PRIVATE RITES
Julia Armfield
A trio brought together by blood. The only thing holding them together. The only thing holding them accountable. If not for blood, they wouldn’t be here now. They would’ve gone long ago.
Isla is a therapist, unconvinced she has a purpose. Even as she is helping her clients, she feels invisible and ineffective. She spends her days dreaming in her therapy sessions of clients that recover, clients that move on, clients that don’t need her.
Irene is angry and has always been. Frustrated with herself, more so with others, despondent and full of conviction. She is oftentimes accused of being angry even when she feels she isn’t. There is a hardness to her that makes loving her difficult and altogether not worth the effort.
Agnes the youngest, born of a different mother. Unattached, unmoored. Bends with the wind and sets sail on rocky waters, which is at this very moment, a detriment.
The earth is in a moment of watershed. It’s been raining for what feels like years. The sisters gather at the hospital bed of their dying father. Who to them has died at least once before. All the sisters grieve more for the living than the dead. His passing, merely a rainy day in June.
Beautiful writing. In the beginning, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the words. The sentences were too rich to absorb. I read the beginning several times thinking the entire text would be in a way, indigestible. But Armfield moved on and so did I. The poetry of the beginning lasted throughout the novel. But was interlaced with easier-to-manage latent words. Which is the only way I was able to finish the book.
Armfield has been telling the same story in all the books written by her that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Simply changing the characters’ names and introducing settings that mirror her intention. It is a story of grieving those who are still living. Missing the ones who are near you but somehow somewhere far away. Not seeing the ones in front of you because you’re too busy wishing they were someone else. Not loving and accepting yourself because you’re too busy trying to be anyone but you.
Ghosts. Living.
I find that I appreciate Armfield’s novels more than I enjoy them. They almost feel inert. Unalive. A little selfish, taking more than giving. They are contemplative, and thoughtful, and I’ll always recommend them. This one is no different.
Out tomorrow! Make sure you pick up your copy where books are sold or borrowed.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook!
PRIVATE RITES…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
DEVILS KILL DEVILS
Johnny Compton
The mask you’re wearing is hiding your mouth, but showing your eyes, and they tell me everything I need to know about you.
Sarita has had a friend for quite some time. She doesn’t know his name, but she calls him Angelo. One day Angelo kills someone very close to her and she must consider that he may not be a friend at all, but something far more nefarious than she ever knew. Far more than she ever expected.
To find out what or who he is she must first admit to some hard truths. That may take more time than Sarita has. Will she find out who he is before she or someone she loves dies again?
True Southern Gothic horror in its finest form. From a much-needed, much-appreciated new voice, Johnny Compton.
(This is his second book. Can I still call him new?)
I loved this on audiobook. There is such a sinister experience in walking around my house with headphones on, completely absorbed in the story, becoming a little devil myself, and no one around me knows any better. Which is exactly the way it should be.
I was absorbed in the storyline, and it provided a hellish escape from my everyday chores and responsibilities. Doing the dishes never felt like such a guilty pleasure. If you couldn’t tell already, I loved this audiobook. I couldn’t wait for this one and now I can’t wait for the next one. Truly a superior horror reading experience.
Compton has a magnificent way of combining classic and well-known tropes of yesterday with the real-life horrors of today. I appreciate his writing, and love his perspective, and I can’t believe I get to experience both in the horror genre.
One you can’t miss!
Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Nightfire for the advanced copy of the audiobook and a fresh physical copy that I can hold onto!
DEVILS KILL DEVILS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS
Kailee Pedersen
AITA or is it hard to find good horror books to read? It took me all year to find only a handful of reasonable contenders, and this was one of the top ones I read this year.
In SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS we are following Nick. Nick was living his life, that what it was, minding his own business when he receives a letter from his estranged abusive father. He must return home as he has responsibilities and things to do and take care of. It is the last thing he wants to do right now, but it is the only thing that seems like the right thing to do.
The only relationship more complicated than the one between Nick and his father is the one between Nick and his brother Joshua. They lived a long and hard childhood together. They might be the only ones who know the bounds of their father’s abusiveness, If not for Emilia, who knows it the most.
What will happen when all three of them return home and are made to live again in the confines of the only hell they have ever known? Only time and SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS will tell. And you’ll have to read it to hear the story yourself.
This was great. I had a good time reading and I did not guess the twist. I love when that happens. This is my first Pedersen, and I hope it won’t be my last.
The writing is fierce and quick, and the character development is strong. The writing and the characters are not my only favorite things about SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS. The storyline, which I’m sure sounds familiar to you is like revisiting an old friend. Except the friend has changed and morphed into something unrecognizable. Something wicked and terrible.
If you’ve been waiting for something to impress you and haunt you, look no further. SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS is it.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies! I loved this on audiobook.
SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
