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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review. I also received a physical ARC of this book at the ALA conference last year and decided to read that version.
I literally finished this book in a little over a day. I was hooked from the first word until the last, and gosh did the author do a FANTASTIC job on this novel. This makes we want to find more queer horror books now. Both Erin and Max are so relatable from the very beginning, as they both struggle with their problems in different ways. The plot was also very well developed and kept me coming back for more. Though I do recommend reading the trigger warnings before reading, I recommend this book so so so much, and want to see what the author continues to write!
Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review. I also received a physical ARC of this book at the ALA conference last year and decided to read that version.
I literally finished this book in a little over a day. I was hooked from the first word until the last, and gosh did the author do a FANTASTIC job on this novel. This makes we want to find more queer horror books now. Both Erin and Max are so relatable from the very beginning, as they both struggle with their problems in different ways. The plot was also very well developed and kept me coming back for more. Though I do recommend reading the trigger warnings before reading, I recommend this book so so so much, and want to see what the author continues to write!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Car accident
Minor: Vomit
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
I have this empty cavity in my stomach and I now want to read about Erin & Max’s story again. Super good, super gut-wrenching and gorey, love a good trans horror book :]
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked it, I'd recommend it, I just thought it would be more horror-y than it was. always happy to read more trans thrillers though.
To be "fair" I should give this book more time - it hasn't even become a horror novel yet, at all. But the trans male protagonist's narration is just so resentful of the trans female protagonist for being a largely happily transitioned trans girl. It does seem like this is his Character Flaw that he will be working through in the novel, but for me I just don't really want to read that right now. I'm not gripped enough by what the book seems to have to offer to slog through his character development.
adventurous
dark
emotional
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
The premise of “Would *insert crytpid* pursue you if it knew you were trans?” was brilliant, stunning, hilarious! When told along side a compelling and heart wrenching trans horror, you have a recipe for “Books that Kate Eats Up”!!
This story features…
Erin and Max: freshly 18, both trans, exes, running away from home.
The impala: a chariot bearing them towards the promised land (LA)
The monster: small town transphobia and hostility
The “actual” monster: who fucking knows, but it’s big and scary!
The mission: escape Max’s shitty family, escape this shitty transphobes, escape the shitty hick town full of weirdos, go to Berkeley
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I was a little hesitant when we started as the writing was a little stilted, but by about 20% I was so hooked with where the story was going. The ending to this book came around far too quickly for my liking simply because I was having such a great time with it.
Erin and Max are such compelling characters and I really liked how real they felt. Max was so annoying which I think made him more authentic and there was a point where I messaged my book club to comment of the gender affirmity of him being a shitty communicator (yes men, that’s shade). I also really loved how this book dealt the characters trauma and how that trauma was clearly depicted on page. Yes a lot of the trauma processing happens off page at the end, but there were some specific scenes that really demonstrated what I consider to be really realistic responses to awful experiences.
I will absolutely keep an eye out for more work from this author and highly recommend this book to fans of horror/slasher type stories. Also it’s currently the trans rights readathon and this would make a great addition to the TBR!
This story features…
Erin and Max: freshly 18, both trans, exes, running away from home.
The impala: a chariot bearing them towards the promised land (LA)
The monster: small town transphobia and hostility
The “actual” monster: who fucking knows, but it’s big and scary!
The mission: escape Max’s shitty family, escape this shitty transphobes, escape the shitty hick town full of weirdos, go to Berkeley
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I was a little hesitant when we started as the writing was a little stilted, but by about 20% I was so hooked with where the story was going. The ending to this book came around far too quickly for my liking simply because I was having such a great time with it.
Erin and Max are such compelling characters and I really liked how real they felt. Max was so annoying which I think made him more authentic and there was a point where I messaged my book club to comment of the gender affirmity of him being a shitty communicator (yes men, that’s shade). I also really loved how this book dealt the characters trauma and how that trauma was clearly depicted on page. Yes a lot of the trauma processing happens off page at the end, but there were some specific scenes that really demonstrated what I consider to be really realistic responses to awful experiences.
I will absolutely keep an eye out for more work from this author and highly recommend this book to fans of horror/slasher type stories. Also it’s currently the trans rights readathon and this would make a great addition to the TBR!