I’ve been stewing on Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio for a few weeks, digesting my thoughts and emotions and working out what to write for this review. I have seen a wide stretch of responses and reviews, some people hating it while others didn’t mind it, and though I personally haven’t seen anyone love this book I know there are people that do really like this book. I feel confident that I can say I sit in the middle with this one, thought there are some things I was very unsure about with this novella.

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 the group trail him through the night, they realise 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.

Graveyard Shift is a contemporary gothic novella, with dark academia vibes and an essence of horror in the imagery, setting, and events of the novella. While these elements can and do work together, I don’t think it was as impactful as it could have been with this book. I don’t think that is due to the genres here, rather the open ending that felt more like things left unfinished than a true conclusion where the character carry on life post novel. I understand the direction and attempt, but it feels a little too empty for me. I don’t mind books that have characters occupying a liminal space and the next step being taken at the close of the novel, but Graveyard Shift didn’t meet that ending. Perhaps if there was a mirror ending with a scene akin to the opening scene of the book it would have felt right.

The characters are interesting, with some cynical perspectives in the mix to bounce off the grinders and bosses of the group. On their own though, none of them stand out. That could come down to it being a short story with a plot focus that doesn’t give a lot of time to character development and the relationships between the reader and characters to form. Another polarising aspect of this novella is the attention given to smoking, chain smoking, and addiction. I have read reviews where they felt it was being glorified and that the reader was trying to make smoking cool again, and while I don’t agree with that I do think that there area lot of mentions to smoking in this novel. I can see how this impacts the reader-character relationships and I think I have felt that with Graveyard Shift myself.

Morality, mortality, and insomnia are big themes in this novella, and while they certainly pertain to the plot and characters involves, they don’t feel as strong of discussion points as they could be. Overall, the book lacks a strong discussion point in my eyes, so it is difficult to establish an opinion on Graveyard Shift.

It is interesting to see the reception of Graveyard Shift as M.L. Rio is the author behind If We Were Villains. If We Were Villains might be my favourite dark academia book I’ve read, and from the responses and reviews I’ve come across, it might be in a lot of other readers’ favourites lists too. This will be one of the leading reasons why so many people have read Graveyard Shift and are giving 3-star or lower reviews – they are holding it to the standard of If We Were Villains and are left wanting. This is a great example of when authors release books that you just don’t gel with. If We Were Villains and Graveyard Shift are not books I picture the exact same group of people liking, but that doesn’t mean Graveyard Shift is a bad book like it is perceived to be online. It simply means the book has been read by people who didn’t like it as much as they thought. If you are a gothic reader who likes elements of science fiction, horror, and dark academia, then you might like Graveyard Shift quite a lot. for te average reader, I would simply say this – don’t pick it up expecting it to be like If We Were Villains just because it is from the same author.