Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Erin and Max grew up in the same city in Ohio. In fact, they used to date. But then Max dumped Erin out of the blue and they haven't really talked since. Even after two years, Erin doesn't know where their relationship went sideways. Yes, Max had begun to transition, but Erin had been moving along in that process for a while. So why didn't Max talk to her about it or about how he got that scar on his arm.

But, no. Max--out of the blue--asked Erin to road trip with him to California where he planned to enroll in college. When they had been dating, Max had promised Erin he'd get her out of Ohio, and he still took that vow seriously.

However, he also took leaving Ohio behind them seriously. Soon into the drive, the two are paying only in cash and have ditched their phones. But then the car stops driving (even though Max swears he had it checked over by a mechanic last week) and the two teens are in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky.

After Max goes alone to try and get another mechanic, the teens' luck goes from bad to worse. Separated and with no way to reach each other, they each find themselves pursued (in one way or another) by the locals. Initially assuming the normal ill-intent men might have trans teens, Max and Erin are horrified to learn that it is much worse. The locals are on the hunt for a girl to feed to a monster.

The problem is the locals don't quite know how the monster makes such a distinction. And the locals do not know how hard Erin and Max have already fought to survive. What's one more night in the dark?

The cover of Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner is what initially caught my eye with the fearsome teeth, eyes reflecting the main characters, and the pitch black of the rest. After I read the punchy summary, I was deeply intrigued. I do not read a ton of horror, but I love YA and I love stories that are, at least in part, about the bonds of found family.

How a culture conceives of monsters can often show what a culture thinks of as vile, undesirable, but, at times, powerful.

Old Wounds is a story of monsters, bonds (romantic, platonic, and familial), and how showing up can mean everything.

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner, Delacorte Press