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lettuce_read's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying and Outing
readthesparrow's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This review is based on a digital ARC provided by the publisher.
REVIEW
As you may know, I have taken it upon myself to create THE SLASHER LIST, a comprehensive list and review of slasher-inspired novels. I’ve been away from the project for a bit (work, life, personal demons, you know how it is), so I haven’t been able to dedicate much time to pursuing the project.
So when I started reading Your Lonely Nights Are Over, I wanted so much, despite knowing it would make the fall worse if I was disappointed.
I am so happy to say that Your Lonely Nights Are Over was everything I wanted and more. I devoured this book in two sittings.
We’ve got twists, we’ve got turns, we’ve got messy queer characters, and, of course, the most important element of every slasher: buckets of blood.
The death scenes and the tension is brutal. These kids die, man, and Sass doesn’t hold back. There’s a Saw-trap-esque strangulation by barbed wire in the first few chapters.
I will say that if you’re like me and you read and watch a lot of slashers and are familiar with the tropes, the twists might be a bit easy to predict. I knew who the killer was pretty quickly (and the twist about the killer, because I’m familiar with Saw and Scream).
That all said, while I caught the foreshadowing and know the genre a bit too well for my own good, it wasn’t frustrating to wait for the characters to catch up with my realizations. Twists don’t have to be unpredictable to be fun.
This is a YA book. I typically don't like YA (I'm just not the target demographic), but I think that this is one of those YA books that, while definitely for teens, is fun to read as an adult, too. (Especially if you were in a queer club in high school. Because, woof, this book captured that feeling of young queer drama well.)
This is a YA book. I typically don't like YA (I'm just not the target demographic), but I think that this is one of those YA books that, while definitely for teens, is fun to read as an adult, too. (Especially if you were in a queer club in high school. Because, woof, this book captured that feeling of young queer drama well.)
This book has an important message about queer community that is vital for young queer folk to learn, especially in an era of the internet full of toxic queer spaces. Ultimately, Your Lonely Nights Are Over is a story about friendship, community, and recognizing the danger and toxicity of queer abusers, all wrapped up in a witty, barbed-wire slasher with a breakneck pace.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Your Lonely Nights Are Over is definitely going to be one of the crowning jewels of THE SLASHER LIST, sitting in pride of place beside My Heart is a Chainsaw.
If you loved the Scream movies and want a book with that same smart, meta horror vibe, then you’ll have one hell of a time with Your Lonely Nights are Over.
Thank you to Viking Books for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley! If you are interested in Your Lonely Nights Are Over, it is out now!
If possible, support indie bookshops by purchasing the novel from your local brick and mortar or from Bookshop.org.
User-defined content warnings are available via Storygraph.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, Blood, Racism, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Death
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Child death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
hobbithopeful's review
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
4.5 stars Thank you Penguin for this ARC
A fun and witty queer slasher, dead bodies run as high as the cutting jokes in Your Lonely Nights Are Over.
We follow besties Dearie and Cole, friends who are unabashedly themselves, and not afraid to call out anyone and everyone that annoys them. When members of the Queer Club start dropping like flies, fingers are quick to point to the two of them. But is it the retired never-been-caught serial killer Mr. Sandman? A copycat? Either way Dearie and Cole have to discover the killer, before they are killed, or arrested!
This is such a hilarious book, I don't think I've had such fun reading a horror book before. Their friendship is so nice to see, as well as reading them "read" others when they try to come for them gave me life. I alternated between laughing and then being scared at was about to happen. This really feels like an old school slasher movie in the best possible way.
Adam Sass shows it is not impossible to write books with great POC characters, even if you are a white author. I really love how Cole's characters is written, and how different the students treat him as a murder suspect vs Dearie. There is so much great racial microaggressions in this book, so innocuous to many, I love it so much. (See guys it's not impossible!)
Without spoiling anything, I also love how relationships are depicted. Be they healthy or not, sometimes you don't realize what's going on until much later, when your brain finally feels ready to process it. There is a lot of symbolism in YLNAO and it is very well done.
This book is also very sex positive, and the discussions and situations surrounding "acting gay" reminds me of Camp. There is no reason to police how you act, or change how you talk just to be more palatable to straights. Sass hit the nail on the head with every issue he tackled.
For me the only issues I really have are at the beginning with the pacing, and some of the structuring. We are introduced to the characters, then there is a time jump of two months. A lot of what happens in that time jump is referenced later, or we get a few flashbacks. I almost wish we got to see more of Dearie's relationship and really how isolated he became from Cole. It would have had a larger impact on later events in the book if we got see more from Dearie's relationship. After the two months, the characters quickly reunite again, but we haven't seen enough of them to really understand the importance and feel that emotional weight for this event.
All in all, I had an enjoyable time reading this, and it got my mind of life. (Which is always a plus!)
This is a must read book for horror fans, lovers of queer books, or anyone looking for a fun read! This is my first book of Adam Sass, and I am going to go look at what other books he's written, because I am now a fan!
