I’ll try to get my thoughts together (so you can actually follow this review) but hold on tight because this is about to be a roller coaster!
Let me just start by saying what I’ve said for every review that’s come before this lol and that is that I loved this book. Like SO MUCH. Like I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was this openly and unapologetically queer and I was SO HEAR FOR IT. Like I need all the books I read to be like this.
Let me try to start with the characters. Benji was great. Loved him lots and he truly was such a relatable main character. In most books I read, I don’t often relate too heavily with the main character as they’re often shown as brash and reckless and don’t care what anyone thinks. Which is totally cool. But Benji just felt so real to me. He was anxious and conflicted and awkward—all things I definitely relate to. But he also didn’t give up. I loved seeing how he transformed into believing in himself and who he was. I also want to talk about Nick, because WOW I loved Nick! I loved that we got to see his point of view in certain parts of the story. I’ll be honest, I really can pinpoint exactly what is is that’s made me so obsessed with Nick, but let me just say I desperately need a spin-off novella of just Benji and Nick hanging out together <33 Look as much as I want to rant about all the characters that I adored (and hated) in the story, this review would become wayy too long so I’ll just quickly state some honorable mentions. Erin was my girl ofc we besties and Salvador was just cool af and I’ve never read a book where a character used neopronous so that was so lit.
Okay, let me move on to the plot now. I’m about to say something that may or may not be controversial, but I will preface it by saying I’ve never read horror novels before. I did go into reading this book knowing it was a horror novel and slightly bracing myself as I get scared easily lool. However, I did not find it to be that way at all. In fact, I wasn’t the least bit scared while reading. This is not a negative aspect at all either, it’s just something I thought about as I was reading. But again I’VE NEVER READ HORROR B4, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, please. Now was the book very gruesome and gory? YES, yes it was so be aware of that too when you begin to read. That honestly was something that I absolutely loved about the book, though, was all the enriching vivid details (even about the disgusting things).
Wooo! This review wasn’t too long now (especially following after my TVD review) but I hope you were able to follow it at least a little lmao. For those on the fence about reading this: if you’re in a gay deficit and need more gay in your life, this is definitely the book for you. I’ve been wanting to read this book since before it was even out, and I definitely gave everything it needed to give (even more so).
If you appreciated this review, let me know by buying me a coffee <33