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The Unveiling: A Novel
From the award-winning author of We Ride Upon Sticks and When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East, a genre-bending novel of literary horror set in Antarctica that explores abandonment, guilt, and survival in the shadow of America’s racial legacy.
Striker isn’t entirely sure she should be on this luxury Antarctic cruise. A Black film scout, her mission is to photograph potential locations for a big-budget movie about Ernest Shackleton’s doomed expedition. Along the way, she finds private if cautious amusement in the behavior of both the native wildlife and the group of wealthy, mostly white tourists who have chosen to spend Christmas on the Weddell Sea.
But when a kayaking excursion goes horribly wrong, Striker and a group of survivors become stranded on a remote island along the Antarctic Peninsula, a desolate setting complete with boiling geothermal vents and vicious birds. Soon the hostile environment will show each survivor their true face, and as the polar ice thaws in the unseasonable warmth, the group’s secrets, prejudices, and inner demons will also emerge, including revelations from Striker’s past that could irrevocably shatter her world.
With her signature lyricism and humor, Quan Barry offers neither comfort nor closure as she questions the limits of the human bonds that connect us to one another, affirming there are no such things as haunted places, only haunted people. Gripping, lucid, and imaginative, The Unveiling is an astonishing ghost story about the masks we wear and the truths we hide even from ourselves.
Striker isn’t entirely sure she should be on this luxury Antarctic cruise. A Black film scout, her mission is to photograph potential locations for a big-budget movie about Ernest Shackleton’s doomed expedition. Along the way, she finds private if cautious amusement in the behavior of both the native wildlife and the group of wealthy, mostly white tourists who have chosen to spend Christmas on the Weddell Sea.
But when a kayaking excursion goes horribly wrong, Striker and a group of survivors become stranded on a remote island along the Antarctic Peninsula, a desolate setting complete with boiling geothermal vents and vicious birds. Soon the hostile environment will show each survivor their true face, and as the polar ice thaws in the unseasonable warmth, the group’s secrets, prejudices, and inner demons will also emerge, including revelations from Striker’s past that could irrevocably shatter her world.
With her signature lyricism and humor, Quan Barry offers neither comfort nor closure as she questions the limits of the human bonds that connect us to one another, affirming there are no such things as haunted places, only haunted people. Gripping, lucid, and imaginative, The Unveiling is an astonishing ghost story about the masks we wear and the truths we hide even from ourselves.
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First published October 14, 2025
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About the author
Quan Barry
14 books533 followersBorn in Saigon and raised on Boston’s north shore, Quan Barry is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the author of four poetry books; her third book, Water Puppets, won the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and was a PEN/Open Book finalist. She has received NEA Fellowships in both fiction and poetry, and her work has appeared in such publications as Ms. and The New Yorker. Barry lives in Wisconsin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
September 30, 2025
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I didn't get this book, like, at all. Striker is a Black woman on her way to scout a location for a movie about the Shackleton expedition. She's on an Antarctic cruise that takes a nightmarish turn during a kayaking excursion. Striker and a bunch of her fellow passengers are stranded on an island. As the Antarctic approaches the survivors on the island, their civilized ways give way to the harsh realities of survival. That's when their personal demons, prejudices, and secrets come to the surface. Then we learn that Striker's past is caught up with the island.
I think the book tried too hard. It deals with race, police brutality, and grief, but the narrative didn't work for me; it didn't sit right. The premise was a pretty good one and fairly unique, but the non-linear timeline felt broken. Then there is the supernatural element that weakens the importance of the message. It was like having someone tell you about their dream, and it was difficult to follow. I am betting that was the author's point because that's what Striker's psychological outlook was like.
I don't enjoy books that aren't upfront with what they're trying to do or say. I read fiction for entertainment, and this was not entertaining at all. The all-too-frequent changes in perspective and timelines and the lack of clarity left me feeling lost, and then my interest was gone. The pacing was very uneven, and this is a big pet peeve of mine. Either be an intentional slow burn or have me flipping pages, but going back and forth was not a good time, and I had no connection with any of the characters. The book's interesting premise was wasted on me. This is another case of "it's me, not the book." Again, maybe I am just too stupid to "get it."
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The Book Review Crew Blog
I didn't get this book, like, at all. Striker is a Black woman on her way to scout a location for a movie about the Shackleton expedition. She's on an Antarctic cruise that takes a nightmarish turn during a kayaking excursion. Striker and a bunch of her fellow passengers are stranded on an island. As the Antarctic approaches the survivors on the island, their civilized ways give way to the harsh realities of survival. That's when their personal demons, prejudices, and secrets come to the surface. Then we learn that Striker's past is caught up with the island.
I think the book tried too hard. It deals with race, police brutality, and grief, but the narrative didn't work for me; it didn't sit right. The premise was a pretty good one and fairly unique, but the non-linear timeline felt broken. Then there is the supernatural element that weakens the importance of the message. It was like having someone tell you about their dream, and it was difficult to follow. I am betting that was the author's point because that's what Striker's psychological outlook was like.
I don't enjoy books that aren't upfront with what they're trying to do or say. I read fiction for entertainment, and this was not entertaining at all. The all-too-frequent changes in perspective and timelines and the lack of clarity left me feeling lost, and then my interest was gone. The pacing was very uneven, and this is a big pet peeve of mine. Either be an intentional slow burn or have me flipping pages, but going back and forth was not a good time, and I had no connection with any of the characters. The book's interesting premise was wasted on me. This is another case of "it's me, not the book." Again, maybe I am just too stupid to "get it."
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
March 30, 2025
ARC for review. To be published October 14, 2025.
1.4 stars
Striker is enjoying her first class work trip to the Antarctic region, scouting locations for an upcoming film, other than the usual complications of being the only Black woman stuck with a bunch of white people. However, when a kayaking expedition goes horribly wrong she and a group of survivors are stranded on an island with plenty of environmental and other horrors to face…some of which Striker brought with her.
There is something very off about Striker so it’s hard to empathize. Plus these people are stranded on an island near Antarctica with all the, I don’t know, millions of problems that creates and they still manage to keep getting into fights about race? Look, if it’s me, I’m willing to declare anyone Queen of All They Survey and will make them a lovely crown out of penguin guano, but I will fight to my last breath for that package of Slim Jims someone stuck in the first aid kit and I could give two shits what color anybody is. Are these people (meaning the author) insane?
There’s more stuff, but yo go into it would be spoilerish. I’m not going to come out and say it was a BAD book, because it’s not poorly written, but I guess I’ll just say it might be and I didn’t get it if there’s some sort of deeper meaning to it all.
1.4 stars
Striker is enjoying her first class work trip to the Antarctic region, scouting locations for an upcoming film, other than the usual complications of being the only Black woman stuck with a bunch of white people. However, when a kayaking expedition goes horribly wrong she and a group of survivors are stranded on an island with plenty of environmental and other horrors to face…some of which Striker brought with her.
There is something very off about Striker so it’s hard to empathize. Plus these people are stranded on an island near Antarctica with all the, I don’t know, millions of problems that creates and they still manage to keep getting into fights about race? Look, if it’s me, I’m willing to declare anyone Queen of All They Survey and will make them a lovely crown out of penguin guano, but I will fight to my last breath for that package of Slim Jims someone stuck in the first aid kit and I could give two shits what color anybody is. Are these people (meaning the author) insane?
There’s more stuff, but yo go into it would be spoilerish. I’m not going to come out and say it was a BAD book, because it’s not poorly written, but I guess I’ll just say it might be and I didn’t get it if there’s some sort of deeper meaning to it all.
September 30, 2025
A lovecraftian vibe with just the perfect dose of the Shining in it. It certainly danced around the fine line between sanity and insanity, reality and hallucination.
‘The Unveiling’ by Quan Barry– such a perfectly fitting title because we get to witness the descent into madness, the subtle shift from reality to dream in a gradual manner like a curtain slowly but surely pulling back. And the cover conveys precisely the same message– the tip of the iceberg will become the unseen while the darkness below, now smaller and eroded, will flip over and surface and become the new face.
While this is clearly not everyone's cup of tea (you either love it or you hate it), I do enjoy this sort of madness.
Striker is an artist sent on a trip in Antarctica to capture some sights for an upcoming big movie. Lost during a kayaking trip in the southern waters, she and her fellow tourists find themselves stranded on an island where unsettling occurrences begin.
The protagonist is living too much in her head. It is very obvious that she has a very creative and imaginative mind. The other characters gain personality through her descriptions and the nicknames she chose to give (even when she knew their names).
Is it real, what she sees? Hard to tell. And if we're getting all existential and philosophical, what truly qualifies as real anyway? I won't delve into the philosophy of that, but for me this discrepancy between what the narrator, speaking for the MC (Striker), and the objective reality of that supposed trip makes you question everything you read, which I think it's the exact purpose of this novel.
In fact, there were instances where the narrator tries to distance themselves from Striker and admit that the MC does put words in the other tourists’ mouths just to fit the personalities she created for them. Is this all in her head, a pastime activity? Is she sick? Did she imagine everything? Again, impossible to tell. But I absolutely loved this insanity, this uncertainty, it was more terrifying than any other horrors they might have encountered on that island.
The narrative switches imperceptibly from present time to Striker’s past, adding even more to the strangeness of the situation and the disorganized mind of our MC.
Whether the author decided to use a 3rd person narrative instead of 1st person was a mistake or deliberate it matters not, it ended up amplifying the disjunction between reality and Striker's internal world.
The setting feels so empty, like pure loneliness, even though there are other people involved in the action, Striker seems secluded and so do we as readers.
Personally, I do believe some of the depicted events actually happened, however I also think a lot of the information we're getting is fragmented and tampered with Striker's unfiltered thoughts and the narrator is simply an accomplice to her unreliable tone, which again, as a technique it worked perfectly well for this sort of book. I don't even want to know, this is exactly what makes the story great and scary.
Whether Striker’s experience is objectively real or a hallucination, it's up to us and how we feel to interpret this; even after learning about her condition it still maintained that uncertainty, at least for me.
I must admit (to my shame), I didn't know that much about Antarctica so it felt nice to get some real information from a novel.
This book will stay with me for a very long time if not forever. I can't remember the last time I read something so remarkable. There's philosophy, there's fear, isolation, horror, madness, and it's all beautiful. I will buy this in hard copy. It goes straight to my favorites.
Many, many thanks to Quan Barry, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for the ARC. This is a voluntary review, reflecting solely my personal opinion.
‘The Unveiling’ by Quan Barry– such a perfectly fitting title because we get to witness the descent into madness, the subtle shift from reality to dream in a gradual manner like a curtain slowly but surely pulling back. And the cover conveys precisely the same message– the tip of the iceberg will become the unseen while the darkness below, now smaller and eroded, will flip over and surface and become the new face.
While this is clearly not everyone's cup of tea (you either love it or you hate it), I do enjoy this sort of madness.
Striker is an artist sent on a trip in Antarctica to capture some sights for an upcoming big movie. Lost during a kayaking trip in the southern waters, she and her fellow tourists find themselves stranded on an island where unsettling occurrences begin.
The protagonist is living too much in her head. It is very obvious that she has a very creative and imaginative mind. The other characters gain personality through her descriptions and the nicknames she chose to give (even when she knew their names).
Is it real, what she sees? Hard to tell. And if we're getting all existential and philosophical, what truly qualifies as real anyway? I won't delve into the philosophy of that, but for me this discrepancy between what the narrator, speaking for the MC (Striker), and the objective reality of that supposed trip makes you question everything you read, which I think it's the exact purpose of this novel.
In fact, there were instances where the narrator tries to distance themselves from Striker and admit that the MC does put words in the other tourists’ mouths just to fit the personalities she created for them. Is this all in her head, a pastime activity? Is she sick? Did she imagine everything? Again, impossible to tell. But I absolutely loved this insanity, this uncertainty, it was more terrifying than any other horrors they might have encountered on that island.
The narrative switches imperceptibly from present time to Striker’s past, adding even more to the strangeness of the situation and the disorganized mind of our MC.
Whether the author decided to use a 3rd person narrative instead of 1st person was a mistake or deliberate it matters not, it ended up amplifying the disjunction between reality and Striker's internal world.
The setting feels so empty, like pure loneliness, even though there are other people involved in the action, Striker seems secluded and so do we as readers.
Personally, I do believe some of the depicted events actually happened, however I also think a lot of the information we're getting is fragmented and tampered with Striker's unfiltered thoughts and the narrator is simply an accomplice to her unreliable tone, which again, as a technique it worked perfectly well for this sort of book. I don't even want to know, this is exactly what makes the story great and scary.
Whether Striker’s experience is objectively real or a hallucination, it's up to us and how we feel to interpret this; even after learning about her condition it still maintained that uncertainty, at least for me.
I must admit (to my shame), I didn't know that much about Antarctica so it felt nice to get some real information from a novel.
This book will stay with me for a very long time if not forever. I can't remember the last time I read something so remarkable. There's philosophy, there's fear, isolation, horror, madness, and it's all beautiful. I will buy this in hard copy. It goes straight to my favorites.
Many, many thanks to Quan Barry, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for the ARC. This is a voluntary review, reflecting solely my personal opinion.
March 31, 2025
I think the author broke my brain.
I was with this in the beginning, 110%. I loved the setting and, since I was reading this while Black (this is a thing, trust me), I totally understood Striker's discomfort of being the only one in the room...or in this case, the only one in a kayak stranded in the Antarctic waters while bad things go boo at you.
Eventually, though, the story got weirder and weirder and I think I found myself lost in the various characters' madness and despair and I had no clue what was happening.
Reader, I was confused.
If you ask me how this book ended, I think I'd just mumble something about revelations and trauma and acknowledgement of truth and I would give you absolutely nothing concrete. I didn't know who was alive or dead, just that they were all talking and I have no clue what happened to our MC.
Readers of a certain background may find themselves a bit overwhelmed with talk of racism and how even well meaning people 'of a certain background' may come across as hella racist. If that bothers you, you probably don't want to read this. Our main character's background (and present) make this a theme.
I liked a lot of this. The rest was certainly an experience that I'm not sure I totally enjoyed.
* ARC via Publisher
I was with this in the beginning, 110%. I loved the setting and, since I was reading this while Black (this is a thing, trust me), I totally understood Striker's discomfort of being the only one in the room...or in this case, the only one in a kayak stranded in the Antarctic waters while bad things go boo at you.
Eventually, though, the story got weirder and weirder and I think I found myself lost in the various characters' madness and despair and I had no clue what was happening.
Reader, I was confused.
If you ask me how this book ended, I think I'd just mumble something about revelations and trauma and acknowledgement of truth and I would give you absolutely nothing concrete. I didn't know who was alive or dead, just that they were all talking and I have no clue what happened to our MC.
Readers of a certain background may find themselves a bit overwhelmed with talk of racism and how even well meaning people 'of a certain background' may come across as hella racist. If that bothers you, you probably don't want to read this. Our main character's background (and present) make this a theme.
I liked a lot of this. The rest was certainly an experience that I'm not sure I totally enjoyed.
* ARC via Publisher
September 28, 2025
Quan Barry’s The Unveiling starts with a premise that immediately grabbed me: a Black film scout on a luxury cruise in Antarctica, scouting locations for a Shackleton-inspired epic, who suddenly finds herself stranded in one of the harshest landscapes on Earth. The set-up is cinematic, tense, and infused with biting observations about race, privilege, and the odd rituals of wealthy tourists. The Antarctic setting, with its surreal mix of boiling geothermal vents, vicious wildlife, and endless ice, is vividly rendered—it’s the kind of environment that hums with menace. For a while, I thought I was settling into a sharp, unsettling survival story with real bite.