This cover!?! Obsessed. Perfection. Wouldn't change a thing. From the colors to the composition, to even the illustration, this is a perfectly done cover. 10/10 wouldn't change a thing.
A fun and witty queer slasher, dead bodies run as high as the cutting jokes in Your Lonely Nights Are Over.
We follow besties Dearie and Cole, friends who are unabashedly themselves, and not afraid to call out anyone and everyone that annoys them. When members of the Queer Club start dropping like flies, fingers are quick to point to the two of them. But is it the retired never-been-caught serial killer Mr. Sandman? A copycat? Either way Dearie and Cole have to discover the killer, before they are killed, or arrested!
This is such a hilarious book, I don't think I've had such fun reading a horror book before. Their friendship is so nice to see, as well as reading them "read" others when they try to come for them gave me life. I alternated between laughing and then being scared at was about to happen. This really feels like an old school slasher movie in the best possible way.
Adam Sass shows it is not impossible to write books with great POC characters, even if you are a white author. I really love how Cole's characters is written, and how different the students treat him as a murder suspect vs Dearie. There is so much great racial microaggressions in this book, so innocuous to many, I love it so much. (See guys it's not impossible!)
Without spoiling anything, I also love how relationships are depicted. Be they healthy or not, sometimes you don't realize what's going on until much later, when your brain finally feels ready to process it. There is a lot of symbolism in YLNAO and it is very well done.
This book is also very sex positive, and the discussions and situations surrounding "acting gay" reminds me of Camp. There is no reason to police how you act, or change how you talk just to be more palatable to straights. Sass hit the nail on the head with every issue he tackled.
For me the only issues I really have are at the beginning with the pacing, and some of the structuring. We are introduced to the characters, then there is a time jump of two months. A lot of what happens in that time jump is referenced later, or we get a few flashbacks. I almost wish we got to see more of Dearie's relationship and really how isolated he became from Cole. It would have had a larger impact on later events in the book if we got see more from Dearie's relationship. After the two months, the characters quickly reunite again, but we haven't seen enough of them to really understand the importance and feel that emotional weight for this event.
All in all, I had an enjoyable time reading this, and it got my mind of life. (Which is always a plus!)
This is a must read book for horror fans, lovers of queer books, or anyone looking for a fun read! This is my first book of Adam Sass, and I am going to go look at what other books he's written, because I am now a fan!
This cover!?! Obsessed. Perfection. Wouldn't change a thing. From the colors to the composition, to even the illustration, this is a perfectly done cover. 10/10 wouldn't change a thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Racism, Blood, Murder, and Homophobia
jessicastephenson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Queer, campy slasher with a good dose of social commentary. I loved the suspense of figuring out who the killer was and was surprised at the reveal. There is a great group of characters (the Queer Club kids) that is diverse and fun. I love the exploration of queer friendship and queer community.
Some important topics are covered in this book that make it so much better than just a thriller. From racism to emotional abuse/manipulation to slut shaming, this book was brimming with important conversations and reflections.
My few issues with the book are that sometimes the "flop" comments were a little too much and also that it took me about a third of the book to really feel the tension and suspense. Otherwise I loved this book, it's going up towards the top of my favourites list this year.
Some important topics are covered in this book that make it so much better than just a thriller. From racism to emotional abuse/manipulation to slut shaming, this book was brimming with important conversations and reflections.
My few issues with the book are that sometimes the "flop" comments were a little too much and also that it took me about a third of the book to really feel the tension and suspense. Otherwise I loved this book, it's going up towards the top of my favourites list this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an advanced copy of Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass! YA horror seems to be really taking off in the last couple of years, especially this year. I've read quite a few, and this one will definitely be a great fit for true crime fans. Clues to follow, focusing on a serial killer who comes back like 20 years later. Sass introduces a lot of twists and turns that will definitely keep you guessing unti lthe very end.
This book is formatted like watching a true crime documentary on TV, separated into sections kind of like episodes. In the book, there is a fake, documentary-style show that a lot of the characters are watching about the serial killer, Mr. Sandman. The parallels between the past and the present made reading the book an entertaining experience; the two different sort of plot lines work together to help create the mystery, as you are watching it unfold.
From the beginning, you know that Dearie and Cole aren't the most likeable characters. They kind of think they're above all of the high school drama, in that teen movie drama sort of way. Even if they weren't likeable, they were still complex, interesting characters, different from what you see in a lot of YA books. And there's a great side cast of characters as well.
My only real complaint is that the book itself felt a little longer than it needed to be. But other than that, this is absolutely an entertaining take on horror that teens will devour when it comes out in September.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Outing and Sexual content
nerp's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I’m not a big slasher watcher, but I loved this book. I’d read 50 pages in a flash and want to keep going. What I particularly love is its irreverence—this is not a story catering to the masses. It’s bloody, it’s sexy, it’s unapologetic, it’s real. The queers are messy AF, not angels. But at its core, it’s a story of two friends who give a new meaning to ride-or-die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Outing and Sexual content
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