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First Date
In this gory thriller by Bram Stoker award nominee Gemma Amor, a couple of lonely misfits on their first date are kidnapped and held captive in the remote wilds of the Norfolk Broads... will they be able to escape?
Deciding to end years of loneliness, Amandine takes a leap of faith and enters the dating pool. After seemingly endless disappointments, it seems her luck has changed when she meets Connor, another lonely heart.
What starts as a dinner date ends in a night that will change their lives forever. For neither of them knows that they are being watched by a killer whose primary target is happy couples.
Soon, Amandine and Connor will find themselves fighting for their lives. Their only chance of survival lies in each other, but can they work as a team to escape before their time runs out?
And even if they do, will they ever be able to escape each other?
Deciding to end years of loneliness, Amandine takes a leap of faith and enters the dating pool. After seemingly endless disappointments, it seems her luck has changed when she meets Connor, another lonely heart.
What starts as a dinner date ends in a night that will change their lives forever. For neither of them knows that they are being watched by a killer whose primary target is happy couples.
Soon, Amandine and Connor will find themselves fighting for their lives. Their only chance of survival lies in each other, but can they work as a team to escape before their time runs out?
And even if they do, will they ever be able to escape each other?
Audible Audio
First published February 10, 2026
10 people are currently reading
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About the author
Gemma Amor
45 books833 followersI'm a horror fiction author, podcaster, artist and voice actor from Bristol, in the U.K.
I write for the wildly popular NoSleep Podcast and various other horror fiction audio dramas. My traditionally published debut FULL IMMERSION is out from Angry Robot in September 2022.
Find me at @manylittlewords on Twitter and Insta.
Repped by Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
I write for the wildly popular NoSleep Podcast and various other horror fiction audio dramas. My traditionally published debut FULL IMMERSION is out from Angry Robot in September 2022.
Find me at @manylittlewords on Twitter and Insta.
Repped by Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
January 26, 2026
“Gimme more, Gemma Amor!) (*she chants*)
Oh my, this was my first experience reading a book by Gemma Amor, and it was a bloody fabulous, rollercoaster of a ride.
Not a lot scares me, but this book was a terrifying, visceral, horrific, brutal nightmare. Made even scarier for me, as I live in an isolated rural area, in England, such as the one, in which this horror story takes place.
I’m not going to tell you what the story is about, as you can read that in the synopsis, though for me, I like to be surprised, and man, was I. This is an intelligently written story which draws you completely in. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I had to double check that my windows and doors were bolted, which I’ve never had to do, in the ten years I’ve lived here. This is a truly unsettling story, because there are psychopaths like LD out there. Gemma is a genius for cranking up the terror-o-meter, and I literally cannot wait to read more from her. For me, this has got to be my favourite horror book so far…and I’ve read a lot! From the first page until the last, I was totally involved, living each nightmarish moment with Amandine and Connor.
Thanks to Gemma Amor, Datura Books, and NetGalley, for providing me with this free ARC, with which I leave a voluntary review.
5 ⭐️
Available: 10th February 2026
Oh my, this was my first experience reading a book by Gemma Amor, and it was a bloody fabulous, rollercoaster of a ride.
Not a lot scares me, but this book was a terrifying, visceral, horrific, brutal nightmare. Made even scarier for me, as I live in an isolated rural area, in England, such as the one, in which this horror story takes place.
I’m not going to tell you what the story is about, as you can read that in the synopsis, though for me, I like to be surprised, and man, was I. This is an intelligently written story which draws you completely in. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I had to double check that my windows and doors were bolted, which I’ve never had to do, in the ten years I’ve lived here. This is a truly unsettling story, because there are psychopaths like LD out there. Gemma is a genius for cranking up the terror-o-meter, and I literally cannot wait to read more from her. For me, this has got to be my favourite horror book so far…and I’ve read a lot! From the first page until the last, I was totally involved, living each nightmarish moment with Amandine and Connor.
Thanks to Gemma Amor, Datura Books, and NetGalley, for providing me with this free ARC, with which I leave a voluntary review.
5 ⭐️
Available: 10th February 2026
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Gemma Amor is fast becoming a must read author of late.
This novel continues this trend and amps up the fear and gore factor.
The story follows a couple who are going on their first date. Unfortunately the date doesn't go to plan. Actually that's an understatement, it turns out to be the worst date in living history.
This novel does an amazing job of inter-weaving many modern day issues into such a taut and unsettling narrative. Things such as online blog, self help influencers, online dating and many issues that both help and hinder us in our modern lives.
My god, im glad im single.
Huge props to Gemma Amor, I can't wait to read her next story!
This novel continues this trend and amps up the fear and gore factor.
The story follows a couple who are going on their first date. Unfortunately the date doesn't go to plan. Actually that's an understatement, it turns out to be the worst date in living history.
This novel does an amazing job of inter-weaving many modern day issues into such a taut and unsettling narrative. Things such as online blog, self help influencers, online dating and many issues that both help and hinder us in our modern lives.
My god, im glad im single.
Huge props to Gemma Amor, I can't wait to read her next story!
March 10, 2026
4.25⭐️ - What a wild story! I could NOT put this down!
We follow Amandine and Connor, two strangers meeting for dinner, both a little nervous and both hoping the night might lead to something meaningful. The evening starts with the usual awkwardness and tentative conversation, but when their plans go sideways and they are forced to accept help from a stranger, things quickly spiral. They soon find themselves pulled into a terrifying situation that turns their quiet dinner into a brutal fight for survival. Quite possibly the worst first date in existence.
I really enjoyed Amandine as a character. Even though she was not entirely relatable for me, her perspective adds a lot of emotional depth, especially as she navigates the world through her own neurodivergent lens. Her internal voice, the way she processes social interactions, and the loneliness she carries are captured so well. It makes the situation she finds herself in even more intense, because you are not just watching someone fight to survive. You are watching someone who already feels slightly out of place in the world being pushed into an unimaginable nightmare.
The violence is graphic and stomach-churning in parts, and the situations the characters find themselves in become increasingly bleak. The dread and fear running through the story are rooted in vulnerability, loneliness, and the randomness of encountering the wrong person at the wrong time. That sense of “this could happen to anyone” hangs over the entire book.
I also really enjoyed the commentary on modern life woven throughout the story. Online dating, self-help culture, influencer spaces, and the strange ways we try to connect with each other in a digital world enhance the story's tension and realism.
I had a great time with this brutal survival story. Gemma Amor has quickly become one of my favourite voices in horror. This is my third book by her, and each one has been beautifully written yet wildly different. Thank you to Libro.fm and Vibrance Press for the ALC.
We follow Amandine and Connor, two strangers meeting for dinner, both a little nervous and both hoping the night might lead to something meaningful. The evening starts with the usual awkwardness and tentative conversation, but when their plans go sideways and they are forced to accept help from a stranger, things quickly spiral. They soon find themselves pulled into a terrifying situation that turns their quiet dinner into a brutal fight for survival. Quite possibly the worst first date in existence.
I really enjoyed Amandine as a character. Even though she was not entirely relatable for me, her perspective adds a lot of emotional depth, especially as she navigates the world through her own neurodivergent lens. Her internal voice, the way she processes social interactions, and the loneliness she carries are captured so well. It makes the situation she finds herself in even more intense, because you are not just watching someone fight to survive. You are watching someone who already feels slightly out of place in the world being pushed into an unimaginable nightmare.
The violence is graphic and stomach-churning in parts, and the situations the characters find themselves in become increasingly bleak. The dread and fear running through the story are rooted in vulnerability, loneliness, and the randomness of encountering the wrong person at the wrong time. That sense of “this could happen to anyone” hangs over the entire book.
I also really enjoyed the commentary on modern life woven throughout the story. Online dating, self-help culture, influencer spaces, and the strange ways we try to connect with each other in a digital world enhance the story's tension and realism.
I had a great time with this brutal survival story. Gemma Amor has quickly become one of my favourite voices in horror. This is my third book by her, and each one has been beautifully written yet wildly different. Thank you to Libro.fm and Vibrance Press for the ALC.
February 13, 2026
Really wanted to enjoy this one
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh9JQd6E/
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh9JQd6E/
January 23, 2026
Amandine has decided that it’s time to end her years of loneliness and have a go at some real dating. Herself and Connor, another lonely singleton, have been texting for a few weeks and finally decide to meet up for a romantic date night. Their date seems to be heading in the right direction, but little do they know there is a serial killer who targets happy couples eyeing them up across the restaurant. Could this be the date that changes their lives forever?
