When I was scrolling through Goodreads last week, I came across Shailee Thompson’s debut novel, How To Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, released in early February. The cover is pink and red, a seemingly perfect Valentine’s Day read. On closer inspection, the red is actually blood dripping down the cover. A horror romance novel? I was hooked.
How To Kill a Guy in Ten Dates follows Jamie Prescott, a Ph.D. candidate researching genre theory (specifically the similarities between slasher films and rom-coms), as she attends a speed-dating event that erupts into a spree killing. As the night continues on, she must find her way through the maze-like nightclub, hiding from the murderer and working to get as many of her fellow speed-daters out alive as possible.
The novel begins with Jamie’s 10 steps for “How To Survive a Slasher,” setting the foundations for her movements and strategies for the rest of the novel. Thompson’s decision to make Jamie an expert on the storylines that outline the horrifying night she experiences allows readers to consider more deeply the nuances of the horror and romance genres. Jamie’s 10 steps pointed out the specific formulaic nature of slasher films, and her commentary on the similarities between slashers and rom-coms set the stage for a thought-out, genre-bending story.
One of the biggest reveals (aside from the actual reveal of the killer, of course) is the fact that the murderer has set up this terrifying night as a confession of love for Jamie. The slashings, the blood, the mysterious rose petals left at each scene — all of it is because he feels her passion for horror and romance matches his twisted desires. Beyond the imagined romance between the murderer and Jamie, the novel also includes a primary romance between Jamie and Wes, another speed dater. Thompson wrote Wes’ character to be purposefully mysterious and shady, allowing Jamie (and the readers) to doubt his credibility.
The genre-bending seemed to work better in one direction than the other: Though there was certainly romance in the horror, the horror didn’t seem to infiltrate the romance in the same way. Jamie’s romance with Wes felt largely untouched by the slasher, whereas the crimes were deeply dependent on a sick romance. Honestly, I think it would have been a great plot twist had Wes turned out to be involved in the crime.
Don’t get me wrong — I was still impressed by Thompson’s ability to intertwine two seemingly opposite genres. The concept of having the motive behind a spree killing be a psychopath’s twisted romantic desires was excellent. There is almost always a level of fantasy involved in crimes in thriller novels, but this was the best example of genre-bending that I’ve read. The disconnect from the romance to the horror was only a minor qualm, massively outweighed by the book’s numerous amazing qualities.
One thing aside from the main plot that I really enjoyed about How To Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was its cute references to famous rom-coms. The title, adapted from the classic rom-com How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, is a fun play on words, showing Thompson’s dedication to the intertwining of horror and romance. But more specifically, I loved how Thompson pulled and edited famous rom-com quotes as epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter. For example, one of my favorites came at the beginning of the sixth chapter: “‘I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that blood actually is all around.’ — Not Love Actually” Even though these epigraphs were not particularly important for the overall novel, they were a fun way to start each chapter.
Overall, the writing was exceptional. Thompson’s writing style is captivating, and her storytelling skills are well-developed. The chapters were fairly short, and the book was medium to fast-paced, keeping me interested throughout. It left me fascinated, and there was never a point at which I wanted to put the book down. This was definitely one of my best recent reads — I’d rate it a very strong four and a half stars out of five, my only real complaint being the slight disconnect between the genres. Especially for a debut novel, How To Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was excellent, and I am very excited to read Shailee Thompson’s future works.
Katherine Winton is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at kwinton@cornellsun.com.
