just temper expectations—it’s more trick-or-treat candy than full-course meal.

I was really excited for Let’s Split Up, but unfortunately it’s a miss for me. Scream is my favorite horror movie and I’m the same age as the protagonists—a high school senior in fall 2001. There wasn’t really anything about this that felt like the Y2K era and the vague California location really made this feel like it could’ve been in any place and time.

The premise was fun, but overall the story felt more like a first draft than a finished story. So many things were off that it kept pulling me out of the action. The characters were flat and the dialogue awkward. They tick a lot of boxes, but aren’t really fleshed out. I kept having to check who was narrating a chapter. I think this would’ve been better as a single POV, perhaps even the teen from the UK. Additionally, they make some strange leaps in logic that telegraph what’s going to happen because, of course, the author knows.

Ultimately this is more mystery than horror, more modern than 90s, and incredibly British.

So this one had me from the title. I knew I was in for something meta, and it definitely delivered. It’s YA horror that plays with the whole “splitting up gets you killed” trope but adds layers—friend drama, survival smarts, and the kind of chaos that feels like a slasher flick crossed with a group project gone wrong.

I appreciated that the characters weren’t one-note. Even the ones I thought I’d hate ended up surprising me. It’s got humor, creepy moments, and a pace that keeps you flipping pages. Not the scariest thing I’ve read, but very fun and definitely rewatch-this-movie-at-midnight energy.

This was such a great book. I loved the spooky and thrilling aspects to it. If you’re a pretty little lair or Nancy drew of scooby doo fan there is something in here for you. And the twists..they were everything. I can’t wait to read the next mystery!

I had a blast reading this one! Cam, Jonesy, Amber, and new-girl Buffy find themselves sleuthing a double homicide in an old house that’s been vacant for years. Soon, they’re in real danger, and not everything is as it seems in this small town. I definitely got strong Scooby-Doo vibes from the story. Loved it!!!
I was on the edge of my seat, anxious alongside the group as they tried to solve the mystery. This is perfect for young adult readers who are craving a little horror. The group is very relatable, and I loved how each character felt unique. Each of them is also dealing with personal issues at home, which made them even more real and layered.

If you’re looking for an easy read with Scooby Doo vibes then give this one a try. Unfortunately this book was not for me. The characters didn’t work for me and the story was just “meh” for me. And that one big clue that only 1 person figured out?! I know there will be readers that love this book so I will still recommend it.

Good mystery reminiscent of watching a Scooby Doo show with a little more scare. I will be recommending this to the students at my school. Definitely a twist at the end, as to who the mysterious ghoul was. I admit I never thought of that person. Thank you to Netgalley for the early read.

I will be DNF’ing this book at 14%. The premise—a ‘90s slasher inspired by *Scooby-Doo* and *Scream*—sounded like a perfect mix of nostalgia and horror fun, and I was genuinely excited to dive in. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t work for me.

While the themes and language fit a YA audience, the writing style and vocabulary felt even younger, making it difficult to stay engaged. The promise of tension and clever mystery never quite took off in the opening chapters, and I found the prose flat compared to the sharp, campy tone I’d hoped for.

It’s also worth noting that the book features queer characters and themes. I personally don’t connect with these kinds of narratives, so I tend to avoid them in order to leave space for readers who will resonate with and appreciate that representation. That element was not mentioned in the marketing materials, description, or reviews I’d seen prior to requesting the ARC—so I now feel that this title was simply not a good fit for me.

In the right hands, I think *Let’s Split Up* could be an enjoyable, important read for those who connect with both YA horror and queer representation. Sadly, I wasn’t that audience, and the book wasn’t able to keep me turning the pages.

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If you’d like, I can also make you a **shorter, more casual Goodreads/NetGalley-friendly version** that keeps the same points but is quick to read. That way you have both a detailed review and a bite-sized one. Would you like me to prepare that?

