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Until Death: A Novel
In this fresh, darkly funny horror debut, a woman finally agrees to marry the man of her mother’s dreams . . . only to discover that wedding planning eats you alive. If Ophelia Cohen learned one thing from her parents, it’s that getting married is a bad idea. But if she’s learning anything from her widowed mother’s dementia, it’s that dying alone is even worse. So when she meets Luke, the handsome heir to a local vineyard, dating him makes sense. And when he asks her to marry him, well. It’s what her mother always wanted.
But none of Ophelia’s obsessive scrolling on wedding forums can prepare her for the nightmare of planning her own. Why is her mother-in-law so worried about every single detail, right down to the color scheme? Why does it feel like Ophelia is losing track of days, weeks, even months? Why is Luke’s family so eager to host the wedding in the vineyard’s ancient chapel — and why does it feel, sometimes, like the chapel has a heartbeat?
This wedding is supposed to be the thing that saves Ophelia from a lifetime of loneliness. So how is it that the more Ophelia sacrifices, the more alone she is?
Shot through with wicked humor, pitch-black horror, and unexpected romance, Until Death is a deliciously dark send-up of the wedding industrial complex — and a mother-daughter story unlike any you’ve read before.
But none of Ophelia’s obsessive scrolling on wedding forums can prepare her for the nightmare of planning her own. Why is her mother-in-law so worried about every single detail, right down to the color scheme? Why does it feel like Ophelia is losing track of days, weeks, even months? Why is Luke’s family so eager to host the wedding in the vineyard’s ancient chapel — and why does it feel, sometimes, like the chapel has a heartbeat?
This wedding is supposed to be the thing that saves Ophelia from a lifetime of loneliness. So how is it that the more Ophelia sacrifices, the more alone she is?
Shot through with wicked humor, pitch-black horror, and unexpected romance, Until Death is a deliciously dark send-up of the wedding industrial complex — and a mother-daughter story unlike any you’ve read before.
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Published May 19, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
January 18, 2026
2.5 stars rounded down
While the first page started out strong and gripped me right away, that’s about as good as it got. I really wanted to like this and have this be the horror book for me since getting married and having to care for my mom when she’s old and potentially losing her mind are two huge fears I have.
I think that while Ophelia was funny and kind of relatable in her thoughts and certainly in her anxieties, she wasn’t really a likable character. I totally understand for a lot of the book that she’s under a certain influence, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not still totally selfish and rude. I don’t want to spoil it but she’s talking to her friend Mitchell and he pretty bravely admits something (can’t tell you, it’s a spoiler, sorry!) and she goes “That’s it?” Bro.
I understood the message the author was going for, I just think the execution was really clunky. There was a lot of stuff that could have been woven into the story as a whole rather than doing one big explanation dump at the end. Also the pacing, for me, was a bit bizarre. I felt like things were both moving at a quick pace but also dragging by at the same time.
Two stars because I did find Ophelia funny and I liked the idea of this book. I do want to keep my eye out to see what this author writes next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
While the first page started out strong and gripped me right away, that’s about as good as it got. I really wanted to like this and have this be the horror book for me since getting married and having to care for my mom when she’s old and potentially losing her mind are two huge fears I have.
I think that while Ophelia was funny and kind of relatable in her thoughts and certainly in her anxieties, she wasn’t really a likable character. I totally understand for a lot of the book that she’s under a certain influence, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not still totally selfish and rude. I don’t want to spoil it but she’s talking to her friend Mitchell and he pretty bravely admits something (can’t tell you, it’s a spoiler, sorry!) and she goes “That’s it?” Bro.
I understood the message the author was going for, I just think the execution was really clunky. There was a lot of stuff that could have been woven into the story as a whole rather than doing one big explanation dump at the end. Also the pacing, for me, was a bit bizarre. I felt like things were both moving at a quick pace but also dragging by at the same time.
Two stars because I did find Ophelia funny and I liked the idea of this book. I do want to keep my eye out to see what this author writes next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 19, 2026
Okay, this book is weird and mysterious, and I just ATE IT UP. Ophelia doesn’t believe in marriage and love and is trying to juggle her job and getting her mom situated in a living facility while her mom has dementia. Her world begins to spiral as she figures out how she will pay for all this until she meets Luke, who says he is her mother’s financial advisor. She puts in a call to a different advisor, so this isn’t out of left field. He asks her out to dinner, and in a whirlwind, starts to take care of her and her problems. This isn’t a cozy contemporary romance, though. For starters, he won’t even get intimate with her unless they are married. When they kiss, the kiss feels rough and strange to her. Luke’s family owns a winery, but it has a dark cloud woven with it. It also serves as a wedding facility, but you can’t find any priest who will step foot on that property. There is also the obsession with wine flowers and their intoxicating scent everywhere, including living plant earrings that Luke gifts her. When I say this book is weird, I mean it and in a good way!!! I don’t think everyone will like Ophelia as she comes off as rude, but the strangeness of everything she encounters had me wondering what exactly are we dealing with there?! This book gives off gothic horror romance vibes and lots of red flags that are just totally ignored. The ending surprised me, and I didn’t see the end result happening like that.
Thank you Little Brown and Co and NetGalley for this gifted advanced reader copy.
Thank you Little Brown and Co and NetGalley for this gifted advanced reader copy.
May 24, 2026
I thought this would be a horror with humor. I wasn't horrified or humored. The pacing felt off and the chapters felt chunky.
July 23, 2026
3.5 ⭐ rounded up
Until Death follows Ophelia, who at the beginning of the book is tasked with moving her mother into an assisted living facility as she is no longer able to care for herself, and her dementia is slowly progressing. But this is no easy task, because the mother-daughter relationship with these two has never been great. As long as she can remember, Ophelia’s mother has always pressured her to find the *right* man and get married, but seeing her parents’ marriage as her only example has led Ophelia to loathe the idea. However, after a chance encounter leads her to the seemingly perfect Luke, Ophelia decides maybe it’s time to give in after all.
Despite only being just over 300 pages, this book felt very slow. We spend a lot of time in Ophelia’s head and she was really frustrating to follow at times!! But as we get deeper into the story and reality becomes more disorienting for Ophelia, I found myself more interested. This definitely takes on a fever dream feel towards the end where the horror really ramps up and it gets downright gross. I really enjoyed the turn this took, but I wish it had captured my attention sooner. Seeing as this is a debut novel does leave me excited to see what the author publishes in the future as she polishes her writing style 🙂
This is one of those stories that is mainly focused on following a female main character on a journey to discover what she really wants in life and beginning to live for herself rather than other people. However, add in a bit of weirdness, gore, and hallucinatory vibes. If that sounds like something you’re into, I’d recommend giving Until Death a try!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a complimentary copy of this book 🫶🏻 all opinions in this review are my own
Until Death follows Ophelia, who at the beginning of the book is tasked with moving her mother into an assisted living facility as she is no longer able to care for herself, and her dementia is slowly progressing. But this is no easy task, because the mother-daughter relationship with these two has never been great. As long as she can remember, Ophelia’s mother has always pressured her to find the *right* man and get married, but seeing her parents’ marriage as her only example has led Ophelia to loathe the idea. However, after a chance encounter leads her to the seemingly perfect Luke, Ophelia decides maybe it’s time to give in after all.
Despite only being just over 300 pages, this book felt very slow. We spend a lot of time in Ophelia’s head and she was really frustrating to follow at times!! But as we get deeper into the story and reality becomes more disorienting for Ophelia, I found myself more interested. This definitely takes on a fever dream feel towards the end where the horror really ramps up and it gets downright gross. I really enjoyed the turn this took, but I wish it had captured my attention sooner. Seeing as this is a debut novel does leave me excited to see what the author publishes in the future as she polishes her writing style 🙂
This is one of those stories that is mainly focused on following a female main character on a journey to discover what she really wants in life and beginning to live for herself rather than other people. However, add in a bit of weirdness, gore, and hallucinatory vibes. If that sounds like something you’re into, I’d recommend giving Until Death a try!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a complimentary copy of this book 🫶🏻 all opinions in this review are my own
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It’s wickedly creepy and complicated.
Ophelia’s mother was deteriorating with dementia and her financial advisor, Luke, said she was heavily in debt. She relocated temporarily to take care of her but it was too much. She put her reluctant mother into an assisted living facility. Yet, with her mother’s health issues and a hectic work schedule, Ophelia found herself on overdrive as her life started to unravel.
However, the handsome Luke was there to rescue her. He took her to dinner to help her relax. He cleaned her mother’s condo and cooked her dinner night after night. He even dumped all of her paper files and mother’s belongings when she was gone. This was highly irritating as well as a series of other things. Yet, she justified all he did.
The first few chapters were slow and then it became more interesting. Ophelia was academically smart but with relationships…not so much. How could she not pick up any of the clues when it seemed obvious what she needed to do? There was a dark side with emotional and physical abuse from her father to her mother making it fearful for her to fall in love. Nevertheless, it was a rush to get to the end.
My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGallery for this ARC with an expected release date of May 19, 2026. The views I share are my own.
Ophelia’s mother was deteriorating with dementia and her financial advisor, Luke, said she was heavily in debt. She relocated temporarily to take care of her but it was too much. She put her reluctant mother into an assisted living facility. Yet, with her mother’s health issues and a hectic work schedule, Ophelia found herself on overdrive as her life started to unravel.
However, the handsome Luke was there to rescue her. He took her to dinner to help her relax. He cleaned her mother’s condo and cooked her dinner night after night. He even dumped all of her paper files and mother’s belongings when she was gone. This was highly irritating as well as a series of other things. Yet, she justified all he did.
The first few chapters were slow and then it became more interesting. Ophelia was academically smart but with relationships…not so much. How could she not pick up any of the clues when it seemed obvious what she needed to do? There was a dark side with emotional and physical abuse from her father to her mother making it fearful for her to fall in love. Nevertheless, it was a rush to get to the end.
My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGallery for this ARC with an expected release date of May 19, 2026. The views I share are my own.
May 28, 2026
I'm going to shut up about this book someday. Not today, though. Not today.
I can't remember the last time a book made me so unsettled. I felt like there was a hive of bees under my skin or maybe in my skull? Ophelia is moving so fast and there's simply no choice but to run after her, keep running, keep turning the page. There's no room to self-insert here — Ophelia is too distinct of a character — but I felt like she did, harried and trying not to drown and half-hysterical. Except I was having a great time.
And this book really is, somehow, funny. The voice is fantastic, wry and self-aware. And Mary Berman absolutely nails the setup-punchline thing, in every iteration — so many moments were carefully seeded throughout and made me want to scream when they came to fruition. Ophelia is not an easy character, but that's for the best; the humor wouldn't survive if her choices were not her own.
For all that Until Death is unhinged and feverish and dark, the moments of light are so powerful. There's probably a whole other layer of appreciation if you're someone who has/had a particular dream about a wedding, but I'm not, and I loved the hell out of it.
I can't remember the last time a book made me so unsettled. I felt like there was a hive of bees under my skin or maybe in my skull? Ophelia is moving so fast and there's simply no choice but to run after her, keep running, keep turning the page. There's no room to self-insert here — Ophelia is too distinct of a character — but I felt like she did, harried and trying not to drown and half-hysterical. Except I was having a great time.
And this book really is, somehow, funny. The voice is fantastic, wry and self-aware. And Mary Berman absolutely nails the setup-punchline thing, in every iteration — so many moments were carefully seeded throughout and made me want to scream when they came to fruition. Ophelia is not an easy character, but that's for the best; the humor wouldn't survive if her choices were not her own.
