3.5/5 ★

Years ago, a serial killer named the Sandman killed lonely single people. No one ever found out who he was. Now, best friends Dearie and Cole find themselves and the Queer Club at their high school being targeted by the Sandman.

This one took a while to get into. I don't think it really built the suspense much until about halfway through the book. I appreciate the setup the author needed to do, but I think that part could've been shortened so we could've gotten more of the Scream factor and less of the Clueless. There were some good twists at the end, but you can figure them out if you pay close attention!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

October is here. Officially.
And my spooky season reads are well underway.

This weekend, I finished "Your Lonely Nights Are Over," the new queer horror novel from Adam Sass, the author of last year's breakout hit "The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers."

In his new book, Adam Sass pays homage to classic slasher flicks like Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween, but with a very twisty Wes Craven spin.

It's like a gay Scream for the ages.

And if the Melpomene-adorned Mr. Sandman doesn't quite pack the same chill factor as Freddy or Jason or Michael Myers, his creepy calling card is deliciously camp.

Much like the melodramatic co-dependence between Dearie and best friend Cole.
It's all great fun, if you don't think about it too hard.

I kind of love this. I love a story where the friends are still friends at the end and don't fall in love. I really appreciate that highlight on platonic queer relationships even amongst the craziness that is a book about a serial killer.

That being said, I said it once and I'll say it again, it is 2023 and if you are going to have a book with a large group of queer kids, you have to have an aspec character. I don't know how to explain it to people. The A exists in the acronym for a reason and it would not have been hard to plop an ace or aro character in there. I actually think that it could have been a wonderful commentary about what loneliness is and how aromantic people are constantly told that they're lonely. This whole book is based on a serial killer who knows when people have been broken up with or are inherently lonely and I would have loved to see an aromantic person outwardly survive this and pretty much stick it to the man.

Beyond the continued absence of aspec people, this book was really good and one that I would definitely recommend for your spooky season reads.

A scary academia book that I absolutely devoured! It made my skin crawl and I loved it! Definitely should be on every spooky list!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the arc of this one!

When besties Dearie and Cole are accused of sending a menacing text to a member of Queer Club, Dearie wants to prove they had nothing to do with it. But as the infamous Mr. Sandman appears to be back and killing the besties frenemies, all eyes are on them. They are no longer trying to just prove their innocence, but stop the killer before more gay people are murdered.

This was so good! I absolutely loved Dearie and Cole and their incredibly close (maybe codependent?) friendship. The tension in this is impeccable and I found myself turning pages late into the night to try and find out what happened next!

I loved the way it all wrapped up. This is such a great thriller with amazing vibes!

CW: blood, injury, death, racism

Cole Cardoso and Frankie Dearie are best friends who don’t play by the rules of the other members of Stone Grove High School’s Queer Club. In fact, they’ve both grown so disillusioned by the rest of the club that they usually try to avoid the other members whenever possible. Newest recruit Em seems like a decent person, though the vast majority of the club maintains a rigidity that puts them at odds with Cole and Dearie. As Cole observes:

QUOTE
Theo groans from the top tier, rolling their eyes at Em, who does not return the gesture. Good for her recognizing an asshole when she sees one. Theo is second only to Grover in being the reason why I put thirty football fields between myself and this club. Scolding, self-important closet Republicans. Just because Dearie and I meet up with boys from other schools–and <i>not</i> for little milkshake dates–we’re what’s “destroying the queer community” (i.e., why they can’t get a date.) Same old envy-fueled slut shaming from the Pilgrim days, just with a new Pride flag filter.
END QUOTE

Unfortunately for our main characters, they’re pulled back into Queer Club drama when threatening messages are sent to two of their fellow members. Grover Kendall and Gretchen Applebaum immediately call an emergency meeting because, to them, it’s obvious who sent the texts. While the members of the Queer Club all used to be friends once upon a time, the now frenemies spend an inordinate amount of time being openly mean to one another. The whole school knows that they all have beef, so when Grover and Getchen publicly claim to have gotten messages that echo the tagline of a serial killer who’s been back in the news lately, everyone figures Cole and Dearie are just (tastelessly) pranking their former besties.

