Will You Be A Final Girl? Find Out In ‘How To Kill A Guy In Ten Dates’ Review
Romance and horror may seem worlds apart, but both share a central obsession: a person of intense interest. Obsession might sound extreme for a love story, but when you think about it, love is a little bit of an obsession. In Shailee Thompson’s How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, you see how the line between romance and horror blurs. Will you be the “final girl?”
When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards. She doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout. After the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that dating can be a very dangerous pastime. Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count. As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-face with the murderer, she begins to suspect they are committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn them into a real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has other plans, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other survivors. Will she make it through the bloodshed to find her Happily Ever After? Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another ending in mind?
What could be more intriguing than a romcom in the horror genre? I mean, yes, please! When this book first graced my TBR list, I was drawn by the cover. I know, I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we are all a little guilty of that. I loved the bubble gum pink and the red. Also, the title jumps out at you. I was intrigued enough to pull it from the shelf and read the back. I liked that, just from the cover, I couldn’t tell if it was horror or a rom-com. I mean, it was in the thriller section, so there was that, but still. Aside from that, I found the story so fun. The idea of a speed-dating murder, and the main character being obsessed with horror movies, kind of made me want to read it. I wasn’t surprised that when I finally did read it, I ended up loving it. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters. I don’t know how I would handle being in that situation…. Okay, let’s be honest. I would be dead before the story even took off. I loved the best friend dynamic and even the two separate love stories. I enjoyed the main character’s rules for surviving a horror movie and will have to keep them in mind in case I end up in one.
