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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
I can’t believe I just finished a 400 page book in two days.
This book was like if The Last Of Us and or Annihilation took place on Martha’s Vineyard… with drag queens.
Ollie and his mom are returning to their home on an island off the coast of Maine, after spending a year on the mainland where his mother was receiving treatment for bone cancer.
On the ferry ride over, Ollie meets a twin flame named Sam, who shares his love of piano and performing. Sam ends up following them to their home, the salt weathered bed and breakfast that they left behind the year prior.
After a small homecoming party with some locals, Ollies frustrations about his mother’s aloofness following the past year comes to a head, and he yells at her, airing out his personal feelings for all to hear.
The next morning, Ollie awakes to find his aquarium full of fish and mostly coral specimens has exploded, and then his aunt attacks him. She is acting erratically, and is covered in a clear slimy substance that seems to be coming from her eyes and mouth.
From this point on, we see the island and is residents falling victim to a strange plague that starts by congealing all the water in their bodies, essentially drowning them, and leaves them as shells of their former selves, weeping jellied tears while singing to themselves and smiling way too big.
I really loved this one. It was so well thought out, and the descriptions of these cosmically crafted coral critters puts a very clear and creepy picture in your head.
Not only that, but the relationships between the characters in this story were so beautiful and parts of it were absolutely gut wrenching because of how close and tight knit this little island community is.
We do not end, we echo.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Dead of Summer was exactly what I was looking for in a summertime horror, perfectly campy, queer as hell, and with just the right amount of descriptions for the grossness of the plague from the waves. The visuals of the book was also so fun, with handwritten articles, social media posts, and pictures scattered throughout, slowly piecing together the story of what happened to Anchor's Mercy. All in all it was such a wonderful read, and La Sala continues to be one of my favorite queer YA horror authors.
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Obsessed doesn’t even begin to cut it….I need book 2 YESTERDAY!!
challenging
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-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
fast-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:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
things ryan la sala has made me (more) scared of:
- bees
- mirrors
- coral
i don’t fuck with the ocean to begin with, so i KNEW going into this one i was going to be at a disadvantage. and YEAH the ocean is still terrifying, but at it’s heart, this book is a loud commentary on the way queer people are left to deal with our own shit with the help of only our chosen families to get us through it. an island, that is a queer destination, gets infected with a mysterious illness and is literally abandoned and it’s inhabitants left there to die. chilling!
this is the second ryan la sala book the group chat has read together, and bless that, because i needed someone to understand the stress i was vicariously feeling for these teenagers. the notes app theories i have cooked up had me looking like that charlie day from it’s always sunny meme trying to connect the most pointless shit because i was SURE it meant something.
i’m still convinced i’m right abut a few of them, but i WON’T KNOW because i was so invested in the book that i forgot until about 75% thorough that that was a DUOLOGY, so there’s an entire second book coming. it’s absolutely going to be worth the wait, but man, the twist right before the ending is EXHILARATING and i am so obsessed with whatever is wrong with ryan.
these characters they’ve written here are some of my absolute favorites (wendy pretendy, a literal goddess of a human) and i’m excited to see the ones that survive the island (and honestly, maybe even the ones that didn’t) in the conclusion of the story because i KNOW it’s going to be such an intense, rocky ride to get to the ending. but they’ll be okay, because suds still together, right? right, ryan?
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes