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Shaken Loose
Annie Maple was a 29-year-old San Francisco underachiever, a college dropout living in the shadow of her genius older brother. Then she died and went to Hell—the classic Christian Hell, with fire and sulfur and devils, a place she never imagined might truly exist. Annie can’t remember how she died or why she was sent there. But the systems governing Hell are starting to run down, giving her a chance to escape.
Joining other “shaken loose” souls from different eras in search of an exit, Annie treks across volcanic deserts, flees marauders, and confronts an existentially depressed Satan. Hell, she learns, is an unjust place filled not only with truly evil people, but also with billions of average souls who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Seeking the courage to transcend her past failures, Annie must ultimately choose between returning to life and challenging this system of divine injustice.
"DeBare's thoroughly original romp through Hell is by turns funny and unnerving, and ultimately moving.”
Yael Goldstein Love, author of The Possibilities
"The Devil is tired and God is uncaring. In this wonderful novel, a small band of the damned finds that, as we have always suspected, it is easier to get into Hell than out. DeBare has created a compulsive read, a narrative full of surprises about a woman who becomes more herself after death than she ever was in life."
Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth and a Man Booker Award finalist
"A propulsive, provocative novel that explores the afterlife, faith, and redemption in visceral prose. Annie's gripping story will linger with you long after reading."
Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
"Through the eyes of an everywoman, Shaken Loose challenges the justness of Christian Hell.”
Rebecca Gomez Farrell, author of the Wings Rising series
Joining other “shaken loose” souls from different eras in search of an exit, Annie treks across volcanic deserts, flees marauders, and confronts an existentially depressed Satan. Hell, she learns, is an unjust place filled not only with truly evil people, but also with billions of average souls who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Seeking the courage to transcend her past failures, Annie must ultimately choose between returning to life and challenging this system of divine injustice.
"DeBare's thoroughly original romp through Hell is by turns funny and unnerving, and ultimately moving.”
Yael Goldstein Love, author of The Possibilities
"The Devil is tired and God is uncaring. In this wonderful novel, a small band of the damned finds that, as we have always suspected, it is easier to get into Hell than out. DeBare has created a compulsive read, a narrative full of surprises about a woman who becomes more herself after death than she ever was in life."
Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth and a Man Booker Award finalist
"A propulsive, provocative novel that explores the afterlife, faith, and redemption in visceral prose. Annie's gripping story will linger with you long after reading."
Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
"Through the eyes of an everywoman, Shaken Loose challenges the justness of Christian Hell.”
Rebecca Gomez Farrell, author of the Wings Rising series
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 5, 2023
24 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Ilana DeBare
4 books17 followersShaken Free, the sequel to Ilana's debut novel Shaken Loose, will be published by Hypatia Press on June 3, 2025.
A former newspaper reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, Ilana has also worked in non-profit communications. She was one of the founders of the Julia Morgan School for Girls—an all-girl middle school in Oakland, California—which spurred her to write "Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004).
Ilana lives in Oakland with her husband Sam. Her
web site is https://ilanadebare.com, and she blogs at https://ilanadebare.substack.com.
A former newspaper reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, Ilana has also worked in non-profit communications. She was one of the founders of the Julia Morgan School for Girls—an all-girl middle school in Oakland, California—which spurred her to write "Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004).
Ilana lives in Oakland with her husband Sam. Her
web site is https://ilanadebare.com, and she blogs at https://ilanadebare.substack.com.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 22, 2023
While I must admit I had a little trepidation about going to Hell (in a book), I loved reading Ilana DeBare's time traveling novel full of fantasy, beauty and moral dilemma. She was able to make me laugh out loud while contemplating the fate of humanity and our relationships to God and Devil. Even though they are all dead, Shaken Loose's characters come alive and form alliances, romantic partners, and communities across their respective millennia, cultures, and continents of origin. The author flashes back to these origins in beautiful descriptions with hilarious metaphors from our modern era. Warning, when you get to the end, you are left hanging and just can't wait till Part 2! Thanks to Hypatia Press for sending me a copy in advance of its publication.
June 19, 2023
I received an advanced copy and I’m so happy I did! I had a hard time putting this book down and finished it in a couple of days. I was so invested in the story and the characters and fascinated by their backstories and all of the points in time and history that were (clearly) researched and described. This book made me feel and think deeply. I’ve had similar questions about afterlife and religion that were posed in the book but this took me even farther and deeper! I truly didn’t want it to end.
April 11, 2023
This was one of the most inventive and propulsive road trip novels I've read. Annie Maple, a young woman living in San Francisco and not quite living up to her potential, dies and finds herself in actual Hell, a horrific landscape filled with true evildoers as well as average sinners. She suffers terribly, meets a variety of strangers from different cultures and eras, and finds inner strength. DeBare lightens the terror with lots of humor and sharp dialogue. "Annie refrained from rolling her eyes. She had friends at home who dabbled in Buddhism, and they never made sense to her either." Annie's sins appear to be quite mundane, and include ignoring the homeless, stealing pens from her office, and silently rejoicing in others' bad fortunes. A terrific debut novel.
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing an ARC of Shaken Loose.
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing an ARC of Shaken Loose.
October 23, 2023
Warning: This book is not standalone. I wish I had this information going in because I was 90% through and was getting annoyed that things weren’t wrapping up.
Beyond that the book has a LOT of exposition and I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of just descriptions of things.
Oh and there’s a VERY out of place and steamy sex scene in this that felt cringe
Beyond that the book has a LOT of exposition and I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of just descriptions of things.
Oh and there’s a VERY out of place and steamy sex scene in this that felt cringe
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2023
I received an ARC of this novel for an honest review.
This was an intriguing premise. Like 'The Good Place' our main character finds herself in Hell with a range of interesting side characters. Unlike 'The Good Place', our main character- Annie Maple- doesn't know why she's there. She then starts on an unexpected journey narrative that bounced from one obstacle to another. The ending was predictable but in a 'happy ending' way.
Annie was interesting and I was curious to learn more about her and her death (although I was slightly disappointed that it ended up being something so mundane). The minor characters, such as Billie and Trua, were more well-rounded than the others who wander in and out but didn't seem to have much impact on the main character.
There were a few plot points that were far too brief to have the emotional impact intended however I will read the sequel to see if they are explored in the next book.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that really took me out of the novel. In my e-reader version, there was a range of different fonts and text sizes. Of course, the font changed when Annie was in the fire however my version would randomly change font type and size. It was quite distracting.
Overall, not a bad read with plenty of scope for further exploration.
This was an intriguing premise. Like 'The Good Place' our main character finds herself in Hell with a range of interesting side characters. Unlike 'The Good Place', our main character- Annie Maple- doesn't know why she's there. She then starts on an unexpected journey narrative that bounced from one obstacle to another. The ending was predictable but in a 'happy ending' way.
Annie was interesting and I was curious to learn more about her and her death (although I was slightly disappointed that it ended up being something so mundane). The minor characters, such as Billie and Trua, were more well-rounded than the others who wander in and out but didn't seem to have much impact on the main character.
There were a few plot points that were far too brief to have the emotional impact intended however I will read the sequel to see if they are explored in the next book.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that really took me out of the novel. In my e-reader version, there was a range of different fonts and text sizes. Of course, the font changed when Annie was in the fire however my version would randomly change font type and size. It was quite distracting.
Overall, not a bad read with plenty of scope for further exploration.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2023
I follow atheist writer David McAfee on Facebook, although actually I’ve never read any of his books so maybe that’s something I ought to add to the WTRs. Anyway, a few months back he began promoting SHAKEN LOOSE by Ilana DeBare because he had edited it, I believe. The book is about a woman named Annie Maple (if there is any significance to that name I don’t know what it is, and if there is not any significance to the name then it’s a dumb fake name and DeBare could have done better). Annie finds herself in Hell, which in some ways is the traditional Christian idea of Hell as ap lace of endless burning. In other ways, it’s a springboard for a sci-fi story about an alien world and competing factions of monsters. I knew going in that part of the book’s plot involved Annie questioning the morality of Hell, and necessarily of God for creating or permitting it to exist, and that sounded intriguing enough. I had my local library purchase a copy and that’s why I’ve finally gotten the opportunity to read it.
