Pros: I think the supernatural elements of the story had a lot of promise and I liked the atmosphere.

Cons: Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me - it definitely leaned much more into the "rom-com" style of storytelling, with dual first-person POVs and a very simplistic writing style. It wasn't as whimsical as I think it needed to be to pull off the comedy-horror balance it was going for.

I was more than ready to devour a small town cozy romance with horror in it - honestly it sounded like it was written for me!- but struggled to get into this. The instant attraction with our main heroes as well as the lack of real stakes and a somewhat banal ending left me wanting more!

Overall rating: 3⭐️


Tropes:

🪶 Insta-Love
🪶 Cozy Horror
🪶 Queer romance
🪶 Paranormal Mystery
🪶 Small Town


The story is set in a small town in Canada, plagued by Lovecraftian evil. The setting alone is what made me go “ooh I want to read this”. All the pieces were there, all the things I look for in a story - it just didn’t really work for me.

The romance was a bit off. The FMC objectifies the love interest, a woman named Cassie, in a very…masculine sort of way. I don’t normally enjoy insta-love, and this was no exception. Two dates in and they’re planning their future 👀

All in all, it was ok but it wasn’t for me. If you enjoy comedic horror and authors like Grady Hendrix, T. Kingfisher, and AJ Martinez, then you may enjoy this book.


Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for a chance to read and review this eARC and give my honest review.

Although well written, this book was just not fast paced enough for me.
I can and do enjoy loads of slow paced books, but for some reason this seemed to drag on and on.

And the little to no world building for two thirds of the book ensured that I was mightily confused from page 1.

The concept of a cosy horror was good, and the idea of the eldritch type deity was interesting but it lacked execution.

I don’t know, it just didn’t agree with me, I had no interest in the story or characters.

Thanks to DAW and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this could be a niche thing… listen, it had me at sapphic haha so I’m not too harsh and I can’t say that it was bad. But something felt missing?

I wasn’t a huge fan of mixing insta love with (wht felt to me) a bit of a dragging plot line . It tried to have all the elements of a cozy fantasy that are buzzing but in said attempt it almost felt a little too much for it to flow nicely (imo)

However- I can see how this could do well with people that truly enjoy mysteries for the most part

It's not often (if ever before) that you see the combination "cozy horror" in the description of a book but it does actually sort of fit this one - is that suitably vague do you think?

I really enjoyed Direct Descendant by Tanka Huff - for me it was one of the books that draw you into the story. You get so involved that you stay up reading WAY too late, just to see how it all turns out.

It's really hard to say much more about this book than the back cover description already gives away - I just say read it and find out.

My thanks to NetGalley for facilitating this ARC copy of Ms Huff's new book in exchange for my honest review.

This wasn't for me, I fear. I was so confused for so long. I don't care that it starts to make sense at the end, why would I want to be confused for the first two-thirds? The stream-of-consciousness writing style did NOT help. It wasn't the cozy eldritch horror I was looking for, it was just weird. Insta-love is also unfortunately never going to be my vibe.

I really loved this novel. I have not laughed out loud at a book in a very long time and I am so glad that this was my first read of 2025. Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it’s worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Cassidy, the Mouth for the Dark, and Melanie, the out-of-towner English teacher and accidental PI, were fun characters to follow and I enjoyed being in both of their heads, although I will say I truly adored Cassidy's attitude and level of snark. Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun is such a great tagline for this story. The eldritch creatures, particularly Alice and T'geyer, and Melanie's mother were my two favorite parts of the book, aside from the leads. And while I do love reading standalones, I would happily return to this world to follow more of Cassidy's crazy adventures.

My only complaint, and it truly is a small one, is that I wish we got a little more information about the history of the town a little bit faster. It's not that I couldn't follow what was happening. Huff does an excellent job of dropping you into the middle of a crazy situation and pulling you along for the ride, but understanding the full story of the Four, how the Agreement works, and what happened to the previous Mouth added so much to my enjoyment of the world and the locals that I wish it had just come along a little sooner.

Thank you so much Tanya Huff, DAW books, and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cosy Canadian sapphic romance with bonus eldritch horrors (at least one of which is really cute!). I really liked Cassie and her approach to life and her vocation, and I liked Melanie, with her thing about wealth, and the Big Secret is handled well. Gentle humor and storytelling and I think the most fun I've had with a Huff book since "Summon the Keeper". Stands alone but I'd be very happy to read more in this town.

Direct Descendant was an intriguing read that kept me invested until all secrets were out in the open. While there are hints and trickles of information that keep you guessing, there's a lot of mysterious things going on, and it all ends up making sense pretty late in the story (about 70% in). This is definitely a cozy mystery, so expect quaint small towns, baked goods, cute main characters and a closed door romance that will have you rooting for them right away.

If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, eldritch horrors and small town romance, this might be the book for you!

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

Cozy fantasy, but this time the flavor is set in a Canadian small town, and they made a deal with a dark and sinster force to try and keep their town safe. The Random Capitalizations and PG rating (the s word!) grated a bit on me personally, but it was a solidly plotted book with a cute lesbian as our lead.

A cozy horror, while being something I never even knew existed I found myself drawn to it.
It wasn’t too horror-y and had a lot of comedic relief mixed with the supernatural elements and I was a happy girl!
I really enjoyed how the author managed the world building and let’s be honest as a fantasy girly usually that bit is long so for me to enjoy it was a nice experience aha!
I also really enjoyed the romance aspect of this book and think of you enjoy getting lost in a cozy, sapphic romance especially that has humour and horror you’ll enjoy this.

For anyone who has wondered how a tiny town can support so many small businesses, Huff has an answer: a pact with the Dark. That's what keeps Lake Argen running on an endless silver mine.

This is COZY cozy. An unexpected blend of cozy mystery, romance novel and, yes, horror elements.

Thank you for the ARC provided through NetGalley.

3.5/5, leaning towards 3

Direct Descendant is a fun, colorful story that is unfortunately struggling with a fumbled marketing campaign.

The book has a great premise. A woman with magic abilities rushes to an ancient ritual site only to find a man who is not supposed to be there standing (nearly) naked. He stabs himself in the foot with a dagger, is sucked underground, and the town's magical council of sorts has to figure how to handle the ramifications of his disappearance.

The pacing unravels in fits and starts. The fact that our narrator (the first of two) is not a fish out of water means we need to quickly piece together a lot for ourselves in the beginning. Cassie was born and raised in a strange environment and doesn't need complicated situations explained to her, but I wish she would've helped me out.

The humor was clever and worked well. There was even a U-Haul lesbian joke, which got a big laugh out of me. Cassie and Melanie's romance was very sweet, too. Yes, it's insta-love, but I didn't mind. That is a very sapphic experience, thus the U-Haul joke. There are many amusing situational jokes too, like with the school kids going around stabbing demonic shadows on a kind of scout field trip.

Now, to the marketing. Cozy fiction, quirky characters, cute gay romances? These are all having a moment, thank God, but in the rush to capitalize on the cozy trend, they've pressed this book (which has much more in common with the beloved Welcome to Nightvale than Legends and Lattes) into a mold it simply does not fit.

I would not classify this as "cozy" because this implies familiarity, warmth, comfort, and wholesomeness. Many of the relationships between the cast are either contentious or snarky. I was entertained by the small town mystical antics but I wouldn't want to live there.

I would recommend if you're in the mood for a breezy story that has clever dark humor, an interesting magic system, and a sapphic love story.

Direct Descendant was my first ARC of 2025, and what a lovely cozy fantasy with eldritch horrors to kick off the year! Huff's tale grows in intensity throughout the book, so I found myself zipping through the last 10%. I also really enjoyed the queer romance; Melanie and Cassie were really cute. Overall, this was a fun read for a cold winter day.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW Books for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

This felt like Nancy Drew (the tv series) meets Buffy meets Sabrina. The mythology was a bit tough to understand bc I'm still not entirely sure what some of the ppl are. But it was cozy enough, and the FMCs were perfectly likeable. Several predicted outcomes but a quick read overall.

Free ARC provided by DAW Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date 18 March 2025.

I've liked some of Huff's books in the past, especially her military SF Confederation books, so I was willing to give this Canadian cozy horror a try, even if I didn't get along with Huff's most recent release. In Direct Descendant, Cassie is one of four descendants set to protect a small Canadian town under the sway of an ancient dark pact. But a strange man sacrificing himself on Midsummer's Day sets off a string of events that might endanger the pact--as well as sending English teacher Melanie into town to investigate...

I've had mixed experiences with books marketed as cozy, so I'm glad to report that this book pulled it off. Yes, there's a cute little town where everybody knows each other, and the Dark One benevolently answers the petitions of ten year olds (albeit with a melodramatic taste for the macabre). However, Huff manages to dodge being twee through a streak of genuine darkness that counterbalances the sweet and cozy elements. All dead bodies are sacrificed to the lake monster, not buried, due to the zombie risk. There's a small chance you might be selected to transform into a terrible eldritch monster. And the town has a remarkably high death rate, which the townsfolk take into stride with an aplomb more suited to villagers of a cute British hamlet with an elderly amateur sleuth.

I would be remiss to review this book without also mentioning the sapphic romance. The developing relationship between Cassie and Melanie is very instalove. However! I have a much higher tolerance for characters who are immediately convinced that they will have a summer wedding on sight, versus the thing where they're instantly attracted but spend the whole time having ugly little squabbles. Huff also takes the opportunity to lampshade the incredibly fast relationship development by making uhaul jokes.

However, while I enjoyed the characters and worldbuilding of Direct Descendant, I did have major issues with the plot and pacing (similar to the problems I had with Into the Broken Lands, alas). While the plot starts out with a bang during an unexpected human sacrifice, very little happens over the majority of the book. We just get vague hints that something might be amiss, and endless circuitous discussions about what might be happening, until something does happen in the very last fifth of the book. If you're entertained enough by the setting and the romance, this plotting might work for you, but I found it a bit disjointed.

If you're looking for a cozy fantasy novel that never slips into the twee, this book might be a good fit for you.

This is a fun, very light book, taking Lovecraft lore on a spin to care-bear country.
Not much to say, it's light and fluffy, insta-love lgbtq+ story in Canada, totally cozy (you probably will find all the tropes here) with a splash of monster and a hint of rich vs poor talk (though that doesn't go anywhere). Perfect for your beach bag and other holiday quiet time.
I've read a couple of Tanya Huff's books years ago when I was at school, and they were very much like that old school detective tv shows "Murder, She Wrote" but with werewolves and vampires. It's fun to see her styled moved with the time, but the feel is totally the same as it used to be.

The concept of a cozy horror set in a small northern Ontario town sounded like a wonderful concept to me. The location and setting of this book was so fun to read. I loved the Canadian references and all the little northern Ontario references.

However, the execution of the plot and world building of this book was lacking for me. I found the plot really under developed and rather slow and nothing happened until the last 10% of the book. The magic and fantastical elements were often referenced but never fully developed or realized. These elements sounded so cool but their lack of development just left me wanting more.

The main character Cassie was a great character to ground the story. She had a strong personality and was well developed and fun to read about. However, the second POV from Melanie just seemed unnecessary and she contributed very little to the plot or story. I also found their romance too instantaneous and therefore unbelievable. I think this book would have really benefited from being more focused on the horror plot and developing the world and much less focused on the romance.

Welp, my first hate read of 2025 and no one is more surprised than me because this seemed right up my alley. I also can't stand leaving reviews like this, especially on an ARC, because I know how hard authors work on their books and I really do believe there is a right book for every reader; there are no bad books per se. My opinion comes loaded with all my baggage and preferences and it's just one opinion.

I pretty much scoop up any cozy horror book I see these days but my patience may have worn thin on the cozy genre. I feel like a lot of authors are now just capitalizing on its popularity and the books are starting to feel cookie-cutter and trope-heavy with boring stories. This book felt very much like that. But I thought cozy horror! eldritch monsters! cute cover! rom com! And Tanya Huff! What could go wrong? This was my first exposure to Tanya Huff but I couldn't have picked a worse book to start with because I really loathed this book. I kept reading in the hopes that it would get better and it was banking everything on its clever schtick and quirky charm, which just completely got lost on me.

The combination of cozy horror and rom com did not work for me, like, at all. Rom coms are supposed to be funny, or at least cringe, and this was trying so hard to be funny that it came across as a flippant, overly irreverent tone that was completely at odds with topics like murderous tentatcled ancient gods and charming townspeople willy-nilly carting around corpses in public. The whimsy was just lost on me. It takes strong writing to pull off that juxtaposition and this just felt like it was phoning it in and relying on witty banter to carry the meat of it.

This is set in a small, quirky town in Canada - it was very Canadian and I will give it props for that - where four town denizens are guardians who watch over The Dark, a mysterious evil force inspired (a bit too on the nose at that) by cosmic Lovecraftian horror.

Until a stranger stabs himself in the foot and disappears behind the barrier, and his grandmother hires a woman, Melanie, an unemployed teacher and completely incompetent detective, to investigate what happened to him.

She doesn't do much investigating though. She meets one of the guardians, Cassie, and both of them have a love at first sight obsession with each other. I wasn't necessarily against instalove in this scenario, even though I loathe the lesbian U-Haul at first sight stereotype, because it was plausible in this weird small town scenario. But it was the way it was handled that bugged me. Cassie first notices Melanie's sexy body and the way her breasts push up against her shirt - that same observation written by a cishet man would be decried as misognyst and gross. It's not better when a queer woman does it. But okay, instalust happens, people drool over sexy people. But then they're instantly in love and planning their future at their first two dinner dates. I didn't see any chemistry between them other than they liked their boobs, and I could have cared less about their romance.

But then the mystery falls off and it's all about queer puppy love and colorful small town characters talking about murder, tentacles and mayhem like it's the price of eggs. This was going for Deadloch and Welcome to Nightvale meets Lovecraft vibes but it took cozy horror, turned it cuddly, cute and sappy, and made me want to gag.

There were also continuity errors, like okay we get it, Mel is good with the ugly dogs who don't like anyone, and annoying formatting on text messages (I hereby hate the ::text message:: format)

So, this may charm some people but it just annoyed the hell out of me from start to finish and I feel almost sorry for this terrible review. We won't love everything we try.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.