Perfect for fans of Jordan Peele and Scream, The Blonde Dies First is a slasher perfect for horror fans.

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As a slasher and huge Scream fan, I can honestly say The Blonde Dies First hits all the notes.

Storytelling

The story follows Devon, a queer girl who likes to be crafty and crazy with her looks. This includes dying her hair and eyebrows to a blonde, making her the token blonde girl of any horror film.

And, as we know, the blonde always dies first…unless you substitute her with another blonde.

After a séance goes wrong, a demon suddenly begins hunting Devon and her friends. Luckily for her, one of her best friends is a horror film nerd and knows exactly what’s happening to them.

I love the play on the tropes – the blonde, the token gay, the asshole, the nerd, the independent girl, the love interest, and the Final Girl. Wellington takes these tropes but also establishes that people are not just one thing to be defined by. They are many things and can be many things. I loved that about this book; I loved that it flipped the tropes to flush out these characters and give them strong dynamics and complex characterization.

I want to say this is very much a character-driven novel. Devon is our main protagonist, and she’s a twin. Now, Drew is a genius, Drew is graduating early, and their twin bond is very strained. So, while the story is as much about flipping the switch on the horror tropes, it’s also about the bond between these two girls and them reforming their relationship.

Final Thoughts

I absolutely loved The Blonde Dies First, devouring it in a little under a day, unable to put it down. The tension, the pacing, the way it feels like a Scream movie reinvented.