I really expected to love this one but something about it just did not click for me. It was a bit hard to follow at times and it took a bit too long to get to the really descriptive scary parts. The second half was great and the horror really delivered but overall it left me with too many questions.

The second I read that Gretchen Felker-Martin was writing about an occult film I needed to read it. Cuckoo destroyed me in the best way, and I love artifacts that bite back.

It’s a story about someone unmoored from their roots, who has made the safe choice again and again and been left empty as a result. But empty things don’t stay that way for long.

I… don’t even know what to say about this one. I read it in nearly a single sitting. There’s a lot going on here, none of comfortable or safe. It’s visceral, and awful, and I couldn’t look away.

Fast-paced and deeply unsettling, Black Flame explores the different forms that attempted erasure of queer people and their histories have taken on throughout the 20th Century, including when it comes from within. Felker doesn't catch quite every ball that she throws into the air, but much like the film at its center, it compels you further nonetheless.

Creepy, creepy, creepy. Felker-Martin's horror is always visceral and queer and heavy-hitting. In this book, Ellen restores film, and this particular film begins haunting her, forcing her to look at her past and present and decide what she really wants.

The Goodreads description has it as "for fans of Midsommar," and I feel that's a poor comparison here. (It also says "historical" which...I GUESS.) If you thought Midsommar could've gone way harder, okay, now we've got a starting point. (Again, I GUESS.)

Fletcher-Martin has done it again! This is a gross and disturbing book that I can't stop thinking about in the best way.

Holy cannoli, Batman! What the hell did I just read!? I don't even know what to say other than Black Flame was absolutely insane.

Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin was WILD! Excuse my friend but HOLY FUCK! I need more from Gretchen ASAP! I just devoured this. I don't want to give anything away, but you're gonna want to read this. STAT!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Traumatic, non stop, intense horror and gore, with an intense undercurrent of self hatred, passion and madness. I love the concept of a possessed film, and the attention to detail in the restoration scenes really grounded the plot.

What I liked
-Vivid imagery
-Genuinely disgusting and upsetting, I felt a wide array of emotions while reading.
-Vibey. Felt like scenes from a movie or a nightmare

What I didn’t like
-Hard to follow
-Was never sure if the non-linear storytelling was on purpose or if it was an editing error.
- I’m not dumb but I was definitely confused more often than not. The confusion didn’t feel like “my fault” and felt more like I wasn’t given enough context or information.

Do you want it?
More than anything.

This novel is a new favorite. This is deeply unsettling, gorey, and oozing with rage. I both loved and hated this because of the uncomfortable places it takes you.

It’s going to take me at least 2-3 business days to process everything that happened in this book.

As far as horror goes I think Black Flame does a good job of making the reader uncomfortable. The writing style felt very frenzied and panicked, even at the beginning. It took me a moment to situate myself in Ellen’s world and figure out what was going on.

The dynamic of fever dream and reality was engaging. I seriously had to stop a few times to figure out what was happening and what wasn’t.

If you like uncomfortable horror, I would definitely recommend- however I would strongly urge you to read your triggers! It’s dark dark.

Felker-Martin out-Barkered Clive Barker with this searing nightmare of a novel. Here there be monsters, gore enough to make me squirm, tragedy and triumph enough to make me cry more than once, and a sheen of celluloid cast over it all, erotic and queer and glistening and unflinching. I swallowed this one whole. I cannot wait to read it again.

This book ruled. I could not put it down. Do you like grotesque body horror, blood and guts, urine, clive barker, cool castles, haunted films? If yes. Then this book is for you. So cool.