I’ve been a fan of Tanya Huff since I first discovered her Vicki Nelson books back in my Forever Knight days, and her Quarters series back in my Xena: Warrior Princess days. She’s one of those authors I am always excited to see appearing on the shelves, so when I saw advance copies of Direct Descendant were available, I jumped at the chance.

I can honestly say this is one of the most unique stories I’ve come across in recent memory. The cover blurb promises cozy horror that’s creepy, charming, snarky, and queer all at once, but just how perfectly this delivers on all of that is delightful. It could have gone so wrong so easily. Seriously, coming out of the first few chapters, I found myself feeling tense, worried that the incongruous tones would become exasperating or infuriating, but Huff’s confidence, her unwavering commitment to the story, navigates any such pitfalls.

Lake Argen is a small town in Northern Ontario that’s equal parts Twin Peaks and Dog River, and to say it has its share of secrets would be an understatement. There’s something in the water (literally), a dead ground upon the hill, a mysterious basement, a remarkable silver mine, a coven of witches, and a quartet of servants of the Dark. Most everyone in town is related through the founders of the town, and visitors either find themselves keenly interested in staying . . . or finding it altogether forgettable.

The story opens with a magical sacrifice that promises dark (or should that be Dark) days ahead, but while that takes its time to develop, it shifts into a missing person’s mystery that introduces the meet-cute sapphic romance that pulls it all together. Along the way, we meet the residents of Lake Argen, including children who gleefully challenge shadows with silver-tipped skewers. It’s as bizarre as it sounds, but it all fits . . . all meshes . . . and all makes sense. By the time we meet the cute little tentacled beastie who may just hold the key to it all, we’re so committed to seeing Cassie and Melanie work out, we’ll accept anything that moves us deeper into the Dark.

Were this not cozy and cute, I’d say the pacing was a bit off, but really, it moves how it needs to, and the uneven pacing is more a result of genres mixing that any narrative weakness. More importantly, for a story to which horror and romance are so important, the relationship challenges are well-resolved and the climax – often a weak spot in the genre – more than pays off.

Direct Descendant is told in dual POVs. Cassidy is the first point-of-view we get. She's a resident of Lake Argen and someone with close ties to the town's ancient dark force. Early one morning, she witnesses someone make a ritual sacrifice and knows that something big must be coming for her strange, reclusive town.

Our second POV is Melanie, who is visiting Lake Argen to investigate the recent disappearance of a wealthy woman's grandson. That missing grandson was the ritual sacrifice that Cassidy witnessed, by the way, so things are complicated.

Further complicating this dynamic is that Cassidy and Melanie are both completely smitten with each other at first sight.

The humor in this book is great; I genuinely laughed out loud at a few lines! There is plenty of sillyness and funny references, but there's also some smart and pointed progressive humor. Melanie, in particular, has very strong opinions about the current harmful push of anti-trans policies.

While the book is being pitched as "cozy horror," it is light on horror, in my opinion. If you go in hoping for scares, you might end up disappointed; if you want something funny, dark, fantastical, and romantic, you may really like it. I'd recommend this most to fans who've enjoyed other books that blend cozy sci-fi/fantasy with light horror and gore, like Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell.

I really enjoyed Direct Descendant. It is smartly hilarious, with quirky characters in a fast-paced plot. Plus, there's an incredibly sweet and emotional Sapphic romance between the two main characters. I love books that defy genre labels, and this one blends a lot of my favorites together in a way that really worked for me.

I saw this cover and "cozy horror" and was instantly intrigued. Unfortunately the follow through left me wanting. The plot was hidden under layers of HP Lovecraft-esque horror but set in slow motion. Cozy keeps getting confused with slow and it's painful. I love cozy reads. The characters, the vibes and the pacing. But when a book advertises itself as cozy and then proceed to simply lack a plot it irks me.

Im also not a fan if "insta love" so it was hard for me to really root for the romance.
It got to the point where I skimmed this just to see if it picked up - alas it didn't.

