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lblackburn04's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I overall really enjoyed the book and its general vibe, however it had a few flaws that stopped it being rated higher.
The first half of the book is super slow and I nearly gave up on it; I’m glad I didn’t because the 2nd half was super captivating.
I did find the random street races off putting and out of place, and I felt as though the book could have benefitted from less of those and an extended ending.
The first half of the book is super slow and I nearly gave up on it; I’m glad I didn’t because the 2nd half was super captivating.
I did find the random street races off putting and out of place, and I felt as though the book could have benefitted from less of those and an extended ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Racism
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was a really fascinating horror / mystery / coming-of-age story about Andrew, who had decided to join his best friend Eddie at his graduate program. However, before Andrew arrives, Eddie dies by suicide, and Andrew is left with Eddie's inheritance, house, and so many unanswered questions about how Eddie got to that point of despair. Andrew begins to question the motives of the folks who were in Eddie's life, wonders if there was more to Eddie's death than what appears, and is thrust into this life of fast cars (I guess this is marketed as Fast & the Furious, but make it southern gothic? I guess I co-sign that?), drugs, sex, and suspicious relationship dynamics.
Overall, this was a deeply atmospheric book, and I could easily visualize the setting. The author did a wonderful job in the setup and creating an eerie setting. The pace is incredibly slow, so just be mindful of that. I had to come back to this multiple times because I kept falling asleep *cries in "I'm sorry!"* As far as the characters, I didn't particularly love or root for any of them, but I appreciated the authenticity in which they display anger, callousness, carelessness, and defensiveness. Andrew is grieving his best friend, he is confused about it, and he is getting to know an entirely new group of people, which can often be disorienting on its own. Throw in a dark academia southern gothic setting of universities where there may be hexes afoot and certainly are systemically oppressive structures at play? Sheesh. That sounds like a nightmare to navigate. I get it. However, I didn't feel particularly pulled to Andrew in the way I should have as a main character, at least not until the very end.
Overall, I think this is an impressive debut, and I will absolutely read more from the author in the future, but I deeply struggled to maintain interest in this slow-paced novel.
This was a really fascinating horror / mystery / coming-of-age story about Andrew, who had decided to join his best friend Eddie at his graduate program. However, before Andrew arrives, Eddie dies by suicide, and Andrew is left with Eddie's inheritance, house, and so many unanswered questions about how Eddie got to that point of despair. Andrew begins to question the motives of the folks who were in Eddie's life, wonders if there was more to Eddie's death than what appears, and is thrust into this life of fast cars (I guess this is marketed as Fast & the Furious, but make it southern gothic? I guess I co-sign that?), drugs, sex, and suspicious relationship dynamics.
Overall, this was a deeply atmospheric book, and I could easily visualize the setting. The author did a wonderful job in the setup and creating an eerie setting. The pace is incredibly slow, so just be mindful of that. I had to come back to this multiple times because I kept falling asleep *cries in "I'm sorry!"* As far as the characters, I didn't particularly love or root for any of them, but I appreciated the authenticity in which they display anger, callousness, carelessness, and defensiveness. Andrew is grieving his best friend, he is confused about it, and he is getting to know an entirely new group of people, which can often be disorienting on its own. Throw in a dark academia southern gothic setting of universities where there may be hexes afoot and certainly are systemically oppressive structures at play? Sheesh. That sounds like a nightmare to navigate. I get it. However, I didn't feel particularly pulled to Andrew in the way I should have as a main character, at least not until the very end.
Overall, I think this is an impressive debut, and I will absolutely read more from the author in the future, but I deeply struggled to maintain interest in this slow-paced novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Alcohol, Homophobia, Suicide, Drug use, Blood, Murder, and Physical abuse
nikoops's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Really great read for fans of a good old ghost story. Definitely leaves you wanting to know more about the fates of these characters, and there were definitely parts that had me wishing the author would have delved a bit deeper.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Bullying
eliotadrift's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Drug use
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism
jojothefool's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a lot of fun with this audiobook. The supernatural stuff was a bit confusing via audio for me, I think I may have followed some scenes a lot better if I were reading instead of listening, but I got enough of it to get the haunting feelings of the scary scenes. I will say that this book has representation of a queer community I am so not familiar with which was interesting lol there’s a lot of drag racing and not the kind that I’m used to. Car stuff is just not for me, I don’t understand it and I don’t want to, so those parts were kinda hard to get through. I liked the overall mystery and ookiness of the novel. There’s a small yet remarkable romance that I found myself shipping far before I thought the book would do anything with it, so when it happened I was very pleased. Overall a fun time, especially for the toxic codependency queer ship enjoyers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Suicide, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Drug use
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Vomit, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, and Homophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Car accident
ckelley101's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
kyra_joy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Though I loved this book, I did find the beginning a little slow and the end came very quickly. But the characters were great a the mystery held up till close to the end. But overall I really enjoyed this read especially once I got a bit into it and I didn’t want to put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, and Self harm
madscientistcat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Visceral, haunting, a queer gothic masterpiece.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Drug use, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Gore, and Vomit
Minor: Cancer, Slavery, and Animal death
queerfucker's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I luv gays being toxic bitches and learning to be better humans in the midst of their grief… with ghosts!
