**Full review to be added closer to publication date!**

Summer Sons was a book that I found myself highly anticipating after seeing it being discussed around the book communities, and it has certainly been one of the more intriguing books I've read this year. I admit that I am still not entirely sure how I feel about this book, as half of me was honestly rather bored throughout it and found a lot of the characters/events a bit repetitive and not that useful to the plot, but then the other half of me appreciates that the parts that were done well were done *really well*. There were certainly a few tropes used that I am not a fan of, but there was also a ton of originality in this book as well. Regardless of the plot or characters, the writing style itself was beautiful and I am so impressed by Mandelo's writing skill and style, which was incredibly engaging to me. If you are looking for a depressive, dark, and moody horror-esque read, then Summer Sons is a great pick for that!

Summer Sons is an engrossing, genre-bending ghost story that is just as much about being haunted by regret.

This is an LBGTQ+ coming-of-age story intermingled with horror. It’s quite long, but I was enthralled the entire time because the story moves with a fluid grace with more than a touch of Southern Gothic flare. It is as much of a ghost story as it is a story about a young man coming to grips with his own sexuality and life choices.

The novel does a fabulous job showing how society can force someone to deny their sexuality. Andrew’s growing realization of how his internalized homophobia has denied him not only love but a true sense of self is very well done and quite heartbreaking. I think anyone who has had their sexuality repressed by society can understand his struggle.

That being said, Andrew is incredibly unlikeable. He comes across as this rather stuck-up, too-cool-for-you dude who is so self-focused he lacks empathy for others. He is obsessed, understandably so, with his deceased friend Eddie’s suicide, but there are so many times in the novel I was like, god, man, just shut up. Also, why is he constantly littering? Seriously, he’s always throwing garbage out the window or on the ground. It drove me nuts, truthfully.

The other characters weren’t as fleshed out. We only see them when they’re around Andrew, and because he’s so inwards-focused, we don’t learn a lot about them. We are left to extrapolate some things ourselves, which is fine, but the novel is very much about Andrew. Related to this, while the build-up tension towards the sex was quite well done, especially as Andrew begins to accept things about himself he denied before, I didn’t really feel their emotional attachment. We don’t often see Andrew and his intended at leisure - they’re either driving their cars fast, arguing, investigating Eddie, or on drugs; as such, I was surprised the novel put so much emphasis in the final quarter on emotions, as it felt more like just sex to me.

The supernatural elements were really well done. I wanted more of this as they were incredibly creepy and fascinating and definitely fit the horror genre. I wish some of Andrew’s story was interspersed with Eddie’s research into the curse, maybe as flashbacks or journal entries, as that would have added to the haunting elements and made it feel less like a metaphor for internalized homophobia (which I honestly thought it was for a while).

In truth, the novel could have used more ghosts and less young male angst, at least for me.

Regarding the male angst, this is definitely a novel about men, but I appreciated how the few women in the novel were treated. In some stories that feature men, women seem to disappear entirely. In this novel, it’s clear women still exist in the world as there are many background characters and some minor characters who identify as female. In fact, there is a small section dealing with the way women’s bodies are often viewed as disposable by men, and that was important to see in a story where women aren’t as present. I really appreciated how that was handled too. There is also a trans character who is not a stereotype nor is their trans identify their entire personality.

As someone who is into cars, and the original Fast & Furious was a big influence on my teenage life, I enjoyed the car racing scenes and it was one of the only areas of the story where I really connected with Andrew. There are only a few races, but they are told in a rapid, entertaining way that was exciting and fun.

I’m torn about the writing style. The novel has very fluid prose, but I found it too description-heavy at times; it often slides into being verbose. The book is very long for what is ostensibly a rather light plot; the story is much more a coming-of-age/gay awakening story versus a tight mystery, so if you’re looking for something like Mexican Gothic or Rebecca, this might not be enough mystery for you. In truth, the mystery/ghost story plot is a bit too obvious to be compelling. It ties together well and makes sense, and I really liked how the ghost was handled, but I can’t say I was blown away by any aspect of it, especially the climax.

That being said, the novel is really really good. It’s very compelling, it’s a compulsive read, and I definitely enjoyed it.

Southern Gothic meets queer romance meets ghostly horror meets street racing. Add in the insidious sides of academia, privilege, and toxic masculinity, and you have SUMMER SONS by Lee Mandelo. While I definitely liked all of these themes in theory, in practice for whatever reason not everything connected with me as well as I had hoped it would. But I definitely liked how it picked up about halfway through, and I REALLY liked the self discovery romance between our protagonist Andrew and local racing tough Sam. I think that the pacing was a little slow for me, and that Andrew didn't really pick up as a fully rounded out character until it was a little late in the narrative. All that said, I thought that SUMMER SONS had some good aspects and themes that it touched upon, as well as good questions about codependency and the damage that culturally valued hyper-masculinity can do to people.

This book was so promising. However, it really failed to grab me at all from the beginning. Through the first couple chapters the character was just mooding along about his friend's death and not a whole lot was happening.

This story focuses on 2 friends who are best friends through the years. They have an incredible bond. One friend dies and it’s hard to accept it.
This was a fast paced read. I read it in 2 sittings.
Thanks for this advanced copy of this book.

September brings you Summer Sons from Lee Mandelo, which is a haunting, slow burn of a novel that explores grief, loss, denial, and a hunt for truth set against an atmospheric backdrop of the humid heat of the south.

Summer Sons takes some of the characteristics you would find in a southern gothic such as flawed characters, the use of horror imagery, ghost stories, and secrets and uses them to create a layered and lingering tale. There are a fair few spooky and eerie moments, which becomes unsettling at times but that’s what can make a book go from good to great because it gets to you.

The book also attempts to show the darker side of academia and privilege, but the story isn’t all set on campus and it tries to straddle both worlds. Andrew struggles to attend college in the beginning as his primary motive in being there is to follow in Eddie’s footsteps and he is going round in circles and hitting deadends.

The pacing creeps slowly at first, but then it soon starts to drip with suspense and tension as both the reader and Andrew delve deeper into what Eddie left behind and try and figure out the people he was spending his time with. It is worth talking about these characters as I found that I started to like them more as the book progressed and where Andrew started to let them in, which felt very natural. Andrew is wary of everyone at first and so is the reader. Andrew is grieving, he’s confused, his head is not the best place to be in, it’s raw and straight-up sad at times. You have Riley as a roommate living with Andrew, wanting to help, asking questions, and encouraging Andrew to continue with Eddie’s research and academic path, then at night, there is Sam, who provides the party, the gasoline, the drugs, and the late night texts.

We need to mention the chemistry between Andrew and Sam, the CHEMISTRY:

“Sam Halse had cocaine and a fast car and apparently a goddamn death wish—inviting scabs on his knuckles, plus a mouth that could peel paint off a wall. The appeal was obvious // Andrew understood where the hook had sunk in because it had pierced straight through the meat of his cheek, too. He wanted to race Halse again, and that was a strange sensation: want. He also wanted to break his knuckles on Halse’s jaw.”

These men will be the death of me, I swear. I wanted to bang their heads together.

Yes, so I was hooked in from reading the blurb, but I found that there is so much more to find in the story that all weaves together. It is a ghost story (maybe both physical and metaphorical), it also becomes a search for the truth, about friendship, self-discovery, unpacking trauma, re-evaluating relationships and looking towards recovery. I found it to be a very memorable, and yes, haunting read and I am already looking forward to re-reading it again with new eyes.

I am not the only one to think this, but I would compare this to The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (one of my all-time favourite book series) perhaps not in writing style, but definitely because of the vibes and some of the characters. Think of the fast cars, night drives, and the street racing with Ronan Lynch in The Dream Thieves, and of the ghostly presence of Noah Czerny. I would even stretch to say it is similar to Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo in the way that the character of Eddie is similar to Ninth House’s Darlington in that he may be missing physically but is very much present and the reader finds out more about him through the story.

I’d recommend Summer Sons to fans of the southern gothic as well as those new to the genre, and I think readers who like a good mystery would enjoy this too. I’d also recommend it to those who enjoy character focused novels, as well as anyone looking to read more queer literature by queer authors.

Definitely worth mentioning a content warning for adult content including alcohol, drug use, drink driving, profanity, sex, suicide references, plus trigger warnings for death and gore and some homophobic slurs.

Summer Sons follows Andrew, after the death of his best friend. They were supposed to go to school together, but Eddie left first. Now Andrew is going to the school, to follow in Eddie’s footsteps. To find out why he died, because he doesn’t think Eddie would have taken his own life.

I struggled with Summer Sons, mostly because I expected this to be a horror book. It was described to me as a horror book, with Andrew dealing with hauntings after something happened to him and Eddie when they were younger. While that is partially true, it definitely wasn’t the main focus of the book, so I wasn’t in the right mindset when reading it. Instead, this was a book dealing more with self-discovery than anything else. Which is perfectly fine, when that’s what you’re expecting.

There is a solid couple of chapters at the end of the book, where it really gets into the meat of haunting, there’s some ghosts and haunts, some eerie parts, throw in some occult for good measure - basically, the ending of the book had me hooked. I just wish the entire book were more of the same, because that’s what I was in the mood for.
A lot of Summer Sons felt fairly slow paced, and Andrew meets all of Eddie’s new friends, introducing you to a range of characters, but never really fleshing any of them out beyond two cousins. The others all feel like name dumps, to make it feel like we know a lot of people in the story, without really getting to know them, mostly as red herrings or bylines as Andrew suspects everyone of who may have killed Eddie. My biggest issue with the lack of fleshing out these characters was West, both Andrew and Eddie’s mentor at the school. What could have been a really interesting character, would have small parts and then be pushed to the side.

As I said though, this is more a book about self-discovery. It is very queer friendly as characters come to terms with their own sexuality and realizations about themselves. I think this was reasonably well done, but it also felt like it was lacking. There’s a lot of nudges at toxic masculinity, self-hatred, struggles with coming to terms with learning their sexuality, but it sometimes felt like it wasn’t enough. It felt like it was tied together in a neat little bow of acceptance and understanding, which just washed away previous doubts. I would have liked this to have been fleshed out a bit further as well, because it felt too tidy to really embrace self-discovery.

Basically, Summer Sons had a lot of promise, but didn’t quite work out for me as well as I wanted it to. This may be due to it being described poorly to me, and I went in within the wrong expectations. For others who know more of what to expect, this might work really well for them.

TW: Suicide, Drug use, loss and grief, hallucinations.
I would like to say, initially, that I don't know if this book is for everyone, and that's okay. The story focuses on two friends, Eddie and Andrew, who have a deep and intense bond and who have been friends for years. When the story begins, Eddie has apparently committed suicide leaving Andrew to parse through the truth and the lies and the suspicions he has, in order to ultimately uncover what has gone on. There is also this theme of haunting, realized and internal, that I thought was really beautiful. I found myself asking, often, is this real or has Andrew not fully accepted that Eddie is gone? This story has many unlikeable characters in combination with a very dark, slow plot. I found the prose very interesting, if not a bit purple, but which conveys deep intense emotions so well. I think, though, that if you're expecting the 'horror' aspect of the plot to be delivered in a very gruesome scary way, you will probably be disappointed. The horror is very nuanced and gothic and suspenseful rather than in-your-face-scary. Overall, I thought this novel was awesome, but I do strongly caution anyone against reading it if they are unsure if they can handle the strong, intense themes of loss and grief as it was very distressing and saddening, and could potentially be triggering for some, especially with the talk of suicide throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Yeesh, sometimes giving an honest review is hard for me... when I just didn't like a book. I feel bad, because authors put their soul, their blood, their sweat, their tears into their work, and I hate feeling like I'm somehow deminishing them by giving a low rating.

Alas, I didn't enjoy this one. The characters weren't likable, even in the least. The story was slow, the pacing was off, and I just was bored for most of it. It hooked me at the beginning, but that hook was pulled out and left bleeding for the majority of the rest of the book as Andrew makes bad decision after bad decision, uses drugs, races cars, gets angry, treats his friend like garbage, and just screws everything up royally.

It definitely has a Gothic atmosphere that was rather enjoyable, and I really wanted to like it, especially with the LGBTQIA+ tags, but it just felt... meh.

I didn't like Andrew, I didn't like Eddie from what we learn of him, I didn't like the roommates. Heck I didn't like any of them.

Overall, I just felt like this was a time sink that I shouldn't have invested my valuable reading time in, and I absolutely abhor saying that out loud.

DNF at 25% This book just took too long to get going for me. Unfortunately the first 100 pages are Andrew grieving Eddie and being a gigantic ass. While I get that's part of grieving, I didn't know Eddie and therefore I couldn't feel that emotion with him. Instead, it was just boring and eye roll inducing him cussing at someone every turn. Also, unfortunately, the writing style I found a bit jarring. I might go back to it another day, but for now, not for me.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo is one of those delicious books that coast by on vibes more than anything else. Set in Appalachia, this is a story of love and loss, of mystery and ghosts haunting your past and present. Andrew is a young man in his early twenties, moving to join his best friend and adoptive brother Eddie at graduate school in Nashville, Tennessee. Except, Eddie’s dead. And Andrew has no clue what happened to him – although he is certain that it wasn’t the suicide everyone seems to believe it was.

Summer Sons by Lee MandeloJoined by a cinnamon roll of a housemate, Riley, whom he inherited from Eddie along with his house and research project, Andrew is drawn into a world of dark academia, drug dealing hotties (why yes, Andrew is very much a heterosexual man, why would you ask?) and strange happenings.

I devoured this wonderful book in just a few sittings and couldn’t get enough of this dark and addictive worldbuilding and the fantastically written characters. The tension between Andrew and Riley’s cousin Sam and their constant will-they-won’t-they while Andrew comes to terms with his own sexuality is electrifying and honestly one of the best romantic arcs I’ve ever read when it comes to chemistry. And this kind of strong writing and characterization is what makes Summer Sons shine. Add in a university setting, a mystery and ghost stories on top of uncanny events in Andrew’s life and you have a recipe for success.

My only slight gripe with the book was that I guessed some aspects of the resolution too early, which made the ending too transparent for my taste. But then, I’m probably a more avid and attentive reader than most, and ultimately, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole – the book is stronger in its vibes than in its plot.

An element that stood out to me as very strong was its treatment of trauma and mental health issues. Not only did the characters all deal with grief and trauma over Eddie’s death in their own ways over the course of the story, but the book ended with a rather incisive event which affects the main characters in different ways and significantly impacts their relationships with each other. This isn’t just glossed over in the quest for a happy ending, but even in the small amount of time remaining dealt with in a healthy and realistic way to give a satisfying conclusion to both characters and readers.

As you can probably tell, I absolutely loved Summer Sons and highly recommend it. I especially think that this is well suited for those of you who enjoyed Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo or A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor & Forge for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: violence, murder, death, suicide, gore, recreational use of drugs and alcohol, homophobia (including slurs), racism, misogyny, cancer, animal death, child abuse, body horror.


Andrew and Eddie have been best friends -- and sometimes, perhaps, more -- since a traumatic childhood bonded them together. While Eddie is off attending Vanderbilt, he's left behind Andrew, promising to bring him to their to-be-shared house where they'll both go to college and, presumably, spend all of their time together as usual. Something horrible happens, though. Eddie commits suicide, leaving behind a huge inheritance for Andrew, one that doesn't just include his family's old plantation house and a car, but also a frighteningly powerful haunting. Desperate to find out if Eddie really left him behind, Andrew begins to discover secrets that leave him wondering just how well he truly know the man he believed to be his twin flame and other half.

I struggled writing the summary for this one, as there's so much to it that so few words doesn't do it justice. Although this story is primarily about Andrew and Eddie, who share a fraught background and a sort of dark magic, it's also a rumination on the traditions of Southern Gothics and the occult. When I saw so many people comparing this to The Raven Boys, more specifically mentioning that the characters and relationships are reminiscent of my favorite of the boys, Ronan Lynch, I was thrilled to give this a try. For me, this novel was a full, even three stars, but I was slightly disappointed because I'd expected it to be something I would automatically click with.

Mandelo's writing is beautiful; there's no other descriptor that fully and simply explains the stylistic writing and lovely vocabulary at use here. However, in spite of this, I sometimes found it hard to connect with any of the characters. It was almost as if the prose came first, and somehow, its sleekness left me feeling a bit distanced from what was actually happening. The first 50% to 60% of this book was intriguing, but something of a slog, making it hard for me to want to pick it back up once I'd put it down. I don't mind slow-burns, but in this case, the pacing was off for me, and that had a big impact on how much I enjoyed the reading process.

Talking about the characterization, I have to say flat-out that I didn't like Andrew. Even his intense suffering over Eddie's death (and his secrets) didn't conjure up much sympathy for me. I understood that Mandelo was trying to show us just how caught up in each other Andrew and Eddie were -- to the point of outright ignoring and hurting others -- but it was hard for me to empathize with a man who blatantly uses and behaves cruelly to those in his life who love him. One of the characters (who takes a very minor role), Del, is a perfect example of Andrew's disregard for others: she obviously cares for him, and makes an effort to both be in his life and try to offer him advice and healing, but Andrew treats her so badly it honestly made me angry. There's also some casual remarks that Andrew makes in his narration that were misogynistic and, frankly, both frustrating and boring to read.

The worse part of it all is that the last portion of the book is actually unflinchingly painful and wonderfully realized. I began to like Andrew, and to understand him; the relationships he built with the other friends Eddie had left behind were touching and authentic; his coming to terms with his sexuality was sweet and frightening and real. The haunting, too, becomes more tangible; the end "twist" was not surprising nor original, but in combination with all of those other things, it was more than enough to make up for that small detail. The exploration of toxic masculinity was interesting enough, but it was the discussion of racism and the South's legacy that set this apart from other Southern Gothics. The haunted land, tormented by a past (and present) of racism and the pain and suffering of slavery, was well-done, although I think that aspect could've taken a larger and more important role.

