Keep It in the Dark

De: Justin Arnold

Narrado por: Jared Ramen, Nick Monteleone

In this unashamedly queer, supernatural romance, Justin Arnold, author of Wicked Little Things, challenges the institutions that have sidelined queer love to the shadows, and brings it into the light.

Rowan Young knew where his life was heading.

The headmaster’s son and golden boy of elite Vermont boarding school Mockingbird Prep, Rowan was set to inherit a legacy passed down through generations of forefathers.

Until a strange new student arrives to derail those plans.

Casper Belamy didn’t ask to be a vampire. But now that he is one, all he wants is to travel the world looking for more of his kind. Before he can do that, he must accomplish an impossible task set forth by his adoptive family of vampiric royals: prove he can keep their kind safe and finish high school without being discovered.

If controlling his thirst wasn’t hard enough, he is forced to share a dorm with the headmaster’s son. And despite their instant dislike for one another, Casper can’t ignore the mouth-wateringly delicious scent of Rowan’s blood.

When bitter fights become late night rendez-vous, forbidden romance blossoms in the shadows. Facing a fearful world that would rather they stay hidden, Rowan and Casper contend with an onslaught of troubles: Rowan’s father is breathing down his neck, the safety of Casper’s new-found family is on his shoulders, and a secret society of slayers threatens to destroy everything.

If love blooms in the dark, will it survive being brought into the light?

©2024 Justin Arnold (P)2024 Tiny Ghost Press

Overused Themes

This story added LGBT (M/M romance) and coming out/ coming of age twists to somewhat overused tropes: roommates to lovers and vampire/ slayer relationships. A driving force for the plot was in human Rowan’s “coming out” as gay to classmates and family, a fact complicated by the fact he was also having a taboo relationship with a vampire.
The story was a bit long for its content, and it started off slow. The middle parts, when Rowan and vampire Casper’s relationship started to bloom, were a bit more interesting. The final chapters, when a series of events led Rowan’s father to finally accept his son for his true self, were the pinnacle of the story.
Overall, it was so so—saved by its sweet final moments.

Gay, YA version of Netflix’s Wednesday!

The cover art Really set the visual tone for me. The spooky, aged, boarding school campus and black cat/golden retriever dynamic was very reminiscent of the aforementioned show—and it generally works! The narrators do a serviceable job of denoting their respective characters in their performance. Definitely a lighter read with a HEA ending. The teen MCs are definitely young, and the overall tone is very much YA. I wasn’t quite expecting it (which is on me for not paying more attention to the description haha) so do keep that in mind— there is a bunch of teenage angst!

Delightful

I loved this! It’s definitely for fans of Buffy and Carry On, but also stands on its own. The parallels between persecuted for being a vampire and for being queer are not subtle. There were quite a few moments where those parallels were pointed out that hit hard.

cringe

Very cringe. Couldn't even finish. I only listened to this after seeing one post on Facebook. Probably should have done more research.