Shirley Jackson-meets-Wilder Girls Folk Horror Awesomeness

Ohhhh, this book was so freaking good! I had fairly high hopes from the cover, title, and description, and this book did not disappoint--in fact, with its deep-southern-gothic (despite the northern setting)-meets-playful-YA tone, it was a delight. There are definite Shirley Jackson "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" vibes, coupled with a dash of "Wilder Girls" (particularly the theme of wildness and uncontrollable urges), and a pinch of a traditional YA vampire love story (though this gets much more complicated than it initially seems). Mostly, though, Szabo's novel is its own blend of folk and fairy tale, building off of long-held stories to make something new and mature. The way the novel handles desire, compulsion, consent, and violence/harm are fascinating and delve way deeper than it had to, and it left me with a lot to think about. It was also actually scary!