**I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.** 
 (Firstly, a Happy Book Birthday to this truly amazing story!! It's now released to the world and I couldn't be more excited!) 
 I'm not sure how to start this because I know that nothing I say will do this book justice. It's just so good. SO this probably going to be long and ramble. Fair warning. 
 It's the summer of 1984 in Breathed, Ohio when Fielding Bliss' father puts an invitation in the local newspaper inviting the devil to come to town. Though when he appears in the form of a 13 year-old African American boy called Sal (Satan + Lucifer), no one seems to believe him even though he plainly states he is the devil; that is, until bad and unusual things start happening. When Sal arrived in town, so did the heat. The oppressive, all-consuming heat that became the subject of headlines nationwide and suffocated Breathed on the daily. Then an expectant mother was in a tragic accident. Store windows were smashed with rocks by an unseen culprit. Death became a friend to the town, especially FIelding's family. And who was blamed and targeted for it all? Sal. 
 The Characters: 
 I am a sucker for well-developed characters. And these characters leapt off the page. They each had their own little oddities, their own presence, that made this already impressive story a complete knockout. Grand and his Russian, Autopsy and his court cases, Stella and her fear of the rain, and Sal- Sal has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever read. The lessons he preaches, the innocence he exudes in his glances to the sky, and yet the age-old wisdom he expresses in just a sentence, and so many more nuances that makes him who he is- they all combine to form this character that was so misunderstood and just so beautiful that my heart hurts for him. 
 "Being the devil made him a target, but it also meant he had a power he didn't have when he was just a boy. People looked at him, listened to what he said. Being the devil made him important. Made him visible. And isn't that the biggest tragedy of all? When a boy has to be the devil in order to be significant?" 
 The character development for this story was also exceptional. No character in this story emerged unchanged. It was amazing but heartbreaking to see. 
 The Story: 
 I'm going to be honest when I say this is not a book I would usually read. I would probably not have picked this up had it not found its way to me. But the fact that it did is something that I am SO thankful for because this story is the kind that is very hard to come by: the kind of story that creeps under your skin and latches onto your heart before you even realize it. It's the kind of story that had me up until 3 in the morning racing to finish it because I physically couldn't put it down. 
 This story is so much more than it's blurb or this review. It captures the essence of summer in its pages- it brought me back to my childhood in Tennessee; with its scorching summers, the scent of freshly cut grass, the sound of cicadas and the breeze, and the way the sun's rays were always able to fall through the tree branches in a way that seemed to set everything on fire with its light. 
 "Breathed was the combination of flower and weed, of the overgrown and the mowed. It was Appalachian country, as only Southern Ohio can be, and it was beautiful as a sunbeam in waist-high grass." 
 This story is Fielding's to tell, and I really liked how it flipped back and forth from his perspective as an old man in the present to his 13 year-old self in '84. The plot had so many twists that I didn't see coming, except for the one about Grand, Fielding's brother- I was able to call that from the beginning. This story took so many turns and was so truthful and yet it felt natural because that's how life really works; tragedy occurs, and it's not easy. Bigotry and ignorance are very real, and this story was brutally honest with its representation in that field. It held nothing back, and while it became hard to read at points, it made the story better because of its bold honesty. 
 The Writing: 
 THIS is what makes this book so exceptional. McDaniel's writing is brilliant, simply put. It's so hard for me to believe this is her debut novel because she writes with such maturity. The writing is a blend of lyrical and poetic descriptions (and dialogue when it came to Sal), and blunt Southern prose. The writing created such imagery that lit up the pages, they practically glowed in the dark (they actually did; I read it on my Kindle). If the story hasn't hooked you yet, pick up this book for the writing. 
 "The days ... they've been blurring together." 
 "Just hang a calendar on your wall." 
 "The walls of hell are not like other walls. I tore a picture of the ocean out from a magazine and hung it on my wall once. An ocean is a good life place. Everyone always seems happy there. And for a moment, I was happy with my picture, but then the blue sky turned gray. The waves, once calm, took a turn to rage. Then came the screams. As I looked closer, I saw the screams came from men drowning in the water." 
 What I'm trying to say: 
 Read this book. It is so, SO important. An honest portrayal of race and LGBTQ+ issues in the 80's, an exploration of familial relationships, how hope and tragedy can coexist, what lengths some people will go to when the heat gets to them and common sense starts to melt away; I could honestly go on. This book is achingly beautiful, gorgeously written, and unbelievably heartbreaking- I cried A LOT towards the end. I'll leave you with one of the other many quotes that I wrote down from this book: 
 "People always ask, Why does God allow suffering? Why does He allow a child to be beaten? A woman to cry? A holocaust to happen? A good dog to die painfully? Simple truth is, He wants to see for Himself what we'll do. He's stood up the candle, put the devil at the wick, and now He wants to see if we blow it out or let it burn down. God is suffering's biggest spectator."