What an absolute sucker punch of a story this was. Gemma Amor has brilliantly crafted both a charismatic and witty tale, alongside a blood filled commentary of online dating, incel culture, and codependency. This book so easily draws in its reader with its honest writing when it displays the very relatable experiences of the modern realms of dating and the lived experiences of women. Despite this book being a complete blood bath and gore filled bonanza, it was easy to digest with its fast paced story telling. I almost felt like the inner monologues of Amandine read in a very Bridget Jones-esque manner - you know, if Bridget Jones was staring in the Valentine’s slasher Heart Eyes. I love when a writer is able to take a genre that’s purposefully bleak but still manages to use humour in a way that is as effective as this.
I was unable to put this book down despite being distressed on my journey through. I felt myself wanting to scream at these characters for so many different reasons, be it their actual personality or their way of navigating this horror. I really enjoyed how this book was able to elicit this reaction from me because it only made it all feel so much more human, I’ve always been a fan of a terribly flawed character because it makes it feel that much more real and relatable. These characters were not likeable, and that is what made this story what it is. Amor explores the toxicity of the human experience and the codependency that comes in many fraught relationships, it was an interesting dive into this social commentary and was beautifully backdropped with some real bloody violence.
I can’t talk about this book without praising the eerily atmospheric setting that Amor was able to display to us. Of course our serial killer was as ghastly and as awful as they come, but the setting around this nightmare is really what helps to set your teeth on edge. The way the elements are used within the story to add an extra bit of horror was a personal highlight for me, I think Amor is master of this dread filled craft. This book was just as frostbitten, damp, and isolated as the broads it was set amongst.
First Date publishes on the 10th of February, and if like me you are in need of a little horror for your valentines, then this might be the perfect way to spend it. Roses are red, violets are blue, a strange man in a restaurant may just be out to get you.
What an absolute sucker punch of a story this was. Gemma Amor has brilliantly crafted both a charismatic and witty tale, alongside a blood filled commentary of online dating, incel culture, and codependency. This book so easily draws in its reader with its honest writing when it displays the very relatable experiences of the modern realms of dating and the lived experiences of women. Despite this book being a complete blood bath and gore filled bonanza, it was easy to digest with its fast paced story telling. I almost felt like the inner monologues of Amandine read in a very Bridget Jones-esque manner - you know, if Bridget Jones was staring in the Valentine’s slasher Heart Eyes. I love when a writer is able to take a genre that’s purposefully bleak but still manages to use humour in a way that is as effective as this.
I was unable to put this book down despite being distressed on my journey through. I felt myself wanting to scream at these characters for so many different reasons, be it their actual personality or their way of navigating this horror. I really enjoyed how this book was able to elicit this reaction from me because it only made it all feel so much more human, I’ve always been a fan of a terribly flawed character because it makes it feel that much more real and relatable. These characters were not likeable, and that is what made this story what it is. Amor explores the toxicity of the human experience and the codependency that comes in many fraught relationships, it was an interesting dive into this social commentary and was beautifully backdropped with some real bloody violence.
I can’t talk about this book without praising the eerily atmospheric setting that Amor was able to display to us. Of course our serial killer was as ghastly and as awful as they come, but the setting around this nightmare is really what helps to set your teeth on edge. The way the elements are used within the story to add an extra bit of horror was a personal highlight for me, I think Amor is master of this dread filled craft. This book was just as frostbitten, damp, and isolated as the broads it was set amongst.
First Date publishes on the 10th of February, and if like me you are in need of a little horror for your valentines, then this might be the perfect way to spend it. Roses are red, violets are blue, a strange man in a restaurant may just be out to get you.
February 24, 2026
The cover of this book warns that it is not a love story.
It abso-damn-lutely is not!
This is a brutal tale of damaged people who end up in a situation that is bleak and devastating beyond belief. There's also a little good old vengeance.
Definitely not a feel good book and maybe not the one to read if you're feeling alone, unloved, or depressed.
It is well written. You also need a strong stomach.
Excellent book, though.
It abso-damn-lutely is not!
This is a brutal tale of damaged people who end up in a situation that is bleak and devastating beyond belief. There's also a little good old vengeance.
Definitely not a feel good book and maybe not the one to read if you're feeling alone, unloved, or depressed.
It is well written. You also need a strong stomach.
Excellent book, though.
February 14, 2026
First Date
Gemma Amor
02/10/2026
Datura
First Date by Gemma Amor begins with what should be a romantic evening and quickly descends into something far more sinister. Amandine and Conner meet for an intimate dinner, two lonely people navigating first date nerves, only to be hunted by a serial killer who targets happy couples. What follows is graphic, relentless survival horror told through multiple perspectives, including both victim and predator, which makes the tension feel inescapable. First date anxiety is pushed to an extreme as the story moves into brutal captivity and desperate attempts to survive, with vivid scenes that are deeply uncomfortable in exactly the way this book intends. The psychological strain never lets up, and Amandine’s neurodivergent experience and profound loneliness add an emotional depth that makes the terror feel personal rather than sensational.
You should read this if you want horror that commits fully to its darkness and is not interested in softening the blow. I am not one to ever need trigger warnings, but this is heavy and at times bleak, and that intensity is exactly what makes it work. The fear here is character driven, rooted in trauma, vulnerability, and the terrifying randomness of violence, which makes every moment feel raw and immediate. For anyone who rolls their eyes at Valentine’s Day romance, this feels like the ultimate antidote, twisting the idea of love and connection into something sharp and unsettling. It is brutal, immersive, and emotionally charged, perfect for readers who want their horror to challenge them, disturb them, and keep their pulse racing.
Gemma Amor
02/10/2026
Datura
First Date by Gemma Amor begins with what should be a romantic evening and quickly descends into something far more sinister. Amandine and Conner meet for an intimate dinner, two lonely people navigating first date nerves, only to be hunted by a serial killer who targets happy couples. What follows is graphic, relentless survival horror told through multiple perspectives, including both victim and predator, which makes the tension feel inescapable. First date anxiety is pushed to an extreme as the story moves into brutal captivity and desperate attempts to survive, with vivid scenes that are deeply uncomfortable in exactly the way this book intends. The psychological strain never lets up, and Amandine’s neurodivergent experience and profound loneliness add an emotional depth that makes the terror feel personal rather than sensational.
You should read this if you want horror that commits fully to its darkness and is not interested in softening the blow. I am not one to ever need trigger warnings, but this is heavy and at times bleak, and that intensity is exactly what makes it work. The fear here is character driven, rooted in trauma, vulnerability, and the terrifying randomness of violence, which makes every moment feel raw and immediate. For anyone who rolls their eyes at Valentine’s Day romance, this feels like the ultimate antidote, twisting the idea of love and connection into something sharp and unsettling. It is brutal, immersive, and emotionally charged, perfect for readers who want their horror to challenge them, disturb them, and keep their pulse racing.
March 12, 2026
*audiobook
“Roses are red, so are the insides of people.”
“I suck 🐓like a trooper, I do! No gag reflex!” 💀🤦🏼♀️😂
Thanks to @librofm @manylittlewords (Gemma Amor) @daturabooks and @VibrancePress for my gifted copy of the First Date.
Amandine 33 years old has never been on a date, she considers herself “neurospicy” and odd in comparison to her peers. She’s never had a relationship…only hookups (as you see by the selected quote she’s rather “talented” lol).
Connor considers himself “neuroBland” He doesn’t have the best history or high hopes with women/relationships.
Much to Connor & Amandine’s surprise, their 1st date seems to go well, they are into each other and seem to be vibing. Except there is this gross creep of a man, “the lonely diner,” he’s also in the restaurant and is oddly interested in the new couple.
Chaos ensues.
The beginning approx 30% was incredibly slow BUT it works for this one because you get some backstory and a gradually building sense of unease. The pacing picks up and gets faster around the 45-50% mark. So be patient.
There were a lot of menstruation references and lots of gross / horrific situations. Also I learned a new phrase “…even though he was looking at me like shit on a shoe.”
There were a few times I thought the story could’ve naturally ended but it kept going. I thought it was a bit longer than it needed to be but still a good solid read overall.
I definitely recommend that you pick this one up. It’s a fun read for thriller / suspense (and even horror) lovers. Would make a great movie 🎥
“Roses are red, so are the insides of people.”
“I suck 🐓like a trooper, I do! No gag reflex!” 💀🤦🏼♀️😂
Thanks to @librofm @manylittlewords (Gemma Amor) @daturabooks and @VibrancePress for my gifted copy of the First Date.