A thing I appreciated about the book is that there’s not a lot of dilly-dallying—Annie finds herself in Hell fairly early on, so it gets pretty quickly to the point. The tortures of Hell are written as burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning ad infinitum. Then there’s more descriptive wording about it, imagery of flames stripping and charring flesh which continually regenerates; the futile attempt to keep the fire from burning away your face, your tongue, your eyeballs; the most excruciating pain imaginable. Then, just as suddenly as Annie was thrust into the fire, she finds herself spat out of it and in a vast desert, with the “lake” of fire where she had just been visible in the distance, countless human beings inside screaming and begging for release. From here begins a journey across Hell in which she encounters and befriends various additional characters from across the centuries who have also been shaken loose (we have a title!) from the fire, all with the intention of finding an escape so they can each go back to their own time.
The people she encounters include a self-righteous Christian woman named Billie, a Hun nomad named Trua, and Ifechi, an African who says he lives beside the “Great River” in a village called Obodonwa and who believes he is in the “spirit realm” and that he must make a sacrifice to Annie and Billie, who he believes are spirits. Ifechi doesn’t know anything about this so-called “Jesus” and so immediately the question arises of whether his being fated to eternal torture is just. This is of course in addition to the question of whether eternal torture is just for anybody to have to endure. Occasionally the characters pass out and find themselves back in the fire, and the more and more Annie finds herself burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning, the more she begins to believe this is what she deserves—for being jealous of others, for white lies she’s told, for failing to donate to charity at every opportunity. No doubt these are negative aspects of her character which she is right to examine, but to imagine that they demand blood as recompense is absurd. Annie’s growing rationalization of her situation is akin to somebody experiencing domestic abuse. I’m sure that’s part of the point.
Of course, to the extent this is a critique of a certain type of religious belief, it’s unlikely to make much of an impact. These days, it’s become more fashionable to claim that Hell is not so much literal hellfire as it is the sadness of being apart from God. Nevertheless, it got me thinking that if there were a God, and if that God were truly just, then it would undoubtedly seek restorative justice—there would be no “Hell” except to the extent that accountability involves experiencing grief for the loss of a version of yourself which you believed was acting in good faith at all times. It also got me thinking about one of the typical deflections theists give for the problem of evil: free will. Under this argument, God so badly wants to dispatch evil but this desire conflicts with his desire to respect humans’ free will and, in the final calculation, free will is more important than preventing evil. A couple of points here: if God prioritized free will over preventing evil, it seems counterintuitive to then turn around and punish the end-user for utilizing that free will. It’d be like saying that burning the flag is constitutionally protected free speech, then after the act occurs sentencing the offender to life in prison never-ending torture, forever. Secondly, the idea that God respects our free will too much to prevent evil doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny. Couldn’t it do more to encourage us to adhere to whatever actions it views as virtuous? Wouldn’t an all-powerful God be capable of permitting us to exercise free will while also giving an airtight argument in favor of Christian ethics, or whatever particular belief system it meant to advance? Alternatively, isn’t giving a list of 10 Commandments itself an infringement on our free will, by telling us in what ways to behave in order to receive “moral dessert” (sorry, I’m rewatching ‘The Good Place’ right now). How is the line between respecting our free will and interfering in human affairs drawn?
Anyway, none of this is important because there is no God.
I was worried about Annie being in the desert at the start of the book as it called to mind CITY OF ORANGE by David Yoon, which was slow-moving and uneventful. In fact, though, Annie finds herself in a number of different locales and interacting with demons and, at one point, Satan himself. She finds herself stuck in the middle of a war between different factions of Hell. Satan, speaking in “mellifluous tones” and with “the cadence of a Dr King, the uplift of a Kennedy, the intimate connection of a Bill Clinton”, gives an impassioned speech to the demonic spirits throughout the underworld about how they are still doing the dirty work of God the oppressor and how he would be defanged if they stopped torturing people because then all it could do is beg people to behave differently. When the demons realize Satan is essentially asking them to give up being bad, pandemonium erupts—a war of outrageous proportion while Annie and the other humans can do little more than try to keep out of the way. There’s a cool moment here where Annie worries she’ll get killed in the midst of this fighting. Throughout the book she’d been struggling to recall how it was that she died in the first place and here it reads, “She couldn’t even remember her first goddamn death and now she was going to have a second one.”
