Theo and Marco got caught throwing a party and now they have to spend the summer in Nightfall, Oregon with their dad and grandmother. Not only is it miles away from their friends in Arizona, but they have a population of a whopping 846! They quickly learn that their grandmother is antisocial and very superstitious, but they plan to make the most of their summer. There is something off about the girls in this town and Theo wonders if she should be listening to her grandmother’s warnings after all.

In Nightfall is a stand-alone supernatural novel that was a fun escape without being a deep read. I found myself laughing at the beginning when they said “welcome to Nightfall” because I was wondering if I was reading the “Welcome to Night Vale” book. This is not gory or scary, but readers should enjoy the supernatural element throughout. The story is wrapped up well and I don’t think there is a need for this to become a series.

Being a fan of The Lost Boys movie, I expected this book to be better -- 2.5 / 5 overall.

POSITIVES!
- It was light, also fun at times
- I wish I could travel to the town where this story takes place
- The gender reversal of the Lost Boys was cool
- The main character's relationship with her brother is enviable
- You expected a happy ending, and you got one

Here are the PROBLEMS I had with it:
- I expected more depth
- The pacing can be perfect, then really slow, then unecessary, then BOOM you are done
- The author's writing style makes me feel like there is a fog around characters, the plotline, etc, and NOT in a good way. Her other books are better with this.
- Reminded me of a stupid horror movie: an insanly, poweful creature is somehow taken down by a normal person no problem. Sound familiar?

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In Nightfall was my first Suzanne Young book, and it did not disappoint. I read it in one sitting, and it was like pure nostalgia for me. Think the female version of Lost Boys and throw a badass grandma in the mix, and you have this book. At times, I did want the book to pick up some pace, but at the same time, I was enjoying the ride and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. This book made me want to go back and watch all the 80′ & and 90s vampire movies and relive my youth again.

This book is incredible! I absolutely love every minute of this book!
My passion for reading began with young adult horror books, and In Nightfall reminded me of where my love of reading stems from. So, I eagerly devoured this story.
In Nightfall is a pretty chilling tale for a young adult novel. The story is told from the perspective of Theo, the new girl in town, who has a love of volleyball and true crime podcasts. For her, everything about Nightfall, Oregon, is unsettling. She doesn’t know who to trust, family included.
The setting is reminiscent of Forks, Washington, from Twilight, but the vampires in Nightfall, Oregon, do more than sparkle. They have more insidious things in mind like in Fright Night.
I love that vampires 🧛🏻‍♀️ aren’t sequestered to evening hours. Vampires can be anywhere at anytime and… they can anyone.
This story nicely ties up in the end. So, no big cliffhangers. However, I’m dying to reading 📖 the sequel. 💗
I highly recommend this book if you like vampires, Buffy, Lost Boys and Fright Night.
Thank you Tbr and Beyond Tours, Delacorte Press, and PRHAudio for the complimentary copies of In Nightfall by Suzanne Young.

**Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Anything described as being reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a huge win in my book and this is stellar. The vampires are great, the interpersonal dynamics are interesting, and I'm a huge fan of the way that this author wrote characters that were messy and snarky and anxious. I wish that the pacing was a little bit more consistent throughout but I still had a great time.

I saw that In Nightfall had vampires in it and I was like “right yes, instant add and read right here.” I’ve got those specific tropes and creatures that I’ll read about in any format (film, tv, books) and vampires is certainly high on that list. Yes, mostly due to my Twilight phase but actually I think it’s largely due to watching the Underworld Saga with Kate Beckinsale at a young age 😅. When it comes to vampires vs werewolves I’m very firmly in the vampires camp. Even like with Teen Wolf if they had vampires I would… probably vote for the vampires (sorry!).

I mean vampires, as a whole, can mostly be seen as morally grey characters. Maybe that’s why I like them so much? They have lower morals, not so worried about consequences, they don’t worry about hurting people like their human counterparts do.

In Nightfall took what I wanted (that dark, obsessive nature of vampires) and placed it in a familiar setting (small town, a bit of family drama). But it also brought something new to the genre and I liked that. I always enjoy it when a book brings a breath of fresh air to a genre, even if it’s one that I enjoy reading a ton of.

I did have some issues, mainly with the main characters. I found Theo and her brother, Marco to be… plain? I only started to like them at the very end and even then it wasn’t very much. I didn’t like their personalities, their motivations; just sort of them in general? Even when I started to like them at the end; it was sort of begrudgingly.

I’m big on characters – their stories and development – especially seeing their development throughout the book. Unfortunately I didn’t get that as much as I wanted to while reading this. The book is nearly 400 pages so I should’ve started liking the characters before; but that didn’t really happen.

Luckily the book was more than its characters and the plot was more interesting so I’m glad my dislike for the characters didn’t mar my experience for the whole book. I liked the way vampires were approached in the book – their oddity and the main character realising something wasn’t exactly right – I can read this or watch this any day. I appreciated how the pacing was just right from Theo seeing the oddities in the town members, trying to figure out what the problem is and then making the plans to deal with the problem.

Other than my character issue, I think why I didn’t rate this higher – even just half a star more) was because I wanted more. Out of the characters, the plot, and the writing. The book is over 350 pages so you’d think I would find the time to like what’s in the book. And I did… but not enough. Yes, I cared about the characters but I wanted to feel like I had to know everything about them. Or that the plot was so good I couldn’t stop reading. I didn’t get all of that – but also I still liked it so I wasn’t too upset as I thought I would have been.

Theo doesn’t want to be in Nightfall, though the girls in town are beautiful, friendly, and welcoming. Even though a young man named Parrish has caught her eye, she still wants to leave. But something odd is happening in Nightfall, and she’s not finding the answers she seeks. The deeper she digs, the weirder things get. With voodoo dolls and lingering smirks, if anyone can get to the bottom of things, it’s Theo.

Young portrayed Theo’s anxiety well, and it’s utterly relatable. Theo is strong and assertive, and doesn’t let her anxiety hold her back. She’s so funny, she had me laughing out loud a lot. In Nightfall unfolds at a leisurely pace, leaving the reader just as perplexed by what’s going on as Theo. Once things start happening, things go fantastically awry. The town is perfectly creepy, and the storyline is addicting. A super fun read from start to finish.

Hmmm.... a book about a girl from Arizona who reluctantly travels to a town in the Pacific Northwest without a lot of sunlight only to find that town is home to supernaturals? Seems familiar...

Base comparisons aside, this books is actually nothing like Twilight, which was a pleasant surprise. It had a delightfully creepy vibe that drew me in immediately. And unlike Twilight, there's only the slightest hint of a romance. Theo's focus is 100% on all the weirdness going on in Nightfall. In a lot of YA books with supernatural happenings, the main characters are either oblivious or just accept the weirdness without too much thought, so it was refreshing to see a main character who acknowledges the weirdness and tries to figure out what's happening without any romantic nonsense.

This book's one weakness is the pacing. Everything but the last quarter of the book was perfect, but the ending's pacing was just all over the place. It felt way too rushed to the extent that certain plot points that felt pretty major (like the fate of certain significant characters) was just glossed over. Some pieces felt like they didn't get the emotional beats or resolution that they deserved.

The mythology was also not explained well, in my opinion. There's such a huge mystery of what's going on, but the explanation of the rules for the world was pretty lacking.

Despite this, it was an incredibly entertaining read, especially if you're a fan of (or vehemently hate) the YA supernatural stories of the 2010s.

3.5

(3.5)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: violence, death, underage drinking.


Theo and her brother, Marco, are not excited about spending their summer in gloomy Nightfall, Oregon. After Marco throws a huge party, destroying the house and nearly getting many of his friends arrested, it's their father's idea of a punishment and visit to his mom all rolled into one. Once they arrive, however, Theo is immediately and begrudgingly charmed by the small town, and once Marco meets the beautiful, intriguing Minnow, things start to get a little more interesting for the both of them. Theo, too, is enamored by a crush of her own, but she finds their grandmother a little strange, especially with her one important house rule: never stay out after dark. When Theo is drawn into Minnow's friend group, she quickly realizes that something about the girls is -- off, somehow. And by the end of her summer trip, she might be forced to confront the dark side of Nightfall.

