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Summer Sons

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Member Reviews

This book was not for me. And by that I don’t mean I didn’t like it. I mean i was not the target audience for this book. This book is a screaming cry for the gay men struggling and fighting for their identity. And it was wrapped up in a supernatural southern gothic horror murder mystery to get there.

The main character is painfully oblivious to why he is so so angry. And he is so very angry. His best friend dead, supposedly suicide, and he’s left behind gutted, confused and adrift in the world his friend had created for himself without him. You watch Andrew’s struggle unfurl as he’s figuring out not just what happened to his friend but what happened between them and it hurts you more than a little to think of the wasted time being afraid of who you are.

If I look at it as just a gothic horror, it was well done, though I could have used MORE folklore. I wanted more of the backstory. More take weaving and less mystery, but the mystery gripped you as well.

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I ultimately DNF this book at about a third of the way in. Found it absolutely tedious. The characters were flat and uninteresting. There was not one thing that compelled me to read any farther. I rarely DNF a book, but to plod through this one to the end seemed too much to bear.

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Summer Sons is a dark and creepy slow burn. It's a winding southern gothic trip through grief and love. The juxtapositions of race, class, and education level are done in an interesting and engaging way and play up the southern setting and culture. It felt very of a place in a way that only comes from an author that is writing about somewhere they really know in their bones. While the beginning was a little slow it was still an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the academic setting and the fact that academia was more that just a backdrop, it was interwoven into the story and helped propel the plot. I also like the variety of characters and personalities that made up the cast.

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I think I first became aware of this book in a weekly horror newsletter from Book Riot and immediately requested it from NetGalley. What a heavy, ominous ride it was – a fabulous debut novel.

Andrew shares a deep connection with his best friend Eddie and refuses to believe he committed suicide. He travels to Nashville for several reasons – to deal with Eddie’s estate and substantial inheritance left to him, prove Eddie was murdered, and attend grad school. Someone knows the truth behind the supposed suicide, and Andrew immerses himself into Eddie’s life to find answers. Soon, he’s drawn into late nights of fast cars, drugs, parties, and alcohol and learns Eddie hid plenty of secrets during their six months apart. Andrew is lost, drowning in his grief, and reaches for a lifeline wherever he can find one.

At its core, this story is about Andrew’s overwhelming grief and devastating loss of his best friend. It quickly becomes evident that their feelings for each other went beyond friendship, but Andrew hasn’t allowed himself to dig deeper and examine the true nature of their relationship. Several summers ago, they became trapped in a cave and went missing for a couple days. They weren’t alone in the darkness – something else was with them. It was a pivotal moment that significantly impacted their lives, but you won’t realize exactly how until late in the story.

Filled with eerie moments, regrets, questions of what if, and a family curse, Summer Sons is a dark, slow burn, Southern gothic horror story. Hauntings aren’t limited to places. This is an author I’m keeping an eye on.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I jumped from ARC to audiobook and back again. Let me say if I didn't have the audio for this I may have DNF'd it. It was so slow the first 50-70% of the book. BUT, I will say the narrator did a fantastic job of keeping my attention. This has all the drama of a dark academia book and all the weird and creepy of a southern Gothic you could want IMO. I would have given 3⭐ if not for the narrator. So that bumps it to 4⭐

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This book was very high on my list and I was so excited to get approved through netgalley! It started off very suspenseful, Andrew going to Tennessee after his best friend apparently committed suicide. Andrew is convinced Eddie did not harm himself and he will stop at nothing to prove it. Eddie and Andrew had planned on living together in the house Eddie had bought for him. Andrew moves into the house and into the bedroom Eddie has setup for him and tries to get to know who knew Eddie and figure out who had an issue with him.
I was very underwhelmed by this book. It was just a miss for me personally. The writing was great, but the plot was too much of a slow burn for me. Andrew, as the main character, is very unlikable. I will read more from the author, but just couldn’t connect with this book!

