This book is so lovely. Just, all around a very solid, enjoyable horror YA. Lutz clearly has a skill for building tension and knowing how to make her readers feel the dread and uncertainty her characters are feeling. The prose is pitch-perfect: evocative, lyrical, and descriptive without being overwrought. The language feels contemporary and accessible without being gimmicky, and the dialogue feels grounded in a vernacular that is recognizably Texan without being over the top about it. It feels like how my family talks, and that level of casual familiarity made the plot all the more terrifying. 

I was also really impressed with the chsracterizations in this book and the grace given for real-feeling, imperfect people doing their best in untenable circumstances. Everyone felt flawed, loveable, grounded, and complex. 

Plot-wise, a lot was very strong. The slow death of a town, the dusty, hopeless feeling of trying to fight for somewhere you love even though your ability to fight against systemic change is limited was such a true and realistic subplot to the cosmic horror plot that the pair did enhance each other really well. The eeriness of the Alvarado and the mines, the dreams, dread, and supernatural abilities all felt really creepy and cool. 

My criticisms of this one lie in the plot and its antagonist, however. I think this was a situation of getting a REALLY excellent front quarter, but once the cat was out of the proverbial bag, I think Lutz struggled to come up with ways to ratchet up tension that felt cohesive. I think there are a lot of noodles thrown at this wall, and some stick better than others. I think I needed fewer THINGS and more concrete, terrifying details of the things that already existed. I also felt the resolution wasn’t well conceived. I think the personal, character beats were flawless, but the actual solution felt more like a stopgap than a true fix. 

Overall, a really good read that left me feeling things and very much a satisfied reader, but it’s not perfect.