Rating: 3.5/5
*I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
Summary from Amazon:
"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, letting in the phantom that hungers to possess him."
I have to say, despite the time that it took to get to the meat of the plot, I thought this was a great debut work from Mandelo. It was simultaneously dark, raw, gritty, and powerful. It explored some sensitive themes, particularly that of codependent relationships and finding one's sexuality. It was a little dark academia, plenty of young adults partying, a lot of emotions, with bursts of the supernatural woven throughout. Now even though I think the first half of the book did not contain nearly enough plot movement, I do think it gave us a good feel for the protagonist. It therefore led to some good character development for him by the end of the book. He starts off as this depressed, grieving man who has just lost the one person who meant everything to him; he's unsure of himself and his surroundings, but he's able to find some comfort and growth by the end of the book.
While we're talking about Andrew (the protagonist) and his emotions, let's talk about Mandelo's writing itself. I personally thought it was gorgeous. It was gripping and visceral, with this ghastly edge that worked perfectly within this book. The reader is really able to understand Andrew's feelings and picture the encompassing environment. Emotion is really big in this book, particularly understanding and accepting the emotions that are felt for others. I think that this was accomplished on so many levels. Just, the end part with the haunt and the memories (all vague so as to avoid spoilers), was so heart-breaking. It broke my heart to read it, it was such an effective portion of the book. Just, having to live with the knowledge of feelings that were never acted on and wondering "what if?"
The story itself was unique for the horror/thriller genre and the Southern Gothic subgenre which made it an interesting read. I won't say it was an easy read. Thematically, it was pretty dark and violent, making it difficult in that sense. The writing itself was lush, but very easy to comprehend, making it very accessible I'd say. So, it's easy to comprehend, but it can be difficult emotionally. But the darkness works very well with the plot and the Southern Gothic environment, as does the addition of the party scenes and the racing scenes. The parties and the racing allow for excitement, which keeps the story from feeling far too heavy. The things that happen in it like the possession, the dark family secrets, this power over death, were just really cool, interesting topics! On that note, if recreational drug use is a triggering topic for you, then this is definitely not the book for you. To be frank, this book was cool. There was also some awesome, pronounced representation for those in the LGBTQIA+ community and of unique relationships, which is always a positive.
On the downside, it did take so incredibly long for the plot itself to actually move along. The first 50% of the book (not an exaggeration) was mostly the protagonist basically avoiding moving the plot. He largely wallowed in his emotions and made very poor decisions. It wasn't necessarily boring, but it did kind of make it feel like the book was going nowhere at first. Like, we were just in for watching this man party himself to death while leaving Eddie's death a mystery. The climax was also rather underwhelming; it wasn't bad, just predictable. I wish that Mandelo had used the large chunk of the book that they reserved for watching Andrew kind of float around, to introduce more characters of interest. As it stood, by that same point, there was a very short list of who would have committed the crime convincingly. I just think there was more room for widespread suspicion in the beginning of the book. As it stood, it was kind of stark. On the same note, I felt like there were things about the antagonist that were high-key glazed over, things that I would have liked elaborated on. Specifically, I do love a good villain monologue at the climax of the action. I think more of a monologue would've been a good addition.
In all, it was a good debut! There were some issues, as there are with any book. But taken altogether, it was a good book. And it was unique too, I've never read a book with the same energy as this one. I would have to call it simultaneously spooky, emotional, feral, dark, but also lovely. It was definitely my favorite read in September. I look forward to seeing what Mandelo comes up with next! Summer Sons is now out everywhere books are normally sold as of today (09/28/21) from Tordotcom Publishing. Thank you so much to the publisher for letting me read early!