Thank you so much to NetGalley and Steve Hugh Westenra for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

what's it about? ⬇️

When Tyler Kyle and his best friend/Cryptid Hunting YouTube channel cohost Josh Likens receive a video of his long-lost film star mother Virginia Kyle asking Ty to come and kind her on Echo Island, they both find themselves wondering whether the video is real or if the user who sent it might have done so with negative intentions. But Tyler decides to head to the island anyway, using this opportunity to learn more about where his mother ended up when she abandoned him years ago and to escape recent awkwardness with Josh after a steamy night in a hot tub together ended with him making a stupid joke--as always--and Josh telling him he didn't want him... Not so fun when he's been in love with the guy and too afraid admit it to either Josh or himself for years.

But when he gets to the island, everything about the people there seems...well, off, to put it nicely. The mayor of the little town on Echo Island allowed Tyler to fly onto the usually closed off island bu refuses to meet with him when he arrives, there's a restaurant that literally only sells quiche, and everybody totally freaks out every time Tyler pulls out his cellphone. And why are all of the songs they play covers by someone named Queen Cee?

As the situation devolves further and further into chaos and Tyler starts to realize how truly in danger he is with no way out for him or his new found friends, he starts to lose himself in the mystery of the island and his mother's part in it. But can he keep from losing himself or his life along the way? And what will he do if he can't get through to Josh to tell him not to come looking?

my thoughts? ⬇️

Cryptids, murder, and trauma, oh my! This book has so much going on all at once and only seemed to get crazier the further in I got. And usually, I would count that as a negative, but in this case, everything was fit together so cohesively and written so well that I genuinely just got to go in the craziest, most trauma-inducing thrill ride of my life. Genuinely, I had such a good time following along with Tyler, Josh, Kayla, and all of the friends (and enemies) Tyler makes on the island. It was absolute chaos, and honestly, I think that's all I can say without giving things away.

All I will say is be aware that this book is looooong and while it reads fast, that's still something some people might want to know, and please check your trigger warnings. I'll have all the ones that I noticed listed down below!


trigger warnings ⬇️

FROM THE AUTHOR'S NOTE: sexual assault, physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, gore, explicit violence, torture, stalking, vomit, implied ingestion of urine for survival purposes, implied cannibalism, mild dysphoria, discussions of homophobia, discussions of conversion therapy, starvation, eye trauma, body horror.

OTHERS THAT I NOTICED: death, blood, injury/injury detail, animal death, confinement, religious bigotry, forced institutionalization, needles (ish), drugging without character knowledge, rape, explicit sexual content, use of kink (in a negative fashion), death of a parent, death of a loved one, gaslighting, bullying, cyberstalking, cyber bullying, grief, abandonment.

A madcap journey into a supernatural nightmare featuring two friends who possibly, might be something more. The main character finds himself in a sticky situation, manipulated by the people he meets in his quest to search for his mother. The queer relationship at the heart of this book ventures into a familiar trope of will-they-won't-they as both characters come to terms with who they are.

I found the writing to be highly engaging, but the characters feel over the top at times, which might be intentional. This book is like a fictional version of Buzzfeed Unsolved and since I'm not familiar with the show/fandom, certain moments didn't land for me. I liked the idea of a fanfic writer from hell and some reveals entertained me. But that plot struggles to fit in between the supernatural incidents, a dangerous cult, the protagonist's arc, and the potential romance. The action-packed storyline moves so swiftly that there were times I wanted it to slow down so we could see the impact on the characters. I liked the dark comedy elements but there's also a melancholic, bleak thread here that I wish was given more time to settle. There's graphic body horror, emotional abuse, and sexual violence, which add to the horror they are facing. This is a strange tale that will appeal to the intended readers.

This one sat here on my shelf for so long, and upon reading it, I found I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it’s timing, maybe it’s just me. There are parts I enjoyed, but ultimately, this one wasn’t for me.

