As a slasher: this a good time. 50 years ago the Sandman killed lonely hearts, and then disappeared. His kills were random, and no one could figure out how he knew the innermost thoughts of his victims. A true crime documentary comes out and then the killing starts in Stone Grove, Arizona. Two states away and with much more specific targets in mind. It's like the Golden State Killer meets the Son of Sam, and then the present motives become something much more horrible. The deaths themselves are brutal. Everyone is vulnerable. There's no protecting yourself from the Sandman. I had a great time with the "who is it?!" aspect of the slasher plot, and the side characters are very fully realized that it hurts when some of them are lost.

As a book about young queer people: potentially just as brutal. Our main characters, Dearie - a very pretty gay white boy, and Cole - an excessively handsome Latine gay boy, are the very best of friends with a complicated but true friendship. They are best friends. PERIOD. Because of their friendship, perceptions about their more than friendship, and their confidence, they found themselves on the outside of the queer community at their school. Teens are fully of jealousy, petty grudges and revenges, and this book is a slap in the face reminder that just because queer people are open to sexual and gender identities, they aren't immune to racism and toxic moral purity. Cole becomes a target due to his ethnicity, and the perception that he is "easy."

While I have no grounds to speak to the authenticity of Cole's perspective, what I can say is he's a deeply lovable character. He's intelligent, articulate, and sharply critical. Which is mellowed out by Dearie, who is kind to a fault and even when it results in his own harm. It takes Dearie a long time to see how he's hurt and ignored Cole's concerns, and Cole's fears as a man of color who has already been a victim of their local PD. Over the course of the novel, when they are both the hunters and the hunted, these issues do not fall into the background. They are confronted. Ugly conversations are had. Both Dearie and Cole have things happen to them that would've been different if the other had spoken up, and they learn that lesson.

There are also subplots with romantic storylines that are precious. Cole's romantic journey is especially adorable.

Overall, an emotional, tense read full of "oh no!" moments and a friendship that makes you feel good inside.

CWs: murder, mayhem, racism, law enforcement and racism in law enforcement, homophobia, violence against queer people, relationship and intimate partner violence, frank discussions of sex.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over 🎭
Adam Sass
This is that perfect time of year to consume all the horror and thrillers I want. So this book was exactly what I was looking for. I binged this YA thriller in a weekend because I literally could not put it down until I was done. It was Mean Girl meets Scream in all the best possible ways. The witty teens were great! I could easily see myself watching this as a hilarious teen, horror slasher with a high body count. I LOVED it! 💀

So what's it about? Cole and Dearie are BFFs, inseparable, so close people think they are boyfriends. I love their friendship! One day, the boys are called back to their high school Queer Club , where they haven't been in a while, because other members are accusing them of sending some serious, awful text messages. But before the boys can plead their innocence, a Club member is found dead.

It seems to be the work of the notorious, never caught serial killer, the Sandman. But as suspicions soon turn to the boys, they must take on the arduous task of having to defend themselves and their innocence while trying to unmask the killer as more Queer Club members end up dead.
It's a twisty plot that kept me guessing from the first page. Even when I thought I'd guessed the killer about 85% through the book, I couldn't put it down. I had to know the fate of all the Queer Club members.

The story deals not only with homophbia but also racism, classism, abuse, friendship changes, and the way people process trauma. (So check those trigger warnings uf you need to). But even with all this heavy stuff and a fair bit of gory violence, the camp and comedy offer enough levity to keep the story fun.

I loved Cole and Dearie getting their moment in the last chapter. The heart of the story is their love for each other. The 2 boys growing up queer together, and being able to lean on one another was so special. I might have almost shed a tear in the end. 🥹
So if you're looking for a suspenseful, campy, sexy, funny, and scary fall read, this is it right here. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgally and Penguin Group for this ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Your Lonely Nights are Over
By: Adam Sass
Publication date: September 12, 2023

“Scream meets Clueless in this YA horror from Adam Sass in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when a serial killer starts targeting their school’s Queer Club.”

