Cuckoo opens in 1995 with a true-to-life horror situation: seven queer kids being sent to a conversion camp in the middle of the desert. The camp is your classic nightmare: brutal labor conditions under the supervision of uber-religious and questionable leadership. Physical punishment from both counsellors and fellow campers. Truly mystifying lessons that are both boring and migraine-inducing. But this camp isn’t like any other, and soon our protagonists begin to realize that campers are being replaced one by one with doppelgangers with completely new personalities. What follows is a gruesome, nail-biting escape into the wilderness.
Sixteen years later, the survivors are forced to reunite and put an end to the horrors they barely escaped the first time. Felker-Martin keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire story. Their writing is utterly visceral—at times nauseating and generally terrifying. The descriptions of the monster are some of the best I’ve ever read, evoking movie-level scenes in my imagination, much to both my delight and disgust.
Despite the relatively large number of POV characters, each one feels real in their struggles with both accepting themselves and being accepted by their loved ones. We get to witness them grow into themselves across the time jump, form unbreakable bonds of friendship and romance with each other, and lean into their rage. Most satisfying of all, we get to watch them, both as kids and adults, be the heroes of their own stories. Left to their own devices, abandoned to the whims of abusive adults, they take action not just against the monster, but also against a society that insists on othering them.
This book is propulsive, emotional, and incredibly fulfilling. With so much to say on the lives of queer people in the 90s and today, it provides cathartic commentary through a masterfully done horror lens. It is a great reminder of what so many marginalized horror authors are doing so beautifully these days, and I’m so happy I picked it up. There are many content warnings for this novel, including body horror and general violence, amongst others, so please take caution before reading.
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