2.5 stars rounded up
Thanks to NetGalley and DAW Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

For me, this didn’t do enough to really establish the world or set the right mood. I definitely needed more back story rather than just being tossed in to the story. I didn’t know what was going on for most of the book, and while the characters were fine they didn’t really do enough to stand out either. The best part of this was the Eldritch aspect, I thought those and communication with them was the ray of light that kept this book interesting enough to finish.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book but unfortunately could not get through the prose. Most of the time I was confused and the plot and characters weren't saving grace enough for me to care about them.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at DAW publishing for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Direct Descendant is a cozy horror novel that follows one of the children of the founding families whose real job as a baker is often disrupted by her duties to the Dark and making sure no monsters make it to this world from the otherside. Being the Mouth of the Dark is still somewhat new to Cassie, but her responsibilities are shoved forward when a visitor goes missing, possibly having sacrificed himself to the Dark. In this small, quirky Canadian town, the towns people know how to keep a secret, but what happens when Cassie's heart won't listen? Direct Descendant comes out on April 1st and is available for preorder now.

When I first read the synopsis for this one, I wasn't 100% sure that it would work for me. A lot of cozy is hit-or-miss simply because the tension and the stakes aren't ever fully there. The reason that I think this works more than others, besides the campy nature of the story telling and this small town and its residents, is the story finds tension in other ways. In certain relationships between a main character and a side character and in the relationship between our two main characters. There's also a moral question given Cassie's powers--with the ability to make anything and anyone do what you say, what's to keep you from abusing your power? I liked the town and how it truly felt like a small town. Everyone from a small town knows that the depictions aren't always right. But everyone knowing your business before you've even seen them for the day, the rumors, the town's one quirky guy that everyone knows and tolerates, the undertone of racism that the town was founded upon. The small town was done very well. I also liked the characters. I could easily see there being enough of a foundation for another novel in the future.

The parts of the story that I didn't enjoy do mostly come from the cozy nature of the story. There were stakes in the story, but it never felt like there were stakes in the story, if that makes sense. In the final fight, people were getting injured and bad things were happening, but none of it ever felt permanent or serious. And some of the things that happened in that fight sequence, did get reversed by the end of the novel which wasn't my favorite. The stories I most thrust upon my reader friends are the ones that hurt me and make me bleed (emotionally...or a paper cut I suppose) that just light a fire inside me to get the Good Word of the book spread. I also wish we had gotten a little bit more horror for our buck. It did have some elements of horror, but, for something that was pitched as a cozy horror novel, I was expecting a little more.

Overall, this was a good, quick read that served as an excellent distraction from the real world pain and grief I'm currently going through. I think it would be great for fans of the cozy subgenre in general. It's also good for fans of LGBTQIA+ romance and things that go bump in the night.

Direct Descendant is a cozy horror novel that I absolutely love, especially the cover, which made me request it immediately. I usually avoid horror books because I get scared easily, but I wanted to give this one a try. I really enjoyed the story. I liked the humorous tone of the story and the romance between Cassie and Melanie was so cute. If you enjoy small town horror stories with a bit of humor, I definitely recommend picking this book up. I will also be checking out the author's other books too. Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'll post my review closer to the publication date.

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it's worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.
Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it's a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute Pl who she might just be falling for...and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.
Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted Pl, and, yes, an ancient evil.


OH. MY. GOD. the last line of this book is what got it a four stars! i was going to rate this 3.5 as its such a fun read and really pulls you in but THAT LAST LINE GOT ME

Direct Descendant is a standalone cozy horror story from Canadian writer, Tanya Huff. I've been trying to read more canadian fiction lately, and this delightful queer story is set in Toronto and I just loved it!

Cassidy "Cassie" Prewitt is one of the four protectors of the Dark Force in her small town, Lake Argen. Their job is to keep strangers out. However, when one wanders literally into their world, and his wealthy family come looking for him, Cassie must work with a PI to stop an apocalypse from happening.

