Readers, please immediately hop over to whatever shop you prefer and get your hands on this book! It has the most adorable humor in it, a pinch of sexy, darkness and romance and it all felt so lifely I swear I can hear Morries annoying songs booming through the walls or see their fluid moves on the dance floor. The story really was beautiful and funny and… too short! Not in the way that something was missing (it had all it needed) but in the way that good stories are always too short.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

As a gay West Virginian native and cryptid enthusiast, I ADORED this book. I grew up with this folklore and culture (and had a huge crush on mothman in my teen years) and getting to read it as a queer romance made my heart soar. The writing is excellent and kept me hooked throughout the whole story. And I loved all the little references to other WV cryptids (the snarly yow and flatwoods monster deserve love too!!) and culture (I too am a Tudors stan.) Also shout out to that TAZ amnesty reference. I desperately want more Emerson and Morrie, I would read a series of this and I'm planning on buying my own copy come February!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite odd but I actually kind of liked it. And there was nonbinary rep! Yay!

The story is told in two POVs: Emerson Oakley (a pre-med student from Seattle) and Morrie (a mothperson). Morrie is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns throughout the book, however, I did catch some slip-ups such as the one here:

"Morrie tried to pretend he didn't feel his guts tremble under that gaze."

I found the premise interesting, but I think it fell short when it came to fleshing out the characters. I would really have liked to learn more about Morrie and where he came from. While there are brief flashbacks to Morrie's past, they didn't answer most of my questions. In some cases, it ended up resulting in more questions that were pretty much left hanging at the conclusion of the book.

Also, Emerson's POV is filled with priding himself on being cool and logical, but when it comes to a whole alien moth creature <i>physically landing</i> on him or Morrie being a moth-creature and flying him around on campus, he doesn't seem to question it very much. Something doesn't seem right there. Either he's severely overestimating his observational skills and is about as scientific as a brick, or he has the memory of a goldfish.

"I know it isn't reasonable, but what fucking is? You're the Mothman, Morrie. That doesn't make any sense, so why does this need to?"

Emerson did end up making it sweet, though.

I think that's mostly what the story came down to. A sweet relationship between a human and a moth-creature. It made me feel good and fuzzy inside. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something new!


Also, this:
"Are you still cold? Do you want to shower?" he asked.
"Actually, I was hoping we could kind of just cocoon," Morrie said.

Bahahaha!

What a cute little book that was more than I was expecting! I knew it was about crypto's, but I got also so many many feelings. My heart!! Emerson was such a sweet guy, and Morrie all mysterious, afraid, and also so so sweet! I loved all the diversity packed in only a few pages; it didn't feel forced at all, it felt like it should feel in real life, pretty freaking normal.

I'm glad I requested this book and got to read it. Brought a smile on my face. So so cute!

I love this. It is just the type of cool unique shit that we needed queer rep for. I loved the non-binary rep and all the gay characters. I don't know how many pages it is since it was an ARC from netgalley, but it felt very short. I want more! Despite it's shortness, the story is well developed. The characters are somehow simple and complex and I really would like an expanded version of this story.

Thanks to @netgalley for the free copy. All opinions are my own.

So, the book is about Emerson Oakley who has recently moved from Seattle to West Virginia to go to college. Emerson becomes infatuated with his mysterious and hot next door dorm-mate, Morrie Crisp, after the two share a kiss during orientation week. Mysterious things ensue.

The book has a perfect mixture of romance, sexy-times, mystery, angst, queerness, and humor. I really wish the book was longer because I loved Emerson and Morrie so much! I also would have loved to learn more about the mothpeople too!

I read the description of this book and thought to myself, 'Am I really going to request to read a story about a guy falling in love with a moth-person?' Clearly the answer was yes, as I'm writing this review.

This story was short and quite odd. I feel like we didn't really scratch the surfaces of these characters and what I saw, I can't say I liked? But I also didn't hate it. I suppose I just found it a bit meh with a few 'what the heck' moments. I struggled a lot with how Emerson seemed to freak out over nearly dying, but a moth-person? That was fine, even worthy of arousal (which, seriously????). I didn't understand that. I also didn't really understand Morrie's powers. We got glimpses of it in flashback chapters, but not enough to make Morrie a truly fleshed out person imo. I didn't understand what attracted them to each other beyond something perhaps supernatural. This story could have done with a lot more development and explanation, and perhaps a bit more realism in how the characters act.

Also, I presume Morrie was non-binary but there were a couple of accidental slips I saw with pronouns, which was a shame and means the story could have done with another read through to catch mistakes like that.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

3* Unfortunately, the tale is confusing and feels incomplete, though it has potential.

This is my first read by this author, and it's one book where you need to read the blurb beforehand - I didn't and found the tale confusing, even at the end. It felt like one that needed more background, more explanations, more detail and more of Morrie's 'ancestry', and also that it needed to be longer.

It was only towards about 2/3 of the way through that I clocked about Morrie's powers but I don't think I understood where they came from and I don't think I understood his background or powers, though there was mention that his grandfather was as he is.

I wouldn't call this a romance, but it was interesting to see the relationship between Emerson and Morrie. As the tale ended, it felt like their relationship was only just about starting, with understanding on Emerson's part and Morrie learning to live with his powers and what that will mean for him if they're to be together.

Morrie's... anatomy confused me. I know they were non-binary and that they used the 'they' pronoun, but I couldn't form an image of them in my head. I 'saw' Emerson as a pre-med student, but I think the moth-person part of him overshadowed the rest.

ARC courtesy of Ninestar Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. Thanks to NineStar Press, LLC.

Emerson Oakley's first year at the West Virginia's Vance University started in a very peculiar way. Not only he was kissed and then ghosted by Morrie, the neighbour, but he is warned and saved by a mysterious creature, a Moth.
Morrie is struggling to use their new powers and to understand why they fell in love with the boy they watched die in their vision. Both of them fighting against their feelings and mysteries, will Emerson and Morrie surrender themselves to their feelings or not?

To the flame is a very peculiar book and I liked a lot the story, told by two POVs, swinging from past to present, from Emerson to Morrie. I liked reading about a nonbinary main character and their powers and crush. It was interesting reading about the Moth person, even though I wish it could have been better explained. But I liked a lot To the flame and they having feeling for each other. Both Morrie and Emerson are really cute and the story is simple, but very sweet.
The only downside, I wish it could have been longer, because I really liked it!