Make Me Better

by Sarah Gailey

You were pure once. You can be made pure again.

Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family―to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost.

Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef -- she will find herself.

She’s ready to be healed. She’s ready to be transformed.

She's ready to believe.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Adult, Fiction, Horror Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

432 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication May 12, 2026

Reviews

[megs_bookrack]

ARC received!! Thank you, Tor!!!



I always look forward to Sarah Gailey's newest releases. This one sounds right up my alley and I'm LOVING this cover!!

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel immediately felt foreboding and eerie. It wastes no time taking you to the isolated island where Celia is hoping to experience another way of life and be transformed by their beliefs, erasing her grief and making her into a more confident person. The characters have a lot going on, both internally and with each other. Their dynamics are complicated and take a while to figure out, (if you manage to figure them out at all.) Gailey clearly knew these people well, and that’s admirable. I was locked in at first, but I admit that as the story stretched on my attention waned a bit.

The constant switches in POV didn’t help. I was confused, in the beginning, about exactly what was going on with the backstory and how the characters related to each other. There were also steps back and forth between the past and present, in various increments. That made my head spin a bit and remained an issue throughout the read.

Celia’s story was the most interesting to me by far, and every time I got truly invested the chapter would switch to a different timeframe and a new POV. I did grow frustrated with this after a while. I kind of felt like the book was edging me, but not in a fun way.

I also had trouble following some of the dialogue, especially the things that Easy said. But I figured it was probably manipulative cult stuff that was over my head. I hated pretty much all of these people. It was easy to understand why Celia ended up in this situation and she was definitely sympathetic, but all the members of the Cove were awful. I also don’t fully understand what their deal was. Their values were fairly clear through dialogue and action, but as far as why the Cove was founded and what their greater purpose was? I still couldn’t tell you.

I know that Midsommar comparisons get thrown around for a lot of books now, but there is a part of this one that feels like a direct homage to Midsommar. This book has its unsettling moments for sure, but they were pretty spread out. It was interesting to see brainwashing techniques at work. (Gailey did the research.) And for the record, my theory about their salt source turned out to be correct.

This book is very well written, and it seems to have so many layers that I may have missed a few things. But I think I might be done with stories about cults in general. I’m tired of reading about frustrating mob behavior and people suffering as a result of it. I did appreciate the afterword quite a bit.

The best book I’ve read by Gailey so far is still “Spread Me.”

I’m rating this 3.5 stars. There was one horrific set piece near the end that I absolutely loved, and I wanted more of that. Gailey writes books that are very complex and no two stories are similar to each other. She’s also good at body horror! (There wasn’t enough of it to suit me in this one.) I will continue to read her work.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: *Loss of pregnancy (graphic), Harm to children.

[Trisha]

YES! love this dark twist on island retreat / self care

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I entered into Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey not quite knowing what to expect, as Gailey is one of those authors that surprises me every time and is not one to shy away from taking risks. That unknown turned out as part of the fun. Make Me Better to remind me why I’m always excited to see what Gailey does next.

Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family―to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost.

Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef -- she will find herself. She’s ready to be healed. She’s ready to be transformed. She's ready to believe.

I was first introduced to Gailey's writing with Know Your Station , a comic book miniseries they wrote with artwork from Liana Kangas . There was something about Gailey's writing that worked so well for me, so of course I would trying out their prose novels and damn did I like Spread Me and because of this I was excited to crack open Make Me Better .

What really made Make Me Better hit hard was how unsettlingly real Gailey makes the manipulation feel. Now, I am not one to really have any clue what it really feels like to be drawn into a cult, but how Gailey does this is a close as I hopefully get. And it's not through anything overly sinister, but with warmth and attention, as well as the promising of belonging. It's the small hits throughout the story that makes us believe the community isn't exactly what it claims to be and it's those hits that kept me drawn into the story at hand. On their own, these moments might seem easy to brush off, but that is what makes them all the more dangerous.

It's these psychological thrillers, or even horror stories, that deal with real world issues such as looking for a place to belong and for a sense of meaning, but in more extreme places. This real world similarities bring a nice emotional weight and makes the horrors even more horrifying.

Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey is a hauntingly immersive and atmospheric story. Gailey blends psychological tension with horror, giving off an unsettling feeling throughout.

Make Me Better hits bookstores everywhere on May 12, 2026 from Tor Books. The audiobook, narrated by Xe Sands, is available for preorder via Libro.fm!

NOTE: We received an advance copy of Make Me Better from the publisher. Opinions are our own.

[Stephanie Rinehart-Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read in the last few months that deals with being a small part of a greater whole. Don't we all just want to belong? To be part of something greater than ourselves? Anna North's "Bog Queen" asks where humans fit in the long history of the world, what humans owe to the collective on the macro and micro scale. The moss will outlive us, despite our best efforts. Maybe not the best comparison, they're very different books. But the idea of the collective, the community, is a hot one right now.

Sarah Gailey's "Make Me Better" instead asks who can be seduced by the collective when the collective is harmful. Celia just wants to belong, to fall in love, to not be left the way she has been left, through no fault of her own. I think we can all see Celia for what she is, a traumatized, lonely person, even if the book doesn't explore that in a direct, therapeutic way. Making her the perspective character adds a certain weight to the book, since Celia isn't an outsider looking for fault. She's an outsider looking to belong.

There's a part toward the end where the book really spells out what it's been trying to tell you for 300+ pages, but that seems to be the norm now, and I'm not sure I can continue to hate it. It isn't going anywhere. But it also shows the direct change in Celia's thinking that is, truly, only a minor shift. We're all just a small push from looking away, since we do it so much in our daily lives.