That reminds me, earlier in the book Annie spends time thinking about the mechanics of the world she’s found herself in. What if you do die here, what happens? Do you just find yourself back in the fire? How is it that they don’t have to eat or sleep? Is there anything below Hell? Also, the sun never sets and so therefore there is effectively no time that passes here. “She thought of astronauts relying on artificial gravity in space,” DeBare writes. “If the absence of gravity could atrophy your muscles, what would the absence of time do to your mind?” That’s an intriguing thought.
When I start reading any book, I immediately flip to the back to determine how many pages there are so I can keep track of my progress in Goodreads, as often the number of pages in the app does not match the number of pages in my copy (especially when I’m reading an e-book, which I was not in the case). I try to avoid reading any of the words on the last page when I do this, but it was hard not to in this instance. I saw burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning and a promise that Annie would be returning in a sequel. I was disappointed, as it made me think that nothing ultimately gets resolved in this book and that there would be only a cliffhanger. I’m happy to say that is not the case, not exactly: there is a resolution here after all to the question of whether or not Annie will find the exit from Hell. It is fairly satisfactory.
And I guess that summarizes my feelings about the book overall. I don’t really have anything negative to say about it. I certainly wasn’t over the moon about it, but at the same time I don’t think there’s anything bad to say. There are some effectively creepy moments, as when Annie encounters a marsh filled with dead children, and there is some engaging character work, as Annie and Trua become interested in one another romantically but struggle to act on those feelings because in Hell any attempt at physical contact made with love results in retching and pain. There’s some enjoyable stuff here and ultimately I did like the book. I don’t know that it lived up to what I had been hoping for (not that I have any specific vision of what I had been hoping for), but it was a good read and I didn’t mind spending time with the characters. I’m glad to have gotten to read it, but I don’t know that I would seek out the sequel. It might be safe to call this a 3.5-star rating rounded up.
A thing I appreciated about the book is that there’s not a lot of dilly-dallying—Annie finds herself in Hell fairly early on, so it gets pretty quickly to the point. The tortures of Hell are written as burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning ad infinitum. Then there’s more descriptive wording about it, imagery of flames stripping and charring flesh which continually regenerates; the futile attempt to keep the fire from burning away your face, your tongue, your eyeballs; the most excruciating pain imaginable. Then, just as suddenly as Annie was thrust into the fire, she finds herself spat out of it and in a vast desert, with the “lake” of fire where she had just been visible in the distance, countless human beings inside screaming and begging for release. From here begins a journey across Hell in which she encounters and befriends various additional characters from across the centuries who have also been shaken loose (we have a title!) from the fire, all with the intention of finding an escape so they can each go back to their own time.
The people she encounters include a self-righteous Christian woman named Billie, a Hun nomad named Trua, and Ifechi, an African who says he lives beside the “Great River” in a village called Obodonwa and who believes he is in the “spirit realm” and that he must make a sacrifice to Annie and Billie, who he believes are spirits. Ifechi doesn’t know anything about this so-called “Jesus” and so immediately the question arises of whether his being fated to eternal torture is just. This is of course in addition to the question of whether eternal torture is just for anybody to have to endure. Occasionally the characters pass out and find themselves back in the fire, and the more and more Annie finds herself burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning, the more she begins to believe this is what she deserves—for being jealous of others, for white lies she’s told, for failing to donate to charity at every opportunity. No doubt these are negative aspects of her character which she is right to examine, but to imagine that they demand blood as recompense is absurd. Annie’s growing rationalization of her situation is akin to somebody experiencing domestic abuse. I’m sure that’s part of the point.
Of course, to the extent this is a critique of a certain type of religious belief, it’s unlikely to make much of an impact. These days, it’s become more fashionable to claim that Hell is not so much literal hellfire as it is the sadness of being apart from God. Nevertheless, it got me thinking that if there were a God, and if that God were truly just, then it would undoubtedly seek restorative justice—there would be no “Hell” except to the extent that accountability involves experiencing grief for the loss of a version of yourself which you believed was acting in good faith at all times. It also got me thinking about one of the typical deflections theists give for the problem of evil: free will. Under this argument, God so badly wants to dispatch evil but this desire conflicts with his desire to respect humans’ free will and, in the final calculation, free will is more important than preventing evil. A couple of points here: if God prioritized free will over preventing evil, it seems counterintuitive to then turn around and punish the end-user for utilizing that free will. It’d be like saying that burning the flag is constitutionally protected free speech, then after the act occurs sentencing the offender to life in prison never-ending torture, forever. Secondly, the idea that God respects our free will too much to prevent evil doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny. Couldn’t it do more to encourage us to adhere to whatever actions it views as virtuous? Wouldn’t an all-powerful God be capable of permitting us to exercise free will while also giving an airtight argument in favor of Christian ethics, or whatever particular belief system it meant to advance? Alternatively, isn’t giving a list of 10 Commandments itself an infringement on our free will, by telling us in what ways to behave in order to receive “moral dessert” (sorry, I’m rewatching ‘The Good Place’ right now). How is the line between respecting our free will and interfering in human affairs drawn?
Anyway, none of this is important because there is no God.
I was worried about Annie being in the desert at the start of the book as it called to mind CITY OF ORANGE by David Yoon, which was slow-moving and uneventful. In fact, though, Annie finds herself in a number of different locales and interacting with demons and, at one point, Satan himself. She finds herself stuck in the middle of a war between different factions of Hell. Satan, speaking in “mellifluous tones” and with “the cadence of a Dr King, the uplift of a Kennedy, the intimate connection of a Bill Clinton”, gives an impassioned speech to the demonic spirits throughout the underworld about how they are still doing the dirty work of God the oppressor and how he would be defanged if they stopped torturing people because then all it could do is beg people to behave differently. When the demons realize Satan is essentially asking them to give up being bad, pandemonium erupts—a war of outrageous proportion while Annie and the other humans can do little more than try to keep out of the way. There’s a cool moment here where Annie worries she’ll get killed in the midst of this fighting. Throughout the book she’d been struggling to recall how it was that she died in the first place and here it reads, “She couldn’t even remember her first goddamn death and now she was going to have a second one.”
That reminds me, earlier in the book Annie spends time thinking about the mechanics of the world she’s found herself in. What if you do die here, what happens? Do you just find yourself back in the fire? How is it that they don’t have to eat or sleep? Is there anything below Hell? Also, the sun never sets and so therefore there is effectively no time that passes here. “She thought of astronauts relying on artificial gravity in space,” DeBare writes. “If the absence of gravity could atrophy your muscles, what would the absence of time do to your mind?” That’s an intriguing thought.
When I start reading any book, I immediately flip to the back to determine how many pages there are so I can keep track of my progress in Goodreads, as often the number of pages in the app does not match the number of pages in my copy (especially when I’m reading an e-book, which I was not in the case). I try to avoid reading any of the words on the last page when I do this, but it was hard not to in this instance. I saw burningburningburningburningburningburningburningburning and a promise that Annie would be returning in a sequel. I was disappointed, as it made me think that nothing ultimately gets resolved in this book and that there would be only a cliffhanger. I’m happy to say that is not the case, not exactly: there is a resolution here after all to the question of whether or not Annie will find the exit from Hell. It is fairly satisfactory.
And I guess that summarizes my feelings about the book overall. I don’t really have anything negative to say about it. I certainly wasn’t over the moon about it, but at the same time I don’t think there’s anything bad to say. There are some effectively creepy moments, as when Annie encounters a marsh filled with dead children, and there is some engaging character work, as Annie and Trua become interested in one another romantically but struggle to act on those feelings because in Hell any attempt at physical contact made with love results in retching and pain. There’s some enjoyable stuff here and ultimately I did like the book. I don’t know that it lived up to what I had been hoping for (not that I have any specific vision of what I had been hoping for), but it was a good read and I didn’t mind spending time with the characters. I’m glad to have gotten to read it, but I don’t know that I would seek out the sequel. It might be safe to call this a 3.5-star rating rounded up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2023
If Dante had half the gumption and self-awareness that Annie has in Shaken Loose, I would have finished The Inferno rooting for him. Dante aside, I was cheering for Annie all the way, from the lake of fire to the throne of Satan! This novel is predicated on a very clever concept, but it's a hell of a lot more than that (pun intended). For a story that promises to be a romp through the underworld, it's surprisingly vulnerable and philosophical, asking us to consider what fate each of us deserves and, at the same time, what it says about a god who would create such a place as Hell.
