Here’s the rest of my May books! Most of these were quite good, so do read on for which I definitely recommend grabbing!

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World by Kevin Christopher Snipes
Hide by Kiersten White
These Prisoning Hills by Christopher Rowe
Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin
Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour
Black Tide by K.C. Jones

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Milo and Marcos at the End of the World by Kevin Christopher Snipes
Published by HarperTeen on May 24, 2022
Pages: 384
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

When Marcos moves to town, Milo is forced to acknowledge the feelings he's kept hidden, especially from his religious parents. But as natural disasters begin to befall them the closer they become, Milo and Marcos soon begin to wonder if the universe itself is plotting against them in this young adult debut by playwright and creator of The Two Princes podcast, Kevin Christopher Snipes.

Milo Connolly has managed to survive the first three years of high school without any major disasters, so by his calculations, he’s well past due for some sort of Epic Teenage Catastrophe. Even so, all he wants his senior year is to keep his head down and fly under the radar like the quiet, well-behaved, churchgoing boy that everyone thinks he is.

Everything is going exactly as planned until the dreamy and charismatic Marcos Price saunters back into his life after a three-year absence and turns his world upside-down. Suddenly Milo is forced to confront the long-buried feelings that he’s kept hidden not only from himself but also from his deeply religious parents and community.

To make matters worse, strange things have been happening around his sleepy Florida town ever since Marcos’s return—sinkholes, blackouts, hailstorms. Mother Nature seems out of control, and the closer Milo and Marcos get, the more disasters seem to befall them.

In fact, as more and more bizarre occurrences pile up, Milo and Marcos find themselves faced with the unthinkable: Is there a larger, unseen force at play, trying to keep them apart? And if so, is their love worth risking the end of the world?

From debut author Kevin Christopher Snipes, Milo and Marcos at the End of the World is a new coming-of-age novel about finding the courage not only to love others but also to love ourselves.

“I’m going to prove to you once and for all that God doesn’t care if two boys fall in love.”

**TW for homophobia and religious trauma

This was such a lovely story! At first, I was a bit surprised because it is decidedly contemporary, and not really the apocalyptic fare I’d assumed. But that ended up being just fine, because I really fell in love with the story I got!

Milo has spent three years trying to forget he ever met Marcos. He’s also been spending those years denying any feelings he experiences, namely those that have to do with his attraction to men. He mainly sticks with his bestie Van, and his church crowd, and the denial has been… well I wouldn’t say it’s working, obviously, but he’s been existing, for the most part. But who pops up as the town new kid? Marcos, of course! Forcing Milo to deal not only with the hurt he faced when Marcos left camp without a word to him three years prior, but also the reemergence of the feelings he had for Marco, too.

I could probably spend a full year writing about why I am so seethingly angry at Milo’s family and church. But I am sure most of you get the gist. Milo has spend a large portion of his life feeling like he’s doing something wrong, that he’s “sinning”, just because he likes guys. Milo’s family and church should be thrilled that he is a kind person who contributes a lot to their communities. But Milo is doing everything in his power to make sure no one ever finds out that his feelings exist.

Easier said than done, of course. Marcos is such a wonderful guy, such a light, that Milo ends up forgiving him, and he and Van welcome Marcos into their social circle. Soon, those old feelings are back, and bigger than ever. But every time Milo seems to acquiesce to his feelings just a little, disaster strikes. Literal, natural disaster. Milo, because of all the absurd religious rhetoric he’s been fed his entire life, can’t help but think perhaps this is the doing of his deity, smiting both boys for loving each other.

The overarching message of this story is, of course, a good one. I’d not be enamored with this story otherwise, so you can rest assured that the religious trauma that Milo is going through is handled with care. Milo coming to terms with how he wants to move forward is obviously the biggest plot point here. He knows, despite his best efforts to deny it, that he will eventually have to either abandon hope of a future with Marcos, or come to terms with incurring his parents’ (and potentially his church’s) wrath.

And here’s the biggest thing to take away: no person should ever have to make those decisions. But they do, because a lot of parts of society are still complete and total garbage, and this is the unfortunate world we live in. My heart broke over and over and over for Milo and Marcos both. There are a lot of issues with both of their families (again, these are handled very well and delicately), as well as faith crises for both. I loved that they had Van to count on too, as she had already figured out the toxicity of the church, and therefore didn’t worry about the ramifications.