But when Gretchen is murdered in the exact same way as the rest of the serial killer’s victims, and Grover barely survives the same attack, things take a far more serious turn. Mr Sandman was notorious for targeting the single and heartbroken, leaving notes that said “your lonely nights are over” on the bodies of his victims. Thing is, he’s been inactive for decades, with most people presuming him dead. A recent podcast diving into his murderous spree has put his name back into the public conversation. Now it seems like a copycat is targeting the kids of Stone Grove’s Queer Club. Will Cole, Dearie and co be able to overcome their differences and band together in order to face down a murderer and survive?

This slasher novel was by turns hilarious, gruesome and thought-provoking as our protagonists grapple with the end of high school, metaphysical threats to their friendship and an honest-to-God serial killer. The mystery thriller is compelling with several very solid surprises throughout. Being a jaded genre reader, I figured out whodunnit quite early on but still really enjoyed the rollercoaster of revelations on the way to the excellent ending.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of both Cole and Dearie, Your Lonely Nights Are Over deftly showcases the many different ways and experiences of being queer. Adam Sass has made a point to underline how especially fraught it is for Cole as a person of color to be involved in a murder investigation, how easy it is for others to scapegoat him and how carefully he has to tread in order to be afforded the same rights and privileges as a white person. Cole is prickly, but for good reason. This sort of authentic representation, of both him and of so many others in this book, reminds readers that queer people are not a monolith, and that intersectionality matters.

It’s also refreshing that there are so many queer people centered in this book, and that they’re never tokenized. Perhaps the best thing about this witty, wise novel is how it holds out hope to queer kids trapped by fear and oppression, as Cole listens to the boy he’s been kissing talk about a bully:

QUOTE
“Walker broke my arm in seventh grade,” he says, traces of fear still lingering.

A boy this beautiful deserves no fear. I shake my head and say the truth, the first thing that comes to mind: “I don’t remember that.” I kiss the tip of his nose. “Someday, you won’t either. Walker Lane isn’t going to show up in the movie of our lives again. When we get out of this place, you get to be anyone you want to be. Queers get to do that, that’s our right.”
END QUOTE

This novel takes the idea that stories of serial killers targeting teenagers are a metaphor for the American high school experience, centers it on a group of wildly diverse queer kids and launches off with it into the stratosphere. It’s a rollicking, cathartic read that really ought to be adapted to the screen, if only so more people will come back to the terrific source material. I had a lot of fun reading about and rooting for Cole and Dearie, and hope many others will do the same.

Dearie and Cole have been best friends their entire life, and they don't need anybody else. When they end up at a meeting of Queer Club that is mysteriously devoid of queers, they're a little suspicious - which is very fair, considering that two of the members of Queer Club are busy being murdered. Cue gradually increasing stakes as someone keeps murdering queer people, successfully evading attempts at catching them. In true YA fashion, though, our teens are on the case, scrambling to find some indication of who this is before they themselves get murdered.

As a thriller, this was solidly meh on its own but with Scream as a comp title, I feel like that was authorial intent. What really sparkled was the commentary on queer culture and how in queer culture, attempts at isolating us tend to actually bring us together. Dearie and Cole are extremely catty in the way that drag culture celebrates cattiness, and along the way they learn to rein that in a little bit which I liked. I also loved that the two point of view characters are exceptionally close to each other but there's no romantic engagement between the two of them. Weirdly enough, I agree that this is absolutely a mixture of Clueless and Scream - take that as you will.

Overall I'm going to recommend this to thriller fans who are looking for a little camp in their day but not to people who are looking for a fresh take on the genre. I do not recommend it to adults who don't normally read YA.

A fun, campy, queer YA Horror slasher that is perfect for fans of Scream or other tongue-in-cheek horror.