It can feel very slow and like days have actually been weeks, but grief and it’s distortion of time can do that. The descriptions are so vivid, but it can just feel like another paragraph to read at times.
It can feel very slow and like days have actually been weeks, but grief and it’s distortion of time can do that. The descriptions are so vivid, but it can just feel like another paragraph to read at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, and Drug use
deebauched's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
my mind usually associates the word gothic with the brisk chill of autumn, but in this book's case i had the most interesting experience of re-wiring my brain with pictures of a haunting taking place during the sweltering summer haze while a grief-stricken boy desperately tried to solve his best friend slash almost-lover's suicide-that-was-not. finally, my first experience with summer gothic is here!
andrew blur is 22 and been familiar with the oppressive chill of a haunt hiding in his blood since an accident when he was 12, falling into a cave with his best friend eddie that both survived with unexpected consequences tying them to death forever. now a decade later we see him opening this book by battling the fresh news and grief of losing ed to suicide, something he just cannot reconcile being the true cause of his passing regardless of what anyone else says. suspicious, he's determined to unearth the real reason of ed's death, upturning any lead from his troubled group of friends to his busy academic life at university campus. he finds secrets ed kept from him at each turn, grows suspicious at various people, meanwhile fights a constant battle with a supernatural remnant of ed's ghost whose haunting persists more and more as the story goes.
gotta be honest, i was caught unawares of how hooked i'd get on this story only because i spent the first 80 or so pages in a neutral state about it all. i read it with a cool interest of where it would go, but once the groundwork was laid for all the players on the board i was hooked to a feverish binge to the very end. i believe this book is more character-driven while also handles a nice plot relatively well. there's a lot of content to one's liking - there are boys being dumb boys, there's a gang of unruly street racers trying to fold andrew into their pack, there are themes of repressed sexuality and past unhealthy relationships, codependency, a lot of spooky imagery of hauntings and occult folklore, and throughout it all a murder mystery setting the stage for all to unspool.
i really loved what this book served. i thought it dealt with the various themes well and i give major props to it for being able to get me into a romance that followed a lost one. i usually don't bite on these type of romances because i'm not convinced one could satisfyingly get over a love so intense they are being haunted over it, but this book did a very convincing job at it all and i ended up liking the endgame. i think what i liked about it most was its character writing and atmosphere. you get a really good grasp on the main cast and get invested in the case pretty early on. and the atmosphere is perfect for a spooky season read (even if i neither started nor finished this during that season, it's still true!)
putting a bow on my late night rant, i'm giving this a 4.5! the prose was above expected, the vibes were immaculate, the descriptions of the haunts, street races, grief, obsession and attraction were all deliciously electric.
trigger warnings: suicide, graphic descriptions of self-harm, death and murder.
andrew blur is 22 and been familiar with the oppressive chill of a haunt hiding in his blood since an accident when he was 12, falling into a cave with his best friend eddie that both survived with unexpected consequences tying them to death forever. now a decade later we see him opening this book by battling the fresh news and grief of losing ed to suicide, something he just cannot reconcile being the true cause of his passing regardless of what anyone else says. suspicious, he's determined to unearth the real reason of ed's death, upturning any lead from his troubled group of friends to his busy academic life at university campus. he finds secrets ed kept from him at each turn, grows suspicious at various people, meanwhile fights a constant battle with a supernatural remnant of ed's ghost whose haunting persists more and more as the story goes.
gotta be honest, i was caught unawares of how hooked i'd get on this story only because i spent the first 80 or so pages in a neutral state about it all. i read it with a cool interest of where it would go, but once the groundwork was laid for all the players on the board i was hooked to a feverish binge to the very end. i believe this book is more character-driven while also handles a nice plot relatively well. there's a lot of content to one's liking - there are boys being dumb boys, there's a gang of unruly street racers trying to fold andrew into their pack, there are themes of repressed sexuality and past unhealthy relationships, codependency, a lot of spooky imagery of hauntings and occult folklore, and throughout it all a murder mystery setting the stage for all to unspool.
i really loved what this book served. i thought it dealt with the various themes well and i give major props to it for being able to get me into a romance that followed a lost one. i usually don't bite on these type of romances because i'm not convinced one could satisfyingly get over a love so intense they are being haunted over it, but this book did a very convincing job at it all and i ended up liking the endgame. i think what i liked about it most was its character writing and atmosphere. you get a really good grasp on the main cast and get invested in the case pretty early on. and the atmosphere is perfect for a spooky season read (even if i neither started nor finished this during that season, it's still true!)
putting a bow on my late night rant, i'm giving this a 4.5! the prose was above expected, the vibes were immaculate, the descriptions of the haunts, street races, grief, obsession and attraction were all deliciously electric.
trigger warnings: suicide, graphic descriptions of self-harm, death and murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Drug use, and Gore