For all that Until Death is unhinged and feverish and dark, the moments of light are so powerful. There's probably a whole other layer of appreciation if you're someone who has/had a particular dream about a wedding, but I'm not, and I loved the hell out of it.
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July 10, 2026I’m upset. I need to sit with what I just read and I will be back to attempt a fair review.
June 11, 2026
Thanks, but no thanks.
July 17, 2026
A horror novel about wedding planning while I am currently wedding planning ..... well yes!!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is an unscary horror book. there were some twists but I saw them coming and really just felt confused more than anything. The storyline wasn't for me, I didn't care for the characters and the story felt rushed.
June 23, 2026
2.5 stars!
I won this on Goodreads from a giveaway. Early copy too!
So, this author is from philly (like me) and they use some many references. My neighborhood is brought up and the connection to Lancaster and Philly is nice. Loved that part.
I was intrigued by the beginning and it started strong. I laughed a bit within the first 30% and then I stopped laughing. This book is 307 pages and it read like it was 869 pages. It took me forever to get through it because I became so disinterested by the 35% point. So this author wrote this story that bored me and right when I was going to put the book down, something happened and I got invested again. This happened literally 15+ times.
I don’t really know what to say about it besides the philly references were cool, the story was meh and then it became weird lit that I just wasn’t interested in. The cover and blurb in the back falsely sold this book for me. I was not expecting it to do what it did.
Spoiler……
An angel that eats brides on their wedding day? Uhh cool concept but the rest of the story was not great around it. Four season, four brides to keep the family line going. I’m just confused. This author clearly likes movies like Hide N Seek (I fucking love that movie). If this book would’ve went there, I would’ve been giving it a 6 star. However, it didn’t.
I’m disappointed that I didn’t put it down and move on. The boredom was real.
So, yeah…not for me. I’ll let someone else enjoy this story by putting it in a free library.
I won this on Goodreads from a giveaway. Early copy too!
So, this author is from philly (like me) and they use some many references. My neighborhood is brought up and the connection to Lancaster and Philly is nice. Loved that part.
I was intrigued by the beginning and it started strong. I laughed a bit within the first 30% and then I stopped laughing. This book is 307 pages and it read like it was 869 pages. It took me forever to get through it because I became so disinterested by the 35% point. So this author wrote this story that bored me and right when I was going to put the book down, something happened and I got invested again. This happened literally 15+ times.
I don’t really know what to say about it besides the philly references were cool, the story was meh and then it became weird lit that I just wasn’t interested in. The cover and blurb in the back falsely sold this book for me. I was not expecting it to do what it did.
Spoiler……
An angel that eats brides on their wedding day? Uhh cool concept but the rest of the story was not great around it. Four season, four brides to keep the family line going. I’m just confused. This author clearly likes movies like Hide N Seek (I fucking love that movie). If this book would’ve went there, I would’ve been giving it a 6 star. However, it didn’t.
I’m disappointed that I didn’t put it down and move on. The boredom was real.
So, yeah…not for me. I’ll let someone else enjoy this story by putting it in a free library.
May 24, 2026
ARC Review
I think the scariest part of this book for me was watching the descent Ophelia's mother has with her dementia. Having had a close family member with Alzheimer's and seeing it on a regular basis with my job, it's a horrible disease that the author I think portrayed well. The fmcs reactions at time was understandable but also very frustrating to see portrayed.
The horror aspect was a little disturbing but not on the level I was hoping/waiting for. However, reading about her planning a wedding in two months would probably be one of my worse nightmares and I would have just eloped at that point.
This was also listed on Netgalley under romance and humor. I had a hard time finding the humor and there was only the tiniest hint of a possible romance with a different character at the end of the book, far fetched from being a hea or hfn. I would not classify this as a romance.
I wanted to like this more but it was more a miss for me than a hit.
I think the scariest part of this book for me was watching the descent Ophelia's mother has with her dementia. Having had a close family member with Alzheimer's and seeing it on a regular basis with my job, it's a horrible disease that the author I think portrayed well. The fmcs reactions at time was understandable but also very frustrating to see portrayed.
The horror aspect was a little disturbing but not on the level I was hoping/waiting for. However, reading about her planning a wedding in two months would probably be one of my worse nightmares and I would have just eloped at that point.
This was also listed on Netgalley under romance and humor. I had a hard time finding the humor and there was only the tiniest hint of a possible romance with a different character at the end of the book, far fetched from being a hea or hfn. I would not classify this as a romance.
I wanted to like this more but it was more a miss for me than a hit.
June 22, 2026
This one had a premise that immediately grabbed my attention, and I was invested enough to keep turning the pages to find out what was really going on. There were several tense moments and a few twists that kept me guessing, but overall I never felt completely immersed in the story.
The pacing was a bit uneven for me, and while some of the characters were interesting, I struggled to fully connect with them on an emotional level. The mystery itself was intriguing, but the payoff didn’t quite live up to the buildup. By the end, I felt satisfied enough to finish it, but I wanted a little more depth and impact from both the characters and the resolution.
Not a bad read by any means, but one that left me feeling somewhat in the middle. If you enjoy suspenseful mysteries with plenty of secrets, it’s worth picking up, even if it wasn’t a standout for me.
The pacing was a bit uneven for me, and while some of the characters were interesting, I struggled to fully connect with them on an emotional level. The mystery itself was intriguing, but the payoff didn’t quite live up to the buildup. By the end, I felt satisfied enough to finish it, but I wanted a little more depth and impact from both the characters and the resolution.
Not a bad read by any means, but one that left me feeling somewhat in the middle. If you enjoy suspenseful mysteries with plenty of secrets, it’s worth picking up, even if it wasn’t a standout for me.
