Genre: Paranormal, YA
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Ulysses
Get It At Amazon | Publisher | Universal Buy Link
About The Book
In a world where ancient magic is real and monsters roam, Santangelo Lo Geffo’s life is about to change forever.
After the mysterious death of his mother, Santangelo is thrust into a world of magic he never believed in. He struggles with his own powers, with a father who insists magic only brings destruction, and with the weight of the loss that haunts him.
When his former friend Neeky reappears, everything shifts. Neeky’s return ignites long-buried feelings, and together they discover they are connected by more than just magic. They’re caught in a destiny neither can escape.
But a deadly rivalry brews in the Gloom—a realm where monsters roam and enemies seek to tear their world apart. As secrets about Santangelo’s past are revealed, he is faced with a devastating choice: protect the people he loves or embrace a future of darkness.
Love, magic, and monsters collide in this thrilling adventure as Santangelo must face his greatest fears and unlock the mysteries of his bloodline. But time is running out, and if he can’t make the right choice, everything—and everyone—he holds dear could be lost forever.
The Review
I loved this for the most part. It’s YA, and somehow manages to be very romantic with nothing more than a kiss between 16-year-old boys. I liked that part especially, because it’s a neat trick to imbue romance into a basically sexless story—and yet, that resonated with my memories of being 16 and realizing I was gay.
This is Los Angeles (actually, Burbank for the most part); but the city we know is resting atop a dark hellish place called the Gloom, in which all sorts of dark creatures vie for power. Because it’s the third book of a series, and I’ve not seen the previous ones, the introductory prologue was confusing—although essential—in setting the stage for the underworld denizens who will keep cropping up, particularly Mau Rebetica, the evil being (immortal, apparently) who embodies rage and vengeance and wants to rule the Gloom. This section was, for me, confusing, because I didn’t know the back story. It also introduces one of the most intriguing aspects of this created world: the old language which, I’m guessing is somewhat related to the Sicilian dialect that several of the main characters speak.
Knowing that there is a supernatural story here, the narrative settles down into the relatively quiet summer holiday of Santangelo Delomary Worthington LoGeffo. He is the main protagonist. Like so many teenaged boys in these stories, he has lost his mother. His mother was from a very rich, very Republican family; while his father is Sicilian born, is covered with tattoos, and runs a hugely popular pizza parlor in Burbank. His father grieves and spends a lot of time at the pizza parlor, while Santy hangs around the family’s somewhat shabby Victorian mansion in Burbank. His only real friends are his husky, Che Growlvara, and his cousins, Meena and Lil Shan (twin children of his father’s gay brother and his Chinese-American husband).
Oh, and they’re all magical. Santy thinks he has a lot of power, and there’s his imaginary golden sword that he sees in his dreams. Well, all that gets explained.
It all gets more complicated when Joshua Tang reappears, after years of absence, in the house across the street. Joshua, known as Neeky, was Santy’s best friend until Santy’s mother died and they had a falling out.
You can see where the emotional punch will come. You can also see that this is a book that is not based on a conventional, suburban white population. The author’s name alone should suggest that. Grandmother Worthington brings the haughty WASP ingredient to the mix, but even she turns out to be more nuanced than that.
The larger storyline revolves around Santy and Neeky discovering their magical powers, even as Santy’s father resists it and grieves angrily for his lost wife. The appearance of evil beings spices up the story, but it remains very specifically about Santy, his family, and his best friend Neeky.
It’s a story about love and loss and friendship and growing up and underworld magic trying to take over the earth. Oh.
I need to read book four.
The Reviewer
Ulysses Grant Dietz grew up in Syracuse, New York, where his Leave It to Beaver life was enlivened by his fascination with vampires, from Bela Lugosi to Barnabas Collins. He studied French at Yale, and was trained to be a museum curator at the University of Delaware. A curator since 1980, Ulysses has never stopped writing fiction for the sheer pleasure of it. He created the character of Desmond Beckwith in 1988 as his personal response to Anne Rice’s landmark novels. Alyson Books released his first novel, Desmond, in 1998. Vampire in Suburbia, the sequel to Desmond, is his second novel.
Ulysses lives in suburban New Jersey with his husband of over 41 years and their two almost-grown children.
By the way, the name Ulysses was not his parents’ idea of a joke: he is a great-great grandson of Ulysses S. Grant, and his mother was the President’s last living great-grandchild. Every year on April 27 he gives a speech at Grant’s Tomb in New York City.
