Wow. W.O.W.

Lee Mandelo blew me away with this novel.. I've recently gotten into the Horror genre but tend to stray away from King's novels, and this book scratched that niche itch so well. Not only does it envelop the Horror genre, it also includes Mystery, LGBT, Coming of Age, and has some fantastical elements as well!

There was nothing to dislike about this novel. Andrew kind of reminds me a little bit of a mixture between Ronan Lynch (The Raven Cycle) and Richard Papen (The Secret History), who just so happen to be my favorite narrators in the entire literary world.

I am so excited to see where Mandelo goes after Summer Sons blows the NYT Best Seller's List out of the water in September. I'm also excited to see that the entire Horror genre is shifting away from the overly-long, dramatic, King style horror, and is now being written to serve a newer, younger audience.

Summer Sons defies genre and is a beautiful, sweltering, messy ride (and I mean messy in the best, grief-ridden sense).

The prose is masterfully done. There were so many times when reading that I had to physically put the book down while I reread a sentence a few times because it was just THAT good. The macabre gore always had an almost romantic tinge to it, which I couldn’t get enough of.

The characters were, for me, the best part of the novel. They were well constructed and most, if not all of them, had depth. Especially Halse, who I found at first to be one-dimensional, and then completely surprised me.

The pacing can be slow, especially in the beginning, but it reminded me of how grief physically feels. Everything around you slows way down, leaves you behind. Summer Sons does a fantastic job of showing grief in a very real, gritty way. Reading about Andrew dealing with the loss of his friends was at times hard to handle, and frankly, it should be. Absolutely beautifully done.

"Summer Sons is a sweltering, queer Southern Gothic that crosses Appalachian street racing with academic intrigue, all haunted by a hungry ghost." I mean I couldn't describe it better than the blurb if I tried.

This book was a ride beginning to end, car pun intended. The whole premise intrigued me so much that I put down the other books I was reading and focused in on this one. I did find the first half a bit slow to get into the main drama but I kind of enjoyed just seeing through Andrew's eyes as he tries to walk in Eddie's shoes to see what might have caused his death. I liked going through the suspicions of each character with him. The complex relationships between so many of the characters really made this book feel different from others. On one hand you have a man trying to reconnect to his dead best friend, while simultaneously trying to keep himself grounded in the land of the living. I definitely think the cousins were the best and I love them too much. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like supernatural horror with pining men, a pack who drink and do drugs way too much, and a ton of LGBTQ+ rep, then this one is for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.

*Fleabag looking into camera* This is a ghost story. :)

It’s good, it’s sad, it’s haunted. Perfect for the fall, I think.

Not for everyone - but I’m not sure it’s supposed to be. It could be sold in multiple different genres and has so many complex and unlikable characters. However, I had a blast. It was genuinely intriguing, haunting, and all around a pretty good read.

This book was such a ride, and so messy and dark without ever falling over the edge into something you couldn't relate to or claim as your own. I've semi-jokingly been recommending this to people as "a book if you love Ronan Lynch from The Raven Cycle, but want it adult, more messed up, and full of ghosts", and, honestly, I still stand by that.

These characters are messy and inelegant and flawed and, in the case of our main character and probably his best friend as well, so very repressed. The softness of queer stories can be nice, the delicate, beautiful look of them, the poetic and well edited move towards understanding self- but that's not the only kind of queer story or queer coming out arc.
I'm a big fan of any story that involves finding your way out of smothering, embryonic sack of repression in the South, the disconnect of self, the way things break even as they finally come into focus. And this book? It hits all those notes for me.

This book is also so very creepy- but personally creepy. This isn't just a ghost story, it is so intrinsically tied into what Andrew is going through, and his connection to Eddie. I love the way Mandelo had the paranormal elements and the tension all impossible to unravel from Andrew's trauma and queerness. It works so well, and feels so real, because it's matched hit by hit.

