Dead by Morning

De: Kayla Frederick

Narrado por: Katrina Medina

Obsession is deadly.

Luna Ketz is no stranger to that. A cynical high school senior caught between her parents’ expectations and her own future, she has little time, or patience, for boys. Especially not Chance Welfrey, the odd classmate with an unsettling gaze and a fixation she doesn’t return.

Luna doesn’t think twice about him… until girls at their school start disappearing. Girls who crossed her. Girls she secretly wanted gone.

A phone call from a long-lost friend shatters what little normalcy Luna has left, pulling her into a terrifying world hidden beneath the veil of sleep. A realm where the boundaries of reality blur and a killer moves freely.

Luna is in danger and although she can avoid the killer during the day, she cannot avoid him in her dreams.

©2024 Kayla Frederick (P)2025 Kayla Frederick

Dead by Morning

I really enjoyed Dead by Morning. It’s a brisk supernatural thriller with some genuinely effective moments. Kayla Frederick has a knack for suspense, and the DreamWorld is a fascinating concept. The heroine, Luna, stands out just enough from the usual “teen slasher” mold to feel compelling, and the premise carries the story even when the action occasionally slows down.

The pacing is the novel’s strongest asset. The shift from everyday high school drama to creeping horror to full-blown “Nightmare on Elm Street” dream invasion is handled deftly, and it kept me turning pages—even if the characters’ questionable choices sometimes made survival seem harder than it needed to be.

What stuck with me most was the potential in the world-building. I wanted more about the Keepers, the deeper meaning of the DreamWorld, and what truly makes Luna unique. Those unanswered questions left me intrigued rather than disappointed.

The villain, by contrast, was a bit one-dimensional. His escalating menace did its job in keeping the threat ominous, though, and he served the story well enough.

Ultimately, Dead by Morning is an entertaining dive into supernatural teen-slasher territory. With more nuanced characters and a richer villain, it could have been excellent. As it stands, it’s a solid 3 stars: unsettling, fun, and engaging. The audiobook also deserves a nod. The narrator did an excellent job, and the occasional sound and vocal effects really enhanced the experience.

Suspenseful thriller

"Dead By Morning" by Kayla Frederick is a gripping blend of suspense, thriller, and psychological horror with a touch of utopian dystopia. The story follows Luna, a young woman whose dreams quickly spiral into nightmarish visions, revealing a terrifying reality far worse than she could have imagined. As Luna delves deeper into her unsettling dreams, she discovers how dangerous obsessions can become. Frederick skillfully builds tension, blending surreal dream sequences with chilling moments of horror. The narrative explores themes of control, fear, and the consequences of fixation, all while keeping readers on edge with unexpected twists and dark revelations. The narrator did an amazing job of bringing the story to life, and the sound effects were great! Fans of psychological thrillers will find this a hard-to-put-down, heart-pounding experience.