So, an imperfect novel, yes, but with Mandelo's talent, I would be happy to read what they have to offer next. Some things in this book didn't work for me, but for a large part of people interested in this, I think they'll love it. If you like slow-burn Southern Gothics that touch on the South's bloody history, explore the pitfalls and beautiful things about discovering who you are, and how grief can control us, I'd recommend you pick this one up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor/Forge for an arc of this book.

Content Warnings at end of review.

After Andrew's best friend ostensibly commits suicide while away at grad school, Andrew is furious --that he wasn't with Eddie like he should have been, that Eddie's been keeping secrets from him, and that no one else seems to agree with Andrew that there was no way this was a suicide. Andrew goes to grad school and continues on the path that Eddie set up from him--inherited house, inherited roommate, inherited mystery--and throws everything he has into discovering what happened to him. The whole thing is further complicated by the power/curse that Andrew and Eddie have always shared: seeing and feeling remnants of the dead.

I loved every second of this book. I was immediately immersed in the Dark Academia aesthetic and in love with Andrew as a character. Something about his interactions with literally everyone else in the text really spoke to me. The other characters were also all so interesting and unique and I loved watching them interact like a dumpster fire with each other. Seriously, Andrew was constantly one wrong move away from accusing someone of murder? And then also enacting vengeance for the perceived murder? Amazing.

This book is also magical in an utterly disturbing way. This is like The Raven Boys but New Adult and 20x darker. I loved every bit of it.

Also Andrew's realizations about his sexuality were absolutely peak. Give me a protag that doesn't figure out they're queer until they are 24. I love it.

Honestly my only complaint is that this ended. I said it. I'm not taking it back.

Pub Date: September 28, 2021


Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Racism, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Summer Sons is the queer, haunting, sensual, and grief-shot southern Gothic dark academia that I didn’t know I needed as much as I did. Mandelo’s prose is gorgeous and thoughtful and this book has some of my favorite depictions of grief, masculinity, and sexual discovery that I’ve read in a long time. It’s a thrilling and fascinating read the whole way through and it’s entirely deserving of its beautiful cover. You don’t want to miss this one.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book!

I mean. I don't even know what to say. Talk about one of the best queer horror love stories ever. I cried so many times and was legitimately terrified during a good bit of it. Also. Fuck this book is hot. Like. REALLY hot. This book really is sex, drugs, and rockabilly with a fun Southern Gothic murder-ghost curse to spice it up.

The whole dynamic and arc that the reader goes through involving Eddie and Andrew. It's one of the most compelling things I've read in awhile.

The only thing I will say is I just didn't care for ALL the cat racing. Yes I know it was very important for Andrews character development, but I did find myself skimming through the race scenes quite a bit...

But if you're looking for something fun, spooky, and spicy then pick this one up, you won't regret it!

I went into this book not really knowing what it was about and it was SO GOOD. Southern gothic, dark academia, with street racing. Someone dies (murder?) and dumb boys are figuring out their shit, it was just all of the things that I didn't even know I wanted to be reading about.
This comes out at the end of September, which is just perfect timing, because it is a perfect book for spooky season.

Andrew and Eddie. Readers are not ready for the havoc this book will wreak on them this September. Part gothic horror, part m/m romance, part Fast and the Furious, this book is best experienced by just giving oneself over to the story. Andrew's grief over Eddie's suicide is so palpable that some readers will definitely find it difficult to read. It shows what happens to the people left behind in such a way that is impossible to look away from even though it stings so badly.

I will admit to some of the car scenes losing me a bit, but they definitely make sense for the characters and the story so it didn't harm my opinion of the book in any way. Andrew's exploration of his sexuality, as well as diverse cast of characters, makes this book all the more appealing. I think a wide range of readers will be able to see themselves in this book and that is so important. Finally, the horror is HORROR and there are some truly captivating scenes of depravity and terror. I loved it.

Part crime, part suspense, part horror, I really appreciated the wild journey of this book. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what was happening, Mandelo flips it around. A definite page turner and heartbreaker, it took me two months to even decide what to write about this book. In short, take a chance on this novel. It is SO worth it.

A good choice for a lgbt book, the struggle between Eddie and Andrew was well written and I eventually grew to like Sam and Riley. The actual plot with the revenant was really confusing to me though. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I could keep saying good things about this book forever. Summer Sons is one of the best books of the year, and I will never stop thinking about it. An instant favorite. Utterly phenomenal!

I’m sorry to report that this book was not for me. I didn’t care for the writing or the characters, the plot was alright but I really couldn’t get into it because the writing just wasn’t there