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The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

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The Blonde Dies First

by Joelle Wellington

Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt

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Length 10 hours 37 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“Summer is for block parties, hanging out with your friends, a booming and being annoyed with your sibling, attending parties, and… accidentally summoning demons??? Well at least that is what Devon, her twin, and their friend group get into. Devon has planned to make this summer the “Best Summer Ever” because her genius twin sister is graduating early and this very well may be the last summer they all spend together before everything changes and she hopes she can encourage her sister, Drew, to stay. Obviously, while on the journey to the best summer ever, they hit a pretty big hurdle when a demon targets the friend group, going through a kill order that puts Devon as the friend group’s resident blonde up front. Honestly, I loved this so much. If you are a horror fan and love the traditional horror tropes you’ll likely enjoy this. Though I guessed the twist or “reveal”, it didn’t make it any less enjoyable and I wasn’t any less anxious to see how everything would play out.”
— Keeley • Ink Drinkers Anonymous

Bookseller recommendation

“The Blonde Dies First was the first YA horror I've read in awhile and it did not disappoint! This queer, BIPOC centered supernatural horror had me both laughing and clenching my teeth in fearful anticipation. Wellington does well at making you care for and understand each character while also beautifully describing human emotions such as love, anger, and fear. While I enjoyed how the typical tropes of orders of death in horror media were formatted for this book, I will definitely have to think twice before I go to bleach my eyebrows again!”
— Sol • Quail Ridge Books

Summary
About the author

A group of friends fight to choose their own fates when faced with a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in this trope-savvy, “script-flipping hair-raiser” (Publishers Weekly) from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games.

Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?

But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.

Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive. Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last?

Mystery & Thriller Romance LGBTQIA+ Fiction YA Fiction

Joelle Wellington grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where her childhood was spent wandering the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Her love of the written word led her to a BA in creative writing and international studies. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading and when she’s not doing that, she’s attempting to bake bread with varying degrees of success or strengthening her encyclopedia-like pop culture knowledge. She’s the author of Their Vicious Games and The Blonde Dies First.