Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Graveyard Shift

This was a spooky, character-driven story with a sharp critique of scientific academia…but it unapologetically cuts off mid-story. I’d rather have an ending that’s sudden than one that drags, but this was like, abrupt - even for me. If you enjoy eerie atmospheres, solid group dynamics, and don’t mind an unresolved finish, this one could be worth picking up.

Energy: Engaging. Biting. Convivial.

🐕 Howls. The ending is abrupt and leaves the characters' fates hanging.

🐩 Tail Wags. Pulled into the eerie world right away. How it drops the reader into the middle of things, letting us infer as we go. The plot moves steadily, the characters are likeable and work well together. The accurate depictions of academia, particularly the darker side of scientific research and institutional politics.

Scene: 🌎 Set in a campus town.

Perspectives (5): An editor-in-chief at an award-winning but struggling student paper. A talented but impoverished former microbiology student. A bartender and general manager of the university pub. A library sciences graduate struggling to find work splitting time between the health-sci library and a hotel front desk. A car repair technician who has become fully nocturnal.

Timeline: Current (2020s). Midnight through to morning in October.

🔥 Fuel: Who is digging large holes in the abandoned cemetery? Who is the person they see sneaking around in the shadows? How will the characters fare with their various personal troubles?

📖 Cred: Plausible

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Cigarette smoke. Shovel hitting dirt. Breeze through fallen leaves. Alkaloids. Fungal infestation. Me-search. Occam’s razor. Rats.

Ghost in the room, tagging along with different characters
Books to read when you can’t sleep
Gothic-ish abandoned on-hallowed-grounds feel
Hint of fungal horrors
Toxic academia
Biomedical sci-fi drama
Scientists behaving badly
Student investigators
Unlikely friendships and misfits

Content Heads-Up: Nicotine (cigarettes). Cancer (lump, anxiety). Poverty, unhoused (character situation). Animal death (rats). Melancholy, depression. Insomnia, night terrors. Hallucination (sleep deprivation). Animal attack (rat). Medical trauma (drug testing). Corruption (academic, scientific).

Rep: Greek ancestry. Cis. Hetero. Lesbian. Ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Library Digital

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Content Warnings

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

good but a tad too short. i felt like another 50 pages would’ve really helped

Content Warnings

egganimates's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed M.L. Rio’s ability to write such strong character. I honestly wish there was more of an ending because the first few chapters were really strong but almost as soon as

Kinnan was interrogated by Hannah

the plot just sort of… Ended?
There didn’t feel like there was a satisfying conclusion to the story but overall as a Novella I loved it.

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