And all of this would be enough on it's own, but it certainly helps that I love the whole cast of characters. They aren't created equally, but they all bring something different, and, importantly, organic to the mix. I love the diversity in this book, and the way that it's both embraced as something that exists there and something other people have their own comfortability with, and still snagged upon at certain moments like a sensitive area, for someone who is more or less blindsided and not entirely sure how to interact with or how he should feel about these characters and their own identities.
Seeing them through Andrew's lens is really interesting, and I found myself really getting connected with them. Some right away- like Riley- some slower. And some sort of snuck in- Ethan is hands down my favorite character, and I didn't think for a second he was going to have enough character/personality/depth for that to happen.

Not everything worked perfectly for me. I was excited about the folklore and murder ballads (two things I am very, <i>very</i> into) and they didn't quite pan out or expand into the story the way I was hoping. They're a clear thread, but I set myself up to expect more there. I also feel like the ending was just a bit forced, an over the top moment stacked on an over the top moment, to lose some of the feeling that was already building.

But over all I loved reading this book!

Solid plot, beautiful prose, a sexy mash-up of genres––this book was a surprisingly enjoyable read. BUT… this is one of those books that would be better as a TV show. It NEEDS to be a show. It’s got everything––creepy, Southern Gothic horror vibes; Fast and the Furious style race cars; boys who have the absolute hots for each other but can’t admit it; dark academia and creepy professors. It was an solid read, but there were a few things that I didn’t like that brought my review from a 5 to a 4-star:

1. The lead character, Andrew, is rather annoying. Okay, he’s grieving, I get it. But damn––give us a likeable moment, at least once? I can only handle so much angst and depression.
2. There was a definite lull in the middle where not much happens, just a lot of skulking about, drinking (drinking, drinking… and did I mention drinking?), and being a dick to everyone.

Hence, my conclusion that this would make for an awesome show––condense it a bit, pick a really likeable actor to play Andrew and voila! Problem solved. But still, this was a great read and I would definitely recommend it.

I’m surprised. This was a book that took awhile for me to get into, but I liked it fine by the end (if you overlook all the bad rep when it comes to race). My only advice is if the beginning feels confusing or a bit slow at first, just stick with it or maybe try it in audio instead. I liked the characters, but the story can definitely be a hit or miss for folks.

I was already intrigued by the blurb but it’s also confusing, right? It makes it seem like the main character is grieving the death of an ex-lover, and mentions no romance to speak of. And of course, a ghost. But. Early reviews mentioned a romance but we don’t know with who. It definitely had me thinking the love interest was going to be his dead ex-lover who is now a ghost.

And. WELL. If you’re like me and tried to make assumptions based on the blurb, I think you’d be in for a surprise.

It turns out Andrew, the main character, is not grieving an ex-lover per se, but a best friend. Who he had a very toxic co-dependent relationship with (not that he thinks so). The friend is also his adopted brother, Eddie. Which makes the whole backstory between them kind of weird, but I guess the key here is that they’re not related by blood from birth.

Content notes include mentions throughout the book of suicide, reliving that death in graphic detail throughout the book, the MC investigating the death throughout the book, depression, homomisia, internalized homomisia, drug use, violence, drinking and driving, driving while on drugs, minor character with cancer, demonic/ghostly possession, mentions of parents dying from a vehicular incident, systemic racism at college, and mentions of child abuse.

This book is set in Nashville, Tennesse at Vanderbilt. Andrew has enrolled as a graduate student, but really just intends to investigate Eddie’s suicide who he suspects might have been murdered instead. He has no experience with solving cases, so he’s kind of lost about where to start. He stays at the house Eddie bought, and the roommate he’s inherited with the house - Riley.

Riley rides with his cousin Sam, and all Sam’s friends in their “pack”. They have fast cars and loved to race on the open road at dangerously high speeds and are usually drunk or high in some capacity. It’s a dangerous group of people but Andrew is determined to figure out why Eddie would hang out with them and if any of them got him killed.

SPOILERS ABOUT THE LOVE INTEREST

So, this is minor in the grand scheme of things, but I HAVE A BONE TO PICK. I don’t know why everyone is being so vague and secretive about who the love interest is. Why would you want to even read a book not knowing who that is? Maybe it’s the romance reader in me, but the first thing I did was flip to the end of the book to see out who it is because I don’t play guessing games.

It’s Samuel “Sam” Halse. I really love him?? He’s the king of his little world and he’s got a real edge of danger to him that makes him attractive. There are a lot of little moments between Andrew and Sam along the way that feels like a slow burn. I love all scenes Andrew has with Sam, where the tension is off the charts, even if they only were exchanging text messages. My only complaint with the ship is that we don’t see more of Sam earlier in the book. Which is why I think the start of the book was super boring. Just give me Sam and fast cars and parties.

This is a book I would say is more paranormal mystery with a side of romance (if you look for it) than anything else. It ends on a hopeful note for Andrew and Sam, but doesn’t necessarily give readers a definitive HFN or HEA. The mystery throughout the book is interesting, but has the limitations of an amateur sleuth who doesn’t have police resources. This book interestingly does not involve the cops at any point of the investigation, so for a mystery book, this is equal parts frustrating and intriguing with Andrew stumbling around to figure out how Eddie died if it wasn’t suicide.

RACE AND MAGIC

The magic in this book invokes old earth magic, but it’s a bit confusing without much depth. The writing is too flowery in this arena and left up to a lot of interpretation. I think it’s an attempt by the author to address race as well as the implications of rich white families in the America south? But in the worst way possible. This story oddly shies away from saying ANYTHING outright. I think the issue of race is handled very poorly in this book. Which, you know, doesn’t come as a surprise to me considering the editor for this book is the same editor who worked on Docile and First, Become Ashes which also had extremely poor rep when it came to race.

So. Excuse me, this is going to be a rant.

We do have characters who aren’t white, but all those I can count on one hand. Which is ironic because it’s mentioned multiple times in the story that there are a lot of white characters. But to me, it’s sounds more like the author was using that as an excuse to acknowledge that there’s only a handful of BIPOC characters but they’re not going to do anything more about it.

There’s Ethan (Riley’s boyfriend and maybe Asian? we don’t know), Luca (Riley and Ethan’s girlfriend) who is Black, and West (a graduate student who was Eddie’s mentor) who is Black.

The few times race is really addressed outright is when one of these characters points out to an oblivious Andrew they’re the only people who are NOT white at almost all white functions - either when around Sam’s group of friends or at the Vanderbilt functions. What’s the point of pointing that out if nothing is going to come out of it? The Vanderbilt functions I get. Rich white college having functions for rich white kids and faculty? Sure. But the thing about Sam’s pack of friends I do not? Are we working to change the makeup of that friend group or what. Because even Riley acknowledges that the scene isn’t really something Ethan or Luca would hang around in comfortably if it wasn’t because of their connection to Riley.

And another time race was pointed out was to say that West is the only graduate student in their program who isn’t white and the reasons he’s been held back in his research dissertation is because he’s Black. And I’m glad by the end, he does get SOME resolution on this front but by then it feels like an afterthought after all he’s been put through. The story makes it sound like West is a suspect because of his desperation to get his dissertation off the ground and is almost presented as an angry Black man who might’ve had something to do with Eddie’s death. So, I think that was gross.

I don’t think bad rep for the sake of having rep is anything to praise in a book. I love Ethan and I like Luca (from the very little we see of them). Adding to that, when we dig deeper into the foundations of magic and how that works within this contexts of this story, it’s really awful.

The greater implications of magic in this book being connected to old white families who own plantations in the south is a big one that skirts around the truth. If the foundation of the magic and the curses are based on the land and the blood spilled there, and the book makes it a point to remind you that Andrew inherited over $7 million from Eddie who got the money from his wealthy family, the story implies a lot and readers are only meant to read between the lines.

