Long Live Evil

Sarah Rees Brennan
Completed 11/9/2025, Reviewed 11/12/2025
4 stars

I found this book highly entertaining.  It’s about a woman who is transported into her favorite book.  However, she ends up as the major evil female character.  It’s a great riff on the nature of good and evil.  She tries to advance the plot without being totally bad, but the plot keeps adjusting to the changes she makes.  The writing is terrific, and the author throws a lot of great snarky commentary.  I found it a fast, exciting read.  My only complaint is that I thought this was a standalone book.  Instead, there’s an incredible cliffhanger.  I nearly threw my e-reader across the room!  Argh!  Well, I’m sucked in now and will have to read the sequel when it comes out…in SIX MONTHS!

Rae is a twenty-year-old with stage four cancer.  One night, a woman appears and gives her the option to jump into her favorite fantasy series.  Her mission is that if she finds a special flower which only blooms once a year, she will be cured of the cancer.  Until she does, she’s stuck in the fantasy world.  Rae agrees and finds herself in the body of the villainous Rahela who is to be executed the next morning.  She joins with her mistrusting maid and her sketchy, possibly psychopathic guard to find a way out of the execution.  She succeeds, but then she has to navigate the plot to make sure everyone who hooks up does and who succeeds does.  The problem is that she is known as the Beauty Dipped in Blood, an unreliable, promiscuous, and generally evil person.  So no one trusts her.  However, she does find another person who is also from the real world.  That person works with her to get to the magical flower.  But nothing goes as she remembers from the book and chaos ensues.

Rae is quite the impressive character.  When she first enters the fantasy world, she’s excited about being the villain, although she has to survive and get past the execution order.  She pretends to be an oracle and proceeds to give away the end of the book.  That gets her past the first day, so she has fun with it all.  The problem is, she doesn’t view the other characters as real since she is in a fictional universe.  The other characters’ lives don’t matter and has a flippant view of their deaths.  All that matters to her is that the plot continues.  In reality, this is the definition of psychopathic behavior.  However, things do start to become real to her.  So when her interference to make the plot progress changes the plot, it affects the characters around her and she begins to have feelings about them.  And, as it progresses, they go from being cardboard to multi-dimensional.  It’s an interesting evolution of Rae and the reader.

As for those side characters, the Cobra is probably the most fun.  Flamboyant and superficial, he seems to have his hand in everything.  Emer, Rae’s maid, is one of the most interesting.  Besides Rae, we get narrative POV from her, so we witness firsthand her transformation from cardboard to real.  Oh yeah, and she wields an axe.  There are so many fantasy stock characters in the story, it’s quite fun.  It’s almost like it’s the author’s “Game of Thrones” but sprinkled with meta and snarky comments throughout.

I’d like to share a few of these comments:

“Rae had always assumed Anonymous [the author of the book inside the book] was a woman trying to avoid being pigeonholed.  Sometimes women writers got discussed as if they ran a fictional vampire dating agency, while clearly men writing green, bare-breasted tree women burned with pure literary inspiration. “

“She believed he wasn’t a monster.  He lacked empathy, went into a dissociative state and killed people serially, that was all.”

“Rahela’s lady mother had many uses for men.  They could be seduced for state secrets, married for money and estates, and poisoned to relieve one’s feelings.”

“He was the Emperor, so she would love him when he went through blood and fire and character development.”

These had me rolling on the floor.  But there’s a lot of seriousness as well.  Mainly, what really is good and evil?  This may make it difficult for some people to read.  For me, I found that some of the characters being deliciously evil made it more fun.  I think it also has a message about the fluidity of identity as well as that appearances may be deceiving.  This is evidenced by the Rae and others who were real people sent to the fantasy world.  Their characters obviously changed when they entered their bodies.  And of course, it changes the other characters’ reality as well.  

