I was waiting to read and review this as a spooky season read, but in the interim I became aware of the author's attacks on other members of the LGBT community (predominantly surrounding bi erasure, all threads are currently available to view on X/Twitter) and no longer feel comfortable reading and reviewing the book.

Conversion camp full of alien body snatchers send facsimiles of the children back to their parents to kill them too.
This book! There were so many triggers that it had me popping Tylenol, but it was so-o-o good. It was worth it.
Great characters, great premise, great time to release for Pride month.
The horror was horrific! I must laughingly add the author almost exclusively described gross or uncomfortable things as "vaginal" .
Thank you to Netgallery and Tor media for the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

DNF - book is just simply not for me, but definitely could see the place for it and the audience that it's there for - I'm just not part of that audience

Oh boy, where do I even start with Cuckoo? Let me set the stage: The prologue is an absolute banger. It’s the kind of writing that makes you want to cancel all your plans, grab a blanket, and just revel in the glory of literary horror. It’s gruesome, it’s chilling, it’s perfect. I was ready for a deep dive into the horrors of conversion camps, laced with themes of survival, identity, and the sheer terror of being hunted by something otherworldly.

But then the rest of the book happened. 😬

Let’s just say that the prologue sets a bar that the rest of the novel didn’t even attempt to reach. It’s like Felker-Martin gave us a gourmet appetizer only to follow it up with a stale bag of chips. The tension and dread I felt in the beginning quickly gave way to disappointment as the plot unraveled into a chaotic mess of too many characters, too many subplots, and too much horny.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a well-placed steamy scene, especially when it serves a purpose. But here? The explicit sexual content felt shoehorned in, and worse, it trivialized the horrific traumas the characters faced. Imagine going from a heart-stopping moment of fear to an unnecessary sex scene that felt more like a kink than a meaningful exploration of their struggles. The book teeters dangerously close to fetishizing the trauma of its characters, which, let’s be real, is not the vibe. 😑

And can we talk about the characters? I’m a sucker for a motley crew, but this one is less “ragtag group of heroes” and more “who are all these people and why should I care?” There are so many of them, and they’re all fighting for the spotlight, making it hard to connect with or even remember who’s who. By the time I finally got a handle on one, the book would shift focus to another, leaving me more confused and less invested. The pacing suffers massively because of this chaotic structure. What could’ve been a tense, tightly-wound thriller ends up feeling disjointed and overwhelming. It’s a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or in this case, too many characters in the camp.

In the end, Cuckoo is a novel that promises a lot but delivers very little beyond its sensational prologue. It’s a shame because there’s a kernel of a great story here—one that could have delved deep into the dark themes of identity, survival, and the horrors of conversion therapy. But instead, we get a book that’s more concerned with titillation than with telling a compelling story. I guess you could say I’m glad to have survived this camp, but I wouldn’t recommend the trip to anyone else. 🙄

I liked this gnarly queer horror novel, but not as much as the author's previous. I think they tried to cram too many characters and narrative threads into this fast-paced book when only a few shone.
I liked that this one celebrates queer friendship, community, and diverse and multiplying queer identities and forms of love.

Cuckoo, by Gretchen Felker-Martin, is an emotionally terrifying portrayal of a cultish gay conversion camp, it's evil proprietors and the young people sent there by their ignorantly weak and brain-washed parents.
A conversion camp in it's very existence is evil enough, but Felker-Martin builds upon this by making the mastermind behind the camp a cosmic alien presence that is deeply disturbing in its singular narcissism. This cosmic presence is referred to as "cuckoo" because its first contact on earth was blind nestlings.. As Cuckoo absorbs and expands, it learns to seek out the misunderstood and forgotten members of our society, LQBTQIA+ children of backward, religious parents. The cuckoo does not care, it just wants fresh meat.
The children at the camp are the stars of this book, and their stories and their pain and their need for "found family" drives the narrative. There is a lot of teenage sex, which I do NOT love reading, but there is also love and friendship which is lovely to read.
Ultimately a novel about revenge, forgiveness, transformation and self-acceptance, Cuckoo is a book that made me think and feel.

3.5 stars rounded down

Cuckoo follows several queer young adults who are sent to a conversion camp by their unacceptable parents. They get drawn into the mystery of other campers disappearing and find horrors awaiting them.

This read to me like a queer modern retelling of Stephen King’s IT. The band of characters we meet are diverse and complex and it was nice to see their relationships grow. I did not expect this story to be as sweeping as it was and I appreciated the scope of the novel and its commentary. The gore was well written and the horror was palpable.

I do wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out. I found them to kinda meld together after a certain point which made me care less overall about their fates. The novel also felt long and dragged in the beginning and middle.

I listed to this via audiobook which was a great experience. There was a full cast and all of the narrators were on point!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

I had just read another horror/thriller book that I was not a fan of so I was nervous to start this one so soon, but I enjoyed it much more than the other book. I definitely need to go back and read Manhunt by this author now.

I was hopeful for this book but it's a little too weird for me with the possible demon or whatever is in the desert at this camp. I was hoping for more thriller vs horror. I dnf at 39%. Might try again later when I want something creepy.

I enjoyed the listening experience of this full cast audiobook! The story was very atmospheric and immersive and the narrators did a great job of bringing the characters to life. The story was dark and hella queer, and the found family aspect of this book was by far my favourite part. The desert camp setting also reminded me of the childhood classic Holes, which I rather enjoyed. Unfortunately, I found myself rather confused throughout the book like I wasn't fully understanding the story, partly because I was listening rather than reading. There is a large cast of characters and it took a while to remember who was who. I also wish we saw more of what happened after the characters escaped the camp, as I really enjoyed what we did get to see of their later years.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"You will live in silence."

I don't think so, is the loud and proud response to this ugly demand, in the defiant, unnerving, unapologetic often terrifying Cuckoo by meticulously detailed symbolic truth bombing author Gretchen Felker-Martin.

We are dramatically introduced to 7 #lgbtqia teens who, besides struggling with puberty, are dealing with the intense emotions of how they have been taught that their feelings are wrong. Though they instinctively know to keep their needs hidden, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped, tied up and taken into the desert to, "...learn how to be men, how to be women." What they get is slave labor, beatings and confinement. All sanctioned by their parents, by the church's conversion camp.

Trying to escape the human monsters they find a real creature in the desert. Its tentacles reach out and kids disappear and re-emerge "cured." They then spread the tentacles of bigotry from the conversion camps throughout society.

After years of trying to forget, the 7 realize the creature and its babies are still active hurting others so they devise a plan to be heard, to fight, to win.

With a full cast of voice actors that up the tension, gore, fear, anger, repulsiveness and then bring the bravery, the strength and the hope to this thriller of how hate is the real horror, prejudice is crazy, one might even say Cuckoo; but it's okay because our sanity is in the love.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are

I felt incredibly privileged to receive a copy of this audiobook for review. The author’s pervious book has been on my to-be-read pile. Both this book and Manhunt had premises that appeal to me.

This one in particular with queer protagonists, conversion camps and grotesque horror called to me.

The one thing that kept it from being five stars for me was the fatphobic internal dialog of a number of the characters. I think this was an intentional choice similar to the transphobia. It was just unexpected.

I will be listening to this story again. It was incredibly compelling.

Having just read Manhunt I had higher expectations for this book but I don't think it hit the same. There were a lot of POV characters in this book and though that's usually not a problem for me, for some reason I couldn't keep anyone straight in this book. It also felt like there were long swaths of this book that just drug on so much longer than I wanted them to. It was still a good story and the writing was good, so I'll round my 2.5 stars up to 3 instead of down to 2. I just don't think this book was for me.

I'm now 1 for 2 with Gretchen Felker-Martin so I'll likely give her books another chance but I probably won't rush out to check it out.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 1/5 Stars ⭐️
•
Woof. The dreaded one star. This was just not it.
•
The premise of Cuckoo sounds awesome. Conversion camp gone horror, love it; the representation, love it. The prologue was on freaking point. Then as I continued to read I actually couldn’t wait for it to be over.
•
I think my biggest issue with this story is the writing, sorry not sorry. I think that there was such an emphasis on being descriptive that it completely took away from what could have been a really awesome story about destroying a conversion camp. I think mostly the book was all for shock value - and let me say shocked I was… The main “monster” I couldn’t even tell you what it was supposed to look like, as it was described as way too many things.
•
There are a ton of characters, and it got to the point I had a hard time trying to figure out who was who. The teens in this are one dimensional and honestly not very likable, but not only that but, holy shit, are they HORNY. I mean, okay I get it but the amount of sexual fantasies and overuse of sexual innuendos just gave me second hand embarrassment and honestly it was pretty cringy. Cuckoo is being marketed as a YA Horror, but I would definitely not consider it that. Maybe more along the lines of “smut horror?” is that a thing? Can I make it a thing?
•
I listened to this via audio. It was a full cast which was a huge treat. Amy Landon, Avi Roque, Grace Rolek, Kirt Graves, Nicky Endres, Sena Bryer, Torian Brackett and Zim Avaltrades were all phenomenal. I love a full cast narration.
•
Overall, this was not for me. It’s not really something I can recommend but I will say if you are into body horror - this definitely has that, and if you want to check out a LGBTQIAP+ horror - read it (though I am sure there are much better options out there). Huge thank you to NetGalley, Gretchen Felker-Martin and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review, unfortunately this one was a miss for me.

Cuckoo is absolutely not the book for me.

We have a lot of characters in dramatic situations, but I didn't feel any emotional connection at all. (I did feel revulsion toward some of the villainous characters, so I guess that's something. 🙄)

The whole tone is in-your-face, exaggerated, messed up brutality. I needed more subtlety, more character depth, more room to think and feel.

While this will be the perfect story for many readers, I couldn't hang with it.

DNF

Horror at its BEST! Critical social commentary. Marginalized community. At risk youth. Representation.
I LOVE the use of a conversion camp to become the source of bodies for mass invasion of a questionable entity. Creative, much needed knock to society STILL using conversion camp for the LGBTQIA+ youth. Children - even teenagers, desperate for family's approval and acceptance. So well done all around.

Great audio narration. I love the decision to use a full cast. It really helped to keep the characters distinct.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Cuckoo is an Extreme Horror novel following a diverse cast of Queer characters trying to survive a Conversion Camp and its aftermath. Kicking off in 1995, this book gets in your face and stays there. Warning: there are no limits!

It's guaranteed to make you uncomfortable, cringey, angry, and hurt for 99% of the time that you are reading it. If you're not, you may want to check your pulse. This is the kind of book that makes me wish I had a BookTube channel, because I could talk about this book for hours. It made me think a lot and really analyze everything that's going on here.

Sadly, my patience for typing isn't as robust as my patience for talking, so I promise, this won't be too long. Most likely, you are wondering what this is all about. The cover doesn't reveal too much and the title could mean anything. Basically, this story starts in 1995, it introduces us to a group of characters, all Queer, who are forcibly sent to a Conversion Camp by their families.

The very beginning of the novel is interesting, because as you're meeting the various characters it was delivered sort of via vignette style, which I'm not necessarily accustomed to. In a way, it made it feel like I was getting short stories for each of the major players. Once they are all moved to the conversion camp, we then follow the various atrocities that occur there. Unsurprisingly, as the characters are being submitted to daily abuses, they begin to bond and form connections to one another. Ultimately, a plan to break out is formed.

In Part II, we fast forward to where these teens are now adults, and they're brought together once again to try to fight the old evil they were exposed to at the camp. What they've come to call, the cuckoo. They want to save the next generation of teens suffering like they did. The story is much more complex than this basic synopsis lets on, but it is best to go in knowing as little as possible.

However, with this being said, I want to stress that this is an <b>Extreme Horror</b> novel. I feel this is a very important distinction for me to make, because I'm not sure the synopsis, or the way it's currently being marketed, really makes that clear enough. My concern for this book is that people are going to pick it up thinking it is a Queer Horror novel, which, yes, it is, but there is a very big difference between a mainstream Horror book and an Extreme Horror book. I feel like people who have never read Extreme Horror before, or maybe aren't aware that is even a subgenre, will pick this up and be traumatized for life.

I read this subgenre regularly, so nothing here surprised me, especially having read Felker-Martin before, I knew what I was getting myself into. I signed up knowingly, willingly and I really enjoyed the journey of this story. I just want to throw out a friendly warning to anyone else who may not be so prepared. This is extreme, it's graphic, both in a violent and sexual nature, and holds absolutely nothing back.

I wouldn't say this is quite as Splatterpunk as Manhunt, and I actually enjoyed the trajectory of this story more than Manhunt, but this is still full of Felker-Martin's signature style of extreme writing. One small issue I had though was the pace. I felt like in the beginning, it read fairly slowly, and then by the end, it was progressing too quickly. The lead-up to the final events, I actually wish was more drawn out. While I appreciate the intensity built throughout, I actually would have preferred a more even pace.

Also, I really loved Part II, which followed the characters as adults, but it didn't start until around 70%. I would have loved a more 50/50 split, between following them as teens, and then following them as adults. Overall, I thought this was great. It was engaging and thought-provoking. I feel like as a piece of Extreme Horror Fiction, it was creative and very well-written.

I enjoyed this more than Manhunt, which was quite a memorable reading experience, and feel like Felker-Martin's style is fine-tuning into something that is distinct in the subgenre. She is wildly-imaginative and not afraid to explore very difficult topics. She pulls no punches.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I will definitely be picking up whatever this author writes next!

Fantastic audiobook performance of a great book. It meets The Thing but make it weird and gay! And what a final line….

Similar to Manhunt, the gore and horror was just a bit too much, especially with how descriptive it got. I love the premise and plot in theory but, again, similar to Manhunt, we got too in the weeds with the plot. Many parts needed some edits, with long ass monologues for no reason, that didn't add anything to the plot.

I am not sure if it's just because I listened to the audiobook or not but there were WAY too many POVs throughout, voices and plot needs serious editing. It also felt so long and never ending. It was a pretty weird choice to have most of the book be part 1 and barely any for part 2.

Last line of the book was pretty impactful I think.

Plot line started getting real "It"-esque toward the end, which was a negative, even down to how everyone had changed in the years since.

Cuckoo is horrific, grisly, utterly unapologetic and incredibly evocative. The prologue is amazing and it raised my expectations for the rest of the novel that were unfortunately not reached.

The premise of Cuckoo: seven queer kids are abandoned in a remote conversation camp in Utah for the summer by their parents, is nightmarish on its own and the addition of an evil creature that seeks to claim their bodies only heightens the tension.

The abduction scenes prior to the arrival to and several scenes within the camp are immensely difficult to stomach, as the characters experience: abandonment, emotional abuse, graphic physical abuse, racism, fatphobia, homophobia, transphobia and dehumanization. Gretchen Felker-Martin’s descriptions are unflinching and-at times-quite disgusting and the aspects pertaining to the inevitable body horror are also intense and vivid.

The multiple viewpoints of Cuckoo sometimes made it difficult to keep track of every character, though the audiobook’s different narrators did provide more of a distinction. The representation was also very well done, though with so many characters, some inevitably had stronger impacts upon the story than others.

The amount of graphic sexual content within Cuckoo also made me uncomfortable, as the characters are teenagers and some of the scenes seemed unnecessary. The pacing of the story-which is divided into about seventy percent focusing upon the time spent in the camp and thirty percent taking place fifteen years later-is also slightly uneven and made wish there was more of a balance between the two timelines.

The various narrators did an excellent job bringing: their characters, the malicious “counselors,” the husband and wife in charge of the camp and the monstrous Cuckoo, to life. I’m not sure if I’m the right reader for Gretchen Felker-Martin’s future works, but I am grateful to Macmillan Audio, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing access to this ALC.