The Boy Meets Girl Massacre is dark, disturbing yet also oddly YA horror. It feels like the characters were hated so much that even brutally murdering them all wasn't enough. This is a decade-late ARC review, but I didn't think the use of the r-word was acceptable then. There's a lot of harsh language, but that pales in comparison to the vile, graphic descriptions of body horror, cannibalism, and human and animal torture. I truly and honestly wish I had not read this one. It was fast but very disturbing. The main character, Noelle, despises her disgusting father, who is as creepy as any of the ghosts at the Inn she works the nightshift for. The format of the novel is the reason I first requested it, but the annotations are often repetitive and not particularly interesting. Descriptions of the setting and characters themselves are unclear, but the nauseating, violence, and gore was extremely detailed. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget the scene with the Q-tip. This book was originally marketed as just Teens & YA, but it is firmly Horror YA, not for your casual teen reader. Pick up a copy if The Shining is your favorite Stephen King novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flux for this ARC approval. My apologies for the very, very late review.

I have discovered I am not a fan of horror fiction. I believe this is the third horror book I have attempted to read and have been unable to finish. The novel is done in diary style, with the diary being introduced by the police detective who investigated the deaths at the Boy Meets Girl Inn. Noelle Dixon, a teenager with a difficult home life, works nights at the Inn. She decides to keep a diary of what she experiences while at the Inn. The entries are not dated, so the reader has no idea how long the action takes place from beginning to end. I had no problem reading the "annotated" diary entries and the narrator is also very unreliable - I just could not seem to get into the story. Perhaps, for me, it was too slow of a build. I just know in the future, I will stay away from horror novels - they are no longer to my taste.

Not as horrifying or frightening as I expected. Mostly it was just gross. It clearly wants to be psychological horror. Is this violent murder the result of a malevolent spirit or a deranged mind losing touch with reality? The problem is, the narration is very distant. We are very aware of the fact that we are reading, an issue that is only compounded by the annotations. In the end we just have a weird fake journal filled with needlessly graphic details.

The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated) is a dark story told through the diary entries of a girl named Noelle who takes on a summer job working at an inn that was the site of some truly terrible murders back in the 90’s. At the beginning of the book we learn that Noelle and several others were found dead at the inn following a party held to commemorate the murders and Noelle’s cryptic diary is the only real evidence left behind. Now a filmmaker is keen to bring the story to the big screen with a Horror movie adaptation, and the detective who brought the diary to his attention has gone missing adding another layer of mystery to the story.

This YA novel is an incredibly unique read with the diary format and addition of annotations and directorial notes about the potential movie adaptation. Personally I loved this idea and enjoyed the extra layer the annotations brought to the story. Unfortunately the format did not always translate successfully in the electronic uncorrected proof copy I read however I believe it would definitely have worked better in the print version.

The book is packed full of mysterious and gory scenes with hints of the paranormal and also touches upon Noelle’s home life and relationship with her father. Whilst I really liked the unusual concept of the book I found that I didn’t connect with Noelle and because of this couldn’t fully enjoy reading the story from her point of view.

The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated) is a unique, intense and quick read packed with gory scenes and an intriguing mystery element. Unfortunately overall the book just wasn’t for me, but if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind read and don’t mind a little gore you may enjoy this one.