Amandine 33 years old has never been on a date, she considers herself “neurospicy” and odd in comparison to her peers. She’s never had a relationship…only hookups (as you see by the selected quote she’s rather “talented” lol).
Connor considers himself “neuroBland” He doesn’t have the best history or high hopes with women/relationships.
Much to Connor & Amandine’s surprise, their 1st date seems to go well, they are into each other and seem to be vibing. Except there is this gross creep of a man, “the lonely diner,” he’s also in the restaurant and is oddly interested in the new couple.
Chaos ensues.
The beginning approx 30% was incredibly slow BUT it works for this one because you get some backstory and a gradually building sense of unease. The pacing picks up and gets faster around the 45-50% mark. So be patient.
There were a lot of menstruation references and lots of gross / horrific situations. Also I learned a new phrase “…even though he was looking at me like shit on a shoe.”
There were a few times I thought the story could’ve naturally ended but it kept going. I thought it was a bit longer than it needed to be but still a good solid read overall.
I definitely recommend that you pick this one up. It’s a fun read for thriller / suspense (and even horror) lovers. Would make a great movie 🎥
March 7, 2026
Amandine has spent years perfecting the art of being alone. Social cues feel like riddles and dating apps are like obstacle courses. So when she agrees to meet Connor, another shy soul navigating single life, it feels like a small miracle. Dinner is stilted but hopeful. Then the night fractures. A predator is hunting couples, and Amandine and Connor suddenly find themselves running for their lives. Stranded without working phones, they accept help from a stranger. It's the worst decision of their lives. Taken deep into the desolate marshes of the Norfolk Broads, they are thrust into a brutal fight for survival where trust is fragile, fear is constant, and every breath could be their last.
First Date takes the most relatable setup, two awkward strangers hoping for connection, and drags it straight into absolute terror. What starts as social anxiety and tentative small talk spirals into a relentless and freezing nightmare. Amandine and Connor are painfully real. Their vulnerability, especially navigating loneliness and neurodivergence gave the story emotional weight beyond the horror. This one is tense, bleak, and at times genuinely brutal. It's not light. It's not cozy. It's survival horror with teeth!
First Date takes the most relatable setup, two awkward strangers hoping for connection, and drags it straight into absolute terror. What starts as social anxiety and tentative small talk spirals into a relentless and freezing nightmare. Amandine and Connor are painfully real. Their vulnerability, especially navigating loneliness and neurodivergence gave the story emotional weight beyond the horror. This one is tense, bleak, and at times genuinely brutal. It's not light. It's not cozy. It's survival horror with teeth!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3/3.5
Well...That was dark and gory. Which I usually don't mind, but this book honestly disturbed me. The writing is on point (Gemma Amor for the win!) BUT I had trouble with the plot/story.
I had doubts when I started the book; I'm not a fan of the first pages.
The characters, well...
Lone Diner, the psycho killer, does the job.
Amandine pissed me off until 75% of the book, and then she pissed me off again at the end.
Connor was decent until I honestly thought dying would do him good.
I considered not finishing the book, but I got invested once the couple got kidnapped. The date "prep" description was a bit much for me and got me a bit meh. I don't know. I have an aftertaste after reading this book. This is my second book by Gemma Amor and I love her writing but this one didn't really do it for me. It's still a great read if you enjoy the genre.
Pick it up if you like:
- Date gone wrong
- Gory / horror / suspense (this is quite a graphic book, be warned)
- Cold ( why is it so cold while reading this book?)
Thank you to Datura | Datura Books via Netgalley for the eARC. This review is my own and I'm leaving it voluntarily.
Well...That was dark and gory. Which I usually don't mind, but this book honestly disturbed me. The writing is on point (Gemma Amor for the win!) BUT I had trouble with the plot/story.
I had doubts when I started the book; I'm not a fan of the first pages.
The characters, well...
Lone Diner, the psycho killer, does the job.
Amandine pissed me off until 75% of the book, and then she pissed me off again at the end.
Connor was decent until I honestly thought dying would do him good.
I considered not finishing the book, but I got invested once the couple got kidnapped. The date "prep" description was a bit much for me and got me a bit meh. I don't know. I have an aftertaste after reading this book. This is my second book by Gemma Amor and I love her writing but this one didn't really do it for me. It's still a great read if you enjoy the genre.
Pick it up if you like:
- Date gone wrong
- Gory / horror / suspense (this is quite a graphic book, be warned)
- Cold ( why is it so cold while reading this book?)
Thank you to Datura | Datura Books via Netgalley for the eARC. This review is my own and I'm leaving it voluntarily.
February 13, 2026
Not my favorite but it was still interesting. This is told from three POVs, the couple and the killer. The couple were sweet and easy to root for, which made the contrast with the killer even more unsettling. His chapters were hard to get through at times because he was so vile. Literally the definition of an incel. He was pathetic, yet also very dangerous.
Despite being 400 pages, the super short chapters made this a fast read. It was genuinely harrowing in parts and while there is a conclusion, I wanted to know what happened afterwards. Overall, this was a quick and entertaining read, even if it didn’t completely blow me away.
Despite being 400 pages, the super short chapters made this a fast read. It was genuinely harrowing in parts and while there is a conclusion, I wanted to know what happened afterwards. Overall, this was a quick and entertaining read, even if it didn’t completely blow me away.
March 10, 2026
I could feel the potential.. just didn’t work.
February 16, 2026
okay so this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me.
it’s fast, tense, and definitely unsettling. the horror feels very grounded in real-life issues, which honestly makes it hit harder. there were moments where I was fully locked in and flipping pages because I needed to know what was about to happen.
but… it’s told in third person with three different POVs, and I personally struggle with that style. I’m a dual first-person girl through and through, so it made it harder for me to fully connect. the story had potential and I can see what it was going for, it just didn’t completely click for me.
if you like multi-POV horror with social commentary and a suspenseful vibe, this might work better for you than it did for me.
thank you to netgalley & the publisher for the arc opportunity 🖤📚
it’s fast, tense, and definitely unsettling. the horror feels very grounded in real-life issues, which honestly makes it hit harder. there were moments where I was fully locked in and flipping pages because I needed to know what was about to happen.
but… it’s told in third person with three different POVs, and I personally struggle with that style. I’m a dual first-person girl through and through, so it made it harder for me to fully connect. the story had potential and I can see what it was going for, it just didn’t completely click for me.
if you like multi-POV horror with social commentary and a suspenseful vibe, this might work better for you than it did for me.
thank you to netgalley & the publisher for the arc opportunity 🖤📚
February 10, 2026
2 for 2 for DNF for datura damnnn I usually love their books. Couldn’t get past the first few chapters. Just disgusting. 🫣 2 for 2 for this author too 🫠
March 1, 2026
First Date absolutely GRIPPED me. From the outset, it's obvious this isn't a book where two bland characters find themselves in a deadly predicament. The first half of the book centres on the date Amandine and Connor have been psyching themselves up to go on. They are two lonely, flawed people with their insecurities and issues, and the directness and honesty that these are revealed to the reader felt really refreshing. The date is awkward then comfortable, then awkward - there's no magical spark, just two people sizing each other up and scrutinising each other's behaviours. I loved the realism, the cynicism. If the book had just been a first date character study, I would have been happy!
But then the vibe switches when Connor and Amandine exit the restaurant and find it impossible to book a taxi back into town. It's freezing, it's seven miles away (in heels), so Connor flags down a car...
My heart was beating out of my chest during this part, because as well as alternating POVs from Connor and Amandine over the course of the novel, we have also been giving glimpses into the mind and actions of a killer. Merciless, depraved, he's just finished dispatching another couple and he's looking for his next victims.
I was so impressed at how Gemma juggled these voices and personalities. This is how you write serial killers. The sexual nature of the violence is so gross and will be a difficult read for some people, but as extreme as the book often gets it doesn't feel gratuitous. It's such a well paced, well told story and I couldn't put it down!
But then the vibe switches when Connor and Amandine exit the restaurant and find it impossible to book a taxi back into town. It's freezing, it's seven miles away (in heels), so Connor flags down a car...
My heart was beating out of my chest during this part, because as well as alternating POVs from Connor and Amandine over the course of the novel, we have also been giving glimpses into the mind and actions of a killer. Merciless, depraved, he's just finished dispatching another couple and he's looking for his next victims.
I was so impressed at how Gemma juggled these voices and personalities. This is how you write serial killers. The sexual nature of the violence is so gross and will be a difficult read for some people, but as extreme as the book often gets it doesn't feel gratuitous. It's such a well paced, well told story and I couldn't put it down!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
After ITCH!, Gemma Amor is officially an auto-read for me—and First Date did not disappoint. I’m so excited (and slightly traumatized) that I got an early copy of this one!
