What do you think?
Rate this book
This B Just Won't Die!: A Novel
This humorous, heart-pounding, feminist slasher follows an aging scream queen as she is pursued by a serial killer mimicking the murders from her horror films.
In this darkly humorous love letter to the slasher film and the iconic doll, aging scream queen Barbra Jacobs desperately wants to break out of the box Hollywood has neatly packaged her in. Cast as the star of the Mirror horror franchise films twenty years ago, the role that shaped her career has also destroyed her dreams of being taken seriously as an actress. Now forty, and still seeking the approval of everyone around her, Barb makes her living signing old photos of herself and doing meet and greets at horror conventions.
When a producer calls her to ask about hosting The Monsters We Made, a hot new horror docuseries, she sees it as a step in the right direction. But when fans begin dying around her—and in ways that mimic the kills in her films—Barb is thrust back into a role she can’t seem to walk away the final girl.
Will she ever break out of the display-box life, or will Mirror Man end it all in Barbie’s Scream House?
In this darkly humorous love letter to the slasher film and the iconic doll, aging scream queen Barbra Jacobs desperately wants to break out of the box Hollywood has neatly packaged her in. Cast as the star of the Mirror horror franchise films twenty years ago, the role that shaped her career has also destroyed her dreams of being taken seriously as an actress. Now forty, and still seeking the approval of everyone around her, Barb makes her living signing old photos of herself and doing meet and greets at horror conventions.
When a producer calls her to ask about hosting The Monsters We Made, a hot new horror docuseries, she sees it as a step in the right direction. But when fans begin dying around her—and in ways that mimic the kills in her films—Barb is thrust back into a role she can’t seem to walk away the final girl.
Will she ever break out of the display-box life, or will Mirror Man end it all in Barbie’s Scream House?
Audible Audio
First published September 13, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I`m not normally big on slashers, unless they’re of the splatter kind with kill scenes that are so over the top you have to laugh but the cover of this one had me curious and when I read that the main character was a menopausal woman I was just too curious not to request it. I’m certainly glad I did because this book was a lot of fun.
I blew through this book in one evening and I would have happily read another 100 pages of it. Pell’s writing style is smooth and easy to read. Reading this book really made me want to read more of her work.
I loved Barbra. The way she was still trying to figure out her own identity as a middle-aged woman and still feeling tapped in what she used to be so long ago, that felt very of our generation and oddly relatable. It wasn’t just Barb though, all the characters were pretty solid in their own way.
The sense of humor was fantastic, the timing of it was absolutely chef’s kiss. It prevented the topics explored from feeling hamfisted and forced. After all isn’t it how we cope with them in our daily lives?
The pacing in general was really solid in a steady build up where the characters were steadily solidified in bits and pieces sort of way up until the end where it sort of just frayed apart, that’s really my only problem with this book, I wasn’t super keen on how the ending was handled even though it was a pretty decent ending.
I blew through this book in one evening and I would have happily read another 100 pages of it. Pell’s writing style is smooth and easy to read. Reading this book really made me want to read more of her work.
I loved Barbra. The way she was still trying to figure out her own identity as a middle-aged woman and still feeling tapped in what she used to be so long ago, that felt very of our generation and oddly relatable. It wasn’t just Barb though, all the characters were pretty solid in their own way.
The sense of humor was fantastic, the timing of it was absolutely chef’s kiss. It prevented the topics explored from feeling hamfisted and forced. After all isn’t it how we cope with them in our daily lives?
The pacing in general was really solid in a steady build up where the characters were steadily solidified in bits and pieces sort of way up until the end where it sort of just frayed apart, that’s really my only problem with this book, I wasn’t super keen on how the ending was handled even though it was a pretty decent ending.
October 20, 2026
Man, this book was fun! I loved our middle-aged screen queen, Barb, and loved her transparency about her aging body, her aging career, and her self-doubt. Watching her turn from a people pleaser into Female Rage Barbie was a pure joy. The nods to horror throughout were just icing on the cake. Highly recommend.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Review in the August 2026 issue of Booklist and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2026/08...
Three Words That Describe This Book: Final Girl Trope, Pink (Feminist) Horror, Conversational Tone
This is a great example of the meta type of final girl story where a final girl scream queen becomes a real life final girl. It has all the parts fans of this trope want, inside info about final girl movies, nods to the "rules" within the genre, mystery as to who the killer is, etc... Readers love that they know what beats of the story are coming and Barb here, she knows too and still even s she tries to avoid the known traps, still gets caught up in them.
This one doubled down on Barb (Barbie) who played Debbie in 6 movies as part of the Mirror Man film franchise. She is now aging and living off the fame of being Debbie, the well known and loved final girl. She wishes she had more of an acting career and is definitely not dealing well with her own aging, but the chance to do a docuseries about her franchise for it's 20th Anniversary and the chance to be taken more seriously draws her in to the world of the franchise again.
Many people die here FYI. And the resolution as to who is behind it all was satisfying and original. The details are put in here very well to make the entire story worth the read and the payoff.
Pink Horror-- This is the term being given to this new but very overdue type of horror that is written by women who are angry, women who write horror that is violent and nuanced and terrifying but also satisfying for anyone to read. These are not cozy stories. they are deadly, terrifying, and immersive in the fear they create but they also plumb serious issues of being a woman in a world that thinks you are weak or lesser, a society that judges you by how pretty you are, how little space you take up, how you can't be too much or men won't enjoy looking at you and isn't that the whole point if you existing. These authors all scream NO while telling stories with real terrifying teeth. It is a change from the past, and I for one am here for it.
We women had to read the dude versions of these stories forever. If we could read those, men can read these. And they will because they are good.
This obviously is filled with satire as well. It is both a love letter too and a skewering of the final girls movie, the conscious creation of the scream queen, and the desire by the male gaze to keep her in that role forever. This is hammered home in the con scenes.
It is also written in a conversational tone which will draw readers in to Barbie's pov very easily. Coupled with short chapters, readers will breeze through this novel.
This is a great read for all final girl trope readers but especially those who like Final Gril Suport Group by Grady Hendrix and people who like the feminist, scary, thought provoking horror of Rachel Harrison. Anything she writes.
Other authors who do this very well are C.J. Leede and Gwendolyn Kiste.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Final Girl Trope, Pink (Feminist) Horror, Conversational Tone
This is a great example of the meta type of final girl story where a final girl scream queen becomes a real life final girl. It has all the parts fans of this trope want, inside info about final girl movies, nods to the "rules" within the genre, mystery as to who the killer is, etc... Readers love that they know what beats of the story are coming and Barb here, she knows too and still even s she tries to avoid the known traps, still gets caught up in them.
This one doubled down on Barb (Barbie) who played Debbie in 6 movies as part of the Mirror Man film franchise. She is now aging and living off the fame of being Debbie, the well known and loved final girl. She wishes she had more of an acting career and is definitely not dealing well with her own aging, but the chance to do a docuseries about her franchise for it's 20th Anniversary and the chance to be taken more seriously draws her in to the world of the franchise again.
Many people die here FYI. And the resolution as to who is behind it all was satisfying and original. The details are put in here very well to make the entire story worth the read and the payoff.