Described as ‘Scream’ meets ‘Scooby-Doo’, “Let’s Split Up” is the slasher love note taking place in a small, quiet community called Sanera, California, where the high-school “it” couple have just been murdered. But is it possible that the killer could even be the town’s own local legend — the Carrington Ghoul?

***

“When life gives you lemons… break into a murder house. That’s the expression, right?”

***

Like the absolutely charming quote above, “Let’s Split Up” had all the promise in the world: a send-up but also appreciation of those classic teen mysteries and horror movies. It takes place in rotating first-person POVs across our main teenager friend group, following the required stakes-setting prologue. As much as every bone in my body was ready to like it, the narrative, characters, and story simply did not meet me halfway.

Everything was set up so very well, if everything was also just pushed further into that realm of self-awareness and camp. You have to be willing to plunge right over the edge into parody — even if it’s loving or winking parody. Because if it isn’t campy and just on the edge of insulting itself, then the reader can’t get over the hump of how silly everyone’s acting. If, on the other hand, you do want that barebones helping of a nostalgic kids-solve-murder-parents-suspiciously-unavailable story? You’ll have it!

All in all, “Let’s Split Up” had an utterly perfect formula, all the right inspirations, and it didn’t pull through on them. Bill Wood’s love for horror shines. What doesn’t is proof that Wood quite understood the core of what it was that made that love in the first place.

A completely devastated-to-be-giving it 2 stars.

***

———————————

To go into it…

The main issue is that Wood invests his story and characters with all the flatness and dumb flaws of a slasher — but without saying anything about it. The characters are only 1/3 aware of the kind of story they’re living in and, while we’re constantly hit over the head with how smart two of them are, their reasoning is often head-scratching; not to mention the cardinal sin of getting two horror movie references wrong. ‘Scream’ was breathlessly iconic because it not only embodied the perfect slasher but was endlessly aware of itself. Meanwhile, a character in “Let’s Split Up” lists off all the horror movies they’re aware of, but then has nothing to say when a voice-modified stranger on the landline phone yells a copy and pasted line from that same ‘Scream’ at them.

The setting, itself, is spot-on. The inciting incident (though… let’s not go into how two characters burned to death in front of an enormous window on only a second story), setting, mood, backstory, villain… They are all so perfectly aligned with the nostalgia. That’s probably why it’s such a shame that the writing and characters can’t quite get there. The main news station that every TV is tuned to stars a grown reporter that instantly blames a ghost out of the gate, says “freaking” to a bunch of teenagers whose friends were just horrifically murdered, and uses the line “what did I tell ya?” on prime-time television. This man is a kook — and there are so many places in a Scooby-Doo/Scream mystery for a kook.

Even from the word go: If this is such a small town, how did it take until the year he’s graduating for the local ghost-hunter to investigate the place’s only haunting legend? Who kills two people on the spot they want everyone to stay away from, thereby guaranteeing police are poking around everywhere? Never mind that a fire hot enough to char human bodies would 100% take down a house — twice. Why would a librarian care if someone was there to look at a library book? Why is a head wound resulting in unconsciousness ignored like it hadn’t caused permanent brain damage? Why would there be a front-page article about a kid pulling a prank on Halloween? Why is Halloween referred to as “a random October day” in relation to something scary happening? Why does someone say that the murdered kids’ best friend wanted to solve their murder ‘for whatever reason’? Why did the sheriff give a press conference on the gruesome condition on the bodies? Why is there no faith in local law enforcement a single day later when they couldn’t possibly know what law enforcement was doing yet? Why is ‘CSI’ used as a reference for why a forensics procedure is supposedly known, when it’s on record as the least accurate police procedural ever to be on air? Why were parents still leaving their children alone left-and-right following several murders of teenagers in as many days? This is a small town, and a detective would’ve been brought in from nearby, if there was no one in the sheriff’s office with homicide experience — police departments are separate entities from sheriff stations, and that includes the jobs within.

Craft-wise, I found myself wishing that more time had been spent on a little more description and mood-setting over how many times we had things repeated to us — even sometimes just sentences after the initial information.