I've read a few cozy fantasy books, with Discworld and Legends and Lattes being my favourites, and I absolutely ate this up! Cassie is a part-time baker and part-time protector and it was a delight to see her PI, Melanie, try to work together to stop Armageddon!!! I loved watching the relationship bloom between the two of them, and I especially loved the Canadian-isms....

"Moose could be assholes" only in Canada!!!!!!

The reader is thrown into the story straight up, with the action happening practically from page 1. As much as I love a slow world building, I loved this even more!!! You eventually learn what the town is all about, and it was really interesting to read about the protectors and the Dark! Add wit, sarcasm and a healthy dose of romance and I was absolutely hooked!

If you love cozy fantasy, you need to add Direct Descendant to your Spring reading list!!!! It's the perfect book to curl up with, as we come out of the cold winter months.

A quirky paranormal romance story. Some dark elements but overall a fun and intriguing read with some good twists and turns. At times humorous and romantic as well.

3.5 stars

I'm not going to lie, I almost DNFd this book when I had no clue what was going on after 15% but I decided to give it until a quarter of the way through to see if it was worth finishing and I'm glad I did as it ended up being a lot of fun.

The initial issue I had with it (and the reason I couldn't give it a 4-star rating even though it was lots of fun) is that there was no real explanations about what was happening. You jump straight into the action, which is fine if this is accompanied by clear and understandable explanations that let you get to grips with the magic and the characters. The guest few chapters were more a stream of consciousness and all I could gather was that Cassie had some major shit going on in her life.

Things started to make more sense with the introduction of the second POV, who wasn't from the town so had no idea what was going on. From this point, Cassie's POV also started explaining a bit more too.

Once I knew what was happening, I was able to enjoy how fun and silly the book was. It really is a cosy fantasy set in modern times. While there's some horror elements, they're mostly daft so there's no real scare element. I also enjoyed the characters, all of whom were fairly bizarre in various ways.

The romance side of things was a bit meh. It was very insta-love with no real development but it was cute. You knew what was going to happen, but that ties in with cosy, which usually has a happy ending and fairly low stakes.

I would say once you make it past the initial 3 confusing chapters, this book is a good read. It kept me turning pages and I would happily return to the town in a future book.

So, I really like Tanya Huff; I grew up reading Tanya Huff, and while I don't know her as a person (hi Tanya, would love to chat someday!) I feel like I have a strong sense of the things Huff likes to write about and the tropes and topics she cares for.

About three chapters into this one I had the thought of, oh. This is a pandemic comfort write, isn't it? I did one of those myself, and at some point life is going so wild around you that you open a doc that's titled something like "Have fun with" and you throw in everything you love: whimsical small towns with weird people, eldritch horrors who are also cute and cuddly, big stakes but make it cozy, a whirlwind lesbian romance, and toss a climactic final battle in there. Make it all comfortable, though, because life is uncomfortable. When I got to the end and saw that this was inspired by pandemic-reading Jordan Hawk's Widdershins series (something I've also read all of) I think I said "Ohhh, that makes sense" aloud!

And viewing that as the goal, I think this novel works super well. It balances all those elements really nicely and makes something that feels like it'd be a lovely comfort read. It's quirky and whimsical and funny and sweet and the characters are really charming. I want to go live in Lake Argen. I'd live over the bookstore. It's that sort of read.

I think that it's a bit uneven in other ways. The dark fighting the dark felt like it wasn't fully explained by the end, and the relationship was a bit rushed; so much of the story relied on this romance to be sold to us, but because they were in lust so quickly and the entire conversation where they learned about each other was offscreened (in a "we talked all afternoon and I barely remember about what" way), I don't know if I could say what exactly they loved about each other other than their bodies. I would have preferred the backstory be given to us slowly by Cassie over the front half of the book more explicitly so THAT part could have been summed up with "I told her about x and y" and we could have seen more of them actually getting to know each other as people. I want to hear about Cassie loving Melanie's stubbornness or her intelligence or her care for children specifically because she *sees* it and hears about it and engages with it. Vice versa, I want to see Melanie loving Cassie's care for her community, and find her scattered personality charming. I believe these must be the things they loved in each other, but when we saw flashbacks or them thinking of each other, it was mostly to kissing or sex. And again, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with a sexy lesbian romance, but since the back half of the story leaned on it, I just wanted a touch more there.