The ending was… a little out there for me, but still, the story as a whole was wonderful. It was a love story, yes, but also a great story about two young men growing up and being able to have their own agency.

Bottom Line: Absolutely lovely and heart wrenching story about… well, like the quote says, two boys falling in love.

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Hide by Kiersten White
Published by Del Rey Books on May 24, 2022
Pages: 256
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that.

It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

Well, I certainly had fun with Hide! It was delightfully messed up, and I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on and being on the edge of my seat throughout! The characters are a great mix of folks who have been chosen to play a game for the chance to earn some desperately needed money. The last person to be found in this dilapidated amusement park wins, and it sounds simple enough, right?

Oh, my sweet summer children, nothing is simple here! Mack doesn’t want any part in camaraderie, or even fun. She’s just there to get some money to get out of the shelter she’s been staying in, and move on with her life. The other characters range from innocently sweet and delightful, to absolute nightmares, to everything in between. And at first, it all seems easy to understand- two people a day will be found, everyone else will live to play another day. Only… the keyword here is live.

I loved how the author dangled morsels of the story for the reader chapter by chapter. You’d get a clue, then get thrown right back into the lion’s den, so to speak. And not only were we getting tidbits about the game, we were also gaining information about the characters themselves, which made me completely invested in the outcome. As I grew more and more sympathetic to Mack and her cohorts, I grew increasingly worried about whether anyone would make it out of this park alive.

The mystery that unfurled was highly satisfying, even if I didn’t fully understand a certain aspect of it. I also loved that we got to know the characters so well even during a thriller- that is no easy feat. The atmosphere was incredible, I could really picture this old rickety place, and feel the desperation and isolation our characters felt. As such, I could not stop turning the pages, very eager to figure out all the secrets and mysteries wrapped around the game, the park, and our unwitting “contestants”.

Bottom Line: Intense and full of secrets and mysteries, I devoured this one wholly!

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These Prisoning Hills by Christopher Rowe
Published by Tordotcom on May 31, 2022
Pages: 144
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

These Prisoning Hills is a post-apocalyptic Appalachian "weird fiction" novella by Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Christopher Rowe.

"Haunting and heartfelt, violent and vibrant."—Alix E. Harrow

Deallocate all implications,Fortran harrows all the nations.

In a long-ago war, the all-powerful A.I. ruler of the Voluntary State of Tennessee—Athena Parthenus, Queen of Reason—invaded and decimated the American Southeast. Possessing the ability to infect and corrupt the surrounding environment with nanotechnology, she transformed flora, fauna, and the very ground itself into bio-mechanical weapons of war.

Marcia, a former captain from Kentucky, experienced first-hand the terrifying, mind-twisting capabilities of Athena’s creatures. Now back in the Commonwealth, her retirement is cut short by the arrival of federal troops in her tiny, isolated town. One of Athena’s most powerful weapons may still be buried nearby. And they need Marcia’s help to find it.

I liked what I understood of These Prisoning Hills, and found the story to be really atmospheric and intriguing. I will also fully admit that I was lost for a not insignificant portion of the book. Both things said, I would still venture back into this world, especially now that I have a little clearer picture of what is happening. 

As the synopsis tells us, we’re in post-apocalyptic America, specifically, Tennessee. An AI has pretty much made a mess of things, but pockets of humanity remain strong and fighting. Our main character, Marcia, fought in the original war with the AI, but finds herself back in the fight. I liked what I got to know of Marcia. She was older, which was refreshing to see, plus it gave her a ton of experience for the task at hand. Obviously since it was a novella we didn’t get to delve too deep into her character, but I enjoyed what we did get.

The world itself was quite fascinating, and I definitely would be eager to learn more about it. The atmosphere was on point and definitely forbidding, and I absolutely felt the fear and desolation of the area. That said, I really had a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly happened during the war- the last one, and even the current one- and what the AI endgame was. But again, I’d definitely be up for more of the world and characters!

Bottom Line: While I was a bit lost on certain points, I also really enjoyed what I did understand.