“I wanted to make sure you were here tonight.”
‘Something tells me we’re going to have a front seat.’

He did! Not something — he JUST did.

We have people’s unchanged characteristics and goals reported to us throughout. The characters even define themselves, in their own POVs, by their stereotypes and this makes the phrasing always land in the realm of stilted. The narrative should have had more faith in its characters displaying these by action. When working within such a well-documented sub-genre, you’re probably speaking right to fans of that sub-genre, and they won’t need that much labor to recognize where you’re leading them. All that said, I still would find myself sometimes pausing to realize I had been wrong about whose POV I was still in; there wasn’t enough distinctive language between them.

Figuring out the twist less than halfway through also made it difficult to get by waiting for everyone else to do the same. The evidence the kids are given is in what feels like the incorrect order for how long they keep insisting on certain beliefs. Yet, there is an incredibly insulting section at the end where we’re supposed to feel gratified that the town’s Sheriff has been shouted down for being incompetent and that four teenagers could do what he couldn’t; forgetting that the reader has just experienced those teenagers being literally handed everything they discover. It’s unnecessarily cruel to a character we have had no evidence is actually bad at his job and it ensured that I ended the book with a very bad taste in my mouth.

It’s actually this lack of development of side characters that does the mystery no favor either; you can’t have ‘EVERYBODY’S A SUSPECT’ when there’s no everybody.

Even the actual-red herring kind of just wanders away.

Unfortunately, the book’s own influence screwed it over: ‘Scream’ proved we aren’t ignorant anymore. Slashers can’t stand on the same cheese as they once did. “Let’s Split Up” didn’t quite get that message. Though it absolutely had the perfect bones to do so; a perfectly on-brand mystery story.


Weird annoyance: “okay” is never capitalized as the beginning of someone’s talking.

Credit where it’s due: Amber’s dad saying every room needs to have a flashlight in case of power outages was one of the single most real things I’ve ever read in my life.

Random side note: I came across the line “He’s in hospital”— your British is showing!

***

Okay, horror girlies and scaredy-cats alike—strap in, because Let’s Split Up! is what happens when Scream and Scooby-Doo have a cursed baby raised on Hot Topic eyeliner, early 2000s angst, and the worst possible decision-making skills. And I LOVED IT.

📍Setting:
Sanera, California. It’s 2001. Life is all low-rise jeans, AOL Instant Messenger, and thinking nothing bad ever happens in small towns... until Brad and Shelley—homecoming royalty and 100% doomed—are found murdered in a creepy old manor.

💀 The Premise:
A group of teens (each one more suspiciously genre-savvy than the last) decides to crack the case themselves. We’ve got:

Cam – the reluctant leader with main character trauma
Jonesy – funny best friend energy hiding deeper scars
Amber – cheerleader, but smarter than you think
Buffy – the mysterious new girl who just knows things she probably shouldn’t
Their plan? Investigate the haunted mansion. Their mistake? Well… it’s in the title.
🎬 What to Expect:

A slasher-style mystery that’s SO early 2000s (flip phones, chokers, terrible decisions)
Creepy folklore meets ghost stories meets "what if the killer is one of us?"
Nostalgic horror tropes that fully embrace the chaos (splitting up included, of course)
Found-family vibes, low-key crushes, and friendship tested under literal killer pressure
A twisty, fast-paced plot that keeps you guessing until the final scream
👻 Why It Works:
Bill Wood knows what horror fans want: just the right balance of spooky suspense, teen drama, and pop culture nods. It’s meta, it’s self-aware, and it’s not afraid to poke fun at itself while still delivering genuine chills. If you grew up on Goosebumps, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or Final Destination, this book feels like coming home—to a house full of ghosts and maybe a few knives.
🧟 Perfect For Fans Of:

Fear Street meets Riverdale energy
Campy horror with clever twists
Final girl theories & red herrings galore
Screaming “don’t go in there!!” at fictional teens
🎃 Final Rating: 4.5/5 haunted VHS tapes
Mood: Retro. Reckless. Creepy. And lowkey hilarious.