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"Lee Mandelo's debut Summer Sons is a sweltering, queer Southern Gothic that crosses Appalachian street racing with academic intrigue, all haunted by a hungry ghost." (Publisher summary)

I found out about this book on an August Tor.com article, "The Hills are Haunted; the Mountains are Hungry: Digging Into Appalachian SFF," and went looking for it immediately. It comes out September 28, 2021.

Andrew and Eddie were inseparable from childhood until Eddie decided to go to grad school early and kept making up excuses for Andrew to wait, then Eddie died by apparent suicide. Eddie is left to clean up the pieces and try to figure out the truth, but from when he first arrives in Nashville and picks up Eddie's car, he finds Eddie isn't *completely* gone.

There is some fun juxtaposition here between south and north, rich and not, academics and country (and some who seem to bridge the gaps - I've been in a Folklore PhD program and it's hard to picture those students racing cars and doing drugs but that is the world of this novel.) It also has a found family element that is pleasing! A great read for October if you're spooky.

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I think it was just a mindset thing for me, because I wasn’t interested. I went in expec info a horror book, and while there is a creep factor, it’s not to the extent I was sold on. And I just wasn’t connecting with the characters. Maybe at a different time, this might work for me, but not right now.

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Content warning: blood, gore, suicide, drug use and abuse, car accidents, emesis, homophobia

Andrew Blur lost his best friend Eddie in what looks like a suicide. But the ghoul haunting him suggests that there is something more at play and he’s determined to find answers, whether the academic establishment and newfound friend group Eddie found like it or not. This spooky read has a bit of everything: conspiracies, dark family histories, a mystery at its center, the full messiness of coming-of-age, and so much more. An absolute treat for those who enjoy hauntings and disaster gays.

The hauntings are terrifying and the book swelters in its atmosphere, but it’s the character journey we go on with Andrew that really makes this book shine. The way Mandelo uses ghosts to illustrate just how messed up the grief over Eddie has made Andrew really works within both horror genre constructs. There’s the terrors haunting him, but also the shitty choices he keeps making. (Although, one can argue that they’re more trauma responses than active decisions, but that’s a different discussion). Andrew seems to be chasing closure and healing to his own detriment, but luckily it’s hard for him to be alone in the chase.

Do no harm, but take no shit is a resounding chorus among our side characters. Riley is my favorite because he is not afraid to hold a mirror up to Andrew and make him take a good, hard look at himself. There’s a maturity in the character choices made throughout the narrative that keep both the plot rolling but also Andrew’s self-actualization. It’s super effective and hella heart-wrenching.

I’m also obsessed with the fact that the dark academia here has to do with actual academics. It just doesn’t happen to take place at a university. The process of onboarding for graduate school and the study itself is as essential to the plot as are the extracurriculars. It’s something that’s been missing for me in a few reads, and I love how prominent it is here. Each aspect of the book is used to its fullest effect.

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This is a very hard book for me to review. The story line is great. But, the majority of the book is sloooow. Thankfully the end portion of the book makes up for how slow it is.

I was able to listen to this on audio and I'm so thankful for that. I honestly may have DNF'd it otherwise. The audio added a lot to the feel of the story and I really enjoyed the narrator's southern accent.

Through the majority of the book you only gets small parts of the Gothic Horror and Mystery of the story. A lot of it is talking cars (which I like, but didn't feel added as much to the storyline) and trying to get their hands on lost research.

One thing I did love, other than the Mystery and Gothic Horror aspects was how much Queer rep there is. There were so many aspects and people in different stages of their sexuality. I thought this was wonderfully represented and it felt so natural and believable. Probably one of the best portrayals of discovering ones sexuality that I've read in a while.

I also really enjoyed the feel of the story. I got a lot of Ronan Lynch (Raven Boys) vibes from Andrew and the group. Also a little Adam Parish in the supernatural aspect. I really enjoyed that feeling as The Raven Boys is one of my favorites. So thank you Mandelo for giving me that feeling.

All in all, I would reccomend this one, just go in knowing it's a super slow burn, but the rep and finish line is worth it.

🔪🔪🔪🩸/5
Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

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This was an interesting book but I felt like it was just okay. This book had some good stuff going for it but there was just to much that I didn't like. The constant talk about and use of drugs in this book was just to much for me and is what really made me dislike this book. I don't mind a little bit of that but it was just to present in this book for me. Also the characters felt very dry to me. I just overall couldn't really handle this book. This is definitely a book that could and will be popular.

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Andrew and Eddie were best friends, bonded more deeply than brothers. But Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, a few days before Andrew will join Eddie in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew not only his entire family's inheritance and estate, but also a roommate he doesn't want, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge.

Andrew decides to search for the truth of Eddie's death, and he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trust most, discovering a family history soaked in blood.

First off, for a debut novel, it was a great and fascinating read. The way Lee Mandelo cleverly weaved together this modern-day, gothic story was creepy and satisfying. It was so great to have it set in the South, and I kept thinking of the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood while reading this. I thought the journey that Andrew had to go on to confront the relationship between him and Eddie, along with his own self-discovery was what kept me reading. However, the story itself was okay.

I'm still not sure if I understand what the curse was for Eddie and his ancestors (the curse was passed down to Andrew when him and Eddie were children). The reveal at the end was kind of a let down as well, I was hoping for something a bit more juicy than what we were left with.

I truly appreciated the wide variety of characters! Andrew and Eddie had this interesting friendship (romantic feelings that were never acknowledged when Eddie was alive), along with many other LGBTQIA+ representations! There was Andrew's new roommate who is in a throuple with a man and a woman, and then there's the roommate's cousin who is also on a journey of his own sexuality it seems.

Overall, it was a fun book to read, and I'm definitely looking forward to what Mandelo writes next!

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Summer Sons is an intoxicating read that sets the scene of a hot southern summer really convincingly. The realistic depiction of the queer community was refreshing, but I did find it hard to concentrate on some of the more action packed moments. At some points I definitely tuned out of the story and my attention wasn't held.

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4.5 stars rounded up. This debut is Southern Gothic - which seems to be fast becoming its own solid subgenre? - dark academia queer creepy goodness. I was slow to get started because honestly I'm a baby and I had to read it in daylight so couldn't really dive in all the way until the weekend, but then it really took off. Andrew was not a fan of his best friend Eddie starting grad school a term earlier than planned and without him. When the worst happens, Andrew starts the term as planned with a secret-not-so-secret goal of finding out what really happened to Eddie, convinced there is something more sinister at play and that his best friend didn't take his own life. He's aided by Eddie's new roommate Riley and Riley's cousin Sam and a ghostly apparition that clutches Andrew and won't let go. Thus begins a journey of literal hauntings and curses and pain and self-discovery and fast cars and codependency and legacy and messy queerness. I think this is going to speak to a lot of people, myself distinctly included, and I can't wait to see what else we get from Mandelo.

Content warning: death, violence, brief homophobia and homophobic slurs, drug use

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Five phenomenal, engrossing stars. Summer Sons easily shot to the top of my 2021 reads and has become an all-time favourite as well. A combination of messy grief, horrific haunts, adrenaline laced secrets, and dangers both phantasmal and all too real, this novel grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let me go until the very end.

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for an advance reading copy. All opinions are my own.

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‘For a moment, he hadn’t felt alone’

Summer Sons is a novel that pulls you in with its skeletal fingers and doesn’t let you go. It’s a petrol fuelled, southern gothic story that’s filled with fast cars, angsty boys and a plot that will make you reenact the Charlie Day meme.

What begins as a death of a best friend, turns into a slow, agonising decent of identity issues, grief & codependency. The take on being queer was something I’ve never really encountered before in books and I savoured it with each chapter. I can really see a lot of queer readers being able to understand and identify with the main character Andrew, in his pursuit of finding himself.

If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. It was eerie, spooky, there was moments that really frightened me, which isn’t easy, but it also had beautiful moments of boys being tender, caring and protective.

