This novella felt like a drag, unfortunately. As a major fan of this author’s previous works, it’s disappointing to see this interesting concept sort of fizzle out.

The vibes and the atmosphere are 100% there. Unfortunately, I just have a love/hate relationship with novellas. I feel like I never get to know the characters well enough and that's very important to me when consuming a book. The narrators were amazing though and I'll definitely be recommending this for spooky season.

This was my first experience reading a book by M. L. Rio as I haven't yet read If We Were Villains, and I was excited because I found this one to have a much more intriguing synopsis for me as it's a horror novella. Sadly, this really fell short for me. To start, I found the entire plot underwhelming and there were too many POVs for such a short book, I think there were 5 total POVs in just about 100 pages. I also struggled keeping track of who everyone was because they all felt like the same person. I was so excited for the spooky vibes and a fun mystery, but I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters or the mystery itself. There just wasn't enough space to develop the characters and plot in my opinion.

I did listen to the audiobook arc thanks to Netgalley, and part of me wonders if I would've enjoyed this a little bit more if I had read it physically because it was so hard to follow along with who was who, but I have a feeling from seeing other reviews that might not have been the case.

I really, really wanted to love this but it truly felt like just writing for the aesthetic instead of writing for the plot and the characters, and the longer I sit with it the less I think I liked this.

I'll still probably give If We Were Villains a try because it's so well loved and gets recommended to me quite a lot, but I don't think it'll be a priority read for me.

I need to read something else by this author. This did not do it for me, but I feel like I would enjoy the writing style.

Hmmm sadly this one didn't really do it for me. This was my first M.L. Rio and my expectations were high based on this author's fanbase, so maybe that was detrimental to my experience here. For such a short novel, it was too scattered for my preferences so I never found myself connecting with the characters (of which there are so many for a novella) or the plot. The writing itself is solid and the atmosphere is creepy, but I wish it had been a little more cohesive! Will try something else by M.L. Rio.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was very good. I found the individual chapters enjoyable, but there just wasn't enough of them to make an entire story, I think if there had been more maybe I would have enjoyed the book a bit more. It felt a little superficial with no real depth to the plot line or characters. If it had been longer and more fully fleshed out, I'm pretty sure I would have loved it. Insomniacs in a spooky graveyard are things I would enjoy, and I did really want more. There's a tremendous sense of foreboding as the sleuths follow the gravedigger around, and you keep expecting something horrifying to happen, but then they move on to the next part of their investigation and it just kind of fizzles out.


Thanks to NetGalley for the audioarc to preview.

"Graveyard Shift" was an excellent, creepy novella. The audiobook was great because it has a different narrator for each character, and the author reads her note. The setting and characters worked really well together here. I loved this as a novella, but I would gladly have read a longer book too. I'll be looking for more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an audiobook ARC of this title!

This was a highly anticipated release for me! M.L. Rio's previous work: "If We Were Villains" was one of my favorite novels, and this work evokes the same suspenseful and eerie writing style. "Graveyard Shift" is a novella which seeks to evoke the anxious and stressful emotions that can arise in the night. The listening/reading experience of this book was made for the evening, and for sleepless nights. I do wish I had a physical copy of this book rather than an audiobook, to think on the atmospheric details in the text. Although I really enjoyed this book, I do not think it will stick with me for that long, hence the 3 star review.

The audiobook has multiple narrators, which contributed to a more immersive listening experience. Yet, I do think this book works better in a physical form rather than audiobook. Rio was able to add a lot of character development in a short work. I am definitely looking forward to her future works!

I loved the first book by this author, We Were Villains. I was very excited to read this book of short stories. The atmosphere of creepy was there. The stories were haunting. The only thing that held me back from really getting into this book, the stories just weren't long enough to fully pull me in. For short stories, if you enjoy short stories and for creepy, if you enjoy creepy, then this is a great book for you.

I really loved the premise, but the execution wasn't engaging enough for me. The characters weren't believable, both in the way they speak and their nonchalance at finding a potential missing body. I wanted more action earlier in the book, and I needed to feel immersed in the world without being distracted by the stilted characters.

A fun novella that offers a juicy sense of foreboding. Multiple narrators makes this a really fun listen, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Graveyard Shift was a really cool concept and hooked me in based on the description. It was fun, suspenseful, and just atmospheric. It felt kind of fever dreamish!

This was such an enjoyable read! The use of multiple narrators truly brought the story to life. Despite its brevity, the author skillfully created a deep connection between the reader and the characters, allowing us to get to know them in a surprisingly intimate way. Each character had a relatable quality—either something we see in ourselves or recognize in someone we know. The story’s pace was perfect, keeping me engaged and eager to see where it would lead. I loved experiencing the journey through the characters' eyes, and the ending felt especially fitting for such a fast-paced and thrilling tale.

I'm not a huge novella fan (as I think I've stated many times) but this one wasn't too bad. I felt like I got a sense of most of the characters and had a bit of a relationship with each of them by the end of the story so that was one plus.

I was also super intrigued by the premise of this story! People who meet up at a graveyard that wouldn't otherwise hang out with each other! Mysterious people disposing of dead bodies! Scary drug side effects that kind of cause zombie-ism!! Crazy stuff!!!

Overall though, I wasn't blown away by this story because the ending left me on a bit too much of a "well... what's going to happen?" type cliffhanger. It's nice to leave things a bit open, but I wanted to feel a bit more from this one so I could be a bit haunted by the idea of what happens next. Instead, I was a bit bored and let down.

Not a bad read, just not my first pick if you're going to go for a spooky read this fall!

A delightfully creepy and quick novella with mystery and horror. The different narrators for the different POVs were great, and I especially loved M.L. Rio coming in and reading the author's note, playlist, and cocktail list at the end. Also so cool that those elements are added at the end!

Excellent audiobook - quality, production, narrators, and the book itself were all great.

Thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the eAudiobook ARC! Graveyard Shift is the long awaited follow up to M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains and keeps the character relationship strength while being quite different with horrific moments and descriptions. Being a novella, this is a very quick read or listen, but remains powerful through the narrative styling of M.L. Rio. Graveyard shift is sure to delight fans of Gothic literature. The audiobook offers a fantastic listening experience with M. L. Rio, Jess Nahikian, Max Meyers, Si Chen, Susan Dalian, and Tim Campbell all narrating.

My book club read If We Were Villains late last year after months of it making the rounds on TikTok. I was excited to join the thousands of raving fans, and I did actually end up enjoying a lot of it. M. L. Rio’s use of Shakespearian tropes and dialogue, paired with an ensemble cast of pretentious artists, was fun and engaging at first. But I quickly grew frustrated when the character dynamics didn’t really shift, or come alive. Even with so many voices in the fold, the story often felt flat and never fully worked for me—but I really, really wanted it to. So when her new novella, Graveyard Shift, first popped up on my feed, I was ready to give Rio another go, hoping this new large cast and mystery would come together in a way her debut didn’t quite manage.

Graveyard Shift reads like an edgy, millennial episode of Scooby Doo (and it is aware of this, as there is a reference to the beloved cartoon in there). Every night, a group of misfits meets outside an abandoned church to relish in cigarettes and to find solace in each other’s sleeplessness. On a particular October night, the group stumbles upon a fresh, open grave and gravedigger who is clearly trying to cover his tracks. The mystery quickly develops into a chase as the group trails the man, finding that he may hold answers to more than just what he’s buried.

Just like with her debut, Rio introduces a large cast with a central mystery, and just like with her debut, I found the characters lifeless and the mystery of little consequence. With the exception of a single character, Hannah (excuse any misspelled names—I listened to the audiobook), no one had a defining voice or clear motivation. However, I did enjoy the atmosphere of the early chapters. The setting of the church and its cemetery was well-crafted. I could almost feel the goosebumps rising. But as the eerie build-up faded into a rather dull thriller, I lost interest. The focus of the story shifted almost violently, and the world Rio so carefully built in those early pages ended up feeling irrelevant to the story she ultimately told. The actions her cast took after that introduction made little sense. With little time spent solidifying their ties and loyalties, it was hard to believe the lengths they would go to for answers to something that didn’t seem particularly urgent to them. Ultimately, I wasn’t invested.

I do still think Rio has interesting ideas, and I know I will try her next big work. However, I wish her writing (and marketing) would stop being so obsessed with painting her and her work in a certain aesthetic, when clearly the stories she’s actually writing under the thin veils of gothic academia don’t particularly fit it. Mostly, I’m hoping to see a smaller cast of characters next time. I would love to see her focus on 2 or 3 strong leads rather than split her voice over many unfinished personalities.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio galley in exchange for my honest review.

I tend to hallucinate if I stay awake for too long, and I’ve seen some nutty things. I feel especially qualified to say, as someone frequently subjected to involuntary night shifts, I expected things to be a lot more nutty and hypnotic. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more insomniac nonsense.

But it was a perfect bite sized, Scooby snack kind of mystery with an ensemble cast.

The audio production was great, and I wish it were longer to add to atmosphere and dig deeper.

2.5 ☆

this book seems to think itself a lot smarter than it actually is, something it could’ve probably gotten away with were it longer and better fleshed-out. as it is, however, it lacks too much substance to be anything other than somewhat enjoyable. i appreciated the atmospheric yet not overly pretentious writing, which was a concern for me given who the author is. i really liked the narration though!

thank you to macmillan audio and netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review. all opinions are my own.

Having just finished If We Were Villains, I was very excited to read this novella. I found the themes interesting but thought they could use more development. Because of its short format, the story felt very fast-paced & left some questions unanswered.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC.