Early Review: Kiss Slay Replay

Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison

Published By: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Date Read: July 17, 2026
Genre: Adult – Horror / Sci-fi
Source: ARC from Titan Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336

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Every wedding guest’s worst nightmare is on repeat in this wild and twisty new horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of So Thirsty and Play Nice.

It’s the picture-perfect wedding The venue is dreamy, the weather is beautiful, love is in the air—and Willa Sullivan is having a bad time. She’s excited to celebrate her best friends finally having the big wedding they’ve always wanted, but this is the first time she’s seen her ex-fiancé in months, and he brought a date. Everything feels off, like she stumbled into an alternate universe. But things start to look up when Willa meets Danny, the groom’s charming and single childhood best friend. When they sneak off together, their rendezvous is interrupted by a masked killer terrorizing the reception. Willa and Danny fight to save the ones they love and survive the night, but the killer is unrelenting. A final girl, Willa is not.

Or is she? She wakes up and it’s the morning of the wedding. She just had the most intense nightmare of her life. Only as the day unfolds, there are some uncanny coincidences that make her question whether it was really a dream, déjà vu, or something more sinister. After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she’s stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death—being an eternal wedding guest.

“But grief and happiness can exist simultaneously. That’s just what it is to be alive.”

Kiss Slay Replay is a book I was really intrigued by from the moment I first heard about it but I have to say I was apprehensive. I am not typically a horror reader, so the fact that this was a horror book made me second think about whether I wanted to read it. I am such a big baby when it comes to horror so it’s not usually one that I dive into. However, this year I’ve been trying to broaden my reading horizons, and I am a sucker for a book with a time travel / time loop trope. Add to this the fact that my book bestie, Han (Fictional Frights) absolutely loves Rachel Harrison, I took the plunge and requested the ARC of this one. A huge thank you to Titan Books for this ARC copy. I am so glad I was brave and took the plunge, as I loved this book.

Kiss Slay Replay follows Willa, a 30-something year old whose life is falling apart. She recently called off her engagement to the super hot Ravi. She doesn’t regret her decision, but as she is on her way to her best friends wedding, she is plagued by thoughts of coming face to face with him for the first time since the split. When she sees he has brough a date, Willa freaks out and stumbles into the woods. When she emerges everything feels different… and there’s a masked killer attacking the wedding. Next thing she knows she wakes up and it’s the morning of the wedding. Willa is stuck in a time loop, and she has no idea how to save her friends, and get them all out of this horrifying day that just keeps repeating over and over and over.

I’ve always been a sucker for a time loop trope. I’m such a big fan of anything time travel or anything like that and I can’t lie, that’s the entire thing that sold me on this book. I absolutely loved it. I loved seeing how things switched up and changed a little in each ‘loop’. It was really fun for me to see what was going to be different, whether that be Willa’s behaviour to try and change the outcome of the day, or something more external to her. It was so much fun and Rachel did a fantastic job of keeping it all fresh so you didn’t get bored. While I am a huge fan of time loop plotlines, there is a chance that it can get a bit laborious and repetitive but Rachel was so skilled at keeping each ‘day’ fresh and different, and it really made this book unputdownable. It made me race through this book so fast, as I really couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

This book was my first Rachel Harrison book and it definitely will not be my last. I absolutely loved it! I loved the skill in which she handled the time loop, but her character development was also perfection. One thing I loved it that, although yes this is a horror book, it was really about the journey that Willa was going on emotionally. I loved her character development, and how although she is technically no older, as the day is just repeating, she grows so much and is a very different character at the end of the book than she was at the start. I just loved her and her emotional development throughout the book. It was just done so well.

My one gripe about the book is that I really hated Willa’s friends. Willa is going through a really tough time, and she is stuck in this loop trying to save her friends, and honestly there were moments where I was like ‘I’d just let them all perish!’ Some of them were just awful friends and they aggravated me to no end. Like Willa, they did seem a little bit better by the end, but maybe I just accepted that some of them are just awful people. I loved Willa but girl needs to pick better friends!

Kiss Slay Replay was such a positive surprise for me. If you’re not usually a horror fan, but have been interested in trying the genre, I think this book would be a perfect introduction to the genre. It’s horror but it’s also focused on positive aspects of life and making life better and I loved that. I truly loved this book and it is definitely one that I would re-read again. Such a fun time is to be had with this fantastic book! It is fast paced and you won’t want to put it down until you have devoured the entire thing.

“My story may 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.”