M. L. Rio

A Novella

Graveyard Shift

Romy

After trying and failing to find a better job, trying and failing to make her marriage work, trying and failing to give up smoking, trying and failing to take care of herself as she sank into the quicksand of depressive lethargy, Tamar had come to think of herself, generally, as a failure.

Friends and lovers came and went, but the Toyota was forever.

I’ve only been trying to sleep since the day I was born, and googling home remedies never occurred to me.

mari

Hannah flicked her first butt into the hole. They all leaned toward the center of the circle, watched it disap- pear. “Maybe,” she said, “it's for somebody who's not dead yet.”

“THE DARK LORD DEMANDS BLOOD SACRIFICE!”

smile??

She learned to live in the permanent twilight of sleep-deprivation psychosis. Life, if you could call it that, was a never-ending out-of-body experience.

Lockley was, whatever her shortcomings, objectively beautiful. And objectively beautiful people could bend the rules in a way objectively average people could not.

james cao

"Whoa." Edie stopped suddenly and Tuck walked right into her. She pointed the light up at the massive, weird mosaic of Saint Anthony. Paint had been applied directly to the plaster, embellished with shards of mirror and colored glass gems that glittered like the embers of a fire dying out— deep bloody reds and oxidized orange. The saint himself held, in one hand, a leash tethered to a stout, squatting creature that could have been a pig or an ugly hairless dog. In the other, he clutched an even uglier doll, with cabbage-like leaves sprouting out of its head. The doll had no hands or feet, but instead four hairy, rootlike protuberances where its hands and feet should have been. Which was not to say that there were no hands or feet at all. The most unsettling part of the icon was the half dozen disembodied hands and feet floating in midair above the hermit's head-a grotesque mobile of amputated limbs.

Tuck had started to cry, but the rat had stopped struggling. Grip loose, neck limp. Head like a soft, rotten walnut in the hollow of his palm. One foot twitched feebly, and he almost threw up in his lap.

He turned right and continued down the side street, where a few cars were parked in the gritty pink light of the few anemic streetlamps.

The bestselling author of international BookTok sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story of a group of misfits who meet in the local cemetery each night to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave. Every night, in the college's ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story. One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn't there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom? Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks--and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.
Atmospheric and eerie, featuring an ensemble of misfits that fans will love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio's inimitable style.

i didn’t expect to be interested in this kind of subject. i think it was the author’s talent that captivated me. i felt the atmosphere and wanted more of these characters. i can’t wait to read 

i didn’t expect to be interested in this kind of subject. i think it was the author’s talent that captivated me. i felt the atmosphere and wanted more of these characters. i can’t wait to read if we were villains

Love a Scooby-Doo reference, and I think with the mystery and the variety of characters this story could have worked well in even longer form!

This was so interesting-another strange fungus story, but realistic this time. Modern with nods to the past and a believable conflict. 

Kristen Savage

- have not thought about this book since closing it 11 months ago

- it’s a fairly enjoyable story, very scooby doo, just not memorable

- characters were pretty funny and unique and i wished it focused more on them instead of the weird lab rat plot twist that rio was trying to string up

- have not thought about this book since closing it 11 months ago

- it’s a fairly enjoyable story, very scooby doo, just not memorable

- characters were pretty funny and unique and i wished it focused more on them instead of the weird lab rat plot twist that rio was trying to string up

Really enjoyed the novella but am not quite sure, if the story itself should have been a novella... the topic very well could be a nice book and felt, even for a novella, too fast paced. However, the changing of the character perspectives every chapter without using first-person narrator was beautifully done!

Yetta Pahling

my introduction to ml rio because, frankly, i’m quite scared of starting we were villains. i wanted this to be more—more spooky, weirder, longer, and more grotesque. the first half had me but the latter half kind of lost me. i still liked it but i deeply wish i loved it. it’s fun and a little weird but the ending was normal, almost too normal. 

(streets are saying i might finally pick up if we were villains later this year)

開花

my introduction to ml rio because, frankly, i’m quite scared of starting we were villains. i wanted this to be more—more spooky, weirder, longer, and more grotesque. the first half had me but the latter half kind of lost me. i still liked it but i deeply wish i loved it. it’s fun and a little weird but the ending was normal, almost too normal. 

(streets are saying i might finally pick up if we were villains later this year)

i love the vibes and the angsty feeling you get every pages. the characters are all of different backgrounds and stories but they fit so well with each other. the open-ending gave my whiplash and i am wondering if hannah will ever become another incident or not, will lockley be sentenced to jail for her weird practice… too many questions unanswered, it might be on purpose but it frustrates me so bad. the book was very good and well-written and it’s a perfect small read for grey days.

Funky lil book, could’ve read like 300 more pages but it was super engaging 

soph 

great little mystery novella !! however i gotta stop reading novellas i get attached to the characters even though i know there is no more of them

Clara Gauthier

matti horckmans

Really interesting fast read. For a novella, I think it was well written (pacing) and had a good storyline overall, however the ending was really abrupt and kind of confusing (??), mostly on Hannah’s pov. I do wish we had a bit more of each character but for the shortness of this story, I think it dives enough into each character to make out the relationship they have with each other and how they each are able to help figure out the mystery.

lily

This was short and snappy and original and gross and i loved every second

Lili

Ally Perkins

A sad 3 stars... This started so well and feeling really interesting and atmospheric, I was really drawn into the mystery of it. And then it just sort of ended. OK?

I think this concept was really cool, and was it a fast read? Yes, but if the book were a bit longer I think we wouldn’t have gotten such an abrupt, confusing and loose ending. 

Marz

if you’re going to do more than three povs i think the book should be longer ..  also needed more tuck

envie,

One of the best books I've read this year.

Ashlee

The first thirty pages where good, creepy and perfect for.ocotber then it just went downhill,.it lost the creepy earie vibes and got way into tje sciene talk that I was board. Two many characters the book could have just followed Edie and tuck possibly hannah I suppose and would been better.

It was hard to keep myself reading I do not understand the hype at all. So dossapointdd 

Samantha King

The first thirty pages where good, creepy and perfect for.ocotber then it just went downhill,.it lost the creepy earie vibes and got way into tje sciene talk that I was board. Two many characters the book could have just followed Edie and tuck possibly hannah I suppose and would been better.

It was hard to keep myself reading I do not understand the hype at all. So dossapointdd 

Really good easy read, flows amazingly, I liked each of the characters and how they developed , I did find that I can’t remember what has happened in this book, I think due to how short it was there wasn’t enough development but overall I would recommend as it’s a nice read!

Issabelle :)

yaya

I actually really enjoyed this story, from the point of view that it’s a novella. I knew I wouldn’t get all of the answers from 108 pages over 10 hours. The author did a great job at writing the way that a potentially world changing story can stumble across normal people on a normal night, without worrying about how the cast of characters must save the world. the lack of knowledge as a means to humanize the characters as unknowable wholes was perfect.

Emily McMeans

would have worked better as a full fledged novel 

Cici Pearson

I’m honestly just glad to have a new work by Rio. The characters were intriguing and her use of multi perspective used in a way I really enjoyed (I sometimes find it hard). Mushrooms and graveyards and bad smoking habits. A great combination 

Graveyard Shift A Novella