This book is a YA horror/comedy.

Let me start off with what I liked about this book:
- [ ] Multiple POVs
- [ ] The main character
- [ ] The start of the book
- [ ] The ending

What wasn’t my favorite:
- [ ] In my opinion this book was about 100 pages to long

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group Viking Books for Young Readers for gifting me this ACR in exchange for my honest reviewer.

3.5 stars

This book is so many vibes. It's Scream meets The Breakfast Club in a slutty campy slasher book where everyone is getting killed or getting together. Or getting together to not get killed. It's not the perfect book for me, it dragged a bit too much and just made me feel old; but I'm sure this is going to be perfect for a lot of people. There is bunch of pop culture references, music, and fashion melded in this, and a diverse cast of characters I cared about. I think a lot of teenagers looking for a fun quick read will enjoy picking this one up.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was such a perfect fall read, it was like a gay Scream! Your Lonely Nights Are Over follows Dearie and Cole, two queer teens, as they find themselves in the middle of a slasher flick. Every time they turn around another member of the LGBTQIA+ club ends up dead, and everyone has their fingers pointed at these two friends. There's murder, cattys gays, serial killers, and, at the core of it all, a friendship worth dying for.

This was such a fun read, which is weird to say when there seemed to be another teenager killed on every other page, but it was just on the right side of campy to still feel like a good time despite all the gory deaths. The story touched on some more difficult topics as well such as loss and grief, abusive relationships, toxic, queer culture, bullying, and, of course, loneliness. I also appreciated how gloriously sex-positive this book was. Our two main characters unashamedly relish in their queerness, and despite other character occasional slut-shaming, never let it interfere with their desires and happiness.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is the perfect book to pick up this fall if you're a fan of slasher films, tons of queer representation, and a mystery full of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole ride! I highly recommend!

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers/Viking Books for a copy of Your Lonely Nights Are Over in exchange for an honest review.


(Almost) All the Queers Are Dead

If you cannot stand queer death, this book is not for you. When the summary states, "the bodies pile up," it means it. Usually, that would be a no-go for me, and I'll admit it took me a few tries to sink my teeth into Your Lonely Nights Are Over. But Adam Sass creates a tale so page-turning that I got past it. 

Dearie's and Cole's friendship is ride or die, and we need more queer friendships in media. Don't get me wrong: I love watching/reading "teh gays" become OTPs as much as the next queer, but but but ... queer friendship is integral to surviving. Your Lonely Nights Are Over makes that literal. 

Location, Location, Location!

Deserts are my happy place. They're also places that can be incredibly creepy, lonely and deadly, meaning they're a most excellent location for a horror story. Couple that with a queer club, one of our greatest nightmares, and you've got a recipe for terror on full blast. 

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is gruesome and gory without being gratuitous. Adam Sass sets up those chilly scenes where you're yelling at characters to get out of there, but they don't listen. Your heart will be thumping because you just don't know if people will be OK. 

Should You Read It?

If you are in any way a fan of Bodies Bodies Bodies or They/Them, you'll get a kick out of Your Loney Nights Are Over. (Though it is worlds better than They/Them.) If you're looking for a great gay read for spooky season, this is it. Bone-chilling, fun and with an actual message, what else could you want?

Your Lonely Nights Are Over is out on September 12, 2023. Pick up a copy at your local indie bookstore or library. 🎭📚🩸

This book was SO fun. The cast is built up of a diverse set of somewhat unlikeable characters, but even at their worst I couldn't help but root for them. This story is very queer, and something I love about newer generations of books is how queerness is just a part of the story rather than a plot device (throughout the 2000s most YA books that featured queer characters did so with the lense of it being a growth arc). The main characters, specifically Cole and Dearie and to a lesser extent Grover, are presented to us as solidly a part of their school with their sexuality front and center to them (the bulk of the story takes place within the Queer Club, after all) but is just a small part of their identity to the rest of the cast.

