Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Ratings18
Average rating3.6
Being a huge fan of YA fiction and horror, you would think this would be an easy sell to me. However, I feel I'm often let down by YA horror novels, so this was a pleasant surprise.
As with any anthology, there are stronger stories than others, but it was rather solid throughout. There are a few that didn't work for me personally, but I'd rather highlight my favorites:
The Birds of Azalea Street (Nova Ren Suma) What a great opening! Someone left a post-it note in my library book rating each story, and rightly gave this one a 4.5/5
Hide and Seek (Megan Shepherd) Strong lady friendships and a female protag trying to outwit death? 1000000% up my alley.
The Girl Without a Face (Marie Lu) Creepy and sad, Lu naturally doesn't disappoint.
Stitches (A.G. Howard) I honestly think this should have been the final story in the collection, because it might have been my favorite and obviously this book exists only for me.
While I was pretty aware of most of the inspirations (some are exceedingly obvious, others not so much), I do like that they included them at the end of each story. It provided a fun guessing game as well as recommended movie and book titles to check out if you liked a particular story, and I am all for inspiring future generations to become horror junkies. 4/5
3.5 stars
Overall I really enjoyed this. Some of the stories were misses but some of them were really good and unexpected. I have talked a little bit about my thoughts on each story and rated each one and then I took the average and that is how I came up with my overall rating.
The Birds Of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma (27 pages) - I thought this was an ok start. I was drawn in immediately which is good but I have a hard time believing that all of the adults were as clueless as they were made out to be. If you've read this you know what I'm talking about. Anyways, like I said I was drawn in wanting to know what the deal with the birds was but in the end I just thought it was ok. I don't like finishing a story and being left with so many questions. 3/5 stars
In The Forest Dark And Deep by Carrie Ryan (33 pages) - This one is an Alice in Wonderland retelling and it is very twisted. This is told from Cassidy's point of view when she is 7/8 and 17/18. I was really into this story but once again I am left with questions and wanting more. 4/5 stars
Emmeline by Cat Winters (21 pages) - I really enjoyed this story. Not much happens but it's more “believable” like I can wrap my head around what happens in this story I guess. 5/5 stars
Verse Chorus Verse by Leigh Bardugo (34 pages) - I didn't like this at all. Leigh Bardugo's writing is very descriptive which is a plus but I was bored. I wasn't creeped out and it didn't make much sense to me. 2/5 stars
Hide-And-Seek by Megan Shepherd (31 pages) - I think this is my favorite one so far. It's fast paced and you will be on the edge of your seat wanting to know if Annie is able to cheat death. 5/5 stars
The Dark, Scary Parts And All by Danielle Paige (36 pages) - I really enjoyed this one as well. I wanted more from the ending. Like I want to know what happens next. 4/5 stars
The Flicker, The Finger, The Beat, The Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke (22 pages) - With this one I enjoyed it and felt like there was a beginning a very quick middle and an end but at the same time I was literally reading a book that combined elements of Carrie and I know What You Did Last Summer so nothing new really. 2/5 stars
Fat Girl With a Knife by Jonathan Maberry (27 pages) - First off the title made me dread this one. I hated how much emphasis was put on everyone's appearance. Like how big or small someone is I didn't like at all but the overall story was good I just wished I would have gotten more from that ending. 3/5 stars
Sleepless by Jay Kristoff (37 pages) This was so unexpected and so good. Definitely wasn't expecting this and I loved the twists. 5/5 stars
M by Stefan Bachmann (30 pages) - I was enjoying this one until the ending. The ending left me a little confused. 3.5/5 stars
The Girl Without A Face by Marie Lu (23 pages) - I think the message in this story is very important and needs to be talked about more. I didn't really connect with the main character though. He is a horrible person and I just didn't care about what happened to him. 3.5/5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed Of Snow by McCormick Templeman (21 pages) - With this one I felt like I started reading in the middle of a story. I was confused and wanted to know more backstory. 2.5/5 stars
Stitches by A.G. Howard (26 pages) - So um I will never look at baking and gingerbread men the same way ever again. This was very detailed and gross and I loved it. 5/5 stars
On The I-5 by Kendare Blake (17 pages) - This one was just sad because unfortunately this actually happens in the world. 4/5 stars
avg. rating: 3.1 stars (even tho my ratings average out to 3.1 I'm bumping it up to 4 stars based on my overall enjoyment!)
favorites: In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan, Sleepless by Jay Kristoff, & The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu
The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Rensuma - 3.5 stars
In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan - 5 stars
Emmaline by Cat Winters - 2.5 stars
Verse Chorus Verse by Leigh Bardugo - 3.5 stars
Hide and Seek by Megan Shepherd - 1 star
The Dark, Scary Parts and All by Danielle Page - 3 stars
The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke - 4 stars
Fat Girl with a Knife by Jonathan Maberry - 1 star
Sleepless by Jay Kristoff - 5 stars
M by Stefan Bachmann - 1 star
The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu - 5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow by McCormick Templeman - 1 star
Stitches by AG Howard - 4 stars
On the I-5 by Kendare Blare - 4 stars
I really enjoyed this audio book to the extent that it bumps my rating up a star.
Perfect for Halloween, though I ended up finishing it before the day comes. Some of the stories are super creepy, some are disturbing, some left me confused, but overall this is a pretty good anthology. I rated each story individually.
The Birds of Azalea Street
by Nova Ren Suma
4 stars
In the Forest Dark and Deep
by Carrie Ryan
4 stars
Emmeline
by Cat Winters
3 stars
Verse Chorus Verse
by Leigh Bardugo
4 stars
Hide and Seek
by Megan Shepherd
3 stars
The Dark, Scary Parts and All
by Danielle Paige
2 stars
The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh
by April Genevieve Tucholke
4 stars
Fat Girl With a Knife
by Jonathan Maberry
3 stars
Sleepless
by Jay Kristoff
5 stars
M
by Stefan Bachmann
3 stars
The Girl Without a Face
by Marie Lu
5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow
by McCormick Templeman
3 stars
Stitches
by A.G. Howard
3 stars
On the I-5
by Kendare Blake
4 stars
My personal favorites are Marie Lu's, April Genevieve Tucholke's, and Jay Kristoff's.