Felker-Martin's truest strength, besides a knack for the most disgusting descriptions of broken teeth and flesh gobbets and piles of hair, are her characters; since starting it, the whole time I wasn't reading this book I was worrying about these children (to be honest I still think about Fran and Beth all the time too). These kids colored my entire experience with this book in a profound way and I'm sure I'll still be thinking of them all for months to come, which is great because it'll help me forget about the rushed-feeling last third of this book where they're all grown up and come up with a mildly preposterous plan to save the day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this story. It was a superior look at the horrors of conversion camps, religion and unhealthy family dynamics. There were moments in this book I was left truly jaw dropped. It was a crazy wild ride and I enjoyed it SO much!

I was so excited to read this arc after absolutely loving Manhunt! This story did not disappoint. I found the story original, compelling, and terrifying. It was certainly a difficult read, dealing with a lot of tough subject matter. I enjoyed the cast of characters although, I found myself having a tough time keeping up with everyone for the majority of the book. I felt the story jumped around quite a bit, dwelling on certain scenes that could have been shorter while not providing enough of others. Some scenes, I found myself a little confused of where we were and how we got there. I will say, this took me a bit to finish and, I think it would do this story justice to read at a quicker pace than I did. I got really strong It vibes from this book and I could clearly see the author's horror influences which, as a horror fan, I truly appreciated. A great, strong novel!

one part "nightmare on elm street" one part "it," gretchen felker-martin's Cuckoo is one of the most innovative horror novels of the 2020's. the book follows a group of teens who meet at conversion camp, though the horrors only begin there. soon, dogs with glowing eyes, doubles of friends and the dark woods that surround them force the group to attempt to escape.

despite the initial draw, there are long passages here that spiral into what i can only describe as word vomit. while this may add an authenticity to the point of views we're introduced to, each chapter bounces around so much in a way that makes it nearly impossible to understand who's POV we're actually reading from. that, and the inherent messiness of the novels prose make for a challenging read. however, as it goes along, felker-martin's prose gets tighter and so does Cuckoo. the final 100 pages are almost perfect, and i couldn't help but wish the whole book felt this way.

Set partly in a camp meant to "reform" LGBQTA adolescents, and partly in the grim world of 21st century America, this novel gives a horrific take on what might happen if such camps really did "re-form" their victims. Six teen characters take on not just the vicious "Christians" running the camp, but the horrific alien which has subsumed them. Lots of body horror to go with the horrific situation.

I had a very difficult time here- long sections of word vomit trying to sound other worldly, never a big showdown, and had a hard time at the beginning keeping the number of characters aligned in my head (jumping between 6-7 POV's took some mental strength to keep straight.) The story was there, I just think it got lost in the execution, time jumps, and ever shifting POV. I also would have loved for the Cuckoo to be explained a bit more- I had issue picturing it throughout from the text.

"He has breasts, and it's not fair that he does, it's disgusting, or it's beautiful, or I hate him, or something is very wrong."

Genre: LGBT Horror
Release date: June 11th
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: 1990s queer camp horror: SIGN ME UP is exactly what I said. The gore and descriptions were graphic and bold, staying true to the central message of it all. Homophobia and transphobia are explicitly shown and the people who SHOULD read it won't, which is unfortunate. It's a vicious and carnal conversion horror camp with raw emotions. Aside from the true horror mirrored from reality, it is a fun body horror book perfect for the summer. Do check content warnings on this one!

My dislikes: It was expected to read sex scenes, but it was done in too much disturbing detail; because they are kids, it just wasn't up my alley.
Part 1 felt extremely slow, and I understand why, but I think it could've been shorter. It also gets hard to keep track of characters sometimes.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC

Let me just start out by saying… I HATE deadlines when reading. I read a LOT of books and sometimes overlap. I should have prioritized this book before others because I’m halfway done and literally couldn’t put it down until the time expired and now I have to wait til release date to find out how it all ends. Gretchen has outdone herself. I was a fan of Manhunt but this one, in my opinion, has outdone that release. I love her representation she puts in her stories. It’s not forced, it’s just perfectly executed in this ‘camp to make you straight’ type storyline! I highly recommend this book for all horror enthusiasts

I didn't love this. It's heavily influenced by Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but to me it felt like a queer retelling of IT. In other words, I expected something a bit more original than what I got, and after so much hype for Felker-Martin's debut novel in 2022, I also expected more from the writing, but I found it overly descriptive - like there was so much going on that I couldn't actually figure out what was being described, particularly when it came to the titular villain. It seemed to be everything all at once, so I had difficulty picturing it.

Cosmic horror meets conversion camp! There’s so many characters and storylines woven together in this one. The story is heartbreaking and heart-stopping. Tons of great characters. Written with the heart.

I have so many thoughts about this that I can't even begin to string together, so here's a list:

-so many little references and head nods without needing to pat itself on the back for them
-sometimes queer survival is living and "resilience" is a joke
-probably the grossest book I've ever read and yet the grossness lies in how well it is written
-there are so many characters and head hopping but the alternative would be chapter POVs, no thank you and in the end they're all so good so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Okay. This one was wild, and I loved every single second of it. It was like a mashup between Stephen King's IT and Nick Cutter's The Troop. Definitely gave me vibes of both books, but now make it queer.

This book was what I thought Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus was going to be - also some similar themes, though.

I loved the horror. Its some really great body horror, which is why I referenced The Troop. The big bad was really big bad and there's this sense of dread that exists when not really knowing who your enemy really is - loved the evil entity in this one.

I loved the time jump in the middle of the book. The character development and growth was what sold me on this story. These kids are in an unimaginable situation as teens - trying to live and figure themselves out, all while dealing with this evil that exists in the world - both literal and figurative. They come into their own, and while it's not perfect and they're all messy, they grow and become comfortable with themselves - which I absolutely loved.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Couldn't put it down. Will definitely have to check out Manhunt, as well.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Tor Nightfire for allowing me to read and review this e-arc.

In the tradition of Manhunt, Cuckoo dives into harsh realities with poetic horror. The reader is thrust into the world of ‘conversion camps’ and all the yuck that comes with that. A group of queer teens must fight back against the ultimate evil! Throw in an 80s vibe and a definite nod to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and you have the recipe for a fantastic ride. Not to mention the Cosmic Horror vibes!

Some readers may be turned off by having so many POVs to keep track of, but I didn’t find that an issue. The constant rotating POVs kept me engaged with the story and wanting to see where it ends.

Cuckoo is an angst-fueled, kick-ass, character-driven good time. It will be available on June 11th, 2024, from your favorite book slingers. 4 out of 5 stars.

I loved reading Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin so I was excited to see another release by this author. The story covers a diverse cast of teens sent away to a conversion camp in the middle of nowhere. The group quickly discovers there’s something even more sinister going on around them as it seems something is taking over the bodies of the counselors. The first part of the book centers around their horrific and traumatic camp experience escaping the ever present threat of “cuckoo”. The last part of the book covers the survivors trying to put an end to the nightmare once and for all as it threatens to take more teens they care about. I would have liked to see the time after their escape from the camp a bit more fleshed out than the somewhat abrupt time jump. I appreciate that a horror book centering trans and queer characters was written by a trans author. Because of the large number of characters in this story it was somewhat difficult to follow at times however it only contributed to the complexity of the story. This book was weird, intense, emotional, creepy, and gory at times. I highly recommend this book! I will read anything Gretchen puts out going forward. Please check the trigger warnings before reading. Thank you Tor/Forge for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Just like with the author's last book Manhunt I went in expecting more than I ended up getting. Start with a good premise and just bombard it with preachy nonsense till only your friends can enjoy it. Not for me.

As with Manhunt, Felker-Martin does a brilliant job crafting queer horror where the true monstrosity is the various ways that bigotry and hatred suffuses people's bones and becomes a physical force. Genuinely challenging to get through at times. I'm desperately eager to read more of her work!!

I definitely liked the Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe here. I was also surprised and delighted that this becomes pretty full-on horror. It doesn’t stint on giving you some seriously messed up situations!

Readers sensitive to blood, gore and sex, may wish to tread carefully.

Where I struggled was with some of our characters. Many of them blended in so thoroughly that I wasn’t sure who I was reading at times. In fact, there’s one character who pops up later in the book that, while ostensibly in the book the whole time, I seem to have wiped from my memory! I mean they’re suddenly in the book, all the characters know them and reference them as being part of the first part of the book, and I’m completely blank. Even after finishing the book, I would swear that this character did not exist in the first part of the book! (Note: it is entirely possible that this is a me problem. Maybe my reading comprehension was off?)

It wasn’t just this character, though. Transitions between character points of view were a bit shaky here and there and caused confusion.

Overall, I did like the book. I just needed a bit stronger characterization to really engage.

• ARC via Publisher

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, to preface this, let me make it clear that I enjoyed Cuckoo FAR more than Manhunt. The beginning was incredible, the horror was much better this time around, and there was no Fran. (Thank fucking g-d, there was no Fran. My entire book club detested her LOL.) And also the cover? Stellar.

That said, many of the same issues I had with Manhunt are ones I had with Cuckoo.

