This one was a little hit-and-miss for me. I'm not usually big on YA but I had been intrigued by the plot, but it reminded me of the issues I do have with YA.

5 stars and a beaming review! Pick this one up if you're in the mood for a spooky mystery Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jake needs an escape from reality. After overdosing his mother gives him two options: rehab or his grandmother's house in Alabama. Choosing what he feels is the lesser of two evils, Jake goes to Alabama after not visiting for over ten years. His grandmother had a stroke and doesn't communicate well, and there are massive meth dealers next door; add on top of it some researches excavating an old plantation on Jake's grandmother's land without her permission and you've got a recipe for trouble. When Jake starts to feel presences other than his own along with feelings that don't belong to him, what family secrets will he uncover? And are these secrets a threat to his future as well as his past?

Bury Me in Shadows is like an ogre, it has layers. Layers that you would assume would clash and make one mess of a book, however Herren is a master at weaving these unrelated layers into a multifaceted mystery. Hidden secrets from generations ago, organizations long thought forgotten, and self discovery are just some of the pieces you will find digging their hooks into you. Truly appreciating all the author has done would spoil the story for everyone, but just know this: the characters are second to none, there are more mysteries than meet the eye, and sometimes those meant to protect you are your biggest foes.

5 elated stars for Bury Me in Shadows, I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. Heavy recommendation for those who enjoy family mysteries, a good supernatural story, or even a redemption story. Age recommendation is 14+ as there is very adult situations Jake faces, but handled graciously by the author.

Bury Me In Shadows is about college student Jake who discovers the truth behind his family’s secrets amidst his personal struggles. There are ghosts, literally and metaphorically, in this story.

I thought the book does a great job portraying what it’s like for a young gay man to live in a rural Southern town. Jake is really naive at times, though that could be chalked up to his age. The description of the rundown, dirty home and secluded location made it feel even more suffocating. The book also explores oppression through a racial lens, where Black people get the same cold treatment just for living in that town. It shows how difficult life was for gay and Black people in the past, and how progress still has some ways to go even now.

The mystery is not as complex as I wished it is, and I wasn’t fully convinced by how the various storylines connect. I also felt the characters’ voices could be more distinct with less repetitive conversations. But I still enjoyed this book. It is a solid addition to queer representation in horror.

This book was just really slow for me and dragged a lot ; every time I picked it up I had to put it back down in less than an hour and couldn't pick it up again for awhile ; and by that time I forgot a lot of what I had read previously; so I finally decided to give up and not to finish. I'm sure people will enjoy it though it just obviously wasn't for me.

Really wonderful paranormal YA novel about family secrets and the toll they take. Love Greg Herren's two adult murder mystery series. Bury Me in Shadows continues his exploration of the deep South and the lives of gay men focusing this time on a college student.

hmm... I had a lot of trouble with the first part of this book. Perhaps it could be tightened up a little bit? There was some of it that seemed a little repetitive. There were lots of intriguing things introduced but I struggled a bit to hang on to the second half. The book picked up then. Good read. Interesting :)

2.5 stars
First you start off with Jake in the hospital for an accidental overdose of drugs and booze because he was depressed over his boyfriend breaking up with him.
Jake's mother gives him 2 choices. Go into a mental health facility or go to his grandmothers home, while she is dying, and clean out all the old records stored in the attic. (After I read the story....I think I would have selected the mental health facility)
Jake arrives at the home, in Alabama, and spends the next few chapters telling us how run down the house and land is. How hot and humid it is. How the house smells of mold and how he can barely breath because of the amount of dust. And that goes on and on for many chapters. Everything he touches is crumbling, dusty and molding.
And then Jake starts seeing and hearing things. Personalities start changing. Homophobia, murder and the KKK raise their ugly heads. It gets a bit strange. And during all this an archeology team is excavating the old ruins on the property. And the dying grandmother doesn't want them there.
Ok think about it. Ghosts, personality changes, old ruins being dug up and grandma doesn't want it dug up? What could it be.
I guess Im not a ghost story buff and I didn't care for Herrens style of writing. It felt more like he was talking to me rather than telling a story. And we flipped back and forth with his thinking of his mothers old stories about her childhood at the home. Just not my personal taste.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
I really enjoyed Bury Me In Shadows.
I was hooked quite quickly and finished it in 2 days.
It had a great spooky atmosphere and I love how it dealt with homophobia, racism and more.
I highly recommend this book especially with it releasing close to Halloween which is a great time to read it.

This book was quite a surprise to me. I chose it because the synopsis promised a good mystery and ghost story, but when I started reading it I found something very different (although yes, it does have a bit of that).
The plot takes place in a town in Alabama (for those who do not know, Alabama has very important places for the civil rights movement) where our protagonist will find a dark family history that he did not know, ruins that keep a mystery, visions of times gone by and the horror of finding yourself trapped in a prejudiced town where everyone seems to be your enemy.
First I have to emphasize that we are facing a very environmental narrative, the descriptions of the town, the smells, the climate, the sensations, everything is quite absorbing. I liked this detail because it helps to be transported within the story and understand the protagonist.
The book makes good use of both the location and the ignorance of Jacob to talk about many important issues: racism, slavery, homophobia, classism, etc., and it entangled everything in a paranormal plot. From this point I think that what I liked the most was that it is very anchored to reality.
The book has its ups and downs, some parts were a bit slow or repetitive, but in the end it ends up being a pretty good experience and in which I can ignore some details that did not convince me to enjoy reading. I really liked the book because of the way it is developed, I really enjoyed it, I give it a 4/5.

I went into "Bury Me in Shadows" with no expectations - I'd never read Greg Herren before, and wasn't even passingly familiar with his work. After reading "Bury Me in Shadows", I expect that to change. "Bury Me in Shadows" was an absolutely wonderful horror piece that fits pretty well in that nebulous New Adult slot - it's not quite adult horror but the protagonist is 19 and in college. I was hooked from pretty much chapter one when the country between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa Alabama is described - you see, I live in Northern Alabama. I know exactly the area that was so perfectly described - I know its people, I know how it feels in the heat, I know the ramshackle kind of old homes being described. And so few authors nail it. It's clear that Herren is familiar with the area, and has the same kind of hesitant warmth toward that I do - it's a lovely place, full of people set in their ways, and full of people who are more progressive toward the LGBTQ+ community. The danger is in knowing who is who.

Which is one of Jake's many problems: after a drug-fueled rager that nearly ends his life, Jake goes to live with his grandmother for the summer to help prepare her aging old home for her eventual death. Not only does he keep getting strange feelings every time he walks inside the house, he's forced to deal with meth-making neighbors, unsettling discoveries, and a potential love interest who isn't out of the closet. When a skeleton is discovered in the ruins behind his house, Jake starts piecing together some family secrets that may threaten his dull summer away from the city... and his life.

This book is a solid mix of horror and thriller, with a nice little dollop of who-dun-it. It deals with the homophobia, racism, and general atmosphere of a small, Southern town, but it also has characters who are friendly, progressive, or at least conservative-but-kind. In other words, the South of Herren's story isn't homogenous, but a mix of individuals. I greatly enjoyed the atmosphere of this book, as well as the relationships Jake develops as the story progresses. My only quibbles are that sometimes individual conversations are repeated (Jake asks someone: 'was growing up here hard for you?' three times; I think this was a minor editing issue). Additionally, I could see the "solution" of the mystery about halfway through the book and it was difficult having Jake not quite put the pieces together until later.

But all's said and done - what a spooky, densely atmospheric book! I really enjoyed my time with "Bury Me in Shadows".

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I will be featuring it on my Bookstagram before its release date.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc for the ARC of #BuryMeinShadows!
I tore through the last 60 percent or so of the book in no time but I just couldn't connect to the first 40ish percent. I could tell it was going somewhere interesting and I needed to get answers to my questions so I kept with it. I'm still left with some unanswered questions though and they mostly surround Dewey.

I deducted from my rating for the fact that it took me so long to connect to the narrative and because I found a lot of the narrative to be... repetitive. It's like the reader is supposed to be shocked by the fact that Jake's has visions even though it's already been well established that he has them. The shock value just goes away eventually. Of course, every new piece of information that we get on past events is something to latch onto but the medium is no longer something that needs so much emphasis. I don't regret reading this book but it won't go on my "I'll be reading this again" list.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58515628-bury-me-in-shadows

I loved this book! Bury Me in Shadows is perfect for fans of eerie supernatural mysteries. I had so much fun reading this one!

This book was simply amazing. Going in I didn't really have an idea what to expect but i was positively surprised by the plot. The book captivated me from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. It was original and thrilling and had a sort of eerie vibe to it that I loved.

I could empathize with and understand the main character Jake well. In my opinion he was an accurate representation of a young queer person that is still growing up and learning. The struggles he had to face as a gay guy in a mostly homophobic area were not glossed over which I appreciated.
Throughout the book I felt myself rooting for him. All in all he was a lovable character.

This novel is perfect for fans of the mysterious and supernatural. In addition to that people with a special interest in the history of America (more specifically in the Civil War) will enjoy this novel!