Desert Creatures

by Kay Chronister

Nine-year-old Magdala and her father have been exiled from their home; they flee through the harsh landscape of the American West, searching for refuge. As violence pursues them, they join a handful of survivors on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Las Vegas, where it is said that vigilante saints reside, bright with neon power.

Magdala, born with a clubfoot, is going to be healed. But when faced with the strange horrors of the Sonoran Desert, one by one the pilgrims fall victim to a hideous sickness—leaving Magdala to fend for herself.

After surviving for seven years on her own, Magdala is tired of waiting for her miracle. Magdala turns her gaze to Las Vegas once more, and this time, nothing will stop her. She recruits an exiled Vegas priest at gunpoint to serve as her guide, and the pair form a fragile alliance as they navigate the darkest and strangest reaches of the desert on a journey that takes her further from salvation even as she nears the holy city.

With ferocious imagination and poetic precision, Desert Creatures is a story of endurance at the expense of redemption. What compromise does survival require of a woman—and can she ever unlearn the instincts that have kept her alive?

Combining the subversive inventiveness of Téa Obreht's Inland with the eco-surrealism of Jeff Vandermeer's Dead Astronauts and the themes of survival and morality in Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Kay Chronister transfigures genre and the myth of the West in her debut audiobook.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Westerns

Audible Audio

First published November 8, 2022

Reviews

[Sunny Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fucking crazy and I absolutely devoured it— wilderness survival in a desolate future of deserts and a holy city of Las Vegas, the church born after the destruction of human civilization as we know it as corrupt as it always is. Parable of the Sower meets Annihilation meets the classic western, the story of one desert touched girl’s life as it crosses a saint touched priest’s had me staying up late into the night to read. The body horror and grotesque plant/animal/human monster creatures are as integral to the landscape as the pulpit preachers shouting prophecies in the last remaining pockets of civilization. Myth and legend and storytelling carries desert sand filled winds that propel our characters— struggling with their deep morally ambiguity while also struggling to survive in spite of everything— towards dangerous and unknown futures. Moments of this book felt almost like Women Talking by Miriam Toews, and other moments felt like Terra Nullius by Claire Coleman. Would recommend to people who enjoy action packed weird fiction

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I typically use reading as an escape from reality; this is not one reality I’d ever want to escape to. The setting of this book was my worst nightmare. I was constantly thirsty and hungry while reading this. When I first started reading this, I was really afraid this was going to be a really gruesome splatter punk novel but I couldn’t be more wrong. There are some really horrific things that happen in this story but the author explains it in such a way that it’s almost poetic. Everything was easily digest-able and didn’t make me squirm. I absolutely loved this story and the characters. This had me hooked and I was often thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it. I have absolutely nothing to compare this to as it’s one of the most original concepts I’ve ever read. I’d recommend this to anyone!

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the ebook on Hoopla
Set in Nevada (50 states)
-Dystopian Western
-A main character with a disability
-Father & Daughter
-Desert wasteland
-Magical realism
-Bleak/Hopelessness
-Exploration of the depravity of man
-Faith & perseverance/Survival

Content warnings: Abelism, animal death, violence, misogyny, SA

[Emily Coffee and Commentary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bleak and immersive journey through faith, survival, and human connection against the backdrop of the apocalypse. Strange, eerie, and with the brash violence of a classic Western, Desert Creatures offers insight into the role of religion and storytelling in post apocalyptic worlds, how legends are both a blessing and a curse. The landscape, both literally and figuratively, is alive with horrors, but also hope. A unique and gritty journey for fans of The Last of Us and Annihilation.

[Kaitlyn Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one because it sounded right up my alley and the cover is gorgeous! I really liked the first ~1/3 of this book but it just kept going downhill for me unfortunately. Until about halfway I was thinking about 3 or 4 stars for this book but the second half brought it down to 2 stars (and really the only reason it’s not a 1 star is because I liked the first 1/3 so much and it had good potential). By the end I was just so confused and bored and didn’t connect with the story/characters at all. I had a love/hate relationship with the writing because sometimes it was great but sometimes it felt so messy. Overall, I feel like you should still give this book a chance if you’re interested but it just wasn’t for me.

[Svetlana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this post apocalyptic nightmarish fantasy, religious, and magical story. The novel where faith takes unpredictable bizarre turns. Where the strange fantastic creatures roam in a dried deserted landscape. Where people fights to survive by any means.
I loved how the author put together religion and mysticism ( I believe based on the Mexican or Mayan’s?), where they are on the first plan, and how the many characters cannot fully understand what they encounter.
Fantastic character development. There three parts of the book where we follow Magdala from innocent naive child until she kind of criminal/ hero.
And I loved that the book finished with a such hopeful note. Was really need it.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the hopes of being healed in the now holy city of Las Vegas, Magdala and her father embark on a perilous pilgrimage. Set in an unforgiving post-apocalyptic world, we follow Magdala's journey of growth and discovery. While the storyline follows Magdala in different stages of her life, the true main character of this book is the desert.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested a review copy of this one after seeing the glowing things Michael Kelly had to say about it (for those of you who don't know, Michael drinks the best beers, reads the best books, and publishes some of the most amazing small press literature out there!)

This book was a brain bomb of post apocalyptic dystopian western religious fanaticism (yes, I'm aware that's a mouthful). It takes place out in the middle of the desert. The world has been ravaged. Those who are still clinging to life do so against all odds, surviving in a brutal landscape, fighting off horrific "stuffed men" who have been infected by the desert, and avoiding other survivors who most certainly mean you more harm than good. Many are making their way to the city of Las Vegas, where religious relics for various saints are housed, in the hopes of being healed of their many afflictions, while others are deemed heretics and appear to be "saint touched", demonstrating an ability to do strange and miraclous things.

Told in three parts, we follow a young girl named Magdala over the span of many years, beginning when she first convinces her father to allow her to make the pilgramage to the holy city in an attempt to cure her clubfoot, through all of her trials and tribulations, to all the weird and wonderous people and places she encounters. It's deliciously dark and bleak and eerie and was just what the doctor ordered!

[Cielo Prischak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Woof.

This was a sloooowww read that had plenty of potential but fell incredibly flat for me.

What I didn’t like:
- It was disjointed with random time jumps, no explanation, and different POVs
- The lack of context on the post-apocalyptic world it is set in made the novel feel underdeveloped
- There were many elements in this book that went unexplained. What were these desert creatures? Is there no water? What happened to Vegas?
- The characters lacked depth, which made it hard to like or root for them
- Long chapters that dragged on forever

Idk y’all. I initially requested this arc because the synopsis sounded super cool and I love dystopian novels, but this just wasn’t it for me and I wouldn’t really recommend it.

Thank you @netgalley for providing me with this arc for an honest review.

[Cassidy | fictionalcass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and ErewhonBooks for the eARC of this book, which will be released on 11/8/22!

This book was such an interesting combination of things. To me, it was an interesting blend of Annihilation and religious fanaticism. The story takes place over three periods of time in Magdala’s life as she fights to survive in hostile and eerie desert climates full of dangerous plants and humans alike.

The setting of this book was in a future version of the southwestern United States. The descriptions of the desert climates and creatures within were very atmospheric and often disturbing, and I will say the setting was the most interesting part for me and I wanted more of those descriptions! When the writing is focused on the setting and not the characters, that’s where it really shined the most for me, and I really struggled through the first two sections of this book that were more heavily focused on the development of the characters.

What this book is missing for me is the “why” of it all. There isn’t a ton of explanation as to why the world has become this way and I felt I was missing some explanations of why and how the society came to function this way. Other than Magdala, the motivations of the characters felt a little flimsy and I again wanted more of what made each of these characters the way they were. I also am really not sure how I personally vibe with Magdala’s journey in the first two out of three parts. The sole focus was on her taking a pilgrimage to heal her clubfoot, and that was a specific focus for a majority of the book. The entire first part of the book felt completely extraneous and I really struggled to get through it and I found it to be confusing at multiple points.

The third act of this book was the best part for me and I wish more of it had been this oldest version of Magdala. At this point, she has abandoned her quest of healing and has found a new way to live and adapt with her disability, which has undergone a pretty significant change. *spoiler warning for the next sentence* Magdala’s clubfoot has been since been amputated and she now uses a prosthetic limb. In this section of the book she is now in dubious employment and the other parts of the book come full circle, but I still wanted more of this part. She really comes into her own and I loved her growth in her choices and how she interacts with people differently now.

All in all, the third part saved the rest of the book for me and really made me feel it was worth it to push through the beginning. I loved the setting especially, and would be curious to read more by Chronister. I would rate this book a 3.5⭐️ and would recommend if you like more slow paced and atmospheric books. That being said, definitely check trigger warnings.

[Billie's Not So Secret Diary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Desert Creatures
by Kay Chronister
Fantasy Dystopia
NetGalley ARC

The world is dying, and the desert claims those who die as they try to survive, twisting their bodies into creatures, and those desperate enough to eat or drink what is in the desert become sick, and wander into the desert until they too die.

Many like Magdala attempt to cross the desert, and pilgrimage to Las Vegas, now a holy city where dead saints are rumored to still have the power to heal.

The book cover is cool, creepy, and the blurb is haunting.

But the story is a disappointment. I would call it more of a tale that one would tell over a campfire, (they did this and then that), including the lack of details and depth for the characters, the settings, and the creatures. They were supposed to add to the creepy, but they are vaguely described as if they were an afterthought so as to match the cover. But everything in this story is brushed over, basically only saying brown hair, blue this, red that. There's no substance, nothing creepy, let alone scary. The blurb is more interesting; “Strange horrors of the desert” “hideous sickness”, I wish they had been described in this story.

What really started to irritate me was the preaching, I guess you could call it. It was almost as if this book started out as an outline for a sermon, then characters were added. Yes, I get that religion is part of the story, but there was too much with not a lot of detail to make me feel anything for it or the characters except boredom. And contrary to what the blurb says, there is no 'ferocious imagination' let alone 'poetic precision'. It was dull and very disappointing.

1 Star

[La La]

I can't rate this book right now because, although I loved the author's writing style, there was a place where I thought a character was new, and after reading two or three chapters something was said that identified this character as a previously established character and it was disorienting. I can see where this may have been on purpose, but even if it was it was done clumsily. There was also a situation where I thought a reason for a major action by the MC was not given. I read on thinking I would be enlightened later on, this was done a few times before, but the story ended and I was left scratching my head. I did listen to portions of the book with text-to-speech, so I'm going to be going back and skimming those sections to see if the confusions were the author's fault or my fault.

I don't remember there ever being a time where listening to an ebook on text-to-speech confused me, but this is an intentionally oddly written novel, so I want to be one hundred percent sure nothing was my lack of understanding before rating it.

There was also an instance where a handgun, the MC carried with her all the time, changed to a rifle and back again. I hope they catch this before printing physical copies.

I was approved for a DRC, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

[C.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Desert Creatures - I'm still recovering from it, and definitely have a book hangover. It was strange, beautiful, unique, creepy, hopeful, and really hit me emotionally. I did not expect to care so deeply for Magdala and Arturo. Journeying along with them through the desert and experiencing their many trials was scary, exhausting, and weirdly fun. And the way the author wrote/described the desert, it felt as if it were a character itself. The writing was creative, beautiful, captivating, and so wonderfully unique.

[Aiden Merchant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Categories: Western, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, adventure, religious horror, bio-horror

The Premise: The world isa desert that is alive. It claims people and animals, changing them into plants and monsters. There are numerous parties of people that practice different religious beliefs and pray/worship various saints. Most people are unfriendly and untrusting.

The Review: I was a little torn on how to rate this story. I loved the premise of the world and the changes the desert made on people. I liked the idea of saint-touched people that could perform miracles. I liked some of the groups that were introduced, like the cactus-sitters. However, a lot of the characters were lacking depth. This novel was also, essentially, three novelettes stitched together. Each part is a story that can stand on its own. One character is featured forward throughout. I would have preferred the author put these stories together as one in a more fluid way, or just stick to one and expand upon it. Also, the world that is promised is very cool but hardly used. For example, the desert claims people and animals, changing them. I expected and wanted far more of that than we received.

Drawbacks: The three-part structure feels incomplete in the sense it tells three stories that can stand on their own. // In Part 1, the character tell stories of saints and martyrs and themselves, but each time I was taken out of the active story as a result. // The presented world is loosely described and should have been expanded. The monstrous animals and people were very lacking, as if forgotten. // Some sequences we're played out too quickly and lacked detail. // Most characters were weak, just names to follow. // I never really understood why the heretic was allowed to leave with the girl. I understood their trade but it didn't seem like the Pope would be gone for it. And why was he collecting the heretics to begin with? All of that was very weakly explained.

Highlights: The presented world is an awesome one that brings to mind The Last of Us in a Wid West setting. // When the desert-claimed people an animals are present, my imagination went wild. // The writing is mostly engaging, despite some quickly told moments and underdeveloped characters. // The lead girl had a lot of potential as a forerunner. The heretic was also interesting. // The idea of saint-touched people delivering miracles was a nice touch.

Verdict 3.5/5.0

[Angela Y (yangelareads) ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Copy provided by Dreamscape Media.

In a world that has become treacherous and desiccated, Magdala has always had to fight to survive. At nine years old, she and her father, Xavier, are exiled from their home, fleeing through the Sonoran Desert, searching for refuge.

As violence pursues them, they join a handful of survivors on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Las Vegas, where it is said the vigilante saints reside, bright with neon power. Magdala, born with a clubfoot, is going to be healed. But when faced with the strange horrors of the desert, one by one the pilgrims fall victim to a hideous sickness—leaving Magdala to fend for herself.

After surviving for seven years on her own, Magdala is sick of waiting for her miracle. Recruiting an exiled Vegas priest named Elam at gunpoint to serve as her guide, Magdala turns her gaze to Vegas once more, and this time, nothing will stop her. The pair form a fragile alliance as they navigate the darkest and strangest reaches of the desert on a trip that takes her further from salvation even as she nears the holy city.

This is one of the most unique books I have read for a long time, and it will really take time to process. It's not your standard post-apocalyptic story. However, I felt that the story for me did not engage as much as the surroundings and background. While a lot happens, it also feels like nothing happened. It just seemed like the story was just moving along. I am unsure if the major plot events were as compelling as the setting itself and I am unsure what the ultimate message or goal of the book is, which made for a bit of meandering journey. The story seemed to be more descriptive of a life in this new desert world than a plot-bound adventure and was just not for me.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kay Chronister has created a terrifying landscape of cancer-ridden creatures, poisonous plants, violent loners, and small groups held together with religious zeal, need and desperate hope, and a girl desperate for a miracle in Vegas to cure her club foot.

At the book's outset, Magdala and her father Xavier escape from their home and fall in with a group held together with inviolable rules, and death for breaking said rules. After an incident, Magdala, her father and a few others escape, but all die, leaving Magdala alone to survive somehow.

Years later, Magdala decides to take matters into her own hands, rather than wait for a miracle. She kidnaps a priest, Elam, who was exiled from Vegas years before, and the two travel to Vegas. Things go wrong, and eventually, Magdala must find another way to get what she needs.

The world Chronister's characters inhabit is harsh. It’s a nightmare of unpredictable, mutated, cancerous creatures, mad people and "stuffed men" who are infected by things in the desert, and people and animals born with mangled limbs, or afflicted by tumours ….there is nothing pretty in this broken world with its compromised climate,
minimal technology and a people believing in a variety of legends, myths and religion to explain the fall of civilization…..

Magdala must navigate one brutal situation after another in this incredibly dark story about an ugly world with little hope and sudden violence. It's a bleak story, but weirdly beautiful at the same time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Erewhon Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There are many ways of being in the world now,” he concluded. “We all find one we can endure.”

I'm mixed on this one. It's parts horror, for sure, and I loved the cactus people and the idea of the desert sickness and this mild zombie-type feel to the story. The story is broken in to three sections and each one felt very different.

Part one is the story of a young girl, only partially realizing the world she lives in due to her age, trying to survive with her dad. You can see her dad struggle as they run out of food and water in a harsh desert and bump into a community they must join in order to survive. But as with many communities, this one is not as great as it first seems and even the young girl can see the cracks in the communities façade.

