Becky Spratford's Reviews > Cuckoo

Reading for review in the April 2024 issue of Library Journal

Three Words That Describe This Book: utterly terrifying, character focused, Cosmic Horror

I was struggling between Body Horror and Cosmic in the three words. Both themes are big here but the Cosmic wins out.

Draft Review:
It’s the summer of 1995, and readers watch as teenagers from all over the country are taken forcibly from their homes, one by one, tied up again their will, and placed into unmarked white vans to be taken to Camp Resolution, a gay conversion camp hidden in the Utah desert, miles from civilization, with no contact with the outside world. Told by the full cast of well drawn and authentic characters and in three distinct parts– a stage setting prologue of short story length, set in 1991, the meat of the novel set at camp, and an action-packed final section taking place in 2011–this is a novel where the pacing is brisk, the world building immersive, effectively employing all five senses, the plot intriguing, original, and existentially terrifying, and the emotions, raw. Readers will quickly become invested in each of the teens, feeling their physical and psychological pain, ultimately rooting for them against all odds. Seething with anger at horrors both real and supernatural, this is a story that sets out to whip the reader up and inspire them to protect queer kids at all costs.

Verdict: No one writes like Felker-Martin and her unrelenting and brutally honest novels are crucial inclusions to all Horror collections. Pair with Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus or Lucy Snyder’s Sister, Maiden, Monster, but also, this is a great update to the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers.


The prologue was well done. It is set 4 years before the action of part 1. It is more like a short story than a prologue and it sets the scene perfectly. It puts the reader on edge and primed me for the horror that was to come. That reminded me of what SGJ did with The Only Good Indians.

There are a lot of narrators here, but I liked that. Part 1 which is the bulk of the novel and set at the camp mentioned in the summary, bounces around between a lot of different kids. We are in and out of their POV frequently. I found that this drew me into the story immediately. Each kid was unique and interesting, their situations different.

Without all of those POVs, I would not have gotten as invested in their plight and may not have followed the story through to see what happened to them. While the storyline of what happens at the camp is important, while the world building behind what is going on their was very well developed, it is the characters who carry this story and fuel all the feelings-- the terror, the anger, the rage.

Speaking of that world building-- Felker-Martin uses all 5 senses and gets them on the page. You smell things-- like really smell them, feel the heat, there are visceral descriptions that you can almost touch, you can see the landscape, you are there with the characters as they explore each other and themselves sexually.

I am struggling with giving this the proper readalikes because I don't want to give things away, but after reading it and seeing the publisher description I feel okay saying this is Invasion of the Body Snatchers updated from a 21st century queer point of view. If you liked Camp Damascus, this book is different but they feel like cousins.

I also thought of Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper, The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, and Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy Snyder while reading this, but none of these are the right comp because they all miss one of the key things about this book, something that makes it unique and an important read, and that is the rage and anger that explodes off of every page. And not just the character's anger and rage, not just the author's, the book is written for you, the reader to seethe with anger as well. There is terror here. It is a terrifying book but the terror is supernatural and all too real. But the fact that the story invokes both terror and anger is remarkable.

Which leads to the final point-- I am not sure how any human can read this book and not want to protect queer children from a world that wants to destroy them. I mean, I know how; I am not dumb. But you have to be full of hate and unwilling to allow others to live their authentic lives. I think this is a book that may make many who think they are allies of the queer community-- especially the trans community--realize that they were not doing enough to show their support. This book will call these people out and I hope, inspire them to go out and act.

4.5-- almost a star. I gave Manhunt an unequivocal star. Why not this one? A few very small reasons that are nit picky about its construction. The main section (part 1) which takes place all at the camp in 1995, I think it could have been shorter so that Part 2 which is set in 2011 could have been longer. What to cut? I have opinions on what details from part 1 matter more than others (I will not share because spoilers), but the key is that I would have loved 50 more pages before the final showdown (which was great) to give the characters as they are "now" more depth and like 50 fewer pages in part one. The pacing was good so more pages overall would not be good. One of the best things about part 1 was how the characters were developed with nuance and care (mentioned above), I wish that part wasn't as rushed in part 2.

Overall this is a book that needs to be read by all Horror fans, yes, but I feel like the people who need to read it most won't and that makes me even more angry.