I give this book four out of five stars.  I found it fun and fascinating.  Watching the characters react and change around her was an impressive feat.  I guess there’s a big craze for this kind of meta fantasy in Japan.  But this was new for me, so I was entranced.  Next comes the long wait until the sequel comes out.  Ugh!

Thirsty

Lucy Lehane
Completed 11/2/2025, Reviewed 11/3/2025
4 stars

Very engaging M/M vampire-human, enemies to lovers, urban romantasy.  What I liked best about it was the exploration of other supernatural communities.  Well, and yes, the romance.  One of the main characters is not a traditional hot male, but rather a bear: bearded and a little chubby.  But the physical wasn’t as important as the emotional connection, and I really appreciated and honored that.  This book is very readable.  It’s also fun and silly at times, while tackling the issues of blood family, found family, honesty, and intent.  This isn’t going to win any awards, I don’t think, but I just might win Lehane an army of fans.

Charlie writes an advice column called the Wise Old Crone.  It’s been losing readership now that other advice columns are tackling the recent coming out of the supernatural community.  Charlie has no knowledge of vampires, werewolves, poltergeists, unicorns, trolls, and the like.  One day, he runs into Lorenzo, a man who dated a friend of his in college.  Charlie advised her to end the relationship with Lorenzo because she wasn’t that into him.  Now, five years later, Lorenzo still carries the grudge against Charlie.  Lorenzo confronts him, demanding to know why he did it, and if it was because he was a vampire.  Charlie didn’t know he was a vampire and tries to apologize, but sees an opportunity.  He convinces Lorenzo to answer questions about vampire-human relationships in exchange for running errands for him during daylight hours under the guise of it being for a “research paper” for Charlie’s dissertation.  Lorenzo begrudgingly accedes. Soon the two are attending supernatural functions of all types. With this information, the Wise Old Crone column becomes a hit and of course, the two slowly develop feelings for one another.  But can this relationship last when it is based on Charlie’s lie?

I was impressed with the character development of both Charlie and Lorenzo.  Charlie is simply a charming guy.  He loves life and helping people.  Lorenzo is terse and solitary.  Over two hundred years old, he’s bored with his vampire life and would rather have nothing to do with Charlie, or most people for that matter.  Charlie slowly falls for Lorenzo, but tries to keep it casual knowing that their relationship is based on the “research paper” lie.  He stresses over this and won’t admit he’s falling in love.  Lorenzo finds his heart opening up to Charlie despite his resentment over his old girlfriend’s rejection.  Charlie’s innocence and sense of wonder tug at Lorenzo.  But he too has a secret, besides the fact that he rarely opens his heart to anyone.  The play between falling in love and cognitive dissonance is very well played throughout the story.

The cast of side characters is also wonderful.  Lorenzo lives in a big house with a troll, a human possessed by a poltergeist, and a unicorn in human form.  They each have their own quirks and add color and humor to the story.  Lorenzo takes Charlie to a werewolf wedding, a druid initiation ceremony, and succubus/incubus art opening, among others.  Almost every chapter is chock full of new supernaturals for Charlie, and the reader, to learn about.  

I only had a few minor complaints about the book.  First, the narrative is third person, alternating between Charlie and Lorenzo per chapter.  Sometimes, it was hard to remember whose perspective was being told, even though the two characters are very different.  Second, the resolution was awfully quick.  I thought it could have played out a little more.  Still it was satisfying and a little surprising.

I give this book four stars out of five because it is terrific fluff.  I love a good romantasy.  The angst isn’t too deep, but the passion is powerful.  I particularly loved Charlie’s desire to be bitten for the increased intimacy while fighting his reluctance over his lie about the advice column.  And I loved Lorenzo’s slow turn from hermit to recognizing found family.  A very satisfying book even if it is a little silly.  

