Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

In Gravesend, Brooklyn, sixteen-year-old Elodia is an outcast at school, at odds with her father, and longing for her mysteriously absent mother. Lonely and isolated, Elodia knows that something unspeakably terrible has happened to her—she just can't remember what.
Miles away in upstate New York, a young man named Gabriel occupies his time by killing sparrows and searching for his birth parents. Gabriel wants to show them what a good son he can be, well-behaved and helpful and no trouble at all—until a savage betrayal plants an ever-growing seed of revenge within him.
Desperate for the promise of their past lives and future dreams, both Elodia and Gabriel are broken and scarred, their lives shattered. Their wounds run deep—and that kind of damage is irrevocable. Unchangeable. Irreversible. Isn't it? "
Great read, fast paced, first time author, would love to read more from them.
Thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications, netgalley, and the author in exchange for an honest review.
Published Aug 11, 2023.

This short novella has an interesting premise, some rich cultural history to draw on and some fairly decent writing to back it up. Where it lacks is weaving that all together in a cohesive manner.

The changes in timeline are jarring and in one instance took pages for me to realise that we were reading about the past and not the present.

Other reviews have talked about some of the graphic content in this book. I was expecting more from the book given how vehemently people have complained about it. I was a bit underwhelmed.

I think the idea of being drip fed information throughout the book to arrive at this ultimate conclusion works in theory, but in practice left quite a bit to be desired. There’s a lot of unanswered questions, and plenty of times where I was confused as to what was happening because vague descriptions were used to be ‘poetic’ or ‘artsy’. This left me feeling frustrated.

For everything that happened in this book, the story really was about small people. I disliked most of the characters, their decisions and the outcome.

*Note: I received an electronic copy of this book via Netgalley.*

If I could rate this higher than 5 out of 5, I would in a heartbeat. To say this is easily one of my favorite reads of 2023 would be an understatement. The imagery alone is mind blowing. The way Colón manages to evoke not just the scenes but the feeling of those scenes, the vibe they carry with them, is a rare talent. This is a novella, so while we don’t get the same character development I’d expect with a novel, we still get a very real idea of who the characters are, even the more transient ones that play more minor roles. I won’t spoil anything, and while I had suspicions of how the two storylines would eventually intertwine, I didn’t predict the way the story ended up playing out, and I adore that. If you’re looking for a fresh, new, quick horror read (I read this in one sitting over the course of a few hours, it’s just so hard to walk away, even for a moment), you need to grab this.

I really WANTED to love Bad Moon Rising... but big nope from me on this one. I love Horror and I am typically prepared but something kind of traumatic happens on the first page and questionable things continue to happen throughout. I normally would not be bothered by shocking events, but these seem to serve absolutely no purpose for the story itself. Majorly let down.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read.

The two narratives, Gabriel's and Elodia's, seem to have no connection for a lot of the book, and it definitely kept me interested as I tried to figure out how they were going to come together, if at all. I found, however, that when the connection was revealed it just left me with more questions than answers and I found the ending to be pretty unsatisfying.

A bunch of the elements of this story seemed to be added in as an afterthought or for shock value (hello, unnecessary incest plotline) and I think the book could've benefitted from a few revisions or a slightly higher word count to allow for more explanations.

Overall, the writing was compelling and the author definitely managed to create the creepy mood that goes hand in hand with the horror genre, however, I can't say that I enjoyed this book. It just wasn't for me.

I should've known this book wouldn't be for me as soon as I read the words "Gabriel liked to kill sparrows", but somehow I just couldn't stop reading! Bad Moon Rising follows Gabriel, the aforementioned sparrow killer, and Elodia, a mute sixteen year old who lives with her abusive father. It doesn't sound like a particularly happy book, does it?

The two narratives, Gabriel's and Elodia's, seem to have no connection for a lot of the book, and it definitely kept me interested as I tried to figure out how they were going to come together, if at all. I found, however, that when the connection was revealed it just left me with more questions than answers and I found the ending to be pretty unsatisfying.

A bunch of the elements of this story seemed to be added in as an afterthought or for shock value (hello, unnecessary incest plotline) and I think the book could've benefitted from a few revisions or a slightly higher word count to allow for more explanations.

Overall, the writing was compelling and the author definitely managed to create the creepy mood that goes hand in hand with the horror genre, however, I can't say that I enjoyed this book. It just wasn't for me.

What a (positively) weird little novella. I liked it but overall I am a little confused about some parts.

The writing and the storyline were compelling even as I preferred reading about Elodia. Her mysteries were really interesting - I wanted to know why she isn't talking anymore and why nobody gets frustrated with her. I wanted to know what her mother did and I could understand why she was attracted by the one person who showed her warmth. But the desasterous feeling of grooming felt quite unsettling.

About 45 % in I got a feeling how Elodia and Gabriel could be connected and it turned out to be true. That isn't something I feel a grudge about but I didn't really like the storyline of Gabriel after he "was killed" by his father. I love a good represantation of queer themes in my books but it felt not well done how the relationship to Elliot was portrayed. It felt like unnecessary queer misia and I would love more queer joy in my books.

The end felt a little bit rushed and elongated at the same time: I would have loved to get Gabriels backstory more interwoven with Elodias story. It felt after the date at the Botanic Garden like getting to the climax of the story just to be told something different and important for about 40 pages as an interlude before the storm really got going. And in the end I don't really understand the connection of the Hurricane card with Elodia. On a level I get it but it felt unprepared as a solution.