Growing up, one of my favorite book series was "Nancy Drew." She was a badass, crime-fighting mystery solver, and I wanted to be just like her. But the aspect of found family always drew me to 'Scooby Doo' as the rag-tag bunch of kids took mystery solving and combined it with a touch of horror. "Let's Split Up" by Bill Wood gave me a little Drew to go with my Doo, and I'm thankful I had the opportunity to read it, because it will certainly be one that I recommend within the library.

If you're more of a TV person than a book person, you could compare this to "Outer Banks" with a touch of murder. Either way, I think most people will find themselves enjoying this group of four high schoolers as they unfold a gruesome mystery within their small town. I'm not usually one for books that have multiple perspectives, but I think that Wood did a great job in making sure that each one added something to the plot without becoming repetitive, as books of that format are likely to do. This book will make a great read in the fall, when you're cozied up with a cup of something warm!

However, if I had to get real nitpicky, there were a few times where it became abundantly clear that this author was not American.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

At one point, a character says that another is 'in hospital' and a small town is described as having multiple zip codes, which is not at all likely. Additionally, from a librarian's point of view, Mrs. Adler would likely have never accepted a donation of a hand-written book, unless she was in on everything going on, which at the end we find out is likely not the case. But again, these are all small problems in an otherwise well-written book!

This was a charming parody of a horror story - best friends Cameron, Jonesy, and Amber, along with new girl Buffy, are surprised to learn that the head cheerleader and star football player have been murdered at the Carrington House. While the story of curmudgeonly Robert Carrington, who terrified the town before dying in a mysterious fire, is well known in the small town of Sanera, no one expected his ghost to be quite so lethal. The four friends vow to solve the murders, as the small-town sheriffs leave something to be desired. As they fall more into the web of intrigue, including clandestine visits to the Carrington House, the team feels they are getting closer and closer to solving it. But that does not come without risk - one of them is hurt, and later kidnapped! The characters are eminently likable, there's a sweet romance plotline between some of the friends, and the story has enough pop culture and horror references to please even the most devout fans. I strongly recommend to all fans of pop culture horror!

A cute and fun mystery very reminiscent of the old Scooby Doo cartoons I grew up with. I really enjoyed the slasher movie references and the small town vibes of this quick and fast paced mystery thriller. In a town where nothing happens the deaths of two popular high school students in a spooky and possibly haunted mansion really gets people talking. As friends Cam, Amber and Jonesy take new girl Buffy into their group they end up with more than they bargained for. Buffy decides they should solve the mystery of what really happened at Carrington Manor. And even though I did predict the ending I enjoyed this one

Thank you to Netgalley and the publish for providing me woth an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me, you know I love a good nostalgic pop culture reference. But maybe not one that was this...much? Maybe because I recognized all the references, I kept thinking that I liked the source material more than the pastiche. It's an amalgam that doesn't have enough to say on its own. Which is fine, but as someone always looking for something new, this didn't feel different from other riffs on spunky teen detectives confronting an alleged ghost.

This was a perfectly fine book, but I bet I would have liked it better if I didn't love Scooby Doo and Scream so much.

Three stars.

"A heart-pounding thriller tailor-made for the YA BookTokers! Its Scream meets Scooby-Doo in this electrifying horror.

When the town's "it-couple," Brad and Shelley, are found brutally murdered in a secluded manor, a brave group of teen friends takes on the mystery.

Set in 2001 Sanera, California - a small, quiet community where nothing ever happens - the shocking murders shake everyone, leaving them to believe the ghost of a murdered landowner has finally taken his revenge. Join Cam, Jonesy, Amber, and the new girl Buffy as they dig deeper into the sinister secrets of the mansion. With every clue they uncover, the eerie rumors seem frighteningly real. As they decide whether to stick together or split up to find evidence, they must face the ultimate question: will this decision be their salvation or their doom?"

