I went into this book with the appropriate expectations for a short novella. I actually didn’t mind the multiple POVs in the shorter work. I actually wish more novels would *get to the point* and get straight to the action the way the author did in this story. It was fun and fast-paced, there quite literally wasn’t any time to drag. I thought it was creepy, but definitely not too far into what I would call horror (except for maybe one scene).
However, I docked two stars for a few reasons. 1) I felt like some things DID need to be explained a little more (the mushroom wound??), and 2) it could benefit from a little more closure. I’m still not entirely sure I “got” the ending honestly. I *think* I got what she was going for but it felt unsatisfying when the rest of the novella has all the clues spelled out and connected for you. As much as I enjoyed the fast pacing of this story, the lack of clarifying details made this a miss for me.

I. love. M.L. Rio. But why did she have to make this so short?? I was waiting for another If We Were Villains...

Graveyard Shift centers around five characters who have no connection to each other other than their shared opportunity to smoke every night during their late shifts in the old college church cemetery. That is, until, a gaping hole in the cemetery yard (and the appearance of the supposed person who dug it) demands their full attention to be solved. Up all hours of the night, the five unlikely allies work together to uncover the story behind the fresh grave, and its connection to other eerie happenings around town.

M.L. Rio never fails to write complex, interesting, and unique characters. But because this story is captured in a novella, the complexities of the characters lose their place among the narrative. The main focus revolves around the mystery, which hardly achieves any build-up or suspense because the plot moves so quickly. I loved that each character had their own perspective shown in a chapter, but I was disappointed that there wasn't more character development or establishment of their natures before the mystery-solving itself. I would've loved to see this as a full novel, especially since If We Were Villains was so strategic and dynamic, especially from the characters' perspectives.

3.5 stars because M.L. Rio never fails in her characterization, but I can't help but feeling the narrative is sorely lacking because it is so short.

Thank you to the publisher for this e-arc; this book will be published on September 24, 2024.

IF ANY OF THESE INTEREST YOU YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK- Atmospheric and creepy novellas- Graveyards and nighttime- Spooky Octobers- Academic backdrop- Multiple POVs- Gothic and macabre- Religious imagery- Medical ethics- Fungi and rats anyone?- Goosebumps for grownups- Book playlists- Book themed cocktails- More unsettling than straight horror

READ IF YOU LIKEDAre You Afraid of the Dark?The Midnight Club by Christopher PikeFlatlinersScooby-DooIf We Were Villains by M. L. RioCabinet of Curiosities

You know you enjoyed a book when your first thought upon finishing is “I wish this was longer!”

M. L. Rio is such an exceptional writer. I was immediately sucked into these characters, this setting, and this storyline. This is the perfect, quick read to get you in the mood for all things spooky and unsettling this fall.

To be honest I expected this to lean more into horror than it ended up doing, but it was still creepy. My only real complaint, if you can even call it that, is that I wish it was a longer, full-length novel and therefore more flushed out. I just wanted MORE of the characters, and a slower reveal of the plot line. But as a novella? This was excellent.

If M. L. Rio writes it, I will absolutely read it.

Smoking is bad for you! Well, it is and the smokers in the book know it, but they are all super-stressed insomniacs as well, so smoking is their primary late night recreational outlet.

This novella from M.L.Rio will sort of satisfy that craving you’ve had while anxiously waiting for a new novel from the author of “If We Were Villains,” an excellent dark academia thriller. Rio writes group dynamics so well, and here we have the “Anchorites,” a chain-smoking post-midnight group of night owls in the vicinity of a university campus. They take their name from a decrepit church, St. Anthony the Anchorite (an “Anchorite” or “Anchoress” was a medieval monastic hermit associated with a single sanctuary — once they were anchored to the spot they never left). The group meets nightly to feed their nicotine addictions in the adjacent abandoned graveyard and one night they notice a *new* shallow grave. What follows is a group investigation that provides a weird storyline, but ends way too soon. I was miffed by the sudden ending. But, as tales go, I suggest that you are now ready to Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Mexican Gothic” to fill in your knowledge of terrifying fungi. 3.5 stars.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO But the eyes involved have “sleep” in them.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): Hmmm. Mycology gone mad…