I don't usually write this much about books. This is one I tore through as quickly as I could, partly because of the sense of foreboding, and partly because I just really wanted to see what was up with this island and this culty community. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'll probably be thinking about it for a long time.

Oh, and if you usually skip the acknowledgements, don't skip these.

[Megan Magee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how not one single book I've read by Gailey is alike any other. Celia decides to join Kindred Cove and it's congregants for the annual Salt Festival. This is a place where the woods are plentiful, anything is possible, and there is no punishment nor death in the end. Their motto being "Nothing is ever lost" is so spine tingling and on par with Ari Aster- this feeling permeated in the entirety of this book for me, this sensible dread that someone was peering over my shoulder to creep on my page progress. I enjoyed how we got several perspectives of the community, and how the timelines jumped over their collective years at the lake- but this made things oftentimes confusing and slow moving, too. Speaking of slow- the tension drips along at the speed of the lowest setting on the faucet, and it truly takes a connection for one to be interested in whats going on. This one is perfect for fans of Catriona Ward and a mix of Emily Austin. Gailey's writing and ability to connect to her plots is hands down my favorite attribute of hers, and this one didn't change my mind on that point whatsoever. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read and review this eARC! All opinions are my own.

[Alex E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5: Make Me Better

Celia is lonely and depressed from losing yet another baby from a failed pregnancy. So when she gets the opportunity to go on a retreat at Kindred Cove during their annual Salt Festival, she jumps at the chance to heal and to belong.

Pros:
-cult vibes. Midsommar-esque, kinda?
-emotionally deeeeeeeep. Like it hit me in the feels

Meh:
-slow pacing. I had a hard time staying super engaged

Cons:
-the timeline is confusing AF. You bounce around between current time, 5 years ago, 15 years ago, 3 months ago, etc etc.
-honestly the names were weirdly hard for me to keep track of who was who. This is probably just a *me* thing but a number of the names were similar enough (Audrey vs Adelaide, for example). They aren't the same by any means, but close enough that I did get confused.

This book reminded me a LOT of Catriona Ward's style (a bit wild and weird), so I'd give this a go if you are a fan of cults, weird plots, and ok with timeline jumping.

.......
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All views expressed are my own.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow burn psychological thriller with a dash of uncanny valley, slightly paranormal suspense running underneath. As stated in the book description, it is set on a "mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef" - this was my favorite part of the story; the environment itself is a unexplainable character and I would love to read a book just about the island and the reef themselves! For me, the plot was slow and I did find myself skimming at times, but the end was really good and came to a satisfying conclusion. The story jumps back and forth between the present and the past, and the past reflections are told from various character's viewpoints, so I did sometimes get confused about who was talking and what happened when in the timeline.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a couple of joys to be had when reading a book by Sarah Gailey.

First: It will always be a surprise.

Second: It's gonna get weird.

Make Me Better is a treatise on grief and loneliness. It's that book you pick up when you want to be sad because it is so very melancholy. It's beautifully written, offering a sort of wispy and lingering atmosphere. It's also horrifying. Some that horror sneaks up on you and some just punches you in the gut.

It's definitely a slower read. The payoff is there, but it does take a while to come. The slowness is what kept this from being a perfect read for me.

The weirdness I mentioned is there from the very beginning. It starts subtly, but eventually...it's just weird.

A very surprising read!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published May 12, 2026.

4 stars

Celia is tired. Tired of her life and tired of being alone. She meets Adelaide at a grief support group and she tells Celia about her home, Kindred Cove, which holds an annual Salt Festival which promises participants healing. Celia decides to go, to look to transformation.

Have I ever told you how much I enjoy a good cult story? I have? Well here’s another nice one. Lots of shadiness going on at Kindred Cove so the less said the better about the rest of the book. It won’t shake up your view of the world or anything but I enjoyed the book.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I see the comparison to Ari Aster films, Midsommar in particular. They both boast sun-drenched, idyllic settings contrasted by grief and culty ritualistic violence, but the pacing and type of horror is quite different.

Make Me Better is a slow simmer story, and the horror mostly consists of the constant dread from what you imagine must be happening to visitors during the Salt Festival. I was also cringing at the deeply submissive behaviors and utter acceptance of obvious untruths.

The acknowledgments are worth reading!

I came upon my new favorite word as well - noctilucent, which means shining or glowing at night.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the eARC! Pub date May 12, 2026

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Make Me Better is a timely book that explores the allure of connection and community and the ways in which our desire to feel seen can leave us susceptible to violence of both the body and the mind. Sarah Gailey has brought us an extraordinary read where the sense of dread never seems to let up and the reader, like many of the characters, finds themselves pulled relentlessly forward all while knowing only horror waits there. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

[Cheyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Gailey's Make Me Better is unsettling and creepy; it's the perfect tone for a book like this. The stakes slowly ramp up, like a frog in water, and by the time the narrative is boiling, you're totally hooked!

[viktoria]

CULTS!

CULTS!

CULTS!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your typical Wicker Man-esque "unwitting person gets pulled into cult" story--I felt it was a much more nuanced story about *why* people join cults or other harmful groups who promise to solve all your problems if you just follow all their rules (or buy their products). Gailey gives backstory breadcrumbs while still keeping the reader guessing.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeply unsettling look into what it feels like to be manipulated into joining a cult. Celia, a lonely woman desperate to become a mother, attends the Salt Festival, a strange multi-day introduction to the commune Kindred Cove. She participates in their life and work, and for the first time, she feels seen, accepted, and loved.

Throughout we see little hints of what makes this community a cult—a dangerous one, at that. And once we (Celia and the reader) accept one transgression, we find it easier to disregard and overlook others. Until finally, we're faced with the truth. Luckily for us readers, we have a little more distance and perspective than Celia does!

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group, via NetGalley, for this ARC.