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Tillinghast
There's a name for what he is. He prefers not to use it…
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he allows himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and always ends in a shallow grave in his cellar.
You and I would have a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it – he has needs, and when they become unbearable, he fulfils them.
Then the girl arrives – 19 years old, she has travelled from the UK to find him. She seems to have his surname, and her resemblance to him is uncanny. She is sick – very sick – and Tillinghast recognises her symptoms all too well. Which means he also knows what she needs…
Darkly compelling and irresistibly readable, TILLINGHAST marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he allows himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and always ends in a shallow grave in his cellar.
You and I would have a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it – he has needs, and when they become unbearable, he fulfils them.
Then the girl arrives – 19 years old, she has travelled from the UK to find him. She seems to have his surname, and her resemblance to him is uncanny. She is sick – very sick – and Tillinghast recognises her symptoms all too well. Which means he also knows what she needs…
Darkly compelling and irresistibly readable, TILLINGHAST marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2026
About the author
Clare Cavenagh
1 book55 followersClare Cavenagh spent her childhood in Erica, Australia, and her adolescence in Fribourg, Switzerland. She read English and then renaissance literature at the University of Cambridge, and now lives in London where she works as a copywriter. Her short fiction and criticism have been published in Editions L'Hèbe, Cambridge Quarterly and Eucalyptus Lit. Her first novel, TILLINGHAST, will be published in June 2026. She is currently working on her second novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
June 27, 2026
A Man Called Ove if he was a vampire lolol
May 17, 2026
If you do not like character-driven plots, this book is not for you. Now that I have that out of the way, this book is a great work of literary horror. It has some gore, but it is not excessive. There is a little bit of medical horror and a moderate amount of body horror. There is a whole lot of personal existential horror, and loads of character growth. The titular character is very contemplative and complex.
Tillinghast is a 150 year-old vampire and a Christian minister with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience. He is not of the Dracula/Nosferatu variety. He is almost indistinguishable from everyone else - except for the powerful thirst for blood and a few other things. He is contemplating ending his life when a sick young woman comes into his care.
The book explores loneliness, morality, altruism, and underlying motivators. It delves into Tillinghast’s inner world as he interacts with others around him.
Highly recommended for those who like deep literary psychology.
Side note: I love Tillinghast the character’s writing voice. It is reminiscent of Mary Shelley or Emily Brontë - perfect for a vampire from the 19th century.
This is my honest opinion regarding this title, received as an ARC. My thanks to Clare Cavanagh, Viking Press, and NetGalley for this opportunity.
Tillinghast is a 150 year-old vampire and a Christian minister with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience. He is not of the Dracula/Nosferatu variety. He is almost indistinguishable from everyone else - except for the powerful thirst for blood and a few other things. He is contemplating ending his life when a sick young woman comes into his care.
The book explores loneliness, morality, altruism, and underlying motivators. It delves into Tillinghast’s inner world as he interacts with others around him.
Highly recommended for those who like deep literary psychology.
Side note: I love Tillinghast the character’s writing voice. It is reminiscent of Mary Shelley or Emily Brontë - perfect for a vampire from the 19th century.
This is my honest opinion regarding this title, received as an ARC. My thanks to Clare Cavanagh, Viking Press, and NetGalley for this opportunity.
March 15, 2026
"Tillinghast inhaled through his nose, mostly fuel, but a little bit of soft, vegetal dampness. He could feel the potential of the movement in his hand. The band was wound, the energy was stored up, energy in his hand, in the match head, in the gasoline puddles on the floor and the volatile fumes in the air. No more actions were needed. He just had to let go. It was as easy as anything."
2.5.
I wanted to like this book soooo freaking bad. There's a review about Pride and Prejudice that says it's just about people going to each other's houses, and that's kind of how this novel felt to me. Nothing really happens. It's just the protagonist going from place to place.
Tillinghast kills a man within the first couple of pages, and through his letters his vampirism is explored, but not in the moment. So much more could've been expanded on, though it simply wasn't. I wish Tillinghast's relationship with Sarah would've been explored more.
The prose was easy to read, though a bit bland. Everything flowed smoothly, and I had a nice experience reading it—I just wish quite literally anything interesting would've happened. My expectations were a bit high, and unfortunately they weren't met.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
2.5.