But once the initial thrill wore off, the novel began to drift. The pacing slowed to a crawl, and what could have been a taut, terrifying tale started to feel weighed down by abstraction. Whole sections appear as redacted blocks—like government documents with black bars over the text, though in this case it’s just empty lines in a box on the page. At first, I thought my copy was defective. It wasn’t. That stylistic choice left me scratching my head more than it deepened the mystery, and I found myself disengaging instead of leaning in. It’s like the book kept setting the table but never served the meal.
Striker, the protagonist, has all the ingredients to be compelling—her role as an outsider in this insulated environment is rich with potential—but she often comes across as emotionally detached, making it difficult to root for her. The other characters fare worse, drifting between archetypes and sketches without the depth that might make their unraveling matter. The book gestures at weighty themes—trauma, racial legacy, guilt—but the execution feels scattered, as if the ideas were fogged over by the icy haze of the setting.
By the time I reached the end, I felt more adrift than the characters themselves. After all the buildup, the conclusion landed flat, leaving me more confused than contemplative. The Unveiling is a novel I wanted to love—it had the bones of something truly original and haunting—but instead it left me frustrated, like staring at a gorgeous frozen landscape and realizing you’re stuck with frostbite. Or, to put it another way: this book is the literary equivalent of Antarctic weather—stunning at first glance, but colder and harder to survive the longer you stay.
But once the initial thrill wore off, the novel began to drift. The pacing slowed to a crawl, and what could have been a taut, terrifying tale started to feel weighed down by abstraction. Whole sections appear as redacted blocks—like government documents with black bars over the text, though in this case it’s just empty lines in a box on the page. At first, I thought my copy was defective. It wasn’t. That stylistic choice left me scratching my head more than it deepened the mystery, and I found myself disengaging instead of leaning in. It’s like the book kept setting the table but never served the meal.
Striker, the protagonist, has all the ingredients to be compelling—her role as an outsider in this insulated environment is rich with potential—but she often comes across as emotionally detached, making it difficult to root for her. The other characters fare worse, drifting between archetypes and sketches without the depth that might make their unraveling matter. The book gestures at weighty themes—trauma, racial legacy, guilt—but the execution feels scattered, as if the ideas were fogged over by the icy haze of the setting.
By the time I reached the end, I felt more adrift than the characters themselves. After all the buildup, the conclusion landed flat, leaving me more confused than contemplative. The Unveiling is a novel I wanted to love—it had the bones of something truly original and haunting—but instead it left me frustrated, like staring at a gorgeous frozen landscape and realizing you’re stuck with frostbite. Or, to put it another way: this book is the literary equivalent of Antarctic weather—stunning at first glance, but colder and harder to survive the longer you stay.
October 8, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC of The Unveiling by Quan Barry. Its publication is scheduled for October 14/2025. I am always pleased to read a book set in Antarctica. I was fortunate to visit the same locations several decades ago, and the author captured the glorious scenery
perfectly. The ship I was on was very similar to the one featured in the story, and it also had a Russian crew. The difference was that this was an expensive Christmas excursion for the wealthy, and my trip was basic and very low-cost. The gorgeous scenery is well-described, giving an accurate atmosphere.
The description of the location was exceptional, but the human factor was confusing. The characters
failed to engage me. The main character, Striker, was the only Black person on the voyage. She was travelling first-class to find suitable locations for an upcoming epic movie about the historic Shackleton expedition. We read about the journey through her scattered thoughts, and she is the most unreliable witness. She applied fake names to the other passengers and imagined much of their dialogue. Striker was unstable, with delusions, hallucinations, and blackouts (depicted by blocked off passages). She was cynical and sarcastic. As we saw her shipmates through her eyes, it was impossible to relate to them. When she recalled past conversations with a friend, did the person even exist? There was a description of past trauma that must have affected her adult thoughts and behaviour. The story was a challenge to read, and I struggled throughout, skipping and skimming parts. Racism and sexism were exposed through interpersonal conversations.
Changes in perspective, flashbacks, and various timelines made for an unevenly paced story and a lack of clarity. A kayak trip stranded Striker and a few others on Deception Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. The setting was creepy and claustrophobic. There were hints of the supernatural. Instead of cooperating to survive the ordeal, prejudice, personal opinions, and secrets were revealed.
I note that many readers had a better understanding of the book's contents, but I failed to figure out where the story was heading or what it all meant. This wasn't for me, but I urge prospective readers to read the positive reviews.
perfectly. The ship I was on was very similar to the one featured in the story, and it also had a Russian crew. The difference was that this was an expensive Christmas excursion for the wealthy, and my trip was basic and very low-cost. The gorgeous scenery is well-described, giving an accurate atmosphere.
The description of the location was exceptional, but the human factor was confusing. The characters
failed to engage me. The main character, Striker, was the only Black person on the voyage. She was travelling first-class to find suitable locations for an upcoming epic movie about the historic Shackleton expedition. We read about the journey through her scattered thoughts, and she is the most unreliable witness. She applied fake names to the other passengers and imagined much of their dialogue. Striker was unstable, with delusions, hallucinations, and blackouts (depicted by blocked off passages). She was cynical and sarcastic. As we saw her shipmates through her eyes, it was impossible to relate to them. When she recalled past conversations with a friend, did the person even exist? There was a description of past trauma that must have affected her adult thoughts and behaviour. The story was a challenge to read, and I struggled throughout, skipping and skimming parts. Racism and sexism were exposed through interpersonal conversations.
Changes in perspective, flashbacks, and various timelines made for an unevenly paced story and a lack of clarity. A kayak trip stranded Striker and a few others on Deception Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. The setting was creepy and claustrophobic. There were hints of the supernatural. Instead of cooperating to survive the ordeal, prejudice, personal opinions, and secrets were revealed.
I note that many readers had a better understanding of the book's contents, but I failed to figure out where the story was heading or what it all meant. This wasn't for me, but I urge prospective readers to read the positive reviews.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2025
The Unveiling is a piece of literary horror set in Antarctica, where a small group of mostly very wealthy people have traveled on an all-the-bells-and-whistles cruise. We join the cast shortly before they begin a guided kayak stop-off on a small island that is a major nesting/nursery site for penguins. As the group begins its return to the main vessel, disaster strikes and the vacationers find themselves stranded without their guide and with no idea where they are in relation to the main vessel. Thus begins a variation on the watch-the-characters-civilized-veneer-give-way-to-the-worst-aspects-of-their-true-selves trope.
We experience this disaster from the perspective of Striker, a Black film scout looking for possible shooting locations for a movie about the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. Almost everyone else on the cruise is white, so Striker finds herself in the all-too-familiar situation of being a visible outsider. Nonetheless, when the vacationers are stranded, Striker is the person who comes closest to serving as a leader of the bickering group. But Striker has a history of, maybe seizures is the best word, during which she has vivid experiences that she can't be sure are real. Now she finds herself interacting not only with the other members of her group, but also (maybe?) with members of a much earlier and fatal expedition that ended on the island where Striker's group is stranded. At the same time, Striker finds herself turning over unclear, unsettling memories from her childhood.
Watching Striker navigate the different states she finds herself in and seeing the ways other group members are shedding their usual selves makes for interesting reading that becomes increasingly gripping as the story progresses.