February 4, 2026
Thank you Little, Brown and Company for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Until Death follows Ophelia, a struggling writer/teacher who goes to her hometown for the summer to help move her mother into assisted living. Juggling too much on her plate and unable to cope with her mother’s Dementia diagnosis, Ophelia gets entangled in a whirlwind engagement with the “perfect” man. His parent’s vineyard is the ideal wedding location, but why does the chapel floor beat like a heart? And why does the smell of the vine flowers make Ophelia lose track of time and place?
I really enjoyed this. Until Death is a deep dive into generational trauma, and how trying to please your parents/partner can actually be all-consuming. Ophelia was such a complex character and it was fascinating to be inside her head. This was a well crafted literary horror, with lots of humor and some spine-tingling imagery. As her mother loses herself to her illness, we see the parallel of Ophelia losing herself in this whirlwind romance. As the reader I felt just as lost and disoriented as our main characters and that really immersed me in the story. At times the pacing felt a little slow and repetitive, but it was on theme for what the story was trying to convey in my opinion. This was an excellent debut with a strong character voice. Berman brought something new and fresh to the horror genre and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Until Death follows Ophelia, a struggling writer/teacher who goes to her hometown for the summer to help move her mother into assisted living. Juggling too much on her plate and unable to cope with her mother’s Dementia diagnosis, Ophelia gets entangled in a whirlwind engagement with the “perfect” man. His parent’s vineyard is the ideal wedding location, but why does the chapel floor beat like a heart? And why does the smell of the vine flowers make Ophelia lose track of time and place?
I really enjoyed this. Until Death is a deep dive into generational trauma, and how trying to please your parents/partner can actually be all-consuming. Ophelia was such a complex character and it was fascinating to be inside her head. This was a well crafted literary horror, with lots of humor and some spine-tingling imagery. As her mother loses herself to her illness, we see the parallel of Ophelia losing herself in this whirlwind romance. As the reader I felt just as lost and disoriented as our main characters and that really immersed me in the story. At times the pacing felt a little slow and repetitive, but it was on theme for what the story was trying to convey in my opinion. This was an excellent debut with a strong character voice. Berman brought something new and fresh to the horror genre and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
June 27, 2026
This was a mixed bag! I wish it had been a novella because I’d have liked it much more. I liked the writing and the concept, but the pacing was frustrating. I got about 2/3 in, and I could see I was in for more of the same until the end. More disorientation and lost time, more frustration from Hildy, etc. So I skimmed from there to the last couple chapters to just see what would happen. That’s when I was like, oh, I like this concept! But it was too much withheld til the very end. I needed more hints and escalation earlier. But the imagery and explanation was very cool.
So it’s maybe a 2.5 - reminds me of when I read Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang. There’s so much here that I really like that just didn’t get executed well, so I’d love to try more from the author in the future.
So it’s maybe a 2.5 - reminds me of when I read Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang. There’s so much here that I really like that just didn’t get executed well, so I’d love to try more from the author in the future.
July 23, 2026
Couldn’t put this one down because I kept hoping for more, but I never got the more I was looking for. It still entertained me so I’ll give it three stars.
Ophelia is just simply not a likable character. Why is she always covered in dirt or blood or something gross simply because she’s a clumsy mess? Why did she blindly meet up with a man at a coffee shop to discuss her mother’s very serious financial matters? Why did she go to the wedding even though she got a major heads up that her fiancé was lying through his teeth?
There were just so many plot holes and unnecessary redundancies. I would’ve liked to see her mother’s decline played into the whole “unreliable narrator” thing.
Moral of the story: being an adult and getting married is the most horrific thing you can do.
Ophelia is just simply not a likable character. Why is she always covered in dirt or blood or something gross simply because she’s a clumsy mess? Why did she blindly meet up with a man at a coffee shop to discuss her mother’s very serious financial matters? Why did she go to the wedding even though she got a major heads up that her fiancé was lying through his teeth?
There were just so many plot holes and unnecessary redundancies. I would’ve liked to see her mother’s decline played into the whole “unreliable narrator” thing.
Moral of the story: being an adult and getting married is the most horrific thing you can do.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2025
What a twisty little thing.
Having a parent with dementia is hard, this is made even worse for Ophelia who has never had the strongest relationship with her mother to begin with. When attempting to move her into an assisted living aphelia finds herself at a wedding venue that offers a beautiful backdrop for blossoming love and finds herself drawn to the hired help that is until the owner of the venue’s son crosses her path and she finds herself in the middle of a whirlwind romance but is it all as perfect as it seems?
Weddings are hard and like my new friend Ophelia I have never had the opportunity to plan one but I did date someone who was quick to line up the rest of my life with little interest in what I actually wanted. There’s a strong push here between Ophelia’s wants and what she is willing to do to get them and at the risk of flower puns she’s a bit of a wallflower who gets pushed around as she tries to control things that are very chaotic between her job, attempt at writing a novel and her mothers ailing health. It’s easy to be swept away by someone promising to take some of that load but it’s always a question of intent and man did she get screwed.
I’ll be honest I got a little lost at the big reveal but the moments of unreliable narrator were done super well. It’s very disorienting but with purpose as we are also surprised at the losses of time and mix ups in reality not unlike Ophelia and her mother. I think the biggest theme however is that relationship between mothers a daughters. There is a lot of beautiful things that can happen when those bonds are nurtured and a lot of built up resentment if they are not. You have generations of women here trying to look out for who brought them into this world even if it costs them their sanity or comes with a much darker cost.
An interesting read and a fun debut for an author I hope to see on my shelves again soon!
**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
Having a parent with dementia is hard, this is made even worse for Ophelia who has never had the strongest relationship with her mother to begin with. When attempting to move her into an assisted living aphelia finds herself at a wedding venue that offers a beautiful backdrop for blossoming love and finds herself drawn to the hired help that is until the owner of the venue’s son crosses her path and she finds herself in the middle of a whirlwind romance but is it all as perfect as it seems?
