I will start off rating this 4.5/5 stars. I really did love this book! I finished it within a few days since it is a bit shorter in length. I found it to be such an interesting thriller and the concept as a whole was really good. I thought all the characters were very well developed along with the plot as well. The representation was also super important in this book and I cannot wait for this to be released and getting to see the own voices reviews by those who feel represented by these characters! This was such a well done thriller with such an interesting concept

Hm. I'm leaving this unrated for now (for good?) because my thoughts are kind of all over the place.

I think, when you're neck deep in the spooky thrilling creepiness of this story, you're in it. You're having a good scary time. The problem is when you pause, put the book down, and start wondering.. why. Why are these things happening, what is this world, what is the history.. and, the biggest most perplexing thing, why did the author choose to go in this direction with the villain.

I honestly think this would make a great movie because the atmosphere and the ambience, though hella confusing, still did a great job at creeping me out. Some of the visuals were, again, sometimes confusing but somehow still managed to be translated into my brain. But so much of this needs more. Yes, the story is short, so I guess a lot of this surface level non-explanation could be blamed on that but.. why was it short? Why wasn't this longer, more fleshed out, given context? So much could've been improved, including the romance.

If you want a short spooky dose of a novel that brushes up against topics of racism and homophobia, without making them the central theme, and that will likely keep you on the edge of your seat, you could probably do worse. I just wish it could've done.. not better, maybe, but more.

I requested this one because it might be a 2021 title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book is not my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one rather than push myself to finish it only to give it a poor review.
I loved the diversity in this book, but I just couldn't get into the story itself.

I don't think this was a bad book, but I quickly realized it wasn't my cup of tea, so I didn't finish it. This was mostly due to the writing style, which felt choppy and incohesive and didn't pull me in.

this book was short but very good with the pacing, i enjoyed how it dealt with black queer trauma and microaggressions when it comes to going to predominantly white schools. can’t wait to see what the author writes next.