The intersection of horror with the ordinary—to the extent that being stranded in Antarctica can be considered ordinary—that drives this novel forward is powerful, raising question after question and making The Unveiling a very difficult book to put down.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
We experience this disaster from the perspective of Striker, a Black film scout looking for possible shooting locations for a movie about the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. Almost everyone else on the cruise is white, so Striker finds herself in the all-too-familiar situation of being a visible outsider. Nonetheless, when the vacationers are stranded, Striker is the person who comes closest to serving as a leader of the bickering group. But Striker has a history of, maybe seizures is the best word, during which she has vivid experiences that she can't be sure are real. Now she finds herself interacting not only with the other members of her group, but also (maybe?) with members of a much earlier and fatal expedition that ended on the island where Striker's group is stranded. At the same time, Striker finds herself turning over unclear, unsettling memories from her childhood.
Watching Striker navigate the different states she finds herself in and seeing the ways other group members are shedding their usual selves makes for interesting reading that becomes increasingly gripping as the story progresses.
The intersection of horror with the ordinary—to the extent that being stranded in Antarctica can be considered ordinary—that drives this novel forward is powerful, raising question after question and making The Unveiling a very difficult book to put down.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
October 22, 2025
2.5 ⭐️ This one was not for me. There was so much going on and it was so disjointed, I couldn’t follow it.
Striker is a young successful black professional on a trip to Antarctica scouting for a movie site.
Along on the ship is a cast of characters that I found interesting. The Baron and The Dame, rich old entitled snobs, Anders/Annie, a genius teen with identity issues, several couples and their children as well as Percy and Vadim from the crew.
It all starts to unravel when the group decides to kayak to a nearby island to sightsee. This is where it lost me. Striker is haunted by the death of her sister Ama and has many flashbacks mixed in with clairvoyant visions as well as accidents befalling everyone. I could not keep it all straight. Add in the visions of stranded sailors from a hundreds year old shipwreck and it was a lot!
I did enjoy the Antarctic setting, the ocean, iceberg and penguin descriptions. I thought there was a lot of trying to make a point about race, trauma, grief, and mental illness that was lost in the horror. And what was in Kevin’s bag? Not for me!
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Striker is a young successful black professional on a trip to Antarctica scouting for a movie site.
Along on the ship is a cast of characters that I found interesting. The Baron and The Dame, rich old entitled snobs, Anders/Annie, a genius teen with identity issues, several couples and their children as well as Percy and Vadim from the crew.
It all starts to unravel when the group decides to kayak to a nearby island to sightsee. This is where it lost me. Striker is haunted by the death of her sister Ama and has many flashbacks mixed in with clairvoyant visions as well as accidents befalling everyone. I could not keep it all straight. Add in the visions of stranded sailors from a hundreds year old shipwreck and it was a lot!
I did enjoy the Antarctic setting, the ocean, iceberg and penguin descriptions. I thought there was a lot of trying to make a point about race, trauma, grief, and mental illness that was lost in the horror. And what was in Kevin’s bag? Not for me!
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 8, 2025
The Unveiling by Quan Barry is by far one of the best books I’ve read in 2025. Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic publishers for the gifted free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed below are my own.
The Unveiling is a deeply layered exploration of human nature as violent when stripped of its social scripts and conditionings, as well as the subjectivity of human beliefs and traditions. Carefully crafted and critically provocative, this book will prompt you to, like the iceberg, turn your life upside down to question your own beliefs, examine their violent histories, and unveil who you truly are when all the social scripts and conditionings are stripped away. Are we truly “better” and more moral than the animals? What is our true human nature when everything else we’ve been taught is stripped away?
Striker (Veronique) is a 40-year-old filmset scout for the movie industry. She travels with a group to visit Antarctica to assess whether it’d be a suitable environment for an upcoming film set. Carrying buried childhood traumas and blackout periods in her memory, Striker is positioned as an unreliable narrator from the beginning. She also admits to putting words into people’s mouths, giving them fake names, and making up their characters in her head to fit stereotypes she uses to interpret them.
Striker’s involvement in the film industry suggests she is good at reading people and the “characters” they play when interacting with others. A recurrent problem highlighted in the novel is how human habits and behaviours are blindly acted out without people questioning them. They interact with the world using the script society has given them and they don’t question it. The teen in the novel is the only one questioning everything; adults are shown to be complacent and blind. In addition, some of the men’s questions exposes the sexism within their belief systems and the same happens with the hidden racism of many of the crew.
The book makes explicit reference to Lovecraft and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. Beyond his famed writing, Lovecraft was unveiled to be a racist, much like the characters Striker encounters in Antarctica. In my opinion, this book also alludes to Othello with its themes of racism while navigating English society, as well as Lord of the Flies. The reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner occurs right at the beginning of the novel where an albatross-like bird crashes into the boat and dies, bringing bad luck upon the ship’s crew and subsequent events. Who will have to wear the burden of the bird around their necks to atone for their sins? Is their sin blindly following along the scripts written by white settler men, or is it something more inescapable like our base human nature?
A literary reference made in the book that reinforces this theory for me is The Lottery. In this short story, citizens of a small-town stone somebody for something that, in our current society, would not be considered a sin. The novel repeatedly stresses the subjectivity of what is considered “right” and “wrong” and the fact that so many North American traditions and behaviours are accepted only because we’re conditioned from a young age to accept them while never being taught their (often racist and sexist) context. The most complacent and unquestioning are the white people travelling with Striker; they have become too comfortable in their mannerisms and beliefs, creating a false sense of security. The first sign of this is everyone la blind belief in the leader Percy’s reassuring them that there’s no danger when the icebergs are clearly melting at a rapid pace, there’s active volcanos on the island, and not all the animals on the island are safe. They don’t see the bad omens that their behaviours and beliefs hold, such as clinking their water glasses. Their blindness and complacency lead to their downfall; the ramifications of centuries of this bad karma unleashes horrors in Antarctica.
After the death of the bird, Striker and her crewmates encounter a boating accident that leaves them stranded on Deception Island. Antarctica becomes a no-man’s land where no one society or culture is dominant anymore. The flipping iceberg that causes their boating accident is a metaphor of the re-evaluation of beliefs and standards after the truth behind beliefs and traditions is uncovered. Only then do the crewmates realize or unveil how certain traditions are steeped in racism, bigotry, hate, violence, injustice, etc. and are therefore still active today in more muted or passive forms. What really is beneath the surface of seemingly harmless actions and socio-political systems? Are humans really that different from animals? Are they truly more moral and supportive than animal societies when everything else is stripped away and unveiled about their true nature?
The Unveiling is a deeply layered exploration of human nature as violent when stripped of its social scripts and conditionings, as well as the subjectivity of human beliefs and traditions. Carefully crafted and critically provocative, this book will prompt you to, like the iceberg, turn your life upside down to question your own beliefs, examine their violent histories, and unveil who you truly are when all the social scripts and conditionings are stripped away. Are we truly “better” and more moral than the animals? What is our true human nature when everything else we’ve been taught is stripped away?
Striker (Veronique) is a 40-year-old filmset scout for the movie industry. She travels with a group to visit Antarctica to assess whether it’d be a suitable environment for an upcoming film set. Carrying buried childhood traumas and blackout periods in her memory, Striker is positioned as an unreliable narrator from the beginning. She also admits to putting words into people’s mouths, giving them fake names, and making up their characters in her head to fit stereotypes she uses to interpret them.
Striker’s involvement in the film industry suggests she is good at reading people and the “characters” they play when interacting with others. A recurrent problem highlighted in the novel is how human habits and behaviours are blindly acted out without people questioning them. They interact with the world using the script society has given them and they don’t question it. The teen in the novel is the only one questioning everything; adults are shown to be complacent and blind. In addition, some of the men’s questions exposes the sexism within their belief systems and the same happens with the hidden racism of many of the crew.
The book makes explicit reference to Lovecraft and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. Beyond his famed writing, Lovecraft was unveiled to be a racist, much like the characters Striker encounters in Antarctica. In my opinion, this book also alludes to Othello with its themes of racism while navigating English society, as well as Lord of the Flies. The reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner occurs right at the beginning of the novel where an albatross-like bird crashes into the boat and dies, bringing bad luck upon the ship’s crew and subsequent events. Who will have to wear the burden of the bird around their necks to atone for their sins? Is their sin blindly following along the scripts written by white settler men, or is it something more inescapable like our base human nature?
A literary reference made in the book that reinforces this theory for me is The Lottery. In this short story, citizens of a small-town stone somebody for something that, in our current society, would not be considered a sin. The novel repeatedly stresses the subjectivity of what is considered “right” and “wrong” and the fact that so many North American traditions and behaviours are accepted only because we’re conditioned from a young age to accept them while never being taught their (often racist and sexist) context. The most complacent and unquestioning are the white people travelling with Striker; they have become too comfortable in their mannerisms and beliefs, creating a false sense of security. The first sign of this is everyone la blind belief in the leader Percy’s reassuring them that there’s no danger when the icebergs are clearly melting at a rapid pace, there’s active volcanos on the island, and not all the animals on the island are safe. They don’t see the bad omens that their behaviours and beliefs hold, such as clinking their water glasses. Their blindness and complacency lead to their downfall; the ramifications of centuries of this bad karma unleashes horrors in Antarctica.
After the death of the bird, Striker and her crewmates encounter a boating accident that leaves them stranded on Deception Island. Antarctica becomes a no-man’s land where no one society or culture is dominant anymore. The flipping iceberg that causes their boating accident is a metaphor of the re-evaluation of beliefs and standards after the truth behind beliefs and traditions is uncovered. Only then do the crewmates realize or unveil how certain traditions are steeped in racism, bigotry, hate, violence, injustice, etc. and are therefore still active today in more muted or passive forms. What really is beneath the surface of seemingly harmless actions and socio-political systems? Are humans really that different from animals? Are they truly more moral and supportive than animal societies when everything else is stripped away and unveiled about their true nature?
December 26, 2025
Set in Antarctica, protagonist Striker is a Black film scout who joins a luxury Antarctic cruise to photograph locations for a film about Ernest Shackleton's expedition. When a kayaking excursion goes wrong, Striker and a group of wealthy, mostly white tourists become stranded on a remote island. They struggle to survive in the hostile environment. Strange events start occurring and Striker becomes an increasingly unreliable narrator.
The book blends paranormal and climate fiction. It is structured in a single chapter, and there are many parallels to the Heroic Age of Exploration. The novel is atmospherically written, and the satire is sharp. It is deliberately disorienting and vague about what is natural versus supernatural. I usually try to avoid horror, so this was not really my type of book. Regular readers of the genre will probably enjoy it more than I did.
The book blends paranormal and climate fiction. It is structured in a single chapter, and there are many parallels to the Heroic Age of Exploration. The novel is atmospherically written, and the satire is sharp. It is deliberately disorienting and vague about what is natural versus supernatural. I usually try to avoid horror, so this was not really my type of book. Regular readers of the genre will probably enjoy it more than I did.
May 22, 2025
I'm really not sure where to start with this one. The premise in the NetGalley description sounded so cool and unique and horrifying and fantastic. I was so excited to see what the author would do with a horror novel set in Antarctica.
The things I enjoyed about the book included: (1) the facts and factoids, (2) the depictions of horror were pretty gory and wild, (3) it reminded me of the X-Files Antarctica storyline, and (4) the layout of the book including the random redactions, italics, and photos.
I almost marked this as a DNF and moved on but I really really wanted to be proven wrong. At the risk of sounding like a poop, the main issue that I really struggled (and failed) to get past was that I really did not like the main character Striker, who was an extremely unlikeable, negative and cynical misanthrope (exactly the type of people mentioned in the book that do not fare well with others sailing to the end of the earth). After pages and pages of negativity and open hostility towards everyone and in her internal dialogue, in the next breath, she would make a very un-funny joke that always fell flat. In an attempt to possibly make her into a lighter more relatable character, Striker also said extremely cringey things like, "mo' money mo' problems" and "you dig?" at the end of a sentence. I struggled to muster up any empathy for her and I found her extremely irritating.
This is all even before getting to the meat of the book, which had SO MUCH going on and none of it made any sense at all. The story regularly flashed back to Striker's youth which told the story of her and her sister being adopted into a white family and the various trauma she has faced which made her into the person she is today - understandable, and I get how that could be valuable to the story. The story also included dialogue between Striker and her "friends" from home that took place in her head - friends that may or may not even exist. However, I often struggled to understand how these things fit in and related to the absolutely over the top bat shit events taking place while stranded on the Antarctic island. In case this is a spoiler, I'll mark it as such, but I still have no idea what the actual hell was going on - of the VERY REAL non-hyperbolic possibilities mentioned, I have MANY QUESTIONS -
Anyway - there are themes of isolation (obviously), racism, trauma, delusions, mental illness, and potentially others, but I am baffled as to what they are and what I was supposed to take away from this book, aside from some pretty cool factoids. There was also a ton of flowery poetic prose that, while beautiful, did very little to enhance the story, provide any kind of explanation, or move the story forward.
In any case, I am still so appreciative of the opportunity to read and review this book. I'd love to read this author's other book, We Ride Upon Sticks, which looks to be something I'd enjoy. Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Grove Press for the eARC!
The things I enjoyed about the book included: (1) the facts and factoids, (2) the depictions of horror were pretty gory and wild, (3) it reminded me of the X-Files Antarctica storyline, and (4) the layout of the book including the random redactions, italics, and photos.
I almost marked this as a DNF and moved on but I really really wanted to be proven wrong. At the risk of sounding like a poop, the main issue that I really struggled (and failed) to get past was that I really did not like the main character Striker, who was an extremely unlikeable, negative and cynical misanthrope (exactly the type of people mentioned in the book that do not fare well with others sailing to the end of the earth). After pages and pages of negativity and open hostility towards everyone and in her internal dialogue, in the next breath, she would make a very un-funny joke that always fell flat. In an attempt to possibly make her into a lighter more relatable character, Striker also said extremely cringey things like, "mo' money mo' problems" and "you dig?" at the end of a sentence. I struggled to muster up any empathy for her and I found her extremely irritating.
This is all even before getting to the meat of the book, which had SO MUCH going on and none of it made any sense at all. The story regularly flashed back to Striker's youth which told the story of her and her sister being adopted into a white family and the various trauma she has faced which made her into the person she is today - understandable, and I get how that could be valuable to the story. The story also included dialogue between Striker and her "friends" from home that took place in her head - friends that may or may not even exist. However, I often struggled to understand how these things fit in and related to the absolutely over the top bat shit events taking place while stranded on the Antarctic island. In case this is a spoiler, I'll mark it as such, but I still have no idea what the actual hell was going on - of the VERY REAL non-hyperbolic possibilities mentioned, I have MANY QUESTIONS -
Anyway - there are themes of isolation (obviously), racism, trauma, delusions, mental illness, and potentially others, but I am baffled as to what they are and what I was supposed to take away from this book, aside from some pretty cool factoids. There was also a ton of flowery poetic prose that, while beautiful, did very little to enhance the story, provide any kind of explanation, or move the story forward.
In any case, I am still so appreciative of the opportunity to read and review this book. I'd love to read this author's other book, We Ride Upon Sticks, which looks to be something I'd enjoy. Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Grove Press for the eARC!
October 17, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy, uncomfortable moments throughout the story. You get that sense of impending doom with the isolated setting of being lost in the Antarctic ocean. The horror elements were shiver inducing.
This was unlike anything I had read before. Being a huge fan of unreliable narrators the way this story flowed worked so well for me. I thought Strikers character was absolutely fantastic.
I definitely recommend this book!
My thanks to PGC Books for this gifted copy.
This was unlike anything I had read before. Being a huge fan of unreliable narrators the way this story flowed worked so well for me. I thought Strikers character was absolutely fantastic.
I definitely recommend this book!
My thanks to PGC Books for this gifted copy.
October 16, 2025
I was intrigued by the idea of Antarctica for a setting for a locked-room horror story with mystery elements, but sadly this just didn't work for me. I learned the author is a poet and that makes a lot of this book make sense. The prose was beautiful and it had vivid descriptions of the claustrophobic grandeur of the unusual setting, but the story was boring and not really scary.
This is the story of Striker, a film scout who takes a luxury vacation to Antarctica on her work's dime. She's researching a film about Shackleton. She could frequently be unlikable and snobbish, telling people she worked in "the industry" when she could have just said film.
She is understandably uncomfortable as the only Black woman in a kayak tour group of rich white people, but she seemed almost performative in her identitarianism, grouping white people into obvious racists or well-meaning fake allies who tried too hard for white guilt points. She was raised by white parents in a white neighborhood and felt like she was performing Blackness, so I guess this part makes sense. But there was a lot of info dumping about critical race theory that diluted the personal element that could have tied everything together. I felt like I got to know childhood Striker but not present day Striker.
Then the group gets trapped on a collapsing island where the ghosts of the cannibal explorers of the past haunt the place, and strange things keep happening. Striker, who is likely schizophrenic but her ability to see visions was confusing, is hiding awful secrets of her own, as is the whole group of dysfunctional travelers. Will they all go mad before they are rescued?
The first 30% of the book really had me going, and then the story just fell apart and became muddled and confusing. I couldn't tell what was Striker's crumbling mental state and what was a weird supernatural occurence, but it mostly felt like reading about people slowly losing their minds without much happening. It became tedious to read. The ending was also very unsatisfying.
I loved best the flashbacks to Striker's past and her struggles relating to her Black identity while being raised white, and her love for her sister. I wish those had been incorporated into the present day plot more. They felt like two different stories. My favorite kind of horror takes real emotional trauma and superimposes supernatural dread over it, and I was hoping for that here. It felt like the bones of the plot were there but it limped along to an open-ended conclusion and became repetitive.
It reminded me quite a bit of Graceview Patient, which is also a locked room horror about a patient going mad in a hospital that became tedious and repetitive.
I'd definitely read more books set in Antarctica though. What an amazing setting.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is the story of Striker, a film scout who takes a luxury vacation to Antarctica on her work's dime. She's researching a film about Shackleton. She could frequently be unlikable and snobbish, telling people she worked in "the industry" when she could have just said film.
She is understandably uncomfortable as the only Black woman in a kayak tour group of rich white people, but she seemed almost performative in her identitarianism, grouping white people into obvious racists or well-meaning fake allies who tried too hard for white guilt points. She was raised by white parents in a white neighborhood and felt like she was performing Blackness, so I guess this part makes sense. But there was a lot of info dumping about critical race theory that diluted the personal element that could have tied everything together. I felt like I got to know childhood Striker but not present day Striker.
Then the group gets trapped on a collapsing island where the ghosts of the cannibal explorers of the past haunt the place, and strange things keep happening. Striker, who is likely schizophrenic but her ability to see visions was confusing, is hiding awful secrets of her own, as is the whole group of dysfunctional travelers. Will they all go mad before they are rescued?
The first 30% of the book really had me going, and then the story just fell apart and became muddled and confusing. I couldn't tell what was Striker's crumbling mental state and what was a weird supernatural occurence, but it mostly felt like reading about people slowly losing their minds without much happening. It became tedious to read. The ending was also very unsatisfying.
I loved best the flashbacks to Striker's past and her struggles relating to her Black identity while being raised white, and her love for her sister. I wish those had been incorporated into the present day plot more. They felt like two different stories. My favorite kind of horror takes real emotional trauma and superimposes supernatural dread over it, and I was hoping for that here. It felt like the bones of the plot were there but it limped along to an open-ended conclusion and became repetitive.
It reminded me quite a bit of Graceview Patient, which is also a locked room horror about a patient going mad in a hospital that became tedious and repetitive.
I'd definitely read more books set in Antarctica though. What an amazing setting.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Read
November 21, 2025DNF @ 38%
This started off fine, with good writing and a story that was catching my interest, but it then became a bit more fractured, possibly the main character was losing her grip on reality? Whatever the case, it lost some of the initial lustre and I just didn’t feel like continuing where the book was leading.
This started off fine, with good writing and a story that was catching my interest, but it then became a bit more fractured, possibly the main character was losing her grip on reality? Whatever the case, it lost some of the initial lustre and I just didn’t feel like continuing where the book was leading.
March 28, 2025
If you want to read a book that sounds good in theory but alternates between being incredibly obvious and making absolutely no sense, this is the book for you.
This review based on an ARC provided to me by NetGalley.
This review based on an ARC provided to me by NetGalley.
October 12, 2025
For about the first 30% of Quan Barry's "The Unveiling," I was getting strong Lost and Yellowjackets vibes - which, coupled with the amazing writing, promised a five-stars read. Then... things got weird. The talent was obviously there, but something went wrong with the reading experience: it all started feeling like having stepped into a rabbit hole, the reader invited to follow the dance moves without sound, point or rhythm. The narrative went off the rails: neither weird fiction nor of course bizarro, the plot was self-assembling and self-deconstructing itself on the same page by simply not sticking to one approach to the events. I guess this is what is called "literary," and "literary horror" at that, but it made no sense to me: all I was seeing was a story with so much potential, getting sacrificed to an absurd aesthetics made for the initiated; I didn't get the point of the author's choices, I didn't enjoy the end, I didn't understand why she would build a book on a terrific premise and then take it all down for the sake of some undecipherable message (if there is one at all). I understand there are readers who like absurdity, confusion, and mystifying non-explanations open to the wildest interpretations (she's dreaming; she's dead; she's having a psychotic break; her past trauma causes her mental collapse, or whatever - come to think of it, this kind of guessing also applied to Lost LOL), but I was here for the horror, not the postmodernism. I finished the book captivated by the prose, its one redeeming quality, but would not recommend it.
April 10, 2025
The Unveiling is about a film scout, named Striker, who goes on a kayaking tour in the Antarctic to photograph potential spots for an upcoming movie. Out of nowhere she and a few others get separated from the rest of the group, and things go terribly wrong.
I’ll admit this was a little confusing to read due to the main character losing consciousness quite a bit throughout the book, as well as the fact that the story bounces around a lot from past to present. However, I do love a good unreliable narrator and told myself to trust the process. I really liked the visual of the thick black lines to symbolize when Striker lost consciousness, and sometimes there would be bits of blackout poetry which was a lot of fun.
The story was well-written and had some good social commentary. I felt a constant state of dread the entire time while reading, and the characters feel so realistic.
Word of advice, be fully prepared to read this in one sitting.
The Unveiling comes out on October 14, and a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy!
I’ll admit this was a little confusing to read due to the main character losing consciousness quite a bit throughout the book, as well as the fact that the story bounces around a lot from past to present. However, I do love a good unreliable narrator and told myself to trust the process. I really liked the visual of the thick black lines to symbolize when Striker lost consciousness, and sometimes there would be bits of blackout poetry which was a lot of fun.
The story was well-written and had some good social commentary. I felt a constant state of dread the entire time while reading, and the characters feel so realistic.
Word of advice, be fully prepared to read this in one sitting.
The Unveiling comes out on October 14, and a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy!
June 9, 2025
Let me tell you something, I was confused the whole book, the premise it's really interesting, a group of people goes missing in the antartica and weird things happen.
I don't know what to tell you about this book, at the beginning I was really hooked with the story, Striker is a girl who is traveling to the Antartica, but she's the only black person so she's feeling like a litte out of place, I liked the little monologues that she plays on her head about race and white privilege.