Weddings are hard and like my new friend Ophelia I have never had the opportunity to plan one but I did date someone who was quick to line up the rest of my life with little interest in what I actually wanted. There’s a strong push here between Ophelia’s wants and what she is willing to do to get them and at the risk of flower puns she’s a bit of a wallflower who gets pushed around as she tries to control things that are very chaotic between her job, attempt at writing a novel and her mothers ailing health. It’s easy to be swept away by someone promising to take some of that load but it’s always a question of intent and man did she get screwed.
I’ll be honest I got a little lost at the big reveal but the moments of unreliable narrator were done super well. It’s very disorienting but with purpose as we are also surprised at the losses of time and mix ups in reality not unlike Ophelia and her mother. I think the biggest theme however is that relationship between mothers a daughters. There is a lot of beautiful things that can happen when those bonds are nurtured and a lot of built up resentment if they are not. You have generations of women here trying to look out for who brought them into this world even if it costs them their sanity or comes with a much darker cost.
An interesting read and a fun debut for an author I hope to see on my shelves again soon!
**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
June 4, 2026
Wow, a horror book that wasn’t scary. How shocking.
The pacing on this one was all wrong. The premise is actually terrifying… as someone who recently planned a wedding (and I actually had a great time), I know how scary it can be. The way you get sucked in, becoming an absolute nightmare while trying to please everyone while not spending a million dollars while also trying to make it the BEST DAMN DAY OF YOUR LIFE SO SMILE NOW DAMMIT. It’s a lot. And the horrifying descent into madness is interesting, especially coupled with a tragedy of having a mother with quickly progressing dementia. So the thoughts were all there.
But it just was not working. It took too long to become scary, the decisions made were astonishingly bad, and the MC was not someone I wanted to root for. I think the build up should have been a lot more thrilling and less… well, annoying. Idk how else to describe it.
If someone knows a book with a similar premise but a better execution, please lmk.
The pacing on this one was all wrong. The premise is actually terrifying… as someone who recently planned a wedding (and I actually had a great time), I know how scary it can be. The way you get sucked in, becoming an absolute nightmare while trying to please everyone while not spending a million dollars while also trying to make it the BEST DAMN DAY OF YOUR LIFE SO SMILE NOW DAMMIT. It’s a lot. And the horrifying descent into madness is interesting, especially coupled with a tragedy of having a mother with quickly progressing dementia. So the thoughts were all there.
But it just was not working. It took too long to become scary, the decisions made were astonishingly bad, and the MC was not someone I wanted to root for. I think the build up should have been a lot more thrilling and less… well, annoying. Idk how else to describe it.
If someone knows a book with a similar premise but a better execution, please lmk.
May 24, 2026
Let me warn you away from this so your time and money aren’t wasted as mine was
This was horribly paced, and one could argue that the condensed timeline was a part of the story but I am sorry. I won’t allow for excuses when there’s no actual reason the story needed to start when it did and only take place over three months. It’s a lazy way to make the reader feel pressure And it didn’t work. A lot of debuts make this same mistake so I have to blame the editor
Also the author give me absolutely no reason to give a rip snorting shit about Ophelia. Other than yes it’s sad about her mom and her job sucks but like cmon.
The only horror here is the time And money I unfortunately spent. Truly even the most timid of readers could handle the “horror” presented here. Honestly I was more scared of someone rushing into a marriage than anything else.
This was horribly paced, and one could argue that the condensed timeline was a part of the story but I am sorry. I won’t allow for excuses when there’s no actual reason the story needed to start when it did and only take place over three months. It’s a lazy way to make the reader feel pressure And it didn’t work. A lot of debuts make this same mistake so I have to blame the editor
Also the author give me absolutely no reason to give a rip snorting shit about Ophelia. Other than yes it’s sad about her mom and her job sucks but like cmon.
The only horror here is the time And money I unfortunately spent. Truly even the most timid of readers could handle the “horror” presented here. Honestly I was more scared of someone rushing into a marriage than anything else.
June 24, 2026
Did I only love this as much as I did because I'm planning a wedding? Maybe. But I am obsessed and was sat for this.
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July 6, 2026I won this book for a giveaway. It was not something I’d normally choose to read but it was a good book!
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July 9, 2026One of those where the execution doesn't live up to the premise.
The last 50ish pages were by far the best part, maybe it needed to be a novella that got to those events faster.
The last 50ish pages were by far the best part, maybe it needed to be a novella that got to those events faster.
June 30, 2026
Mary’s debut novel gives us a relatable protagonist with a self-deprecating yet honest sense of humor, facing hurdles that many 30-year-olds are proximate to. Interwoven into central- and southeastern PA settings, am biased to have found a fondness for this familiar-yet-waking nightmare of a summer’s arc of time.
If you enjoyed the films Hokum and Oddity, or the book Mexican Gothic (and likely its predecessors I have yet to read), then you’ll appreciate Until Death.
If you enjoyed the films Hokum and Oddity, or the book Mexican Gothic (and likely its predecessors I have yet to read), then you’ll appreciate Until Death.
June 1, 2026
Ophelia Cohen is not the marrying type. She saw what an unhappy marriage did to her parents, and she wants no part of it. Unfortunately, with her father now passed and her mother's cognition deteriorating at a rapid pace, Ophelia begins to wonder if things would be easier with someone else there to help. Enter Luke, a white knight to sweep Ophelia off her feet. Caught in a whirlwind romance, she just can't say no to. Wedding bells begin to ring, but something isn't right. Luke's family is a bit off and the vineyard they own seems to shift and grow each time she visits, plus his mother insists on using the little chapel on the vineyard's property despite the fact that the local clergy refuse to go near it.
This is being marketed as a dark, comedic, horror. I think that is incredibly misleading and will ultimately draw the wrong audience. It took a lot for me to get through this book due to how upsetting it was at points. I didn't believe that I was one that needed trigger warnings but if you are sensitive to dying parents or the heartbreak that comes with having settle the estate of a dying parent or one with advanced dementia this is a very difficult book to read. None of the characters are very likable, but it doesn't make the trauma they endure any less difficult to read. In all honesty, the supernatural elements of the story were forgettable compared to the real horrors that this book touches on, which might be why it wasn't my favorite. This may just may not have been the right book for me personally, but I do think that the level of bleakness regarding aging parents, loss of parents, and abuse (physical and psychological) are all important things to consider when picking this up.