Cemetery Boys

Aiden Thomas
Completed 10/31/2025, Reviewed 10/31/2025
4 stars

This was a very sweet story.  It features a trans teen boy from a Latinx community where the women can heal people, and the men can release earthbound spirits to the afterlife.  As a trans boy, the main character wants to prove that he can perform the tasks of the brujos, but his father, one of the community’s leaders, won’t let him.  Immersed in mystical Latinx magical culture, this story of identity and belonging was one of the most heartwarming stories I’ve ever read.  However, I had trouble getting pulled into the story until the last one hundred pages, even as the relationship with the main character and the spirit of a gay teen boy develops. I’m not sure why, because I loved the protagonist, his best friend, the love interest, and the development of the other characters.  There’s also a murder mystery amidst all this, but I still found it hard to get into.  Despite my inability to connect with the story, I think this book may well end up a contemporary classic of YA transgender and Latinx experience.

Yadriel wants to prove himself a brujo, a male witch.  He and his best friend Maritza, a bruja with a strong, non-traditional approach, secretly perform the ritual that affirms him as a brujo.  His first task is to summon the soul of a missing and presumed dead cousin Miguel.  Instead, he summons a gay teen named Julian.  Horrified at their mistake, he tries to cut the tether to what’s keeping Julian on Earth, but it doesn’t work.  Julian convinces the pair to not release him until he can make sure his friends are okay.  Over the next few days, Yadriel and Julian slowly become close.  As they help him with his bucket list, they find out that other kids besides Miguel and Julian went missing and no one has leads.  But Julian’s spirit must be released before he becomes violent and mindless.   Yadriel knows what he must do but now doesn’t want Julian to leave.

Yadriel is a great main character.  He’s a typical teen trying so hard to be loved by his family and appreciated by his peers.  But of course, as a trans kid, he has self-doubts and a negative self-image.  His supportive mom died a few years back and his father doesn’t understand.  He has an uncle, Tio Catriz who understands not fitting in because he did not inherit the magic of the family.  He provides Yadriel with the support his father and older brother do not give.  Yadriel tries his damnedest to prove he’s a brujo.  When he summons Julian instead of Miguel, his self-doubt returns.  However, Julian provides him with subtle support, affirming him as a boy.  Maritza is also great as the sassy friend who doesn’t take nonsense from anyone.  Despite being a bruja, she won’t use animal blood for rituals and covers for Yadriel as he helps Julian in the few days they give him before trying to sever his tether.  She also sees the obvious that Yadriel and Julian are falling for each other, despite Yadz’s denials.

Julian is a tough character to like initially.  He’s the bad boy of the neighborhood, mostly because of a quick temper and general misunderstanding by most people, including his brother Rio.  Julian and Rio had a big fight before Julian disappeared, and Rio believes Julian ran away from home.  On the other hand, he was not in a gang and didn’t do drugs, but hung out with a small group of other teens on the margins of the community.  They were his chosen family.  As the story progressed, I found myself loving Julian almost as much as Yadriel.  I thought the rest of the characters were well developed.  Thomas does a great job of making them multi-dimensional, infused with the Latinx culture of East LA.   

Despite all these positives, something kept me from becoming completely enmeshed in the story.  It just seemed lacking through the first two-thirds.  Maybe it was the teen dialogue, or perhaps the lack of urgency with finding the missing kids.  That’s why I give this book four stars instead of five.  I think that a teen reader would find this book terrific.  It captures the trans and gay experiences accurately and presents lovable characters.  It deals with other issues, including homelessness and immigrant deportation.  The last hundred pages kept me reading late into the night.  I just wish the first part did as well.

Iron Widow

Xiran Jay Zhao
Completed 10/25/2025, Reviewed 10/27/2025
4 stars

I tried to read the sequel first when I was reading the 2025 Lodestar nominees (for YA novel) in the Hugos.  I found it incredibly hard to follow with an unlikeable main character.  I was running out of time before the voting deadline.  I ended up DNF’ing it, totally frustrated.  I thought I’d give it another chance by reading the first book and then attempting the sequel afterwards.  Well, to my surprise, Iron Widow was terrific.  It’s been described as a cross between Pacific Rim (which I never saw) and The Handmaid’s Tale (which I read in the 80’s).  So in reading this, I had no preconceived notions.  Now I know why the main character can be grating, what the technology is, and how the world came to be in this situation.  It's based on a Chinese society, complete with a Great Wall and oppressed and abused women.  It's kind of a downer but it makes you root for the main character.  This book was nominated for quite a few YA novel awards in 2021 and 2022.  