Sass instead puts emphasis on the othering placed upon his characters of color, and he does a great job in showcasing white Dearie's allyship (and the correct way to take accountability when it falters), while not taking away from Cole's validity of experience.

Is Sass Gen Z? He does an amazing job of catering to a Gen Z audience, which felt so fun to read. Every ten-15 years, pop culture has a generational shift (binge watch the entirety of the Scream franchise to watch gen x meld into millenial and slowly transform into current gen z to see an example of this), but books sometimes seem slower to catch up. YA is of course the best genre to start witnessing the shift in real time, and one of the reasons I advocate for adult reviewers to keep their mind open to YA. We are about to see a surplus of new writers bringing their generational experiences to the page, and I am definitely here for it.

Back to the book at hand, lets sum it up real quick. I'll do a spoiler free review here, but discuss the ending below for anyone who wants to read it. High school seniors Cole and Dearie are besties, and also suspected of sending some threatening texts to two other members of their high school's Queer Club, based on the fact that one of the text receivers (Grover) has a tumultuous relationship with our main protagonists-especially Coke. The rest of the Queer Club members (there are ten in total) call for a meeting to get some answers from Cole and Dearie, but almost no one shows up. Meanwhile, Grover and Gretchen are attacked by a masked assailant; both students are found with barbed wire wreathed around their necks.

The threatening texts and this mode of attack are actually the MO of a decades old serial killer called Mr. Sandman, who preyed upon the lonely. Throughout the 1970s, a rash of killings terrorized a couple of towns, focusing on victims who'd recently been dumped or showed other signs of loneliness. Currently, a true crime documentary has gained popularity going through the Mr. Sandman case, in which a killer was never caught.

Although Grover survives, it looks like we have a copycat on our hands- or an elderly serial killer has returned to his old tricks. As the story unfolds, there's a lot of conversation about the judicial system and how it impacts children of color (while white Grover concedes that Dearie is innocent, he still believes Latino Cole is responsible for his near death, and the following murders), and the various forms of abuse that can haunt us.

While I loved this reading experience, and love the messaging, my one complaint is that it felt a little undercooked. The abuse discourse is two fold- one storyline with Cole (that goes hand in hand with the racism he experiences) and the other with Dearie. The Dearie one is arguable a larger arc but is contingent on a scenario that, personally, felt like it needed a bit more time to marinate in the start of the story.

Otherwise, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read! Sass brought a ton of depth to his characters, created vivid scenes, and depicted dialogue SO WELL (something I feel that a lot of YA books struggle with). The entire book could easily be imagined on screen, and if this is ever opted into a movie I will be buying opening night tickets.



Stop reading if you don't want the story to be spoiled!!









Spoiler review(!!!!)

The story does a wonderful job of paying homage to the teen slashers that it pulls inspiration from. From start to finish, readers are met with sarcastic teenagers, inept adults (sprinkled with some very well-intentioned ones), school-property murders, and of course a climactic party scene.
Early in the book, Grover survives his attack, and lets Dearie know that there is video evidence of Dearie's innocence. This interaction (somehow) starts a relationship between the two boys for the next couple of months. There is a chapter in which, from Dearie's perspective, we see what seems to be a sweet relationship- albeit a little anxiety inducing for Dearie who just wants to protect Grover. After an argument about Coke, Dearie breaks up with Grover and essentially sentences him to death via loneliness. The next night, at a graveyard movie event, Grover is not only killed but mytulated beyond recognition. The boy he'd taken as a date to the movie, Justin, flees the scene and later exhibits a lot of strange behavior. This of course catapults Justin to the top of the suspect list, working in tandem with Cole, who remained prime suspect due to the amount of evidence being framed against him. While Sass does a very decent job of north foreshadowing and keeping the mystery alive and well, I was able to suss out both Mr. Sandmans relatively early. Grover and Justin had been deceived as nearly identitcal, save for a small tattoo Justin had. During the movie, Grover switched places with Justin and murdered him, then murdered Justin's dad to keep his identity secret for the time being. The other killer was another character introduced in the book, but I want to focus on Grover's storyline.

Essentially Grover was abusing the entire Queer Club to some degree, not just bullying Cole. His abuse became focused on Dearie, whom he'd had a crush on for years, and the entire book becomes Grover's quest to isolate Dearie and gaslight him.

I think this storyline would have worked much better if we'd had more time in the beginning of the book with the characters' backstory. While Sass foreshadowed everything well and he characterized Dearie well enough that it was believable he'd not only accept abuse but not recognize it, I just didn't really buy into Dearie falling for Grover in the first place. Then the two month skip forward in time took out a lot of the context of their relationship. Personally, their relationship was the weakest part of the storyline for me, and that's unfortunate because that's what the whole book conclusion is really built around. However I don't think it necessarily weakens the book overall! I think especially for the targeted audience (actual YA readers), there's enough balance of nuance and confrontation that the important messaging maintains its impact.


Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group and Adam Sass for this ARC

I am fully in my YA Queer Horror/Slasher era! I had such a great time diving into this book and couldn’t help but enjoy the light-hearted banter and friendship between our two main MC’s. This story is full of angst, queer characters, open discussions on loneliness and a suspenseful storyline.

One of my favorite parts in this story is the unreliability of all of the characters – the vibes fit a true slasher film as you race to the end to discover who is the killer and why are they targeting the lonely queer community?

Our characters are truly and unapologetically their own fabulous, iconic teenage selves and I loved them for it. I can’t wait to see more stories like this in the future and I’m excited to check out this author’s backlist. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Penguin Group / Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

[4.5⭐️]

Thank-you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Adam Sass for the eARC!

Okay I absolutely LOVED this book. As a HUGE fan of slasher flicks, I LOVE finding books that give me the same feeling I had the first time I watched SCREAM, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and so on and so forth. I loved Cole as a main character and was always desperately rooting for him to come out on top. I guess I could relate to him because I, too, am never wrong. 😜😜😜

I find it so interesting that the original title of this book was DEARIE, because I was NOT a Dearie fan in the least and it took QUITE a while for me to warm up to him.

Now, did I correctly guess the killer (or is it killerS? guess you'll have to read to find out 😉😉😉) almost immediately? Yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it was OBVIOUS. As someone who grew up watching procedural crime shows, I was (and still am) notorious for seeing a character appear on screen, pointing at them, and going "oh that's the killer." Proof? I have none, sis, it's all ✨vibes.✨ So I'm gonna need one of y'all to take one for the team and read this book so you can let me know if it WAS obvious, at which point you guessed, who your suspect(s) was/were, etc. Please. I promise it's a good read and I just REALLY want people to discuss with!!!

The #1 streaming show in America is
YOUR LONELY NIGHTS ARE OVER:
The Search for Mr. Sandman

fifty years ago, in San Diego, CA, there was a serial killer the newspapers took to calling "Mr. Sandman". he was never caught and simply up and disappeared one day. he targeted people who had recently undergone heartbreak and always sent them a note in the mail first. it said: "Your lonely nights will soon be over."

(side-note: this is apparently a reference to that one Sandman song, which is why the public called him Mr. Sandman. idk, I feel like we could've gone a million directions with horrible romance puns. or literally just like, The Heartbreaker lol)

he'd always sign his notes with a little doodle of a tragedy mask, which the very few witnesses who survived and reported seeing him stated he was always wearing. he'd kill his chosen victims via barbed wire around the neck within 24 hours of their receiving the note. on the bodies he'd leave a second note that said: "Your lonely nights are over."

when a hit new reality "docuseries" show analyzing his murder streak pops up, he returns to being a household name and folks start talking about him a lot more. we come into the story following best friends Dearie and Cole.

We swing our arms lazily. Em is probably baffled about what our deal is. Most people are.
“Don’t worry,” I whisper, “I’m not marrying anybody until I’m fifty.”
Cole’s dimples pop. “Me, right?”
I nod. “For the taxes.”