I wanted to like this book soooo freaking bad. There's a review about Pride and Prejudice that says it's just about people going to each other's houses, and that's kind of how this novel felt to me. Nothing really happens. It's just the protagonist going from place to place.
Tillinghast kills a man within the first couple of pages, and through his letters his vampirism is explored, but not in the moment. So much more could've been expanded on, though it simply wasn't. I wish Tillinghast's relationship with Sarah would've been explored more.
The prose was easy to read, though a bit bland. Everything flowed smoothly, and I had a nice experience reading it—I just wish quite literally anything interesting would've happened. My expectations were a bit high, and unfortunately they weren't met.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
March 3, 2026
I assumed the stilted writing was due to translation issues, but nope, apparently it was an intentional choice. Huh.
DNF
ARC from netgalley
DNF
ARC from netgalley
July 11, 2026
“All things pass away, even as we watch.”
I enjoyed the real life historical information that was provided at the end of the book to explain the inspiration of this story.
Although this wasn’t my usual gory, or smut driven vampire novel, I enjoyed the overall journey of Tillinghast’s life and how he came to be. 🧛🏽♀️
There are parts of the story that have a gothic feel which I truly enjoyed. I loved the seance scenes and the opening of the casket descriptions⚰️.
I found Tillinghast to be a likable idiosyncratic character. There was still compassion in his heart and that made me feel sorry for him in a way. He didn’t choose what happened to him.
Readers who can appreciate a slow burn and character development stories will enjoy this one like me.
**Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. **
I enjoyed the real life historical information that was provided at the end of the book to explain the inspiration of this story.
Although this wasn’t my usual gory, or smut driven vampire novel, I enjoyed the overall journey of Tillinghast’s life and how he came to be. 🧛🏽♀️
There are parts of the story that have a gothic feel which I truly enjoyed. I loved the seance scenes and the opening of the casket descriptions⚰️.
I found Tillinghast to be a likable idiosyncratic character. There was still compassion in his heart and that made me feel sorry for him in a way. He didn’t choose what happened to him.
Readers who can appreciate a slow burn and character development stories will enjoy this one like me.
**Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. **
May 12, 2026
I'm not someone who needs a lot of plot in my reading; I love a plotless character study way more than the next guy. But Tillinghast really put my patience to the test, unfortunately for no payoff. Stutley Tillinghast has been a vampire (though the novel refuses to use the word) for a long, long time, living by himself in his family home in New England and killing someone every 70 days or so to survive. Sarah, a young stranger, arrives in town with a note with Tillinghast's name on it, leaving both to put together the pieces of their connection and their affliction.
And... that's about it. There are countless pages of Tillinghast wondering around his house, sort of musing on things. At one point, Sarah goes missing, and there must be 20 pages of uneventful, pointless looking for her. There's no real life (pun intended) in any of these characters; I could frankly not have cared less about Tillinghast himself, making his book-long decision on whether or not to self-immolate simply boring, frankly. There are really no other characters than Tillinghast or Sarah, just a few townspeople and the characters in Tillinghast's origin story.
I don't think this book is doing anything new or different enough with the vampire story to recommend, unfortunately. Thanks to Viking and NetGalley for the advance ARC in exchange for my thoughts.
And... that's about it. There are countless pages of Tillinghast wondering around his house, sort of musing on things. At one point, Sarah goes missing, and there must be 20 pages of uneventful, pointless looking for her. There's no real life (pun intended) in any of these characters; I could frankly not have cared less about Tillinghast himself, making his book-long decision on whether or not to self-immolate simply boring, frankly. There are really no other characters than Tillinghast or Sarah, just a few townspeople and the characters in Tillinghast's origin story.
I don't think this book is doing anything new or different enough with the vampire story to recommend, unfortunately. Thanks to Viking and NetGalley for the advance ARC in exchange for my thoughts.
May 15, 2026
A refreshing take on the vampire genre, this was lovely to read. While this wasn’t full of blood and guts like certain novels, it was full of character. It was slow moving, with a lot of time spent exploring the past, but I really enjoyed that. The writing was all consuming, making it easy to fall into this story. A really great example of a character led story, with interesting elements of horror and real history blended throughout.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Tillinghast #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Tillinghast #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
March 23, 2026
3.5* really. An interesting take on a familiar theme just thought it took a long time to get where it was going.
July 4, 2026
Not at all what I expected from the blurb. I heard vampire and vicar and was ready to be ride or die. Unfortunately, we were not meant to be.