The second story is about a man labeled a heretic. His part is much more religious but not in an overtly pro or against way. He is merely giving us the view of the world from the stance of one who was in religion and then removed from it. It was interesting to see how the world had leaned on religion at the end times (or apocalyptic times) and how religion had morphed to accommodate new followers.

Finally, the last section brings it all together. But it will still confusing. There were a lot of points where I was sure the story was trying to tell me something very deep or make a point and I think it flew right over my head. I wish I'd found more parallels to pull the story together and knew more of the imagery some mention in their reviews. But as it was, I did enjoy it for the interesting horror story it was.

[Ellie May · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I didn’t admire Kay’s other book I would have DNFed this a long time ago.

I’m here for the bizarro world, and the first of the three sections (there’s no chapters) I was like “ok, ok, I think I can picture the imagery” and there was a semblance of a plot brewing …..

Section two, we jump ship from Magadala’s POV and we’re now a heretic’s POV - big mistake. This completely removed us from everything built up in section one. And his POV did nothing and it even highlighted the fact that….there is no plot. Bizarre world building starts to get confusing here as there’s contradiction with some things in section one.

Section three we’re back to Magadala’s POV and the heretic ends up not being a big figure. Everything that happens in this section just doesn’t matter and now I have no idea what the point of this was and what we accomplished in the end.

One long “pilgrimage” of nonsense

[Kaila (pagesofthevalley) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️


I absolutely love the cover and that is what drew me in. Sadly, I didn't care for this book at all but I still powered through. I was confused throughout the book and I just couldn't connect or really care about what had happened. This one may not be for me but it may be for you. 



Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked chronister's writing and think the atmosphere of desert creatures was really excellent, but i don't think i got a full grasp on the characters and some parts of this book felt stronger than others. there's also some cool ideas here (especially about religion and faith) but while it's got a lot of elements that i like, it still felt a smidgen undercooked

[Arielle Imber · Rating 5 out of 5]

gorgeous terrifying bleak post-apocalyptic feminist western

idk what to say, i started it a couple days ago but it feels like the beginning was 20 years ago

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting, and unlike anything I've read before. It was beautifully written, but I just didn't fully connect at times during the story. I can't put my finger really on why I didn't fully love it. It was good but didn't blow me away. I'd give it a 3.5 rounded up.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could see why someone would love it and I could see why someone would hate it

[Gabriela Seguesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Desert Creatures in exchange for an honest review.

This was incredibly disturbing, raw, and visceral.
In "Desert Creatures", we follow Magdala in her quest to reach a saint in an attempt to heal her clubfoot. The setting of the book - a future version of the Southwestern United States - is definitely its strongest point. I could feel the desperation for survival as if I myself were in the desert. I could feel the heat, the hunger, and the thirst. The shocking landscape makes for a fitting horror scenario, but it's nothing compared to the humans inhabiting it. Even with desert-stuffed creatures roaming the Remainder, they are still less scary than what other survivors are able to do in order to reach their goals, which makes for a tense reading. It reminded me of the atmosphere in "The Walking Dead."
I really enjoyed the writing style and the concept of Vegas saints, especially when you contrast religious fanaticism to what Las Vegas represents: fun, gambling, neon signs, sexual freedom, etc. I could picture this story as an aesthetically pleasing movie. The cover is gorgeous and perfectly encapsulates the vibe of this book!
Some things that didn't work for me, which made me give this book 3 stars:
- I kept asking myself how society came to be this way and the exact way it is organized. Is there no government anymore? Did an environmental disaster happen? How are the other states? Where do people live? Are they all just roaming the desert? I'm usually a reader who doesn't need a ton of explanations, but I still wanted a little bit of it.
- I enjoyed Magdala as a protagonist, but I didn't care about the secondary characters. They fell a little flat for me, and they kind of resembled each other, especially in their motivations and fears. And as a character-driven reader, this made me not enjoy the book as much as I wanted to.
- I wanted more descriptions of places. It was hard for me to assimilate how the desert, the Western aesthetic, and the post-apocalyptic (and abandoned?) Las Vegas worked together on one single book. It was all too vague for my liking.

