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angels

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Steven has a guardian angel
In the desolate Texas town of Butte, two teenagers collide in a twist of fate that creates a biblical flood. In a multi-faceted voice, May Leitz weaves a story about the trials of youth, the rot spreading in the United States, and how we create systems of harm that twist us into unrecognizable horrors. From the author of Fluids and Girl Flesh, angels is a new tale of love in the time of tragedy.

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2025

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May Leitz

4 books220 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for asmalldyke.
143 reviews14 followers
November 13, 2025
This is~ the story of a girl~ who cried a river and drowned the whole world... even though it's a different annoying 1990s pop hit that anchors this one.

Angels is a book that contains all kinds of things. Maybe foremost it is about, like, repression and "DL" among gay dudes and our boy Steven being a wreck about it, pushing his feelings down and reducing sex to a purely physical exchange and his difficulty when it comes to August, his long-haired true-love reciprocal doomed yaoi partner. A lot of it is things I'm casually aware of but have no bearing on my existence. There are a bunch of times that the narration leans on preconceived ideas about sex: "He was scared of what everyone was afraid of right before sex with someone they liked; he expected that this was of no consequence to them, but it was his whole life on the line." Part of me wants to chalk the lack of understanding (are you meant to feel this way about sex?) up to personal trauma or being acespec, but mostly I think I was previously unaware on this level because of gosh darned autism. I am like: can't relate. No idea what it's like. So on that level I was riding along with Steven as he coolly exchanges sexual favours for rides out to August's house and experiencing all-new things, which was a hoot, I will say. Steven is a car crash of a person, all internal and in his head 24/7 and also a fan of Burzum, not because he's a Norweigan nazi or anything, but mostly because he is like 17 and sucks and thinks it's hardcore. Distinctive boy.

However, the actual framing is outside of all of that burning hot unspoken gay yearning. Secretly, the novel is about a third person: Charlotte, who everybody calles Charles for whatever reason, is a girl with weird fixations and some kind of a death wish. Her whole thing seems to be that she needs to have had sex to like, ritually enter adulthood, which was also new but less surprising to me. Issues of self-worth, validation in the eyes of others. Ayup. Non-shockingly, when she gets fixated on Steven, he vey casually has sex with her because he's that kind of "whatever" guy, but then literally tells her to fuck off and leave when he's done. Aftercare isn't his specialty, and for that crime bad things happen to Charlotte, and the literal biblical apocalypse begins. Things get out of hand.

The New May Leitz here tends to lose me pretty hard and fast when it gets all christian about things. I think calling god a famous cuckold is pretty funny, but most times I find that I wasn't raised in fuckin' Texas Butte so much of it is lost on me, again. When Charlotte is gettin' homophobic with it about Steven and Austin, my only reaction is 'dude, what the fuck'? But I think that's the intention and there's a joke I'm missing, since Charlotte does narrate about it. Straight woman fury... Fucking at the literal end of the world in the midst of the Genesis flood sounds kinda rad, but I guess in the same way, the contrast is the point. Do you think August is just 24/7 ready to bottom? Sure seemed easy reading it back. Perhaps he is a nascent Bottom Shaman.

The fact that all of this might be preordained by a higher power is pretty wild, especially for taking place in a small town in bumfuck Texas. I guess hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or, maybe Charlotte, Charles, is of other gender. There's a lot going on there for all of it to have been preordained. The climactic scene reminds me faintly of a dream I once had, down to the knife snugly between ribs. Not really the fun kind of stabbing this time.

The book also has Notes, sweet fucking god does it have footnotes, not as ubiquitous and unhinged as Psycho Nymph Exile's, and a key distinction is that Psycho Nymph plants them at the bottom of each page. Angels puts them all at the very end, so I did not read them until after. I wish for them to be footers on every page, they might have helped that way.

In general a lot of Angels is outside of my direct purview, making it sort of a truckstop (kinda like Butte itself) on the big road of my Personal Quest, and as a result kind of weird to me, personally. I think I should also just read every and any May Leitz novel that will exist, though, because for as much of an out-of-body experience as it was, even though it's fucking bizzare and unpleasant, I still enjoyed it. How could I not? It is weird and gross (albeit only slightly) and made me reflect and consider in gross (this time intensely) ways on things. Angels is a heavyweight.
Profile Image for Celi.
24 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2025
Transitioning may have saved Charles tbh
Profile Image for Sam.
456 reviews40 followers
November 5, 2025
Two teenagers meet in a park and their lives change afterwards. Steven, a drifter deep in denial about his sexuality, spends the night in the park before hitchhiking to August, the guy he has a crush on. Charles, a girl with a boy’s name, who hasn’t been interested in relationships yet, meets him and it awakens her interest. After getting her heart broken by Steven’s disinterest after they have sex, she is hit by a car and begins to haunt him.
Gender and sexuality blurs, gruesome violence occurs and time becomes somewhat nonlinear afterwards with Charles replaying moments of her past and propelling the story forward to a cataclysmic change that will drown the world and what happens after.
Haunting, brutal and choked with loneliness and trauma, this was a tough read, but an incredibly interesting one as well. I loved how horrible and disastrous Charles was allowed to become, seething with jealously and rage and heartbreak, having died before she could every learn to move on from it. I also liked Steven’s and August’s relationship and the way they treated each other, a sweet, fumbling romance, doomed from the start. I especially enjoyed how Charles uses Steven as a figure in her story, the things she told herself to reclaim control over her afterlife.
The ending is a really dark one and one that fits incredibly well with the rest of the story and if you’ve read other pieces of May Leitz’ work you should check this out, it was interesting. Do be aware that this is an extreme work of horror and the horror is gruesome and violent and unflinching.

Tw car accident, death, drowning, f-slur, homophobia, sexual assault (graphic), strangulation, violence
Profile Image for Puss.
24 reviews1 follower
July 17, 2026
I’m a fan of May Leitz but this is by far her worst book. I hated it. I really hope her next work isn’t like this.

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I am coming back to adjust my one star to two because I’m still having feelings about it. The writing style for this specific piece didn’t resonate with me as much, but that’s okay. It was definitely an unfiltered stream of thoughts with revision notes at the bottom.
(F*ggot inquiry) <—- can we say that on here?

I do love how unapologetically queer May’s writing is, I always will. I hate how her characters suffered so. There was immense suffering in Girl Flesh and Fluids, but with some sort of redemption at the end. (Read those, if you haven’t!)

Angels really bothered me. Obviously, it supposed to. Perhaps it’s because I read Song of Achilles a few books before this. (There is a connection in the sense of the book being written by a ghost POV after a point)

I understand flooding the whole world from heartbreak, anger, etc… Charles ghost being so incredibly lost and spiteful. I hated the torture, which is something we should come to expect from May. I hated reading from the torturers mind. Reading the r*pe scene from the POV of the r*pist was really awful. Similarly, we’ve read this before in Fluid’s, from a delusional mind describing it as pleasure. This scene felt way too unkind for my mind to process. Steven got r*ped twice, mangled, and lost his love… all because he fucked Charles and didn’t call her after? Get a grip.

I would like to say, I loved the gender dysmorphia aspect when Charles had gotten too far gone from humanity and couldn’t remember if they were born boy or girl.

Idk- it feels like a lot of anger, grief, and other troubling feelings were put out in the pages and worked through in this book. I will continue to support, but yea… I won’t be going back to this book again anytime soon. Maybe I will pick it up and have a different perspective sometime.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
5 reviews
September 10, 2026
I feel bad for this review, in a sense. I think there's a need for truth of opinion, but at the same time I acknowledge that despite its short size, I couldn't bring myself to properly finish this book. It feels disrespectful, but I read through about half the book (including a year's break, in which a lot changed, even in the ways I view art) and with each page felt a total disconnect. I think it would be a worthless platitude for me to keep reading something I wasn't enjoying just to provide a more "authentic" review. So, if you want to brush off this review, go ahead. Otherwise, my thoughts:

This book is different than some of May's last few books in a variety of ways - it's shorter, has overtly supernatural themes, has much less of a sapphic focus and is a lot less "explicit" in terms of gore and horror. I want it known that I have no issue with this. Whilst I vastly enjoyed her past works, partly for the reasons I mentioned, I'll always applaud an artist for stepping outside of what may be considered "typecast" for them, and I have no issue with the concept.

Where I feel it falls apart is structure, influenced by the writing process. I recall watching the launch video for the book, wherein May said something along the lines of this was a work where she'd followed her gut feelings and not been too harsh in the edit on this, and I'm sorry to say, I think it shows.

Again, I see the vision for the core concept; a rural America love triangle full of complicated/somewhat unrequited love and LGBT/mental health dynamics... but it does not work at all for me. The first domino that falls for me is the character of Charles. I understand young love can often be chaotic, but the whole premise hinges on her complicated relationship with Steven, and I was just not feeling it at all. Maybe I'm too unempathetic, but it feels as if we don't get enough of a glimpse into her psyche for her to come across as a complicated lovestruck teenager, and instead she falls flat and her obsession with Steven feels odd as a result.

I'm no stranger to having flawed characters or considering things the plot might not spell out blatantly or from the get-go, but I also think there's a such thing as going too far in the opposite direction where it feels like we need to give a character way more leeway compared to what we actually get from them.

This then ruins the guardian angel - and thus all more supernatural - aspects for me. I think it's an interesting concept, but because I feel a failure to connect with or care for Charles, this entire aspect falls apart for me.

The other big area I failed to connect with the book was Steven himself. I wish I had something more constructive to say, as I feel somewhat reductive saying it, but I feel like his is a story I've seen many times before, and as such I felt it was lacking some sort of deeper element to Steven to care. He feels very Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterious Skin; a detached, sexually confused young sex worker who doesn't care if he lives or dies and gets into trouble. I'm not saying it's a 1:1 ripoff or that this archetype can't be repeated, but when you're treading familiar ground, you need to find a way to stand out; this is true of any archetype, such as the chosen one hero or lovable rogue.