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Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin
Published by Wednesday Books on May 24, 2022
Pages: 304
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Protect the girls

Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways.

Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia.

When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.

When I saw the tagline for Primal Animals, “Protect the Girls” coupled with the synopsis, I assumed we’d have some awesomely sapphic feminist anthem on our hands. It just… fell short of that for me, sadly. The best way I can explain most of my thoughts on this one is via the line I found over and over in my Kindle notes: “umm…okay?” That’s not to say it’s all bad necessarily, and I am sure it will work for some readers, but it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Let’s start with Arlee, our main character. Arlee… I don’t know anything about who Arlee is as a person. She just felt very bland to me. Maybe that is who she is, I guess, but I didn’t feel very connected to her. For a chunk of the book I didn’t like or dislike her, I was just fairly apathetic. I felt some sympathy for her, but that really wasn’t enough. She heads off to some Privileged Kid Camp™ which in itself is a little pretentious, but she doesn’t seem thrilled so points there for Arlee. She meets her cabinmates and they all seem a little leery of her, as do the others she encounters. Apparently, her mom is somewhat of an urban legend around camp, but Arlee hasn’t a clue why, for no one will tell her

But she jumps into camp with both feet, which is fine, nice for her to make the best of things. But she acts, by the end of the first night, that she loves all these campers with her whole heart, and ma’am, you literally met them yesterday, so. No real explanation for the very sudden change of heart, especially when so many of the campers seem to not want to be near her.

As the summer progresses, Arlee ends up getting an invite to join some kind of secret society, which seemed a little suspicious to me, but you do you, Arlee. She begins to develop feelings for one of the girls, and that is cute, this girl seems less vapid than the others, so I approved. Their relationship was one of the parts of the story I liked, so there’s that. I also will say that the whole atmosphere of the camp is on point- it feels unsavory from the start, and just devolves from there, so kudos to the author for that.

Eventually, things just take a turn for the gory and bizarre. That’s really all I can say. If you want a more detailed list for trigger purposes, please do have a look: View Spoiler »TW for murder of humans and animals, as well as gore and deceased body mutilation; sexual abuse and assault. « Hide Spoiler So, please understand that it is probably not for those who have trouble with gore. There is also some very casual/excessive drug use and alcohol use, which seemed a little bananas for a camp, but the Camp Powers That Be did not seem to care, so.

Basically, my biggest issue with the story was that I never understood why any of the events happened. Like- on a more basic, immediate level, some of the bad actions made sense. But the overall arc of the society doing messed up (very messed up) stuff for generations… I just never “got” it. I think on some level, it was supposed to be as… protection? Or perhaps revenge for past actions? But I don’t know how much I liked that either. I mean, sure, at least there would be reasons, but I find vigilante justice to be quite a slippery slope, and in this case, way out of control. View Spoiler »I saw a lot of reviews that seemed to be fine with the whole “killing rapists/assaulters” storyline but… look- if you are fending someone off and you kill them, well, that’s unavoidable and fine. And frankly, I am not particularly sure which message this story was telling. It didn’t seem to be necessarily justifying revenge killing, but for me personally, I am never about two wrongs making a right. Also, killing a rapist is one thing, but whatever the heck was happening here was a whole other thing. So.  « Hide Spoiler

Also, even by the end, I didn’t feel like I knew Arlee any better, and I even perhaps felt less sympathetic to her due to some of her choices along the way. I didn’t even really root for the relationship, mostly because I thought the love interest could do better. I could probably also mention that a lot of the side characters were rather unlikable- especially Arlee’s parents, but there were a few side characters at camp that I was moderately invested in.

Bottom Line: While the atmosphere was on point, and it definitely did deliver on horror, the characters and overall plot didn’t quite work for me.

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Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour
Published by Flatiron Books on May 31, 2022
Pages: 304
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The debut adult novel by the bestselling and award-winning YA author Nina LaCour, following two women on a star-crossed journey toward each other

When Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, she leaves behind not only the losses that have shattered her world but the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern. In her seventh year and fifth major as an undergraduate, she yearns for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but is unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena and embarks on an affair with the married owner.