The horror in this book was good, but there is where this story starts to going crazy and confusing, parts where I had to re read because I didn't understang was going on, and after try to give some sense to the story I just lost interest.
At the end, I don´t know what happened. that's it.
I don't know what to tell you about this book, at the beginning I was really hooked with the story, Striker is a girl who is traveling to the Antartica, but she's the only black person so she's feeling like a litte out of place, I liked the little monologues that she plays on her head about race and white privilege.
The horror in this book was good, but there is where this story starts to going crazy and confusing, parts where I had to re read because I didn't understang was going on, and after try to give some sense to the story I just lost interest.
At the end, I don´t know what happened. that's it.
November 4, 2025
I had such high hopes for this. A horror novel set in the Antarctic sounded great. And I was excited to read more from Quan Barry after loving We Ride Upon Sticks. Unfortunately I struggled so much with reading this book, I was basically confused the whole way through. I started out reading this as an eARC and made it 50% through before feeling like I didn’t understand enough to continue on. Then after the book was released I got an audiobook copy and started over from the beginning. This time I did make it all the way through, and a tiny bit of the confusion lessened, but overall I did not enjoy my time reading this book.
It was so difficult to keep all of the characters straight since Striker, the main character, has nicknames for all of them on top of their actual names. And then she imagines dialogue and personalities for them, so it’s hard to know what is actually happening and what’s in her head. I was just constantly lost while reading the book. There’s so much skipping around from past to present, memories, hallucinations (maybe??), and who knows what else.
I’m just so sad since I really appreciated the brand of weirdness that was in We Ride Upon Sticks. I did find Striker’s background interesting and the social commentary aspects of the story were well executed. But in the end this was mostly just a miss for me.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
It was so difficult to keep all of the characters straight since Striker, the main character, has nicknames for all of them on top of their actual names. And then she imagines dialogue and personalities for them, so it’s hard to know what is actually happening and what’s in her head. I was just constantly lost while reading the book. There’s so much skipping around from past to present, memories, hallucinations (maybe??), and who knows what else.
I’m just so sad since I really appreciated the brand of weirdness that was in We Ride Upon Sticks. I did find Striker’s background interesting and the social commentary aspects of the story were well executed. But in the end this was mostly just a miss for me.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
December 24, 2025
What a wild ride. I don't read a lot of horror, so this was a stretch for me, but I've enjoyed Quan Barry's past books, so was curious about an adventure in Antarctica. And it was an adventure. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to most people, but I couldn't put it down. It's not a feel-good reading experience, but it did make me feel. Even if those feelings were unsettling, discomfort, confusion, and a bit of fear.
June 13, 2025
"Was this the reason humans were content to let the sea remain a mystery? Subconsciously it reminds us we're expendable, she thought, microscopic flotsam rolling in the gut of the universe."
A film location scout, Striker goes on an Antarctic cruise to photograph locations for a potential film about an expedition — she's cynical and doesn't have much faith in people, but her work is the one thing she takes pride in. Striker isn't meant to be a charming, lovable character and her misanthropic tendencies are conspicuous within the first few pages already. It comes across as a little grating at times because she often goes on a long "tangent" about her past that's meant to show a glimpse of her personality — and I usually don't mind that at all, but the actual plot in the present flits incoherently.
As she goes on a kayak adventure with a group of rich people, things go awry and Striker's stream-of-consciousness becomes more rampant in the narrative. It has the classic feel of cosmic horror where the main character's psyche is more jumbled and the supernatural aspects are obscure, moulding themselves depending on the characters' trauma. The unreliable narrator and "is it all in her head" concept is something I can appreciate, but the supernatural aspects are so sparse, and I feel that I'm mainly being lectured by Striker.
The struggles and prejudices she faces are a huge part of her identity, and if there's one thing I love about horror is its ability to intertwine societal issues and the taboo with sheer terror. Unfortunately, I feel that the two never fully marry together. Between the dialogue and her own polemic ramblings, there's a lack of purpose that can't be redeemed by the tension that is barely present in the first place. The history regarding Antarctica is also clearly well-researched, but along with the characters' one-dimensional traits, you end up questioning the point of all that background knowledge and exposition. Flatness in characters can certainly serve a purpose, and I understand that this is also due to Striker's own negativity. But it was even difficult to hate them, much less care about them.
My main gripe ultimately lies with the prose. I absolutely adore the themes and concepts in theory, but I wish it was more immersive and less confusing overall.
Thank you Grove Press and NetGalley for providing me an advance review copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
A film location scout, Striker goes on an Antarctic cruise to photograph locations for a potential film about an expedition — she's cynical and doesn't have much faith in people, but her work is the one thing she takes pride in. Striker isn't meant to be a charming, lovable character and her misanthropic tendencies are conspicuous within the first few pages already. It comes across as a little grating at times because she often goes on a long "tangent" about her past that's meant to show a glimpse of her personality — and I usually don't mind that at all, but the actual plot in the present flits incoherently.
As she goes on a kayak adventure with a group of rich people, things go awry and Striker's stream-of-consciousness becomes more rampant in the narrative. It has the classic feel of cosmic horror where the main character's psyche is more jumbled and the supernatural aspects are obscure, moulding themselves depending on the characters' trauma. The unreliable narrator and "is it all in her head" concept is something I can appreciate, but the supernatural aspects are so sparse, and I feel that I'm mainly being lectured by Striker.
The struggles and prejudices she faces are a huge part of her identity, and if there's one thing I love about horror is its ability to intertwine societal issues and the taboo with sheer terror. Unfortunately, I feel that the two never fully marry together. Between the dialogue and her own polemic ramblings, there's a lack of purpose that can't be redeemed by the tension that is barely present in the first place. The history regarding Antarctica is also clearly well-researched, but along with the characters' one-dimensional traits, you end up questioning the point of all that background knowledge and exposition. Flatness in characters can certainly serve a purpose, and I understand that this is also due to Striker's own negativity. But it was even difficult to hate them, much less care about them.
My main gripe ultimately lies with the prose. I absolutely adore the themes and concepts in theory, but I wish it was more immersive and less confusing overall.
Thank you Grove Press and NetGalley for providing me an advance review copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
October 15, 2025
I had high hopes for this novel, but it was just not for me. The main character, a Black woman named Striker, is a film location scout, and she is on a cruise/exploration ship in Antarctica to look for places to film an upcoming documentary on Ernest Shackleton's voyage to the continent (but haven't there been enough books and films on this subject?). Striker has a monumental chip on her shoulder, and her views on racism permeate the entire story. The other characters must be so uninteresting that Striker feels obligated to make up names and storylines for them. This dialog goes on for many pages, until the passengers board kayaks to explore the scenery and end up stranded. Okay, I like a good adventure tale. But this one has supernatural mumbo jumbo, the castaways all appear to be losing their minds, and worst of all, the narrative keeps jumping around so much that it was just impossible for me to enjoy. Of course, this is my assessment, and others might really enjoy this type of narrative.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Grove Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Grove Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
October 22, 2025
Loved the Antarctic descriptions and the overall idea of the plot.
Did not like the MC’s attitude and the surreal/confusing turn the story took.
Had to skim to get through the really strange parts.
Thank you anyways to the author, NetGalley, and Grove Press for a copy!
Did not like the MC’s attitude and the surreal/confusing turn the story took.
Had to skim to get through the really strange parts.
Thank you anyways to the author, NetGalley, and Grove Press for a copy!
October 23, 2025
Absolutely awful. I don't know what the author was going for, but she missed the mark by a country mile. Maybe it's stuff she needed to process. Privately. I got this book based on how much I enjoyed We Ride Upon Sticks, but the quality and drag of this book rescinded that benefit of the doubt.
