Reviews

This book is amazing and I'm glad I picked it up! It's very readable and hard to put down past a certain point. I found the queer themes to be really beautifully presented and woven lovingly into ideas of found family and community. The way Rosen explores these things through a very noir mystery narrative is really interesting as well. The prose hits on all the right notes, but typical noir tropes also get lovingly examined and flipped on their heads. I especially loved Andy's journey as he grapples with his depression and his queerness as an identity rather than an affliction/impulse. There are a lot of really poignant conversations in this book that I think will resonate with a lot of queer readers. One thing that stood out about him to me is that he's introduced as this very archetypal noir detective, but we soon realize he's very... smiley? You kind of get the sense that he wears his heart on his sleeve in this book and you can see him quietly becoming more comfortable in his own skin, and that did a lot to make me appreciate him as he grappled with this sudden shift in his life.

There were a few things that bothered me, though, namely the resolution of the mystery.

Right after it's established that it's basically impossible to meaningfully punish the killer, the problem is immediately solved by the killer.. basically ritualistically killing themself. It felt a little cheap to me, since the question of what to do with the culprit was actually really compelling. If Andy plans on being a queer detective in the future, is this how all his mysteries will conclude? Because as long as he needs to lay low and not be involved with the police, he's going to keep running into this problem. The killers he catch can't ALL politely take care of themselves at the end of the book. It also felt like the identity of the killer themself was the "easy way out", a way to take care of the house's biggest problem. I definitely see what Rosen was going for with regards to the themes of found family vs forced/compelled family, and I think those ideas come across well, but it just felt a little too easy in the end.

samanthaduhack's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.0

eventual_ghost's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

More...