I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison Published by Berkley on September 1 2026
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: An outrageous, funny and feel-good story, Kiss Slay Replay explores relatable themes in a fresh, unexpected horror setting.
“My story might not be a love story. But it isn’t a horror story, either. My story is mine, and it can be whatever I make it.”
I can always count on Rachel Harrison for a good time, and in Kiss Slay Replay she takes things up a notch and delivers a funny, terrifying, absurd and heartfelt story about a thirty-something woman who is trying to make sense of her life after she breaks up with her fiance. The story starts out fairly normal but takes a few very bizarre turns that I didn’t see coming. But despite the craziness, Harrison’s main themes of friendship, self acceptance and finding joy despite life’s disappointments elevate this to one of her best books yet.
Willa is trying to move on after she ended her engagement to longtime boyfriend Ravi. But months later, she’s still struggling to accept her decision. Luckily she has a distraction coming up: the wedding of two of her best friends, Steph and Jason. She’s excited to reunite with her other college friends Evan, Wyatt, Cassie and Luke, although she’s nervous about seeing Ravi again, who will also be there.
But the wedding doesn’t go quite the way she expects. Ravi has brought a date (so soon after the breakup!). Cassie wants to be the good friend and sounding board that Willa needs her to be, but honestly she’s a little tired of Willa’s whining. Willa’s anxiety starts to take over. Will Ravi even want to talk to her? Can she enjoy her friends’ happy day even though she’s miserable? And then things get worse. Willa takes a walk in the nearby woods and sees a masked figure straight out of a horror movie. Before she knows it, she finds herself in the middle of a slasher film, complete with a murderous monster who is set on killing everyone at the wedding.
Including Willa. In her last moments before the killer stabs her through the head, Willa’s regrets about her life come bubbling up to the surface. This is how things end? It can’t be. And then Willa wakes up in her bed and it’s the morning of the wedding—again. Was it all a dream? Or is Willa stuck in a weird time loop? Because it’s not over, and Willa will have to face her fears once more.
I flew through Kiss Slay Replay in two days, it was so much fun. Harrison’s time loop set-up was so addictive that I could barely put the book down, I had to find out how Willa’s story ended. I had some expectations about how the “loops” would play out, but I was completely wrong. The author subverts the slasher trope in some unexpected ways, and while some of the weird events that happen at the wedding veered into “ridiculous” territory, Willa’s manic narrative somehow keeps the story grounded. And I do want to mention that while I’ve seen some reviewers refer to this as “horror romance,” it really isn’t a romance at all. The main focus is on the friendships, and Rachel Harrison excels at writing believable, heartfelt relationships.
Harrison’s trademark humor is in full force, and it’s one of the reasons I keep coming back to her books. Only a handful of writers can achieve that perfect balance between horror and humor, and she’s simply brilliant at it. For example, Willa has never seen or heard of the movie Groundhog Day (one of her friends mentions it after Willa confesses what’s happening to her), even though she’s literally living it. I also loved the way she slowly begins to realize that she’s trapped in a time loop, and she comes up with all sorts of elaborate and funny ways to change the outcome. The dialog is laugh-out-loud funny, even as horrible things are happening to the characters.
And there is a serious side to Kiss Slay Replay, which is Willa’s journey to self acceptance. She’s been watching all her college friends move on with their lives—marriages, kids, houses and vacations—yet Willa seems unable to grow up and finally achieve that ideal of adulthood she craves. I thought the time loop was the perfect metaphor for being stuck and having to figure a way out. Willa goes through a lot in this story, yet she doesn’t ever give up. As she keeps reminding herself, “The only way out is through,” and that phrase becomes her lifeline—literally.
Rachel Harrison fans will not want to miss this, and if you’ve never read her books, this is the perfect place to start.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
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