These days, I don't mix much with most YA books. I just don't click with it anymore, probably because I'm not exactly the intended audience anymore. Sometimes, though, you just want to pick up something fun, feel transported back to your teenage years, and for me, In Nightfall is a great example of a book that does just those things. Originally, I was intrigued by the comparisons to The Lost Boys, especially the idea that this was a sort of gender-flipped version, but beyond that shallow first impression, it manages to find its own path -- something that a lot of books with big-name comparisons can't achieve.

Theo is our main character, as we get everything from her first-person perspective, but this is really more of an ensemble type of novel, particularly when it comes to the involvement of her brother, Marco, and their family unit. She's interesting enough, and very likable, with relatable problems that many teenagers (and even adults) will be able to sympathize with. One problem I found with the entire book, however, is that most of the characters don't feel very fleshed-out, and this issue mostly plagues Theo's crush, Parrish, and the group of "wild" girls that Theo and Marco both get involved with. The two characters who assist Theo in her quest to figure out what's going on in Nightfall (and potentially help her fight any monsters who may or may not be terrorizing the town) suffer from the same problem, and I think it feels especially noticeable when they're supposed to be the Edgar and Alan of Young's book.

With that being said, Young does an excellent job of maintaining the sensation of fun and adventure, and I was really rooting for Theo and her family. Young's exploration of changing family dynamics is also spot-on, although I do wish that there had been more time to follow up with Theo's strained relationship with her mother. Another element I have to compliment is the wonderful way that Young builds up the fake town; it feels somehow genuine and authentic, with little touches and details that add a quality of realness, while also managing to keep Nightfall mysterious and just slightly off-kilter.

What kept me from giving this four stars has to do with In Nightfall's girl gang. I was so excited to see how they would come alive on the page, but unfortunately, their allure was lukewarm for me. Truthfully, I was expecting (and hoping for) a deeper connection between Theo and the girls, especially with its comparison to The Lost Boys. In the film, it's easy to see why Michael falls under the spell of the boys, the classic tale of wanting to belong, even if it means fitting in with people who you don't truly like or get along with. Minnow, Annemarie and Beatrice are more like window-dressing, and their backstories and lives are never fully explored, something that would've made things far more interesting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I think it'll gather a lot of fans. It isn't perfect, but it's never short of fun, and it's the kind of thing you want to reread when you're feeling down.

Fun! Fruity!! Ooky spooky vibes!! What’s not to love? I am so into the setting of this one and I hope we’ll get spin offs about the rich rich cast of side characters here— they’re all so compelling

In Nightfall, is a creepy, atmospheric YA horror that haunts its readers, but makes them question just what they’re being haunted by. If you’ve read the synopsis of this book, you’ll know it's pitched as The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and without being very familiar with both, I’d say that’s fairly accurate. In fact, this is pretty much just a gender-swapped retelling of The Lost Boys. Still, it’s great. It's campy and fun, and there is a truly badass grandmother in this. Books don’t have to be wholly unique to be a good time, and this proves it.

We follow Theo and her brother, Marco, during a summer vacation they are forced to spend in their father’s gloomy hometown of Rainfall, Oregon. As soon as we get to this place, the vibes are immaculate. There’s cute shops, a beach, and every house looks a little haunted. The other immediately great thing is Theo and Marco’s friendship. They are siblings who feel so realistic. They care about each other, they are embarrassed by each other, they lock each other in their bedrooms when they worry they’ve transformed into a bloodthirsty monster. There’s just a lot of heart in their little family dynamic, and it's hard to not to feel for Theo when her brother drifts away from her to hang out with Nightfall’s it girl.

If you’re at all familiar with the source material, you can guess where this goes. I personally thought this was all done really well. In the past, I have really struggled with naive teenage girl characters, because in this day and age, girls get it. But it works so well in this because Theo is being swindled by girls she believes are like her. Girls she believes have experienced the same things as her and want the same things as her. My only real issue was how much work it took on behalf of the other side characters to convince her something was wrong with the town. At first, when she thought she was the only one being gaslit, gatekept and girlbossed into thinking things were perfectly fine, it all made sense. But after a while, the repetition became a little much.

Speaking of this, my other complaint, still small, was the lack of development for the expansive cast of side characters. I was still trying to remember the names of all the freaky locals when the horror podcasters popped in out of nowhere. They all seemed surface-level interesting, but it never went deep enough. That being said, Suzanne Young please give me a whole series about these gay monster hunting podcasters. I am on my knees.

In the end, this is a solid 4.5/5 stars for me. As a proud member of the no plot just vibes community, I loved the slow build here, and I loved the fun action scenes that followed. I was genuinely spooked throughout, and was pleasantly surprised at how campy Suzanne Young got. It was a lot of fun, and will be a great spooky season read for teens!

5 stars ....for (fast, fun, simple plot/read)
Maybe it was just my mood but I loved the atmosphere in this story. I loved how mysterious in the beginning. The crushes were cute. It just fit my mood and was so fun to read. Sure there could have been more to it but, I did not care and throwing in a horror podcast! I wish they would have made the podcasters really funny and the ice cream worker even more dark and mysterious but i still had a great time with it.

Theo and Marco are dragged from Phoenix, AZ by their newly single dad back to his rainy hometown of Nightfall, OR after a divorce that left him lonely. There the kids meet their grandma, Nonna, for the first time. She seems a bit odd, but loving all the same.

The locals seem fairly inviting, but the town closes up at dusk. Local kids throw parties at the beach in the coming days before what they call The Midnight Dive. The Midnight Dive is an annual event that has an eerie ritual rumor surrounding it.

Minnow, a local girl, and her friends take a liking to Marco and Theo. Maybe a little too much.

Two hosts of a popular podcast come to town for an episode on the conspiracy of the town. After some strange events, Theo begins to ask questions and regrets not adhering to Nonna's rules.

__


It was advertised as The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but felt more so like The Lost Boys meets The Coldest Girl in ColdTown.

It was predictable at times, and Theo and Marco were a bit naive, even for teens. Once I suspended my belief a little, the story flew by and was decently enjoyable! The father was very lax with the strict rules of his mother’s house, and it obviously went sour quickly.

Nonna was an icon, and I love her.

Overall, this is a very young YA story, but it was an entertaining time.

This book is perfect for those who enjoyed The Coldest Girl in ColdTown by Holly Black.

Thank you to Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the review copy!

This book felt like a gender-bending love letter to the movie The Lost Boys, and I LOVED it. The characters were great, the story was engaging and fun, I devoured this book. I felt like the pacing was perfect. I highly recommend this book to fans of the movie, The Lost Boys, and just vampire fans in general.

I’m going to start this by staying that vampire books are not my thing. They never have been something I was drawn too. And I told Suzanne this when she told me she was going to write this In Nightfall. But I also told her, if she wrote it, I would read it. And now I can say with 100% confidence that I am I’m so happy she wrote it and that she had me read it. As a huge fan of everything of Suzanne’s, this is one of the best books she has written. It had me on the end of my seat just turning page after page, it was that good!

In Nightfall is, as the description says, “The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. The story starts when Theo, and her brother Marco, are forced to leave Arizona for the summer to go and stay with their grandmother in Nightfall, Oregon, a small town with under 850 souls in the populations. Both siblings have not spent much time with their strange, antisocial grandmother so living with her is an experience. She gives them one rule when they arrive, they must be home before it’s dark. But Theo and Marco like to live on the edge, after all that is why they are stuck in Nightfall, and want to make their summer unforgettable. Instead of abiding by their grandmother’s rule they venture out and meet town local Minnow and her crew. Unfortunately for them Minnow and company aren’t exactly what they appear to be. By the end of summer Theo and Marco will be wishing one thing…that they listed to the superstitious grandmother and got home before dark.

