This book told me to sit the fuck down and trust the process, cause while I kinda hated the beginning and really thought I would rate this a lot lower, I actually ended up enjoying the it more the more I read.

Their attraction at the beginning was too sudden for my liking, the insta-lust of insta-lusts, and I did not like at all how sudden this was. Ruben was attracted to Cherry as soon as he saw her (literally) and the way they interacted felt like they had known each other for years, like they had waited their whole lives for this moment. They had just met 10 minutes before.

I have to give Cherry her credits because she was the best part of this book. A confident woman sure of herself and her wants, not afraid to take up space and to be herself, to voice her concerns and opinions, she was just wonderful, no notes honestly.

A problem I had with this book was that almost all sweet and emotional moments came with sexual thoughts. They’re having a sweet moment of sharing childhood memories and we later find out from one of them that they were thinking about fucking. They’re appreciating each other’s beauty or something soft about them physically, followed by what they’d like to do to the other when they’re alone. I just wanted them to be sweet and soft just because and it felt like there was always second intentions with it.

I wish Ruben’s sexuality was approached better and talked about more. I’m actually a little conflicted about this, because on one side I do like that’s it’s just a detail of his life, someone’s sexuality doesn’t have the define the person and be everything they are, someone’s sexuality is but a small part of themselves and I do think that was the intention here.

However, it’s also an important part of him, something meaningful to him and his past, that I would’ve liked for there to be a bigger conversation around this. The only time he mentions his bisexuality he calls it a “perversion”, and while this is done out of trauma and not something he truly believes, I wish the character he was talking to had corrected him and he himself to be more sure of his sexuality. It felt like a very passing moment and after finishing the book, I’m still not sure if he’s actual ok with being bisexual.

My 14 year old self obsessed with the fanfiction After would’ve probably eaten this up. Unfortunately, my current self just thought this was ass.

Graydon is your typical grumpy guy that doesn’t think he needs to be liked or shown affection to and acts in a way that benefits him and that he knows people will already hate him and leave him alone, and like sure this is fine, knowing there would probably be some character development later on and you’d get to understand why he was like this. However, there’s limits. It’s one thing to be a little angry at the world and at people that wronged you, it’s another to be rude and raise your voice at everyone even if you’ve just met them, slam the door every time you leave a room, being rude to waiters for no reason?? Not only that, but he’s incredibly rude to Maple, before during and after he understands he likes her, telling her to shut up (multiple times during the book) but then wanting to punch people who aren’t super nice and bubbly to her? Raising his voice to her but growling at people that do the same?

Not to mention how childish Graydon was. There were so many moments of him being grumpy/protective of Maple and her having to reassure him and all I could think about was those parents that have to turn to their kids and say “be nice to the kind woman and say thank you. Come on now, don’t be mean and thank the nice lady” like be so fucking for real, there were so many times where Maple would act like this and have to be the mature one in the relationship because Graydon did not have an ounce of maturity in him. But I guess it’s ok since she finds comfort in this possessiveness and laughs every time Graydon is mean to someone and she has to “down boy! down!” him. He’s just protective to an absurd level that becomes violent and unreasonable.

For the majority of the book he keeps doing things for her without running it over her first and it pissed me off so much. He did whatever he felt like it, changing things in her apartment, taking away her car, making decisions for her without her knowledge, making her do things because “he wants to protect her”. At one point Maple even says “I’m about to text him back that I don’t want him to do that, but I know he won’t listen.”. I’m sorry but that’s awful. No is no and that’s a word that Graydon doesn’t listen to.

And what annoyed me even more is that I adored their sweet moments. When Graydon would smile at something Maple said and she would feel happy about it, when he would show his more vulnerable side and Maple would reassure him that she was there for him, when they were together and felt safe with each other. Unfortunately these were but rare moments.

One of my least favorite tropes in romance is the enemies-to-lovers-insta-love and low and behold that’s exactly what this book is all about. Sure, they really do hate each other, but they also barely know each other and are already thinking of each other sexually. “ugh I hate him he’s awful… but I was kinda into the way he accidentally pulled my hair and I nearly wet myself with the way his eyes narrowed” (actual things said by the fmc btw), like you literally just met him, give me a break.

As expect, this did not need to be 500 pages long. So much of the book is spent with the characters going over and over the same feelings and frustrations, the same scene being explained more than once, so much unnecessary dialogue. This could’ve easily stopped at 300 pages, there was no need to add more.

Okay, huddle up my fellow lovers of anything queer, tragic, magic and dark academia; this one is for us! Oh, and if undiluted yearning is your thing then you’re not gonna want to miss this either.

I have so many thoughts about this book, but most of them wander straight into spoiler territory, so I’ll keep myself contained. This is a book best experienced in its full, spiralling intensity.

Thoughts Be Bloody is a Hamlet retelling that places Horatio Bithersea at the centre and gives him a depth I feel is missing from the original play - he is also trans in this retelling.❤️‍🔥

The novel explores identity, loneliness, insecurity, loyalty, obsession, and the way fear of returning to isolation can twist itself into fierce devotion. It shows how ferociously we cling to the person who feels like they brought light into a dark room - even when that loyalty forces us to question who we are and who we’re becoming.

It’s a story about wanting, losing, and grieving so deeply it threatens to consume you. And threaded through all of this is a sharp examination of classism: how privilege shapes opportunity, how neglect shapes everything else, and how those divides echo through every hallway of the school and every branch of its magic.

Horatio tells the story himself, but the telling is so vivid that the line between hearing his memories and living inside them blurs. The structure won’t be everyone’s preference - it’s strange, nonlinear, and intentionally disorienting - but Patrick Auden makes that choice work beautifully. The writing itself is alive, pulsing with Horatio’s fear, devotion, and unraveling.

As the tragedy unfolds (and it is a tragedy; it wouldn’t be Hamlet otherwise), Horatio’s reality frays in a way that is exquisitely depicted. My heart sped up in rhythm with his, and the gothic atmosphere wrapped itself around every scene. It’s one of the most atmospheric books I’ve read in a long time, with prose that is both gorgeous and unsettling. I found myself postponing picking it back up because I didn’t want it to end.

The magic system is another standout. It expands steadily without becoming confusing, and the rules are both clear and flexible, shaped by ongoing magical research. The school and its magic aren’t just a backdrop; they’re integral to how the book handles classism and the ways knowledge and power are distributed.

The novel also offers an unflinching depiction of how loneliness, insecurity, and isolation can make someone vulnerable to manipulation. Horatio and Hamlett’s toxic dynamic is a striking example of how easy it is to lose yourself trying to become what someone else wants, especially when that person is charismatic and knows exactly what buttons to press. If you haven’t experienced that kind of relationship yourself, this book offers a clear window into how quickly self‑blame and rationalisation can take root - how easy it becomes to convince yourself that you are the problem, that they’d never do that, and forgive them when they do it anyway.

Of course, this is shaped by Horatio’s point of view, and there’s plenty to analyse from Hamlett’s side as well - but I’ll leave that to another reader.

It only feels appropriate to touch a little on how Thoughts Be Bloody holds up as a retelling of Hamlet. Doing so without spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read, seen, or heard Shakespeare’s play is, of course, its own challenge. Even so, the novel marvelously preserves the structural DNA of the original. The truth is ever‑shifting, and in Horatio and Hamlett we see revenge complicated by hesitation and emotional paralysis.

If it isn’t already clear: I loved this book. I honestly can’t believe it’s a debut novel.

Thank you to DAW and Netgalley for the ARC. The thoughts above are entirely my own.