Scream meets Clueless in this YA horror from Adam Sass in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when a serial killer starts targeting their school’s Queer Club.
Dearie and Cole are inseparable, unlikeable, and (in bad luck for them) totally unbelievable.
From the day they met, Dearie and Cole have been two against the world. But whenever something bad happens at Stone Grove High School, they get blamed. Why? They’re beautiful, flirtatious, dangerously clever queen bees, and they’re always ready to call out their fellow students. But they’ve never faced a bigger threat than surviving senior year, when Mr. Sandman, a famous, never-caught serial killer emerges from a long retirement—and his hunting ground is their school Queer Club.
As evidence and bodies begin piling up and suspicion points at Dearie and Cole, they will need to do whatever it takes to unmask the real killer before they and the rest of Queer Club are taken down. But they’re not getting away from the killer without a fight.
Along the way, they must confront dark truths hidden beneath the surface of their small desert community. When the world is stacked against them and every flop they know is a suspect, can Dearie and Cole stop Mr. Sandman’s rampage? Or will their lonely nights soon be over . . .
THE FACTS
📕 character driven plot
📘 lots of action
📙 unique, authentic queer characters
📗 horror! (That’s enough of a good thing for me!)
THE GOOD BITS
Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass is my favourite read of this summer! Now, I know you’ll have to wait until September 12, but it will be worth it.
If I had to describe this book, I would say it’s a lot of Scream with a dash of Heathers. If you’re not old enough to remember those movies… then this book is for you! If you are old enough – you’ll love it.
If you’re lonely… you may be murdered by the Sandman. What is more terrifying than being dumped, being told you are not “the one” that someone wants in their life… being single or dumped when there is a serial killer who is preying on lonely queer people!
At its core, this book is a murder mystery/slasher story…but there is a lot going on beneath the surface. The story is told from two points of view; that of Frankie Dearie and Cole Cardoso. First, I cannot say enough about these two characters. Thank you, Adam Sass. It’s about time I got to read two queer characters that are this individual, realistic and have substance. And they can love one another and be friends and it isn’t a romance. And I am in love with their best-friending. I have been needing mold-breaking characters like these for a while.
Now, even though this is a serial killer mystery. The most important theme is loneliness, queer loneliness in particular. This is important. Queer folks can be lonely in a unique way… and this book explores many of the ways people can be lonely. I loved this. Adam approached this subject in a caring and intelligent way. There’s no feeling sorry for folks, but boy do some of the situations in this book hit home. These characters are truly individuals, and I loved the way they were so different from one another.
The dialogue is witty, natural, quirky, and clever but none of that surprised me. I’ve read all of Adam Sass’ books and dialogue is one of their superpowers.
A terrific book made from a recipe that absolutely has 90s films mixed in with 2023 spices! Sprinkle some non-stop action on top and you’ve got a book you’ll be up late reading!
THE LINKS
🖊 Author
THE DISCLAIMERS
Things You May Want To Know: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: (SPOILERS) throwing up, blood, gore, anxiety, trauma, grief, physical violence, gun violence, stalking, injury, murder, attempted murder, toxic relationship, emotional abuse, gaslighting, bullying, outing and discussion around outing someone, racial profiling, racism, queerphobia, sexual content
I received an ARC of Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass from Penguin Books via the author in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 