This is being marketed as a dark, comedic, horror. I think that is incredibly misleading and will ultimately draw the wrong audience. It took a lot for me to get through this book due to how upsetting it was at points. I didn't believe that I was one that needed trigger warnings but if you are sensitive to dying parents or the heartbreak that comes with having settle the estate of a dying parent or one with advanced dementia this is a very difficult book to read. None of the characters are very likable, but it doesn't make the trauma they endure any less difficult to read. In all honesty, the supernatural elements of the story were forgettable compared to the real horrors that this book touches on, which might be why it wasn't my favorite. This may just may not have been the right book for me personally, but I do think that the level of bleakness regarding aging parents, loss of parents, and abuse (physical and psychological) are all important things to consider when picking this up.
May 27, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
What a weird little book this was. I didn't like Ophelia or even her mother really. Somehow, the author managed to make this book drag on and feel rushed at the same time. It also felt very repetitive yet I made myself finish it hoping that the ending would deliver something - but it did not.
Not my type of horror book.
What a weird little book this was. I didn't like Ophelia or even her mother really. Somehow, the author managed to make this book drag on and feel rushed at the same time. It also felt very repetitive yet I made myself finish it hoping that the ending would deliver something - but it did not.
Not my type of horror book.
April 9, 2026
I received an ARC from an event and I loved the cover and the first page, however, everything after that was, sadly, a disappointment. Ophelia, the main character has unexplained anxiety about everything in her life, is obsessed with wedding forums but says she doesn’t want to be married. She’s clueless and rather unlikable and yet somehow, people keep coming through for her. The horror faction of this story was never remotely scary and the “horror” faction only really came at the end and it was just disappointing. I really wish I could have like this or even given it two stars, but it was such slow reading (because it was repetitive and dull) with no payoff.
May 27, 2026
I had such high hopes for Until Death, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. Not that it was a bad book by any stretch of the imagination -- Berman's stream-of-consciousness writing is a delight, and Ophelia beautifully plays into the sad-young-woman archetype that I so love in books -- but it just wasn't giving what I wanted from it. I think part of it is the marketing, which is my usual beef with 99% of the books I 3-star, but another part is in the construction of the book itself. Until Death is described as "darkly funny horror" and I feel like it's not hitting any of those descriptions.
Was it funny? Other than the beginning, not particularly (Having finished the book, I still stand by my belief that Until Death's opening line is one of my favorites ever). Was it horrifying? Not particularly, until the ending (which was great!). Was it dark? Throughout most of it, not really. Mostly, I just felt kinda sad. And the plot summary doesn't really take flight until the halfway mark, and the horrifying mother in law who overthrows the wedding planning is (imo) less of a plot point than the mother-daughter relationship between Ophelia and Imogen.
There are a lot of great ideas here that I wish had been explored more, or perhaps in a better way. Throughout, I kept getting shades of Mexican Gothic (in terms of the familial relationships with Ophelia and her future in-laws) and Ottessa Moshfegh's Death In Her Hands (in terms of the unreliable narrator), and that made me think of everything this book could've been. Imagine if we'd leaned into the horror of the vineyards more, or if we'd leaned into the unreliable narrator more. Imagine if the twist at the end had come sooner, or if we'd gotten more instances of true horror (like when Ophelia stumbles into someone else's wedding at the halfway point) that interrupted the sad, sleepy haze we spent most of the book in. Or imagine if the marketing had leaned more strongly into the weirdness of the relationship between Ophelia and the man of her mother's dreams, fiancé Luke.
I liked the setting. I liked the characters. I liked the thematic overtones of trying to live for someone else, and repeating all their mistakes along the way, and then realizing why they became the way they are. I liked the depiction of a caregiver mother-daughter relationship, which resonated so strongly at times that I had to put the book down and get some sunlight or something. As someone with roots in Philadelphia, I appreciated how accurately the city was depicted. And my god, I loved the writing. Stream-of-consciousness first person is one of my favorite writing styles and Berman absolutely nailed it.
But I didn't love all the parts put together. Much like Ophelia's nightmare-dream wedding, things felt off in a way I couldn't quite pinpoint.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown and Company, and Mary Berman for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! I really do look forward to Berman's next book, even if this one wasn't 100% for me.
Was it funny? Other than the beginning, not particularly (Having finished the book, I still stand by my belief that Until Death's opening line is one of my favorites ever). Was it horrifying? Not particularly, until the ending (which was great!). Was it dark? Throughout most of it, not really. Mostly, I just felt kinda sad. And the plot summary doesn't really take flight until the halfway mark, and the horrifying mother in law who overthrows the wedding planning is (imo) less of a plot point than the mother-daughter relationship between Ophelia and Imogen.
There are a lot of great ideas here that I wish had been explored more, or perhaps in a better way. Throughout, I kept getting shades of Mexican Gothic (in terms of the familial relationships with Ophelia and her future in-laws) and Ottessa Moshfegh's Death In Her Hands (in terms of the unreliable narrator), and that made me think of everything this book could've been. Imagine if we'd leaned into the horror of the vineyards more, or if we'd leaned into the unreliable narrator more. Imagine if the twist at the end had come sooner, or if we'd gotten more instances of true horror (like when Ophelia stumbles into someone else's wedding at the halfway point) that interrupted the sad, sleepy haze we spent most of the book in. Or imagine if the marketing had leaned more strongly into the weirdness of the relationship between Ophelia and the man of her mother's dreams, fiancé Luke.
