This is a great thriller novel. It read as a horror movie. Definitely was thrown for a loop at the end. Was not expecting it. The whole time I was trying to figure it out. Not once did I guess correctly. I really enjoyed that the main character turned her trauma into *redacted*.


Want to know what I am talking about. Make sure you grab your copy October 13th

I have read so many feminist horrors and what I have learned is that the real horror is just being a woman.

This B Just Won’t Die follows Barb, an aging final girl from a very popular horror franchise. Barb has been in Hollywood for 20 years and has always just been Debbie her character. But that takes on a whole new meaning when she finds herself at the centre of a murder spree and the killer is mirror man- the killer from her franchise.

There is so much to unpack here- Barb’s story was so engaging. Not only are we at the centre of a good ole’ fashioned slasher narrative, we are also navigating the mess that is being a woman in Hollywood. Barb having come from a troubled family, has more baggage than most and has not accepted age gracefully. Throughout the story, we see her battle with her identity and watch her try and fail to differentiate between her and the iconic Debbie. Having spent so much of her life just being what society expects from her, she finds herself at a loss with who she even is in the first place.

Tanya Pell gives us a lot with this novel. But what really resonated was Barb’s monologue about being grateful. Because it’s true, as women, no matter how hard we work, we are expected to be grateful for what we have or what we have achieved. As if it’s so out of the realm of possibility we just have to be thankful that it happened.

Honestly horror is the perfectly vessel for these kinds of critiques and commentaries. This B Just Won’t Die was well thought out and executed. I enjoyed every moment of it. This is the perfect fall season read and I highly recommend it!