I do think May has proven herself capable of writing gripping fiction which explore the darker sides of humanity and the conflicting mental health/queer lenses that can shape them, but this one was a miss for me.
Profile Image for Emery Green.
24 reviews
December 9, 2025
Full disclosure I am probably the most biased reader ever as May Leitz is my all-time favorite horror writer. That being said, my overall opinion is that I did not find this book as strong as Fluids and Girl Flesh. However, overall, I feel like this author has another great story on her hands. The story taking place in Texas hits close to home for me, in particular, having grown up in a small town so similar to Butte it is eerie. This setting, being the backdrop for a biblical level flood makes such sense. I saw another review state that if Charles just transitioned, all this would be solved, and I do feel a similar sentiment. One of the things I really enjoyed with this book was the ability for our resident ghost girl to view herself both as a victim and a villain. I think we all tend to box ourselves in to one or the other without realizing we are all capable of epic levels of destruction. I was a little taken aback by some of the language, but obviously, that's the point. May Lietz will never cease to both horrify and impress me. I truly believe queer people understand the horror of the human body and the expectation placed upon it better than anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Courtney Webb.
39 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2026
A slow burn of horror.

I feel like Archer Man while reading this book.

Just picture that meme here.

This book was not what I was expecting from May Leitz; then again, I should have expected the worst from her previous work, Fluids. Great book by the way for horror fans of splatterpunk. Particularly, the ending left my brain exploding with how the whole story connected.

I felt like I was in a David Lynch film from reading this book.

I totally can understand Charles' anger in the book. Reminding myself of an angry teenager that I used to be, but nothing extreme like in the book.

I hope Ms. May Leitz continues to write more books. Now, I need to finish reading Girl Flesh.
Profile Image for Kai Van.
885 reviews22 followers
January 23, 2026
CW: gun violence, rape, toxic relationships, abuse, violence, blood, death, sexual content, homophobia, gun violence

maybe if people were allowed to exist without shame for queerness, if people were allowed to play with gender and get affirming care, maybe then the apocalyptic floods wont come and the world will be okay.

I had a bit of trouble navigating the narration style initially, but it got better as I continued. definitely wont be for everyone, but I overall liked Leitz writing overall here & am I read it. very difficult subject matter with on-page assault so be aware if you want to give it a try.
Profile Image for Mitch.
152 reviews9 followers
May 4, 2026
Well, unfortunately, I related a lot to this. The Steven of it all anyways. I mean, all that didn't happen to me, as evidenced by my continued existence, but I think a lot about growing up gay in a small town and being hurt by men who hate themselves and hate you. How small town religion and economic decay do everything they can to kill you, how people only love you when you're either a kid that they can project potentials onto or a corpse they can mourn the potential of. Fun stuff. Evil anti-fujo Demiurge is perhaps a bit slippier to me, but I get how that happens. If you've ever given yourself to someone who finds that self disposable, you may just have a little apocalypse about it. Hopefully you skip the whole torture thing. Gotta be real though, I hate the footnotes. It takes a minute to orient yourself to the narrative style, but once things click it's hard to put down.
Profile Image for Veronica.
484 reviews2 followers
July 20, 2026
I really don't know how I feel about this. This is a stream of consciousness, meandering, tale that includes the anxieties of being closeted but also vampires? I really like May's writing and recognize that her books are not straightforward but I also kind of got lost in the prose. I need to think on it.

NOTE; I read this on Hoopla and the ebook is not loaded in correctly. The chapter breaks are not built in and the header says "Untitled Document". Also I see other reviews discussing footnotes? There aren't any in my copy which is probably contributing to my confusion.
Profile Image for Pettiette Prose.
165 reviews
January 21, 2026
Angels
By: May Leitz
★ ★ ★ .5
•
In a desolate town, two teenagers collide in a twist of fate that creates a biblical flood. Includes trials of youth, the contagious rot of society, and unrecognizable horrors. Told through multiple perspectives with the insight of a guardian angel.
•
This book was very inventive and equally haunting. The story really made me feel very strongly. I am left with a lot of curiosity about this novel. I want to hear other people talk about it. There were some really powerful moments in the middle/end. The beginning did kind of feel slow and that was a bummer due to how short the novel already is. I wish I could say the slowness paved necessary groundwork for the latter half, but I don’t think that is true in this case. I really do enjoy and respect this interpretation of horror and the added view of a guardian angel.
Profile Image for super.
17 reviews
December 5, 2025
I like that the chapter breaks are very short, can pick this up for a quick read at any moment. I don’t really care much for the characters but there’s some extremely hard hitting lines here and there. Horrific finale too, last 15% of the book is a pure nightmare. All in all it’s pretty alright.
2 reviews
March 11, 2026
I literally could not stop reading as soon as I hit the halfway point.
Profile Image for Dennis.
51 reviews1 follower
Read
May 25, 2026
This book is really good when read by the voice of Connie Marble from Pink Flamingos.
Profile Image for Harley.
27 reviews
September 2, 2026
This one took me a while to get into. The first half dragged a bit for me but once it ramped up I could not put this book down.

Can't wait for the next book 🖤
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews