June 2025 FBR - Main Buddy Read: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Welcome to the June "Main" Buddy Read!
starts 1-June-2025, ends 30-June-2025

As the sun reaches its zenith and the shadows stretch long, we’re thrilled to announce our Formal Buddy Read for June: a celebration of Midsummer: Shadows of the Solstice!

This month, we’ll wander through crumbling mansions and haunted landscapes, where secrets fester beneath the midsummer moon and the past refuses to stay buried. These tales of transformation and terror echo with the melodies of forgotten summers, weaving together the allure of decay and the thrill of revelation.

A summer haunted by secrets. A friendship twisted by grief and desire.
🔹 Perfect for fans of Southern Gothic, queer longing, and the dark magic of midsummer nights.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge.

As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.

When using this Buddy Read to get Bonus Points for a Challenge, please check with the mod running the Challenge for any posting requirements not listed below!

🚀 2025 (Impossible) Solar System Challenge: While there's no specific post count requirement, your participation should go beyond simple statements like "I liked the book." Quality of contribution matters more than quantity, so focus on crafting well-considered responses that add value to the discussion.

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa), Bibliotherapist]

I’ve had this book on hold for months! Might see if the audio is available.

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Months! I always forget when it's that long, and I'm surprised when it finally pops up!

ETA: Mine copy is on hold for another 2 weeks, lol

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa), Bibliotherapist]

Ashley wrote: "Months! I always forget when it's that long, and I'm surprised when it finally pops up!

ETA: Mine copy is on hold for another 2 weeks, lol"

I didn’t even remember it was on hold until I checked Libby to see if any of my libraries had the book. 😂

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I'm excited on this one, it sounds good! Just grabbed my copy and will start soon.

[Heather]

One of my libraries had it available so I can start soon as well.

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa), Bibliotherapist]

My hold just arrived! Not sure when I’m starting. I’m reading about eleventy books at the moment 🙈

[Heather]

So.... I'm going to bow out of this. I don't think I'm in the right headspace for dark academia/horror at the moment. But I hope y'all enjoy it!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "My hold just arrived! Not sure when I’m starting. I’m reading about eleventy books at the moment 🙈"

I know the feeling, Teresa!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Heather wrote: "So.... I'm going to bow out of this. I don't think I'm in the right headspace for dark academia/horror at the moment. But I hope y'all enjoy it!"

Yeah sometimes our head just is not in the mood, hopefully next time Heather!

[Heather]

💙

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Started this one today and 30% in. Not crazy about it so far. It's not making much sense to me and jumps immediately into all these characters he hadn't known and is just....odd so far. Hard to explain. I'll get back to it later and hopefully start enjoying it more.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Done with this one. not my kind of book. Just could not enjoy the writing style and character interaction style much. Hope others enjoy it more. May be a me thing.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

I'm in the middle of this.
I'm not feeling it.
The world building is odd.
I'm still not underding what's going on with the pnr portion. Maybe it will be cleared up in the end?

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆ wrote: "I'm in the middle of this.
I'm not feeling it.
The world building is odd.
I'm still not underding what's going on with the pnr portion. Maybe it will be cleared up in the end?"

Sort of explains it more but to me it didn't get better unfortunately. There's just something weird to me about the characters and writing, don't know how to explain it.

[Bernadette]

I picked this up from the library yesterday and the young woman working said it was one of her recent favorite books. One of the librarians saw I had and said she loved it as well but listened to it. I got the book in case the audiobook didn't work out. I feel like I'm behind on my reading this month so I thought I'd give the audiobook a try.

I'm about 20% in. It's OK so far. Not loving it yet but not hating it😉. The narrator was fantastic. I loved how he has the accent to fit the story. I know that Andrew and Eddie had a traumatic experience but I'm not sure if we got the details yet (unless I missed it!)

[Bernadette]

@72% I finally know what happened to Eddie and Andrew!

[Bernadette]

Finished this yesterday. I was confused during a large part of the book. I think the background information about the Fulton farm/planation would have been more useful earlier in the book.

I was also confused whenever they talked about Sam Halse - they used his name fist and last name interchangeably when talking about him and for a while I thought there were two different characters - one named Sam and on named Halse🤣.

I'm giving it 3 stars, primarily because of the narrator.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Sounds like you enjoyed it a little more than me, Bernadette. I agree something was a bit confusing to me throughout the book, maybe something about the writing style not synching with me.

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

I'm finally (FINALLY) starting this today!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

So... initial reaction — not even into Chapter 3 yet and ... like, who in their right mind would just quietly step into their dead maybe-partner’s eerie academic footprint and pretend it’s fine? It’s not fine.

I guess I'll be quiet and see what transpires, but WHOA DUDE!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Alright, so... I'm now 25 chapters in and, honestly, struggling to care about the cast or follow their dynamics.

Andrew is... a mess of a person.
Eddie is... well, dead... but I still don't feel as though I have a strong idea of what the heck was going on there.
Riley... friend? creep? hookup?
Sam.. Del... are we related to Andrew? Did I miss a family tree somewhere? Is there... tension that shouldn't be there.. I'm... confused.

I'm beginning to think we're not going to get a resolution, and I hate that in a horror novel. I need you to resolve the creepy. For real.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Ashley wrote: "Alright, so... I'm now 25 chapters in and, honestly, struggling to care about the cast or follow their dynamics.

Andrew is... a mess of a person.
Eddie is... well, dead... but I still don't feel ..."

Yes, it was an unusual experience reading for me, sounds like most of us are agreeing about that.

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I deserve a medal, a drink, and a holy water bath for making it through this book.

Do I technically know more than I did at the beginning? Yes. Can I explain what actually happened with any confidence? Debatable.

Andrew was a complete mess of a person, but I'll forgive him because he's grieving and well.. haunted. Eddie is dead, and still somehow the most confusing character in the book. Did I ever really get a solid grip on who he was or his relationship with Andrew? Again, debatable.

This book is all vibes and no hand-holding. I don't think you're meant to understand much, and if you're into that kind of thing, I think you'll like it. Personally, I'm just glad I made it to the end.



View all my reviews

[Layne]

I'm so surprised reading this thread so far! I'm not rereading at this time, as it's been about a year since I read this one, but it was in my top three of 2024. I fell in love with the atmosphere of the setting, which was familiar to me as someone who grew up in a similar area, and found the manifestations of the inner turmoil of Andrew's internalized homophobia and overall self hate really compelling. We can never truly know Eddie, since we don't get to 'meet' him before he dies, so getting confusing contradictions on him and his relationship with Andrew is only natural.

Of course, to each their own! Not saying anyone is wrong, of course, it's just how I felt ♥

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Layne wrote: "I'm so surprised reading this thread so far! I'm not rereading at this time, as it's been about a year since I read this one, but it was in my top three of 2024. I fell in love with the atmosphere ..."

I think this is perhaps an audiobook issue for me. Perhaps I didn't connect as fully because I wasn't using my own voice to read? I find that sometimes that is the case.

However, I don't disagree with any of your points. I think all of those things are great things about the book!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Seems to be a book many love and many dislike. Some books tend to be like that more than others.

[Benedicte, Bookmark First, Ask Later]

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