September 17, 2025
First let me say, I love weird. Books that make you think are my favorites. Ambiguous endings? Yes please. I also knew going in that this book had some mixed reviews and controversial opinions. I like many books others don't, so I'm glad I didn't let that deter me.
The Unveiling by Quan Barry comes at you hard right away with a socially opinionated, middle aged, main character named Striker. Her thoughts reflect feelings and conversations prevalent in our society right now. The repeated symbology, omens and superstitions used here were well done and immediately set a dread filled atmosphere. The author drops you into the mind of Striker as she and an eclectic set of fellow passengers embark on this ill-fated adventure.
Death, Mental Illness, Animal Cruelty, Racial Opinions, LGBTQ+ characters, Adoption, climate change and marriage are all subjects our characters confront. It's wrapped nicely into the flow of storytelling and did not feel like a lecture, as some novels do.
As the story progresses the dissociative fugue states and inner dialogue becomes more and more confusing, by design. The unreliable narrator angle is usually infuriating to me but it worked here. The reader, like Striker herself, is lost trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Did I enjoy this book? No, but it's not the kind of book meant to be enjoyable. I did appreciate the complexity of writing and the metaphors. As the novel progresses the story becomes more and more unhinged. The book itself is a metaphor for Strikers mental state. This will be a hit with a very select audience and I count myself as one of them. If you like weird books, or books organized uniquely (think Tremblay, Vandermeer, Rumaan Alam, Cassandra Khaw, China Miéville, House of Leaves, The Yellow Wallpaper, A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Malerman, Angel Down) then definitely give this book a try. Confusing? Yes. Ambiguous? Yes. Unique? Absolutely. Liked it.
“When the part under the water gets eroded enough, the iceberg becomes top-heavy. Eventually it flips over. The bottom becomes the top ... Then you can see what was below the waterline.”
"The metaphor becomes life"
Overall: (not easy to rate)
Prose: complex
Pacing: fast
Scary: weird
Gore: YES
Character Development:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Unveiling by Quan Barry comes at you hard right away with a socially opinionated, middle aged, main character named Striker. Her thoughts reflect feelings and conversations prevalent in our society right now. The repeated symbology, omens and superstitions used here were well done and immediately set a dread filled atmosphere. The author drops you into the mind of Striker as she and an eclectic set of fellow passengers embark on this ill-fated adventure.
Death, Mental Illness, Animal Cruelty, Racial Opinions, LGBTQ+ characters, Adoption, climate change and marriage are all subjects our characters confront. It's wrapped nicely into the flow of storytelling and did not feel like a lecture, as some novels do.
As the story progresses the dissociative fugue states and inner dialogue becomes more and more confusing, by design. The unreliable narrator angle is usually infuriating to me but it worked here. The reader, like Striker herself, is lost trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Did I enjoy this book? No, but it's not the kind of book meant to be enjoyable. I did appreciate the complexity of writing and the metaphors. As the novel progresses the story becomes more and more unhinged. The book itself is a metaphor for Strikers mental state. This will be a hit with a very select audience and I count myself as one of them. If you like weird books, or books organized uniquely (think Tremblay, Vandermeer, Rumaan Alam, Cassandra Khaw, China Miéville, House of Leaves, The Yellow Wallpaper, A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Malerman, Angel Down) then definitely give this book a try. Confusing? Yes. Ambiguous? Yes. Unique? Absolutely. Liked it.
“When the part under the water gets eroded enough, the iceberg becomes top-heavy. Eventually it flips over. The bottom becomes the top ... Then you can see what was below the waterline.”
"The metaphor becomes life"
Overall: (not easy to rate)
Prose: complex
Pacing: fast
Scary: weird
Gore: YES
Character Development:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2025
4.5 stars
This is the kind of book where nothing makes sense and it isn’t supposed to. The main character, Striker, is unreliable and very stuck inside of her own head. There were so many moments in the story where I was like “wait what is even happening is any of this real what the heck.” If you’re a reader that loves books with ambiguous endings and fever dream-like plots where you have to piece together the narrative yourself, I think you will have a fun time!
Quan Barry is a poet and it shines in her prose. I highlighted so many quotes in this novel, and I’d love to eventually get a physical copy to go back through and annotate. Here are two of my favorite quotes:
“That was the true nature of horror. It needed your full participation.”
“There are no winners. That’s what early twentieth century explorers discovered the hard way. Dominion over the earth begins with dominion over each other, but ultimately it’s a false power. It leaves you with nothing on which to build your church.”
The horror elements of this were perfectly crafted. The unsettling tone of Barry’s writing mixed with the isolated setting of Antarctica and discussions of social horrors like colonialism, racism, existential dread, and classism all blend together to make The Unveiling a unique and fresh addition to the genre.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is the kind of book where nothing makes sense and it isn’t supposed to. The main character, Striker, is unreliable and very stuck inside of her own head. There were so many moments in the story where I was like “wait what is even happening is any of this real what the heck.” If you’re a reader that loves books with ambiguous endings and fever dream-like plots where you have to piece together the narrative yourself, I think you will have a fun time!
Quan Barry is a poet and it shines in her prose. I highlighted so many quotes in this novel, and I’d love to eventually get a physical copy to go back through and annotate. Here are two of my favorite quotes:
“That was the true nature of horror. It needed your full participation.”
“There are no winners. That’s what early twentieth century explorers discovered the hard way. Dominion over the earth begins with dominion over each other, but ultimately it’s a false power. It leaves you with nothing on which to build your church.”
The horror elements of this were perfectly crafted. The unsettling tone of Barry’s writing mixed with the isolated setting of Antarctica and discussions of social horrors like colonialism, racism, existential dread, and classism all blend together to make The Unveiling a unique and fresh addition to the genre.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 27, 2025
I loved this one. Can’t believe how much other reviewers hated it. I deducted a star for the hamfistedness of some of the big heavy conversations on race and identity. It was like getting hit over the head by a shillelagh. The ending also felt like a cop-out and had these two issues not existed, this would’ve been a 5 star. Listening to the audiobook was an interesting experience, with sound effects enhancing the creepiness of the mood. There’s definitely stuff I missed and I’ll be listening to the book again.
2026 Tournament of Books Longlist 26 of 70
2026 Tournament of Books Shortlist 4 of 18
2026 Tournament of Books Longlist 26 of 70
2026 Tournament of Books Shortlist 4 of 18
December 6, 2025
that... was terrible. I really loved "we ride on sticks". but this .. was basically true detective: night country with lots and lots of ruminations on race relations. it was confusing but I followed what was going on, for the most part. it did not make it better. WOW, really disappointed. quite possibly my worst read of 2025.
April 18, 2025
This book is incredibly difficult to rate and review, because I truly have no idea what happened. I can't begin to guess what was real and what wasn't. We get a hundred explanations, and none. There are some strong horror elements, including violence and gore, but then again... maybe not?
Needless to say, unreliable narrators and the whole 'insanity or the supernatural?' is not really my cup of tea. I prefer things to be a bit more concrete.
However, the writing is good and the descriptions of the landscape were fantastic. Even the characters were interesting and well created.
*Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy!
Needless to say, unreliable narrators and the whole 'insanity or the supernatural?' is not really my cup of tea. I prefer things to be a bit more concrete.
However, the writing is good and the descriptions of the landscape were fantastic. Even the characters were interesting and well created.
*Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy!
August 11, 2025
I thought this was a captivating read which held my attention. I understand why it is off-putting to certain readers and it is certainly not my normal read, but it held my attention and told an interesting story. You have to go into the book with the expectation that is is more like reading a poem than a narrative, which makes sense given the author. There is an unreliable narrator (to say the least) and it reads in a stream of consciousness style. There are no answers given and you have to just go along for the ride. But if you can handle that, the writing is beautiful and the conversations insightful.
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