Daphne
Books | Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
3.3
Josh Malerman
Horror has a new name: Daphne. A brutal, enigmatic woman stalks a high school basketball team in a reimagining of the slasher genre by the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.“A superb serial killer novel and a great coming-of-age story.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You HomeONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PasteIt’s the last summer for Kit Lamb: The last summer before college. The last summer with her high school basketball team, and with Dana, her best friend. The last summer before her life begins.But the night before the big game, one of the players tells a ghost story about Daphne, a girl who went to their school many years ago and died under mysterious circumstances. Some say she was murdered, others that she died by her own hand. And some say that Daphne is a murderer herself. They also say that Daphne is still out there, obsessed with revenge, and will appear to kill again anytime someone thinks about her.After Kit hears the story, her teammates vanish, one by one, and Kit begins to suspect that the stories about Daphne are real . . . and to fear that her own mind is conjuring the killer. Now it’s a race against time as Kit searches for the truth behind the legend and learns to face her own fears—before the summer of her lifetime becomes the last summer of her life.Mixing a nostalgic coming-of-age story and an instantly iconic female villain with an innovative new vision of classic horror, Daphne is an unforgettable thriller as only Josh Malerman could imagine it.
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Author
Josh Malerman
Pages
272
Publisher
Random House Worlds
Published Date
2022-09-20
ISBN
0593157028 9780593157022
Community ReviewsSee all
"Interesting, creepy, even a little scary. This was a fun read. A good horror novel from Josh Malerman. Give it a read. There are a few graphic scenes but nothing you can't handle. "
Joe H
"It was fine. It took a while for me to get into it, but once things started happening, it became a lot more interesting. "
S B
Stephanie Bartley
"Kit can't stop thinking about Daphne, the high school outcast who died suspiciously, and is now said to be out to get her revenge. If you think about her too much, you'll conjure her into existence. When teammates start dying, Kit tries to get to the source of the legend and save what remains of her team.<br/><br/>This book, as Malerman says in the author's notes, is "a love letter" to basketball, horror, and a "correspondence" to anxiety. The anxiety representation is done really well, and I think people who battle anxiety will identify with and appreciate it. Also, there is a lot of basketball, this is about a basketball team. If that's not your jam, you might wanna skip this one. <br/><br/>Personally, I'm a fan of basketball and also deal with anxiety, so I really identified with this one. The plot is great. The pacing, while slow at first, really picks up and will leave you hooked. The main character is well done. We don't really get much of the teammates, though, so they're quite one dimensional. My only real complaint, as small as it is, is the repeated use of the term "ballers." Maybe I'm just getting to be an old man, but I've never heard anyone use the term as much as Malerman does to describe basketball players. <br/><br/>Thank you to Penguin Random House-Ballantine, Del Rey, author Josh Malerman, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own."
C H
Chris Hicks
"I love Josh Malerman and I will always give him a chance but when it comes down to it this is a book about basketball playing anxiety-ridden teenagers and I simply cannot make myself be interested in this. I surrender, DNF."
kelsey