When Sara catches sight of Emilie one morning at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But the damage both women carry, and the choices they have made, pulls them apart again and again. When Sara's old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose, they must decide if their love is more powerful than their pasts.

At once exquisite and expansive, astonishing in its humanity and heart, Yerba Buena is a love story for our time and a propulsive journey through the lives of two women finding their way in the world.

I have read a few of Nina Lacour’s YA novels, and they are quiet, yet lovely, much like Yerba Buena. The story, admittedly, started out a little slowly for me, as the author’s books tend to, likely because it took me a minute to care about the characters. I was sympathetic toward both women from the start, but as the book went on, I absolutely began to care about them.

We follow the two women through their teen years and into young adulthood, where they both go through quite a bit. Their stories lead us to discover how the women have become who they are today, but also how they ended up crossing paths and finding each other. The bread and butter of this story is of course the personal journeys of both women coming of age, and figuring themselves out. They must navigate friendships, first loves, losses, and changing family dynamics.

This is certainly not a plot heavy book, but if you are in it for character development and a strong focus on relationships (romantic and otherwise) then this is a lovely story to embark on.

Bottom Line: A quiet yet beautifully woven tale of two women finding themselves and each other in the midst of life’s triumphs and heartbreaks.

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Black Tide by K.C. Jones
Published by Nightfire on May 31, 2022
Pages: 256
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

KC Jones’ Black Tide, a character-driven science fiction/horror novel that explores what happens after a cataclysmic event leaves the world crawling with nightmares, will be published by Nightfire in May 2022!

A story with a cinematic feel, Black Tide is Cujo meets A Quiet Place.

It was just another day at the beach. And then the world ended.

Mike and Beth didn’t know each other existed before the night of the meteor shower. A melancholy film producer and a house sitter barely scraping by, chance made them neighbors, a bottle of champagne brought them together, and a shared need for human connection sparked something more.

After a drunken and desperate one-night-stand, the two strangers awake to discover a surprise astronomical event has left widespread destruction in its wake. But the cosmic lightshow was only a part of something much bigger, and far more terrifying. When a set of lost car keys leaves them stranded on an empty stretch of Oregon coast, when their emergency calls go unanswered and inhuman screams echo from the dunes, when the rising tide reaches for the car and unspeakable horrors close in around them, these two self-destructive souls must find in each other the strength to overcome past pain and the fight to survive a nightmare of apocalyptic scale.

The synopsis’s description of Black Tide as “cinematic” is spot on, because after finishing this, my first thought was “okay this needs to be a movie!” It was quite a ride, that is for sure, and one that I never wanted to put down.

We are introduced to Beth, who basically is a whole mess of a person. She’s housesitting in a coastal Oregon town, and finds neighbor Mike sitting in his yard. They spend a night together, and that is when things start to go awry. They head to the beach to try to figure out what the heck happened during the prior night’s meteor storm, and find themselves helplessly stranded, and at the mercy of some unknown entities.

The bulk of the story takes place during the day they are stranded. It’s just Beth, Mike, and the dog she’s watching, trying to figure out how to get back off the beach. They encounter a few people along the way, all of whom are trying just as desperately to get out of dodge. They try to board a boat, but who knows if this will keep them safe. Beth and Mike still have no idea what they’re up against- the most they can surmise is that some sort of creature is snatching people from literally everywhere and they’re goners. They finally see a police officer get taken, and they know it’s no joke.

While things seem hopeless, Beth and Mike are scrappy enough to keep on trying. And while they do, we learn a lot more about them as characters, which also really made me hope they’d make it out safely even more. They seem like such realistic and flawed characters, which makes their plight even more relatable- any reader could picture themselves, complete with baggage and inadequacies, trying their best to survive despite having no discernable survival skills other than the sheer will to live.

It’s a very tense and exciting book, and the more I read about Beth and Mike, the more desperate I was to survive. There are a couple of great twists that increased the stakes a lot, which I loved too. I may have wanted a few more answers at the end, but it was also really appropriate for the vibe of the story as a whole. That said, I would absolutely love to read more stories set in this world, because it was quite fabulous!

Bottom Line: High stakes, great characters, a chilling apocalypse… yep, this was my kind of story!

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!