I wonder why this book never says outright that Black people died on that land, that slavery was a thing, or that this is how all these white folks got their money? Why dance around it??? Sure, there’s folklore about a “curse” on the Fulton family (Eddie’s line) but it wasn’t because of how Eddie’s ancestors ran their fancy plantation homes through slavery. Which would’ve served them right I guess. But I’m actuality, the curse is because of love. Depending on who’s telling the story. And I’m only assuming the curse started because it was between 2 white people, but I don’t think it said outright.

Race is not a thing that is handled well at all in this book, and I don’t necessarily think it’s all the author’s fault when I’ve seen this unaddressed time and time again from Tor books and especially from this one editor. Flowery prose cannot hide the fact that the rep is awful.

Andrew is an inheritor of this wealth and we don’t see him doing anything about it even at the end of the book. He’s not donating any of that money. He’s not making reparations. He admits that he’s spoiled. The closest thing to him acknowledging that there’s a class difference between him and everyone else is when he’s with Sam. Sam, who works 2 jobs to make ends meet - one legal and another not. So, it’s kind of implied that Andrew is just another rich white guy now living off his inheritance and he does not actually change in this regard when the book ends. He just wants to throw his money around and I honestly can’t see that going well with Sam when he finds out.

Instead, the only growth we see from Andrew by the end is where he learns to shed his internalized homophobia and come to terms with Eddie’s death. It’s a very rough journey on all fronts.

THE WRITING, AND HOW IT ISN’T MY THING

This story does have Andrew giving off Ronan Lynch (from the Raven Cycle and the Dreamers trilogy) vibes. And if Eddie were maybe Kavinsky. But I would also say the story has an aesthetic and atmosphere that I’ve only read before from The Wicker King. But the one thing that keeps me from enjoying this book as much as books like The Raven Cycle or The Wicker King is the writing style.

The writing in this is very awkward to me. Extremely awkward. I don’t even know how to describe it. Maybe that it’s too flowery? Like, the talking scenes where Andrew actually spoke to people are fine. But it’s all the moments where Andrew is alone with this own thoughts and the descriptions are long winded. I had a hard time with it at first. The sentence structure is clunky. The commas and phrasing are difficult to parse out. The writing style in those moments feels like it’s drowning in its own self importance, but doesn’t naturally flow off the page.

I did grow more used to it as the book went on and I was good with it around 30-40% of the way in, but it took a long time to get there. I normally DNF a book for less. So, for that reason I would rec reading this book by audio rather than reading with your eyeballs? I have listened to Will Damron before, but from samples I’ve listened to by him, the narration sounds like it’ll be a good one. I might get the audiobook once it comes out, because like I DO like the story minus the magic stuff and the writing style.

And maybe it’s just because I’m reading a digital ARC, but I do wonder what the text messaging will look like in the final version. It wasn’t easy trying to figure out what’s a text message and what’s not. I couldn’t tell who was texting and who was the reply when there was a text exchange back-and-forth between characters.

There’s also a lot of pronoun confusion with this writing, because the person you’d expect the “he” to be referring to (mostly a he situation because almost all the characters identify as male and we don’t have many female or non-binary characters in this book). The story might be told in limited third-person from Andrew’s POV, but that shouldn’t mean that he’s the one who’s always the default “he” in a sentence, you know? It’s very confusing.

THE FRIENDS AND THE RELATIONSHIPS

I feel like we should talk about the sex scene? I know this book isn’t a romance so maybe that’s why this throws me off. This story is surprisingly explicit at first but then has a scene break and it’s suddenly the morning after. What do you call that? Explicit AND closed door? I don’t know, I would rather just have a full fade-to-black than the whiplash that was this book.

