Roar of the Lambs is a fun YA queer horror romance, with a Black nonbinary author writing about a genderqueer teen and a Black girl, and a unique supernatural object that binds their fates together.

Do take care to read the content warnings. The publisher helpfully included them in the book and I saw another reviewer give this book a one star because it has transphobia and misogyny, specifically misogynoir, in it. But I liked the way this was handled and I don't think ownvoices authors need to only be writing in cozy, queernormative worlds, they need the space to write about their trauma and pain, as well. I'm just waiting for someone to write next that the use of they/them pronouns was grammatically confusing, but I never once found it a confusing form of address in this book.

Set in Buffalo, New York, Winnie Bray is a sixteen-year-old psychic who has learned to lie because it's better for business. An encounter with the town's rich kid, genderqueer teen Apollo Rathbun, leads her to a vision of a family heirloom hidden in her old house. She can't touch anyone without activating her sight, but she can touch Apollo. She rescues the box before Apollo's toxic brother Cyrus can find it.

But then she unlocks a mysterious, supernatural secret that has driven generations of Rathbuns to obsession and madness, and just may implode the world as we know it. But Apollo and Winnie have a special connection to each other and the box. I really loved their tender, slow burn romance, which was a large part of the book, and had a HFN (happily for now ending).

The chapters switch between present day and the historical encounters of the box with the Rathbun family. I never found the shifting timelines confusing.

I did wish that Apollo had come out to Winnie when they first met. It was awkward to me that she should immediately know their pronouns without even asking. I loved seeing genderqueer representation, though, and loved Apollo's character. The bad kid with a hideously green mullet who wanted desperately to be someone's hero, paired with the cynical liar who desperately wants someone to believe in them.

I still have no idea what language the box was speaking in as it whispered to people or what it was saying; I wished I had had a glossary at the end. It was just gibberish to me.

Overall I really enjoyed this very dark YA horrormance. I need more of these in my life.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Roar of the Lambs turned out to be quite a lackluster and disappointing experience. From the very beginning, I found it difficult to become fully immersed in the narrative, and as the story progressed, that disconnect only grew stronger. Although the author succeeded in creating a moody, atmospheric setting and there was some promise in the slow-building tension, the novel as a whole failed to deliver in a meaningful way. The pacing felt drawn out, with several sections dragging unnecessarily, and by the time I reached the conclusion, I was left underwhelmed and unsatisfied. The ending, which should have provided some sense of payoff or resolution, instead fell flat and lacked emotional or narrative impact. At over 400 pages, I can’t help but feel that the time investment simply wasn’t worth it. Overall, this was a 1-star read for me—disappointing, anticlimactic, and not something I would recommend.

Having read (and devoured) I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me, I was dying for a chance to read their next work. And I got that chance a little sooner than expected. It was definitely worth it. Right off the rip, I loved Winnie and Apollo. Their relationship made sense and the way they wanted to protect each other and saw past the image they each tried to project out to the world. Cyrus was exactly the character I expected him to be all along.

The horror was great. There were some genuinely creepy moments. And some moments that made my flesh crawl from the description alone. This book was everything I wanted it to be and then some. I throughly enjoyed.


Thanks to NetGalley and Fierce Reads for the opportunity to read Roar of the Lambs.

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the ARC!

This was outside the realm of my typical reads, but for a YA thriller, it was so fun to read. Winnie was an extremely compelling main character and I loved her

The world building and mystery elements to the story were fantastic.

I read this author’s debut and thought that nothing could top it, but this story did.

The overall pace was steady and never dragged, and I enjoyed every minute of this story.

Thank you to the publisher for the e arc!

If Buffy grew up in Buffalo, scammed tourists at an oddities shop, and stumbled into an apocalypse set off by a haunted bone box? You’d have Winnie Bray—a cynical psychic with actual powers, a golden heart she keeps duct-taped shut, and a talent for survival that’s about to be tested hard.

In Roar of the Lambs, the world is ending—not with a whimper, but with an echoing ROAR. Author Jamison Shea delivers a razor-sharp, speculative thriller dripping in atmosphere and dread, with a protagonist who lies for a living and a story that tells the ugly truth.

When Winnie touches the mysterious bone box buried in the ruins of her childhood, she sees a future she can’t ignore. It’s not just fire and blood—it’s her, tangled in a coming apocalypse alongside the glittering, powerful Rathbun family. Enter Apollo—suspicious, magnetic, grieving, and not here for prophecies or weird girls with too many secrets. But as the past begins to crack open like ribs around a hungry heart, both Apollo and Winnie must confront what they’re made of—and what they’re willing to lose.

🗝️ What makes it unmissable?

A queer Black psychic heroine with grit, grief, and claws
Twisty, slow-burning alliances with major don’t-trust-you-but-I-want-you energy
Found-family dynamics mixed with bloodlines steeped in corruption
That bone box? It talks. It knows. It wants
Horror that walks the line between cosmic and personal
Prophecies, pyromania, privilege, and apocalypse
✨ Shea’s prose crackles with energy—sharp and lyrical one minute, full of dread and teeth the next. This is a book about inheritance: what we carry, what we survive, and what refuses to stay buried. Winnie doesn't just face monsters—she asks what kind of monster she's willing to become to stop the end of the world.

𝙴𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
🌟🌟🌟
Roar of the lambs, honestly I don't know what I just read. I can't really tell you if I enjoyed it or not. I mean I had to enjoy it a little bit if I finished the book. But really I will have to do a re-read. I think I was just mindlessly reading this book and not really comprehending what I was reading.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

"If you knew the world was ending, who would you save? And would they let you?

Sixteen-year-old Winnie Bray is a liar. As the resident psychic at an oddities shop, Winnie truly can see the future. But her customers only want reassurance, and Winnie only wants their money. Favorable fortunes are a fast track to funding her way out of Buffalo, New York for good, after all.

But all of that changes when a vision sends her stalking in the remains of her family home that burned down in a fire 10 years ago. Among the ash and rubble, Winnie finds a box made of bone, untouched by flames and…whispering. At the touch of her finger, the box shows her a vision of death, chaos, and apocalypse, with her and rich kids Apollo and Cyrus Rathbun at the center.

Apollo knows their cousin is up to no good, and with the Rathbun family scattered to the wind, they know Cyrus is aiming to present himself as the new patriarch. Despite an initial attraction, Apollo is reluctant to believe Winnie. But soon it becomes clear that their family histories are intertwined, with the whispering, hungry box at the very center, and more than their lives are on the line. Together, they must discover the origins of the box and stop unforeseen forces from fulfilling the apocalyptic prophecy, or die trying.

From the author of I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me comes a speculative thriller about the ties that bind us to places and people, perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White and Tochi Onyebuchi."

Stay away from anything that whispers to you my precious.

4.25 stars

This was such a different vibe from Jamison Shea's previous published series, I Feed Her To The Beast, but it is still so recognizable as theirs. This just shows the extent of Shea's writing talent. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines. It definitely made the story more and more interesting. Winnie and Apollo are unique and so well written. I love how Shea writes these characters that are so obviously human with flaws, which can make them "unlikeable," but so lovable. It adds a certain level of relatability and believablity to a story that is not of the real world. I really enjoyed this and have learned that Jamison Shea has easily become a favorite author of mine.

Wow! Jamison Shea sure does know how to explore the darkness of humanity. I loved their dulogy and was eager to read this standalone novel. I loved the richly crafted world they created--the stark contrast between the haves and have-nots and the interludes of other characters' perspectives. Winnie and Apollo are characters who show growth, and I liked the romance between them. The end felt a little rushed, but overall,l a great book!

The characterisation, mystery, horror and world-building of this were great. Shea’s writing is delectably dark and brings these incredible concepts to life wonderfully. I just felt that the ending didn’t quite work for me.

Jamison Shea's third novel takes us into an entirely new world, told through alternating chapters from our two main characters. This structure lets us deeply explore their thoughts and emotions. I loved how the story moved not just between perspectives but across timelines, blending past and present in a way that added depth. These shifts give important context to the longstanding feud between the two families—those of our protagonists—as well as the mysterious external conflict surrounding Morning Star, the eerie bone-white box at the center of it all.

At first glance, it opens like a familiar story: a loner girl with psychic powers—Winnie—and a non-binary rebel from a wealthy family they never felt at home in—Apollo. Their meeting is predictable, sure, but watching their relationship evolve was incredibly satisfying. The story read like a modern take on Romeo and Juliet—two feuding families and a couple caught in the middle, ultimately pulling people together through their bond. What really set this novel apart for me compared to Shea’s earlier work was the character development. Winnie's choices and dialogue were grounded in her backstory—it all felt believable, never forced.

That said, the one part of the plot that did feel forced was the sudden POV shift to the human villain, which sparked a fight between our lovebirds. I just didn’t buy Apollo’s quick decision to side with his cousin after all the trust that had been built up. I kept thinking, This has to be a trick—they planned this, but no, it was just a convenient way to launch the finale. I really think Shea could’ve found a more natural way to get there.

Still, I quickly forgave the misstep once the ending started heating up. I devoured the last six chapters, staying up until 1 a.m. to finish. The conclusion was satisfying and didn’t feel rushed at all. The mystery of the box unfolds gradually, with the reader piecing things together alongside the characters. I felt like part of the investigation team, especially with Morning Star’s coded messages and the codex. I even used the key on Shea’s website to decode some of it—though I’ll admit, I skipped a few parts when it slowed the pace too much. Thankfully, Shea included translated versions of the heavily coded chapters, which I really appreciated.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book—even if it took me longer to finish than expected. It’s one of those stories that rewards you for taking your time, letting the mystery unravel as you learn alongside the cast.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fierce Reads for the opportunity to read and review this novel and share my honest thoughts.

his took me a bit to read as it was a bit convoluted. I found myself having to reread page after page . I’m not sure if it just was an early draft or my brain just wasn’t meeting with the writing style but it made me disconnect. I unfortunately was never able to overcome that and connect with the characters.

I did love the trans character representation as just a regular person and not focused on the characters transition. The book showed the dark and twisted social dynamics that can occur with the more financially privileged members of society. It interwove that with the supernatural which did excite me. Hopefully others won’t have the same issues I had.
I’m thinking I may look for this on audio come closer to publication as it may be a better experience.
I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Henry Holt through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My general rating system is below. Since I primarily read ARC books I rate according to how I think like minded readers will receive the book. I will round up or down depending on many factors and try not to let my personal wants affect a books ratings.

⭐️ Hated It but pushed through as so don’t DNF ARCs I have received.
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, content issues, poorly edited.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but it had something that stopped me from rounding up. Usually the book may have much more potential than what was given. I recommend it but with reservations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I Really enjoyed it or think others will. These are solid reads that I definitely would recommend for a variety of reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! These are books that remain rent free in my head for well after unfinished the book. It can be for a variety of reasons from being very well written or just the vibes that captured my mind. These books are also ones I would probably read again.

Roar of the Lambs is my first book from Jamison Shea and it has me so excited to go back and read their other books. This book is amazing!! It begins in a mine with an orphaned girl and the mine comes crashing down. Then it jumps to the present and follows a girl named Winnie. The story jumps back and forth between the present and the past through chapter breaks and also through Winnie’s visions.

Winnie has this amazing gift of seeing how someone is going to die. She can also see very intimate things that no one else could know about a person. She lies to people for a living and she is very snarky, but she is such an amazing character for me.

One day a bright haired person named Apollo asks if Winnie knows his cousin named Cyrus and it opens a whole can of worms when Apollo, Cyrus and Winnie find that they have a connection together through their family. Apollo is one of my favorite characters and is non-binary. The whole Rathbun family is very posh and rich. The book explores issues with race and queer representation as well as elitism.

I absolutely loved how balanced each element of the story was and around the halfway point, things started to pick up with some horror scenes. There is also a romance situation that occurs.

I love the big reveal at the end and how the story wraps up. I definitely recommend this book!

Roar of the Lambs
Jamison Shea continues to serve hit after hit!

Roar of the Lambs is a dark, high stakes, mystery thriller. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I requested this arc of NetGalley…and I’m so glad I got it!

This YA speculative fiction novel gave the right amount of eerie, jaw-dropping, and pear clutching. I love how Shea continues to influence the genre by highlighting queer characters and cultural themes of mythology and family dynamics.

There were a few times where I felt the pacing could’ve been better. I also think some dialogue feels forced and redundant. That being said, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of Shea’s other works and black-led thrillers and mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest review!

There’s so much to like about this book!

Let’s start with the outside of the book: I love the title of this book, and I love the cover. I found both to be really striking, and they certainly got my attention!

Then we get inside the book, and I have to say that this book definitely delivers on what was promised! I think my favorite part was the haunted box—it was giving eldritch horror vibes while also showing dark visions of the future, which was so compelling! It reminded me of the real-life Dybbuk box in a good way, so well done to the author on creeping me out with that element of the story.

I liked all of our characters, especially when it comes to our protagonists, Winnie and Apollo. While I think their relationship felt a bit rushed at times, I still liked seeing how it unfolded. And I liked how they complemented each other. AND I liked seeing how intertwined their family histories were with one another—in fact, I actually wish we got to see more of that! Apollo was an interesting antagonist, even if he was a bit mustache twirling at times.

I thought the dual timeline was really interesting. I liked learning more about the history of the box, and actually wish we got more of the lore behind the box. But the box was still one of my favorite elements of the story regardless.


Thank you so much to Macmillan and Netgalley for letting me read the digital ARC!

It's giving spooky. It's giving cozy. It's giving us *all of it.* This was my first book by Jamison Shea but it will not be the last.

Sixteen year old psychic Winnie Bray must team up with outcast rich kid Apollo Rathbun to stop the end of the world being caused by none other than Apollo's cousin who seeks to repair his family's once prestigious status.

I loved the dual timelines to flashback to the origin of the mysterious box at the center of the plot. It truly was the classic case of white people messing with things they know nothing about. As the story unfolds, we find Winnie's ancestors have been trying to save the world from the power of this box since it was discovered in a mine hundreds of years ago.

This book was so fun! I really enjoyed all the characters and the nonbinary representation was absolutely fantastic. I loved Winnie's character development and seeing her learn that her powers can be more than just a parlor trick.

I also absolutely loved the addition of the cipher that was needed to translate what the box was communicating. It was so fun to try and figure out on my own (the author does have some tools and a translation on their website if you aren't in to that).

The only negative that I can really think of is that the ending was a tiny bit rushed.

This had horrors within my comprehension and I loved it. The spooky feel to it really hits when you're cozied up and reading in the dark.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.