Chrysalises are giant robots piloted by older boys and copiloted by older girls.  They use their minds and yin and yang energies to control the Chrysalises in the war against the mech aliens that are constantly attacking beyond the Great Wall.  Wu Zetian’s older sister was such a copilot who was killed in battle.  Many girls die as the boys will often completely use their copilots’ psychic energies, leaving a human husk.  Zetian is very bitter and wants revenge on the superstar pilot responsible for her death.  She gets selected for the Chrysalis force, testing very high on the psychic scale.  She’s paired with the superstar pilot and kills him in their psychic link, winning the battle herself.  As punishment, she’s paired with Li Shimin, who has scored higher than anyone else but is also a known family murderer and has sucked the life out of all his female copilots.  Instead of a monster, she finds an alcoholic who hates being a pilot, killing girls, and his life.  Together with Shimin and her best friend from home, the sexually ambiguous, well-bred Gao Yizhi, the trio set out to find the truth about why these girls must die, why they can’t pilot the Chrysalises themselves, and the nature of the aliens, truths which would undermine the whole misogynistic social order.

This is a very dark book with a very dark protagonist.  Zetian was abused by her father and forced to have her feet broken and bound in the traditional way.  Every step she takes is terribly painful.  With this horrible background, she was already predisposed to anger and bitterness.  This only escalates when her only joy in life, her sister, is killed, turning her into a revenge machine.  It’s tough liking her at the beginning of the book, but as her childhood is revealed, we understand what formed her into this bitter and rageful young woman.  Yizhi, her best friend, loves her, though Zetian knew she could never reciprocate since she was on a suicide mission.  But when she joins the force, Yizhi does as well as a strategist.  He becomes rather obsessed with Shimin’s story and finds a way for the three of them to share quarters so he can keep them safe.  Yizhi is a kind soul, someone to offset Zetian’s intensity.  

Shimin is a very interesting character.  We find out he too is a kind soul.  He used alcohol to keep himself numb after killing his soul mate in a battle.  One point I didn’t mention above is that a Chrysalis’ pilot and copilot are also sexual partners so that they form an even deeper bond for their psychic yin/yang connection.  When he meets Zetian and finds out that his soul mate didn’t have to die, he joins her crusade to overthrow the status quo.  However, he is jealous of her closeness with Yizhi, creating a complicated love triangle.

The relationship of the three is at first distracting but becomes an integral part of the story.  It gives them the strength to fight the aliens and against the injustices toward woman.  Of course, they meet roadblocks the whole way, not only from the military officials, but from parents and even their peer pilots and copilots.  The young women copilots who you think would be supportive of Zetian are defensive and uncooperative.  Yizhi’s father backs the Shimin/Zetian pair financially to influence the military into protecting them.  But even he has his own agenda in supporting them and it doesn’t line up with the trio’s mission.  It’s all very messy but very realistic.

I think the book can be hard to follow.  There are many characters and the book moves at a very fast pace.  But if you stick with it, I think you’ll be rewarded with intriguing world building and philosophy, not to mention a delicious twist at the end.  I give this book four stars out of five and am ready to take on the second book, Heavenly Tyrant.