October 5, 2023
A unique take on what hell might be like. This book is well written and fast paced. Although this hell is no picnic, it is not depressing and is so imaginative that you can’t wait to see what happens next. I couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to the sequel.
August 22, 2023
Wholly unique in its main character and its world.
I picked up this book after reading the author's piece in Electric Literature about being a 60-something "debut" author. Brava! I was so immersed in the world of this novel, I missed it for several days after finishing it, as if the novel were a place. A hellish place, of course ; ). Looking forward to the sequel.
I picked up this book after reading the author's piece in Electric Literature about being a 60-something "debut" author. Brava! I was so immersed in the world of this novel, I missed it for several days after finishing it, as if the novel were a place. A hellish place, of course ; ). Looking forward to the sequel.
December 24, 2023
unlikely heroes
If you like style of Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore you will enjoy Ileana Debate’s revolution in hell. Whole new meaning to aural sex (o my). Really looking forward to where all this adventuring takes Annie.
If you like style of Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore you will enjoy Ileana Debate’s revolution in hell. Whole new meaning to aural sex (o my). Really looking forward to where all this adventuring takes Annie.
May 27, 2024
Lots of surprises for a book set in Hell (which you might expect would be predictable)! Enjoyed this quite a bit.
April 29, 2023
“Go to Hell!” I’ve heard that often enough, but never stopped to thing what that really meant other than fire and brimstone (whatever that was). Ilana DeBare's new novel Shaken Loose reveals for the reader Hell in all its monstrous glory. Brutal denizens, barren smoldering landscapes, the persistent fear of painful burning, and yet — DeBare finds bits of humanity, sympathy and community shining through.
With this fearsome setting, and a savage opening scene, the story of our hapless heroine, millenial San Franciscan Annie Maple takes you on her journey through hell. How did she get there? It doesn’t seem that she had misbehaved badly enough to warrant this condemnation. Maybe that’s the point. What did anyone do to deserve it? Annie meets up with fellow condemnees along the way, each with something to offer her in her understanding of her plight and her quest to resolve unanswered questions about her “alive” life.
Readers, don’t worry, there are no further intimately violent scenes in the book beyond the first short one. The writing is witty and sharp, with recognizable modern narratives, and a good deal of humor and compassion. The characters are all well painted. The scenery of hell is vividly drawn—my previous appreciation of the fire and brimstone is quite more detailed and rich after reading this. Actions and consequences of actions, both earthly and Hell-bound have real, moral reverberations that are very stimulating to the reader as they come to grips with the motives behind the characters. It’s hard to fathom that a journey through Hell could be an enjoyable romp, but somehow DeBare manages to pull that off.
The book is a fast read, especially because I couldn’t put it down!
I received an advance review copy of Shaken Loose for which I thank Hypatia Press. This is my honest review, and I can hardly wait for the sequel to be released. I will recommend this book to all my friends, as I recommend it to you.
With this fearsome setting, and a savage opening scene, the story of our hapless heroine, millenial San Franciscan Annie Maple takes you on her journey through hell. How did she get there? It doesn’t seem that she had misbehaved badly enough to warrant this condemnation. Maybe that’s the point. What did anyone do to deserve it? Annie meets up with fellow condemnees along the way, each with something to offer her in her understanding of her plight and her quest to resolve unanswered questions about her “alive” life.
Readers, don’t worry, there are no further intimately violent scenes in the book beyond the first short one. The writing is witty and sharp, with recognizable modern narratives, and a good deal of humor and compassion. The characters are all well painted. The scenery of hell is vividly drawn—my previous appreciation of the fire and brimstone is quite more detailed and rich after reading this. Actions and consequences of actions, both earthly and Hell-bound have real, moral reverberations that are very stimulating to the reader as they come to grips with the motives behind the characters. It’s hard to fathom that a journey through Hell could be an enjoyable romp, but somehow DeBare manages to pull that off.
The book is a fast read, especially because I couldn’t put it down!
I received an advance review copy of Shaken Loose for which I thank Hypatia Press. This is my honest review, and I can hardly wait for the sequel to be released. I will recommend this book to all my friends, as I recommend it to you.
April 29, 2023
When I got the ARC for this book, I wondered if it would be similar to The Good Place, one of my favorite TV shows. Somehow, it is absolutely nothing like TGP and shares some great qualities. How it’s different: Ms. DeBare’s Hell is well and truly hellish. It is burning and sulfurous, a torture for the characters to endure, and all too vivid for the reader. Instead of witty and gorgeous TV characters trying to remake hell in heaven’s image, Shaken Loose is like Bridget Jones and The Hound from Game of Thrones trekking across a fiery desert hellscape from the mind of Hieronymus Bosch. This a biblical hell, but most of the characters aren’t Christian, leaving most of them baffled as to how they arrived at this fate. Shaken Loose, like The Good Place, is a meditation on the question of why terrible things happen to normal people and how they might surmount their fate. If that sounds heavy, the story is not. It moves at a quick clip, as Annie Maple and her companions seek Hell’s exit, fighting other humans and demons, and conspiring with Satan’s right-hand devil. I highly recommend Shaken Loose, and I’m excited about the sequel. Believe it or not, I can’t wait to go back to Hell.
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing the ARC.
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing the ARC.
September 9, 2024
Shaken Loose is truly a novel that defies definition, an imaginative escape that both questions how we think while telling a gripping story. At the heart of the book is Annie, an aimless young San Franciscan who ends up in Hell, despite not being Christian. In fact, many of the people Annie meets in Hell are non-believers, which adds an interesting twist to Annie’s adventures as she tries to find her way back to life. Along the way she falls in love, learns to be a leader and rethinks religion, motherhood and even reality.
Other characters come from different centuries and countries, offering glimpses into distant cultures and time periods. There are insights about religion and reality that push readers to question their own beliefs. Then there is Hell itself, a place of many surprises and deep description that is equally disturbing and fascinating. With twists and turns, including a surprise ending, this book will keep you entertained and waiting for the sequel.
Other characters come from different centuries and countries, offering glimpses into distant cultures and time periods. There are insights about religion and reality that push readers to question their own beliefs. Then there is Hell itself, a place of many surprises and deep description that is equally disturbing and fascinating. With twists and turns, including a surprise ending, this book will keep you entertained and waiting for the sequel.
September 26, 2023
Annie lives in San Francisco with a roommate; she hasn’t done much with her life, unlike her genius brother. She is shocked to awake in Hell and is unable to remember how she died or how she escaped the burning pain of the fires of Hell. As she finds others who have been “shaken loose” it appears that the governance of Hell is breaking down and beginning to fall apart. She is stunned to find out that it is not only evil people who end up in Hell, but also those who do not practice Christianity. As she gains friends and escapes from those bent on destruction, Annie begins to see what is going on and is left with a difficult choice, leaving us to see what will happen in the sequel.
November 21, 2023
I always enjoy reading something that feels new. And this definitely felt new to me. The characters were great and I'll certainly join them for a sequel (which it seems there might be).
There were a few discordant points that I didn't enjoy so much. One was a scene that was super violent at the beginning of the book (normally I don't mind these, but this same tone was never repeated); the other was a romance/sex scene that felt completely out of place and jarring.
Overall I'm intrigued at the idea of a literal Christian hell, and how these poor people who have never even heard of Christianity in many cases are now stuck there.
There were a few discordant points that I didn't enjoy so much. One was a scene that was super violent at the beginning of the book (normally I don't mind these, but this same tone was never repeated); the other was a romance/sex scene that felt completely out of place and jarring.
Overall I'm intrigued at the idea of a literal Christian hell, and how these poor people who have never even heard of Christianity in many cases are now stuck there.