I’m beginning to think Felker-Martin and I just don’t mesh well, stylistically; I dislike how short each POV is, making the book feel like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story. Just like in Manhunt, she absolutely fails at establishing the passage of time. It mentions around 65% in that the kids have been at the camp for literal weeks…but there is nothing suggesting that. If anything, it felt as though they’d been there for a few days. A week would be generous. I did a mental double take when I read the line specifying how much time had passed. Nothing felt in any way grounded in the progression of events.

There was quite a bit of whiplash at the start of the book, with characters being introduced left and right with little to no breathing room. And just when you think you’re settling in and have figured out who is who, there’s someone new. Each POV begins with action and at times it was hard to differentiate between the experiences of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, the action was great—Felker-Martin’s strength lies in heavy action scenes. The finale of Manhunt was incredible and she’s managed to improve her skills even more in Cuckoo.

Another strength of hers is in her characters. There are a ton of people to root for. Even some of the kids you don’t initially expect to like, you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat with worry over by the end. There were some moments at the end that actually made me tear up.

Which brings me to my next point: the kids.

*Commercial voice:* Hello there! Are you one of those lucky readers who read Steven King’s “It”? Have you spent the last thirty-eight years desperately craving more of the child orgy scene you happened upon in the crisp autumn of October 1986? Why, then look no further than Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin, where you can read bizarro drug-induced child orgy scenes in droves!

Okay in all seriousness, I don’t mind reading about teens having sex. Kids are having sex whether we like it or not; that’s just a fact. What I do mind is (and this will sound very petty)…Gretchen Felker-Martin’s sex scenes lmfao. There is something about them that makes me deeply uncomfortable. A prime example is from Manhunt (tw for rape here), when Robbie rims Fran’s unwashed ass while Beth lies in post-rape agony, bleeding and crying, like five feet away. Like…girl?? You haven’t had access to toilet paper in literal weeks, and you’re letting this stranger tongue you while your purported best friend suffers mere feet away from you? GIRL?? Absolute insanity.

Cuckoo has the same weird, gratuitous sex. It has it in droves. I’m not above begging for it to stop.

Another thing it has, is racial slurs. I’m 99.9% certain Felker-Martin is white, and I would consider myself racially white in the US, so maybe this is just my whiteness speaking, but the fact that there are so many racial slurs written plainly makes me…a little uneasy. You are supposed to dislike the characters using them and it’s explicitly a bad thing, which makes me FAR less likely to point fingers and scream, “racist!” when a malicious character saying heinous things is in no way indicative of the author’s own views. (In other words, I really don’t think she’s a racist.) But I think it should be stated so readers know what they’re getting into. There are racial slurs used in this book. Specifically anti-Japanese, anti-Vietnamese, and anti-Mexican ones.

Now onto the body horror. Can I say, yes please? Give me more, queen? The body horror (and the horror in general) in Cuckoo was exquisite. It was decent in Manhunt, but she’s really upped the ante this time and boy did it pay off. There were scenes and descriptions that made me actively sick to my stomach. (This is a good thing.)

So, did I enjoy Cuckoo? Yes and no. Will I read more of Gretchen Felker-Martin’s books? Absolutely, if only for more excellent horror. And I will be cringing at the weird sex scenes all the way through.

First off, thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for letting me read this ARC!

Cuckoo started off running and never really stopped until the end. This book had a ton of surprises and what the hell moments that kept it moving and interesting.

Was I ready for what the evil was? Not at all. It had a lot of elements from Stephen King’s masterpiece “IT” which I thought was a good attempt at writing something fantastic however, it fell short.

For me, what didn’t work was the amount of teen sex involved and the in-depth descriptions of it. I have never been one for copious amounts of sex thrown in a book for whatever reason and with Cuckoo, it didn’t really serve a purpose other than taking away from the story. I also don’t normally mind violence however, this novel had a lot of it and most of it wasn’t necessary in my opinion.

Character wise, I felt there were too many that we were supposed to care about and after awhile, it got bothersome having to keep up with who was who, who went through what and who was with who. I also didn’t really feel attached to any of them.

Lastly, the ending just fell a bit flat on me and didn’t really leaving me hoping for more. The novel came in at just over 300 pages which, isn’t bad however, for some reason, this novel read like it was a lot longer. Many times I thought it was going to end but it kept going.

All in all, the premise was great and the intro started off really good. The biggest reason I can only give it a 3 is because the amount of violence and sex weighed it down as did the many different characters which, made for a longer feeling read.

This was not my favorite but it had a great plot. But man, it seemed like a lot of characters which took me out of the whole experience. I didn't find a single character likable. I slogged through this...it took me over at week to read this 300-something page book, which is not like me. There was a sense of redemption at the end, but it wasn't really satisfying to me.

This one just wasn't for ME, but I know there are others that will really love it.