Wish There Had Been Even More Bodies!

TITLE: Body Count

AUTHOR: Codie Crowley

PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion

PUBLISHING DATE: May 5, 2026

PAGES: 304   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: In this sapphic slasher novel, Sundae Valentine made a deal with a monster in Wildwood, N.J., when she was a child, and barely escaped with her life. Six years later, Sundae’s braving Wildwood again for a killer beach party to celebrate prom with the cheerleaders and the football team. But the monster is back, too, and this time he’ll stop at nothing to make sure she pays her debts.

MY THOUGHTS: I love a good slasher tale so when I was offered this arc, of course I was going to give it a chance, even though I was not the targeted audience.  That being said, I also don't think YA is really the targeted audience because boy, did I have some issues.

When Sundae (yep, as in ice cream) is a child, she and her mother were on the run from her abusive father.  While her mom is working at small tourist hotel, Sundae encounters Holly Jolly in a pool, which is where he finds his prey, and ends up falling for his promises.  She ends up making two wishes and experiencing the awful aftermath before they move from town.  Now as a high school teen, her group of best friends, cheerleaders of course, and the football players, travel to this small town for Prom Weekend (is this really a thing) where they plan to party it up.  But Holly Jolly knows Sundae is back and he has one final wish to collect. 

Let's get to the good parts first.  This book was super readable and I flew through it.  The monster in Wildwood, the Holly Jolly Killer, is unique and something I don't believe I've ran across before.  He is actually a do-wop performer from the 50's who survived a fire one night which killed everyone but him, only to kill himself later.  He also offers people wishes in the form of three candy Taffe pieces. Eat a piece, make a wish, and see what happens. There is also a band playing at the hotel the weekend of the trip which consists of Lia, basically a grunge high school outsider, and her two best friends, think Bill and Ted from the Excellent Adventure movie, who play a big part in the tale. I found them mildly tolerable, which is more that I can say about the rest of the kids. 

Now for the not-so-good.  I've never met a more sexualized group of teenagers in a YA book.  Sundae and her friends spend all weekend competing for the "Slut Cup" where the winner is the person who has the most sexual encounters during that time.  Seriously?  I am far from a prude, but I would have found this out of place in a college setting, let alone a high school one. Also, Sundae is just insufferable.  She knows she shouldn't return to Wildwood, but does that stop her from going?  No, she can't let down her friends and of course, she is a high schooler and doesn't she deserve some fun?

Let's just say there is a serial killer, creepy monsters and a decent setting and leave it at that.  Unless you are just curious after reading this to see if you dislike it as much as I did, I can't recommend it.  I would try this author again in the future strictly because of the uniqueness I found in Holly Jolly. If it wasn't for that, the book would definitely rate lower for me.

MY RATING: 3 PAWS