if you liked: the fear street movies, scream, Bottoms, and Clueless you MUST read this book

i am still very new to the horror genre (i’m a bit of a scaredy cat) but i LOVED this and devoured it in under 24 hours. Sass managed to write a book that is incredibly funny but also discusses serious topics with care. the book also has content warnings at the very beginning in an authors note

i really hope Sass continues writing campy, slasher, queer horror stories because i ALREADY miss reading this book so so much.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is the perfect combination of horror and humor! We follow best friends Cole and Dearie, who trying to survivor their senior year when a serial killer reappears. As their town is terrorized by Mr. Sandman, Dearie and Cole find themselves at the top of the list of suspects. This book was thrilling and campy, while also tackling some heavier topics.

I was tentatively excited to pick this up as Sass' debut, Surrender Your Sons [ my review here ], was a surprise hit. While their follow up didn't work for me as much as I would have hoped, this at least was a return to a darker story like the debut. As bad as it feels to call a book about queer people being slaughtered by a serial killer, this was a fun time. I didn't quite expect for the novel to go as far as it did, for the murders to start as soon as they did or for the scenes to be as descriptive as some of them wound up being.

Unlike other books I've read I really felt like I was watching a teen horror movie play out as I read through this book. The middle dragged slightly, simply because I am never invested in playing detective. I think it's very admirable that these boys wanted to clear their name and get the person that was setting them up unmasked, but I had a pretty firm idea of who was behind it and was just waiting to see if I was right, so these boys could play detective for as long as they wanted as far as I was concerned.

Speaking of our two POV leads, I loved them. 2023 seems to be the year of me reading queer books with protagonists that break the mold of what I've come to expect from queer representation in this age category, and while I was side eyeing Dearie quite a lot in the end I did really enjoy him and Cole and the way the two of them interacted as well as the way they interacted with the other prominent characters.

This book comes out right in time for the Spooky Season and I think that any October would be thoroughly lacking if this wasn't included.

2.75 stars.

I wanna start of by saying I appreciate receiving this e-arc from NetGalley. I really wanted to like this book, the cover looks great and the blurb sounded great. However the more I started reading the more annoyed and frustrated I got because of the writing. Since this is a YA book, I also felt uncomfortable with how all the different sexual scenes and talk about sex was portrayed. Honestly with a lot of the writing in this book it felt as if an adult tried to sound “hip” and sound like a teenager but failing miserably. A lot of what different characters said and how they acted made me say “what the f” out loud several times. Because no one talks like that, certainly not a teenager. I also think the book was a bit too long, and dragged out. Which leads me to the ending…what was that. Why is everyone so cool and okay with Cole literally killing a guy. Yes, he killed a serial killer but he still killed another human being. How is he not struggling with killing another person, how is everyone else seemingly so okay after witnessing several dead bodies and killings??

Overall I do think the story could have been great, but the writing and story telling was just not it. It made me dislike the book and towards the end I just wanted to be done with the book because I was not having a fun time.

I’ve seen so many mixed reviews on this one so I was a little nervous going in but I loved this! It was a great mix of horror and humor and kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing the entire book! I loved the friendship between Cole & Dearie, I think so many stories focus on solely the romance aspect of love and put friendship on the back burner and this book was very much the opposite of that. Cole & Dearie’s friendship was very much front and center and you could just tell how important they are to each other! I also loved that a huge focus of this story was loneliness and the specific emphasis on queer loneliness and how having other queer people in your life brings a solidarity that gives you a little more closeness with each other! Just thought this was a very solid story and a perfect read for this time of year!

What I liked:
-So many horror references!
-A strong friendship between the two MCs (I’ve been reading quite a bit of books lately with more focus on friendships than romance and I’m loving it)
-The twists. Ok so with this one I was able to guess the big twist pretty early on, BUT I just really enjoyed the way things were revealed.
-The audiobook production. Some chapters are like clips from a tv show and they were fun via audio. Also, I love a book with multiple narrators for multiple POVs.

Not for me:
-Slashers in general are hard for me in book form. They are my favorite types of horror movies but the translation to books just always leaves me wanting more.

I wanted so desperately to like this book. It was on my most anticipated read for 2023. What happened? I think I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that YA just doesn't do it for me anymore. The writing was disjointed. The characters were unlikable and would act in ways that wasn't believable. I wanted to have one connection with one of the main characters. This was a murder mystery, give me a reason to not only want them to survive, but also get satisfaction from finding out who the killer was. I'm sure this book has a target audience that would enjoy it. Unfortunately, it just wasn't me.

#YOURLONELYNIGHTSAREOVER. #NETGALLEY #ADAMSASS

Your lonely nights are over by Adam Sass was my first novel by the author and I wasn't disapaointed by it at all! This was a perfect thriller in my eyes because I read it in the beginning of September and just now doing my review for Penguin Teen! Thank you once again for sending me an e-arc & a finished copy for Your lonely nights are over!
What is this book truly about? Well this follows two main characters both named: Cole & Dearie and we also have a huge cast of queer characters in here and on the pages of the book it tells us what character identify as what. So Cole is Bi and Dearie is gay and Dearie also have two moms so I thought that was pretty cool to see, we need more reperstentaive like that!
As we follow our two main characters we are trying to figure out who and why and what is Mr. Sandman who is the msterious killer in the town killing all of the queer folks, including some of Cole's & Dearie friends that are part of the queer club at their local high school!
This book had so many twist and turns and despite me getting spoiled for a little thing I still didn't saw that twist coming! This was a very fast pace novel because there was short chapters in here and u didn't know what characters to trust or who not to trust. A solid 4/5 stars for this new book by Adam Sass and I'm looking forward to reading more from them!(:

This was my first book by Adam Sass and I can honestly tell you that I am now a big fan of his. I’m looking forward to reading more from him.

This is the story of Frankie Dearie and Cole Cardoso, two best friends who face down a murderer and, in doing so, end up suspects themselves.

“Your Lonely Nights Are Over” is a super fun and entertaining young adult murder mystery. It was a page turner. I was constantly trying to figure out who was the murderer. And while I did eventually guess who was killing everyone, it wasn’t obvious right away. Sass had me following right along with his clues and twists and turns.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over balances terror and Celebration. Fear of this potential serial Killer re-emergence but also grounded in queerness, love, and friendship. In the ways survival and existence is rebellion, how our love and feelings are valid. It's about misconceptions with deadly consequences, abuse, and intrigue.

There's so much to love here like the podcast snippets, the dual POV, and the ways they have to explore their own perceptions and misunderstandings. If you are already in the fall thriller mood and looking for books, this is for you!

I adore Adam Sass as a human and as a writer. I will literally read anything he writes. When I originally applied to be on the Street Team for Your Lonely Nights Are Over, I had planned to be more proactive with promoting it. While life got crazy and I missed some of the 'preorder' period, I'm still here for his books. Throughout our library system, I did make sure we had his books on our shelves. Your Lonely Nights Are Over is a fun campy horror story with friendship at it's heart. Perfect for spooky season. I could easily see it being adapted into a movie and hope it does eventually.

I've read quite a few horrors/thrillers lately and this one is by far my favorite! I was not expecting that with a YA novel, but this was extremely well written, well paced so that I was constantly on edge, a wonderful plot/mystery that did keep me guessing, and I fell in love with the main characters. It was very traditional slasher feel but interwoven I thought there were some big important messages about being queer and being lonely, but they weren't forced in an unnatural way. Adam Sass has definitely made a fan out of me.

Cole and Dearie are as close as two best friends can be, without being boyfriends. A famous serial killer called Mr. Sandman reemerges after years of no killing, and the two are framed for the deaths of their fellow queer club members. In order to clear their names, they decide to figure out who is behind the deaths, and to stop them before more killings happen.

I had so much fun with this one, honestly such a good first book for my October reading! I was flipping between a 4 and a 4.5 rating, but ultimately went for the 4. There was just something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. I adored both Cole and Dearie. They were both really fun characters to read their POVs from. I loved the banter and sass these teens had, and how they weren't afraid to dish it out at any given moment. They were both a bit unlikeable, but I couldn't help but root for them and their friendship. I loved trying to piece together who the murderer was, and did end up figuring it out, but quite close to the reveal so it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book. Also, absolutely ADORED the epilogues.

This is my first Adam Sass book, but if his other books are anything like this I may have to check out more of his writing!

I couldn’t finish this book, left at 57%, only because of excessive school workload. Personally i did love this book’s plot however the main characters were quite annoying. I’m a sucker for thrilling murder novels so i will most definitely be buying it to continue and read further!

Campy & queer horror - what more could you ask for? Your Lonely Nights Are Over is a fun, queer take on the YA Slasher and while I didn't find it particularly scary, I did enjoy the story and characters quite a bit.

A new Netflix special on The Sandman Killer has everyone obsessed - and for some, that obsession may have gone a little too far. While the original Sandman Killer was never found, it appears that he may be back. And he seems to have an apprentice who is hell bent on taking out the local high school queer club. Soon, the bodies are piling up and you're not sure who can be trusted.