This was a wild ride. There was a big list of trigger warnings at the very end of the book (which seems like the wrong place to put that because by then you've already read all the triggers, right?), so I guess check that out first if it's a concern. Tyler is the Agent Scully half of a cryptid-hunting YouTube duo and goes to an island after receiving a video related to his mother who had disappeared nearly 20 years earlier, both to investigate and to escape from his partner Josh, with whom he had a not-very-platonic experience with. Unfortunately this may be the time that there is actually a real monster to find. There's a lot going on here, and I really did not foresee where this was going, even though there were some clues along the way. I don't know who I would recommend this too, but I liked it, in a very off-the-wall, unexpected, horror/male romance sort of way…? 4 stars.

Unexpectedly refreshing and deeply weird. This is an excellent and exciting read that crosses genre boundaries. Highly recommend it.

thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and to steve hugh for the advanced reader copy of westenra, a queer horror tale. i wanted to rewrite my review because after sitting on it for a while, i realized i enjoyed the book a lot more than i initially thought. we have such an unreliable narrator, and while i previously thought that had negatively impacted my reading experience, i believe now that it had only heightened it. the characters are all so interesting and unique in their own wacky ways, and while not all of them may be necessarily likable (i.e. tyler), they certainly were fun to follow along. the body horror had me squirming, and i loved the podcast-y, found footage vibe "the erstwhile tyler kyle" possessed.

Real Rating: 3.25* of five

Self-published novels tend to share some general categories of flaws: depending on your personality, some (like solecismic grammar) are forgivable, or indeed invisisble; others (wittering on about stuff you've covered, showing off your research) are just joy-sucking offenses to the Muses. You'll never guess which camp I fall into.

I don't mean to put down this story by saying its comps are exactly and precisely correct, because they are. If ir were not for its bloat, this story would be a great addition to Hulu's adaptation slate. It's got a pleasantly funny vibe buried in the wordiness. Very amusing, queer-inclusive, sidewise glance at "reality" media's unrealest stretch of landscape (cryptids) made...real? or just maybe real...?

<a href="https://stevewestenra.com/landing-page/content-warnings-for-tyler-kyle/">Consult the content warning list,</a> and decide if you want to buy this $2.99 ebook.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an interesting premise but failed to follow through. To me it not only read like fanfic, but like a fanfic for a fandom I had never been a part of. As someone who never watched Buzzfeed Unsolved or other related videos, I felt a bit in the dark.

While the plot was right up my alley, I was not the targeted audience for this book. I'm sure the right people will love this book.

I think that comparing this book to Twin Peaks was extremely fitting—however, Westenra's lyrical, comical prose shone through even the darkest moments and made laughs super easy to get to. Tyler Kyle was the best, worst narrator of all time, and I enjoyed the ride he took the reader on! However, some parts could have been expanded on, namely, the actual parts that Tyler was hiding and waiting to reveal, because sometimes the drumming up before a plot twist felt contrived. Sometimes it felt like not much was happening at all and I was just being held hostage by Tyler.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and Steve Hugh Westenra for providing an ARC!

It was a whirlwind…. but enjoyably so. A pretty perfect mashup of genres to keep you unsteady yet interested. Or maybe that’s just me. (Horror, comedy, mystery, and more.) All the characters had their own presence even when barely on the page.

Tyler Kyle gives you all his good, bad, and ridiculous thoughts which makes him so real. Especially times when he’s trying to understand other people’s emotions/reasons for the things they do. I find myself doing this regularly but like I kept telling Tyler Kyle during my read, “Sometimes a red flag is just a red flag.”

I enjoyed this book. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but it was good. Think it could’ve done with a bit more fleshing out though.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but it was absolutely great.

I enjoyed this! The tone—self-deprecating, self-aware, very contemporary humor—isn’t usually my thing, but I found the whole thing fun and the mystery intriguing. I liked Tyler a great deal but wasn’t as captivated by some of the secondary characters, both the “good” and the “evil.” This may just be me, however.

The Twin-Peaks-meets-21st-century-podcast vibe was a unique combination, and I do have a soft spot for cryptids.

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

1.5 stars bc the initial premise was great.