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

This is an approved NetGalley ARC review.
You really can't beat M.L. Rio's character work, she makes them all so real and relatable without much time passing. This one in particular has many character POVs but not a flaw in any of them. I will say the story felt a little lacking though, a riff off of T. Kingfishers What Moves the Dead an 'Anything you can do I can do better moment.' But the ending falls flat with no real conclusion and it ends up feeling like a book just getting started instead of wrapping up.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this book because I LOVED If We Were Villains.

While I did not love it as much as that book, I did really enjoy Graveyard Shift. It was a fun short read. To be honest I was not very invested in the plot and did not find it all that interesting but the vibes of this book was so good it didn't matter. I wish it was longer just because the characters were so interesting but it worked really well for a novella.

It is the perfect book if you are ready to enter dark academia season and is such a great way to start. Can't wait for this books publication so I can get a copy.

So, I probably have the outlier opinion here but this was just ok for me, the language was pretentious at times. I went into this one blind, never have read anything from this author but it sounded like a great little spooky read. I thought the premise was cool, I love anything that involves a friend group but eventually everything sort of fell flat for me except the eerie atmosphere & just left me with a lot of questions.

This just wasn’t my cup of tea but if you are used to this writing style I would say definitely give it a try, this little novella is only 140 pages.

Thanks to @Netgalley and Flatiron Books

My rating- 4.5

M.L. Rio has delivered us a punchy little novella that I wanted to last forever- and yet I couldn't help but sucking it down in one sitting. This story was addictive- each character was enticing and together they made a well-rounded ensemble. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for 'unlikely friends' stories, but with this cast of character, I don't know who could resist. And the mystery! This story hits the sweet spot between a seriously frightening premise and it's loveable, comedic characters. As much as I love a good novella, I can't help but wanting more (which, ironically, is what makes the novella so effective). I genuinely hope that M.L. Rio is considering writing more stories with this motley cast of insomniac sleuths, because I think I could read a couple hundred of them and still not be satisfied. GIVE US A SERIES, PLEASE! Overall, I know this is a story that I will be revisiting sooner rather then later. A big thumbs up from me!

I honestly just wish it were longer. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters and really wanted to see more of their journeys. I think that was what pulled me in so deep in Rio’s If We Were Villains, so missing that just left me wanting.

I think developing one or two characters in less than 150 pages would be challenging, let alone five as this novella attempts to do.

Overall, I think this book served its purpose, but I unfortunately don’t think it was for me (especially the ending).

Oh the horrors of fungi and academia. I loved the vibes. This book was right my alley. The feel reminded me of Tales from the Gas Station, that quirky young people combined with things that go bump in the night. I love a good conversational tone. M.L. Rio also somehow managed to give so many people a personality in so few pages.

You will enjoy this if you are interested in:
- a group of insomniacs who meet in a graveyard at night to smoke 'em if ya got em
- I don't consider it a spoiler because it's on the cover, the horrors of fungi gone rogue
- the funky things that can happen on the outskirts of a university town
- but somehow also the vibes of a small town, where everyone knows everyone
- a creepy old church

I knocked a star because I found the ending unsatisfying. I wanted it to go a bit harder. Maybe I'm just jaded but I wanted more sneak peeks of the potentials of what might happen in the coming weeks after it ended. I was craving a bit more horror to go with the thriller.

3.5 stars. Fun novella and wanted it to keep going when it was over! That being said, it did feel a bit half baked. The plot itself was very fun, but I didn’t care/connect with any of the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron for the eARC!

The ancient cemetery near the college holds secrets buried alongside the dead. One October night a fresh open grave is left, but who dug it? As mysteries begin to unfold an eclectic crew of individuals assemble and decided to stalk the churchyard grounds for answers. For this has to be somehow connected to all the strange and eerie happenings around the town lately, right? What will this ragtag group find as they begin to dig deeper into the cemeteries haunted soul.

As a fan of Rios’s previous work If we Were Villains I was immediately excited to start this book. Told thru multiple POV’s Graveyard Shift is a novella with a perfect blend of mystery and horror. While it is a short read it wastes no time at all sucking you into this hauntingly creepy mushroom filled mystery. The setting of the book has an academic feel that I personally think if it hadn’t been added would have made this not feel like an M.L. Rio book. Rio has such a fantastic way of blending unlikely characters together as our motley crew of characters includes a rideshare driver, a bartender, a receptionist for a hotel, the editor in chief of the college’s paper, and the steward of the church within the cemetery. Honestly, I would have enjoyed this a bit more had it been a full length novel rather than just a novella, as I would have thoroughly enjoyed getting to dive deeper into these unique characters that are created. However I still feel like this short read was highly effective in its plots execution and impactful. Overall, this quick fever dream of a novella was dark and incredibly atmospheric. I highly recommend this to fans of mysteries who love dark unsettling vibes and won’t be afraid to be kept up long into the night with the lasting haunting thoughts this book will give you.

Graveyard Shift comes out September 24th, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

m.l. rio the dark academia & adrenaline rush genius that you ARE. this novella surprised me in so many ways!!! it's giving scooby doo meets dark academia with a hint of the goonies (iykyk) these characters were easy to feel invested in, the humor and banter was off the charts and the tongue twisting writing is everything i would expect from m.l. rio. i do selfishly wish the ending had a bit more OOMPH but maybe the "unfinished end" feeling was purposeful, either way i still loved this one! if i were to play music while reading this, it would be nothing mazzy star (again, iykyk)

I was approved for this title this morning and I think I just unhinged my jaw and swallowed it whole. This is an after dark book, a late-night-can't- sleep book, a how-many-hours-until-morning book. The pacing was perfect—the hour by hour and character by character unraveling of the mystery absolutely addicting. So much was said over a relatively short span of pages; I cared about these characters and their idiosyncrasies far more than I have for some books that are four times as long. Selecting a campus backdrop for the story without actually centering students (mostly) was also an interesting choice; outcasts always make for the best found family.

Comparing to ML Rio's other work—one of my favorites—there was obviously not as much room for murder and intrigue, but I think they did well given the economy of format. Ninth House girlies, rise up. This novella was written for you.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review!

This is an exemplary example of making sure you manage your expectations. This is NOT If We Were Villains and it never tried to be. This IS a little fever dream of a novella, so if you know that going in, I think you can have a good time.

This is an all-nighter of a story. Not just that it takes place overnight, but that it gives you that hazy slightly unreal feeling of pulling an all-nighter. The characters are quite varied; I think maybe Tuck or Tamar were my favs.

For being a story filled with rats, mushrooms, and cigarettes, it’s amazing I liked it. But it’s a quick read, and it’s absolutely perfect for spooky season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.

4 🌟
-
M.L. Rio graces us with a page-turning novella about insomnia and human experiences. This book gave me insomnia, staying up to read! I just had to finish it in one sitting.
A great read or listen during the 👻 spooky season!
The premise of this book, "a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave," is what caught my attention.
Release: Sept. 24
-
Thank you, Netgalley, for the eBook in exchange for my honest review.

This was a creepy little horror novella from the author of If We Were Villains. I loved all the different characters and they were well fleshed out for so few pages. That being said, the end felt so rushed that I felt like I had missed the 'big twist' and had to go back and read the ending over again.

I really enjoyed this novella! The story was fully fleshed out, but I do wish there had been fewer characters (or that this had been longer). I felt like we didn’t get enough time with them. However, this is still a great spooky season read! Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed 99% of this book, but I wasn’t ready for the ending and I didn’t fully understand it. I think I get what the author was implying happened, but it could have been executed better for the dramatic effect it was mean to gave. My only other complaint is that I could have read an entire book about these characters instead of just a novella! Which is to say I really enjoyed it and just want more!