It's been a long time since a book hit me this hard.

Kirkus' description of Anyone's Ghost as "[a] dirtbag Call Me By Your Name" is perfect. This book really runs the gamut of tender, romantic, devastating, and grimy.

Taking place from the wilds of New Hampshire, to the busy streets of New York City, and ultimately a funeral in Texas, Anyone's Ghost is transcendent. Thompson brilliantly depicts the heart-wrenching experience of growing up rural and queer, the intimacy and confusion of one's uniquely close (same-sex) Friend, and the lifelong turmoil that can follow.

Jake and Theron are both deeply complex and nuanced characters, slowly unfolded throughout the story, told largely as a recollection of the past when Theron finds out Jake passed away in a car crash. Theron, having experienced two rather traumatic (but survivable) crashes with Jake in their younger years, is thrown into a memory spiral at the news. The journey -- through Theron's past, all the way to Jake's funeral in present day -- is emotional and raw and unsurprisingly resonant.

The fact that this is a debut from August Thompson has me so thrilled at the prospect of more from this incredibly talented writer. Thank you to Penguin Press for allowing me the opportunity of an advanced copy -- and f0r introducing me to an impactful new literary voice.

For a debut novel this was INCREDIBLE. The writing was spectacular, the characters felt like old friends or people I met at one point in my life and the overall story had me invested from start to finish. I INHALED this story. You can tell Thompson put so much of himself into this story, everything about it just feels very personal yet still fictional. I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of this once it's officially released!

I requested and received an eARC of Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson via NetGalley. I’m going to be completely honest and say what first drew me to this book was the cover art. It definitely stood out against the sea of cartoonish covers (not a criticism, just an observation) that I’m accustomed to browsing and it also works very well for the story contained within. I appreciate any book that is upfront about the fact that it isn’t about to offer up a happy story, so kudos for that. Anyone’s Ghost explores the relationship between Theron David Alden and Jake, the charismatic and slightly older boy he befriends at the job he is forced to take during a summer spent visiting his father in New Hampshire.

As previously mentioned, the author is upfront about the gloominess of the novel. The narrative opens with Theron observing that it took three crashes to kill Jake, two of which he was present for. This admission adds an immediate weight to the text that sets the tone for the novel but also stresses the importance of the friendship between these two young men. Through Theron’s adolescent insecurity, which Thompson does an impeccable job of capturing with his prose, we can immediately see why he is drawn to Jake. He is confident and attractive (at least to Theron) and represents everything the boy wants to be. Honestly, cue up the “My So-Called Life” theme because the introspection is giving Angela/Jordan Catalano vibes. I don’t necessarily see Jake as someone my teenage self would befriend (I also very rarely had male friends) but he is someone who really comes to life through Theron’s eyes. His presence breathes life into the narrative, softens the surliness of Theron’s teenage voice.

It’s difficult not to get invested in these boys and their well-being. There were so many times I wanted Theron to do a better job of protecting himself (emotionally) or push him to ask questions rather than accepting things out of fear or insecurity. I think I expected this to be a novel about grief, which has been a recurring theme in some of my recent readings, but that wasn’t what I got from this story. Instead, it’s really an exploration of bisexuality, the intensity of attachment, and male vulnerability. These are all issues that Thompsons treats with sensitivity and what reads as great insight. The writer also does an excellent job of presenting the reader with conflicting emotions in how we respond to Jake, allowing Theron’s confusion to become our confusion.

I really enjoyed this novel, even if I had mixed feelings during my reading journey. The characters aren’t necessarily likable, but their flaws, their moments of viciousness and quiet vulnerability, are what allow them to come alive on the page. Their words and actions elicit an emotional response that is brilliant, even when uncomfortable. Theron’s teenage yearning really speaks to this desire queer people struggle with in youth (and beyond) to be seen, recognized, and loved in our entirety. It felt very familiar and very sad. Even with the inevitability of the ending, I still found myself shedding a tear or two, both for those lost and those left behind. Thompson really lays everything bare on the page and it pays off.

Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson was such a fantastically good book that it's hard to believe it's Thompson's debut novel. It was an emotionally devastating but beautiful book and I will definitely be thinking about it long after finishing it. The writing was so good, I couldn't stop reading it. It kept my attention throughout the entire book. I really did like the fact that even though the characters weren't always 'likeable' you couldn't help feel for them. It was a tender story and I think this will be enjoyed by a lot of different people. I will be sure to recommend this to people looking for a story with depth.

Anyone’s Ghost is an emotional moving debut novel.A story that captured me fro the opening pages a story of missed chances lost love.Creatively written a book that stays with you will be recommending..#netgalley #penguinpress

"Anyone's Ghost" is a tender debut novel by August Thompson, beautifully capturing moments of emotional intensity and reflection. The love story of Theron and Jake unfolds with tragic beauty, reminding us of the passion and vulnerability of loving deeply. From the heartbreak of teenage years to the perspective of adulthood, the novel resonates with the journey of growing older and changing. It's a deeply relatable and thought-provoking read that I'm grateful to have experienced.

"Anyone's Ghost" presents a promising premise but unfortunately falls short of expectations. With a dragging plotline, excessive explicit content, and a lack of suspense due to an overly revealing beginning, it struggles to captivate my attention and uncover what happens next. As the story progresses, the repetitive chapters further dampen the experience, causing disinterest in the characters' storylines. Despite the potential, this novel earns a two-star rating, since it struggles to maintain reader engagement.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tough book for me. I spent 90% of it disliking all the characters while still being interested in the story. I'm not sure how that could be, but it was. By the very end, I had tears in my eyes and was sad it was over. I don't get it. I read the author's afterward, which I never do, and was touched.

You're either gonna love this or hate this.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

A really great book that sort of reads as a memoir. The characters were engaging and the story really held up on its own. I enjoyed it! Will look out for more from this author.

Such a gorgeous, haunting, impactful novel. I loved every second of this one and will be recommending it to everyone this summer.

This book is really concerning to me. There was some blatant misogyny in it, as well as some deep seated internalized homophobia and biphobia - that is never really addressed in the story.

Anyone´s Ghost is fantastic. The prose is excellent, the pacing is fast, the characters are complex and weird and relatable. It´s queer and vulnerable and dysfunctional, about men and addiction and violence and companionship. I´m reluctant to give details on the plot because I think it´s best to just dive in and experience it.

"Anyone's Ghost" by August Thompson is a touching novel that explores the pain of lost love and missed chances. It vividly portrays the sadness of not being honest with ourselves and others about our true feelings. Despite knowing the outcome early on, the story draws you in with its relatable characters and heartfelt emotions. Thompson's debut leaves a lasting impact, and I can't wait to see what else he has in store.

Anyone’s Ghost is August Thompson’s debut novel, a coming of age story about grief, surviving, first love, and coming to terms with who you are. It closely follows Theron David Alden, our protagonist and narrator, who spends the school year with his mom in Los Angeles and summers with his dad in the small town in New Hampshire where he grew up. It’s there that he meets Jackson Siegel – Jake – over the summer that he turns sixteen, the summer that changes him forever.

Readers go into this novel knowing Jake and Theron will be involved in three car accidents – the first two they survive together, and the third takes Jake’s life, fifteen-hundred miles away from Theron, nearly a decade after the two of them speak, really speak, for the last time. So it’s not his death that shakes us, takes us by surprise, but the slow, tender way that their relationship develops over that single, fateful summer, in between shifts at the town’s lone hardware store and drunken evenings spent parked at the local Walmart, Metallica and Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie soundtracking their lives. The way it shifts into something less corporeal, something solid, during a blackout in Manhattan. It’s difficult not to preemptively trace the path of their involvement in one another’s lives – though it’s predictable, it doesn’t bore. I sat up and read the second of this book over the course of four hours, cried my way through the final part, laid awake at 1:30 in the morning, unsure of how I was supposed to just…go to sleep after all of that.

To say that this book was good would be an understatement. It’s more like it completely rearranged me. Its reflections on love, on power imbalances, on grieving what you still have, on hesitancy to act for fear you’ll lose it all – all of it was so, so powerful. Theron’s internal strife, his inability in his youth to come to terms with what he feels for Jake, only later in life able to call it what it really is. It’s all what makes Anyone’s Ghost beautiful.

In the acknowledgements, Thompson thanks Metallica, The National (from whom I believe he nabbed the book’s title), Kacey Musgraces, even “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino, but it was the mention of Charlotte Wells, who wrote and directed the 2022 film “Aftersun,” that stopped me in my tracks and led me down (yet another) “Aftersun” rabbit hole. I know this book had to have been written before the film came out, but it’s not a stretch, I think, to be able to draw a connection – the protagonists of each living on borrowed time with their loved ones without really knowing it. I stumbled across an interview between the filmmaker, The xx’s Romy Madley Croft, and Document writer Megan Hullander, in which she writes that, for Wells, “joy and grief are inextricable,” and I think the same can be said for August Thompson. Many times throughout the novel, Theron ruminates on something similar, a string that ties it all together, that you can’t lose without having loved, that you can’t love without the promise of losing.

This also led me to a lot of listening while I was writing this review – to Metallica’s “Orion,” and to The National’s album High Violet, in particular. Almost every song on that album was a punch to the chest when I thought about it in connection with this book and its characters. From “Anyone’s Ghost”: “Didn’t wanna be your ghost / Didn’t wanna be anyone’s ghost / But I don’t want anybody else.”

Jonathan Safran Foer said this book will make you cry – and he was right. It’s impossible not to feel the emotion seeping out of these pages. The intimacy between the characters becomes an intimacy between author and reader. Their joy, rage, sorrow, wildness, all of it becomes ours. Anyone’s Ghost will haunt me for a long time to come. It’s out in July, and though I’ve recently become more and more hesitant to recommend books – I know we all have limited time, energy, and resources to devote to books we might not like, but fuck it. This book was so incredible, and I see it releasing in the summer to triumphant praise. It’s extraordinary, exactly as the summary of the book says. I’ve never read anything that made me feel quite like I did when I read this.

* Content warnings include: suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, drug use/abuse, death of parent, and cancer.

I really struggled with how to rate this book, as I felt like the writing, the dialogue and the ephemera was engrossing. While I believe that part of the point of this was to make me both love and become frustrated with Jake and Theron, at times this went a bit overboard and felt contrived. I also felt like the graphic depictions of bodily functions and sexual acts were excessive and there for shock value which made me less interested in Theron and Jake’s stories.

4.5/5 stars. I inhaled this and it made me cry so much. Anyone's Ghost is the story of three car crashes and two boys whose paths cross on and off throughout their teen years and early adulthood and how their lives affect each other.

It reminds me a lot of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (but a very adult version, read the content warnings for sure) in the way that it's written—our main character, Theron, is so introspective and wants so bad to belong. Very bisexual-coded coming of age (do I want him or do I want to be him?) and such gorgeous and heartbreaking depictions of grief and longing and shame and masculinity.

What kept it from five stars for me: too many drugs (maybe a personal thing, but there are SO many drugs) and while the prose was beautiful, at times it felt just a little overwritten.

Overall, I really loved it and it really affected me. Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Press for the eARC!

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

This one was a letdown, unfortunately. I'm not sure if I read the same book that the 5-star reviewers did? Because it just did not do it for me. Maybe the praise I'd seen for it had me go into the book with unrealistic expectations.

On paper, this book is everything I love -- a gritty story about longing, loss, grief, and pain, guaranteed to make its readers cry. Not only did I not cry, but I was just ready to finish it when Part 3 rolled around.

