I requested this on a whim because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.

This was a little too much out of my comfort zone.

I understand that the narrator is supposed to be unlikeable, one of my favorite books is Lolita so I understand and I liked the book until about page 150 when I realized that I wasn’t even halfway through the book.

I felt depressed reading it and I struggled towards the end because I was trying to find a ways to not read the book but I knew that I needed to finish.

The supernatural stuff was almost a homage to Joe Hill and Stephen King which didn’t bother me but the darkness surrounding the supernatural stuff effected me too much.

And whale ghosts, that got weird for me.

Sam Miller does it again! Ronan Szepessy has avoided visiting his home town of Hudson for years. He was taunted and misunderstood and a child, and now he can't face his father's failing health. But when he finds himself back in Hudson even though he can't remember why he boarded the train, he quickly becomes enmeshed in town politics as locals try to push back against the New Yorkers who are taking over their small town. Ronan learns first hand that you can't go home again, but you can't ever really leave either. A strange and timely book.

What an interesting book! I loved the atmosphere, it was so vivid and creepy. I also loved the premise. The beginning pages of the book, which outline that premise, are what sucked me in: The idea that the town of Hudson is built on blood and suffering. The tale that follows is a sort of revenge tale, where the whales who've been slaughtered in the past, and whose blood the Hudson economy was so reliant on, rise up! They intertwine with the spirits of both the living and the dead Hudson residents who have been forced out literally and figuratively by New York City transplants -- the artists and other hipsters are the villains here. The legit locals are given strength and superpowers in their quest and plans to exact revenge.

This sounds bizarre and it was! But, it was just what I needed at the time. A great escapism story, with a sound, ghostly yet weirdly happy, resolution.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on this book!

I love everything about this book! Not only does it center around a gay protagonist photographer, it also has a small town feel, which is a trope I always love. When I saw that this book was coming out, the cover immediately intrigued me and I am so happy to say that it did not disappoint. It was creepy, mysterious and I really enjoyed the character development. This is my first book by Sam Miller and I'm looking forward to his future book as well. Thank you so much for allowing me to read this prior to it's release!

Y'ALL this was so freaking good. This book was well written, inventive and creepy. I never really found myself overly connected to the characters, but I think that was intentional. I think this is going to be getting a lot of buzz in the coming months and if it isn't already on your radar, you'd better put it there!

I loved this book. Reminded me of the novel Hex, which is a huge compliment. Hipsters vs Whale gods. Very well written. Funny at times, dark at others.

This is a story about loving our cages.
This book was well written, inventive and creepy. I wanted to love it because I love a good ghost story, but I didn’t ever warm up to the characters. That being said, the author can build a world like no one’s business, and this is definitely worth reading if you have any attachment to New York, or if you’ve ever loved & hated a place in equal measure.


⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .

Thanks #netgalley & #harpercollins for the e-ARC! The Blade Between is on sale 12/1/20.

Miller's The Blade Between is a haunting exploration into the concept of "home" and the things we connect to this idea of "home" i.e. trauma. Also at play in Miller's book is commentary on gentrification which Miller has written about previously in short stories. Akin to N. K. Jemisin's The City We Became, The Blade Between forces readers to consider the deeper meaning of place and how communities are living and dying beings.

I was excited to see a new novel being released by the author of “Blackfish City,” a novel I bought when it came out, always had intentions to read, but did not crack the spine. This means that I requested the ARC of “The Blade Between” on my excitement over the intentions of reading Sam J. Miller’s previous, acclaimed work. 

“The Blade Between” is about Hudson, a city with a rich history. This history fills the town with ghosts of people, of whales, and of the things that it used to be. Ronan fled Hudson as soon as he was old enough to leave, but now that his father is ill, he has come back to take care of him and his legal affairs. What he discovers is a Hudson that he does not recognize. The city with the local businesses have all turned into antique shops, art dealers, and hipsters. He meets up with his old friend and lover, Dom, and his new wife, and he hatches a plan to get the town back from the outsiders. “The Blade Between” starts as one man’s crusade to get his town back, but after a short time, the town has plans of it’s own. There is a supernatural force in this town, and for a story that could be a simple, city politics story, there is a second element to it that makes it engrossing. I can say that this supernatural force is all of the ghosts of the past, but this does not seem to be a fair assessment. There are just things that the town does that some of the citizens are not even aware of. The radio station is an example, playing whatever song is perfect for whatever listener at the particular time. So much of the city has it’s own agenda, and the characters are just merely the pawns. 