Y’all… this was disgustingly gory, graphic, and unhinged in the best way. If you were thinking about getting back into dating, this book might just keep you single forever. 😅
What starts as a hopeful first date quickly turns into an absolute nightmare. The tension hits fast and never lets up. It’s brutal, intense, and had me flying through the pages to see who would make it out alive.
Gemma’s writing is always so sharp and addictive. She knows exactly how to make you uncomfortable, keep your heart racing, and leave you wanting more.
The survival element, the desperation, the chaos—I ate this up.
If you love fast-paced horror, high tension, and aren’t afraid of the gore, you need this one.
Amandine finally takes a chance on dating and meets Connor, another lonely heart. But their first date turns deadly when they’re targeted by a killer who hunts happy couples. Now they’ll have to work together to survive the night… if they can.
Y’all… this was disgustingly gory, graphic, and unhinged in the best way. If you were thinking about getting back into dating, this book might just keep you single forever. 😅
What starts as a hopeful first date quickly turns into an absolute nightmare. The tension hits fast and never lets up. It’s brutal, intense, and had me flying through the pages to see who would make it out alive.
Gemma’s writing is always so sharp and addictive. She knows exactly how to make you uncomfortable, keep your heart racing, and leave you wanting more.
The survival element, the desperation, the chaos—I ate this up.
If you love fast-paced horror, high tension, and aren’t afraid of the gore, you need this one.
Amandine finally takes a chance on dating and meets Connor, another lonely heart. But their first date turns deadly when they’re targeted by a killer who hunts happy couples. Now they’ll have to work together to survive the night… if they can.
February 1, 2026
First Date definitely gives you the desire to stay single, forever. There are some very odd people around, and you just have to hope you never cross paths with them.
Amandine has never been particularly successful with dating. After months of texting Connor, she decides to go on a date with him. And so starts perhaps the most awful experience of her life.
The date itself is a little awkward. But when they leave the pub, discover their phones are dead and they can’t call a cab things suddenly get very bad. What they didn’t realise was the lone diner near them in the pub is a very dangerous man who has plans for them.
Even though they hardly know each other, their chances of survival mean they have to depend on one another.
We never find out why he does this. The characters are not particularly likeable, and I can’t believe the police would not have tried a little harder to work out what had happened in these circumstances.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.
Amandine has never been particularly successful with dating. After months of texting Connor, she decides to go on a date with him. And so starts perhaps the most awful experience of her life.
The date itself is a little awkward. But when they leave the pub, discover their phones are dead and they can’t call a cab things suddenly get very bad. What they didn’t realise was the lone diner near them in the pub is a very dangerous man who has plans for them.
Even though they hardly know each other, their chances of survival mean they have to depend on one another.
We never find out why he does this. The characters are not particularly likeable, and I can’t believe the police would not have tried a little harder to work out what had happened in these circumstances.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.
February 8, 2026
This is not a love story - it’s a self-love story. It’s a story of survival. It’s a story of nuance. It’s a story of being vulnerable enough to put yourself first.
The best word I can think of to describe this book is tense. It’s a literal live wire, shorting and sparking and flying around in your face. It’s impossible to not get singed.
The story follows Amandine and Connor - two honest depictions of modern dating, in all of its awkward and tiring glory. It also follows Lone Diner - a disturbing voyeur on Amandine & Connor’s first date.
What follows is upsetting, gory, hide-your-eyes nerve-racking. Author Gemma Amor’s writing is visceral, fast-paced, and in the moment, you as a reader feel just as trapped and overwhelmed as the couple the story is centered on.
This may not be a love story but for horror fans, this is the type of Valentine we were waiting on.
Triggers abound - happy to provide more info if you’re curious.
This book is out on shelves on Tuesday, February 10th! My thanks to NetGalley & Datura Books for this early ARC!
The best word I can think of to describe this book is tense. It’s a literal live wire, shorting and sparking and flying around in your face. It’s impossible to not get singed.
The story follows Amandine and Connor - two honest depictions of modern dating, in all of its awkward and tiring glory. It also follows Lone Diner - a disturbing voyeur on Amandine & Connor’s first date.
What follows is upsetting, gory, hide-your-eyes nerve-racking. Author Gemma Amor’s writing is visceral, fast-paced, and in the moment, you as a reader feel just as trapped and overwhelmed as the couple the story is centered on.
This may not be a love story but for horror fans, this is the type of Valentine we were waiting on.
Triggers abound - happy to provide more info if you’re curious.
This book is out on shelves on Tuesday, February 10th! My thanks to NetGalley & Datura Books for this early ARC!
January 7, 2026
First Date by Gemma Amor is a horror novel filled with graphic and disturbing moments. The author does an excellent job vividly describing the gory scenes, making them feel intense and unsettling. However, the main characters make so many questionable decisions throughout the story that it often leaves you wanting to shake them. Despite that frustration, the book delivers effective horror and will appeal to readers who enjoy dark, visceral storytelling.
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC. 3.5 stars ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC. 3.5 stars ⭐️
March 1, 2026
Amandine and Connor. Two lonely hearts that meet up on a first date. A quiet pub restaurant where they slowly get to know each other. It’s going well - apart from a disturbingly odd lone diner sitting near them. His behaviour is making Amandine feel uncomfortable; there’s something very strange and unsettling about him. Thankfully the weirdo soon gets kicked out, and Amandine and Connor’s romantic rendezvous can recommence. But their happiness will be short lived as this is going to be a first date like no other…
What a book! First Date is dark, deadly and also absolutely bloody brilliant! It’s instantly captivating as the author starts to reveal the characters of Amandine and Connor; their history, their idiosyncrasies, oh and their first date nerves... These are two pretty average people, looking for love and instead what they get is an evening which will tie them together (literally and metaphorically) and have them fighting for survival.
It was brilliant! I know I’ve already said that but I need to reiterate. 😂 I simply could not put this one down, but nor did I want it to end.
Gemma Amor truly is a force to be reckoned with. If you want a fast paced thriller that will keep you right on the edge of your seat (and that will make you deeply suspicious of anyone eating alone in a restaurant in the future) well look no further. You can thank me when you’re done.
Bon appétit! 😋
What a book! First Date is dark, deadly and also absolutely bloody brilliant! It’s instantly captivating as the author starts to reveal the characters of Amandine and Connor; their history, their idiosyncrasies, oh and their first date nerves... These are two pretty average people, looking for love and instead what they get is an evening which will tie them together (literally and metaphorically) and have them fighting for survival.
It was brilliant! I know I’ve already said that but I need to reiterate. 😂 I simply could not put this one down, but nor did I want it to end.
Gemma Amor truly is a force to be reckoned with. If you want a fast paced thriller that will keep you right on the edge of your seat (and that will make you deeply suspicious of anyone eating alone in a restaurant in the future) well look no further. You can thank me when you’re done.
Bon appétit! 😋
February 14, 2026
It’s difficult to put into words about how it feels to go through this book. But i will try. First Date is not what it seems, as it says on the cover, this is not a love story. The first 2 chapters of the book were so descriptive in ways i have never ever read in other books, that made my face cringe and scrunch up in pure disgust; Gemma Amor’s writing is phenomenal in a sense that it completely painted the scene in my head, i could see and smell what she wrote. The plot was completely terrifying and it scared me a little because it is not far from what can actually happen/have happened to some people. 4.75 stars for the book which i devoured really quickly. The post incident chapters were a little slow to me, because it took Amandine and Conner a year to set things right, felt like an after-thought. Nonetheless, a phenomenally-terrifying book! (Ironic that i finished this book on Valentine’s Day 🫠)
Thank you for Netgalley for the ARC!
Thank you for Netgalley for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
One of the reasons I love the horror genre is that it can provoke emotions for a great book that in any other genre would signify a terrible one. A horror novel can be an "ordeal". That at times was "deeply stressful". And "hard work to get through". And yet you can rate it five stars and think about it a lot afterwards and recommend it to everyone as a must read. Enter Gemma Amor with First Date, which made me feel all of those emotions. Amor’s books are never easy reads. From her early work Dear Laura, a gruelling tale of a life ruined by a childhood trauma, to her most recent Itch, a slow-burn deeply disturbing folk–body horror, her books require you to carve through a grim cadaver to get to their beating heart of hope and resistance. But this… this tale of a first date gone horrifically wrong was something else; its fast pace intensifying the usual uncompromising Amor experience. It won’t be for everyone, just as skydiving isn’t as popular as Park Run. But I couldn’t look away, and the core message, of being real, for once in all our lives just being real to someone at any cost; that is worth feeling a little messed up by a book.