I liked the setting. I liked the characters. I liked the thematic overtones of trying to live for someone else, and repeating all their mistakes along the way, and then realizing why they became the way they are. I liked the depiction of a caregiver mother-daughter relationship, which resonated so strongly at times that I had to put the book down and get some sunlight or something. As someone with roots in Philadelphia, I appreciated how accurately the city was depicted. And my god, I loved the writing. Stream-of-consciousness first person is one of my favorite writing styles and Berman absolutely nailed it.
But I didn't love all the parts put together. Much like Ophelia's nightmare-dream wedding, things felt off in a way I couldn't quite pinpoint.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown and Company, and Mary Berman for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! I really do look forward to Berman's next book, even if this one wasn't 100% for me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I'm not sure that you can call Until Death fine literature — I highly doubt that the Nobel Prize for Literature is in its future (perhaps a FIFA Prize for Literature can be arranged instead?) — but I found it to be basically unputdownable. I finished it in just over 24 hours, a rarity for me these days, and that's even with a (ridiculously long) kid's swim meet in the mix (oh my gosh I cannot wait until swim season is over, you guys). Almost all of the characters are awful and it's absolutely triggering as far as dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships go, but it just has a certain je ne sais quoi that kept me awake and reading until the wee hours of the morning.
But, seriously, don't expect to like the characters. The main character, Ophelia, is annoyingly neurotic, her mother is a dementia-ridden demon from Hades (figuratively, of course, although I guess this is a horror novel), and her fiancé, Luke, is … well … you'll find out about Luke later. I dunno, though, somehow it just sort of worked for me? This is a book about fractured familial relationships and following your dreams and finding love and self-sacrifice, but all through a horror-tinted lens. If you have an overcritical parent who you'd occasionally like to smother with a pillow, or if you've ever been a caretaker for an unappreciative elderly relative, it's likely that parts of this book will feel extremely relatable.
If you're looking for Stephen King-esque horror here, however, you might come away disappointed. The horror in this one is pretty light, at least until the very end when things do get a little ... bloody. Mostly, though, the horror is more of the “overwhelming sense of dread” variety than outright terror. You know something is wrong and that things are getting uncomfortable, but there are no ghosts or masked serial killers or rabid dogs here, just vines and muddled thoughts.
And the ending? It was decent. I enjoyed all the pages leading up to it more, but overall it ends about the way you'd expect a book like this one to end, no big surprises here. I not-infrequently find myself disappointed by the endings to otherwise enjoyable horror novels, but I really don't have much to complain about with this one. It perhaps requires some suspension of disbelief, but, I mean, it's horror so … yeah.
Anyway, Until Death is a suspenseful, creepy read that'll undoubtedly make anyone with supportive, emotionally healthy parents feel very, very thankful for having won the birth lottery. This is my first Mary Berman novel (I think it might actually be a debut?), but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what she'll write next.
4.2 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is May 19, 2026.
But, seriously, don't expect to like the characters. The main character, Ophelia, is annoyingly neurotic, her mother is a dementia-ridden demon from Hades (figuratively, of course, although I guess this is a horror novel), and her fiancé, Luke, is … well … you'll find out about Luke later. I dunno, though, somehow it just sort of worked for me? This is a book about fractured familial relationships and following your dreams and finding love and self-sacrifice, but all through a horror-tinted lens. If you have an overcritical parent who you'd occasionally like to smother with a pillow, or if you've ever been a caretaker for an unappreciative elderly relative, it's likely that parts of this book will feel extremely relatable.
If you're looking for Stephen King-esque horror here, however, you might come away disappointed. The horror in this one is pretty light, at least until the very end when things do get a little ... bloody. Mostly, though, the horror is more of the “overwhelming sense of dread” variety than outright terror. You know something is wrong and that things are getting uncomfortable, but there are no ghosts or masked serial killers or rabid dogs here, just vines and muddled thoughts.
And the ending? It was decent. I enjoyed all the pages leading up to it more, but overall it ends about the way you'd expect a book like this one to end, no big surprises here. I not-infrequently find myself disappointed by the endings to otherwise enjoyable horror novels, but I really don't have much to complain about with this one. It perhaps requires some suspension of disbelief, but, I mean, it's horror so … yeah.
Anyway, Until Death is a suspenseful, creepy read that'll undoubtedly make anyone with supportive, emotionally healthy parents feel very, very thankful for having won the birth lottery. This is my first Mary Berman novel (I think it might actually be a debut?), but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what she'll write next.
4.2 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is May 19, 2026.
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April 6, 2026Thank you to Little, Brown, and Company for inviting me to review an advanced copy of this book.
The premise delivered in the blurb didn't happen until over halfway through the book. I don't understand why this was the case, since there are ways to weave all the previous 58% of the book into the second half of the book. The plot didn't pick up until she was engaged (which was in the blurb) and was a lot more interesting.
I understand the emotionally abusive relationship between Ophelia and her mother was the emotional heartbeat of the book, but it's hard to keep reading when all you want as the reader is for Ophelia to run back to Philadelphia and save herself. However, reading about their relationship until the 58% mark takes a lot of the horror when it really delivers was disappointing. The resolution of the relationship was disappointing because it felt like nothing was learned.
If this is a book about critiquing the wedding industrial complex, which felt like a nebulous cloud throughout, then starting it with the engagement and even making it more whirlwind would have allowed for it to breathe throughout the wedding planning. It would give a great comparison with Ophelia and her best friend Hildy, as well as another character's marriage (don't want to say because of spoilers).
The book categories listed on Netgalley don't make sense to me. The Horror tag made sense, but I can't remember where there was any humor. I did laugh at the opening line, but I can't recall any dark humor involved. The Romance tag is the most confusing to me. Since there's a romance subplot, is that what they're considering the need for the tag? It can't mean capital R Romance since that would require a Happily Ever After, and I wouldn't want another reader to come in expecting a HEA and there is none. I don't find the fault of these messy categories lies with the author, so it didn't factor into my rating, but I wanted to inform others. (Also, why the Rosemary's Baby comp? That puts the reader in another bucket of expectations.)