Frankie Dearie and Cole Cardoso are top notch mcs and hilarious besties. they live in Stone Grove, AZ (which you may or may not know is pretty far away from and a very different vibe to San Diego) and spend their time kissing boys and breaking hearts. unfortunately, one of their ex-best friends from childhood has just received a text stating "Your lonely nights will soon be over," and Dearie and Cole are being accused of sending it.

this kicks off the absolutely unhinged ride the book proves to be. things rapidly descend into madness and chaos; people are dying, Cole is being racially profiled by the local police, and the funky fresh new Mr. Sandman is apparently wildly homophobic as he keeps killing queer kids. the cops in this town are hilariously incompetent so of course Cole and Dearie end up having to go do everything themselves, with endlessly hilarious dialogue and a bunch of bg murder.

“So, when you jumped into that helicopter at Mooncrest,” Cole says, his eyes never drifting from the news, “did you, like, hang off that bottom rung like an action hero or ride sidesaddle out of the open door, like in war movies?”
“Um, I was seated safely and wearing a seat belt,” I say, scratching my fresh arm bandage.
Cole moans. “Not as cool.”
“I know. But I got to leap out into the parking lot before the chopper completely landed.”
“Sick!”

Your Lonely Nights Are Over was a very fun ride and one I don't regret giving 5/5 stars too. Adam Sass just gets it y'all

I will say, folks that are hardcore mystery/thriller readers probably won't love this book (I figured out who was behind everything really early on and I rarely read murder mysteries) but I still had a lot of fun with it. the book also tackles some difficult topics, like systemic racism and emotional abuse. full points for any author who can balance conversations like that with scenes of teenage boys kicking ass.


rep - achillean mcs (2); achillean love interest/s; tons of bg queer characters
thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc ✨

I wanted to like Adam Sass's YOUR LONELY NIGHTS ARE OVER, but unfortunately, the book was basically unreadable - literally. For whatever reason, the publisher couldn't be bothered to format the e-ARC appropriately, and it was almost impossible to read. In terms of the book itself, it felt very much like other queer YA stories, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters.

It sure has been an age since I read an entire not-novella book in ~24 hours! But Your Lonely Nights Are Over starts and keeps going and going, all the way to the acknowledgements.

Cole and Frankie Dearie (just 'Dearie') to most people are besties to the max, to teh point everyone assumes they're dating or will be dating soon. They're also the Mean Gays of their high school, and have to start this story by trying to meet up with the members of the Queer Club to explain that no, despite their personalities, they haven't been sending threatening texts to the others... except one of the members is killed in the same school, sparking a re-emergence of a fifty-years old serial killer right into their lives.

This is being marketed as 'Clueless meets Scream' but it's more Mean Girls/Heathers meets Scream/etc but VERY GAY (positive) also this makes me feel SO OLD as someone who graduated in 2001 when 'queer' was ONLY a slur (even if I use it for myself now) and our Gay Straight Alliance club was basically nothing. (Also these boys wearing crop tops and shirts with cut outs to school??? Dang.) Cole and Frankie start of pretty unlikable but we actually find out there's a reason for that which is probably a spoiler and yes, they are pretty unlikable in some ways even through that but when I realized just why everyone thought so, and why they acted more like that over time... that's some good stuff there.

This is a story with gore and abuse and not just the physical kind (no sexual abuse/harassment though!) so check the content warnings if you need it, if not, have a good time with this super gay slasher story.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was SO GOOD. I don’t normally go for YA books so this book shocked me with how invested I was. I literally didn’t stop reading till I finished it.

The action was intense, the mystery was confusing in the BEST way, and I was always second guessing who the killer was.

Also this book has no right being so funny when there’s such a high dead body count. I really appreciated the millennial/gen z humor in a way that wasn’t cringe and it made the characters so much more likable and real.

