Have been recommending often and will continue to do so. Great collection and a huge variety. I loved the mix of tropes and genres. I hope this collection is a regular series.

I am a sucker for an awesome cover!!!

This is a YA horror that features 13 stories but they all have the same theme which is the white guy is always the first victim. I freaking loved this book!

I loved the way this is written in short story format and it makes it feel like you are reading several short novellas and it is fast paced.

If you ask me this is a must read for anyone who loves horror! It is so interesting cannot wait to find more books by these authors.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

A collection of short stories by well known ya authors. Pretty cool and interesting. Talked about a lot of subjects. Mixed horror with different subjects. Very unique.

Did this scare me every moment that I read the book? Yes. Did I love every minute of it because the authors in this anthology are the literal BEST???? Yes, yes I did.

This was a fantastic must read for any reader who loves a good scare & wants to see the white-washed norm for horror be flipped on its side. This was so well done! Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC! :)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

"The White Guy Dies First" is a refreshing take on horror with 13 stories by authors of color, finally putting us in the spotlight as survivors. The stories had me hooked, and I loved that it wasn’t just about scares but also about reclaiming space in a genre that usually sidelines people of color.

My top 3 stories:
"All Eyes On Me" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" by Tiffany D. Jackson
"Heaven" by Adiba Jaigirdar

This is a perfect pick if you want horror with a powerful twist.

Reading in Between the Wines book review #107/130 for 2024:
Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷
Book: The White Guy Dies First
Author: Terry J. Benton-Walker
Available now!!

Sipping thoughts: I don’t do horror because I am a scaredy cat, but this was not too bad. It was pretty creepy and spooky but not too horrific. There were some stories that were better than others, but they were all interesting. I really enjoyed the cultural aspects behind each of the stories.

Cheers and thank you to @TorPublishingGroup and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @TheWhiteGuyDiesFirst.

#TheWhiteGuyDiesFirst #TerryJBentonWalker #TorPublishingGroup #NetGalley #ARC #advancedreader #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

This collection provides readers a wonderful opportunity to explore writing from a set a talented authors. Each story offers a different take on horror which makes it perfect long time fans as well as for those newly exploring the genre.

This collection of short horror stories by a nice lineup of authors, delivers horror in a unique way. The stories focus on various social issues, including the social injustices, racism and stereotypes, and gentrification. Overall, enjoyable and interesting

I got this book for free, in exchange for my honest opinion via NetGalley.

This YA horror anthology features a mixture of 13 stories with one similarity: they all feature a white guy as the first victim. These stories range from a series of diary entries from a girl who may or may not be a killer to a story of a cannibal.

Short stories can be a bit iffy. And with any short story collection, some tales resonates more than others, but overall it was a very enjoyable read. My favourite stories were: The Golden Dragon, Docile Girls, Everything's Coming Up Roses, Wasps and Hell Is Other Demons.

The stories span from genres like science fiction to fantasy. They are written by black, indigenous, and person of colour and include a number of queer authors as well. Overall this is strong collection of stories and a must read.

Thank you, Netgalley for allowing me to review! As always, my review is my own opinion and thoughts. This review will be shared to my Instagram @what_emm_reads shortly.

"The White Guy Dies First" is an anthology of horror stories that offers a diverse array of narratives. The writing is generally solid, with some stories standing out more than others. I appreciated the concept of the collection, but my main complaint is that I wished some stories had more depth and development. Overall, it’s an engaging read for horror fans.

This was so fun! I am such a fan of short story collections and this one stood out by having the stories be connected to one another. I will absolutely be recommending this one!

Really enjoyed this BIPOC horror anthology! I enjoyed some stories more than others but they were all good and I loved the messaging throughout.

Okay. One thing you need to know about me is this: I usually HATE horror stories -- and by "hate" I mean, they scare me to death and I couldn't read any, even to save my life.
But the second thing you need to know about me, too, is this: I pick my books based on their covers and titles only. And this book had a pretty cool title and cover.

So, there I was, now having a horror book to read. With all the things that scare me so much I cannot stand them: killer clowns, haunted houses, dead that come back to life...

And, despite everything, I absolutely LOVED this collection of scary stories.

All of the stories were so unique and atmospheric, with very different settings, characters, and reasons to kill. I loved it. I loved the diversity in this book, I loved how well-written the characters were despite them only appearing in one short story. And these managed to make me love the thrill of the horror stories that I usually cannot read.

I can't think of a single story from this collection that I didn't enjoy reading. Sure, they were scary -- because that's exactly the point of this type of stories --, and despite feeling uncomfortable from time to time, I still manage to love this book.

Now, have I become a horror story reader? Absolutely not. But would I be willing to read other (horror) stories by the authors who worked on this collection? Hell, yes.

I was quite excited for this anthology. In a genre that typically favors white, male writers, I loved seeing so many authors of color (and especially women of color) featured here. And while I enjoyed several of the individual stories, I found the anthology to be overall pretty forgettable. A lot of it felt horror-adjacent (more thriller or mystery than true horror), which made the book feel thematically uneven. I wish there had been more of a unifying theme or question. It felt like the only prompt the authors had to adhere to was "write a short story where the white guy dies first" (super interesting in theory but not quite as strong in practice).

Hands down, my favorite story in the anthology was "Everything's Coming Up Roses" by Tiffany D. Jackson; it was clever and funny, and it made me want to read more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

This was a fun one!

As always, I think there are some pros and cons with reading anthologies. Some of the genres aren't necessarily my favorite, and I always find myself drawn to some stories over others. That is the same with this one. That being said, I thought that every story was thoroughly entertaining, and I enjoyed that the white guy died first. Haha.

My top three stories were "The Golden Dragon", "Docile Girls", and "Road to Hell"!

This was a fantastic, fun haunting. Sometimes, I find YA horror doesn't hit me, but the stories in this did. The short stories were tremendous; some grabbed me better than others, but that had more to do with preference. I can't wait to tell my friend to get this just in time for the spooky season

I received an advance copy of The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power from NetGalley and Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The White Guy Dies First, edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker, is a gripping collection of 13 terrifying and thought-provoking short stories written by authors of color. Each story turns the slasher trope on its head by centering marginalized characters and making the white guy the first to die—a refreshing twist that delivers both horror and social commentary. I was thoroughly impressed with the diversity of voices and the range of storytelling styles, from supernatural hauntings to psychological thrillers.

Some standout stories for me include Tiffany D. Jackson’s "Everything's Coming Up Roses," a chilling epistolary tale about a girl whose obsession with gardening takes a dark turn, and H.E. Edgmon’s "Best Served Cold," which was deeply unsettling in all the best ways. Terry J. Benton-Walker’s "The Road to Hell" was another favorite, offering a unique and eerie perspective from a haunted house. Each story felt fresh, blending horror with powerful messages about race, privilege, and survival.

If you're a fan of horror with a deeper, socially conscious edge, this anthology is a must-read. The White Guy Dies First is a sharp, entertaining, and chilling collection that keeps you on edge from start to finish. Highly recommend!

Special thanks to @torteen for my gifted copy‼️

After reading a couple mixed reviews on this one it was a must I read it for myself. The White Guy Dies First is a collection of 13 short horror stories surrounding fear and power. While I didn’t love every story I think as a whole the book is pretty decent. A few of the stories were meh but there were a few that actually made me want more and would make great Halloween movies.

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕:

* 5⭐️ All Eyes On Me by Faridah Abike-Iyimide- “It just a circus it was a place where people go to shed their demons, real and imagined.”
* 5⭐️ Hedge by Kalynn Bayron- “A place to be at one with nature.”
* 3.5⭐️ the Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake
* 5⭐️ Best Served Cold by H.E. Edgmon- “Human beings become monsters when they taste their own people’s flesh.
* 3.75⭐️ the Protégé by Lamar Giles
* 4⭐️ Docile Girls by Chloe G - “Docile girls, who didn’t have enough humanity to do terrible things, who only lived to please, caught in the middle of such a terrible incident.”
* 4⭐️ Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson
* 4⭐️ Everything’s Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson
* 3⭐️ Heaven by Adiba Jaigi
* 3⭐️ Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia
* 3⭐️ Wasps by Mark Oshiro
* 4⭐️ Hell is Other Demons by Karen Strong - “Humans are the real demons.”
* 3.5⭐️ the Road to Hell by Terry J Benton-Walker

Each story had a uniquely different feel when it came to the eerie, creepy and supernatural elements. We get a dark circus, house of mirrors, a haunted garden, missing father, a Japanese revenge ghost, cannibalism, a evil magician, high school murder, spirit box and a seance, a haunted slave plantation, the last city on earth, a sleepwalker, a demon possession, and a house from hell. It’s nowhere near scary so if that’s what you’re looking for this ain’t it but I highly recommend you add it to your TBR for spooky szn‼️

For YA horror, this anthology hit hard! I sometimes get annoyed with short stories, usually wanting more, but most of these were the perfect length to either wrap up the story nicely OR leave me incredibly unsettled.
I particularly like how this anthology was set up. The stories covered many horror subgenres but the blog intro tied them together. Though we know that the white guy will die in every story, each author left me guessing how and why it would actually happen. So many “good for them” moments when the asshole gets what they deserved.
Horror writers of color are finally having a moment, and I discovered some new authors from this collection. Not only do they share perspectives that are unique to their experiences in regards to race and ethnicity, they tend to be more intersectional and represent other marginalized groups.
Don't sleep on this collection!

I always struggle with anthologies so much because I love the concept but there’s always 2 or 3 stories I love and the rest are usually just meh 🤦🏻‍♀️ This set of stories was so interesting and the concept is amazing but some of the stories just didn’t work in short form imo! There were a few that I would’ve ended up rating higher if the stories were expanded on but sometimes there just wasn’t enough time to establish enough. But just because there were only a few that I really enjoyed, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend the book, I definitely would because I know people will love some of the ones I didn’t! Also, I think this could be a really fun mini series with each episode being one of the stories! I think some might be able to translate on screen better than they did on paper!

Ratings:
All Eyes On Me - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hedge - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Golden Dragon - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Best Served Cold - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Protégé - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Docile Girls - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gray Grove - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everything’s Coming Up Roses - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Heaven - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Break Through Our Skin - ⭐️⭐️
Wasps - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Hell Is Other Demons - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
The Road To Hell - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️