Go Hunt Me

April 1, 2022
An incredible opportunity for a group of friends to shoot a movie at a notorious castle in Romania turns into a nightmare. Alexandra Rush aspires to be a film director, but her dreams feel threatened when she gets wait-listed for the prestigious college program she was set on attending alongside her producer-wannabe boyfriend. With the help of a famous Romanian actress, Alex is given a new chance: She and six friends, all assumed White, get to spend spring break in Romania at Castle Prahova to create Alex's Dracula-inspired short film. The castle was once home to Vlad Dracul, inspiration for the fictional vampire Dracula. In the novel's opening scene, set after the fateful trip, readers learn that Alex was the only one to make it out alive. The story then jumps back to tell the complete tale, with parts of the subsequent criminal report interspersed. This exhilarating novel plays with the Dracula mythos in fun ways while using classic horror tropes like a remote, eerie locale and a mysterious man in a mask. There's a cinematic feel throughout; it reads like an ode to beloved horror films such as Scream. Crisp writing builds tension and keeps the pages flying as the atmospheric and moody story becomes increasingly gruesome and twisty. Uneven power dynamics based on gender and financial status are skillfully woven in. A fast-paced thrill ride. (Horror. 13-18)

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July 4, 2022
Paying homage to classic horror movies and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, DeVos’s (Eat Your Heart Out) frightening murder mystery centers high school senior Alex Rush, the only survivor following her and her friends’ deadly stay at a Romanian castle. After she’s wait-listed for the University of Southern California’s prestigious film school, Alex feels that her movie directing dreams are over, especially since her boyfriend was accepted using a recut version of the Dracula-inspired film they made together. When a famous Romanian actress inexplicably offers to sponsor a trip to legendary Castle Prahova, Alex jumps at the opportunity to spend spring break with her friends reshooting her audition reel at the real-life inspiration for Dracula’s home. Filming at the castle, while inspiring, proves dangerous for the aspiring auteurs when a true crime case from the past comes back to haunt—and hunt—the teens. DeVos’s clear passion for and understanding of Stoker’s original buoys this fiendish tale. If thinly rendered characters and predictable plot beats deflate the otherwise pulse-pounding narrative, snappy prose and an appropriately ominous atmosphere abound in this eerie story that begins at its end. Ages 12–up. Agent: Alice Sutherland-Hawes, ASH Literary.

September 1, 2022

Gr 9 Up-When high school student Alex learns that she has been waitlisted for the film school of her dreams, she and six of her closest friends start a GoFundMe to remake her short film for the admissions office. Through a series of unlikely events (a famous movie star moves in next door and an anonymous donor sends $500,000 to the GoFundMe), the seven friends are offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to film their Dracula-inspired movie at a remote castle in Romania. Once at the castle, events start to go horribly wrong, and it is clear that someone lured them to the castle under false pretenses; they must rush to figure out who (or what) is hunting them before it is too late. There are many gruesome events, however nothing is so detailed as to be overly disturbing to the average teen reader. There are also some romances that develop among the teens. The narrative is told from Alex's perspective, with breaks for small snippets of an interview Alex has with a detective several days after the horrible events at the castle, giving readers a break from the tension of the plot, while also preparing them for what happens next. The plot is engaging, the characters relatable, and the narrative provides a satisfying conclusion. The backgrounds of the characters are not stated. VERDICT An additional purchase where thrillers are popular, hand this to high school students looking for YA thrillers, fans of Dracula, or those who enjoyed Chelsea Pitcher's This Lie Will Kill You.-Ashley Grillo

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December 9, 2022
Grades 10-12 Alex Rush wants to be a director. She's written and filmed short horror movies with her crew of impressive friends: actress Kenna, makeup artist Maddie, visual arts wizard Reagan, musician Carter, and, maybe the most important to her, Jax, a wannabe producer and Alex's boyfriend. A few chance encounters with real-life movie star Catrinel Bloom lands the crew an opportunity to head to Romania to film Alex's vampire masterpiece. Unfortunately, the castle they're in turns out to not just be a creepy set piece but part of a genuine horror show as Alex's friends are picked off one by one by a mysterious killer. It might be haunted--or one of Alex's friends may be a murderer. The sometimes-overstuffed narrative carries a lot, from Alex's dad's cancer and her family situation to her chaste relationship with Jax to the circumstances behind the Romania trip. In more ways than one, Alex is a true final girl, and this should grab existing fans of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson, or deVos's own tongue-in-cheek Eat Your Heart Out (2021).

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