This book has an established polyam couple but also shows that a polyam relationship isn’t for everyone if everyone isn’t totally onboard with it. I feel bad for Del, both Andrew and Eddie’s ex-girlfriend, but I’m glad she’s cutting them off from her life and she’s getting therapy. She deserves better!

I’m not sure if we’re to infer that Riley is trans? There’s one mention of Riley’s parents refusing him a name change and that they’re super religious. So, I’m not sure.

So, Andrew and Eddie. It comes off to me that they have a very toxic relationship. It’s very co-dependent, and more so after their shared traumatic experience in the cavern as kids. Whatever Eddie leads, Andrew follows. Being away from Eddie is the first chance of Andrew having to just learn to be himself. In some ways, Sam almost feels like a replacement for Eddie. But it becomes clear at the end that Sam isn’t like that for Andrew, and clearly doesn’t want that to be their relationship.

I think Eddie is a complex person who we will never know. What we do know is all through everyone else‘s eyes. He wasn’t a good friend or brother to Andrew, and Eddie stayed being as self conceited as ever even in death. I honestly don’t have a high opinion of him at all.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I can see why people will fall in love with this book. At a surface level, the characters are fun and carry that dangerous vibe that makes them interesting. My problems were initially with the writing style because I really just don’t love the way it sometimes went off in a flowery way where you can’t make heads or tails what’s happening in a scene. The mystery itself was a wash for me because I’ve read better.

The way race was handled in this book was terrible to me, and I’m sure some people won’t agree, but this is my opinion and my review, and I’m not a fan. I think it really comes down to the publisher. I wish they would actually delve into and put some thought and sensitivity into the subject of race in their books because this is far from the first time I’ve experienced a book that handles race so poorly from this particular publisher and from this particular editor. I just want better.

***Thanks to the publisher for giving me an e-ARC for review.***

Wow! This book was amazing. Tough boys, fast cars, ghosts, and magic, what's not to love? It was the perfect read for a southern summer. Mandelo writes in such an atmospheric way that you can feel the heat and humidity. I was not expecting this book to be so deep, such a commentary on grief and queerness. Andrew felt like such a real person, truly multidimensional, as he dealt with the loss of the friend he loved, being in his spaces, and trying to figure out what happened to him, while also being on a journey of self discovery about his sexuality and all of the things Eddie meant to him and what they mean now that he's gone.

But along with being a deep book with a lot of "themes" and "character development," it's also a RAD ghost story. It's creepy and spooky and full of old houses and old families with old secrets; the danger those things possess and the danger of personal recklessness and drugs and fast cars. If you're just reading for the ghost story, the beginning might feel a little slow, but hang in there because it's SO worth it.

Finally I have to thank Lee Mandelo for including an ethically non-monogamous relationship in Summer Sons. It is not a plot point in any way (yay!) but the representation is appreciated. Thank you for that and thank you for a wonderful spooky read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tordotcom for the digital ARC.

Above any complaints I have about the book, I cannot get out of my head that Mandelo's prose is up to the task they set out for themselves. The first third of this book is unrelenting, pessimistic, and visceral grief: Andrew, desperate to "solve" the apparent suicide of his best friend and all-encompassing locus of his life, wallows and fumbles even the basics of human function and decency.

I think there will be a reader for whom that sounds unenticing, and they are probably right in their own case. To me, that grief was grounded in moments that were staggering in their authenticity: notably, Andrew unable to cope, falling into Eddie's bed, and mourning, comforted into bed sheets that retain Eddie's smell; or wearing his clothes because "it's what we always did"... these little moments that seem stereotyped or rote but are written with such beauty and bookended in fever dreams that draw not just from southern gothic tradition but (in my experience) the minds of the bereaved as well.

The second third of the novel only eases up on the grief if you do not notice how Andrew's behaviours mirror what in the first third, he imagined Eddie's behaviour would have been as he tries to fill the half of him that is missing. The final third fulfills the promise of a modern southern gothic horror with all the emotional trappings of the gothic and the romantic.

There are some small story strands that are weaker than a novel so steeped in beautiful grief; West's story never felt invested in and was half-baked; it either deserved more time than the exposition it was given or felt unnecessarily heavy-handed and surface-level in a book dripping in depth.

Mandelo is a beautiful writer, and I cannot wait to read more from them. Summer Sons deserves to easily top any list of fantasy, romance, and lgbtq novels this year. This is my favourite novel of the year so far and it will be hard to unseat it, I think; I devoured it in a day. As the years go on, I don't have very many books that I feel like I want to re-read again, but I know I will re-read this again one day. Absolutely 100%.

This was a very interesting book. Basically two best friends, are bonded forever due to a supernatural event that the story drops tidbits about until the end. Years pass and one of the friends commits suicide. The remaining friend moves into the deceased friends house, drives his car, befriends his friends, and goes to his school, with the intent of figuring out what happened to his friend. Complicating things is a wrath that shows up at the worst times (like during a car race). This reminded me of a mix between Flannery O'Connell, Fast and the Furious and The Grudge. The author had a very unique voice and I'm excited to see what they write next. 4 out of 5! Very good book!

If anyone is looking for a gothic queer horror book, look no further. I will be running, not walking, to get this when it comes out. The overwhelming sense of dread throughout the entirety of the book and never knowing who to trust made it difficult for me to put down. I cannot wait to delve more into Lee Mandelo's books. They are such a fantastic storyteller.

Summer Sons. It's a ghost story, but it's also as cliche as the phrase is a coming of age story about two boys and their strange and confusing life they had together but with ghosts.

I'm struggling to write a proper review for this title because reading this book just felt like a constant struggle between wanting to sit down and read it vs the book itself being so very slow in spots that it left me very uninterested in continuing the story. It isn't a very long book, but god, it felt like it was at points. That isn't to say that the novel is terrible it just wasn't for me and perhaps I require a reread to maybe change my initial opinion but as it stands it was just okay for me. I think this story would have been more successful as a novella rather than a full length book. Perhaps that would have helped with all the dead space and long drawn out moments that seemed to go on forever and had my interest in reading the story wandering because of it.

So the story has a very straight forward plot at first glance: two childhood friends Andrew (our protagonist) and Eddie who up until they began university were inseparable and bonded for life suddenly find themselves separated with Eddie uprooting to Nashville and leaving Andrew behind. Tragedy occurs just before Andrew decided to join Eddie and he is informed that Eddie had suddenly committed suicide and left his inheritance and the mystery of what happened to him to Andrew. The overreaching plot is Andrew trying to discover the truth of the strange circumstances surrounding Eddie's death and navigating the life that he was living while Andrew was away - oh, and there are ghosts too.

My main issue with the book was the pace of the plot, and the complete unlikable and boring nature of almost every single character, except maybe like one...maybe. The overall plot after a certain time became VERY repetitious and very uninteresting because it took forever to get to a point that would do something to further the plot - pairing that with having a very boring and stale main character it made the struggle to continue even worse. The 'mystery' of the story aka who killed Eddie, was not great either. I predicted almost every major plot point very early on and found the official reveal of each thing to be very disappointing. I wish the supernatural part of the story would have been just slightly more engaging and more involved. I found myself yearning for more of that story, and really only received that content at the very end of the novel.

I appreciated the additions of the bits of queer content. I was pleasantly surprised by one reveal that I did not expect but I like felt was done and incorporated into the story quite nicely. I have a love/hate feeling toward the main romance of the story - I didn't hate it but I also didn't get attached to the relationship at all. It was very much a background thing that didn't get much attention and maybe if it had I might have had more feeling towards it but I suppose that would have not worked with the overall story. I appreciated the journey that Andrew went through in regards to his sexuality and identity throughout the story and even though I ultimately found Andrew to be your typical plain protagonist he redeemed himself a little towards the end of the novel when he had some very minimal but nice character development which his character desperately needed. He lacked an interesting personality for the majority of the novel which made it hard to be in his point of view for the duration of the story because he was just...not interesting to read about.