Into This River I Drown

TJ Klune
Completed 10/20/2025, Reviewed 10/21/2025
5 stars

This book drudged up a lot of daddy issues for me.  It features a young man whose father dies in a suspicious car accident and retreats into rage and self-pity for five years.  My relationship with my father wasn’t like the main character’s, but it was a trigger for many feelings I had many years ago.  The intensity translated into a powerful and emotional experience, much more so than I would have expected.  The first hundred pages or so were a little rough, but then the gay romance kicks into high gear and the book becomes an action-packed mystery.  This book won Klune his 2013 Lammy for Gay Romance, but it was so much more than just a rural gay romantasy.  It was an emotional powerhouse and murder mystery with a guardian angel thrown in.  It was awesome.

Benji is a twenty-one-year-old living in the small town of Roseland in south central Oregon.  He runs the convenience store and gas station that was left to him by his late father, Big Eddie.  Their relationship was incredibly close.  Benji came out to Big Eddie when he was fifteen and his father loved and supported him in it.  Since Big Eddie’s suspicious accident, Benji has been bitter and angry, keeping everyone at a distance, including his mother and three aunts.  One day, while picking at his emotional scabs at the river where his father’s car went off the road, an angel falls from the sky.  Calliel is the guardian angel of Roseland but became corporeal because of Benji’s prayers for help.  Cal loves Benji unconditionally and fiercely guards him.  Eventually, Benji falls for Cal, though Benji can’t admit it.  In the meantime, it becomes clear that there is a conspiracy to obfuscate the circumstances of Big Eddie’s death.  Benji starts putting the pieces together, threatening his life and that of his family as well as his relationship with Cal.  In addition, there are consequences when an angel takes on human form that may punch another hole in Benji’s soul.

One of the things that always gets me about Kune’s books is that his characters are so believable.  Benji is relatable in his bitterness at his father’s death, especially after feeling total love and acceptance by him.  It strains his relationship with everyone, including his mother.  His only friend is an old man who comes into the store everyday to shoot the breeze.  When Cal appears and explains his love and purpose, it brings Benji into a state of complete cognitive dissonance.  Benji is angry Cal didn’t save his dad, he wants revenge on his father’s killers, and swears he’ll be alone the rest of his life.  However, he begins to fall for Cal and can’t quite handle it, never admitting he loves the angel.  However, Cal becomes the hit of the town.  Everyone falls for Cal’s sweet nature, not knowing he’s an angel, and roots for Benji and Cal to become boyfriends.  Cal is a little unbelievable but he is an angel after all.  So I had no problem suspending disbelief of his actions.  

One of the star characters is Benji’s Aunt Nina, a woman with a variation of Down Syndrome.  She’s somewhat simple but at the same time, sees more than the average human.  She doesn’t know Cal is an angel exactly but has a deep insight into and love for him.  She and the old man from the store are the only characters that can knock some sense into Benji.  Nonetheless, Benji fights against all the love and advice Nina and the old man, and everyone else in town has for him.  

The suspect characters are pretty well drawn.  They’re a little standard issue but do come across as realistic.  Since the story is told in first person present, we’re always in Benji’s head.  We only see the sheriff and his cronies through Benji.  We also know that Cal growls around the sheriff, which is a good indicator of what Benji already suspects.  

The book is a little long with a lot of time being spent on Benji’s internal struggle.  There were times I thought, “Enough already.”  But to be honest, when presented with that level of cognitive dissonance, it does take a lot of time to let go of preconceived and self-destructive notions.  We are there first hand to watch the slow, normal transformation.  This is a theme in many of Klune’s novels, especially the earlier ones, like The Bones Beneath My Skin and Wolfsong.  The main characters have to suspend disbelief and then overcome their own prejudices and behaviors.  The other big theme in his books is allowing oneself to be loved.  Most of us think we’re not worthy of being loved.  It takes a lot of work to overcome this and allow people to enter our lives and care for us.  

I give this book five stars out of five.  Despite a rocky beginning where Benji was not very likable, it quickly morphed into an emotional rollercoaster.  I read it each night until my eyes hurt and didn’t want to leave the characters in the end.  I thought it funny that this won for Gay Romance Novel.  It’s so much more than a simple romantasy.  It’s a powerhouse of dealing with self-acceptance, parental issues, and letting love into one’s life.  I think this could easily have been nominated for Gay Novel or LGBTQ+ Spec Fiction.  It certainly makes me want to continue reading Klune’s back catalogue.  

The Haunting Between Us

Paul Michael Winters
Completed 10/14/2025, Reviewed 10/15/2025
5 stars

Wow!  This book scared the pants off me!  I read it mostly at night and every time something creepy happened, I got intense goosebumps.  It was also a terrific first love gay teen novel.  I’m a sucker for romances, and this was great.  I was completely caught up in both the romance and the haunted house shenanigans.  It also tackled some important issues like racism, body image, bullying, and parental acceptance.  Growing up a gay kid in the 60’s and 70’s is way different than now, but the issues are still the same.  There’s just a lot more support now, if you know where to look and are lucky enough to have the right friends.  Winters’ first book, Together in a Broken World, was good.  “Haunting” is a stunning sophomore effort.  I’m so glad I met him at WorldCon in Seattle where he convinced me to buy his books.

Cameron is a gay sixteen-year-old kid in the small town of Port Townsend, Washington.  He’s out to his family, but his father is in denial.  He lives across the street from an abandoned, dilapidated Victorian known as the Crimson House for its terrifying, storied past.  Cameron himself had a terrifying experience in it when he was twelve.  His best friend is Abby, an intense amateur ghosthunter with whom his father hopes Cameron will fall in love.  Out of the blue, another teen the same age moves into the Crimson House with his dad.  Hugo and his dad have been moving from place to place flipping houses, never settling down long enough to develop friends, let alone find a boyfriend.  The boys meet under less than ideal circumstances.  Eventually, they become friends, and Cameron introduces him to his circle of friends.  They start falling for each other.  Through all this, strange things happen in the house, and Cameron, Hugo, and their friends try to investigate.  They are quickly out of their league, but have to do something to save Hugo, his dad, and Cameron from the terrifying reality of the strange old woman who haunts the house.

Cameron, Hugo, and their friends are all terrific characters.  They are angsty and self-conscious, as most teens are.  Cameron was bullied his whole life for being fat and gay.  He’s lost weight but is still a little fluffy around the middle, and he hates it.  He’s now out to everyone, but there’s one particular bully who still tortures him.  Abby is a good friend, trying to help him build up his self-esteem, but with little effect.  Cameron’s dad is annoying, paying more attention to his sports loving older son, Jack.  He’s always dropping passive aggressive hints at Cameron about girls which Cameron hates but doesn’t confront.  Fortunately, Jack and the mom are very accepting.  Cameron is a good kid.  I was instantly drawn to him in the first couple of chapters.  

Hugo is Latinx and without connection.  His mom died in a car crash three years earlier and his dad is his only friend.  He’s been dealing with racist comments his whole life, as well as new kid taunts.  He’s more closeted than Cameron, never having come out to anyone but his mom and his college student older sister.  He gets into a fight with Cameron’s bully his first day at school and shuns the rest of kids in self-preservation.  Fortunately, Cameron breaks through Hugo’s shell, but it takes some effort.  

Abby and the others are good, quirky kids.  Chloe and Maya are a couple, and Chloe has insight into supernatural happenings.  Matty is an out, flirty kid with a supposedly straight, non-binary best friend who is also a jock.  When Hugo finally loosens up, they make a terrific team, tackling the mysteries and dangers of Crimson House.  

This book is called a “Heartstoppers” meets “The Haunting of Hill House” gay YA horror romance.  Now, I’ve never read either of those books, so I don’t know how much might be borrowed from them.  I just know that whatever the inspiration, Winters created a fantastic story.  In his Acknowledgments, he notes that some of Cameron’s experiences were his own.  I think it definitely shows in the ease in which I slipped into the characters.  In particular, the difficulty Cameron had letting Hugo put his hand under his shirt.  I struggled with this same issue when I was first coming out and trying to date.  