Bookstagram

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I’m always on the lookout for Post Apocalyptic novels and accidentally fell upon this little known book. ‘Twas a pleasant surprise.

The story begins with a young Magdala traveling the desert landscape in the vicinity of Nevada with her father. We witness the growth of Magdala through the years in her search of a cure for her debilitating club foot. Las Vegas has become the hub of the religious movement with promise of cures. Chronister details her travels to this new sacred city in the face of many dangers and perils. I really enjoyed these sections of the story as I rooted for the tough-spirited Magdala in her quest while confronting all sorts of characters along the way. It felt like a well drawn out PA Western. The story hits it peak when Magdala finally arrives at her destination later in life and meets the enigmatic man only known as the Deputy.

Not much is known or described as to the event leading to the PA state of the land but it has to do with some sort of poisonous rain. What Chronister withholds in terms of details here, she makes it up in the description of the terrain and it’s dangerous flora. Some neat descriptions as to how the vegetation in this ruined landscape can be treacherous to the people wandering it. Some descriptions of things I’ve not encountered in other PA reads.

A half star was deducted solely because Chronister could not maintain in the last section of the book, what she had built up for the majority of the story. I just felt the concluding chapters did not provide the same sense of satisfaction as the majority of the story. Wasn’t near the worst conclusion I’ve ever read but fell just short enough for me to not award it the full 4 stars I felt this story was going to earn.

[Elynor Kamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise, bland execution. The characters all kind of blend together, exhibiting minimal character traits and lukewarm interest in doing anything. The bad things in this post-apocalyptic world don't seem to seriously affect the characters most of the time - everyone seems to be more or less fine when wandering through the desert, excepting their hunger, which only meaningfully becomes a critical issue once. Emotional build-up is lacking, a genuine sense of threat is lacking, motivations are lacking almost across the board... There's plenty that's lacking here.

Given the premise, I really wanted this to be good. I left disappointed by the lack of commitment to doing anything particularly good or particularly, impactfully bad *with buildup* - there are bad things that happen in the book, but mostly these aren't built up and so seem to come out of nowhere. I didn't care. I wanted to, but I didn't get enough of a reason to.

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleak, weird, resilient… This novel is evocative and beautifully written, leaving me feeling the grit of sand crusting parched lips as it pulled me from page to page. It’s hard to say what this novel is about, as it feels like an elegiac fever dream that may be more prophecy than anything else. There isn’t a lot of plot, which isn’t to say the characters don’t have immediate goals, but rather that they don’t have much choice or agency in those goals, and that’s not really the point of the story. Instead, it is a reflection on character, on suffering and growth, and what kind of decisions we may fall into when logical choice is stripped from us and we are left only with whatever kernels of humanity and heart we have been able to protect in our desiccated flesh.

I want to thank NetGalley and Erewhon Books, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kaylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was wildly inventive and had a fascinating world setting with cactus zombie creatures, cults, and ghosts. We don't get a lot of horror stories set in the Southwest and I loved it. I also enjoyed how the protagonist acted more like a villain than a hero for most of the book, and her complex disability representation.

The actual writing was quite clunky and confusing too many times in the story and so I was originally going to give it a 3.5. Unfortunately the story ended with a whimper instead of a bang and that lowered my rating down to a 3. This was this author's debut novel and her creativity really shines through and I will definitely be checking out her next novel just released, The Bog Wife. I'm excited to see how she grows as an author!

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the Twisted Retreat box for the gorgeous edition of this book (I'm disappointed GR and TSG don't have the edition listed, but eh, I'll live.)

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. Post-apocolyptic books aren't my thing but I figured I might as well give it a shot. And it wasn't bad; the world-building was interesting and I enjoyed the story well enough. It's a very fast read, I technically devoured it between today and yesterday in just two sittings. But the overall way it went was a little odd and by the end, I was mostly just hoping for it to hurry up and end. Wasn't a bad book, but wasn't for me. I'm going to sell my copy.

[nichie j.c · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had incredible potential (and started out great) but just didn’t deliver on it. I feel like this would’ve been better suited as a short story.

Though, if the scene in Annihilation where they find the guy plastered to the wall scared tf out of you, you’ll enjoy this