Mandelo’s writing, his prose, the way they were able to conjure such a beautiful, compelling novel that was also filled with such horror, dread and guilt has completely blown me away.

Half way through the book, I started describing myself as a SFS, Simp for Sam. I don’t think I’ve felt this drawn and infatuated with a book character in nearly a year, so thank you for that.

I’m actually quite upset that I’ve read it now because…It genuinely was a perfect book to me. The pacing, the setting, the characters, everything was perfect to me, and the fact that its a horror book that I can really relate to in the sense of being a gay trans man, has made me extremely happy.

I envy all the new readers who going to experience this for the first time. Savour it.

A huge thank you to Nightfire Books for giving me an advanced copy in the exchange for an honest review.

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3.5. this book was reaaaally hard for me to rate and comes down to personal taste>quality.

so i never read books of this genre, but ~queer gothic~ ofc i’m gonna be curious! i will say i tuned out of about 45% of this story because i found all the action to be boring. i much prefer romance & character interactions to action, which this book has very little of; however, the little bits of romance and character development given were FANTASTIC. like seriously, this book gave me in 10 pages what so many books fail completely at, which is a charismatic, electric romance paired with a complicated backstory of dead lovers, and an unresolved toxic poly trio that has a beautiful two-page-long climax.

This book does beautiful things with grief and loss, original character voice, gothic tones, and suspense. Had it had more character building and romance this definitely would’ve been a 5 star read for me. Highly recommend picking this up for anybody who is interested by this review!

As for TWs, i don’t pay attention to them normally as I don’t list them in reviews, so I don’t have a complete list; however I wanted to note there are mentions of slavery and racism both past and present, and some of the horror plots take place on a plantation.

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It’s officially time to kick off the spooky season, and I do declare that Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo should be your first pick. The book is part southern gothic, part paranormal mystery, and part dark academia set against the backdrop of prestigious Vanderbilt University and rural Tennessee. It’s hot and humid and confusing as all get out but it’s a strong 2021 dark horse pick that you should definitely consider.

Despite what everyone says, Andrew knows Eddie didn’t commit suicide. They were best friends, and each moment of their lives had been laid out perfectly in step. Eddie would never leave him behind. Would he? But Eddie botched their plan to attend graduate school together and went to Vanderbilt a semester early while making excuses to keep Andrew from visiting. It just doesn’t make sense. Now Eddie is gone, and Andrew is left with an extensive trust fund, a house in Nashville, Eddie’s wild(-ly attractive) friend group, and a ghoulish haunt on his heels. Andrew’s arrival in the leftovers of Eddie’s life reveals he didn’t know what his friend was up to, and the tangled mess of his death is complicated and dangerous.

Summer Sons is a slow burn juxtaposed with frenetic energy as a mystery slowly unfolds amidst Andrew’s outbursts and general chaos. At first, it’s incredibly frustrating. I just wanted to put the pedal to the metal and figure everything out. But then I realized this story was something else entirely. The paranormal mystery is just background noise. The real story is watching Andrew stumble along as he explores his trauma and grief. He’s (badly) trying to learn who he is now that his dependent crutch has been pulled out from under him. Mandelo dragged me through this story, leading me to many dead ends in my exploration of the path forward, and somehow found ways to push all my buttons. And it was a great experience because the storytelling personified Andrew entirely. It captured his energy, anger, confusion, and sadness. The plot is messy but so is Andrew, and I enjoyed Mandelo’s ability to place me in his state of mind.

Our main character is an absolute wreck of a person, and he’s hard to love--but that fits the story. Andrew’s sole motivation is to solve Eddie’s murder, and through that filter, he uses the people around him to accomplish his goal. He’s in a dark place, and it’s very evident in his erratic behavior. I cringed every time Andrew coldly dismissed people. And the horror of watching him ignore emails from professors and skip classes was nightmare-inducing for me. Andrew has an “act now, worry about it later” mentality, and his reckless behavior (from street racing to physical altercations) honestly had me hyperventilating. It’s uncomfortable as a humid Tennessee summer, but Mandelo does such an amazing job making you sweat.

There’s a lot to unpack in this book. I’d say it’s a coming-of-age story first, paranormal mystery second. There’s violence, ghostly possessions, recreational drugs, and souped-up cars. Then there are undercurrents of racism and homophobia rearing their ugly head. When I look at all the pieces individually it feels like several different stories. But Mandelo artfully combines all the elements, making it one of the most unique books I’ve read this year. Although I really enjoyed the immersion into Andrew’s character development, I found the paranormal elements confusing and the mystery a little lackluster. There is a really creative, spooky element that hovers over Eddie and Andrew’s friendship, but it never manifests fully. And I know I am hard to please when it comes to mysteries but there wasn’t a lot of build-up to whodunnit and it was pretty clear early on as to who it was. Where Mandelo truly shines is their ability to connect you with the characters, and that alone kept me engaged even if I didn’t find the other elements as interesting.

I personally was pulled in by Summer Son’s paranormal aspect but ended up staying for Andrew’s personal journey. I never quite knew where Mandelo was going to take me, and I’m pleasantly surprised with the end result. I think this book will be appealing to many because it can pull you in for lots of different reasons. So I encourage you to pick this one up and find which part calls out to you the most.

Rating: Summer Sons - 7.0/10

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4.5 stars

“Home is where Eddie was; home is nowhere, now.”

Andrew Blur arrives in Tennessee after the death of his best friend Edward Fulton. He inherits not just a vast fortune, but also a house, a roommate Riley, and a mystery.

Eddie and Andrew were enrolled in an American Studies graduate program at Vanderbilt University. Eddie started a semester early, and now he’s dead. After spending every waking moment together, even sleeping moments, Andrew wants to find out why Eddie was so secretive leading up to his death.

Summer Sons was difficult to get into at first—a lot of the first few chapters probably could have been cut and the story would have been more enjoyable. Once we get into the meat of the story and the mystery, it’s a fast-paced, thrilling story. I loved getting to know Andrew, Eddie, Sam, and Riley. It has been often labeled as a “coming of age” story, and it does have elements of such, but I believe it’s more of a coming to self story.

And that ending. Wow. That’s all I’ll say. You’ll have to read it for yourself.

Thank you Tordotcom, NetGalley, and Lee Mandelo for the chance to read this advanced review copy. Summer Sons releases on September 28th.

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*Disclaimer: I received this book via netgalley in exchange for my honest review*

It’s not often that I come across a book that is nearly impossible to review but Summer Sons absolutely hit that mark. All I want to do is keyboard smash and then, in big, bold letters, scream for everyone to go and read this book.

I honestly loved this book and was not ready to come to the end of it. The writing is fantastic, the imagery and characters making it so easy to get lost in the story. It’s the kind of book that sticks with a person.

***Potential Spoilers Beyond This Point.***

The slow burn build of the story and the wait for answers about Andrew and Eddie’s bonding trauma holds attention in the best, most infuriating way. The lead up to it all was interesting enough to quell the desire to just skip ahead, to find the answers.

It really gives you a solid perspective on how Andrew feels in his pursuit of the truth about Eddie’s death.

The relationships built between Andrew and the people that Eddie had spent his final months with are captivating and born of shared tragedy and grief, built in spite of anger and the dawning realization of a horrible truth wrapped in family curses and blood.

The haunting aspect is beautifully done. Heart wrenching and with a deep sense of unease, enough to make my own skin itch as if I were going through a shadow of that same experience.

Riley and Sam are a wonderful breath of life in stark contrast to the weight of death that clings to Andrew. The relationship between the cousins, the way Sam has protected and cared for Riley despite Riley’s protests over aspects of it is refreshing. It’s effortless and well executed, homey in the both the bickering and playful banter coupled with shared interest and pain.

Truthfully, if you want a solidly good read, please do yourself a favor and pick this up once it’s released. I promise, you will not regret it. As it stands, this is the best book I have read all year. It’s one of the best books I have read in a long while and I cannot recommend it enough.

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