Stygian

Title: Stygian
Author: Santino Hassell
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 26, 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary/Paranormal/YA
Page Count: 204
Reviewed by: Renee
Heat Level:  3 flames out of 5
Rating:  4 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Jeremy has been isolated and adrift since the death of his brother. Most people just see him as the skinny emo kid who wears eyeliner and plays drums. No one gets him. Nobody tries. He thought the indie rock band Stygian would become his anchor, but—lost in their own problems—they’re far from the family he sought.

Still, hoping to get close to Kennedy, the band’s enigmatic guitarist, he follows Stygian to northern Louisiana for a summer retreat. They had planned to spend six weeks focusing on new music but things go awry as soon as they arrive at the long-deserted Caroway mansion. Tempers flare, sexual tension boils over into frustration, and Jeremy turns away from the band to find a friend in his eerily beautiful landlord Hunter Caroway.

Kennedy suspects there’s something off about the creepy mansion and its mysterious owners, but Jeremy thinks he’s finally found somewhere he fits. It isn’t until Kennedy forces the Caroway’s secrets into the light that Jeremy realizes belonging sometimes comes with a price.

I’ve been a little lost for words over this book. I finished it 24 hours ago. To put that into perspective, I’m one of those reviewers that has to write a review immediately after finishing or else I’ll forget all the things I want to say.

There are two main points I want to make with my review:

1. Hassell is so damn creative with his characters that I want to crawl inside his mind and spend a couple hours there while he’s brainstorming his next book.
2. Stygian isn’t anything like you think it’s going to be.

“Human relationships are complex and flawed.” I found that phrasing on Hassell’s blog, and this theme is prevalent in each of his books. I have come to love that about his writing. The amazing part is that there has yet to be a single character like another in any of his stories. And that’s hard to accomplish, at least in my experience.

Stygian is, at its core, the story of four young men who are band members. Jeremy, the newest member, feels like an outsider. He’s been devastated since his brother’s suicide, and the band members aren’t exactly the most welcoming bunch. In fact, other than Quince, they’re pretty much assholes who turn on each other at the drop of a hat. And if Jeremy snarks back, he’s the douchebag. They are the most dysfunctional group ever, but they make great music, so…..whatever, it apparently works for them. Matters are complicated further because Jeremy is a little bit in love with Kennedy, the guitarist.

Wyatt, the lead singer, rents a centuries-old mansion in northern Louisiana for the summer in order to get away and make music together. This house is creepy as all fuck, with spider webs in corners, closed off wings that are off-limits, surrounded by woods, and the townsfolk don’t like to talk about the house or its former owners. Pretty much the definition of “stygian” (which I had to look up by the way). According to Merriam-Webster, stygian means “extremely dark, gloomy, or forbidding.”

The events that transpire once they reach the mansion are surprising, and I won’t get into them because it would spoil everything, but let’s just say that it’s completely out of left field and nothing like you are expecting. As you see hinted in the blurb and find in the writer’s blog, Stygian has a paranormal element. And while it’s not an overwhelming element to the story, there are some moments where the paranormal combined with Hassell’s raw writing style made my eyes bulge. In an entertained way, but still “WHOA!”

Personal niggles – a couple of unanswered questions and an abrupt-ish ending that leaves me wondering about a few things. And while a lot is revealed about the characters to help the readers to understand why they act the way they do, I can almost say it’s not enough to redeem one or two of them. I haven’t decided yet.

I will share that while there is a romance here, it is not the leading part of this book. Does that change how amazing the writing is or how creative this story is? Hell no! This was a fun ride.

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