The set-up of First Date is simple. Thirty-somethings and lonely hearts Amandine and Connor have a first date at a restaurant in the Norfolk Broads, which, for any non-Brits unfamiliar with the very east of England is a beautiful expanse of waterways and wetlands, two descriptive terms that will quickly become very relevant in less beautiful ways. They’ve both been hurt by terrible dating experiences, making this a risky meeting. Unfortunately there’s also a killer in town, and soon they’ll have other things to worry about than conversation topics and wine selections, specifically escape from a fate that will supercharge their relationship in ways they probably didn’t want.
This, for me, was a book of two halves, both halves appallingly, compellingly stressful to read but for very different reasons. The first cause for stress is Amor’s phenomenally accurate take on how modern dating creates self-hating monsters of us all. We get POVs from both Amandine and Connor, and while their key issues are later revealed to be the product of their past, Amor still has a lot to say about the toxic dating dynamic.
Connor’s POV is particularly accurate; a man broken from previous dates whose solution to this is to torture himself waiting for text replies and build up the woman he’s never met in his head as this perfect specimen. I think this is the first male POV I’ve read from Amor in the four previous books I’ve read of hers, and it’s supernaturally accurate, as sympathetic as it is pathetic and toxic. Amandine’s POV, ultimately the book’s focus, continues a recurring motif of Amor’s: the female experience of trauma amidst a backdrop of men refusing to listen. Then there’s the unimaginably grim serial killer POV lurking in the background. Everything about this first half, whether in terms of body fluids or (vastly inappropriate) use of severed limbs or simply awkward dating reality, is inhumanly gross, an addictively unpleasant read.
The restaurant scene itself is a candidate for the best scene you’ll read in horror this year. The awkwardness as the two proto-lovers stumble to communicate, misreading each other masterfully, is written with atomic precision—and then suddenly the rug is pulled from the reader when one character attempts something my cynical dating-jaded self suspects could never happen: they take a risk and tell the other who they really are, warts and all. It’s a dialogue exchange as raw as it is unexpected, and caps a perfect scene. There’s another world in which this book is a pure romance, albeit in the realist mode, and part of me desperately wants to see what Amor would do with the rest of that book.
But, horror fans will be relieved to hear, First Date is not that tale, and the second half is a race for survival, unending in the tortures it inflicts on the characters. Its use of the elements of the Norfolk Broads reflect a continuation of Amor’s obsession with the dark flipside of Britain’s beautiful (until its not) landscape. It continues, albeit in much more explicit ways than the restaurant scene, to examine the theme of how to expose your true self to another person while somehow maintaining a connection with them, and whether it’s even possible. It’s also a story of trauma and the courage to survive. And it’s phenomenally hard to read, in the best spirit of you’re-in-this-one-way-or-another-don’t you-dare-stop-reading-horror. I think we need a new term for this; it’s a page-turner, but there’s a cost to turning those pages. A page burner? I’ll get back to you on that.
Overall, with First Date Amor has written the definitive (anti)dating tale about what it takes for someone to actually be real to another person and be accepted for it, and strapped it to a grim conveyor belt of survival horror that I couldn’t stop reading even as I died inside. Hard, necessary, addictive, slap-to-the-face horror.
The set-up of First Date is simple. Thirty-somethings and lonely hearts Amandine and Connor have a first date at a restaurant in the Norfolk Broads, which, for any non-Brits unfamiliar with the very east of England is a beautiful expanse of waterways and wetlands, two descriptive terms that will quickly become very relevant in less beautiful ways. They’ve both been hurt by terrible dating experiences, making this a risky meeting. Unfortunately there’s also a killer in town, and soon they’ll have other things to worry about than conversation topics and wine selections, specifically escape from a fate that will supercharge their relationship in ways they probably didn’t want.
This, for me, was a book of two halves, both halves appallingly, compellingly stressful to read but for very different reasons. The first cause for stress is Amor’s phenomenally accurate take on how modern dating creates self-hating monsters of us all. We get POVs from both Amandine and Connor, and while their key issues are later revealed to be the product of their past, Amor still has a lot to say about the toxic dating dynamic.
Connor’s POV is particularly accurate; a man broken from previous dates whose solution to this is to torture himself waiting for text replies and build up the woman he’s never met in his head as this perfect specimen. I think this is the first male POV I’ve read from Amor in the four previous books I’ve read of hers, and it’s supernaturally accurate, as sympathetic as it is pathetic and toxic. Amandine’s POV, ultimately the book’s focus, continues a recurring motif of Amor’s: the female experience of trauma amidst a backdrop of men refusing to listen. Then there’s the unimaginably grim serial killer POV lurking in the background. Everything about this first half, whether in terms of body fluids or (vastly inappropriate) use of severed limbs or simply awkward dating reality, is inhumanly gross, an addictively unpleasant read.
The restaurant scene itself is a candidate for the best scene you’ll read in horror this year. The awkwardness as the two proto-lovers stumble to communicate, misreading each other masterfully, is written with atomic precision—and then suddenly the rug is pulled from the reader when one character attempts something my cynical dating-jaded self suspects could never happen: they take a risk and tell the other who they really are, warts and all. It’s a dialogue exchange as raw as it is unexpected, and caps a perfect scene. There’s another world in which this book is a pure romance, albeit in the realist mode, and part of me desperately wants to see what Amor would do with the rest of that book.
But, horror fans will be relieved to hear, First Date is not that tale, and the second half is a race for survival, unending in the tortures it inflicts on the characters. Its use of the elements of the Norfolk Broads reflect a continuation of Amor’s obsession with the dark flipside of Britain’s beautiful (until its not) landscape. It continues, albeit in much more explicit ways than the restaurant scene, to examine the theme of how to expose your true self to another person while somehow maintaining a connection with them, and whether it’s even possible. It’s also a story of trauma and the courage to survive. And it’s phenomenally hard to read, in the best spirit of you’re-in-this-one-way-or-another-don’t you-dare-stop-reading-horror. I think we need a new term for this; it’s a page-turner, but there’s a cost to turning those pages. A page burner? I’ll get back to you on that.
Overall, with First Date Amor has written the definitive (anti)dating tale about what it takes for someone to actually be real to another person and be accepted for it, and strapped it to a grim conveyor belt of survival horror that I couldn’t stop reading even as I died inside. Hard, necessary, addictive, slap-to-the-face horror.
February 13, 2026
All my reviews can be found at damppebbles.com
WTAF did I just read? So, this book is categorised on the back cover as ‘crime/domestic suspense’. Well, yes. But it’s so much more than that. I would say it verges on horror, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, as I think Amor is best known for her horror fiction. I actually don’t know what I expected from this book. I mean, it says it’s ‘not a love story’ on the cover, that’s the tagline. Great. I’m really not a fan of romance in my crime fiction but blimey…! I don’t think I was expecting THAT!!
First Date is a gritty, unnerving, edgy novel. An intense battle for survival against a psychotic killer. There’s no prettying the situation up here. No blurring of the horrific edges. It’s a brutal nightmare, come terrifyingly true.
Amandine has never been lucky in love. In fact, she’s never really been in love. She doesn’t feel she ‘fits in’ as other people do. So when she gets talking online to Connor, the chemistry they share is impossible to ignore. Even if Connor is perhaps a little more into Amandine than Amandine is into Connor. The couple arrange to meet. But before the date, Amandine has an attack of the first date nerves. Her gut tells her to back out. She should have probably listened to her gut. Meeting at a secluded pub, deemed to be the most romantic pub in the Norfolk Broads, their date gets off to a nervous, uncomfortable start. In the dining room there is only one other diner. Otherwise, the place is empty (bar the three staff). During the meal, Amandine starts to feel uneasy about the lone diner. And so she should. Lone Diner is a deeply troubled individual who takes great pleasure in ending the loved-up happiness of couples in the most terrifying, humiliating way possible. And now he has his sights set on Amandine and Connor. As first dates go, this is probably going to be the worst one either of them has ever had…
Blimey! What a highly readable, stress-inducing book First Date is. You think it can’t get any worse for Amandine and Connor, but it does. Time and time again. Amandine, with her spidey-senses, has Lone Diner almost worked out from the first time their eyes meet in the pub. He gives her the heebie-jeebies; he’s antagonistic, but only Amandine can see just how unpleasant, how utterly vile he is. Connor can’t work out why his date (a date he’s built up in his mind to epic proportions!) is so distracted and dismisses Lone Diner as some lonely, harmless creep. By this point, the reader has already been completely repulsed by Lone Diner’s actions. We’re 100% on Amandine’s side. We know that what the couple are dealing with is a lot more dangerous than Connor anticipates. This really isn’t going to end well.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. First Date is packed to the brim with relentless, palpable tension. This is a book that will get under your skin. It’s psychological horror written by an author who really knows what she’s doing. I cannot wait to read more by Gemma Amor. Amandine and Connor are both beautifully flawed. Unapologetically so, and I loved their authenticity. Connor frustrated me on multiple occasions by being blind to Amandine’s concerns. If only he had listened and acted differently! Lone Diner is beyond vile. He physically made my skin crawl. Ugh! Brilliantly written though. All in all, First Date is a consuming, uncomfortable, unsettling read, perfect for fans of survival horror or ramped up, darker than average domestic suspense. Not one for the faint-hearted, that’s for sure. Engrossing, nerve-racking, tension-laden, and pretty darn brutal! Wow. Recommended.
