On the way home from a gay club they got into with fake IDs, Colin and best friend Ren have to take a detour to avoid the local jocks, and they come across a weird, white thicket they’ve never seen before that has a strange effect on Ren. Soon he’s acting different and hinting at a strange new crush he has, but Colin suspects there’s something very wrong about this new guys intentions.

This is Corey Liu’s debut novel, but he’s a screenwriter, so he’s not new to the story telling form. He’s currently based in Vancouver. This book is a YA novel, which has been described as Jennifer’s Body meets Heartstoppers, and I think that’s a pretty apt description. It’s written in the first person, with Colin narrating the story. While it is a horror story, it’s also about friendship and coming of age, and while I loved the scary elements, I’d say it’s on the less gory/intense side of things. (In case you were wondering if this will be too scary for you)

The tone and style of this book really struck me. It’s really bright and bubbly, quippy and youthful, and works to create a world that Ren and Colin share, with their own nicknames for things and their love of glitter and Sailor Moon. It’s very evocative of high school life and relationships, being sometimes sad and poignant, sometimes fun and adventurous. It’s a real pleasure to read, because you really feel like you’re spending time with Colin, in his world.

At the core of the book is Colin and Ren’s friendship. They’re best friends, both gay, and they support each other, tease each other, and know each other inside and out. It’s such a lovely, sweet relationship, written very honestly. It reminded me so much of my best friends in high school, and the secrets and crushes, in jokes we shared with each other, the playful insults, the routines. It’s a type of friendship that is so of a particular time in life, and it changes over the course of the book, as they come towards the end of the year. They both feel very well realised. Ren is fun, free, confident and very good looking, as seen through Colin’s eyes. Colin feels ugly, perhaps even unlovable, and struggles with confidence. I really liked them both, and I feel like the author really captured this kind of close friendship so well.

Colin and Ren’s relationship with the world around them is also a driver of the narrative. Colin’s mother appears to have abandoned him since he came out, and she’s always told him he’s ugly as a means to ward off the evil eye, which has deeply damaged his sense of self and how he sees himself in the world. He longs for romance and beauty, and feels like it’s beyond his reach. In contrast, Ren seems so breezy and confident, aware of his effect on men, but he has his own secrets, his own longings. And while on the surface his parents seem more accepting and loving, when faced with him actually dating someone of the same sex, it seems more like they were hoping that who he is was a phase he would grow out of. This is not something I’ve had to go through personally, and I liked how it was written in this novel. It’s nuanced and complex, and I felt like I could relate to Colin and Ren a lot.

Of course, the other side of this book is that it’s a horror story. After that night in the woods, they see something unexplainable, and Ren starts to change and drift away. Colin starts to ask questions, and soon he’s seeing a strange presence, injuries are happening, and an ominous voice is heard. The horror side starts off strongly, and then builds slowly. There’s some excellent spooky, haunting imagery in the story, and some dramatic events, as it leads towards the inevitable confrontation. It’s not heavily gory or intense, but I think as a plot line, it works really well, and is woven into the coming of age and changes of Colin and Ren. I liked it. I think it worked really well.

On the whole, I found this book amusing, witty, very relatable, with strongly written characters. I don’t read YA as much lately, and I loved this dive into teenage lives, it was a bit nostalgic for me. The horror was great, very spooky, and perfect Halloween season reading. I’m hope that Corey Liu writes more books, this was really good.

Read It If: it’s YA, so it should please that target audience, but as an adult reader, I liked it too. If you’re looking for something well written, spooky but also with a bit of heart as well, this one’s for you.

Thank you to HBG Canada for the ARC of this book for review.