But all in all, a solid read and I can see myself coming back to it as a comfort read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to DAW and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read. My first foray into cozy horror, as I tend to avoid any kind of horror if possible. I admit that I have never read any Lovecraft or eldritch horror, so wasn't sure what to expect.

The story was a little hard to follow in the beginning, as the history and background wasn't really explained until later in the book. But it was interesting and had some pretty fun characters.

The sapphic romance was sweet, if a bit insta-love. If you like the close-knit, small town vibe, mixed with supernatural townsfolk and sort of cute eldritch creatures, then this is for you.

Cassie Prewitt has fairly recently become the Voice of the Dark. She's one of 4 townsfolk who have a little extra from the Dark ... whatever the town made a deal with years and years ago for protection and prosperity. Now that deal seems to be weakening, due to an unexpected sacrifice. No one quite knows what is happening, or how bad things might get, and then a private investigator shows up which only complicates things further. Especially since Cassie really likes Melanie.

At first, it was very confusing figuring out what was going on. Eventually the similarities to the Long Hot Summoning series helped me figure things out. Things were much more enjoyable after that.

By the synopsis, Tanya Huff’s new novel, Direct Descendent should’ve been everything I was looking for in “cozy horror,” but, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. The humor didn’t land with me, at all, and it broke my immersion. I tried a couple of times to keep going, but I only ended up encountering the same issue. Ultimately, reading is subjective, so is humor, and Direct Descendent just wasn’t my cup of tea. As usual, I encourage you to check out other reviews and decide for yourself whether this book is or isn’t for you.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley, thank you!

Thank you net galley for giving me the chance to read and review this book. I found myself very confused in the beginning of the book. Once I started catching on to things the book was ending. The love interest happened very fast too. Overall I feel like the book could have been a little longer to help clear things up.

3.5 stars for this whimsical little book.

I thought I was in for more of a horror-esque romp through a small and strange Canadian town, but this was definitely more cosy than I expected.

Although saying that, I did enjoy the plethora of odd characters and the weird and wonderful goings on in Lake Argen.

Everyone and everything connected well, but I would have liked more back-story surrounding certain characters and aspects (Alice, Evan?)

The only thing I wasn't particularly sold on was the romance aspect. This wasn't even fast. This was instant, and maybe it was the town's influence, or maybe it was the author adding another element. Who knows? but for me, I'd have liked more build up to Cassie and Melanie's relationship.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

A very unique story, the plot was a little slow to start but the world building made up for this, immersive and fully fleshed characters, really enjoyed this overall and would read more by this author for sure

It took me a while to get into this. Not because of the characters or the dialogue, but just because of the world-building. I would have liked a bit of a back-story a lot earlier on in the story - even up to the middle of the book. We don’t really know exactly what is going on though until very close to the end when we get the history of the town. I felt that this part made the story come together and would be interested to read the book again now that I have that information.

I liked the characters and enjoyed the quirky secondary people. The offbeat humour might not be to everyone’s taste but I was a fan.

The story is a great idea - usually a town like this would be the backdrop to a complete out and out horror story and the main outsider character would end up burning it down to the ground. This went a different way and I was here for it.

I was very intrigued when I saw this labeled as cozy horror. Sadly, it wasn't good.
I couldn't stand the characters at all. At the beginning of the book, I was confused. Once I figured out what was going on, it became very repetitive. I have a great sense of humor, but did not find this funny. It just wasn't for me.