I found it to be very dry and rather clinical, I never felt particularly drawn into the story or what was happening. I felt like someone just looking in on something happening far away and never feeling engaged.
There's an awful lot of ambiguity about vampirism as a whole, if the word vampire wasn't right there in the summary on the GR page you'd be doing a lot of guessing as to what exactly Tillinghast happens to be most of the time. He has the immortality down but that's the end of the list for clean cut similarities.
He is fine in sunlight, doesn't have fangs to bite people to drink their blood, seems to have no issue with silver or consecrated ground and doesn't sleep during the day (or in a coffin if we're going very old school). There is a weird thing about having a fierce pain in the spine and symptoms of an illness of both him and Sarah almost as if it's something they were born with(?) and then ambiguity upon ambiguity when it comes to a possible interaction with a vampire that 'turns' him as close to as the typical way we understand it in vampire mythology.
I'm a bit baffled by the book overall but I'm sure it'll really appeal to other people, it just wasn't for me!
I found it to be very dry and rather clinical, I never felt particularly drawn into the story or what was happening. I felt like someone just looking in on something happening far away and never feeling engaged.
There's an awful lot of ambiguity about vampirism as a whole, if the word vampire wasn't right there in the summary on the GR page you'd be doing a lot of guessing as to what exactly Tillinghast happens to be most of the time. He has the immortality down but that's the end of the list for clean cut similarities.
He is fine in sunlight, doesn't have fangs to bite people to drink their blood, seems to have no issue with silver or consecrated ground and doesn't sleep during the day (or in a coffin if we're going very old school). There is a weird thing about having a fierce pain in the spine and symptoms of an illness of both him and Sarah almost as if it's something they were born with(?) and then ambiguity upon ambiguity when it comes to a possible interaction with a vampire that 'turns' him as close to as the typical way we understand it in vampire mythology.
I'm a bit baffled by the book overall but I'm sure it'll really appeal to other people, it just wasn't for me!
Currently Reading
March 23, 2026lol got an ARC of this but now i'm scared
Read
July 15, 2026I decided to DNF this book at 81% in. I want to say that I don’t think this is a bad book by any means, but definitely not the one for me.
This is a work of literary fiction that is extremely character driven, focusing on one man, Tillinghast. Tillinghast is a vampire who has lived a very secluded lifestyle, with the exception of his necessary outings, for well over a century.
There is an underlying plot of a sick woman showing up who turns out to be his daughter (this isn’t a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis) but that’s really as far as that branch extends. The majority of the book is Tillinghasts inner monologue as he recounts his previous kills.
If you want to read a lyrical character study with a gothic atmosphere, you may very well enjoy this book. If you like a clear defined plot, action, twists, or thrills, this probably isn’t the one for you.
This is a work of literary fiction that is extremely character driven, focusing on one man, Tillinghast. Tillinghast is a vampire who has lived a very secluded lifestyle, with the exception of his necessary outings, for well over a century.
There is an underlying plot of a sick woman showing up who turns out to be his daughter (this isn’t a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis) but that’s really as far as that branch extends. The majority of the book is Tillinghasts inner monologue as he recounts his previous kills.
If you want to read a lyrical character study with a gothic atmosphere, you may very well enjoy this book. If you like a clear defined plot, action, twists, or thrills, this probably isn’t the one for you.
May 26, 2026
3.25 Stars Overall
A slow burn literary horror that focuses on the end of Tillinghast's extra long life that he has now decided has been long enough. Just as he's putting his affairs together, the result of another shows up in his small town and upends everything he thought he knew and must now look toward an unknown future.
This was an interesting character study and take on vampire lore, having been loosely based on the vampire panic of New England. It was a quick enough read yo capture my attention, but the ending ultimately fell flat for me. Recommended for vampire fans who lean more towards the literary aspect of Dracula rather than fans of the Sookie Stackhouse novels.
Thank you to NetGalley, Clare Cavenagh, and Penguin Viking for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
A slow burn literary horror that focuses on the end of Tillinghast's extra long life that he has now decided has been long enough. Just as he's putting his affairs together, the result of another shows up in his small town and upends everything he thought he knew and must now look toward an unknown future.
This was an interesting character study and take on vampire lore, having been loosely based on the vampire panic of New England. It was a quick enough read yo capture my attention, but the ending ultimately fell flat for me. Recommended for vampire fans who lean more towards the literary aspect of Dracula rather than fans of the Sookie Stackhouse novels.