As I noted at the beginning, the spooky parts really creeped me out.  I thought it was all done masterfully, with the right amount of setup and suspense.  I had my guesses about the back story of the house, one of which turned out to be correct, but I was still surprised when it was revealed.  

This book is no literary masterpiece, but it is terrific, fast paced storytelling.  It kept me thoroughly engaged and spooked.  I would say it’s great fluff, but it’s deeper than that.  It has great world building, with an intricate haunted house, complex ghostly happenings, and a terrifying backstory.  I give this book five stars out of five.  This is definitely an emotional rating, based on my fear factor, my love of romance, and the fact I was up until 3 a.m. every night trying to read as much as I could.

Direct Descendant

Tanya Huff
Completed 10/11/2025, Reviewed 10/13/2025
4 stars

A cozy horror.  Eldritch, to be specific.  Not sure if that’s quite possible, but Tanya Huff did it in this novel.  My experience with Huff’s works average about three and a half stars.  A few above average, a few others terrific.  I lean a little towards terrific with this book, mostly because I’ve come to enjoy eldritch horror and always have a fondness for romance, especially in the LGBTQ+ rainbow.  My net feeling is that this book is basically fluff, but very enjoyable fluff.  I cheered for the protagonists and was a little surprised by the revelation of the evil-doer.  The writing didn’t feel up to par with Huff’s other works, but I still was glad to have read it and felt satisfied with the ending.

The narration follows two main characters in alternating chapters; both told in first person.  Cassidy lives in the small town of Lake Argen, Ontario, several hours north of Toronto.  She and several others are Guardians, the eyes, ears, and mouth of the dark forces with which the town has an agreement: service the dark forces in exchange for its prosperity and isolation.  One day, Cassidy witnesses a visitor seemingly sacrificing himself to the dark forces.  And hell literally begins breaking loose.  Then Melanie appears in town, sent by the visitor’s grandmother, to put closure on her missing grandson.  Cassidy and Melanie are attracted to each other and have a date or two.  Cassidy and the town try to hide the dark trouble from Melanie while the town cheers for the two women’s burgeoning relationship.  However, the lies of omission soon come to a head as the demons and monsters become evident to Melanie, and the darkness threatens to destroy the town.

The things I liked the most about this book were the Canadian details.  There are many references to Tim Hortons, people are generally friendly, and the summer days are very long.  I also liked the LGBTQ+ support by the general population.  I’m also a sucker for a good romance and I really enjoyed this silly love at first site relationship.  There’s even an awesome U-Haul reference to the old stereotype about how quickly lesbians form long term relationships.  Besides the romance, it was a good way to explain the backstory of the town which, until the big reveal, only comes in small doses.  

My biggest complaint was that I had a hard time following Cassidy’s narration.  There was something disjointed and non-intuitive about it.  While Melanie’s narration made sense, Cassidy’s was all over the place.  I think it had to do with the rate at which we were fed the nature of the dark forces and their interaction with the town, and particularly Cassidy’s role.  Character-wise, Aunt Jean was particularly annoying.  I felt like she mucked up the flow of the dialogue with her hardcore stance on keeping outsiders ignorant of the dark forces.  

Back to positives, though, I really liked that there were some eldritch creatures which coexisted in the town or its environs.  The mysterious Alice was some tentacled creature in the lake to whom the dead were sacrificed.  Oh yeah, and they said “s-word” instead of “sacrifice.”  There’s the strange young demon messenger that’s more like a cuddly sloth than a demon.  I was sad for the boy who was transforming into a blueberry eating, tentacled, big foot-like creature.  Add some militaristic crows and a couple of hell hounds to round out the Cthulu cast.

Overall, I felt very positive about the book.  I usually don’t give fractional ratings, but this one is clearly a toss up between three and four stars.  So I’m rounding up to four stars because of the cozy fluffy nature which was so entertaining.  This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was definitely mine.