For the first half, I did not think that I liked this novel that much. There was something about the way that Ronan conducted himself that made him rough and unlikable. The novel never really shifts away from him much, but there are other characters and focused actions that kind of made me forget that Ronan is kind of a jerk. For not really liking it much, I did not realize that the novel was almost 400 pages long until the end. It did not seem that long. It reads fast and the story really was interesting and well structured. This might not be enjoyable for everyone, but there are some people that I will recommend this novel to. I just know that I now have to go back and read “Blackfish City.’

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting book that centers on what it means to 'go home'. The protagonist moves away from his small and small minded town at the earliest opportunity vowing never to come back but years later due to some unusual circumstances he comes home only to find that everything is changed. He then has to face the people he left behind and his own complicated feelings about his hometown. This novel beautifully portrays the many layered emotions that someone can have about their hometown, how you can both love and hate a place. Ultimately this just wasn't for me, it was darker than I imagined and felt overly complicated. This is less for scifi/fantasy fans and more for those who enjoy psychological suspense.

Going home means different things to different people. For some, it can be a time of joy, of happy reunions with family members, a time to connect with long-lost friends. For others, though, it’s the opposite: a return to the people and the places you worked so hard to get away from, the memories and the nightmares you tried to leave behind.

In The Blade Between, Sam J Miller explores the meaning of ‘going home’ when your home isn’t yours anymore.

This is the first book by Sam Miller that I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. The book unfolds at a brilliant pace, with engaging characters and expertly-crafted storylines. Rich, deeply woven history, connecting the ‘real’ world with the supernatural, it showcases the struggle most of us have with building towards a future while reconciling with the past, and making sure they’re both honored accordingly.

It kept me up at night, not because of the mounting tension or the horror or the other-worldly elements (all of which it has); it kept me up most nights because to the detriment of sleep or being productive, I just couldn’t put it down.

As a person who also moved far away from my small town, and then moved back as an adult to care for my aging father, I related a lot to this book. Well, maybe just in that way, and not so much the other things this protagonist did....but they sure were fun to read about.

The main character, Ronan, an NYC photographer, has returned to his small town upstate while drying out from a recent crystal meth addiction. He passes the time by catfishing, searching for blackmail material, and obsessing over his first love, who is now inconveniently married to a woman. I really enjoyed the tone of this book and the somewhat nasty, but funny and likable, protagonist.

The book is dark and the narrator is complicated...which is just how I like it. It's really well-written, extremely, original, super fast-paced and intriguing. A lot of books claim to be "unputdownable" - this one actually is.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Publishing for helping me discover Sam J. Miller. I will definitely be checking out his other books.

I want to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and author Sam J. Miller for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

I have not read anything by this author before, but WOW. What a phenomenal writer! The synopsis of this story really drew me in; I also am gay, left my little hometown, and then returned. I felt like these things would really help me connect to this book. This was a haunting read that pulled me under! I loved the divided perspectives of Ronan (a young, gay man returning home to care for his sick father), and Dom (a married police office who is investigating a group of mysterious deaths). Dom was also Ronan’s first love, so that brings in a whole new element to the story as well. This gave me some “noir-ish” feels, which I loved. I couldn’t put it down, and enjoyed the ride THOROUGHLY.

Thank you again to those named above for the opportunity to read and review this novel!

Haunting and heart-pounding, The Blade Between is another great Sam J. Miller novel! After his stunning debut novel, I was so happy to be given an ARC for his second novel. The Blade Between is divided between the perspectives of Ronan, a young gay man coming back to his home town to care for his ailing father, and Dom, a married police officer trying to figure out a rash of mysterious deaths - oh, and Ronan's first love. With sympathetic characters and a haunting noir setting in the river city of Hudson, this novel is a wild ride from start to finish and you will find yourself unable to put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.