I adored every second of this book. The tense energy of this book did not let up, and the internal struggles of Max and Erin were well-written and well-fleshed out. I do not want to provide too many spoilers, but this horror story was short and sweet with a wonderful dose of human monsters tied with the supernatural. I do wish that we had more interactions with the townsfolk, but at the same time, it was balanced well with the reality of two teens working towards their survival against several adult men hellbent on sacrifice.

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner is an absolutely thrilling and atmospheric read that I couldn't put down. The story follows two transgender teens, Erin and Max, who find themselves trapped in a small, isolated town with a terrifying secret. The locals believe they must sacrifice a girl to an ancient monster to keep the sun rising, and they’ve decided that Erin, in their twisted minds, fits the bill. What follows is a pulse-pounding fight for survival as Erin and Max navigate the horrors of this town, all while grappling with their complicated past and the terrifying uncertainty of the future.

The eerie atmosphere Kisner crafts in Old Wounds is what first drew me in, but it’s Erin and Max who kept me hooked. These two characters are so compelling, layered, and real that I found myself rooting for them every step of the way. The way their relationship develops through the story is wonderful, full of tension, unresolved feelings, and ultimately, a deep sense of loyalty and love. The mystery of the town and its dark rituals kept me guessing, but what I found particularly fascinating was the book’s hypothetical exploration of how a cryptid monster might perceive gender. It’s a concept I hadn’t seen explored before, and Kisner handles it with a thought-provoking sensitivity that adds depth to an already gripping tale.

What I loved most about Old Wounds is how it showcases the resilience of Erin and Max in the face of so much hate and violence. Seeing queer characters fight back is incredibly cathartic, and their courage in the face of such dire circumstances is nothing short of admirable. This book has all the spookiness you could want for the season, with an added layer of emotional depth that makes it truly unforgettable. However, it's important to note that the story does deal with heavy topics like self-harm and suicide ideation and attempt, so take care of your mental health while reading. That said, if you’re looking for a chilling, thought-provoking, and ultimately empowering read, Old Wounds is one you won’t want to miss.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and Logan-Ashley Kisner for an eARC of Old Wounds in exchange for an honest review. 

**This review contains mild spoilers**

Everything about this book: yes, Yes, YES!!!!

I love how this book was able to capture how it feels to be a trans person with other trans people around when everyone is at a different part of their transition. The way that the transitions of the two main characters, Max and Erin, flow together and separate at times is amazing.

I also love that there wasn’t some magical resolution where Max’s parents became accepting all of a sudden. This is a reality for many trans people out there and I appreciate it being shown in media.

The narration switches between Erin and Max, and dips sometimes into the past to give more context to the present. I feel Logan-Ashley Kisner did a wonderful job with this and I was never confused as to who was narrating and if it was the present or past that was being described.

The horror elements were definitely there, but it wasn’t too much that someone like me, who typically doesn’t like horror, couldn’t handle. Everything was tastefully done and written.

Thank you Logan-Ashley Kisner for writing a brutally honest story of two trans kids and what it’s like to be trans in this world. The good times and the bad times. I have never felt my experience as a trans person has been reflected in the media until I read Max’s story and for that I want to thank you.

If you are trans, have trans friends, or are just wanting to read more about the trans experience, please do yourself a favor and read this book.

5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eArc!

SUCH a great debut novel. Logan-Ashley Kisner is incredible at capturing the classic horror vibes. I felt like I could picture the whole book playing out in my mind like an 80s horror movie.

Another Queer YA horror to add to your tbrs ! I stayed up way past my bedtime last night reading Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner , I didn't want to put it down !

I appreciated that we were given dual point of views. I loved Erin's character and while I found Max frustrating his feelings were always real and raw even if they didn't fully make sense at times it didn't make his feelings less valid. I loved the determination Erin had for herself, for Max, for them individually and for their relationship. No matter how much Max pushed she never fully gave up on him.

The creep and spookiness of the story was on point. The entire atmosphere and the blend of paranormal with real world men monsters. It kept you turning pages to see what would happen next and on the edge of my seat hoping both MCs would survive.