This had so much potential. You start off the book with a chapter called 'fapping into god's sock' and I immediately have high expectations. It started off well, but quickly became a chore. I felt like I was reading for hours for it only to be a few pages. I just stopped caring and it was a real slog. Pretty much nothing happened for the majority of the book, except questioning sexuality on an island with a history of conversion. I'm not too sure what the purpose of the graphic sex was other than to be graphic, and serve as an excuse for more questioning.

There were also a lot of lines that brought me out of the story - frequent references to exquisite corpse, "let out a breath I knew I was holding", etc that made it clear I was reading a book that was aware of other books. I felt the characters were 2D at best, the action/gore was lacking, and the mystery got too muddled and wasn't satisfying. When it changed POV I almost quit because I was so tired of the slog. I stuck it out to write a fair review, but I should've quit whilst I was ahead. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Loved this book! What a refreshingly new writing style. The flow of words is distant and intimate all at the same time. It touches so freshly on today's issues, insecurities and ever-morphing idea of what love is by flawed to perfection characters that you love and hate at the same time. It's raw, a bit of a harsh slap at times (Thanks for the thumb tack image, I may never see them the same) but loving in a weird, cradles you deep into the night--maybe I'm dreaming, maybe I'm not, sort of way.

I just clicked my kindle off and can honestly say I am sitting here thinking very soft and happy feels about the end. I've not read anything like this book, and it will sit with me for a long time. The monsters were monsters, but they did not attach themselves to me like monsters do, it was the writing style that clung to me. Happy and excited for more. I hope the author revisits this world and Discovery Bang. 4.3/5 Stars

This was one gory story. It reminded me of Dead Eleven, except, with way more gore. The writing was fun, despite this. What a cool book.

This book was a mammoth. I love the blend of horror and humor BUT I feel that the book was way too long. Like it needed at least 100 pages cut. The content warnings were also not found until the end of the book. I loved Tyler as a character and the humor is reminiscent of “cozy horror.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this ARC!

When I started reading this book it felt frenetic, fragmented, even, overwhelming like someone spit my ADHD brain out onto paper and I thought, stop that. I don't need double ADHD in my life, but also this is a great book.

It's got a bit of everything and was a wild, heartbreaking, dangerous, violent, gross, romantic story where the true monsters are difficult to pin down and you're reading far longer than intended to untangle the proverbial web.

Bravo.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review! Slight spoilers ahead because I can't contain my love for this novel. I laughed, I cried, I read peeking between my fingers in some parts; this novel has everything!

This novel started out slow but gained so much momentum in the middle and later half of the story. Every novel I've read this year with a Queer love pairing has (THANKFULLY) not adhered to the "kill your gays" trope, and it brings my heart so much joy. Tyler and Kyle's relationship was very tumultuous, the mutual pining and miscommunication tropes almost killed me but the happy ending was well worth the heartache! The ONLY thing about this novel that I didn't enjoy was the graphic dubious consent sex between two characters, luckily another review that I read mentioned this so I was at least prepared to see that. I found the latter half of this novel to be so memorable, especially for anyone that loves Horror/odd stories. All in all, I would highly recommend this novel and will be purchasing a physical copy for myself as soon as possible. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Honestly, at first, when I started reading, I was wondering why I was reading this. It was dragging, seemed pointless and felt very pretentious - like it was trying to be edgy or something it wasn't. Then....then things started happening. The amount of times I flinched, jumped or squirmed due to the abuse and torture that is depicted, is unknown. I gagged at many of these scenes and kept on going. I had to know what happened. This book went from a 2.5 starts to a 4 around the halfway mark. I'm extremely glad I stuck with it because the payoff was huge.

Do I think it could have been shorter? Most definitely. Do I think others should read it? 100%!

Erstwhile Tyler Kyle is a tragic read that if you like supernatural, the lgbtqa community and shit hitting the fan, you will love this book.

Trigger warnings: Sexual assualt, physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, gore, explicit violence, torture, stalking, vomit, implied ingestion of urine for survival purposes, implied cannibalism, mild dysphoria, discussions of homophobia, discussions of conversion therapy, starvation, eye trauma, body horror