It features queer best friends Dearie and Cole in a dual-pov that spans the course of several months as murders linked to a viral true-crime docuseries, start in their high school. When it becomes clear that Mr. Sandman is not only hunting their queer club at school, but circling Cole and Dearie specifically, they have to act fast before winding up dead.

I loved this book so, so, so, much! It was sharp and funny, while also deftly dealing with things like abuse, and racism. It has the vibes of Scream, but written for a current audience, which was an itch I didn't know I needed to scratch.

If you enjoy horror, slashers, or murder mysteries with a queer cast, Your Lonely Nights Are Over has to be on your TBR list.

When I heard that this book is a combination of Clueless and Scream, a YA horror, funny, and that it was about queer friendships, I knew I had to pick it up!

From the very beginning we are immersed in the main characters' lives: Drearie and Cole, two gay teen BFFs whose platonic relationship is praiseworthy and tender with major Clueless vibes. The two boys want to clear their name of the crimes that they are being accused of and not only survive but also work together to unmask the real killer.

The action starts from chapter one and makes it a fast-paced read albeit a bit jarring but done intentionally.

To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about reading a book about queer people being slaughtered by a serial killer but I really enjoyed the two POV leads. We get two complex queer characters interacting with other nuanced queer characters. I've really been enjoying reading YA books and I like seeing the queer rep in books!

I'd recommend giving this one a try if you like to read YA thrillers, queer rep, don't mind a bit of gore, and like playing detective!
I included a playlist of the songs that I think fit with the vibes of this book and of course, I had to include songs from Clueless (these are just 10 of the songs of a 1 hour long playlist).

This book is a fun, "Scream" inspired romp. I didn't quite connect to the characters, but I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going on. It's always wonderful to see how much media is out there now for young queer people compared to when I was in the YA age range, and I enjoyed reading this book and getting an idea for how the genre is evolving and growing!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers. I absolutely adored this book. Dearie and Cole are the best set of best friends I've gotten to read about in a while. They definitely have their ups and downs but they come out okay and I love them. Dearie in general, what a sweet useless bean. Cole is the sass and I loved every second. I thought the murder was well drawn out and the suspense and guessing were. I definitely will recommend this one all the time.

"But he flopped on that too, as all efforts to divide queers eventually do."

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is like a modern times Scream (I know, I know, Scream isn't old! But sadly it is old, and so am I). In YLNAO, a serial killer from a popular docu-series has returned to resume his murderous rampage decades after his last victim. He's still hunting lonely people but this time his focus seems to be exclusively on the LGBTQ community in a small, Midwestern town. The viewpoints alternate between gay best friends, Frankie and Cole. Both characters are likable yet realistic, and sometimes hilarious. I'd love to see this turned into a slasher-esque movie one day.

Marketed as Scream meets Clueless, I immediately requested this book. I was so excited to read this and hopefully add it to my high school classroom library, but it just wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped.

The beginning of the book was really slow, and I found myself skimming, which I rarely do. It was almost 200 pages before anything started to happen, and that just isn't acceptable for me. I do have to say that once the plot picked up, things were very fast-faced until almost the end.

Overall, the book was just too long for my liking. While I did enjoy the second half, it really took a long time to get me interested. I won't be buying this for my classroom library, but don't let my review dissuade you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for the early read. This book is out now.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Dearie and Cole have been best friends for years but they aren't very well-liked by other people. When a serial killer begins targeting people in their LGBTQIA club, they become the main suspects. Can they find the real killer before it's too late?

I flew through this book. It was just a fun read perfect for the Halloween season.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is a bleakly, darkly comedic and campy horror, but do not be fooled—this is a book up to its elbows in guts, gore and grimly accurate social commentary.

