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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A gripping and emotional read. I loved this one. Docking half a point for Max being a huge dick for 90% of the book (I know that was the point but still) and a quarter point for the amount of times I shouted "oh my god just kick him in the balls!!!!"
Otherwise, this is being added to my hard recommend list.
Otherwise, this is being added to my hard recommend list.
The husband brought me an arc back from ALA
This is intense and trippy without holding your hand about it, it feels like a twilight zone episode at times, one that’s painfully, achingly topical and hard to read at times. The characters are so messy and far from perfect, they fuck up and hurt each other and find their way back to each other in the end. I dont know what I expected going into this but it wasn’t this, but i definitely enjoyed what i got!
This is intense and trippy without holding your hand about it, it feels like a twilight zone episode at times, one that’s painfully, achingly topical and hard to read at times. The characters are so messy and far from perfect, they fuck up and hurt each other and find their way back to each other in the end. I dont know what I expected going into this but it wasn’t this, but i definitely enjoyed what i got!
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Okay here was a great reminder for me to check trigger warnings before starting the book. I will say that did not stop me from loving this book it just threw me for a very sudden loop to have some of my own experiences with transphobia shown to me in a novel. However, Kisner handles the topic with grace but a very honest look at what it means to be trans without supportive parents.
I will say I thought this was going to be a lot more monster horror then it ended up being.The monster, while sort of important to the plot, really takes a back seat with the idea that the people were actually the monsters all along. Once I got past the shock of that being what the story was going for I did enjoy watching Max and Erin trying to survive.
I found the book had some pacing issues near the middle but it makes up for it in a very tight, quick, and snappy ending. It makes reading the end something I couldn't put down.
Will I recommend this to a friend? 100%. I will be giving them better warnings than I gave myself though.
Assigned song: I Gave You All by Mumford & Sons
I will say I thought this was going to be a lot more monster horror then it ended up being.
I found the book had some pacing issues near the middle but it makes up for it in a very tight, quick, and snappy ending. It makes reading the end something I couldn't put down.
Will I recommend this to a friend? 100%. I will be giving them better warnings than I gave myself though.
Assigned song: I Gave You All by Mumford & Sons
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Transphobia, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
inspiring
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a bit of a Wrong Turn meets Folk Horror story, but what sets it apart are the two main characters- Erin and Max. Both are trans kids from Ohio, on a road trip to start hopefully safer lives in California. It's especially important for Max since his parents have not been supportive and have threatened him with institutionalism. Two years ago, the two were dating, until Max abruptly ended the relationship and cut himself off completely from Erin. But when he reaches out to Erin and asks her to go to CA with him, she can't refuse. The pov switches between the two characters and highlights their very different journeys and experiences, and the ways they both deal with the threat- both human and supernatural, in the backwoods of a small Kentucky town. Although this book deals with lots of horror, especially the everyday threats against trans people, there is warmth and humor found in these pages. I was rooting so hard for Erin and Max to not only defeat the villains, but to find their way back to the friendship they both needed. While Max was a harder character to like at times, he is legitimately fighting for his right to exist, and he's worn down by it. He's angry and prickly, but he's not wrong to feel that way. There is nothing easy about this story, and it deals with the usual horror triggers and more specifically the horrors of being trans and having anger, hate, ignorance, and violence directed towards trans people in our current environment. It's rare for a horror story to leave me feeling as good as this one did, and that's entirely down to the characters and writing style of the author. The book never feels heavy handed or preachy, never violent for the sake of violence. Definitely read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, and if you can handle them, I think you'll find a darkly horror treasure within the pages.
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
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:
Complicated
Max thinks he's escaping the monsters when he picks Erin up in the dead of night and ditches Ohio for a life he can live as himself in California. Erin feels that this journey might be the chance she needs to reconnect with Max and she has a feeling she needs be there for him. For two trans kids just going into a gas station in the middle of nowhere could end in tragedy.
They don't get far from the backwards backwoods before they encounter trouble. (They probably shouldn't have been talking about *cough* mothman *cough*) but either way they hit something big in the road find themselves in backwoods horror kind of trouble. It's clear to me which of the beasts they face is the more fearsome, but in this book I will say that these trans kids aren't going to be the first to die. And of course, the monster in the woods "only eats girls." But are monsters also transphobic? And also who cares about the monster in the woods when the monster in the heart of people is ever present?
The other thing I will say is that I think this would make a great movie and the fact that the author started writing it as a screenplay makes sense, because the action and fast pacing are on point. I don't know how a creature could be made to be as horrifying as this one sounds, but the cover art does it justice too.
Also, whenever Max and Erin try to play by binary rules (men do this, women do that) that ends up hurting them, which makes sense.
They don't get far from the backwards backwoods before they encounter trouble. (They probably shouldn't have been talking about *cough* mothman *cough*) but either way they hit something big in the road find themselves in backwoods horror kind of trouble. It's clear to me which of the beasts they face is the more fearsome, but in this book I will say that these trans kids aren't going to be the first to die. And of course, the monster in the woods "only eats girls." But are monsters also transphobic? And also who cares about the monster in the woods when the monster in the heart of people is ever present?
The other thing I will say is that I think this would make a great movie and the fact that the author started writing it as a screenplay makes sense, because the action and fast pacing are on point. I don't know how a creature could be made to be as horrifying as this one sounds, but the cover art does it justice too.
Also, whenever Max and Erin try to play by binary rules (men do this, women do that) that ends up hurting them, which makes sense.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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