You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight
Instant New York Times bestseller!
At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?
This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.
Charity has the summer job of her dreams, playing the "final girl" at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.
But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. As they unravel the bloody history of the real Mirror Lake, Charity discovers that there may be more to the story than she ever suspected . . .
- Pages
- 224
- First published
- June 20, 2023
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 14 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished July 8, 2026
A summer camp where horror fans recreate scenes from a famous slasher movie? Sign me up immediately. The whole summer camp atmosphere was honestly my favourite part of the book. It was a refreshing change from the typical summer romance, and I was so ready for a fun, campy horror story. Instead, I spent most of the book wondering how a group of people who are supposedly obsessed with horror movies managed to make the exact decisions that get people killed in horror movies. My nickname is literally Stoopid, and somehow these characters still outperformed me. That deserves… something. I also never really connected with the writing. It kept me reading because I wanted to know where the story was going, but I never felt fully immersed, and the characters never clicked with me. And then there was the ending. Excuse me? The story had me believing I was reading a fun slasher, and then suddenly we took a hard left turn into territory that completely lost me. I know some readers enjoyed that twist, but for me it undermined everything the book had been building up to. I literally sat there thinking, ”…we’re doing this now?” No thank you. Overall, this just was not the book for me. I can absolutely see why readers who love campy YA slashers have fun with it—the setting is great, the pacing is quick, and the concept is genuinely clever. Unfortunately, the writing, the characters, and especially the ending never landed for me. A solid 2 stars because Camp Mirror Lake deserved better than the decision-making skills of the people visiting it.
Finished July 2, 2026
I’m not fully sure how I feel about this one, there were fun suspense filled parts that had me excited and wanting to see what was going to happen next. I do however think that the beginning dragged a little bit for me and I wish that the action would have started happening a little sooner. I’m also still so confused on how the “magical” or sacrificial part of the story worked. I understand that our main character had no idea therefore we didn’t but I feel like that part could have been explained a little more. Overall this was an interesting book and there were some parts I absolutely didn’t see coming and some parts that were pretty obvious.
Started July 4, 2026 · Finished July 5, 2026
Started July 3, 2026 · Finished July 3, 2026
Started July 3, 2026 · Finished July 3, 2026
Started July 3, 2026 · Finished July 4, 2026
The book is marketed towards fans of Fear Street, and as someone who loves and rewatches the trilogy frequently on Netflix, it did not disappoint. I am absolutely a sucker for a summer camp slasher story, and this one fit the bill, complete with all the tropes, twists, action, and a touch of the occult. I devoured this in one sitting. I really enjoyed its setting in Upstate New York, which provided a personal level of familiarity for me as someone whose family hails from there. And the cryptid nature of the Owl at first hooked me. I was fully ready for a monster, though I wasn’t too mad to find it was just a man in a mask. My one gripe is with the ending though. I did like the twist of the Final Girl getting got, and her role being transferred onto someone else. And while justified, if highly predictable that Bezi gets her revenge, what the fuck do you mean Charity comes back??? I mean, I guess they did foreshadow it with the Jason thing…but huh?
Started July 12, 2026 · Finished July 12, 2026
Started July 3, 2026 · Finished July 6, 2026
▸ Did not finish (1)
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