Pink Horror-- This is the term being given to this new but very overdue type of horror that is written by women who are angry, women who write horror that is violent and nuanced and terrifying but also satisfying for anyone to read. These are not cozy stories. they are deadly, terrifying, and immersive in the fear they create but they also plumb serious issues of being a woman in a world that thinks you are weak or lesser, a society that judges you by how pretty you are, how little space you take up, how you can't be too much or men won't enjoy looking at you and isn't that the whole point if you existing. These authors all scream NO while telling stories with real terrifying teeth. It is a change from the past, and I for one am here for it.
We women had to read the dude versions of these stories forever. If we could read those, men can read these. And they will because they are good.
This obviously is filled with satire as well. It is both a love letter too and a skewering of the final girls movie, the conscious creation of the scream queen, and the desire by the male gaze to keep her in that role forever. This is hammered home in the con scenes.
It is also written in a conversational tone which will draw readers in to Barbie's pov very easily. Coupled with short chapters, readers will breeze through this novel.
This is a great read for all final girl trope readers but especially those who like Final Gril Suport Group by Grady Hendrix and people who like the feminist, scary, thought provoking horror of Rachel Harrison. Anything she writes.
Other authors who do this very well are C.J. Leede and Gwendolyn Kiste.
October 19, 2026
I was obsessed with the concept AND THE COVER of this one, but unfortunately it wasn't my favorite.
I love the exploration of aging in Hollywood and the "final girl" trope, but the level of self-loathing by the main character definitely damped the dark humor and satirical nature of the story, and just become super repetitive. She's 40 not 70? You can still be super hot and have a successful career.
I also felt that the writing came across a bit forced and disjointed. It took a long long time to hook me to the plot, and then I felt the reveals were super predictable. I wish there was more character development instead of spending half the book in the depressing inner monologue of the main character!
Something was just missing for me in this one overall, but it's a super quirky and fun spooky read to add to your Halloween TBR!
I love the exploration of aging in Hollywood and the "final girl" trope, but the level of self-loathing by the main character definitely damped the dark humor and satirical nature of the story, and just become super repetitive. She's 40 not 70? You can still be super hot and have a successful career.
I also felt that the writing came across a bit forced and disjointed. It took a long long time to hook me to the plot, and then I felt the reveals were super predictable. I wish there was more character development instead of spending half the book in the depressing inner monologue of the main character!
Something was just missing for me in this one overall, but it's a super quirky and fun spooky read to add to your Halloween TBR!
March 24, 2026
3.75 Stars
While obviously the feminism felt very surface level and in your face, it worked for the story being told here. Satirical horror romp that was tons of fun. I had a blast while reading this.
It was funny and a little bloody. Honestly, I love women who love horror and i love women who write horror. And yes slashers are for the girls, BUT something about a pink horror slasher just sits right in my heart. Barbie Just Won't Die! fed me very well. It was exactly what I expected and just what I needed.
I think the only issue I had was that maybe it was a bit too long because it started to become repetitive, and it felt a tiny bit slow and that some areas dragged.
Thank you to Gallery Books and netgalley for the arc.
While obviously the feminism felt very surface level and in your face, it worked for the story being told here. Satirical horror romp that was tons of fun. I had a blast while reading this.
It was funny and a little bloody. Honestly, I love women who love horror and i love women who write horror. And yes slashers are for the girls, BUT something about a pink horror slasher just sits right in my heart. Barbie Just Won't Die! fed me very well. It was exactly what I expected and just what I needed.
I think the only issue I had was that maybe it was a bit too long because it started to become repetitive, and it felt a tiny bit slow and that some areas dragged.
Thank you to Gallery Books and netgalley for the arc.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Review of advanced copy from Netgalley.
Barb Jacobs is a final girl. Or at least she played one opposite uber-villain Mirror Man for 6 films. And now she spends her time signing pictures of her nubile self whilst men tell her how attractive she used to be. But when people start dying in real life around her, Barb is forced to play her role again, with much higher stakes this time.
Barb Jacobs Just Won't Die is a fun, campy, meta slasher novel, with funny one liners and creepy, tense scenes. I really enjoyed this one, read it in a single sitting and could have read more. The big reveal isn't a huge gasp-worthy moment but that doesn't matter because the reading experience is entertaining enough to overcome that.
Highly recommended for fans of Grady Hendrix and E.L. Chen.
Thanks again to Atlantic Books and Netgalley for this ARC.
Barb Jacobs is a final girl. Or at least she played one opposite uber-villain Mirror Man for 6 films. And now she spends her time signing pictures of her nubile self whilst men tell her how attractive she used to be. But when people start dying in real life around her, Barb is forced to play her role again, with much higher stakes this time.
Barb Jacobs Just Won't Die is a fun, campy, meta slasher novel, with funny one liners and creepy, tense scenes. I really enjoyed this one, read it in a single sitting and could have read more. The big reveal isn't a huge gasp-worthy moment but that doesn't matter because the reading experience is entertaining enough to overcome that.
Highly recommended for fans of Grady Hendrix and E.L. Chen.
Thanks again to Atlantic Books and Netgalley for this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Campy, outrageous, and satirical—fans of horror-comedies like the Scary Movie franchise, Happy Death Day, and Rachel Harrison—THIS B JUST WON’T DIE! is a must-read!
Not going to lie, but the cover immediately sold me prior to knowing anything about the plot. 😂 Thank you @gallerybooks for my gifted copy!
Neve Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis watch out, because Barbra Jacobs is the final girl of all final girls! Former scream queen from the Mirror Man series, Barbra Jacobs is desperate to escape the horror franchise that defined her career, but a chance to reinvent herself by hosting a buzzy new horror docuseries takes a deadly turn when fans begin dying in ways that mimic the kills from her movies. Hunted by a serial killer impersonating the infamous Mirror Man, Barb must once again become the Final Girl while confronting the misogynistic expectations and Hollywood pressures that have kept her trapped for decades.
This book is less thrillery and horror and more comedy and satirical. I think the cover sells the story that way, but just make sure you know that before picking it up. Barbra is an awesome protagonist and final girl and I loved getting to know her. Even though this book steers more the comedy route, there’s action and bloodshed with many killings à la slasher vibes. I had a blast from start-to-finish and I’m unsure if the author will return back to this world, but if it’s a chance to hangout with Barbra again, I’m all for it! STARS: 4, PUB: 10/13
Not going to lie, but the cover immediately sold me prior to knowing anything about the plot. 😂 Thank you @gallerybooks for my gifted copy!
Neve Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis watch out, because Barbra Jacobs is the final girl of all final girls! Former scream queen from the Mirror Man series, Barbra Jacobs is desperate to escape the horror franchise that defined her career, but a chance to reinvent herself by hosting a buzzy new horror docuseries takes a deadly turn when fans begin dying in ways that mimic the kills from her movies. Hunted by a serial killer impersonating the infamous Mirror Man, Barb must once again become the Final Girl while confronting the misogynistic expectations and Hollywood pressures that have kept her trapped for decades.
This book is less thrillery and horror and more comedy and satirical. I think the cover sells the story that way, but just make sure you know that before picking it up. Barbra is an awesome protagonist and final girl and I loved getting to know her. Even though this book steers more the comedy route, there’s action and bloodshed with many killings à la slasher vibes. I had a blast from start-to-finish and I’m unsure if the author will return back to this world, but if it’s a chance to hangout with Barbra again, I’m all for it! STARS: 4, PUB: 10/13
July 23, 2026
Thank you Tanya and Gallery for my free ARC of This B Just Won't Die! by Tanya Pell — out Oct 13!
» READ IF YOU «
🔪 love a perimenopausal final girl who's painfully self-aware
🩸 want your slasher doing sharp commentary on feminism
💅 can’t resist potatoes, noise-cancelling airpods, or anything pink
» SYNOPSIS «
Barbra Jacobs was everybody’s favorite scream queen, beloved final girl of the Mirror Man franchise. But that was twenty years ago, and she was never able to break free from that one role. Now perimenopausal and scraping by on convention appearances and photo signings, she thinks hosting a new horror series might finally give her career a much-needed boost. But when fans start dying in kills that mirror her own in the films, Barb will be dragged back into the role she's spent decades trying to escape: Final Girl.
» REVIEW «
I am genuinely obsessed with Barb. Pell gives us a final girl who knows exactly what genre she's stuck in—not only has she SEEN the movies, she’s BEEN the girl who makes it out alive. But in real life, surviving a deranged killer turns out to be so much messier and harder than any script ever let on. Watching Barb bloom from someone chasing everyone else's approval into someone who's done being anyone's disposable scream queen is eeeeasily one of my favorite character journeys in horror this year. You will adore her, or your money back. Probably. Maybe. I can't promise that, okay?
What truly gets me excited about this book, though, is how much Pell manages to say underneath all the glitter and the gore—about aging, about dreams, about the world discarding women the second they stop being useful to the male gaze—without ever once losing her signature levity. This book is funny. It's campy in exactly the right ways. And yet, despite the humor and the slashing, it still finds room for real feminist teeth and honest self-actualization, which is such a hard balance to strike. Plus, the plot itself is wonderfully paced and full of delightful (and some decidedly less-so) characters. This is Pell at her absolute best.
One of my top for the year, without a doubt!
» RATING «
🩸 I'm Reborn 🩸
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
• Revenge (2017 film)
• Molka by Monika Kim
• Dollface by Lindy Ryan
» READ IF YOU «
🔪 love a perimenopausal final girl who's painfully self-aware
🩸 want your slasher doing sharp commentary on feminism
💅 can’t resist potatoes, noise-cancelling airpods, or anything pink
» SYNOPSIS «
Barbra Jacobs was everybody’s favorite scream queen, beloved final girl of the Mirror Man franchise. But that was twenty years ago, and she was never able to break free from that one role. Now perimenopausal and scraping by on convention appearances and photo signings, she thinks hosting a new horror series might finally give her career a much-needed boost. But when fans start dying in kills that mirror her own in the films, Barb will be dragged back into the role she's spent decades trying to escape: Final Girl.
» REVIEW «
I am genuinely obsessed with Barb. Pell gives us a final girl who knows exactly what genre she's stuck in—not only has she SEEN the movies, she’s BEEN the girl who makes it out alive. But in real life, surviving a deranged killer turns out to be so much messier and harder than any script ever let on. Watching Barb bloom from someone chasing everyone else's approval into someone who's done being anyone's disposable scream queen is eeeeasily one of my favorite character journeys in horror this year. You will adore her, or your money back. Probably. Maybe. I can't promise that, okay?
What truly gets me excited about this book, though, is how much Pell manages to say underneath all the glitter and the gore—about aging, about dreams, about the world discarding women the second they stop being useful to the male gaze—without ever once losing her signature levity. This book is funny. It's campy in exactly the right ways. And yet, despite the humor and the slashing, it still finds room for real feminist teeth and honest self-actualization, which is such a hard balance to strike. Plus, the plot itself is wonderfully paced and full of delightful (and some decidedly less-so) characters. This is Pell at her absolute best.
One of my top for the year, without a doubt!
» RATING «
🩸 I'm Reborn 🩸
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
• Revenge (2017 film)
• Molka by Monika Kim
• Dollface by Lindy Ryan
Did Not Finish
October 27, 2026Have you ever watched a slasher where the final girl speaks a monologue direct to camera for the entire film? Of course not, this is why first person narration doesn’t work in this kind of book, yet writers keep right on doing it.
October 8, 2026
This was an entertaining and funny read. The dark humor really got me. I feel like this theme and plot has been done so many times before but the satire and dark humor truly made it feel like it was one of its own.
Barb is 40 and feels like a washed up final girl actress. Searching for more in her career and never achieving it Barb finds herself attending fan expos where she signs cast photos of herself from her hit slasher movies from years ago. When people around Barb start getting picked off one by one in a familiar way to the characters in her movies Barb has to use her final girl acting skills in real life.
Entertaining and whitty to say the least but when it comes to slasher / horror read pretty by the book and like any other. Read for the humor for sure.
Thank you Simon Audio for my gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own.
Barb is 40 and feels like a washed up final girl actress. Searching for more in her career and never achieving it Barb finds herself attending fan expos where she signs cast photos of herself from her hit slasher movies from years ago. When people around Barb start getting picked off one by one in a familiar way to the characters in her movies Barb has to use her final girl acting skills in real life.
Entertaining and whitty to say the least but when it comes to slasher / horror read pretty by the book and like any other. Read for the humor for sure.
Thank you Simon Audio for my gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own.
July 29, 2026
I have read so many feminist horrors and what I have learned is that the real horror is just being a woman.
This B Just Won’t Die follows Barb, an aging final girl from a very popular horror franchise. Barb has been in Hollywood for 20 years and has always just been Debbie her character. But that takes on a whole new meaning when she finds herself at the centre of a murder spree and the killer is mirror man- the killer from her franchise.
There is so much to unpack here- Barb’s story was so engaging. Not only are we at the centre of a good ole’ fashioned slasher narrative, we are also navigating the mess that is being a woman in Hollywood. Barb having come from a troubled family, has more baggage than most and has not accepted age gracefully. Throughout the story, we see her battle with her identity and watch her try and fail to differentiate between her and the iconic Debbie. Having spent so much of her life just being what society expects from her, she finds herself at a loss with who she even is in the first place.
Tanya Pell gives us a lot with this novel. But what really resonated was Barb’s monologue about being grateful. Because it’s true, as women, no matter how hard we work, we are expected to be grateful for what we have or what we have achieved. As if it’s so out of the realm of possibility we just have to be thankful that it happened.
Honestly horror is the perfectly vessel for these kinds of critiques and commentaries. This B Just Won’t Die was well thought out and executed. I enjoyed every moment of it. This is the perfect fall season read and I highly recommend it!
This B Just Won’t Die follows Barb, an aging final girl from a very popular horror franchise. Barb has been in Hollywood for 20 years and has always just been Debbie her character. But that takes on a whole new meaning when she finds herself at the centre of a murder spree and the killer is mirror man- the killer from her franchise.
There is so much to unpack here- Barb’s story was so engaging. Not only are we at the centre of a good ole’ fashioned slasher narrative, we are also navigating the mess that is being a woman in Hollywood. Barb having come from a troubled family, has more baggage than most and has not accepted age gracefully. Throughout the story, we see her battle with her identity and watch her try and fail to differentiate between her and the iconic Debbie. Having spent so much of her life just being what society expects from her, she finds herself at a loss with who she even is in the first place.
Tanya Pell gives us a lot with this novel. But what really resonated was Barb’s monologue about being grateful. Because it’s true, as women, no matter how hard we work, we are expected to be grateful for what we have or what we have achieved. As if it’s so out of the realm of possibility we just have to be thankful that it happened.
Honestly horror is the perfectly vessel for these kinds of critiques and commentaries. This B Just Won’t Die was well thought out and executed. I enjoyed every moment of it. This is the perfect fall season read and I highly recommend it!
April 15, 2026
Great slasher and several excellent moments of tension. Enjoyed the commentary and thoughts on perimenopausal women in society!
October 16, 2026
This sounded right up my alley, with its campy pink cover and a 40 year old FMC, but WOOF, it leaned hard into body dysmorphia and low self esteem issues, which took away a lot of the fun for me.
Barbara is an aging (insert eye roll here 🙄) Scream Queen from a successful horror movie franchise spanning 20 years, and after a killing at a convention she was attending, her fellow cast mates start getting picked off by a Mirror Man copycat at a filming of a docuseries.
It was a little difficult to keep all the characters straight once they were introduced, and figure out how they were connected to the original movie or the docuseries. I have as much body image issues as the next elder millenial, but Barbara took it to the extreme, and after the third mention of nasolabial folds my eyes glazed over and I stopped empathizing. The Mirror of the monster's mask and the fear of looking in the mirror as an aging woman is about as on the nose as you can get for a metaphor, so is it really satire at that point? The copycat killer's identity also seemed pretty obvious to me from the start, but I questioned the motive.
I listened at 2x speed and enjoyed Natalie Naudus's narration, thinking she did a good job bringing Barbara's personality to life, but the story itself fell a little flat for me. All in all, a standard slasher that followed the formula, and while I agreed with the social commentary 100%, felt it was done in too heavy handed of a manner to be effective.
💖🪩 Thank you @simon.audio #SimonAudioInfluencer for the free ALC and @gallerybooks #GalleryPartner for the advanced copy
Barbara is an aging (insert eye roll here 🙄) Scream Queen from a successful horror movie franchise spanning 20 years, and after a killing at a convention she was attending, her fellow cast mates start getting picked off by a Mirror Man copycat at a filming of a docuseries.
It was a little difficult to keep all the characters straight once they were introduced, and figure out how they were connected to the original movie or the docuseries. I have as much body image issues as the next elder millenial, but Barbara took it to the extreme, and after the third mention of nasolabial folds my eyes glazed over and I stopped empathizing. The Mirror of the monster's mask and the fear of looking in the mirror as an aging woman is about as on the nose as you can get for a metaphor, so is it really satire at that point? The copycat killer's identity also seemed pretty obvious to me from the start, but I questioned the motive.
I listened at 2x speed and enjoyed Natalie Naudus's narration, thinking she did a good job bringing Barbara's personality to life, but the story itself fell a little flat for me. All in all, a standard slasher that followed the formula, and while I agreed with the social commentary 100%, felt it was done in too heavy handed of a manner to be effective.
💖🪩 Thank you @simon.audio #SimonAudioInfluencer for the free ALC and @gallerybooks #GalleryPartner for the advanced copy
Did Not Finish
October 20, 2026Not for me :(
October 4, 2026
hank you so much to Gallery Books for this ARC & Simon Audio for this ALC! 🖤🔪
Out 10/13/26!
Okay, first of all — THIS COVER. It had my attention immediately. 😂 I love it so much. It’s fun, it’s giving spooky season perfection, and it is just SUCH a vibe.
Then I flipped it over, read the synopsis, saw Halloween meets Barbie and thought, SAY LESS. I am sold. 😂
I started this one physically and eventually moved over to the audio because… mom life. And I really, really, REALLY wanted to love it. The concept sounded so perfectly up my alley, but unfortunately, it ended up just being okay for me.
That absolutely does NOT mean I don’t think you should pick it up, though! There is so much about this book that is genuinely fun. I loved following Barbra as she navigates life as a former scream queen who has never quite been able to escape the horror franchise that made her famous. Twenty years later, she’s still signing photos at horror conventions and trying to prove she can be more than the Final Girl everyone knows her as— and then people around her start dying in ways that look suspiciously similar to the kills from her movies. 👀
I mean… COME ON. Such a fun setup.
But something was just missing for me. I never really connected with any of the characters enough to feel super invested in what happened to them, and the story felt a little too drawn out. I know I’ve said this about quite a few books lately, but I really think this could have been 50–100 pages shorter. It felt like I was waiting a longggg time for things to really get moving, and by the time they did, I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.
I did really enjoy the horror-movie nostalgia, the scream queen/Final Girl anglenand the commentary surrounding women in Hollywood and the boxes they're expected to fit into. There are some really fun ideas here, and I can absolutely see this one working better for another reader— especially if you love slashers that lean a little campy and satirical.
For me, though, I just wanted MORE from it. More tension, more attachment to the characters, and maybe just a little less time getting to the good stuff.
Still, Halloween meets Barbie + a former scream queen + a killer recreating murders from her old movies?! Yeahhhh, I still think my horror-loving friends are going to want this one on their spooky season TBR. 😂🔪🩷
Out 10/13/26!
Okay, first of all — THIS COVER. It had my attention immediately. 😂 I love it so much. It’s fun, it’s giving spooky season perfection, and it is just SUCH a vibe.
Then I flipped it over, read the synopsis, saw Halloween meets Barbie and thought, SAY LESS. I am sold. 😂
I started this one physically and eventually moved over to the audio because… mom life. And I really, really, REALLY wanted to love it. The concept sounded so perfectly up my alley, but unfortunately, it ended up just being okay for me.
That absolutely does NOT mean I don’t think you should pick it up, though! There is so much about this book that is genuinely fun. I loved following Barbra as she navigates life as a former scream queen who has never quite been able to escape the horror franchise that made her famous. Twenty years later, she’s still signing photos at horror conventions and trying to prove she can be more than the Final Girl everyone knows her as— and then people around her start dying in ways that look suspiciously similar to the kills from her movies. 👀
I mean… COME ON. Such a fun setup.
But something was just missing for me. I never really connected with any of the characters enough to feel super invested in what happened to them, and the story felt a little too drawn out. I know I’ve said this about quite a few books lately, but I really think this could have been 50–100 pages shorter. It felt like I was waiting a longggg time for things to really get moving, and by the time they did, I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.
I did really enjoy the horror-movie nostalgia, the scream queen/Final Girl anglenand the commentary surrounding women in Hollywood and the boxes they're expected to fit into. There are some really fun ideas here, and I can absolutely see this one working better for another reader— especially if you love slashers that lean a little campy and satirical.
For me, though, I just wanted MORE from it. More tension, more attachment to the characters, and maybe just a little less time getting to the good stuff.
Still, Halloween meets Barbie + a former scream queen + a killer recreating murders from her old movies?! Yeahhhh, I still think my horror-loving friends are going to want this one on their spooky season TBR. 😂🔪🩷
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This B Just Won't Die! 💄
✨review✨ thank you so much @simon.audio @gallerybooks for the free audiobook!
*and the friend who gifted me their ARC*
This B Just Won't Die!
by Tanya Pell
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
out 10/13/26!
This humorous, heart-pounding, feminist slasher follows an aging scream queen as she is pursued by a serial killer mimicking the murders from her horror films.
✨ My thoughts:
This was one of those books I absolutely could not wait to read, so when I saw it was an option from Simon Audio, I knew I had to snag it. And mannnn, this was SO dang fun!First, the audiobook narrator was amazing. She pulled me and kept me hanging onto every word. I ended up basically binging the audiobook. And I would absolutely listen to more books narrated by her. The story gave me EVERYTHING I wanted from that cover. Halloween meets Barbie? Hell yes. The whole thing was a fun, bloody romp, but what I loved most was that underneath all the slasher chaos, Barbara was incredibly human.I LOVED Barbara. I saw pieces of myself in her… someone who has spent so much time worrying about what everyone else thinks and trying to figure out who she really is. Because beneath the blood, she’s just a woman trying to figure out where she belongs and who she wants to be. Aren’t we all doing that? I sure as hell am. And I HAVE to mention the little Jade Daniels nod. Even if it was just a piece of clothing, I caught it—and as someone who absolutely LOVES Stephen Graham Jones, I was delighted. I’m so happy I loved this one as much as I thought I would. I already know I’m going to be recommending this one to my horror loving friends all spooky season long. If you’re looking for a fun slasher with a whole lot of personality, a killer audiobook, and a final girl you can’t help but root for… ADD THIS ONE TO YOUR TBR.
What to expect👇🏽
🔪 Slasher
🎬 Horror movie
💄 Final girl energy
🎧 Fantastic audiobook
🖤 Self-discovery + identity
Happy reading 📖🔪🩸💄
✨review✨ thank you so much @simon.audio @gallerybooks for the free audiobook!
*and the friend who gifted me their ARC*
This B Just Won't Die!
by Tanya Pell
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
out 10/13/26!
This humorous, heart-pounding, feminist slasher follows an aging scream queen as she is pursued by a serial killer mimicking the murders from her horror films.
✨ My thoughts:
This was one of those books I absolutely could not wait to read, so when I saw it was an option from Simon Audio, I knew I had to snag it. And mannnn, this was SO dang fun!First, the audiobook narrator was amazing. She pulled me and kept me hanging onto every word. I ended up basically binging the audiobook. And I would absolutely listen to more books narrated by her. The story gave me EVERYTHING I wanted from that cover. Halloween meets Barbie? Hell yes. The whole thing was a fun, bloody romp, but what I loved most was that underneath all the slasher chaos, Barbara was incredibly human.I LOVED Barbara. I saw pieces of myself in her… someone who has spent so much time worrying about what everyone else thinks and trying to figure out who she really is. Because beneath the blood, she’s just a woman trying to figure out where she belongs and who she wants to be. Aren’t we all doing that? I sure as hell am. And I HAVE to mention the little Jade Daniels nod. Even if it was just a piece of clothing, I caught it—and as someone who absolutely LOVES Stephen Graham Jones, I was delighted. I’m so happy I loved this one as much as I thought I would. I already know I’m going to be recommending this one to my horror loving friends all spooky season long. If you’re looking for a fun slasher with a whole lot of personality, a killer audiobook, and a final girl you can’t help but root for… ADD THIS ONE TO YOUR TBR.
What to expect👇🏽
🔪 Slasher
🎬 Horror movie
💄 Final girl energy
🎧 Fantastic audiobook
🖤 Self-discovery + identity
Happy reading 📖🔪🩸💄
October 22, 2026
*audiobook
🔪💄🩸𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎🩸💄🔪
THIS B JUST WON’T DIE
by
TANYA PELL
Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon Audio / Libro FM
Pub Date: 10/13/2026
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)
“The final girl is still a victim. They only let her live another day so they can try again tomorrow.”
“She was still a final girl, a perimenopause final girl.”
Thanks to Gallery Books / Simon Audio / Libro FM for my gifted copy of this one in exchange for my honest thoughts.
So I’m coming at you with another female rage novel. I’m def in my female rage era - it’s invigorating to read books putting on page the frustration we feel with society.
Unfortunately this one didn’t hit for me. I actually think as a movie or limited series I’d prob like it more.
I enjoyed the characters but as I was listening to the audiobook I just never felt fully locked in. The audio narrator was good, so not taking anything away there.
I just thought there was gonna be a lot more action in this one, but it felt like a lot more waiting around and paranoia, but not all that much slasher stuff.
The first half of the book was just slow. So while I liked Barb’s character and totally understood how she felt being a 40 something myself - I just wanted more action. I also liked Levi, something about him was endearing.
I liked the “Dolls” monologue in Chap 39, it was spot on. Kinda like the vibe of America’s monologue in the Barbie Movie. She’s not wrong.
Of all the 3 Final Girl type books I’ve read (one was even by my fav author), I haven’t been really into any of them. Maybe I’m just not into final girls in print. 🤷🏼♀️
I wouldn’t be opposed to reading something else by this author but this one just didn’t do it for me.
QOTD: Whata your fav horror story / movie / show?
#thisbjustwontdie #tanyapell #gallerybooks #simonaudioinfluencer #femragenovel
🔪💄🩸𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎🩸💄🔪
THIS B JUST WON’T DIE
by
TANYA PELL
Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon Audio / Libro FM
Pub Date: 10/13/2026
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)
“The final girl is still a victim. They only let her live another day so they can try again tomorrow.”
“She was still a final girl, a perimenopause final girl.”
Thanks to Gallery Books / Simon Audio / Libro FM for my gifted copy of this one in exchange for my honest thoughts.
So I’m coming at you with another female rage novel. I’m def in my female rage era - it’s invigorating to read books putting on page the frustration we feel with society.
Unfortunately this one didn’t hit for me. I actually think as a movie or limited series I’d prob like it more.
I enjoyed the characters but as I was listening to the audiobook I just never felt fully locked in. The audio narrator was good, so not taking anything away there.
I just thought there was gonna be a lot more action in this one, but it felt like a lot more waiting around and paranoia, but not all that much slasher stuff.
The first half of the book was just slow. So while I liked Barb’s character and totally understood how she felt being a 40 something myself - I just wanted more action. I also liked Levi, something about him was endearing.
I liked the “Dolls” monologue in Chap 39, it was spot on. Kinda like the vibe of America’s monologue in the Barbie Movie. She’s not wrong.
Of all the 3 Final Girl type books I’ve read (one was even by my fav author), I haven’t been really into any of them. Maybe I’m just not into final girls in print. 🤷🏼♀️
I wouldn’t be opposed to reading something else by this author but this one just didn’t do it for me.
QOTD: Whata your fav horror story / movie / show?
#thisbjustwontdie #tanyapell #gallerybooks #simonaudioinfluencer #femragenovel
October 27, 2026
I will say I liked this more than a typical three star read. It flows easily and I would not easily be able to point to a place and say I was bored here, but there were definitely points where it felt like I needed it to get to the point a little faster than it was.
Between the cover and the title and the comp to Scream I was expecting a little bit of humor? And there really isn’t much to be found here. Barb is kind of (not kind of, she IS) a sad girl. For some reason that I’m not sure I never really fully grasped she feels a lot of self loathing. She’d look in the mirror and just berate herself constantly.
And it was hard to read. Not just because she clearly didn’t deserve it, but because as a freshly 40 woman who is less and less inclined to people please every year and has also always felt some degree of self loathing, it was a lot like reading about myself. And it sort of hurt. I hope I’m not this exhausting to be around? You just sort of wanted to shake her. In an empathetic way. To be clear I’m not necessarily knocking the book for this- I identified with Barb a lot and thought she was well written. I’d never really given thought before to what sort of trauma a Final Girl actress might carry with them from doing a series (TBH, I didn’t think there would be any because it’s all pretend but the way it’s presented here I could definitely see how a role like this would stay with the actor).
I liked that there’s a wide cast of characters to keep me guessing about who the culprit was. So many people feel “too” obvious. So many feel like they obviously cant be the killer. It keeps you guessing in that way. The reveal is ultimately sort of unsatisfying. I just thought part of it is out of left field and some of the motives didn’t make much sense.
I do think fans of slashers will find a lot to love. I loved the commentary and the messaging on what it’s like to be a woman aging in society. I could have annotated the hell out of this even if the messaging was a little heavy handed at times.
Not sorry to have read it. Would read more from this author in the future.
Between the cover and the title and the comp to Scream I was expecting a little bit of humor? And there really isn’t much to be found here. Barb is kind of (not kind of, she IS) a sad girl. For some reason that I’m not sure I never really fully grasped she feels a lot of self loathing. She’d look in the mirror and just berate herself constantly.
And it was hard to read. Not just because she clearly didn’t deserve it, but because as a freshly 40 woman who is less and less inclined to people please every year and has also always felt some degree of self loathing, it was a lot like reading about myself. And it sort of hurt. I hope I’m not this exhausting to be around? You just sort of wanted to shake her. In an empathetic way. To be clear I’m not necessarily knocking the book for this- I identified with Barb a lot and thought she was well written. I’d never really given thought before to what sort of trauma a Final Girl actress might carry with them from doing a series (TBH, I didn’t think there would be any because it’s all pretend but the way it’s presented here I could definitely see how a role like this would stay with the actor).
I liked that there’s a wide cast of characters to keep me guessing about who the culprit was. So many people feel “too” obvious. So many feel like they obviously cant be the killer. It keeps you guessing in that way. The reveal is ultimately sort of unsatisfying. I just thought part of it is out of left field and some of the motives didn’t make much sense.
I do think fans of slashers will find a lot to love. I loved the commentary and the messaging on what it’s like to be a woman aging in society. I could have annotated the hell out of this even if the messaging was a little heavy handed at times.
Not sorry to have read it. Would read more from this author in the future.
October 30, 2026
Tanya Pell's "This B Just Won't Die" is a pink, feminist slasher novel. It gave me exactly what I wanted in a female, centric slasher. The focus is not on the killer but on the final girl. (woman!) Barb is now a grown woman who is perimenopausal, living off horror-con autograph events and adjusting to the changes in her face as she ages. One by one, people begin to get taken out. I would've enjoyed more tension in the book. Perhaps the problem with this trope in general is that so much of the fear is heightened by the music and visuals of a typical slasher movie versus reading a slasher. I listened to the audiobook and it was really great. I didn't catch myself drifting off and losing focus. The female narrator did a good job of adjusting the voice to separate the personalities of the female characters. I would've preferred more backstory for Barb. The main focus is her experience of youth while filming the original Mirror man movie. We did have some small interactions with Barb and her mother but I would've enjoyed a deeper dive into her character. As an example, seeing Barb try out for roles in films, competition with other female actors and her evolution into who she is today. I liked how Barb didn't sit back during the slasher scenes in the finale of the book. She fights back with a vengeance. I struggled a bit with the repetition of the body dysmorphia. I, too, have questioned my body, looks and aging. Those portions of the book did help me to relate to Barb but the repetitive references began to make me uncomfortable instead of relatable.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Former Scream Queen. Real Life Final Girl … Barb Jacob’s.
Barbie just won’t die or This b*tch just won’t die (I think Tanya changed the title of the book) was amazing. In my opinion it’s hard to do an adult slasher right but Tanya Pell did it amazingly. The real life implication of being a woman in horror and how the public sees you is so detailed and expressive. Obviously, I’m a man and do not know the pressures of being a woman. But, from my point of view I think the book does an amazing job showing the societal pressures that having to look a certain way and act a certain way has on the individual. Especially, if that person internalise it and lets it feast and eat at them. A lot of adult themes that are displayed. I loved how in the first part of the book we can see the toll that the mirror series has taken on Barbara and especially going to the conventions, interacting with fans. She’s living a lie basically, still being someone she’s not. Desperate to leave.
As for the slasher aspect (my favourite) I thought it was done very well and I kinda got excited at parts. Nothing was over the top or inventive. It was your basic Scream formula and it worked perfectly with the overall theme. I could see where the ending was going and am still a bit confused on it.
Overall, if you are a fan of Scream and Meta slashers then this one is 100% for you. The book comes out 13-OCT-2026
Barbie just won’t die or This b*tch just won’t die (I think Tanya changed the title of the book) was amazing. In my opinion it’s hard to do an adult slasher right but Tanya Pell did it amazingly. The real life implication of being a woman in horror and how the public sees you is so detailed and expressive. Obviously, I’m a man and do not know the pressures of being a woman. But, from my point of view I think the book does an amazing job showing the societal pressures that having to look a certain way and act a certain way has on the individual. Especially, if that person internalise it and lets it feast and eat at them. A lot of adult themes that are displayed. I loved how in the first part of the book we can see the toll that the mirror series has taken on Barbara and especially going to the conventions, interacting with fans. She’s living a lie basically, still being someone she’s not. Desperate to leave.
As for the slasher aspect (my favourite) I thought it was done very well and I kinda got excited at parts. Nothing was over the top or inventive. It was your basic Scream formula and it worked perfectly with the overall theme. I could see where the ending was going and am still a bit confused on it.
Overall, if you are a fan of Scream and Meta slashers then this one is 100% for you. The book comes out 13-OCT-2026
October 16, 2026
I grabbed this book just for the title alone! So catchy and the story got me hooked from the first chapter. The story is homage to 90s slasher movies filled with mystery, feminine rage to ageism.
Barb is the iconic slasher final girl and 20 years later, the cast reunite for a documentary. Instead of filming, people are dying and their deaths are mirroring the deaths in her movies.
I love the dark humor of the story and I really love Barb. Her character was unabashed with her rage as fans expect her to be ageless and her fears of being not young or pretty enough.
Natalie Naudus brought Barb's rage to life. There was a scene during a convention that she goes postal at a fan. I could totally visualize this happening.
Thank you @gallerybooks @simon.audio for the audiobook.
Barb is the iconic slasher final girl and 20 years later, the cast reunite for a documentary. Instead of filming, people are dying and their deaths are mirroring the deaths in her movies.
I love the dark humor of the story and I really love Barb. Her character was unabashed with her rage as fans expect her to be ageless and her fears of being not young or pretty enough.
Natalie Naudus brought Barb's rage to life. There was a scene during a convention that she goes postal at a fan. I could totally visualize this happening.
Thank you @gallerybooks @simon.audio for the audiobook.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The first 50% was, in my opinion, so long. It was just this internal monologue over and over again. I get the point and the message it was saying but I feel it was a bit to much of the same thing that was repeated.
The second half was good, a bit of mystery/thriller. Some things were a little far fetched and made it a little hard to take seriously.
Overall I know a lot of fan of this genre will love this book but for me it was just okay.
Thank you Simons & Schuster for this ARC
The second half was good, a bit of mystery/thriller. Some things were a little far fetched and made it a little hard to take seriously.
Overall I know a lot of fan of this genre will love this book but for me it was just okay.
Thank you Simons & Schuster for this ARC
Want to Read
March 28, 2026want want want! this one sounds soo good! Pub Date: 10/2026
September 23, 2026
Apparently “pink horror” is a thing, and if This B Just Won’t Die is any indication, I need more of it immediately. Tanya Pell delivers a wildly entertaining mashup of horror, thriller, comedy, and classic slasher movie vibes that somehow works perfectly. I don’t read a ton of horror, but this is exactly the kind I enjoy: campy, satirical, suspenseful, gruesome without taking itself too seriously, and powered by a whole lot of female rage.
And Barb? My kind of woman. She’s forty, perimenopausal, sarcastic, resentful, annoyed, and completely sick of everyone’s shit, especially the final girl role she’s been trapped in for twenty years. I loved the way Pell plays with horror tropes while also exploring aging, Hollywood, the expectations placed on women, and what happens when a woman finally gets tired of making herself palatable for everyone else. There’s plenty of humor here, but underneath it is some very real anger and emotion that gave the story more depth than I expected.
Don’t mistake all that fun for a lack of actual horror, though. There are gruesome kills, plenty of suspense, lots of action, and a killer recreating murders from Barb’s old slasher franchise. The whole thing has such a great throwback horror movie feel while still feeling fresh and modern. If you liked Dollface or How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates, this has a very similar blend of feminine aesthetics, dark humor, violence, and women who have simply HAD ENOUGH.
Natalie Naudus was fantastic on audio. She perfectly captured Barb’s rage, resentment, sarcasm, and constant annoyance while still giving the more vulnerable and emotional moments the weight they needed. Her performance made Barb feel even more vivid and was such a good match for the book’s heightened, campy energy. This was ridiculously fun, ideal for fall, and further proof that apparently my preferred flavor of horror is women being funny, furious, and possibly covered in blood.
Perfect for readers who love:
* Campy slasher movie vibes
* Feminist horror with plenty of female rage
* Dark humor and sharp sarcasm
* Funny, fed-up middle-aged heroines
* Thriller, horror, and comedy mashups
* Gruesome kills and fast-paced action
* Satirical takes on classic horror tropes
* Fantastic audiobook narration
And Barb? My kind of woman. She’s forty, perimenopausal, sarcastic, resentful, annoyed, and completely sick of everyone’s shit, especially the final girl role she’s been trapped in for twenty years. I loved the way Pell plays with horror tropes while also exploring aging, Hollywood, the expectations placed on women, and what happens when a woman finally gets tired of making herself palatable for everyone else. There’s plenty of humor here, but underneath it is some very real anger and emotion that gave the story more depth than I expected.
Don’t mistake all that fun for a lack of actual horror, though. There are gruesome kills, plenty of suspense, lots of action, and a killer recreating murders from Barb’s old slasher franchise. The whole thing has such a great throwback horror movie feel while still feeling fresh and modern. If you liked Dollface or How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates, this has a very similar blend of feminine aesthetics, dark humor, violence, and women who have simply HAD ENOUGH.
Natalie Naudus was fantastic on audio. She perfectly captured Barb’s rage, resentment, sarcasm, and constant annoyance while still giving the more vulnerable and emotional moments the weight they needed. Her performance made Barb feel even more vivid and was such a good match for the book’s heightened, campy energy. This was ridiculously fun, ideal for fall, and further proof that apparently my preferred flavor of horror is women being funny, furious, and possibly covered in blood.
Perfect for readers who love:
* Campy slasher movie vibes
* Feminist horror with plenty of female rage
* Dark humor and sharp sarcasm
* Funny, fed-up middle-aged heroines
* Thriller, horror, and comedy mashups
* Gruesome kills and fast-paced action
* Satirical takes on classic horror tropes
* Fantastic audiobook narration
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
First off, I knew I had to read this book based on the title and cover alone. I am not typically into slasher type books but I was willing to give this one a shot and it was a bloody good time. I found the main character, Barbara, to be really relatable especially as an "aging" woman these days. I could relate to her woes of getting older and not being good enough, pretty enough, just enough really and I think that's why I liked her so much. As far as the whodunnit aspect, I was a bit less enamored and it was a bit underwhelming. I still really enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend it to others looking for a fun, slasher, horror novel that is a tad campy. Great to read especially around slasher season aka Halloween.
Side note, I agree, potatoes are self care :)
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 10/13/26
Side note, I agree, potatoes are self care :)
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 10/13/26
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I love the cover of this book, and I was genuinely excited to read it because it seemed like something I’d really enjoy.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into it. As a huge horror and slasher fan, I expected to be pulled in more, but the story just didn’t fully click for me. The writing style ultimately wasn’t a good fit for my taste.
Thank you NetGalley, Tanya and Gallery Books for eARC!
Rating : ✨✨
Publication Date: October 13,2026
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into it. As a huge horror and slasher fan, I expected to be pulled in more, but the story just didn’t fully click for me. The writing style ultimately wasn’t a good fit for my taste.
Thank you NetGalley, Tanya and Gallery Books for eARC!
Rating : ✨✨
Publication Date: October 13,2026
October 25, 2026
Tanya Pell - THE AUTHOR YOU ARE!!
If you’ve had the hankering for pink horror and are looking for the next great entry that truly encapsulates this emerging sub-genre, then you’ve got to pick this book up! This B Just Won’t Die! by Tanya Pell is what happens when Hollywood’s obsession with youth, a former scream queen, and a masked slasher collide in the bloody best way possible. Barbra (Barb, Barb, etc.) Jacobs became a horror icon twenty years ago when she starred in the Mirror franchise (pick all the goofy gory greatness of Nightmare on Elm Street but with lots of mirror puns), but the role that made her famous has also become the box she can’t seem to escape. Now forty, still chasing the respect she’s desperate to earn, and making ends meet with horror convention appearances and autographs, Barb finally gets an opportunity that could help her career with a new horror docuseries. However, her fans are turning up dead, and the murders are eerily similar to the kills from her own movies. It’s a slasher for the ages as Barb realizes her movies have taken on new life!
I love a story that takes the familiar slasher setup and gives it a fresh, self-aware twist. I’ve long been a fan of Wes Craven’s A New Nightmare. I tend to gush about how meta the whole idea is and fangirl. Except here. Pell has taken this meta approach and added so many layers to it. The idea of a horror actress being forced to confront the franchise that defined her is such a fun starting point. Add a killer in the image of her cinematic nemesis, a whole lot of bloodshed, and the delightful potential for Hollywood to get dragged, and you have a recipe for some seriously entertaining horror.
