The Gravewood

What worked: Atmospheric dystopian world where climate change brings horrific consequences, and the teens who will do just about anything to survive. This novel starts with Shea Parker, a special needs protagonist who makes a barter with Oliver Lysander, the gravewood devil. Lysander is the leader of a vampire gang in Gravewood. In this case, she lets him take her blood in exchange for batteries for her hearing aids. But don't think Shea is the stereotypical special needs individual. Shea is tough, strong, and does what she can to not only survive but also to help her mother. Her mother is like a zombie and is locked in the basement of their house. Also, Camellia, her best friend, has gone missing. When she's presented with an opportunity to find her friend, Shea goes for it. Even if that means she has to trust Lysander.

Add to this, there is a love triangle. Camellia's brother, Asher, pops up in the quest to find Camellia. Shea has crushed on Asher since they were children. His sudden reappearance takes her off guard, especially as she fights against the parasitic link she has to Lysander. But even then, she wants to be with him, although it doesn't make sense.

The beginning has a gothic feel. Dark, hopelessness, and an attractive vamp leader who has a painful secret. The chemistry is intense between Shea and Lysander. It's more of a sucker punch that everyone, except them, can see.

Paranormal beings roam in Gravewood. Vampires. Zombies. And a dark secret that gives off Sweet Tooth vibes.

The pacing was intense at the beginning, but slowed while on a road trip through Gravewood searching for Camellia. Then the dialogue between the characters felt almost forced at times. Only when they encounter a painful truth does the story pick back up.

The cliffhanging ending will have readers wanting to know the fate of Shea and Lysander's relationship.

Dark dystopian tale where teens deal with the brutal consequences of a world gone mad.

The Gravewood infuses paranormal dystopia with lurking horror and survivalist paranoia, in a snappy, bittersweet saga of desperate teens trying to make the best of the terrible hand they’ve been dealt. In a post climate-crisis world where small towns fend for themselves, Shea makes a deal with the notorious vampire leader in the woods to secure her supply of hearing aid batteries, a rare commodity in the tenuous remains of civilization. Her alternating comfort with and dread of silence play a key role in many scenes, lending to the overall air of suspense that’s effortlessly cinematic.

Although the initial wave of YA paranormal craze passed me by, I was quickly all in on this duology. Maybe it’s Lysander’s penchant for literary allusions - supported by artful word choice throughout - and the way he and Shea intentionally push each other’s buttons. Every member of the core cast is a study in “toxic but I love it” and “would stab you but would also stab whoever hurts you”, and the non-stop sharp retorts keep the relationships from feeling overwrought. Cue all of the lingering looks, entering the room at just the wrong moment, and friends who aren’t afraid to call it out how it is. Dramatic? Oh yes. But in a tasty kind of way.

The romance is an enjoyable constant simmer. Tension is the word, culminating in fraught kisses. The horror elements lean more toward suspenseful scares than gore.

Later reveals aren’t necessarily a surprise, and Shea can be more stubborn than sensible, but I enjoyed this book back to front.