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A review by the_broadway_slasher
The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.5

Ok I’m a little bit torn on how I felt about The Bell In The Fog. I LOVED the preceding book, Lavender House and I looooove Evander Mills and the assortment of Queer characters that populate his story. My favorite aspects of this sequel were the expansion of San Francisco/Andy’s world and the EXCELLENT way the author weaves in and out of the historical aspects and ramifications of being queer in the 1950s. What I think was a little bit lacking in this sequel was the mystery and the introduction of characters as fascinating as the ones from the first book. The mystery here feels smaller, though it’s actually bigger and it took me a few pages to really care about what Andy was investigating. Once the layers start getting pulled back and revealing the connection to Andy’s past I was more or less sold but it took me a minute. Really enjoyed the development of Andy’s relationships with some of the characters from the first book and the evolution of him coming to terms with his identity and his role in San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. Though I didn’t love this as much as I wanted to, I highly recommend it to those who liked the first book because this feels like it’s laying down a lot of important foundation for whatever comes next in the series. It’s also worth it just to get to know characters from the first like Gene and Lee a little more, they were the standouts. Ohhh and I also wish there was a liiiiiittle more of the cast of Lavender House in this. 🤷🏽‍♂️
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