Also, catch me crying at the last chapter? Didn’t expect that but man what a great ending. Super strong 5 stars!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book :)

It's giving slasher. It's giving campy. It's just giving.

But seriously this book was cute, touched on some pretty deep topics, kept the tone pretty light when it could, and was still serving slasher at the same time. And, of course, who isn't here for more LGBTQ+ representation in our books?

It has character growth, a slasher-mystery that will keep you guessing until the end, and just an over all great vibe.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

Your Lonely Nights are Over is the story of two BFFs and several other high school students, all of whom are members of their school's Queer Club and are all also being targeted by a serial killer. I struggled with the first half of the book--I wasn't connecting with the story or the writing, and wasn't sure if I was interested enough to keep going. But I did and am overall glad that I finished the book. The second half was stronger and a more engaging reading experience for me. The twists at the end were surprising and I think this will be a hit with teens who enjoy books that feel like a horror movie!

Overall, I'd rate this one a 3/3.5 stars.

Your Lonely Nights are Over, in short, is about a high school queer club that is being targeted by a serial killer. Such a simple plot, but good execution and definitely entertaining.

The characters were (mostly) likable. Dearie and Cole are the main characters and best friends. They have a super close relationship that is definitely tested throughout the book. I really liked the side characters and the rest of the queer club members. They all had different personalities and their own voice.

It pretty much had you guessing for most of the book on who the killer was. I feel like there really times where I had some idea on who it was and then other times I didn’t. I did figure it out before the end, but it didn’t ruin the rest of it.

This is YA and it very much feels like it. There are some serious issues being addressed, like racism, homophobia and abusive relationships, but the characters felt very young and immature in some ways. Just very high school, if that makes sense.

It’s definitely worth the read, but I would say to be prepared as the first like 25% of the book is very slow. I felt like I was reading for hours and not getting anywhere. It does pick up after that though, but it takes a minute to get going.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group/Viking Books for Young Readers for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this! This is a classic coming-of-age story about two best friends who happen to be queer and investigating murders. Also there’s this mysterious figure, Mr. Sandman, a notorious serial killer that was never caught, that everyone believes is the killer now. Whoever it is, is now targeting the Queer Club.

The identity of Mr. Sandman was kind of obvious but it definitely did not take away from the story at all. This book tackled some heavy topics like racism, homophobia, and classism. Very well developed characters, a plot that kept me interested and an overall fun young adult thriller!

My lonely nights were certainly lonely after I finished this book!

Your Lonely Nights Are Over follows two queer high school boys, as close as can be, as they investigate a series of murders they are framed for. For Dearie and Cole, it has always been them against the world. When suddenly two of their classmates are attacked, leading to one of them dying, it seems to be the work of Mr. Sandman; a notorious serial killer who was never caught. It seems that whoever this killer is, new or original, they are targeting the Queer Club. When signs point to Cole being a copycat killer, the two boys must find out how to navigate their new world of shadows and secrets, where a murderer is lurking around the corner.

Wow. Wowowowowowowwow. You know that empty feeling you get after you finish your new favorite book? The one where you have to sit and just think about what you are gonna do with your life now that the book is over? Yeah, that hit me HARD after finishing this. I could not put this book down. there were so many twists and turns, so many questions to be answered, so many bodies to find! I was SAT.

I try to talk about what I liked in a book, and honestly, that's hard because I just love this book so much. I think there's a quote out there that goes "if I had loved you any less, I'd be able to talk about it more" or something similar. That sums up my feelings. However, I shall give it my best go.

I'll start with our two main boys, the best boys, Cole and Dearie. How I love them. How they love each other. I felt so incredibly seen in their relationship. It felt like such a great depiction of queer love and all that it can be, not just romantic, but the undying platonic love that we have for our people. The ones we know all about and who know us just as well.
Cole is everything I want in a best friend. He's smart and funny and undyingly loyal but also won't compromise on his own values for anything. He's creative and bold and just the right combination of kind and confident. I loved getting to know him, I couldn't stand anything bad happening to him. and oh buy did it.
Dearie. My beloved. I found myself in his story. I relate to his trauma. I felt seen with every action he took and word he spoke, I felt at some times like I was reading my own thoughts. He is a character that I find so hard to put my feelings into words because my emotions are just so big. We are survivors. We are loved. We are seen.