I think I will be looking out for more books by Luisa Colon in the future to see how they develop!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Luisa Colon for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Bad Moon Rising coming out August 11, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In Gravesend, Brooklyn, sixteen-year-old Elodia is known by her peers as an outcast. She keeps to herself. She doesn’t always get along with her father, and longs for her mother who disappeared. Lonely and isolated, Elodia knows that something horrible has happened to her in the past, but she has no memory of it.

Miles away in upstate New York, a troubled young man named Gabriel spends his time by killing sparrows and looking for his birth parents. Gabriel wants to show them what a good son he is now, well-behaved and kind. That is until a betrayal makes him turn to revenge.

Desperate for the promise of their past lives and future dreams, both Elodia and Gabriel are broken and scarred, their lives shattered. Their wounds run deep—and that kind of damage is irrevocable.

I really loved the first half of this book! I thought it was suspenseful and mysterious. I wanted to know what happened to Elodia. I thought her part of the story was stronger than Gabriel’s story. I love all types of horror books, especially Spanish. But I have no idea what happened in the last part of the book. It didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the reveal or the ending. I definitely didn’t think it would be headed in that direction. But I’ll check out other books by this author.

- [x] There’s something about a folklore book that intrigues me. I find this genre to have so much history and information about a culture. This book was very descriptive. Many times, I needed to pause and reflect on what I just read. This is a book you want add to your TBR.

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

Honestly, I had to DNF this one. It wasn't a good fit for me and I found it a bit too immature for my taste so I decided to put it down and move on.

This was a big no. Killing animals on page one is a VERY hard spot to come back from. And it wasn’t even considered. Creepy behavior and abusing a girl’s trauma is another no. It only got worse from there. The writing was nice. But there are just some things I don’t do. Animal abuse with zero purpose to make someone seem bad and creepy is one. Manipulating traumatized teen girls is another

In Gravesend, Brooklyn, sixteen-year-old Elodia is an outcast at school, at odds with her father, and longing for her mysteriously absent mother. Lonely and isolated, Elodia knows that something unspeakably terrible has happened to her—she just can't remember what.

I didn't end up finishing this book. I just didn't enjoy the writing and the characters were insufferable.

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was solid, but unfortunately it wasn't what I expected based on the excerpt and I found myself feeling forced to continue. Eventually, I decided to DNF and move on to other books on my shelf. I am just not quite the right audience for this

This book just didn't work for me unfortunately. I found the narrative structure a bit confusing and the nature of the relationships in the book were really uncomfortable. The final part of the book was more cohesive and did bring things together quite well, but it didn't override the confusion of the main portion, which really impacted my enjoyment.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It was okay. Nothing really to write home about. I enjoyed it but nothing really stuck out for me. I felt that the story was clunky and slow. Characters were either too fleshed out or not enough.

Bad Moon Rising was such a great story. I loved how the story slowly came together. It definitely left me wanting more.

Bad Moon Rising by Luise Colon
Release date: August 1, 2023.
Elodia is a social outcast with a traumatic history.
Gabriel is somewhat of a problem child who is looking for his birth parents.

For me I couldn’t connect to the characters. Both characters' POVs were pretty sporadic. There were some things that happened in the book that I thought were no reason for.

The story started out pretty slow for me. Maybe it was because I didn’t know what had happened to the characters or what was going on in the beginning. The story could have been a little bit more flushed. It was confusing but it really picked up about halfway through the book, and afterwards it was over all too soon. The book was only 156 pages so it was extremely short. The cover is what caught my attention. The writing style was good and I’m glad I gave it a chance. I’m looking forward to more from Luise Colon.


Thank you to Cemetery Dance Publications and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book where you have to dig deeper beneath the words a little to find the heart of the story. There are gems hidden throughout this story, and characters that will both intrigue and perplex. But I think there are moments when it is too sparse, where the author could have fleshed ideas out more. Given us something more about a character here and there.

I think of this as a modern horror with influence from folklore and, possibly, urban myth. There are elements rooted deep in mythology and symbolism, woven through a tale told in modern day. The horror is all about atmosphere, an impending sense of dread. It's psychological horror and tension.

I found myself drawn to Elodia. There's something undefinable about her. I'm not sure if you would call it grace, but the author has written her in a particular way, and she carries herself through the book with a certain poise. It shines through at times and, even when her mind is restless, it's in the background. You can just sense it's there. There is something special about that character.

The other main character is Gabriel, and he is harder to pin down. Comparing the two characters, I think Gabriel feels less polished. There's something patchwork about his character. I wonder if the author tried too hard to make him mysterious or ominous.

Still, the story itself is told with confidence, and in some sense it feels like you're reading Ottessa Moshfegh. It has that feel of a story where the author is willing to delve into places others may not, regardless of what a reader will think. It makes me wonder what this author will write in the future.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy of this story for an honest review. All comments are my own.

Bad Moon Rising is the debut novel of Luisa Colón, and it does not disappoint. It leans towards a more YA mystery with horror elements than true horror. The story is told in a non-linear timeline between the differing perspectives of Elodia and Gabriel. Elodia is a social outcast at her high school. It is apparent that something traumatic has happened to her, but what exactly is hidden from the reader. Gabriel is a young teen looking to find his birth family. As their timelines slowly collide, their futures hang in the balance.

I was immediately sucked into Elodia and Gabriel's world. The characters are well fleshed out while still keeping their secrets. The tension is expertly crafted. I felt the need to keep reading to discover what secrets were lurking within the pages. Something was coming, the only question was what that something is. Like an artist flipping the cover off their masterpiece, the final reveal was breathtaking.
I read this book in one day and greatly enjoyed the ride Luisa Colón took me on. I look forward to reading more from her in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for the opportunity to read this ARC. This review was left voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.