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner is a young adult horror, with kickass transgender leads, real emotion, a monster in woods , cryptids, small town crazies, fighting to survive, and a satisfying ending . 👾
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Old Wounds is incredibly poignant for a horror novel. The trans experience in full display. The freedom, fear, pain, and hope is laid on display. And it works to the point where you care about these characters and their survival so much that the supernatural monster becomes almost secondary to the true experience of being trans.

Erin and Max are two trans people from Ohio. They used to date but something tore them apart. When they decide to run away to California and claim their lives on their own terms without the stares and bigotry, they wind up in Kentucky and are quickly realising they've stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

A creature is said to live in these woods and the locals aren't exactly happy about who they are. This creature demands a sacrifice of a girl every six months and it looks like Erin and Max are on the menu.

As they try to just survive, the line between gender is brought into play and this novel focuses on that with great effect. It's a tense, thrilling, remarkable narrative which has a lot to say and isn't shy about saying it. That's a compliment by the way.

This is a fantastic, frightening creature feature and an unflinching glimpse into the trans experience. Both the creature and the heart wrenching bigotry are equally horrific.

I highly recommend this book. I received an ARC through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

Erin is a girl trying to move on with her life after being abruptly cut out of Max’s. Max is a guy who is struggling to make his true self his only self. These two transgender kids are fighting back against the oppressive systems they grew up in. Max, out of nowhere, asks Erin to go on a life-changing cross-country road trip to California where they can start fresh as the people they know themselves to be. But when they find themselves stranded in the middle of a creepy town that seems to be mostly white men, things get horrifying.

The sheriff seems to be the typical jovial homeboy, but the way he tells Erin and Max about the legendary beast running around the woods surrounding the town is sketchy. Then there’s the old man in the diner who won’t stop staring at Erin and who accuses Max of using the wrong bathroom when he goes into the men’s room. Things just keep going from bad to worse as the locals decide that Erin is the perfect candidate to sacrifice to the Beast’s appetite for girls, which makes Max collateral damage them. The problem is the locals don’t know Erin and Max’s biggest secrets, and that those secrets are what have them fighting so hard to stay alive in the first place.

When I picked Old Wounds out of the TBR list, I was solely basing my judgment on the fact that the author is trans + queer, and the cover art is striking. When I read the description of the plot, I was hooked. When I started reading the book, well let’s just say that if life hadn’t gotten in the way I would have finished the whole thing in less than a day! It was thrilling, invoking, and downright scary at times. I love cryptid stories. I love redemption arcs. I love stories where tough lives create magnificent people who can survive anything. This book has it all, and then some.

The scary parts were not the chase scenes, the Beast scenes, or even the fact that Erin and Max get trapped in some kind of alternate time slip while this is all happening to them. The scary parts are how relatable the teens' lived experiences were. The inner dialogue for both Max and Erin tugged at the heartstrings and made me want to beg them to listen. To hold them and tell them they are not alone. I haven’t read a novel in a long time that made me feel like I wanted to be there for the main characters. In reverse, I also haven’t had a book make me hate people I didn’t know as much as I hated the antagonists in this one, especially Max’s mom. It was so reflective of real life that I had visceral responses to reading the pages describing his horrendous homelife.

This book comes with major content warnings. Please don’t read this book if you cannot handle the emotions that these triggers will bring up. It is intensely close to home for a lot of us queers, and I rarely say that a book needs as many warnings as people like to slap on them. The gaslighting, transphobia, religious bigotry, and misogyny are real in this book in ways that I could feel to my core. I loved this book for what it was, but I also heeded the warnings and took it in chunks rather than rushing through like I wanted to.

Do you ever read a book and can understand the characters thoughts, fears, and goals so intrinsically it’s like they were an extension of you? Yeah, well that was how Old Wounds played out for me.
I cannot begin to explain how much this story meant to me. To hear and read the different perspectives of Erin and Max and to both understand them and learn a new side of identity and gender issues was the most impactful part of this story.
The horror was perfectly executed— not in the literal cryptid itself, but the people Erin and Max had to face. The raw fear and violations they both faced added to the sort of “if you know, you know” feeling of it all.

There isn’t much I can critique other than confusing text in certain places. A tightening up of some sentences and scenes would do this book immense justice. But I also have aphantasia so do with that what you will.

Speaking of my favorite thing ever, Old Wounds passed the aphantasia test! Despite the confusion in some places, it was so easy to get into and understand what the characters looked like (even the cryptid), what the places looked like, and the general vibes of the story.

Woohoo! 5/5

Logan-Ashley Kisner has created what will someday be called a literary horror classic with Old Wounds, pulling the transgender experience to the forefront of the most common horror tropes. To say I loved this book would be an understatement!

Max and Erin live two very different realities as trans teens. Max, denied his identity by friends and family holds complicated emotions of jealousy towards his ex, Erin, who has received seemingly endless amounts of support during her own transition. Erin, however, has her own battles and feelings of concern for Max that lead her to accept his invitation to roadtrip from Ohio to California to start a new life where they can be free to be who they truly are. But their plans are soon derailed when they stumble into the path of a monster known to devour girls.

What follows is a blood-bath worthy of horror fans’ attention and praise. Using tried and true horror storytelling devices, Kisner weaves a unique story that asks ‘just who the hell is the sacrifice here when neither of our characters are cisgender?’ and ‘do monsters and cryptids understand gender identity?’. Instead of reinventing the horror genre to fit trans characters, Kisner seamlessly adjusts the parameters of the genre to create space for trans-centered stories. The end result is one hell of a good book.

*Endless thanks to Ashley-Logan Kisner, Random House Children’s (Delacorte Press), and NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for honest review.*

this was a slow start of a book for me but it got going, felt low-key slow burn dread to me as these two trans kids fought for their safety. the prose and imagery were excellent and well done.

This is that good horror shit I want. Two trans kids running away from transphobia only to find themselves lost in the woods with this monstrosity. Peak. They are flawed little white (and exes rip) and there is plenty to the blood and gore of this. For a debut author to be so good with imagery and prose I am impressed. I could see this as like a Netflix series or a movie.

Despite a bit of a rough start, I really enjoyed Old Wounds! The book was well-paced, the writing was engaging and evocative, and I really connected with both of the protagonists. Something I often worry about when I read books marketed as “trans horror” or “sapphic thriller” or whatnot is that they’ll end up hiding behind their identity labels and not end up delivering anything of substance, but Old Wounds was a solid book that easily stood on its own. The beginning didn’t grab me— it felt hard to believe that Erin would run away from home that easily— but once I got to the meat of the plot, I was hooked. Max is clearly supposed to be a flawed character, but there were definitely moments when I found him a bit more unlikeable than I suspect the author intended. A solid 4-star read— would especially recommend for high schoolers!

Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the eARC.

I sat down to write this review as soon as I finished but I feel my mind still reeling from the wild ride that this book was. I want to start with saying there aren’t nearly enough horror stories where trans characters are the protagonists rather than the perpetrators. Years of watching horror movies like Sleepaway Camp, Dressed to Kill, and Psycho have left a raw, torn feeling. There’s a strange sort of attachment that comes to these movies when you’re queer and desperate to see yourself, but they’re crumbs of representation that do more harm than good, no matter how we try to reclaim them. That there are more stories coming out like Old Wounds, where the trans kids are the heroes of their stories rather than villains, is a triumph. Old Wounds felt like a ode to slasher movies, but in this one, the kids don’t die and the killers aren’t invulnerable.

There was something about the flaws of two protagonists — Max and Erin, a trans boy and a trans girl who had broken up abruptly and come back together to move across the country — that were their most endearing features. Max is full of venom while Erin conversely is frustratingly guileless in a way that balances each other out. Being in each of their heads is a delight. Even as they bicker with each other, you want to be on both of their sides. There wasn’t a moment I didn’t adore both of them, whether they were at their worst or their best.

I wish there had been more time spared for the weird cult aspect of the story to really add some weight to it. It felt sometimes to be only mentioned in passing in a way that made me forget there even was more at play than just a rural lynch mob for two trans kids. If you go in expecting some cool cultish dressings to the story, you’ll be disappointed.

I won’t get too much into the plot and themes of the story as it feels like something you need to just go in and soak in the author’s message and draw the conclusions yourself but I will say the story is rich with metaphor that lead to a satisfying, hope-filled ending. I can’t wait for more in depth analysis from people who are smarter than me when they get their hands on this story. (“It doesn’t eat what it doesn’t kill.”)

Overall, Old Wounds was a deeply satisfying love letter to trans perseverance in the framing of a supernatural horror. I knew when requesting the arc it felt tailor made to my interests and I loved it every bit as I thought I would. The bits that were hard to get through felt purposeful and gritty, and the satisfaction of the finale made it all feel worth it by the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(ARC)

This book was honestly a mindf*ck of feelings, on one hand, we have the page-turning edge-of-your-seat thriller/horror aspect of there being a monster in the woods who eats people and the townsfolk sacrificing unsuspecting innocents to said monster, and our two leads finding themselves in the middle of that while, on the other hand, we have our two leads going through their struggles and emotions with things like mental health, grief, transitioning, and familial issues which I'm not gonna lie made me tear up at times. The author amazingly tied those two things together, leaving us with a captivating and entertaining story. This book makes me feel like I'm watching a horror movie and that is exactly what I wanted out of it. The only reason this book got a 4 star and not 5 is simply because I felt like we were left with a lot more questions than I personally would have liked, i wish some things were a bit more closed-ended and/or explained more in the end, but overall i had such a fun time reading this.

I loved this book. If a monster only attacks girls, what will happen when it comes across two trans teens. Erin is a confident trans girl who was mostly supported through her transitioning, while Max is a trans boy who is forced to deny himself. They run away towards California, but come across all kinds of evil in rural America. This book reads like a classic horror movie, from the set up to meeting the backwoods folks who may be more than they appear, to the gratuitous blood and gore. This is not an easy book to read. There is a lot of violence and anti trans hate, but it does put a blinding spotlight on the reality of the trans experience. This was an engrossing read, pulling you in as Erin and Max fight to survive.

Two trans kids, Max+ Erin, are trying to escape their rural hometown. On their way to California they're derailed by homophobic rednecks who want to sacrifice Erin to a local cryptid that only eats girls. But what happens when the Beast encounters a trans-girl?

If you’re a fan of monster horror movies you're going to love this tensely plotted story. Erin has some awesome find Girl energy and Max's snark is legendary.

These rednecks didn't know what they were getting into when they waylaid these two kids
TW: transphobia, gun violence, blood queer bashing

Read this if you: love monster movies, like complex queer and trans protagonists

Old Wounds was a good YA horror. It is about how terrible it can be to stuck in a car with your ex for a long period of time. Mind you the 2 main characters are trans which brings a whole lot of stress and pain on its own. This book also represents the harsh reality of gender violence. They both ran away together in hopes they were hard to track down so they can just finally be themselves. The narrative of this book was well written. Please make sure to check your trigger warnings before you start reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!

I am not usually a horror fan, but the premise of this book had me curious. As a non-horror fan, I was nervous about levels of gore and other horror elements, but I think the author did a great job of toeing that line and finding a good middle ground for a YA story.

I was instantly drawn in by the family dynamics and presentation of our two main characters, and the story itself is woven together so well with their complex binds, fears, traumas, and hopes that it was difficult to put down. I finished this book practically in one sitting!

This debut novel is a poignant and terrifying trans horror story. Max and Erin, estranged exes, embark on a road trip from Ohio to Berkeley, California in hopes of finding a safe place to be themselves. As they drive through small-town Kentucky, they are soon running for their lives from both real and possible monsters. A great premise and a poignant tribute to the trans youth who didn't survive horrific nights.

OLD WOUNDS by LOGAN- ASHLEY KISNER may just be one of the best books that I’ve read this summer!

Kisner’s forward to the book saying how Max and Erin being trans isn’t ALL they are, but that it’s a very important part of who they are let me know almost immediately that I was going to fall in love with this book.

If you’re looking for a bit of trans/queer horror to kick-start those eerie autumn vibes, please let it be OLD WOUNDS. Come for the cryptid, stay for the resilience of trans youth who fight for their right to exist. Whether it’s a mysterious beast in the woods (what’s its stance on gender bioessentialism, really? iykyk) or a couple of transphobes in the Midwest, this book will unsettle you.

But it is also a beautiful reminder of the comfort and empowerment we find in community. Erin and Max may have some unresolved issues to tackle, but the respect and love they have for each other is at the core of their story. I could barely put this book down as soon as I picked it up! And I’m excited to add it to my library when it comes out on September 10.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher(s) for giving me access to the eARC! I can’t wait to see what Kisner does next.