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A review by charles_rowland
The Haunting Between Us by Paul Michael Winters
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I received an e-ARC and am giving a review of my own free will! Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC!
Let me start off by saying that I was so beyond excited to read this book. The moment I saw it on Netgalley, I posted on my private story saying how I needed to read this book. Firstly, queer main characters!! MLM main couple with many other queer characters and such! Secondly, horror and hauntings?? Horror is my favorite genre, besides MM if that counts. Already I knew I was going to love it, but to top it all off, it takes place in Port Townsend?! Not only was I just there over the summer, and live a few hours away, but it's also where my favorite TV show (Dead Boy Detectives) takes place as well. So, to put it lightly, I was ecstatic for this.
And it definitely lived up to my hype!! I completely adored it. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was just so nice to read. I rarely got stuck on sentences or paragraphs and had to go back, or got confused or anything. It was one of the best experiences I've had reading a book in a while. Hugo and Cameron were so much fun to learn about and learn from, and I adore how their families were written. The varying types of acceptance and fears around coming out. Hugo's fears around coming out to his dad, along with his fears of telling his dad about the house itself, all being for nothing, and his dad always being accepting and understanding. The guilt around Hugo's mom, as well as the underlying sadness Hugo and his dad carried was really well done. It felt very real, in a less 'in your face' way than most. Cameron's mom and brother being accepting of him, and his dad not being so outwardly homophobic that most straight people would even catch it, but how devastating it is to be queer and have your parent treat you like that. It really did a wonderful job of expressing how people don't understand just how harmful it is, and why it feels so hurtful as a queer kid.
I also loved the group, all of them being well written and fleshed out so I clearly remember who is who. Matty was definitely a favorite character, he reminds me of so many close friends I have/had over the years. I really loved how there wasn't really any tension between Cameron and Hugo and the group regarding relationship stuff. No issues with Abby and Cameron, or Abby and Hugo, or issues with their relationship as a whole. I was so happy once I realized they were just incredible friends, and that was that! Their willingness to always help Hugo out with the house was so endearing as well. I just loved the dynamics.
The plot itself, the horror aspects, were very well done!! I'm usually one to pick up on the twists and such, and while I managed to piece together part of it, there was a huge chunk I was completely surprised by!! The horror was well done and manageable, not too much but also not boring either. Learning more and more about what happened continued to fill me with horror and disgust and on the edge of my seat.
Cameron and Hugo's relationship was really just so adorable. The pining and the puppy love was such a refreshing read, I kept finding myself just smiling at the pages.
My only qualm was Cameron's negative talk about his body. I read that the author had a lot of stuff come from his own experiences, which I completely get, but there didn't seem to be much of a resolution to it, or anything that helped level it out so that people reading it understood that his body-issues aren't things people should think about themselves. It's very minor, more of an issues because of personal stuff I'm going through at the moment but wanted to say smth anyways :)
This was such a great read and I'll definitely be checking out the author's other book!
Let me start off by saying that I was so beyond excited to read this book. The moment I saw it on Netgalley, I posted on my private story saying how I needed to read this book. Firstly, queer main characters!! MLM main couple with many other queer characters and such! Secondly, horror and hauntings?? Horror is my favorite genre, besides MM if that counts. Already I knew I was going to love it, but to top it all off, it takes place in Port Townsend?! Not only was I just there over the summer, and live a few hours away, but it's also where my favorite TV show (Dead Boy Detectives) takes place as well. So, to put it lightly, I was ecstatic for this.
And it definitely lived up to my hype!! I completely adored it. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was just so nice to read. I rarely got stuck on sentences or paragraphs and had to go back, or got confused or anything. It was one of the best experiences I've had reading a book in a while. Hugo and Cameron were so much fun to learn about and learn from, and I adore how their families were written. The varying types of acceptance and fears around coming out. Hugo's fears around coming out to his dad, along with his fears of telling his dad about the house itself, all being for nothing, and his dad always being accepting and understanding. The guilt around Hugo's mom, as well as the underlying sadness Hugo and his dad carried was really well done. It felt very real, in a less 'in your face' way than most. Cameron's mom and brother being accepting of him, and his dad not being so outwardly homophobic that most straight people would even catch it, but how devastating it is to be queer and have your parent treat you like that. It really did a wonderful job of expressing how people don't understand just how harmful it is, and why it feels so hurtful as a queer kid.
I also loved the group, all of them being well written and fleshed out so I clearly remember who is who. Matty was definitely a favorite character, he reminds me of so many close friends I have/had over the years. I really loved how there wasn't really any tension between Cameron and Hugo and the group regarding relationship stuff. No issues with Abby and Cameron, or Abby and Hugo, or issues with their relationship as a whole. I was so happy once I realized they were just incredible friends, and that was that! Their willingness to always help Hugo out with the house was so endearing as well. I just loved the dynamics.
The plot itself, the horror aspects, were very well done!! I'm usually one to pick up on the twists and such, and while I managed to piece together part of it, there was a huge chunk I was completely surprised by!! The horror was well done and manageable, not too much but also not boring either. Learning more and more about what happened continued to fill me with horror and disgust and on the edge of my seat.
Cameron and Hugo's relationship was really just so adorable. The pining and the puppy love was such a refreshing read, I kept finding myself just smiling at the pages.
My only qualm was Cameron's negative talk about his body. I read that the author had a lot of stuff come from his own experiences, which I completely get, but there didn't seem to be much of a resolution to it, or anything that helped level it out so that people reading it understood that his body-issues aren't things people should think about themselves. It's very minor, more of an issues because of personal stuff I'm going through at the moment but wanted to say smth anyways :)
This was such a great read and I'll definitely be checking out the author's other book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Death of parent