A lot is going on in this book with some successes and some not so much. I can see what the author was trying to do with this story, but the execution of it (plus the pre-conceived notion that the engagement would be way earlier in the book) is throwing me off. Some threads aren't tied up which could have been explained (or they were but it was so subtle that it was easily missed).
The premise delivered in the blurb didn't happen until over halfway through the book. I don't understand why this was the case, since there are ways to weave all the previous 58% of the book into the second half of the book. The plot didn't pick up until she was engaged (which was in the blurb) and was a lot more interesting.
I understand the emotionally abusive relationship between Ophelia and her mother was the emotional heartbeat of the book, but it's hard to keep reading when all you want as the reader is for Ophelia to run back to Philadelphia and save herself. However, reading about their relationship until the 58% mark takes a lot of the horror when it really delivers was disappointing. The resolution of the relationship was disappointing because it felt like nothing was learned.
If this is a book about critiquing the wedding industrial complex, which felt like a nebulous cloud throughout, then starting it with the engagement and even making it more whirlwind would have allowed for it to breathe throughout the wedding planning. It would give a great comparison with Ophelia and her best friend Hildy, as well as another character's marriage (don't want to say because of spoilers).
The book categories listed on Netgalley don't make sense to me. The Horror tag made sense, but I can't remember where there was any humor. I did laugh at the opening line, but I can't recall any dark humor involved. The Romance tag is the most confusing to me. Since there's a romance subplot, is that what they're considering the need for the tag? It can't mean capital R Romance since that would require a Happily Ever After, and I wouldn't want another reader to come in expecting a HEA and there is none. I don't find the fault of these messy categories lies with the author, so it didn't factor into my rating, but I wanted to inform others. (Also, why the Rosemary's Baby comp? That puts the reader in another bucket of expectations.)
A lot is going on in this book with some successes and some not so much. I can see what the author was trying to do with this story, but the execution of it (plus the pre-conceived notion that the engagement would be way earlier in the book) is throwing me off. Some threads aren't tied up which could have been explained (or they were but it was so subtle that it was easily missed).
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5⭐️
My mom (the oldest of four) has told me (an only child) for a long time now that when she's old and crazy she won't put me through the exhausting and heartbreaking process of taking care of her. In this novel, I saw what it looks like when a mother makes that promise but doesn't keep it. And it's sad.
Ophelia is in her thirties, works as a professor, and is a die-hard single gal. When her mom's dementia rapidly takes over, Ophelia has to drop her life in Philadelphia to take care of her, and it's depressing as hell. She has to pack up her mother's house, move her mother into assisted living, and try to maintain her own life all at the same time. It really just doesn't go so well.
When Ophelia's mother's condition deteriorates, and the assisted living just can't give her the care she needs, Ophelia has to make other (more expensive) plans. This is when we meet Luke, who works for her mother's financial advisor. And man does Luke come with lots of baggage - including his Italian mother and his family's vineyard that moonlights as a wedding venue. Luke and Ophelia's relationship moves at the speed of light, and when he proposes to her, Ophelia says.....yes?? The rest of the book focuses on the wedding planning phase and how time moves oddly for Ophelia.
For the most part, I really enjoyed the book. The way Berman writes Ophelia's voice is dry and honest and hilarious - I actually laughed out loud. A lot. As sarcastic and flawed as she is, Ophelia is a character I connected with. She really struggled between loving her mother unconditionally and finding ways to be her own person. The closer we get to the wedding, the less I felt engaged to what Ophelia was going through. I think a lot of that had to do with the direction the plot took once Luke and Ophelia became a serious couple. However, the Epilogue drew a satisfying ending for me. It brought back that voice I really liked about the first parts of the novel.
As a debut, this book brought a lot to the table. Berman is a confident writer, and I enjoyed watching the dynamic between Ophelia and her mother. I look forward to what Berman does next.
*Thanks to NetGalley, Mulholland Books, and Mary Berman for this eARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*
My mom (the oldest of four) has told me (an only child) for a long time now that when she's old and crazy she won't put me through the exhausting and heartbreaking process of taking care of her. In this novel, I saw what it looks like when a mother makes that promise but doesn't keep it. And it's sad.
Ophelia is in her thirties, works as a professor, and is a die-hard single gal. When her mom's dementia rapidly takes over, Ophelia has to drop her life in Philadelphia to take care of her, and it's depressing as hell. She has to pack up her mother's house, move her mother into assisted living, and try to maintain her own life all at the same time. It really just doesn't go so well.
When Ophelia's mother's condition deteriorates, and the assisted living just can't give her the care she needs, Ophelia has to make other (more expensive) plans. This is when we meet Luke, who works for her mother's financial advisor. And man does Luke come with lots of baggage - including his Italian mother and his family's vineyard that moonlights as a wedding venue. Luke and Ophelia's relationship moves at the speed of light, and when he proposes to her, Ophelia says.....yes?? The rest of the book focuses on the wedding planning phase and how time moves oddly for Ophelia.
For the most part, I really enjoyed the book. The way Berman writes Ophelia's voice is dry and honest and hilarious - I actually laughed out loud. A lot. As sarcastic and flawed as she is, Ophelia is a character I connected with. She really struggled between loving her mother unconditionally and finding ways to be her own person. The closer we get to the wedding, the less I felt engaged to what Ophelia was going through. I think a lot of that had to do with the direction the plot took once Luke and Ophelia became a serious couple. However, the Epilogue drew a satisfying ending for me. It brought back that voice I really liked about the first parts of the novel.
As a debut, this book brought a lot to the table. Berman is a confident writer, and I enjoyed watching the dynamic between Ophelia and her mother. I look forward to what Berman does next.
*Thanks to NetGalley, Mulholland Books, and Mary Berman for this eARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*
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