Is it wrong to love a book just because the characters have awesome names?

This thriller keeps you guessing from page one. I enjoyed this book it was like a teen version of Scooby Doo with murder involved and very enjoyable. I definitely am buying this one

Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic for the pre-release copy of Let's Split Up by Bill Wood. Below is my honest review.

Billed as Scooby Doo meets Scream, this one had so much potential to be one I would really love. I love horror movies. I love mysteries. I absolutely adore Scooby Doo.

Unfortunately, while the setting was great and the characters were decent, the reveal wasn't well executed - I guessed the killer the first time they were introduced, extremely early on. It was too obvious. Also, the prose and dialogue needed some editing. Written by an author from the UK but set in the US, there were quite a few UK vernacular moments that ended up in the book that should have been shifted to US terms. There were also so many incomplete sentences in the beginning that it took me out of the story.

Overall, it was a fun story. Just needed some tweaking to make it a great book.

Three stars. Recommended for Scooby Doo fans who are okay with it being a little Scream-adjacent but are also willing to overlook flaws for fun.

Let’s Split Up is the campy slasher you NEED!

Who would ever write the best mashup of Scream & Scooby-Doo - Bill Wood would of course! This story is campy and gory, but in manageable levels for a young adult audience. Following three friends in the face of a sudden tragedy, the story is a fever-pitch pace. The mystery is immediate, grabbing attention from the jump and feeding the story with twists and turns galore. When more bodies start dropping, I could not put this book down until its very bloody end! Romance is another component of this novel that kept me enthralled. It’s queer coming of age at some of the best levels! Although it was a bit tame and some of the actions open to interpretation, I still really enjoyed it. It’s an adorable and cuteness overload!

This book is full of Easter Eggs from across franchises and horror universes. This is such an enjoyable read for any horror fan or even Mystery Inc aficionados. You absolutely don’t want to miss out on this one, but now I’m desperate to get my hands on the sequel! Can’t wait to read more about this friend group!

A YA murder-mystery in a gossipy California town shaken by the brutal deaths of high school "it-couple" Brad and Shelley. When a group of friends decides to investigate the supposedly haunted manor where the incident occurred, what follows is a mix of urban legends, ghostly rumors, and classic horror tropes.

I enjoyed the horror tropes and the dynamics of the friends' relationship. They had a good dynamic, but the book is more middle grade than YA in tone. The mystery was predictable, and the plot twists and character archetypes felt somewhat familiar. While it's fast-paced and fun, older readers may want more depth and complexity, considering the suggested age range. That said, the debut author has potential! There are some genuinely entertaining moments. I'd recommend this to younger teens or readers just starting with thrillers. With some growth in character development and suspense, future books could be even better.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the opportunity to review and provide my honest feedback.

Scooby-Doo called—he wants his mystery gang back.

Okay, so Let’s Split Up is basically what happens when a group of teens watches Scream, binge-watches Scooby-Doo, and then decides, “Hey, let’s go poke around a haunted murder mansion and definitely ignore every horror movie rule ever.” And you know what? I respect the chaos.

The book opens with a bang—literally. The town’s golden couple gets murdered in a way that screams “ghost with a flair for drama,” and suddenly we’re off to the races with Cam, Jonesy, Amber, and Buffy (yes, really) trying to solve the mystery. Naturally, they split up. Because of course they do. It’s in the title. It’s also the worst idea ever, but hey, plot!

There’s a lot to love here: snappy dialogue, spooky vibes, and enough teen angst to power a CW series. But also... it’s kind of like eating Halloween candy for dinner. Fun at first, but eventually you’re just craving something with a little more substance. The twists are wild, the characters are charmingly reckless, and the haunted mansion is peak “don’t go in there” energy.

Would I recommend it? Sure—if you’re in the mood for a campy, chaotic, horror-lite romp with a side of ghostly nonsense and teen drama. Just don’t expect it to change your life. Or make sense. Or follow basic safety protocols.