B.R. Yeager

This was just tremendous and will be hard to do justice to in a review. Cosmic horror bleakness in a town that is slowly killing itself, suicide by suicide. Yeager’s finger is right on the pulse of the anxieties of the current generation of teens and young adults. Contemporary without losing itself in mundanity, this feels fresh even if that’s a strange word for a work so thematically riddled with decay, decline and ennui. The horror in the story dwells in the darker corners of the web (though this is not the driving influence it was in his previous work, Amygdalatropolis), filthy teenage bedrooms, forests and rivers tainted with urbanity, deserted neighbourhoods and the lure of unwitting self destruction. Yeager nods at common horror touchstones without ever being tempted into writing tropes. The writing is fantastic and makes for compulsive reading. The prose varies from sparse to wonderfully ethereal descriptive passages, by way of character lead internalities, all of which are deployed perfectly to give the novel the impact it has. The characterization is thoughtful and distinct for each of the viewpoints from which the story is told, whilst retaining Yeager’s authorial voice. Tyler could be considered the main character, and while we are never given his viewpoint, he exists just as strongly through the impressions he makes on the other characters. Negative Space will leave an impact that lingers like the ghost of a dream that was more terrible than I allow myself to remember.… (more)

Sometimes I look back and I can't believe that I survived my teenage years. And I mean that in the most literal sense. By the time I was 17 I already had five dead friends by suicide or overdose and one by stupidity. And I should have been counted in that number. But here I am.

This book feels like an ode to fucked up teenagers. Those kids who come from troubled homes and have to grow up too fast. Those outsiders who always feel lightyears away from normal and who, when they find a connection to any other freak, will band together to form an alliance, who will pledge everlasting loyalty no matter how fucked up things get because they need to feel seen and safe in a dangerous and scary world.

Negative Space centers around a group of teenagers in a northeastern town called Kinsfield which happens to have a suicide epidemic on its hands. The story unfolds through the first person accounts of three struggling teens, Lu, Jill, and Ahmir, all of whom are connected through Tyler, a dark, troubled but clearly charismatic fourth teenager. Tyler is addicted to a drug called WHORL which has psychotropic effects as well as perhaps opening portals to other dimensions. Yeah, it goes there and does so with relish.

All of these characters are incredibly individual, vibrant and relatable. Their fears, desires, insecurities, and vulnerabilites are on full display. The pain and terror of being a teenager is front and center. Lu, a sweet, odd transgender young woman, who is constantly unseen as herself by everyone but her one friend, was especially captivating.

The writing is dark, beautiful, lyrical, and scathing. It drags you into this world and holds you under water at times.

For me, I felt that these four were people I knew in the life that I ended up having to walk away from in order to survive. And, indeed, this novel shows us in the most brutal way that you can't go back.

I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come. This novel made 15 year old me feel seen. And that's fucking huge.… (more)