A positive thing to speak on is the prose and general sense of Lee Mandelo's writing is incredibly beautiful. The descriptions of the Nashville wild life and the creepy unsettling moments that Andrew experiences came across very nice with respect to the author's ability to put you in the moment and situation and really have you feel what is happening. That was a highlight for me and one of the main reasons I was able to continue and ultimately finish the story. The final three chapters were exciting, which was something I desperately wishing for to happen, and the final scene with Andrew and Eddie was heart breaking and beautiful. The writing really shined in the last few chapters.

All in all, for me this would be a novel that I've read but I will ultimately forget about. It didn't leave any kind of lasting impression on me that would make me want to go out and read it again. It was a fine novel and I'm sure other people will read it and love it, but it just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinion.

Easily my favorite book of the year so far! I was drawn into the story right from the first few pages. The characters were completely captivating and the ways in which they interacted really made the story come to life. I loved the suspenseful buildup to an ending that played out in a way that I could never have expected. Even after the conclusion of the novel, I keep thinking about the characters I grew to love. I’m looking forward to recommending this book to everyone!

I am at a loss for words at the end of this book. It was torturous, highly emotional, and spookily atmospheric. I want to stay in this world of old world money, elite colleges and blood curses, oh man.

In trying to review Summer Sons, the thing that comes to mind first and resoundingly is something I read in someone else’s review whilst attempting to ascertain my own feelings on it, which can basically be summed up to: this book is kind of all over the place, and when it’s good, it’s really good, but in some ways, it’s rough. My issues stem from a couple of different areas. First and foremost, while I think everyone’s enjoyment of a book is subjective and there’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” book, there were many instances throughout the book where I didn’t know what the fuck was going on purely choreographically. The narration would describe somebody being physically affectionate in a certain way, and in my mind I’d be like “wait, how’d they do that if they were just on the other side of the room?” or something like that. In a more concrete example, there’s a professor character who I pictured as being maybe in her late thirties, maybe early forties throughout the book, until, somewhere in the last 25%, she’s described as “pushing 60”. Considering this was an advanced copy, it’s possible some of these things were clarified or edited in the finished copy, but if not, these sorts of technical issues are the kind of thing that I would consider as close as you can get to objective critiques. It’s essentially the author’s entire job to effectively communicate the ideas in their head to the page, and while much of that is subjective (connecting to characters, enjoying the atmosphere, interest in specific plot beats, etc), I feel like things such as painting a clear picture of what’s going on in a scene and characters ages is pretty base stuff. Not that it’s easy, just that it’s their job. That said, there were also moments of prose that were so incredibly lyrical and descriptive, the atmosphere of this book absolutely oozes from the pages in a way that sticks with me even weeks after finishing it. My other issues are much more subjective. For one, I found myself far more interested in development of relationship dynamics and characters than the plot of the mystery of Eddie’s death. I loved Riley and the casual rep of his poly relationship and his no-bullshit attitude towards Andrew’s denial. I was really intrigued by the dynamic between Andrew and Sam. But every time I felt like these characters were hitting any sort of stride, it’d be interrupted by Andrew closing himself off to track down another lead about Eddie. Which I realize would be the priority in a situation like his, but I think that just comes back to my real problem with this book: I don’t wanna read about dead gays. My favorite trope is queer best friends to lovers, and I’ve always known that any tragic variation on this, ie gay guy being in love with straight best friend, both being queer but one not feeling the same, and most certainly one dying before either of them can sort out their feelings, was just not gonna work for me. Not to mention I just generally don’t care for book about grief. This is no fault of the author. I should’ve been more careful about what I requested, but I was sucked in by the promise of a southern setting, and that gorgeous cover. I absolutely think queer authors should be not only allowed but encouraged to tell whatever stories they want. The more stories being told the more likely people are to find stories they can truly connect with, and queer people should never be relegated to side characters already in committed relationships, or perfect little cinnamon roles who never do anything wrong. The existence of the bury your gays trope should not prevent any person ever from writing about dead gays. However, I can also understand that that subject matter being explored generally does not work for me. Both of these things can be true. With all that being said, I wouldn’t be opposed to reading a sequel, were one to be published, but it would depend on what the plot was going to be, seeing as it’s wrapped up pretty conclusively here, excepting the potential to further explore Andrew’s ghostly power. Netgalley asks when you submit feedback if you’d consider buying a finished copy for yourself and honestly, yeah I would. I love this cover, and I could even potentially see myself rereading this one day.
Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A swealtering Southern gothic that will haunt you with shadows at the corner of your vision.