This story digs into the uglier side of fame, aging, and the entertainment industry's tendency to celebrate women right up until it decides they're no longer marketable. Barb isn't just fighting for her life; she's also trying to figure out who she is when the role everyone knows her for has swallowed up the rest of her identity. There's something wonderfully fitting about a final girl who has spent years being defined by surviving fictional monsters now having to fight her way through a real-life nightmare, all while the world is still trying to put her in a neat little box. It’s a coming of age but in an entirely new type of way. It’s coming of self in a new era (but this time it’s real and it hits hard) The dark humor and meta-horror elements make this feel like a love letter to slasher fans, but there's a sharper feminist edge beneath the camp and carnage that gives the story something extra. If you love your horror with a self-aware wink, a messy Hollywood backdrop, and a final girl who deserves to have the last word, This B Just Won’t Die! is definitely one to add to your slasher favorites!
If you’ve had the hankering for pink horror and are looking for the next great entry that truly encapsulates this emerging sub-genre, then you’ve got to pick this book up! This B Just Won’t Die! by Tanya Pell is what happens when Hollywood’s obsession with youth, a former scream queen, and a masked slasher collide in the bloody best way possible. Barbra (Barb, Barb, etc.) Jacobs became a horror icon twenty years ago when she starred in the Mirror franchise (pick all the goofy gory greatness of Nightmare on Elm Street but with lots of mirror puns), but the role that made her famous has also become the box she can’t seem to escape. Now forty, still chasing the respect she’s desperate to earn, and making ends meet with horror convention appearances and autographs, Barb finally gets an opportunity that could help her career with a new horror docuseries. However, her fans are turning up dead, and the murders are eerily similar to the kills from her own movies. It’s a slasher for the ages as Barb realizes her movies have taken on new life!
I love a story that takes the familiar slasher setup and gives it a fresh, self-aware twist. I’ve long been a fan of Wes Craven’s A New Nightmare. I tend to gush about how meta the whole idea is and fangirl. Except here. Pell has taken this meta approach and added so many layers to it. The idea of a horror actress being forced to confront the franchise that defined her is such a fun starting point. Add a killer in the image of her cinematic nemesis, a whole lot of bloodshed, and the delightful potential for Hollywood to get dragged, and you have a recipe for some seriously entertaining horror.
This story digs into the uglier side of fame, aging, and the entertainment industry's tendency to celebrate women right up until it decides they're no longer marketable. Barb isn't just fighting for her life; she's also trying to figure out who she is when the role everyone knows her for has swallowed up the rest of her identity. There's something wonderfully fitting about a final girl who has spent years being defined by surviving fictional monsters now having to fight her way through a real-life nightmare, all while the world is still trying to put her in a neat little box. It’s a coming of age but in an entirely new type of way. It’s coming of self in a new era (but this time it’s real and it hits hard) The dark humor and meta-horror elements make this feel like a love letter to slasher fans, but there's a sharper feminist edge beneath the camp and carnage that gives the story something extra. If you love your horror with a self-aware wink, a messy Hollywood backdrop, and a final girl who deserves to have the last word, This B Just Won’t Die! is definitely one to add to your slasher favorites!
October 22, 2026
I feel like a hater even though a three-star isn’t a bad rating. And I think a fair number of horror readers would click with this! I just struggle with the writing style of seemingly every slasher novel I read. This one follows Barb, 40 years old and trying to come to terms with the process of aging as a former teen scream queen in a beloved horror movie series. As she travels to cons and begins to host a documentary that brings her former films back in to the spotlight, someone around her begins killing horror fans. As the killings get closer and closer to home, Barb continues to struggle with who she actually is vs. who her industry has convinced her she should be. I really liked the final 100 pages of this. It felt very Scream in that the entirety is set at an isolated location. Here, the cast of Barb’s horror movie is reuniting for this documentary when people start being brutally killed in increasingly grotesque ways. I love a single location showdown in slashers, both novels and movies, and this does that to great effect. Most of the rest, however, was not for me. I found the dialogue to be stilted, Barb’s sole narrative focus to grow tedious, and the messaging to be obvious and over-the-top. Now, I do think if a reader is unfamiliar with the basic tenets of feminism or has not grappled with the ways in which ageism and sexism are frequently related, then the overt messaging in this might be beneficial! It’s exciting that in genre fiction we’re getting explorations of the way society fails a lot of its members in ways both big and small, particularly the horror genre which has frequently painted women as demented harpies or sluts who had it coming or studious virgins, destined to survive because of their perceived purity. I love that we’re getting more complicated narratives from more diverse authors. For me though, this specific story was just a bit too surface-level and repetitive. I grew tired of being in Barb’s perspective because we were rehashing her same thoughts and feelings over and over. Which brings up my second point - I wish we had gotten a little of the killer’s perspective! I understand why Barb is our sole narrator - she is our final girl and the focus of the story so she should naturally be the one we follow. But again, the repetitiveness of her narrative (going to a con/something suspicious happening/lots of internal thoughts) left me somewhat bored and it would have helped the pace to have been with a second perspective, even if only for a few chapters. But I’d be curious how others find this one! (Thank you to Gallery Books for the arc.)
May 13, 2026
I had high hopes for this one from the beginning and I’m so pleased this one delivered and then some! Campy, twisty, funny and a shockingly relatable main character (aside from the scream queen part). I devoured this one pretty quickly as it was hard to put down.
Barb is now 40, dealing with perimenopause, not knowing what she really wants and is a hopeless people pleaser. She found stardom in her youth as the final girl in a fan favorite horror franchise. She’s now drifting, not knowing what to do now that she isn’t in her 20s and can’t escape her final girl type cast in Hollywood.
She’s just trying to figure out who she is and what she wants while paying the bills doing cons and bit jobs that keep her reluctantly tied to horror and that long ago franchise. She’s great at faking it to make it until a serial killer starts masquerading as the villain from her horror movie franchise.
The best part is that Barb is painfully aware of what’s happening and what a final girl should do, but life isn’t the movies and it’s much easier when her choices are scripted and her life doesn’t depend on it.
I absolutely loved Barb and her development throughout the story, there’s a quiet feminine rage, acceptance of yourself and always being smarter than the slasher. This book does a fabulous job of being campy without being cheesy. There’s some nostalgia and horror lovers will love the throwbacks to other franchises that are given nods in this book. It’s twisty, it’s fast paced and the humor is well done. You’ll be rooting for Barb too!
Barb is now 40, dealing with perimenopause, not knowing what she really wants and is a hopeless people pleaser. She found stardom in her youth as the final girl in a fan favorite horror franchise. She’s now drifting, not knowing what to do now that she isn’t in her 20s and can’t escape her final girl type cast in Hollywood.
She’s just trying to figure out who she is and what she wants while paying the bills doing cons and bit jobs that keep her reluctantly tied to horror and that long ago franchise. She’s great at faking it to make it until a serial killer starts masquerading as the villain from her horror movie franchise.
The best part is that Barb is painfully aware of what’s happening and what a final girl should do, but life isn’t the movies and it’s much easier when her choices are scripted and her life doesn’t depend on it.
I absolutely loved Barb and her development throughout the story, there’s a quiet feminine rage, acceptance of yourself and always being smarter than the slasher. This book does a fabulous job of being campy without being cheesy. There’s some nostalgia and horror lovers will love the throwbacks to other franchises that are given nods in this book. It’s twisty, it’s fast paced and the humor is well done. You’ll be rooting for Barb too!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews