by C.G. Drews

YA Horror, 2024 by Feiwel & Friends, 336 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

• I wanted more description of the monsters we were seeing. There are some descriptions but a lot of it is vague. This does let you sort of make it up in your mind, which is good, but I wanted a bit more.
• There’s an overwhelming sense that you missed something through much of this book. Lots of references to “before” or “last year” but this is the first book. Is that on purpose? Obviously. But it does make the reader feel a bit confused and it even made me double check that this was actually book 1.
• The romance seemed to drag unnecessarily. It could’ve done with less page time or more direct scenes instead of pages of pining.

What I Did Like:

• Normally I don’t like when you can’t tell two characters apart BUT in this book, it feels intentional and I LOVED it. It gives you the sense that, for the narrator, the boys had become so close that even he couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. That’s such a cool technique and REALLY difficult to pull off.
• The ace rep is well done. Wondering if you’re “gay enough” for a club because you’re asexual is valid. That aspect of the book, although it wasn’t the focus, was well done.
• The boys’ obsessions with drawing and writing really drove the story. The pain it relieves being almost less than the pain is created is so valid, even metaphorically. That part was just so relatable.

Who Should Read This One:

• Monster fans who like poetic prose and bigger reasons behind monsters.

My Rating: 3 Stars