I was a huge fan of the movie The Lost Boys and this In Nightfall had so many of the things I loved about the movie that I was immediately endeared to the story. Suzanne did a fabulous job of bringing out the nostalgia of movie but also making it her own. As I was reading I would be able to notice a scene in the book that was inspired by the movie but with a Suzanne Young twist, like the lead being female instead of male. It made it feel like it was a fresh and different take on a familiar story. The way she wrote the story of Theo and Marco was perfectly done, and yes, I’m being vague on purpose, and it was so easy to become obsessed with the story on these pages.

In the end, In Nightfall, was exactly the kind of vampire book I can find myself enjoying. There was nothing over the top. There was a great plot and just amazing writing. It was everything I expect to get from a Young book, with the addition of vampires. It’s hard to explain exactly why I loved this story and why I think you would without giving anything away, but just know this is one that you shouldn’t miss. You’ll thank me, I hope!

4⭐️
What do we get while visiting the town of Nightfall?

☑️ Creepy Town
☑️ Weird Towns People
☑️ Worrisome Legend about Drowning
☑️ Creepy but Beautiful Girls
☑️ A Hardened Nonna Who Will Come Through For You in the End
☑️ Wooden Stakes
☑️ Possibly Vampires
☑️ Ghost Facers (please tell me you get this reference)
☑️ Lost Boys meets Buffy

I quite enjoyed this. The pacing was a tad slow in some places but I was here for this creepy town with its beautiful girls. I was also a little worried about who was actually going to survive the story. The ending did come quick but it closed out the town and story nicely.

If you are needing a quick, YA, vampire read, give this one a try 🖤

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

In Nightfall follows teen Theo and her brother Marco as they visit the mysterious town of Nightfall, where they will spend the summer with their grandmother as punishment for throwing a party.

I feel like I’m always on the lookout for the next vampire novel that will change my life, and while In Nightfall wasn’t that, it was still a fun vampire read. Though often predictable, the story was still entertaining, with gender-swapped Lost Boys vibes and a relatively intriguing mystery at the heart of the vampiric goings-on in the town. The writing itself is perfectly fine, although there are some characters who I would have liked to have seen developed a little more. Even so, I think this book will definitely find its following, as it was certainly a quick, fun read with a decent amount of vampires.

Thank you to Netgalley, Suzanne Young and Delacorte Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I was so excited to get my hands on this book based on the blurb. I grew up absolutely loving Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I really enjoyed the dynamics and banter in the beginning of this book but once the family got to Nightfall, everything started to go downhill. I feel like this book was a great idea but poorly executed. I felt like pacing was a major issue; halfway through things really seemed to slow down. As a result, the ending feels really rushed.

I wish I would have skipped this one.

Theo and Marco have been uprooted from their warm and comfortable Arizona home to Nightfall Oregon due to a giant party foul. Nightfall is a quaint little town near the water that rarely has any sunlight and mostly rains.

Upon arrival the two meet “the girls” of the town and from there hell comes free. These girls who are more like super models than high schoolers are magnetic in their pull. Marco is in it to win it from the beginning but Theo is a little more apprehensive as is their grandmother. A women they just met for the first time ever is short but spunky and is cryptic and a whole lot creepy, I fell in love with her instantly.

As the story progresses things happen and by the end it is definitely more of a Heathers meets Twilight situation. Most of the characters in the book are very interesting, I loved the podcasters. I felt it could have been a shorter book honestly as not much happens and it does at times drag on. Once everything starts to come out in the open it’s over in a snap, a little disappointed in that.

All in all I did love the writing as everyone was very natural in their conversations which always makes or breaks the characters for me. I would recommend this book highly as a quick read that will give some good nostalgia for any 80’s-90’s kids out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! The twists and reveals were so well done, and I liked finding things out with our main character, Theo. Will absolutely recommend this one to those looking for mystery and supernatural.