Celestial | The Blonde Dies First

The Blonde Dies First

Joelle Wellington

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A group of friends fight to choose their own fates in this trope-savvy, self-referential young adult thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games, about a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in the spirit of the Scream movies.

Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever.

After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?

But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order.

And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.

Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive.

Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last?

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Posts about this title from Celestial

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jul 27

💭 do you read specific genres during different seasons?

here with some banger summer horror book recs for you today!

📚 books mentioned: - Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina - The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

👗💄: - dress is from Fashion Brand Company, rented from Nuuly - eyeshadow is Diabla Palette from Blend Bunny Cosmetics - eyeliner is Vegan Longwear Eyeliner (Lilac) from Pacifica Beauty - mascara is Badi Lash from Kulfi Beauty - lip combo is Matte Fix Lip Pencil (Midnight Seduction) from about-face and Shine-On Milky Lip Oil Jelly (Pistachio) from Tower28 - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)

thank you to Berkley Books and Simon Teen for the gifted copies!

#horrorbookrecs #horrorbooks #summerhorror #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @tornightfire @berkleypub @simonteen @fashionbrandcompany @nuuly @blendbunnycosmetics @kulfi.beauty @aboutfacebeauty

3 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 5 2025

happy sapphic september!! here are some sapphic books i adore.

📚 books mentioned: - Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark - The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington - This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher

thank you to Tordotcom and Simon Teen for the gifted copies!

#sapphicseptember #sapphicbooks #fantasybooks #scifibooks #thrillerbooks #literaryfiction #sapphicfantasy #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram @tordotcompub @simonteen @sagapressbooks @ballantinebooks

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 17 2025

Women in Horror (60 recs!) | recording & thank you

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 2 2024

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haaaappppppy halloween! my favorite day of the year!! 🎃 i hope you enjoy these spooky slashers.

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Oct 21 2024

choose your crisis!

CHOOSE YOUR BOOK CRISIS! part 5. :) because everything i read involves terrible, terrible dangers.

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Oct 9 2024

horror for babies :)

horror for BABIES (only teasing; please do not let a baby read these books unless you want them to be super cool and ahead of the game). if you’re ready for horror books, give these a try!

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 14 2024

three cheers for spooky sapphic september!!!

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 9 2024

5 of my favorite horror books

what's your favorite horror read? let's get ready for spooky season together. :)

☆ everything I mentioned (in order) ↓ - Jackal by Erin E. Adams - The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark - Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury - The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

↓ find me in more places ↓ 🎵 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starrysteph 📸 insta: https://www.instagram.com/starry.steph 📚 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/starrysteph 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/147956803-steph-starrysteph 💌 email: starrystephbooks@gmail.com more: https://beacons.ai/starrysteph

☆ resources ☆ 🇵🇸 learn more about the history of Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/ 🇨🇩 learn more about what's happening in the DRC: https://friendsofthecongo.org/ 🇸🇩 Sudan Solidarity Collective: https://sudansolidarity.com/

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 9 2024

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i ate this up and YOU WILL, TOO!!!

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 3 2024

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had the MOST fun pairing nuuly looks with some amazing books! which cover is calling to you the most? 👀

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 2 2024

i’m getting engaged? destroying my book slump? readathon? | july wrap up

☆ everything I mentioned (in order) ↓ - Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - To Shape A Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose - Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley - The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington - Never Whistle At Night - Barda by Ngozi Ukazu - Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jul 27

💭 do you read specific genres during different seasons?

here with some banger summer horror book recs for you today!

📚 books mentioned: - Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina - The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

thank you to Berkley Books and Simon Teen for the gifted copies!

3 books

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Mar 28

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\ \ Super excited to meet folks at Bookcon this year!\ \ And I’ve been keeping a huge secret (which as a gossip has been so hard!) \ \ I will be moderating 2 THRILLER Panels\ \ Saturday: Murder She Wrote: Thriller Writing and the Art of Suspense\ \ Sunday: The Perfect Spot for Murder\ \ I’ll also be giving away What Feeds Below arcs!\ \ Check out the books below from the authors on the panels (+ What Feeds Below!)\ \ \ \ \ \ My goal is to read 10 thrillers in 20 days! I’m almost done Nothing Ever Happens Here and I have NO IDEA how this one is going to end? Which one should I pick up next? How many bodies will drop across 10 books?! (From the attending authors I read The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark and The Scammer by Tiffany D Jackson last year- and they were two of my faves!)\ \ Will I be seeing you at Bookcon?](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/ShX4MxPjQp3iEyURYU54/)

I'm Moderating at Bookcon 🔪

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 5 2025

happy sapphic september!! here are some sapphic books i adore.

thank you to Tordotcom and Simon Teen for the gifted copies!

4 books

R&R Reads\ \ Ebony\ \ • Jul 5 2025

Join for free

\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://randrreads.binderybooks.com/item/CLsgDGEsKE0uGY9ibQci/)

what I read in april, may and june 📚✨🍃

my best reading months so far? we can only go up from here? thanks for watching!

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