The entire experience of reading this book was unsettling. There were multiple times when I realized I was literally holding my breath or breathing heavily because I was so tense. The rites were so freaky, The Visitors terrified me, and there was this constant sense that something was deeply wrong. Even when nothing particularly horrifying was happening, I never really felt comfortable.

What surprised me was how beautiful the story was underneath all of that horror. At its heart, this felt like an exploration of grief and what it can do to a person. There is so much sadness woven into the story, and I wasn't expecting that emotional side of it to affect me as much as it did.

I do wish there had been a little more of a final ending. It felt almost like the story was cut off right when I wanted just a little more closure. But at the same time, that lack of closure was haunting and somehow fit the rest of the book. I'm still thinking about it.

Creepy as hell, genuinely unsettling, surprisingly emotional, and responsible for me never answering a mysterious Craigslist caretaking ad in my life.

The premise of this immediately drew me in. Andrew writes these dark fairytales, Thomas draws the monsters from them, and then Thomas's drawings start coming to life and terrorizing them. It was such a wild concept and I needed to know what was going on. I also really loved the dark academia vibes with the boarding school setting, the creepy forest, and the overall gothic atmosphere.

I did get a little bored around the halfway point because Thomas and Andrew are both so whiny. There were definitely moments where I wanted them to just communicate with each other. But the plot kept me reading because I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen. Every time I thought I might have figured something out, I hadn't.

There is also so much yearning and longing between Thomas and Andrew. Their relationship is intense and frustrating and complicated, but I was completely invested in it. I also really appreciated the asexual representation. It's not often that I read a book with an asexual main character, especially one where romantic longing and emotional intimacy are such a huge part of the story.

The middle dragged a little for me, but the premise was so interesting and the plot kept me guessing enough that I had to see how everything came together. Creepy monsters, dark academia and gothic vibes, lots of yearning, and two boys who desperately need to learn how to communicate.

Ok I am hooked now