Vivid details make for a very dark and macabre story. The atmospheric elements were well presented. And I do think that this book did a good job of addressing some of the bigotry that LGBTQIA+ people face.

I really wanted to love this one—I even intentionally saved it for spooky season—but I just didn't love it the way that I had hoped. I liked that the characters were diverse, and the premise of the book held a lot of promise. I even generally liked the ending.

Great writing and a compelling story, about the power of friendship and the lies that parents tell their children. Character driven and heavily laden with mystery—this book kept challenging me to figure out if the happenings were real, psychosomatic, or linked to something supernatural.

I loved the use of modern and diverse characters, and the premise for this book was a good one. But...

Unique. Sensuous. Haunting. Diverse characters and a great premise to the story. And I love how this book is both very modern and, at the same time, deeply immersed in traditional Eastern European folktales.

This book has the feel of a classic Gothic horror story, but with a noticeable update. Instead of outdated gender stereotypes, Kingfisher employs a very modern, nonbinary gender model for the main character, adding to its present-day appeal.

Fast paced and engaging. Modern and relevant. I thought this book did a great job of capturing the homophobia that is prevalent in much of small-town America.

Between the title of the first chapter and the first sentence of the book, I was immediately engaged.

I loved it! Fast and compelling. Very modern.