WTAF did I just read? So, this book is categorised on the back cover as ‘crime/domestic suspense’. Well, yes. But it’s so much more than that. I would say it verges on horror, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, as I think Amor is best known for her horror fiction. I actually don’t know what I expected from this book. I mean, it says it’s ‘not a love story’ on the cover, that’s the tagline. Great. I’m really not a fan of romance in my crime fiction but blimey…! I don’t think I was expecting THAT!!
First Date is a gritty, unnerving, edgy novel. An intense battle for survival against a psychotic killer. There’s no prettying the situation up here. No blurring of the horrific edges. It’s a brutal nightmare, come terrifyingly true.
Amandine has never been lucky in love. In fact, she’s never really been in love. She doesn’t feel she ‘fits in’ as other people do. So when she gets talking online to Connor, the chemistry they share is impossible to ignore. Even if Connor is perhaps a little more into Amandine than Amandine is into Connor. The couple arrange to meet. But before the date, Amandine has an attack of the first date nerves. Her gut tells her to back out. She should have probably listened to her gut. Meeting at a secluded pub, deemed to be the most romantic pub in the Norfolk Broads, their date gets off to a nervous, uncomfortable start. In the dining room there is only one other diner. Otherwise, the place is empty (bar the three staff). During the meal, Amandine starts to feel uneasy about the lone diner. And so she should. Lone Diner is a deeply troubled individual who takes great pleasure in ending the loved-up happiness of couples in the most terrifying, humiliating way possible. And now he has his sights set on Amandine and Connor. As first dates go, this is probably going to be the worst one either of them has ever had…
Blimey! What a highly readable, stress-inducing book First Date is. You think it can’t get any worse for Amandine and Connor, but it does. Time and time again. Amandine, with her spidey-senses, has Lone Diner almost worked out from the first time their eyes meet in the pub. He gives her the heebie-jeebies; he’s antagonistic, but only Amandine can see just how unpleasant, how utterly vile he is. Connor can’t work out why his date (a date he’s built up in his mind to epic proportions!) is so distracted and dismisses Lone Diner as some lonely, harmless creep. By this point, the reader has already been completely repulsed by Lone Diner’s actions. We’re 100% on Amandine’s side. We know that what the couple are dealing with is a lot more dangerous than Connor anticipates. This really isn’t going to end well.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. First Date is packed to the brim with relentless, palpable tension. This is a book that will get under your skin. It’s psychological horror written by an author who really knows what she’s doing. I cannot wait to read more by Gemma Amor. Amandine and Connor are both beautifully flawed. Unapologetically so, and I loved their authenticity. Connor frustrated me on multiple occasions by being blind to Amandine’s concerns. If only he had listened and acted differently! Lone Diner is beyond vile. He physically made my skin crawl. Ugh! Brilliantly written though. All in all, First Date is a consuming, uncomfortable, unsettling read, perfect for fans of survival horror or ramped up, darker than average domestic suspense. Not one for the faint-hearted, that’s for sure. Engrossing, nerve-racking, tension-laden, and pretty darn brutal! Wow. Recommended.
February 25, 2026
Norfolk’s worst meet-cute
BWAF Score: 6/10
Gemma Amor writes with a greasy little snap, like the sentences have been marinating in bad wine, worse advice, and the kind of loneliness that makes you think a stranger’s attention is a life raft. First Date is a grimly funny, anxiety-soaked first-date-from-hell that absolutely commits to making you squirm, even if it occasionally defaults to familiar “here comes the next awful beat” timing once the situation turns fucked. Amandine agrees to a dinner date with Connor in the Norfolk Broads, and what starts as awkward small talk and social self-surveillance curdles into a night defined by a third presence, predatory attention, and violence that doesn’t stay metaphorical.
The book’s best move is that the dread begins as social humiliation before it becomes physical threat. Amor nails the early-stage internal monologue where every gesture feels like evidence, every silence feels like judgment, and “normal” is something you’re trying to perform convincingly enough not to get punished. There’s a strong craft control to the way perspective and tension get braided so you keep learning just enough, just late enough, to keep your stomach doing little anxious flips. The sensory palette is reliably gross in a satisfying way, not just gore-for-gore’s sake: food and bodies and cold damp spaces that make everything feel sticky, close, and mean. When it turns nasty, it turns nasty on purpose, and there’s a bleak little humor threaded through the panic that made me laugh and then immediately feel like I needed to rinse my mouth out. This is the rare “dating is scary” setup that actually earns its bite instead of just tossing in a creepy guy and calling it trauma.
My issue with the book is how cleanly it hits its checkpoints once the danger fully declares itself. The escalation is effective, but you can sometimes feel the story shoving the characters from one pressure-cooker moment to the next with the efficiency of a theme-park scare maze. Some of the psychological setup is sharper than the follow-through, meaning the early social dread is more layered than the later action-phase logic, where the choices can start to feel like “well, this is what a horror character does when the author needs the next awful thing to happen.” The villain energy is memorable and disgusting, but it’s also so overtly monstrous that the ambiguity of “is this person safe or not” gets traded for a more straightforward predator-versus-prey track. That’s still entertaining as hell, but it means the book’s most original tension, the everyday uncertainty of dating while vulnerable, gives way to a more familiar survival-nightmare shape.
Readers who want a sharp, nasty, socially keyed-in horror-thriller that’s willing to get bloody and humiliating and doesn’t treat violence like tasteful fog will dig it.
Read if you want a first date that ends with “so anyway, I’m never leaving my house again” and means it.
Skip if don’t want a grim, sweaty nightmare that knows exactly which screw it’s turning next.
BWAF Score: 6/10
Gemma Amor writes with a greasy little snap, like the sentences have been marinating in bad wine, worse advice, and the kind of loneliness that makes you think a stranger’s attention is a life raft. First Date is a grimly funny, anxiety-soaked first-date-from-hell that absolutely commits to making you squirm, even if it occasionally defaults to familiar “here comes the next awful beat” timing once the situation turns fucked. Amandine agrees to a dinner date with Connor in the Norfolk Broads, and what starts as awkward small talk and social self-surveillance curdles into a night defined by a third presence, predatory attention, and violence that doesn’t stay metaphorical.
The book’s best move is that the dread begins as social humiliation before it becomes physical threat. Amor nails the early-stage internal monologue where every gesture feels like evidence, every silence feels like judgment, and “normal” is something you’re trying to perform convincingly enough not to get punished. There’s a strong craft control to the way perspective and tension get braided so you keep learning just enough, just late enough, to keep your stomach doing little anxious flips. The sensory palette is reliably gross in a satisfying way, not just gore-for-gore’s sake: food and bodies and cold damp spaces that make everything feel sticky, close, and mean. When it turns nasty, it turns nasty on purpose, and there’s a bleak little humor threaded through the panic that made me laugh and then immediately feel like I needed to rinse my mouth out. This is the rare “dating is scary” setup that actually earns its bite instead of just tossing in a creepy guy and calling it trauma.
My issue with the book is how cleanly it hits its checkpoints once the danger fully declares itself. The escalation is effective, but you can sometimes feel the story shoving the characters from one pressure-cooker moment to the next with the efficiency of a theme-park scare maze. Some of the psychological setup is sharper than the follow-through, meaning the early social dread is more layered than the later action-phase logic, where the choices can start to feel like “well, this is what a horror character does when the author needs the next awful thing to happen.” The villain energy is memorable and disgusting, but it’s also so overtly monstrous that the ambiguity of “is this person safe or not” gets traded for a more straightforward predator-versus-prey track. That’s still entertaining as hell, but it means the book’s most original tension, the everyday uncertainty of dating while vulnerable, gives way to a more familiar survival-nightmare shape.
Readers who want a sharp, nasty, socially keyed-in horror-thriller that’s willing to get bloody and humiliating and doesn’t treat violence like tasteful fog will dig it.
Read if you want a first date that ends with “so anyway, I’m never leaving my house again” and means it.
Skip if don’t want a grim, sweaty nightmare that knows exactly which screw it’s turning next.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I hate to rate this so low, because I absolutely love everything else I've read by Gemma Amor. ITCH was one of my favorite reads this month, which was why I was so excited going into this one, and maybe why I'm so disappointed that it didn't work for me.
The writing itself was still well done. Gemma can build tension so well, and paint a gross picture beautifully. Dark and way more gruesome than I was expecting. Some parts did kind of feel like maybe they were overly vulgar just for the sake of it, which I didn't love, but it wasn't a huge issue overall for me. It wasn't extreme enough to bother me, and I think those parts of it will be a selling factor for some.
It really dragged in the first half, but I expected that things would pick up once the date began and they crossed paths with the antagonist finally. But it didn't, not really. It was /less/ slowly paced, but still, I think this book could have been so much shorter than it was and would have maybe worked better as a novella.
I don't mind multi POV in books, but I find them difficult to get through when only one of the POV's is enjoyable, like in this case. After finishing, I still can't tell if I was meant to like Connor or not. (I didn't.) Both of them were flawed characters, but I did like Amandine despite this. I kind of wish the book had just been her solo narration instead.
Okay, mild spoilers ahead now.
This is just personal preference, but I didn't find the Lone Diner's POV necessary. Some of his chapters towards the start were fine, and not hard to get through, but it got to a point where they were. There's a chapter at the end where Amandine talks about how she doesn't want to go to the police, because she doesn't want him getting the attention he wanted, and didn't want him getting his story told, or people trying to understand him or feel for him. And while there's a lot we never learn about him, lending to that point, I think it could have been driven home better if we hadn't had to sit through his gross narrations at all. It also just didn't offer much. He wasn't that nuanced or interesting, he hated women and got off on torture, we could have guessed that. We could have easily found things out about him through Amandine's POV instead. But again, perhaps this is just my own preference.
I also am not sure if I was meant to care about her and Connor as a couple or not at the end. (Again, I did not.) I was shocked they got together after all that, not shocked it didn't work, and then shocked again at the hint that maybe they would after all. But that's just a nitpicky thing, not a huge complaint.
Overall, I wanted to like this, but it wasn't for me, unfortunately. I'll absolutely still read anything new from this author, because like I said, I've loved their other work. This was just an outlier.
Thank you to NetGalley and Datura for the ARC.
The writing itself was still well done. Gemma can build tension so well, and paint a gross picture beautifully. Dark and way more gruesome than I was expecting. Some parts did kind of feel like maybe they were overly vulgar just for the sake of it, which I didn't love, but it wasn't a huge issue overall for me. It wasn't extreme enough to bother me, and I think those parts of it will be a selling factor for some.
It really dragged in the first half, but I expected that things would pick up once the date began and they crossed paths with the antagonist finally. But it didn't, not really. It was /less/ slowly paced, but still, I think this book could have been so much shorter than it was and would have maybe worked better as a novella.
I don't mind multi POV in books, but I find them difficult to get through when only one of the POV's is enjoyable, like in this case. After finishing, I still can't tell if I was meant to like Connor or not. (I didn't.) Both of them were flawed characters, but I did like Amandine despite this. I kind of wish the book had just been her solo narration instead.
Okay, mild spoilers ahead now.
This is just personal preference, but I didn't find the Lone Diner's POV necessary. Some of his chapters towards the start were fine, and not hard to get through, but it got to a point where they were. There's a chapter at the end where Amandine talks about how she doesn't want to go to the police, because she doesn't want him getting the attention he wanted, and didn't want him getting his story told, or people trying to understand him or feel for him. And while there's a lot we never learn about him, lending to that point, I think it could have been driven home better if we hadn't had to sit through his gross narrations at all. It also just didn't offer much. He wasn't that nuanced or interesting, he hated women and got off on torture, we could have guessed that. We could have easily found things out about him through Amandine's POV instead. But again, perhaps this is just my own preference.
I also am not sure if I was meant to care about her and Connor as a couple or not at the end. (Again, I did not.) I was shocked they got together after all that, not shocked it didn't work, and then shocked again at the hint that maybe they would after all. But that's just a nitpicky thing, not a huge complaint.
Overall, I wanted to like this, but it wasn't for me, unfortunately. I'll absolutely still read anything new from this author, because like I said, I've loved their other work. This was just an outlier.
Thank you to NetGalley and Datura for the ARC.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2026
One thing I love about Gemma Amor: she does not give a f@#! as evidenced by the opening paragraphs of First Date.
In as many words as I’m taking for this review, she subverts sex, beautiful sunsets over the water, and even good old-fashioned run of the mill serial killing. But she does it using language (for the most part) that lulls you into believing you’re reading classical literature. Don’t fall for it! She’s here to take us on a delightfully disturbing ride.
Cut to: PoVs of a couple about to go on a First Date: Amandine and Connor, and we are looking at both of them through their own as well as each other’s eyes as they get to know each other through text messaging then make the leap to a date IRL (in real life), the first for both of them in a long time (or ever!)
Of course, their date was doomed from the start; even if they hadn’t brought their own baggage, they soon find themselves at the mercy of a sadistic kidnapper and in a fight for survival.
First Date is a novel about trauma - the ingrained trauma from childhoods with abusive or absent parents, the trauma of being different, of loneliness, of the need for connection with another human - in the trappings of a survival horror, in Amor’s hands, an anxiety-inducing thrill ride of its own.
Besides writing a legitimately thrilling survival horror, in First Date, Gemma Amor creates three distinct characters and puts us in their shoes, and even though it’s going to disturb us to varying degrees, she makes us feel what they feel, to the point of making us question all their motives at any given time, which just serves to increase the tension and have me turn the pages even faster to get to the conclusion - well worth the ride.
Randomlings
* Nice Watchmen reference
* Where would modern horror be if people didn’t keep their phones at nearly 0% battery for some reason?
* The most stressful part of an overall tense novel is when Connor dismisses Amandine’s “women’s intuition” about the villain.
In as many words as I’m taking for this review, she subverts sex, beautiful sunsets over the water, and even good old-fashioned run of the mill serial killing. But she does it using language (for the most part) that lulls you into believing you’re reading classical literature. Don’t fall for it! She’s here to take us on a delightfully disturbing ride.
Cut to: PoVs of a couple about to go on a First Date: Amandine and Connor, and we are looking at both of them through their own as well as each other’s eyes as they get to know each other through text messaging then make the leap to a date IRL (in real life), the first for both of them in a long time (or ever!)
Of course, their date was doomed from the start; even if they hadn’t brought their own baggage, they soon find themselves at the mercy of a sadistic kidnapper and in a fight for survival.
First Date is a novel about trauma - the ingrained trauma from childhoods with abusive or absent parents, the trauma of being different, of loneliness, of the need for connection with another human - in the trappings of a survival horror, in Amor’s hands, an anxiety-inducing thrill ride of its own.
Besides writing a legitimately thrilling survival horror, in First Date, Gemma Amor creates three distinct characters and puts us in their shoes, and even though it’s going to disturb us to varying degrees, she makes us feel what they feel, to the point of making us question all their motives at any given time, which just serves to increase the tension and have me turn the pages even faster to get to the conclusion - well worth the ride.
Randomlings
* Nice Watchmen reference
* Where would modern horror be if people didn’t keep their phones at nearly 0% battery for some reason?
* The most stressful part of an overall tense novel is when Connor dismisses Amandine’s “women’s intuition” about the villain.
February 19, 2026
PLEASE never go on a First Date like this....
First Date is one of those books where you keep muttering “oh, this is unhinged” under your breath as you flip the pages. And somehow (and worst of all at times) each chapter ups the ante. Readers Beware The Lone Diner! Absolutely terrifying. His chapters are some of the creepiest I’ve read in a while, getting inside that warped, predatory mindset made my skin crawl. It was stomach turning, terrifying, and disgusting (but I loved it)! The way he watches, stalks, fixates… it’s deeply unsettling, and the brutality he inflicts on his victims turns the tension into something razor‑sharp. What I love is how the book lets you sit in that horror from multiple angles, giving the predator’s perspective in a way that feels like you’ve walked into a room you weren’t supposed to enter.