Too often with mystery novels, I find myself either guessing the ending at the first page or completely lost with all the misdirection thrown in by the author. This book did neither of those things, it kept me guessing the whole time. I had several theories and I truly didn't know which one to go with. When I felt so certain about one, there would be a wrench thrown into the story that completely derailed my thoughts. I feel like I did figure out the culprit, but I kept second-guessing myself. Not to mention the fact that I had to stop reading halfway through to go to sleep, and I found myself thoroughly spooked and jumping at every noise I heard.

Honestly, this book was a wild ride but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think I was laughing out of fear at one point. I can't recommend this book enough. It is a fun little queer slasher novel, but it has so many stories that need to be told.

I received this arc from NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this title immensely, devoured it over the course of a single (and I do mean *single*) weekend. Looking back, I only wish I'd had a high school BFF half as shrewd and emotionally intelligent as Cole Cardoso to warn me against the manipulative wounded sparrow types who can take up so much mental and emotional space - as well as inflict major damage - when you don't know better yet.

The story itself? Pretty classic coming-of-age, best-friends-going-off-to-college tale happening against a backdrop with an infamous serial killer resurfacing in a small town in order to target the members of the high school Queer Club. The manner of dispatch is quite grisly for YA (the comparisons to Scream have merit - it also reminded me of another 90s gem, Christopher Pike's Final Friends trilogy). It's all woven together into a larger meditation on healthy vs. abusive relationships, and how communities tend to overlook certain types of abusers.

This had a great natural flow, considering it was over 400 pages long. The characters and backstory deepened as the plot unfolded. The dialogue is really strong. Several exchanges made me laugh out loud and then gasp with emotional realization. I loved the unconventional friendship between Cole and Dearie.

The world of Stone Grove is a deliciously spooky alternate universe where all the cool kids show up en masse at the pioneer graveyard on Friday night to watch 1950s cult scifi movies. Picture bitchy basic exes swanning among the tombstones, drinking Fireball and reading everyone to filth. This world doesn't feel quite real, and I didn't really want/need it to. Despite the gruesome elements in the plot, this still feels like a juicy, escapist fantasy.

Even with a serial killer on the loose and occasional references to contemporary reality (school shooters, the 'dreadful queer' Kyrsten Sinema 😭😭😭) , the inhabitants of the story have money, incredible wardrobes, and agency over their lives. Other than a momentary interruption from a crazed murderer, they're pretty much on their way to discovering the rest of their lives at exclusive colleges in coastal cities. There is some time spent on grief and loss, but this isn't really a story about either of those things.

**Some mild spoilers below**

----

Honestly, I guessed the secret of the Sandman's identity maybe 1/3 of the way through the plot, though it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. There were a few surprises unveiled near the end to explain how certain red herrings were planted,

The one thing that struck me as odd among an otherwise flawlessly developed cast of characters was the complete lack of characterization and/or backstory for Gretchen Applebaum. She's dispatched in the first few pages, and is only mentioned in passing ever after, and only in the context of her death. We never find out anything about her personality or history, other than the fact she had blonde pigtails and was Grover's friend. She's basically Mr. Boddy from Clue.

Lucy Kanapaha was another character who is given pretty short shrift, IMO. Somewhere near the end, Dearie speaks of her eccentricities and how much they're going to miss seeing her. Nice, except I didn't really pick up on any examples of that in the story. She appeared to me pretty much as a bystander, so to me that late characterization didn't make sense.

Highly recommended! I'll be looking for other titles by this author.

Little slow for me in the beginning, but it picked up mid way through the book and kept me hooked! Great book for the upcoming Halloween season!