Book Report: Let's Split Up
By: Cassie Birk
Welcome to the Book Report. This is the nitty gritty, spoiler-free review of one of my latest reads to see if Let's Split Up by Bill Wood would be a good fit for your TBR!
BEFORE WE DIVE IN…
Everything that the reader should know about the book before diving into the details.
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Age Group: Younger YA (12–16), as long as you are fine with some cursing.
The following content warnings are described on page: Death, Blood (specifically bodily injury), Murder, Kidnapping
Spice Level: None. The romantic subplot is very wholesome with shy kissing and hugging on page.
Page Count: 352 pages.
Art by Ben Jackson
ABOUT THE BOOK
Let’s Split Up is a YA horror-mystery set in 2001 that follows an unlikely group of friends who investigate a double murder in the fictional Californian small town of Sanera. The creepy abandoned mansion at the edge of town, Carrington Manor, has been rumored to be haunted by its original rich owner for over 100 years. It’s not until the high school it-couple, football player Brad and cheerleader Shelley, are found dead within its walls, that panic spreads about the possibility of the Carrington Ghoul being more than just legend. Four unlikely friends—Cam, Amber, Jonesy, and the new girl, Buffy—decide to take on the case to see if they can unmask the Carrington Ghoul before he strikes again. The reader is invited to guess along with the main characters whether the ghost of the murdered landowner is taking his revenge, or if someone is taking advantage of the mansion’s history to commit the crime. And if so, who?
The book combines classic who-dunnit elements with self-aware nods to classic horror references and tropes. It definitely doesn’t go unnoticed that Buffy shares her name with the famous vampire slayer. While the book feels geared towards younger readers who are just getting into horror, an adult audience will have fun picking out all the references to things like Charmed and Friday the 13th. Unlike its classic counterparts, the main cast is diverse, including gay and bisexual rep, POC rep, and kids being raised by single parent families. All of the representation is positive and wholesome, with the main cast being supportive of each other's queer identities, which is a welcome change from how these relationships might have been portrayed in media from the early 2000s. The story is told in three POVs, altering chapters from Cam, Jonesy, and Amber’s perspectives, each usually picking up where the other left off, so the story moves at a quick pace while still getting insight into each main character’s perspectives on the investigation and their struggles at home. Since the chapters are fairly short, readers who want to be rooted in a single character’s interiority might have issues with this style.
While Let’s Split Up has been out in the UK for a year, it’s coming out in the U.S. with a sprayed-edge paperback debut this month on September 2nd. The sequel, Be Right Back, is out in the UK October 2025 and Bill has revealed that a live action TV show is also in the works. For full immersion while reading, check out the author’s playlist for the book on Spotify!
READER PROFILE
You might find this book a great fit for your TBR if:
You enjoyed all the 90s/2000s-themed shenanigans in the movie Y2K, but wish it was gayer.
Scooby-Doo is your comfort show and you always watch until the end of each episode to see the gang unmask the villain.
Your spooky season rewatch list is full of classic horror movies like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
You finished A Wicked Magic by Sasha Laurens are looking for more small-town California spookness with a high school aged cast.
You devoured Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle and now positive queer rep is a must for your next horror read.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Wood is probably best known for his TikTok (@billreads). This is his debut novel, but while he was writing the book, he worked as a bookseller at Waterstones. This book, Let’s Split Up, was the UK’s fastest selling YA debut of 2024. He is a graduate of Birmingham City University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with first class honors in Film & Screenwriting.
WHAT READERS THINK
“i was gonna read this in a slower pace but it got me hooked up i loved the short chaps and the different povs was just chefs kiss even if it's very predictable who was the /murder/ still made me excited and couldn't put down the book jonesy es mi hijo hihi” —angela via Goodreads
“firstly, i did actually really enjoy this. i liked the plot, as well as the split narratives. as well as this, i really liked how the plot had a little bit of romance but it wasn’t a major plot point. you can definitely tell where the inspiration has come from (scooby doo) which is a great thing, but at times, did stray too close to it for my liking. i thought the twists were good, and i didn’t see them coming, and i definitely didn’t see the killer coming. one review said that they knew on page [redacted], and after finding out the killer, i went and reread that page, and i have to say, what an excellent use of foreshadowing. lastly, as much as i loved that it was set in the 2000s, i felt the author should have used that a lot more! there was a few references such as to walkmans and different music in that era, but more from that time could have been brought in. in conclusion, i did enjoy this, and the plot was pretty good, but the material was sometimes too close to the source material for my liking. would recommend :) ” —maisiecowling via Storygraph
BOOK REPORTER’S REVIEW
Cassie’s Review: 3/5
One of my pet peeves that can easily take me out of a story is anachronism. And while it's really clear that Bill Wood loves a schlocky 2000s American moment, the story doesn't feel grounded there. The writing has quite a few Britishisms that I hope were caught in the final edits, but really took me out of the story. For example, Jonsey is taking “double history,” which is not a phrasing or class structure in American high schools. I think it's also some of the Britishisms that made it harder for me to distinguish each POV. Jonsey is actually half British, so some of those words slipped into his chapters would make sense, but not Amber, who is originally from Chicago. Some of the anachronisms also extended to the 2001 setting. All four members of the team communicate by text. Maybe I wasn’t cool enough in the early 2000s, but I used the family computer for group chats with friends since not everyone in my crew had a phone until the 2010s. If I didn’t dig into things too deeply and just went along with the mystery, it was a fun ride!
Thank you to Scholastic for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.