I really didn't connect with the characters, and when I DID connect with Theron, it was in very brief instances. Jake was not a likeable character. A liar, a cheater, and a manipulator. It was hard to root for Theron and Jake's relationship when they were so toxic for one another and their friendship itself felt unhealthy, unsafe, and so brief that its significance almost seems overinflated. It also commits the sin of "telling" and not "showing" when it comes to their supposed love for one another. It felt like I was supposed to believe they truly loved each other because we were told to.

The book approaches the topic of suicide, but does so in a very cursory manner for a book in which it is supposed to be an important element. Drug use was central to the plot, but the topic of addiction was barely explored. A book with this tone and this plot is an excellent place to do a deeper dive into these topics than it did, and it felt like a missed opportunity.

The prose and writing itself was at times quite lovely and impressive -- but the issue I had was that at other times it felt very contrived and manufactured.

By no means was it a BAD book -- it is a decent story, but the elements and components of it all just did not add up to anything groundbreaking or earth-shattering for me personally.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advance copy of the book in exchange for a review!

I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of ANYONE'S GHOST by August Thompson from a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and have a safe and happy weekend!

Engaging and immersive. This is a recommended first purchase for most fiction collections, particularly those with a penchant for queer litfic.

Rating: 4.5/5

Character Development:
"Anyone's Ghost" delves deep into the complexities of human emotions and relationships, offering readers a profound exploration of love, loss, and self-discovery. Through the characters of Theron David Alden and Jake, August Thompson crafts a poignant narrative that spans years and distances. Theron's journey from adolescence to adulthood is beautifully portrayed, capturing the nuances of his growth, insecurities, and desires. Jake, with his enigmatic presence and magnetic personality, leaves an indelible mark on Theron's life, shaping his perceptions and challenging his beliefs. The evolution of their relationship is sensitively depicted, offering readers a window into the intricacies of love and longing.

Themes and Exploration:
At its core, "Anyone's Ghost" is a meditation on the fragility of existence and the enduring power of human connection. August Thompson skillfully navigates themes of mortality, identity, and the search for meaning in a world fraught with uncertainties. The novel delves into the complexities of memory and nostalgia, exploring how the past continues to shape and haunt the present. Through Theron and Jake's experiences, the author examines the transformative nature of relationships, highlighting the profound impact that love and loss can have on the human spirit. As the characters grapple with their own vulnerabilities and desires, they confront universal truths about the human condition, inviting readers to reflect on their own experiences of love and longing.

Plot and Pacing:
"Anyone's Ghost" unfolds with a lyrical cadence, weaving together past and present to create a narrative tapestry that is both poignant and evocative. August Thompson's prose is imbued with a sense of melancholy and yearning, drawing readers into the richly textured world of Theron and Jake. The pacing of the novel is deliberate, allowing moments of introspection and reflection to resonate deeply with the reader. Each scene is crafted with meticulous attention to detail, immersing the reader in the characters' emotional landscapes and innermost thoughts. As the story unfolds, the intricate layers of Theron and Jake's relationship are gradually revealed, culminating in a climax that is both heartrending and cathartic.

Writing Style:
Thompson's writing style is luminous and immersive, infusing the narrative with a sense of lyricism and depth. The author's prose is richly textured, evoking a vivid sense of time and place that transports the reader to the rural landscapes of New Hampshire and the bustling streets of New York City. The dialogue is authentic and nuanced, capturing the complexities of human interaction with grace and sensitivity. Through his evocative descriptions and keen observations, Thompson creates a world that feels palpably real, inviting readers to immerse themselves fully in the lives of his characters.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, "Anyone's Ghost" is a beautifully crafted novel that resonates on both an emotional and intellectual level. August Thompson's masterful storytelling, rich character development, and evocative prose make this novel a standout in contemporary fiction. Whether exploring themes of love, loss, or the passage of time, Thompson's narrative is infused with a sense of profound humanity and authenticity. "Anyone's Ghost" is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling to illuminate the depths of the human experience, offering readers a poignant and unforgettable journey through the landscapes of memory, desire, and longing.