Book: Old Wounds
By: Logan Ashley Kisner
Published: September 10, 2024
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: YA Horror
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. What this means is that if you purchase anything through the links I have provided for you, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please consider supporting my blog.
About Old Wounds
Erin and Max are trans kids who are trying to escape their families to California. Max wants to be able to transition, but Erin is trying to figure out why she went on this trip to begin with, especially since Max broke up with her two years ago.
They are eventually stranded and then separated in a rural town in mid-America with creepy woods surrounding it.
As they are waiting for their car to get fixed, they are told about a local legend of a monster that hunts and feeds on girls. It’s not until later that they find out that the locals are trying to find a girl to sacrifice in order to save their town. Erin and Max have to work together and stop running; stop running from each other, their attackers, and themselves.
What I thought
So, to me, Old Wounds was just kind of meh. It has a cool concept about the typical sacrifice of girls and women. But what happens when the sacrifice is trans?
To be honest, this is a topic that really hasn’t crossed my mind before. I don’t think it’s something that would have ever really crossed my mind in that aspect. I thought this was a great story idea, but just executed somewhat poorly.
Erin to me is a kick ass character. There are really strong characteristics with her. But I have to be honest Max annoyed the crap out of me. I get that he was hurting, but how he handled that hurt bothered me. I know that may seem ridiculous because things affect people in different ways and but he was a bit of a ass.
With that being said, I do kind of hate that this story takes place in the “South”. It just gives me the stereotypical idea that all Southerners are bad and hateful, and judgmental. I have noticed that other parts of the U.S. are just as judgmental and hateful as people can be down here. Not only that there are only a select few people who are like this. The most hateful people are the loudest.
I also wish we had gotten more on the monster and how it revolves around that a little more. The fact that the monster wouldn’t have anything to do with Erin, I think it would have made things more interesting if she were able to escape it. The story just comes across as a revenge plot against hateful people. That’s okay, but it left the story with little to no depth to the story. Unfortunately, this will be a story that I will probably forget what happens with most of the plot.
If you like this post, then you might also like my post on YA horror novels.