Thank you to NetGalley, Clare Cavenagh, and Penguin Viking for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
Did Not Finish
July 9, 2026DNF 20%
I liked the opening couple of chapters, but I can tell this is going to be a "nothing really happens" type of book and I'm not interested in reading that. You really have to enjoy character-focused, literary fiction with a literal whisper of a speculative element to get along with this; and I think marketing it as horror is doing it a disservice.
Readers who enjoyed The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister may find more to appreciate about Tillinghast.
I liked the opening couple of chapters, but I can tell this is going to be a "nothing really happens" type of book and I'm not interested in reading that. You really have to enjoy character-focused, literary fiction with a literal whisper of a speculative element to get along with this; and I think marketing it as horror is doing it a disservice.
Readers who enjoyed The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister may find more to appreciate about Tillinghast.
June 30, 2026
Sometimes I wonder if, when reading other people’s bad reviews of a book I loved, I am in the wrong. This time, I am standing my ground. This was EXCEPTIONAL. Literary horror at its finest. Not overly gory or confronting, but just enough of each to make the character study of tillinghast much more interesting. I loved the way he was written, and how he wrote his confession throughout the book, so I was able to figure out what was happening as he told it. Honestly incredible
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Extremely well written, just a little boring for me
Did Not Finish
April 14, 2026read about 50% of this - and i still couldn’t really tell you what the plot was
June 25, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Apologies for being a little late but god damn this was fun. I love vampire novels that get a little weird with vampirism but are still 1000% vampires.
The pros: Fantastic vampire book without saying the word vampire, lmao. I love that this was inspired by a real-life phenomenon, and I hope to read more about it! As for the book itself, I do love Tillinghast, and I love the way we slowly learn about him as he writes his confession. I love Sarah and how much mystery surrounds her. I love the way vampirism works in this book, and while I am a lover of blood and gore and that is normally a staple in vampire media, it's very understated here in a very fun way. It's in 3rd person, but we're very much in Tillinghast's head with his views on how this all works. Relatedly, I love the religious guilt that blows so many normal things out of proportion for him, it's realistic and very fun to read. This novel is SLOWWWW but I never found myself uninterested. There is a lot of repetition of events because there are very few Large Scale Events happening, but it never got boring. The story of their lives and of their vampirism is a mystery for the readers, but not the characters, and I think the unveiling worked well.
The cons: While I didn't mind the overall tone/voice of the novel, I did find the dialogue to be pretty flat. It's not the end of the world, especially since there is so little dialogue, but there's more at the very end and it was definitely a little irritating, lol. Also, while I do stand by that I overall like it, there are a few times where some of the bits of repetition got on my nerves a little - specifically when Tillinghast decides to end a writing segment right on a cliffhanger. It just because pretty obvious what the author was doing there and I wasn't a huge fan, but I got over it. I was also confused about why some characters were in the story - namely the mother and her baby, and Sebastian. I just couldn't really see how they impacted the story or what purpose they were meant to serve.
Overall, fantastic. Finally, some good vampire media.
Apologies for being a little late but god damn this was fun. I love vampire novels that get a little weird with vampirism but are still 1000% vampires.
The pros: Fantastic vampire book without saying the word vampire, lmao. I love that this was inspired by a real-life phenomenon, and I hope to read more about it! As for the book itself, I do love Tillinghast, and I love the way we slowly learn about him as he writes his confession. I love Sarah and how much mystery surrounds her. I love the way vampirism works in this book, and while I am a lover of blood and gore and that is normally a staple in vampire media, it's very understated here in a very fun way. It's in 3rd person, but we're very much in Tillinghast's head with his views on how this all works. Relatedly, I love the religious guilt that blows so many normal things out of proportion for him, it's realistic and very fun to read. This novel is SLOWWWW but I never found myself uninterested. There is a lot of repetition of events because there are very few Large Scale Events happening, but it never got boring. The story of their lives and of their vampirism is a mystery for the readers, but not the characters, and I think the unveiling worked well.
