In the quaint town of Nightfall, Oregon, it isn’t the dark you should be afraid of—it’s the girls. The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this propulsive novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Treatment. The small town is cute, when it's not raining, but their grandmother is superstitious and strangely antisocial. Upon their arrival she lays out the one house rule: always be home before dark. But Theo and Marco are determined to make the most of their summer, and on their first day they meet the enigmatic Minnow and her friends. Beautiful and charismatic, the girls have a magnetic pull that Theo and her brother can't resist. However, I also didn’t feel there was much Buffy the Vampire Slayer­-ness to it other than fighting a bunch of vampires in a prom dress. Perhaps I’m missing something because I’m over 20 years late watching the television show, but I honestly don’t think so. I did really enjoy the setting of the town of Nightfall. A small, rainy beachside town in Oregon with a weird history, odd traditions, and where it’s not safe to be out after dark. The plot of Theo, her dad, and brother having to come to the town for the summer and getting involved with the locals was definitely interesting in the beginning. But then it started to feel a bit repetitive. I really liked the grandmother character, Nonna. Her personality and her motivations that get introduced later on were some of the more compelling parts of the book.

PS: Where the hell does Buffy come into this? The fancy dress and vampire-staking at the end? Bit of a stretch. Suzanne Young’s In Nightfall breathes life into the vampire genre. Female villainess vamps reign supreme with the wittiest dialog since Buffy. Move over, Sunnydale: Nightfall is about to become the vampirecapital of the world.”—Diana Rodriguez Wallach, author of Small Town Monsters and Hatchet Girls Overall, this book is alright. I don't regret reading it, and it had some fun moments. I just didn't find it to be spectacular. And when you compare it to The Lost Boys, it does seem even less unique. I wish the author had used the film as more of a general inspiration, rather than as an outline of her plot. I do think teens will like this one, though. It's moderately well-written, and there are some interesting aspects of the story. If they haven't seen The Lost Boys, I predict they might even like it more. I'd recommend this to people looking for a gender-swapped retelling of the movie, to teenagers stepping their toes into supernatural books, and to folks who want a light, moody vampire read. What I didn’t figure was the book would feel like someone took The Lost Boys and made it into a Mad Lib for the author to fill out. It was especially hard to ignore in the first couple of chapters that this was a gender swapped, shot for shot remake of the film at times. Instead of the references being a “cool! I get that one!” they were very …cringy. Maybe if I hadn’t just watched the movie 2 weeks ago, I wouldn’t have caught as many of the comparisons and my thoughts on this would be a bit different?

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I was definitely lured by the cover and blurb on this one. Given The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry version) were two of my favorite movies when I was younger, I figured this would be a slam dunk. I liked the podcast and mystery ideas within the story, but I didn’t feel they were utilized to their potential. I didn’t really understand what the point was of her even listening to the first episode of the podcast focusing on the town if she had already met the podcasters and formed a relationship with them. I also didn’t understand why they mentioned episode two would drop and then that never went anywhere. Theo and her brother, Marco, threw the biggest party of the year. And got caught. Their punishment? Leave Arizona to spend the summer with their grandmother in the rainy beachside town of Nightfall, Oregon—population 846 souls. Theo and Marco get in trouble after Marco does a huge summer party at their father's house. As punishment, their father has them all go to Oregon for the summer to visit their maternal grandmother they have never met. What follows is the two teens dealing with the mysterious town of Nightfall...where the residents don't stay out after dark. In addition to the new summer setting, they got to meet Nonna who seems very cautious, blunt, and superstitious about her own town. Theodora and Marco’s first impression of Nightfall was how welcoming the townspeople were. Right away she and her brother had acquaintances who wanted to invite them to the beach. However, the stark contrast between Nonna’s strict rule to come home before dark and her obsession with doll charms made her abnormal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review! The description of the book was not fooling around when it mentioned The Lost Boys. You will get the vibes in a very strong fashion. Much stronger than the Buffy the Vampire Slayer ones. Just saying. Who is this book supposed to be for? Because when the blurb is using comps like The Lost Boys and Buffy, are today’s teens going to know what any of that is? Probably not, unless they have parents with taste. Those comps are for people my age, because this YA book isn’t really being sold to teens, now is it? Says the teen librarians themselves, books like this are being written for the adults who buy them, not the teens who read them. The thing is, IN NIGHTFALL is actually a great book to fit in that space. The MC doesn’t even have her license yet. This is actually a fantastic YA book FOR TEENS. But the marketing is targeting the nostalgia of the people with the bank accounts. I’m sure teen readers, especially younger teen readers, would love this book, but it has nothing to do with The Lost Boys or Buffy.

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Thank you to Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press, and Suzanne Young for this free advanced review copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed below are honest and my own. This book was a lot of fun for me. I flew threw it and enjoyed it very much. Like other reviewers, I wanted things to happen a little faster but at the same time, I enjoyed the build up. The I-know-something-is-going-to-hit-the-fan-I-can't-wait feel that I got with the mounting tension once things in the book got real. This dark, enthralling, fast pacing, addictive book absolutely promises so much fun and scares you sh*tless! You find yourself scream and laugh, questioning your well being! Microwave your popcorn, grab your favorite poison kind of drink and enjoy the full ride! Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions. This was great. I loved the idea of a reverse [redacted.]. I don't want to spoil because I went in totally unspoiled and it was a great reveal. I loved how Young did the mini-twists and the ending. The two siblings (Theo and her brother Marco) had a great relationship and I found myself very invested in Theo figuring out what was going on in Nightfall and everyone getting out alive. Only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is the book drags here and there.

This book centers around Theodora’s experience at Nightfall, which includes Marco distancing himself, her close bond with Parrish, and her seeing odd things at night. Unraveling the dark truths of the girls, Parrish, her family members, and Nightfall, she processes her love for her mother, her bond with Marco, and her new bonds with her father and Nonna. Want Your Own Copy?Unfortunately, the book didn’t really get exciting for me until the big reveal we all knew was coming at around the 70% mark. The romance was bleh, the characters besides Nonna were bleh, and the plot was predictable. Overall, just not for me.

I loved the setting of Nightfall. I had so many questions based on the reveal of the town and how it was founded. Gender reversed Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Salem’s Lot might be the briefest definition of the main plot! But I gotta say you have to get ready because your mind is about to be blown! I loved Suzanne Young’s previous works! This book is a little different than her other books! It’s more entertaining! I found myself guffawing aloud too many times! The smart ironies, sarcastic approach, amazing character development and world building, perfect Lost Boys references without rewriting Lost Boys won my heart!

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Lastly, I am chanting for Nonna for being the best badass grandma I wish to have! She’s legendary! You’ll understand me completely when you devour the entire premise!