Then you get our main characters, Amandine & Connor. And honestly? Both main characters are quirky, different, and make for great reading. That’s part of what makes the whole thing so compulsively readable. Amandine is a strange little chaos cloud: neurodivergent, isolated, and full of questionable decisions, even before the nightmare begins. Connor, meanwhile, feels like he’s one bad day away from becoming a problem himself. But the beauty is that these traits don’t detract from the experience; they heighten it. These two messy people stumbling through terror together works. And that ending? Completely wild. Equal parts shocking and darkly humorous, the kind of finale that leaves you blinking at the page like, “Wait… did we really just go there?” It’s unhinged, it’s grisly, it’s weirdly funny, and I had an absolute blast!
First Date is one of those books where you keep muttering “oh, this is unhinged” under your breath as you flip the pages. And somehow (and worst of all at times) each chapter ups the ante. Readers Beware The Lone Diner! Absolutely terrifying. His chapters are some of the creepiest I’ve read in a while, getting inside that warped, predatory mindset made my skin crawl. It was stomach turning, terrifying, and disgusting (but I loved it)! The way he watches, stalks, fixates… it’s deeply unsettling, and the brutality he inflicts on his victims turns the tension into something razor‑sharp. What I love is how the book lets you sit in that horror from multiple angles, giving the predator’s perspective in a way that feels like you’ve walked into a room you weren’t supposed to enter.
Then you get our main characters, Amandine & Connor. And honestly? Both main characters are quirky, different, and make for great reading. That’s part of what makes the whole thing so compulsively readable. Amandine is a strange little chaos cloud: neurodivergent, isolated, and full of questionable decisions, even before the nightmare begins. Connor, meanwhile, feels like he’s one bad day away from becoming a problem himself. But the beauty is that these traits don’t detract from the experience; they heighten it. These two messy people stumbling through terror together works. And that ending? Completely wild. Equal parts shocking and darkly humorous, the kind of finale that leaves you blinking at the page like, “Wait… did we really just go there?” It’s unhinged, it’s grisly, it’s weirdly funny, and I had an absolute blast!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
First Date is a brutal, atmospheric ride that takes the most ordinary of modern experiences—a slightly awkward dinner with a stranger—and twists it into something terrifying. Gemma Amor has a real talent for blending raw emotion with razor‑sharp suspense, and this story showcases that beautifully.
Amandine and Connor are such compelling misfits. Both lonely, both a little bruised by life, both hoping this date might finally be the start of something good. Their early interactions feel tender and real, which makes the sudden shift into horror all the more jarring. When they’re kidnapped and dragged into the wilds of the Norfolk Broads, the book becomes a tense, claustrophobic fight for survival.
What really elevates the story is how much heart Amor weaves into the gore and terror. The killer’s obsession with “happy couples” is chilling, but it’s Amandine and Connor’s uneasy, reluctant partnership that keeps you turning pages. Watching them learn to trust each other under the worst possible circumstances adds emotional weight to every frantic moment.
The setting is wonderfully eerie—isolated, damp, and full of the kind of natural darkness that makes you feel watched even when you’re alone. The pacing is tight, the violence is vivid without feeling gratuitous, and the final question—whether these two strangers can ever truly escape what happened to them—lingers long after the last chapter.
A tense, gory, and unexpectedly moving thriller that fans of character‑driven horror will devour.
With thanks to Gemma Amor, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Amandine and Connor are such compelling misfits. Both lonely, both a little bruised by life, both hoping this date might finally be the start of something good. Their early interactions feel tender and real, which makes the sudden shift into horror all the more jarring. When they’re kidnapped and dragged into the wilds of the Norfolk Broads, the book becomes a tense, claustrophobic fight for survival.
What really elevates the story is how much heart Amor weaves into the gore and terror. The killer’s obsession with “happy couples” is chilling, but it’s Amandine and Connor’s uneasy, reluctant partnership that keeps you turning pages. Watching them learn to trust each other under the worst possible circumstances adds emotional weight to every frantic moment.
The setting is wonderfully eerie—isolated, damp, and full of the kind of natural darkness that makes you feel watched even when you’re alone. The pacing is tight, the violence is vivid without feeling gratuitous, and the final question—whether these two strangers can ever truly escape what happened to them—lingers long after the last chapter.
A tense, gory, and unexpectedly moving thriller that fans of character‑driven horror will devour.
With thanks to Gemma Amor, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Graphic. Gruesome. Gripping.
“First Date” really should have been shelved under Horror as well as Mystery & Thriller. I wouldn’t have touched it had it been—and that would have been a mistake. An entirely self-protective, sensible mistake, but a mistake nonetheless.
I got no enjoyment whatsoever from reading most of this book, but damned if I could stop. This is the literary equivalent of watching something through your fingers while whispering oh no every few pages.
Gemma Amor has an unpleasantly effective gift for putting the reader exactly where they don’t want to be: in the Broads, on the jetty, in the car, steeped in that sour, creeping smell of wrong. Her descriptions are visceral to the point of rudeness—graphic, relentless, and absolutely not interested in your comfort. My stomach turned more than once, and not metaphorically.
I am not a Horror reader, and nothing here has converted me. What it has done is make it abundantly clear that Gemma Amor knows precisely what she’s doing. This is horror wielded with confidence and control, and that’s arguably worse.
Deeply unpleasant, ruthlessly effective, and proof that Gemma Amor knows exactly how to ruin your evening.
My thanks to NetGalley and Datura for the DRC of “First Date” by Gemma Amor.
“First Date” is due to be published and available on Amazon 10 February 2026.
“First Date” really should have been shelved under Horror as well as Mystery & Thriller. I wouldn’t have touched it had it been—and that would have been a mistake. An entirely self-protective, sensible mistake, but a mistake nonetheless.
I got no enjoyment whatsoever from reading most of this book, but damned if I could stop. This is the literary equivalent of watching something through your fingers while whispering oh no every few pages.
Gemma Amor has an unpleasantly effective gift for putting the reader exactly where they don’t want to be: in the Broads, on the jetty, in the car, steeped in that sour, creeping smell of wrong. Her descriptions are visceral to the point of rudeness—graphic, relentless, and absolutely not interested in your comfort. My stomach turned more than once, and not metaphorically.
I am not a Horror reader, and nothing here has converted me. What it has done is make it abundantly clear that Gemma Amor knows precisely what she’s doing. This is horror wielded with confidence and control, and that’s arguably worse.
Deeply unpleasant, ruthlessly effective, and proof that Gemma Amor knows exactly how to ruin your evening.
My thanks to NetGalley and Datura for the DRC of “First Date” by Gemma Amor.
“First Date” is due to be published and available on Amazon 10 February 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"What's the worst thing that could happen in fifteen minutes?"
Gemma Amor's novel is about Amandine. After years of loneliness she takes a leap of faith and enters the dating pool. After many disappointments, it seems her luck has changed when she meets Connor, another lonely heart. What begins as a dinner date ends in a night they will never forget. A serial killer has them pinned as his target. He has a thing for happy couples and wants to act upon his depraved desires. This becomes a race for survival for Amandine and Connor, the biggest question is will they survive if they are able to escape?
This is a fast paced thriller that did have me repulsed at the serial killer's antics and motives. The main couple in this story share more than they realise, their pasts are relatable including the struggles they are trying to face and move forward from.
The author does great work in presenting the darker parts of the characters backstories. The atmosphere of dread is forever present, it's like the reader is waiting for it to get worse and worse which is truly does.
Overall this was a fast paced horror thriller that would appeal to many readers.
Many thanks to @netgalley and @daturabooks for the copy.
Gemma Amor's novel is about Amandine. After years of loneliness she takes a leap of faith and enters the dating pool. After many disappointments, it seems her luck has changed when she meets Connor, another lonely heart. What begins as a dinner date ends in a night they will never forget. A serial killer has them pinned as his target. He has a thing for happy couples and wants to act upon his depraved desires. This becomes a race for survival for Amandine and Connor, the biggest question is will they survive if they are able to escape?
This is a fast paced thriller that did have me repulsed at the serial killer's antics and motives. The main couple in this story share more than they realise, their pasts are relatable including the struggles they are trying to face and move forward from.
The author does great work in presenting the darker parts of the characters backstories. The atmosphere of dread is forever present, it's like the reader is waiting for it to get worse and worse which is truly does.
Overall this was a fast paced horror thriller that would appeal to many readers.
Many thanks to @netgalley and @daturabooks for the copy.
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