The cons: While I didn't mind the overall tone/voice of the novel, I did find the dialogue to be pretty flat. It's not the end of the world, especially since there is so little dialogue, but there's more at the very end and it was definitely a little irritating, lol. Also, while I do stand by that I overall like it, there are a few times where some of the bits of repetition got on my nerves a little - specifically when Tillinghast decides to end a writing segment right on a cliffhanger. It just because pretty obvious what the author was doing there and I wasn't a huge fan, but I got over it. I was also confused about why some characters were in the story - namely the mother and her baby, and Sebastian. I just couldn't really see how they impacted the story or what purpose they were meant to serve.
Overall, fantastic. Finally, some good vampire media.
July 2, 2026
In Tillinghast we follow Reverend Stutley Tillinghast as he navigates his life’s ethics and morals as a killer. Yet he isn’t your typical serial killer. His life sustenance demands blood otherwise death will soon follow. He despises what he is and wishes his life were different.
Then a young woman emerges destabilizing the solitude Tillinghast has come to know well. Her name is Sarah Tillinghast. He is befuddled that she shares his last name and soon the journey to figuring out who she is to him unfolds.
While this book is unique in the sense that it takes the usual fantastical vampire narrative and makes it a more realistic tale. Consumption and vampirism went hand in hand during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The author utilized this phenomenon to build an emotional story.
While I enjoyed this book, I wanted there to be more action or plot to follow. I think the premise is a great concept yet I wanted more details and a more comprehensive conclusion. This book is ambiguous and leaves much uncovered and up to the reader’s interpretation.
I love a vampire tale yet this one was a bit different than I’m used to. I would recommend this for anyone looking for an emotional gothic horror story.
Thank you to @netgalley and @vikingbooks for the arc!
Then a young woman emerges destabilizing the solitude Tillinghast has come to know well. Her name is Sarah Tillinghast. He is befuddled that she shares his last name and soon the journey to figuring out who she is to him unfolds.
While this book is unique in the sense that it takes the usual fantastical vampire narrative and makes it a more realistic tale. Consumption and vampirism went hand in hand during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The author utilized this phenomenon to build an emotional story.
While I enjoyed this book, I wanted there to be more action or plot to follow. I think the premise is a great concept yet I wanted more details and a more comprehensive conclusion. This book is ambiguous and leaves much uncovered and up to the reader’s interpretation.
I love a vampire tale yet this one was a bit different than I’m used to. I would recommend this for anyone looking for an emotional gothic horror story.
Thank you to @netgalley and @vikingbooks for the arc!
July 5, 2026
Tillinghast is an explorative and instropextive look into the vampiric experience that not many books offer up right away. While it’s reminiscent in the realms of Thirst by Maria Y and Anne Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire,” based on pacing, it still delivers in shocking depth about the human experience and our desire to not be alone.
Stutley Tillinghast is a priest who’d return after some time to his family home and church. None of it is open. It’s all just a rouse to make himself appear human; secluded, but just enough interaction to never raise suspicion.
He’s starting to come to this realization that he no longer wants to live. What he’s been carrying with him since his rebirth; the feedings, the unaliving individuals and pretending to be something other than what he is a crushing weight of solitude Tillinghast can’t remove. He’s set on doing it until a young woman arrives at his door who knows of him and may just share the same affliction as him.
Tillinghast is deeply introspective in the sense that loneliness, in any fashion, can be an all consuming ache that can lead anyone to make unimaginable, life-changing choices but how one spark of hope - of someone acknowledging our existence - can save a life. Even an undead one.
Claire weaves a story of remembrance, longing, and new found hope into a genre that is drenched in thousands of renderings and stands originally on its own.
Stutley Tillinghast is a priest who’d return after some time to his family home and church. None of it is open. It’s all just a rouse to make himself appear human; secluded, but just enough interaction to never raise suspicion.
He’s starting to come to this realization that he no longer wants to live. What he’s been carrying with him since his rebirth; the feedings, the unaliving individuals and pretending to be something other than what he is a crushing weight of solitude Tillinghast can’t remove. He’s set on doing it until a young woman arrives at his door who knows of him and may just share the same affliction as him.
Tillinghast is deeply introspective in the sense that loneliness, in any fashion, can be an all consuming ache that can lead anyone to make unimaginable, life-changing choices but how one spark of hope - of someone acknowledging our existence - can save a life. Even an undead one.
Claire weaves a story of remembrance, longing, and new found hope into a genre that is drenched in thousands of renderings and stands originally on its own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
June 20, 2026Dnfing at 65 percent. I am very sad as the premise sounded up my ally. It had a strong beginning for me but I found the pacing and character development to be pretty tough. I wanted to learn more about them both but what we were getting just didn’t lead me to get to know them better or get more invested. I feel like the “confession” sections weren’t all that interesting to me either. Since I didn’t care about the character and this is a low plot book (which I can absolutely enjoy) I decided not to finish so no rating on good reads.
