I would definitely read more Delilah Dawson YA. Loved the drama, the horror, the adventure. Touches on topics such as bullying, peer pressure, and belonging.
✅️ Suspenseful
✅️ mean girls
✅️ Ghosts & monsters
✅️ Some light body horror appropriate for kids who like a little gore

Ｅｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
5 ☆
The cover art is amazing and totally caught my eye. I will definitely be purchasing the paperback for my personal library! The premise also caught my attention. Brie is invited by the Ems, the most popular girls in school, to a sleepover at an amusement park. Brie thinks she'll have the best night of her life. But when the Ems take a game of truth or dare too far, Brie ends up alone in a creepy, abandoned section of the park. There, she meets a group of cool, older teens who invite her to join them. They seem friendly enough. Little does Brie know she's about to come face to face with a reawakened evil that wants to take her on a ride to her life or death.

This YA mystery was the right pace, had the right amount of suspense, and is right for a young adult audience. I would highly recommend it to middle school children. This book will keep their attention. I enjoyed this book myself as an adult.

Thank you, Netgellay, and Random House for the Ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is a book that I will wholeheartedly recommend to my fifth grade students. Two of my favorite books when I was their age were the Goosebumps book "One Day at Horror land" and "The Beast" and this book is even better. The characters, the situation, the danger, they are all real and just scary enough to keep kids attention without going overboard. It also never plays down to the emotions and fears of the audience. The mean girls in this book are really mean, and will probably reflect a lot of what many readers have actually experienced. Once the scares and the creepiness begins, it really is scary and creepy and so much fun. Right until the very end of the book Dawson had me in the palm of her hands and I will definitely be revisiting this thrill park many times in the coming years!

Brie goes to a birthday party lock in at the local amusement park. Thinking this will help her gain access to the “in crowd” at school, her dare from the birthday girl sends her into a memorable visit at the park.

During a dare, she is intentionally separated from the birthday group, but quickly makes new friends. Throughout the evening she is taunted by the park mascot. But is pickaxe Pete’s weapon real?!

This contains a thriller, killer and supernatural theme to it and was a quick read!

Will Brie make it out of this horrific nightmare alive? Must read to find out!

I enjoyed this book immensely, and will be purchasing it for my middle school library in the fall. My Goodreads review is below.

While trying to fit into the Ems, the most popular girl group in her new school, Brie unwittingly signs up for a night of torture from her new friends as well as something more sinister. As the night wears on and Brie faces the unknown, she learns about herself and about life--she just has to survive until morning.

This novel by Delilah S. Dawson perfectly combines horror while addressing issues of self acceptance and peer pressure that her target audience faces on a daily basis. The setting of amusement park is the right amount of familiar and unknown to make the story suspenseful and add to the novel's fast-paced action. This quick read is perfect for a middle school library!

Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC!

Great middle grades thriller. Nothing too scary, but enough gory details to keep my 6th graders enthralled. Love the growth of the main character, Brie and the underlying theme that you should be yourself. Will be ordering this for library circulation for sure. Well done!

Quick read that is engaging and fun.
Positives
Description of setting. The reader is taken right to the amusement park, riding the rides, smelling the foods, and hearing the noises.
Plot: Emotional to read about young people dying but the author does a great job hinting, describing, and revealing the circumstances.
Characters: Excellent mean girls and wonderful friend group who died.
Love the 90's references!

Could have used a little more explanation regarding Brie's need to join the Ems. Seemed rushed.

A scary but thrilling middle grade read. Loved the themes of courage and friendship. Put an unique twist in amusement park horror novels. Loved it a lot. Will check out more from this author.

⭐⭐⭐

RIDE OR DIE by Delilah S..Dawson
Thank you Delacorte and Netgalley for the Earc (Aug5)

Tonight is Brie's chance to get in with the popular crowd at her new school. When a game of truth or dare goes to far, Brie finds herself locked in an abandoned part of the amusement park where she meets a group of older teens. Before she knows it, she roped into something scary. Something sinister.
This book is a children's/middle grade horror book.
This book was relatively short and fast-paced. Though this isn't a mystery per se, I knew what was happening, and what would happen by the end, just after it started. RIDE OR DIE offers a layer of predictability in that sense, which is why I wanted it to be over. I got a little bored. It seemed like everything that was happening across the chapters was the same thing just a different font---If you know what I mean---and I found myself flipping through, checking how many pages were left, etc.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delilah S. Dawson for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Ride or Die coming out August 5, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really love this author’s writing, so I was excited to check out this book. This was a really quick read. I thought it was a really interesting plot. I’ve seen a TV show that seemed really similar to this book. So I enjoyed the characters and supernatural elements of the book. The writing was awesome. I would definitely read more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys supernatural books!

"Ride or Die" is a middle grade horror novel by Delilah S. Dawson. Brie is a middle schooler who has recently switched schools due to an issue caused by her sister (we don't find out what it is until later). She wants to be accepted by the most popular group of girls at school: The Ems. She manages to score an invite to their birthday party at an amusement park, but when a game of truth or dare goes awry (with Brie locked in the old abandoned part of the park), things start getting weird. The setting and story are appropriately dark and creepy and there are moments when Brie's life is threatened. Themes of true friendship and finding yourself will appeal to readers. A recommended purchase for middle grade horror collections.

Delilah S. Dawson wrote this perfectly and enjoyed the use of the amusement park in this horror novel. I was hooked from the first page and enjoyed the feel of this. The characters had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the way they worked in this universe. It was everything that I wanted from this type of book and was glad I read this.