July 12, 2023
A thoroughly enjoyable book. I loved Annie - I loved watching her become more confident and realize she could do more than she thought she could. I loved the mix of characters from disparate times and places. I liked poor peeling Satan - I will be interested in seeing what happens in the sequel. Satan’s realization that hell is just part of god’s plan seemed interesting and I wonder if he’ll be able to work around it. Will Annie return to hell? Will she find Trua again? Will the rebellion be again Satan or against God? Is there a future for Annie and Trua? I want to know!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2023
I never thought that a trip to literal Hell would be so enjoyable. DeBare’s characters are flawed and frustrating, but completely believable and (most importantly) relatable. The prose is brisk, witty and often touching. The author invites readers to ponder the nature of faith without imposing a singular perspective (okay, it seems to be a Christian hell, but why are there “good” Christians here?), thus allowing for a thought-provoking and open-ended exploration. "Shaken Loose" is an enjoyable and thought-stirring novel that leaves the reader questioning his/her beliefs about an afterlife.
July 1, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this book. The story is engaging with fully developed characters. There’s humor despite its dystopian nature of the story. it questions the notion of Christian afterlife and is quite the adventure as characters search for a portal which will allow them to escape hell. This is a well-written story and I’m excited that there will be a sequel!
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing an ARC of Shaken Loose.
Thanks to Hypatia Press for sharing an ARC of Shaken Loose.
July 30, 2023
Beautifully written, conceptually brilliant, and rich in commentary — both explicit and implicit — about morality, bravery, and self-perception. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this journey through hell; this novel managed to explore themes as deep as the meaning of life (while not coming off as tacky), and left me reflecting on my own life in a genuine way. Can’t wait for the sequel — fingers crossed for a devil’s sex scene.
September 12, 2023
A “hot” take on Hell
DeBare’s “Shaken Loose” has an interesting take on Hell and what exactly goes on down there. Told from the perspective of multiple individuals who have “shaken loose” from the flames of the abyss, the reader will find communities, traditions, and even demonic history in the characters that are shared with us.
My only qualm is with some of the graphic nature of the material. It’s a personal thing that I just wasn’t expecting. It is Hell, I guess.
DeBare’s “Shaken Loose” has an interesting take on Hell and what exactly goes on down there. Told from the perspective of multiple individuals who have “shaken loose” from the flames of the abyss, the reader will find communities, traditions, and even demonic history in the characters that are shared with us.
My only qualm is with some of the graphic nature of the material. It’s a personal thing that I just wasn’t expecting. It is Hell, I guess.
October 18, 2023
I can't say I enjoyed this trip into hell, and I'm trying to understand why. Possibly has to do with the fact that once you're in hell, you don't really evolve your character, which is problematic for a book, although I always appreciate consistency of purpose and execution! Our heroine also has a somewhat predictable experience of damnation with regard to abortion too, which mostly just makes me annoyed with the author. Her poor characters!
July 6, 2023
just on Chapter 3 but OMG!!! good
Have not finished it but the first chapter got me hooked. What a great read. Looking forward to reading the rest. Hope she has other books in the works. (No pressure)
Have not finished it but the first chapter got me hooked. What a great read. Looking forward to reading the rest. Hope she has other books in the works. (No pressure)
January 16, 2026
quite boring, predictable. skipped/skimmed through paragraphs of unnecessary descriptions that made it hard to enjoy
March 16, 2024
I have mixed feelings about this book; it was just interesting enough a premise and mystery to keep my attention but just long enough that I almost gave up a few times on finishing it. The world-building that occurs is sometimes so drawn-out, I was wondering if the plot would ever progress in a meaningful way. The characters are just interesting enough that you're not bored of them, but not so interesting or developed that you care what happens to them. I really just wanted to see if they do find a way back to the land of the living (which they do). Now that we know there is a way back, and that our main character Annie is no longer dead, I'm curious where the sequel story will go. I was nervous at the end of the book that she would stay in the underworld after all and that I'd get no satisfying resolution after 400 pages of repetitive trekking through wastelands. If the sequel does not involve all of that faction-ing demons side story that was included in the first book, it will feel like wasted reading there. But again, I am just curious enough that I will likely give the second book a try. Also, I did not think that Trua and Annie had much chemistry for how "in-love" they were supposed to be. And it seemed strange that Annie didn't remember about losing a baby during the long part of the book before they reached the marsh. She had thought so long and hard about sins on Earth and suffering, but didn't have that traumatic event come into her mind? If I could give 2.5 stars instead of 3, I would. The most middle a book has felt for me in awhile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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