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. And am writing this review honestly and voluntarily
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. And am writing this review honestly and voluntarily
June 25, 2026
This was a book I picked mainly because of the stunning cover, to be honest. And for once, the cover actually lives up to the content - it is an amazingly written, tightly woven and compact story about characters both incredibly humane in their suffering and despicable in the harm they cause to others. I love how the reluctance and repression, maybe even resignation to such existance as is theirs, is felt in the writing style and word choices. Both Tillinghast and Sarah are characters that leave a lot to be thought about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2026
3.5 ⭐️
July 4, 2026
This was tame as far as vampire stories go, and for the best. I found its perspective refreshingly quotidian, well-grounded in one of the eeriest historical phenomena to ever overtake New England.
July 11, 2026
karakterdrevet og godt skrevet:)) en ny type vampyrfortelling
June 15, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and VikingPenguin for the arc!
I'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews pop up for this book and maybe they just aren't thinking in the mindset of a 150+ year old vampire who can't stop questioning his existence (*cough cough Edward Cullen cough cough*).
Now don't get me wrong, this is a slow burn. It feels bleak, long, atmospheric and certainly gothic. Honestly he is kind of a boring vampire LOL but I also really like him. Sarah comes crashing into his life and his newfound appreciation for existence is rekindled by taking care of her and her 'illness'. This take on vampirism and its origins felt very unique.
I also really enjoyed the confession letter he writes throughout the book as he contemplates ending his life and the look into the past we receive.
I wish the ending wasn't so abrupt, but overall I give this 4/5 stars.
I'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews pop up for this book and maybe they just aren't thinking in the mindset of a 150+ year old vampire who can't stop questioning his existence (*cough cough Edward Cullen cough cough*).
Now don't get me wrong, this is a slow burn. It feels bleak, long, atmospheric and certainly gothic. Honestly he is kind of a boring vampire LOL but I also really like him. Sarah comes crashing into his life and his newfound appreciation for existence is rekindled by taking care of her and her 'illness'. This take on vampirism and its origins felt very unique.
I also really enjoyed the confession letter he writes throughout the book as he contemplates ending his life and the look into the past we receive.
I wish the ending wasn't so abrupt, but overall I give this 4/5 stars.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Per the publishers’ synopsis, “TILLINGHAST is a dark, atmospheric literary horror novel inspired by the real events of the 19th century New England vampire panic. It follows a solitary, ancient protagonist living as a minister in a remote Rhode Island parish, whose violent, hidden life is upended by the arrival of a young woman.”
Vampires have always been my favorite monster, so I was excited to read TILLINGHAST, my sixth vampire novel in four months. I liked the unique concept and looked forward to learning about the New England vampire panic, as well as Rhode Island. I loved the book cover design. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the novel.
The characters did not seem like fully realized individuals. There were notable inconsistencies, such as Tillinghast switching from a formal voice to “popping open” a car trunk. He wishes to go unnoticed and states he “hides by habit”, yet wears a priest’s collar, which would only draw attention to him. These are just a couple of examples.
There are numerous plot holes. It doesn’t make sense that Tillinghast lives in a house that is not wired for electricity, yet he drives a car. There is a scene that takes place in an ER waiting room that is implausible. The individual sitting behind the plexiglass who is an ER Register Clerk/Admitting Representative, not a nurse. They don’t have access to medical equipment, and they would certainly never give you a sample “because it’s disposable.”
I understand that this book is being published simultaneously in the UK and the US, but given that it is set in Rhode Island, it’s important that the vernacular reflect that. As an American reader, there were numerous times that I had to look up terminology that we don’t use in the US, such as “bitumen” (asphalt), “Perspex” (plexiglass), “pinboard” (bulletin board), and “singlet” (tank top).
The pace was too slow. There isn’t a strong sense of place. The storyline is fairly uneventful. The vampire mythos was confusing. These vampires are free to move about day and night, yet they spend a lot of time being sickly. It’s also unclear if Tillinghast was born a vampire or made a vampire.
Pub Date: June 23, 2026
Thank you, Viking Penguin and NetGalley for providing me with a complementary DRC of TILLINGHAST. All opinions are my own.
