This book was ok, though I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this book. 

You could tell it was a debut book. It was well written but the execution of the idea wasn’t what I would have expected. It took me well over 100 pages to really get any interest in this book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. One of the three main character perspectives didn’t really make sense, didn’t really add anything to the story, and took up almost a 1/3 of the book. The interactions between Kai and Miya were fun with him being the grumpy lover and Miya being “sunshine” in that trope. I plan to read the second book in the duology to see where the story goes. I don’t know that I would call this the horror genre either. It’s more mild creepy than scary. And the mystery didn’t really have any surprising or truly engrossing parts or reveals, which is disappointing for what is supposed to be the centerpiece of the story.

I received this book as an ARC. The book summary was interesting but I didn’t like the execution. The story jumped all over the place, there wasn’t much of a plot. The MC is a fourteen year old boy and the thought process was not at all how a 14 year old boy would think, speak or react. I don’t know a single 14 year old that would use the term “akimbo” once, let alone multiple times throughout the book, nor would they use the phrase “explication panels”. Almost all the characters felt flat and there were several scenes with heavier topics that were just hard to get through because of the writing style and how the scene was being processed.

2.5 stars, rounded down.