The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo | 3 Stars
The Woods All Black follows Leslie as he arrives in a small backwoods town to be a nurse for them. Despite his presence being approved by their council, the town immediately begins to treat Leslie poorly, refusing his services and seeing him as a failed woman (Leslie is a trans man though he is not out with it while in this town, resulting in misgendering). Leslie also meets Stevie, a younger person that the town insists is an out-of-control tomboy. Most of this book isn't actual horror, it's just the story of a town treating two people who are different from them poorly in the name of their religion. When the horror does hit, it's very satisfying. I don't want to say too much about how as it would be a major spoiler, but Stevie is able to get revenge on those who have been treating him badly and he's able to save Leslie in the process. I would have liked more build up in the relationship between Leslie and Stevie, it felt very abrupt. I also think that the reason I didn't enjoy this much was because of how much I enjoyed Lee Mandelo's debut, Summer Sons.
Grey Dog by Elliott Gish | DNF | Time of Death: 56%
I normally am not one to have anything to say when I DNF a book but since I was attempting to read this one for Summer of Horror, I wanted to include it here. This book takes place in the early 1900's and follows Ada, a teacher who gets a new teaching spot after leaving her old one due to something bad happening. Weird things begin happening shortly after she arrives. Honestly, this book was boring. It's told through journal entries which I already knew would make it hard for me to get into it. Most of the time, Ada doesn't have a lot going on and I just didn't care for the things that she did have going on. Even the excitement of the weird things that happen wasn't enough to keep me interested in the story. I'm not sure what the second half had in store but this felt more like a historical fiction than it did a horror novel.
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White | 3 Stars
This YA horror follows Miles as he comes out as trans to his parents and then due to a long-standing feud between his family and the family of the sheriff, he is brutally attacked by three of his classmates which later results in a confrontation that results in the death of one of the classmates. What follows is a small Appalachian town reaching its boiling point between the regular hard-working folks and those who exploit them for profit. This book is listed as a horror by both The Story Graph and Goodreads but to me, it felt like more of a thriller. I really appreciated Miles and his struggle with autism and with possibly being aromantic. I do think this would have been a more interesting story if it had been from the perspective of Saint - Mile's trans great great grandfather. This did contain the gruesome scenes that I expected from this author but this one just never pulled me in like the other 2 books I've read by him did. I also felt like the ending was too easy.
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