This is one of my most anticipated reds of the year, and it did not let me down. A queer supernatural suspense horror mixed with elements of dark academia? Honestly, I couldn't want anything more.

At the end of the day, this book is really dealing with grief and accepting ones self, and in Andrew's case he is accepting the fact that he is queer (unspecified sexuality). The horror bits creep in and out like a good haunting should, climaxing at the end where everything is dark and you'll be on the edge of your seat.

If I had to compare this to another book/series I could call it The Raven Boys, but make it adult and fill it with the heat of the Southern sun and more iced coffee than one person should be allowed to drink. There's fast cars, queer rep, complicated and messy characters. Andrew's trauma and grief are at the front and center of this novel, as everyone around him's orbits his story as he tries and figure out what happened to his best friend, brother, and (not official) boyfriend.

The take on queerness in this was a new perspective I haven't really seen before. Which was refreshing and wonderful, even if it was wrapped in an eldritch skeletal claw of a package. It's a book that is hard to put a start rating in (but I had to because that's how Goodreads works). It's hard to star rate this because my thoughts are so mixed with emotion on how I felt about it. I loved it, but I also criticize it because I loved it.

My only real gripe is that I wish it was longer, or part of a duology. I felt it need more time to unravel the supernatural elements of the story. It's one of those cases where I felt like the author has a full understanding of what's happening, but it just didn't all make it to the page. In some ways, the lack of clear knowledge fits in with Andrew's journey, because he doesn't fully know. I think it also meandered a bit, but that might be because I was expecting a full gothic horror, but really it was a contemporary story about grief hidden underneath the surface, with broad strokes of dark academia.

This is definite a book any fan of supernatural horror should read. It's haunting and grisly, with moments that will leave you shivering and sweating like you are under the heat of the sun yourself.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3975403920

Wow. Blown away. Slow burn for sure, but the whole queer southern gothic spooky vibe REALLY works. This was hands down one of the best novels I have ever read. It was spooky and dark and mournful in the way all gothic horror should be, but also gritty and erotic and captivating. The imagery is beautiful and real, and thank all that is holy for some realistic queer representation. Added bonus: it was hot af. This is a prime read for those who want to take their time and let that horror sink real deep into their bones.

Full review to come - Mandelo creates a rich, intoxicating atmospheric story that’s every bit sweaty and eerie as a southern night.

I gave up after 30% as very little happened and I grew tired of the moping and repetitive antics of main character Andrew. Fair enough, Andrew is recovering from the death of his best friend/boyfriend Eddie who recently committed suicide. After his death Andrew inherits Eddie's house and cash (alot!) and tried to piece together what happened. He meets his friends, attends his college and is horrible to just about everybody close to him in a book which was populated by highly unlikable characters. In the background there was a supernatural element which connected the two men, but it lurked in the background , and I could not be bothered waiting for it to mature. I really wanted to like this book, but it became such a slog I could not face picking it up again. If your main character is going to bitch 24/7 and do nothing but feel sorry for themselves it just becomes a downer.