The Book:

Lee Mandelo’s debut Summer Sons is a sweltering, queer Southern Gothic that crosses Appalachian street racing with academic intrigue, all haunted by a hungry ghost.

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom that hungers for him.

As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble.

And there is something awful lurking, waiting for those walls to fall.

The Author:

LEE MANDELO is a writer, critic, and occasional editor whose fields of interest include speculative and queer fiction, especially when the two coincide. They have been a past nominee for various awards including the Nebula, Lambda, and Hugo; their work can be found in magazines such as Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, Clarkesworld, and Nightmare. Aside from a brief stint overseas learning to speak Scouse, Lee has spent their life ranging across Kentucky, currently living in Lexington and pursuing a PhD at the University of Kentucky.

Sources: Amazon

I went into this book knowing very little. I knew there were friends, one dies, the other tries to figure out why and what happened. I thought it would be an interesting read on just those facts alone, but there was so much more! The plot is interesting, the characters are well developed, and I just thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

It started off a little slow going, and took me about 50 or so pages to really get interested. Once I was into the thick of it though, I couldn’t put it down. We start off with Andrew getting ready to start in school, where he and Eddie should have been together. We follow our main character travel this journey alone, and although the schooling wasn’t a big point in the novel, I was just really bored of it. That, and the fact that I feel like this could have been 100 pages less had Andrew just been more upfront about what was going on and talk about things, but I respect the journey of trust and loyalty all the same. Had those two things not been such a turn off for me this would have been a 5 star read 100%.

Things I absolutely adored about this book far outweigh the annoyance at said previously mentioned issues I had. I LOVE a good found family trope, and this has that in spades! Again coming back on the earlier trust and loyalty issues, would it have been as good if those weren’t involved? I can’t be sure. Did one dislike improve the love I have for this family? Can’t answer it, so roll with it! Another thing I loved about this is the slow burn romance we get to see work it’s way out through a jumble of confusion and messy feelings Andrew had for Eddie. All of that plus all the amazing rep that was in here, poly relationships, trans, allies, and it was done in a way that wasn’t in your face.

Anyway, kind of rambling on this, but it was a lot to unpack, haha.

4 Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With Love,

Pixie