Thrall || Mixed Media, but also mixed signals?

Title: Thrall
Author: Avon Gale & Roan Parrish
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Philtre Press
Genre: Adult ~ Mystery ~ LGBQT+ characters ~  Romance

Stars: 3
Goodreads
Rep: Queer main characters. M/M relationship, F/F relationship.
CW: Negative social media comments, death/mention of bodies, threats. If I’ve missed other cws, please inform me.
Copy: E-arc

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through A Novel Take PR and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. The image header and the link in the book’s details is to the book’s Goodreads’ page. The summary is my own (well, I summarised the Goodreads description). All opinions expressed are my own.

Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra run a true-crime podcast that focuses on New Orleans. When Lucy’s brother disappears (Harker) and it’s linked to a dating app, they decide to investigate, along with their social media manager (Arthur) and Harker’ professor, Van Helsing.

But in time, they realise there’s something else going in the wings of the dating app. Is it as sinister as they let their imaginations believe it is? Who or what is behind Harker’s disappearance?

This is a non-fantasy book, to my knowledge. Aka, there’s no actual vampires in the book. The book is set in New Orleans and I am a fan in believing in the extraordinary. So maybe there are actual vampires and this book just doesn’t touch upon that. Was I sad that this book didn’t have any vampires in it? Yes, I was, as I love vampires. At the same time, the book works well without the inclusion of the vampires.

By the mixed signals bit, I meant that I was confused about how much I liked this book, and why. Yes, I gave it 3 stars. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like the book, I did. But it was also confusing re plot. There’s the main plot, Lucy, Mina, Arthur, and Van Helsing decide to look for Harker (Lucy’s brother) as he’s disappeared. And then the plot gets all muddled? And they’re also focused on a game that’s supposedly linked with Harker’s disappearance; and while we do get to the bottom of it, I’m also perplexed. Because for me, the result/? sort of fell flat.

Poor Lucy’s trying to look for her brother but the clues they get are so bare they make a skeleton cringe. But maybe that’s how a mystery book is meant to be? I haven’t read many, so maybe they do tend to give the reader bare clues and allow the clues to be fleshed out over the course of the book. 

I loved the characters! Lucy and Mina were adorable together and I loved seeing their relationship. I loved seeing Arthur and Van Helsing interact – Van Helsing was such a fun character to read about. Even though I didn’t understand much about what he said re anthology (as he’s an anthology professor), I still enjoyed it. Which is something!

I liked reading about the app (Thrall) and also the ‘sub-app’ that they find through Thrall – which I won’t spoil for you. I would maybe use the dating app as it did sound cool? I would like to listen to their true-crime podcast (Shadowcast) though. Even though I’ve never listened or am not subscribed to any true-crime podcasts.

 

Have you read this book? Do you like true-crime podcasts? Tell me down below in the comments!