I overall enjoyed this a little more than Phantasma. I liked the setting and the characters and emotionally I connected with the characters more. At least in terms of what they were going through. The games and the effect of them on them individually. To me though the romance was not strong enough or believable enough to keep me interested if I hadn’t been so invested in the plot or the connections and working out what the secrets were etc. The sex scenes were enjoyable to read though and even though the “love” connection wasn’t believable to me, the “attraction” connection was very much so. I also vibed with the growing connections between the family and Vivi. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded an extra 50-100 pages to add more time with the characters getting to know them and maybe having more pov’s. The wanting more is what took it from a 4 rating to the full 5. 

Soooo my final thoughts... in probably too few words. 
I felt completely like I wasn't getting the goals of this book overall so have spent some time reading a few blog posts about this one in order to settle in on my feelings. 
I definitely don't know enough about the historical and current situations happening in Georgia, and that only became more apparent to me as the book went on, but then set in concrete when I read about the authors intent and general motivations with their writing. While I see the importance of literature like this I didn't get why the length of this. I love a chunky book, but so many readers that would benefit from experiencing these stories are instantly excluded due to the length. I don't feel it justified in this instance. 
Things I really loved was the change in pace and style here and there was pretty well done and used effectively. Downside is that the sections (prologue and part 4 or 5... memory doesn't serve me well here) led to me disconnecting with the characters because I didn't vibe with the change up. With this largely being a series of character study style narrative it wasn't a choice I think every author would make. 
Interestingly... I nearly always have a favourite character.. whether because I loved them or loved to hate on them... I don't with this one. All of the characters (except the male we didn't like the way he manipulated Kitty.. I have forgotten his name.. Alex maybe...), I had very visceral but varying responses to throughout and while I think this adds to the realistic nature of humans... in this case it didn't feel like they ever truly were who they were... more that they were characters that were who they were supposed to be depending on the moment and the happenings along the way. Other than stubbornness, there didn't seem to be any consistent personality traits. Maybe I am being too harsh here.
I absolutely loved the hot chocolate though. It kept me intrigued in the parts that I lost interest... I needed to know whatever we were going to find out about this dang hot chocolate! I have really enjoyed reading knowing I had a buddy with this one. I did have a couple of moments that I thought I might dnf... I am glad that I didn't!!! 
Finally... this was a depressing and intense read... but ultimately worth it in my opinion. I recommend reading this with a buddy!! 

I really enjoy the Mistborn world and this series has been a joyful experience so far. I love Wayne and I can totally imagine Wax and Wayne in a western cowboy saloon. I hope that the third instalment of this trilogy will give us more time with Steris. This one isn't quite as enrapturing as the first book but I already love Wax and Wayne so I'm still here for it! 

I chose to stop reading this book as the author decided it was a great idea to make being a rapist synonymous with personality disorders and psychopathy. Serious mental illness is feared and negatively stereotyped heavily and despite the statistics showing that people with these mental illnesses are not automatically people to be feared or criminals... authors that choose to lean into these negative stereotypes are just encouraging ignorance at best and prejudice at worst.

I really enjoy Jess Lourey's writing generally. This one was an interesting mystery and really had me creeped out along the way. Some creepy characters, unreliable narrator, interesting familial relationships, 80's vibes, and terrifying small town environment all had me generally vibing with this plot. However, it had one of my biggest annoyances... the use of language and perspectives that are prejudiced without any balance or calling out of it. I can accept the "language of the time" argument IF it is called out in the process, or at least a character that we are made aware that they don't like it. It kind of felt like the language was used without a conscious thought of it.. which is concerning to say the least. Having read a few books from this author though... I question this feeling because I haven't picked up on this in other books.

I have been wanting to read this for such a long time. It did not disappoint overall. I liked the dual time line and the mystery was fun to go along with. I really enjoy the language of the time except the references that are a choice to use. The characters themselves are evidence of this as they are always thinking about what the right thing is.