I listened to the audiobook for the second half of this book and really enjoyed it. The story was pretty fast-paced and was a quick read. The author has a witty way with words and I would definitely read from them again. While I did guess the first killer reveal, I didn't see the second coming. I thought it was someone else!

If you're looking for a fun, YA Slasher with great queer rep I'd recommend checking out Your Lonely Nights are Over this spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the review copy.

I didn’t love this one.
I understand that we’re not meant to love the MCs but I just couldn’t get past it. They were so incredibly annoying.

This is a thriller but it seemed so far fetched. Half the stuff that happened just seemed so unbelievable.

I did love the representation though. Loved having so many queer characters.

I got an ARC of this book.

DNF pretty quickly.

The two MCs were that awful bitchy cis gay that thinks being mean and gay makes you better than everyone around you. Constant judgement, constant being mean to everyone, I just couldn't enjoy anything because of the two narrators. Catty can be fun, but when it is constant and so full of real judgement for everyone, it just makes really obnoxious characters.

If you have more of a tolerance for that, might be worth a shot. I didn't even make it to the real action, because I couldn't stand the narrators.

This was the perfect story for October! The spooky vibes were everything and this definitely lived up to expectations! I absolutely adored this & can not wait to read more stories like this one! I thought the characters were amazing and I loved just how gripping this book truly was. I hope everyone reads this!

One thing you should know about me…. My favorite sub-genre of horror is slashers. So when I heard this was coming out, I knew this was going to either be a hit because it was amazing….. Or a miss because I had built it up so far in my head. And let me just tell you, it was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be. This was so good! I binge read this by reading the physical hardcover (from the publisher SERIOUSLY, THANK YOU!) while reading the audio while I was doing other tasks. It was seriously a good time and i really can’t wait for more of you to read it.

Ok so boom, this book starts with the main characters being accused of cyber-bullying. It’s said that they sent out some texts copying a retired killer from back in the day. They’re in the midst of trying to make sure they clear their name during a meeting when the first two people are found dead. And listen the way they’re found is crazy. This whole book was crazy. I could not stop reading it. I literally put down one format just to pick it up in another. I don’t know what Adam Sass put in this, but I really hope we get more of it lol And the crazy thing is, I read his author’s note, and it was like something along the lines of he had been wanting to write this but he thought it was too out there and I was like, WTF I NEED MORE. So if you see this Adam Sass, you had no reason to doubt yourself. This book was so much fun. (Can I say that? People were murked………. Well, y’all know what I meant lol)

The characters were what I really liked about this tho. Dearie and Cole made a hell of a duo. Cole was the realist who thought of literally everything and Dearie was the dreamer. He was in relationships and living in his own world, but he never once stopped paying attention to what was happening around him. I was happy that they both had completely different personalities but they still were friends and they were still both on top of everything. I was hella impressed on how they handled this mystery and I loved that they solved it the way they did. Both of them were hella impressive.

[SPOILER JIC?] I don’t want to give anything away, but I did guess who the killer was. But I still was so into the story I didn’t even care. I STILL was like “OH SHIT” when it was revealed. Now the real surprise was one half of the duo. I was not expecting THAT. Now that, I got that especially wrong. Loved that for me. Definitely another favorite part of mine. Idk what it is, but reveals in thrillers and horror books are really important to me. And this one was bad ass. And like when they realized the other thing that happened while they were doing that…. Yeah, it was LEGIT. And for this to be a YA, I realized it at the same time they did.

And this performance of the audio? I feel like I should mention it since I did listen to some. Y’all know I’m a sucker for an audio that has a full cast or with the sound effects and stuff. And this one has a full cast. I found myself listening to the audio at the same time I was reading the physical book. It really was entertaining and they did a great job.

This book was so good! Definitely my fave of last month. I knew there was only 2 ways for this to end and I’m happy it was this way. I really hope this isn’t the last slasher Adam Sass writes because this was a TRIP.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the chance to give my honest opinion in exchange for a earc of this book.

I was drawn in from the moment we met Dearie and Cole. I was wrapped up in who they were and what was going on. I found that the queer friendships, toxic friendships, and fear all played really well in this novel.

I will say that there were moments where watching Dearie and Cole's dynamic was hard because it felt a bit toxic to me, but I may have felt that way because they were just friends but often acted as more. The side characters were very lackluster and not likable to me, which made it hard to want them to stay alive.

Overall this was a great read, and I'm so glad that I got a chance to read this thriller headed into spooky season. 4.5/5 stars