Adam Sass caught me utterly off guard with just how funny this book was. It was exactly the type of meta, knowing horror comedy as seen in the Scream universe, but also the dark comedy that comes from staring into the void and the void looking back. The dialogue sparkled and shone, fizzing with energy and life. Right from the start, I recognised the several queer stereotypes embodied by these characters and their respective horror ‘types’ as well. Sass sends that high school cliqueness and the in-fighting within the LGBTQ+ community, but through a loving lens. This is definitely a case of laughing with rather than at. Of course, this deft characterisation and set-up allows you to fall in love with characters, just to have the rug pulled from under your feet as the horror begins. This is a looming dread over the course of the book, with death marking the group from very early on. You get the sense of the walls closing in on you, as the killer grows bolder and bolder.

Make no mistake, this is a book unafraid to go into the gory details. It is true horror – full of blood and guts. The deaths are creative and their sequences are spine-chilling. Sass keeps the pacing at a quick speed, not allowing you to draw too many breaths. However, there is still time given for characters to develop and grow, which I adored. In particular, the tangled dynamic between Dearie and Cole is one that I fell in love with.

Also, I loved the way Sass transformed the tropey backdrop of the serial killer gone dormant that previously terrorised the community. There is a fantastic through thread around true crime narratives, particularly through a documentary that features heavily in the book. You get the sense of a community trying to build itself back up, only to have the horrors of the past seemingly re-emerge. With the specific targeting of the LGBTQ+ community, it makes a bold statement about the demonisation and targeting of the community – speaking far too closely to current day sentiment.

I also really enjoyed the way Sass blends in insightful social commentary. There is a keenly focused spotlight on loneliness and the way romantic relationships are seen as pinnacles of success. Of course, this is not any way to define a life. You miss the joy found beyond those relationships and the person themselves, happy within themselves. Also, the way people try to deflect death from their path is fascinating. Sass intersects this with the depiction of LGBTQ+ relationships, internalised homophobia and the rising wave of hate crimes against marginalised communities, is nothing short of heart-wrenching.

Sass ensures to adequately warn readers, with a comprehensive trigger warning list at the start of the book. I also appreciated the author’s letter talking about the way race impacts the story, particularly in terms of dealing with police, harassment and injustice. This is included at the beginning, allowing readers to prepare themselves. There is also a sensitive portrayal of abusive relationships at the core of this book. It shapes key journeys within the narrative and is a sickening look at gaslighting, emotional manipulation and the way abusers can make you destroy your self-worth.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over balances heavy societal topics with dashes of camp horror, truly terrifying sequences, and characterisation that truly sings. Adam Sass is an author to watch and I truly recommend him as an emerging scream monarch of YA horror.

3.5 stars

What better way to kick off the fall season with a fast-paced horror thriller? Your Lonely Nights Are Over is gruesome and bloody, yet surprisingly fun for a book about a serial killer. It’s unique format makes you feel like you’re watching episodes of a TV show rather than just reading a book. Even though the characters aren’t that likable, which they’re already known for, I was hooked on seeing how they would clear their names as all evidence points to them as the killers. There were also some great underlying themes about discrimination, teen relationships, and friendships, which were naturally integrated into the story instead of seeming forced. A super campy, queer slasher book that will get you in the mood for Halloween!

Fun slasher young adult story. There was nothing inherently bad about it but I was kind of bored even with people dying left and right. I guess I just wasn’t invested but I seem to be the outlier.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This book was amazing. It definitely gave me chills!!! I love to read queerness in horror. I highly recommend this book.

The DRAMA! Wonderful display of being queer in high school. I especially loved the clear sexual identities of Dearie and Cole, the two gay main characters. Friends for years, supportive of each other, casual hookups occasionally, traveling to the next town for hookups. Loved it - realistic, and wonderful for young readers to see.
The Mr. Sandman killer is back - decades after his last kill. And he's targeting the queer group at the local high school.
Some great humor, dark and just everything! Loved it!

This has been described as Scream meets Clueless and I couldn't agree more!

This is the perfect book to start off the fall season. I had to actually get myself a physical copy as well.

This book follows two gay teens, Dearie and Cole. They are members of the Queer Club at school and there happens to be a serial killer on the lose that is targeting the members.

This tests their friendship.

This is a funny YA book and I would suggest it!

And the cover is amazing!