Vampires have always been my favorite monster, so I was excited to read TILLINGHAST, my sixth vampire novel in four months. I liked the unique concept and looked forward to learning about the New England vampire panic, as well as Rhode Island. I loved the book cover design. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the novel.
The characters did not seem like fully realized individuals. There were notable inconsistencies, such as Tillinghast switching from a formal voice to “popping open” a car trunk. He wishes to go unnoticed and states he “hides by habit”, yet wears a priest’s collar, which would only draw attention to him. These are just a couple of examples.
There are numerous plot holes. It doesn’t make sense that Tillinghast lives in a house that is not wired for electricity, yet he drives a car. There is a scene that takes place in an ER waiting room that is implausible. The individual sitting behind the plexiglass who is an ER Register Clerk/Admitting Representative, not a nurse. They don’t have access to medical equipment, and they would certainly never give you a sample “because it’s disposable.”
I understand that this book is being published simultaneously in the UK and the US, but given that it is set in Rhode Island, it’s important that the vernacular reflect that. As an American reader, there were numerous times that I had to look up terminology that we don’t use in the US, such as “bitumen” (asphalt), “Perspex” (plexiglass), “pinboard” (bulletin board), and “singlet” (tank top).
The pace was too slow. There isn’t a strong sense of place. The storyline is fairly uneventful. The vampire mythos was confusing. These vampires are free to move about day and night, yet they spend a lot of time being sickly. It’s also unclear if Tillinghast was born a vampire or made a vampire.
Pub Date: June 23, 2026
Thank you, Viking Penguin and NetGalley for providing me with a complementary DRC of TILLINGHAST. All opinions are my own.
July 12, 2026
Thank you to Viking Penguin, Clare Cavenagh, and NetGalley for an eARC copy of Tillinghast in exchange for my honest feedback!
I requested Tillinghast because I love a vampire novel and the blurbs from Paul Tremblay and Monika Kim seem incredibly promising. Tremblay and Kim especially are two authors I really respect and enjoy their work.
Based on the description, author blurbs, and the cover I expect that Tillinghast will be an emotional vampire novel with a tortured character who cannot come to terms with his vampirism due to his religious convictions (man vs self.) Tillinghast being named after the main character leads me to believe this will be a more character driven novel.
Unserious answer: vampire preacher, hell yeah!
THE REALITY:
Yes, for the most part.
Tillinghast is an incredibly character focused novel. With that being said, it is incredibly slow paced. It took me about a week to read this book and it was less than 300 pages.
The novel opens up in an exciting way, and like many vampire novels do: our vampire seeking out their next meal.
After this, though, we get really bogged down by Tillinghast's desire to write his "confession" before he ends his existence. From about the 20% mark until about 70%, I found this to be painstaking to get through. It feels very repetitive.
We get insight to Tillinghast's routine and habits, including his caretaking of his family's now dilapidated church. Tillinghast does not have a congregation: I struggle with this because he is still called Reverend. With no congregation, it feels strange that locals call him Reverend and not just the caretaker of the old Tillinghast church.
I also find that Tillinghast does not seem to retain a lot of his Godly convictions that he may have once had. I feel like this topic wasn't explored deeply. I feel like the Man vs God conflict could have been more fruitful than another storyline with a character named Sebastian who, in my opinion, doesn't serve a meaningful purpose to the overarching story.
Tillinghast's confession is interspersed throughout the novel. The format itself isn't my favorite. I wish that the confession would be its own chapters like a found journal sort of thing. This would have broken the novel up in a more digestible way, in my opinion.
I greatly enjoyed the bits where Tillinghast discusses his friend and him attending the exhuming of the graves of the Browne family. This is something that really happened - tuberculosis was historically called "consumption." It's believed that people accused of being vampires were actually suffering from consumption./ tuberculosis.
The Browne family in Tillinghast is inspired by the Mercy Brown case that took place in Rhode Island in 18g2. Tillinghast is also set in Rhode Island. Mercy Brown's body was exhumed and did not appear as deteriorated as witnesses believed she should have been. Her heart was cut out and burned, the ashes fed to her brother to keep her vampire from killing him.
I think the author put a lot of care and attention to historic detail into this story and that is greatly appreciated! It's obvious that Cavenagh did her research - she mentions Dr. Michael E. Bell's books Food For The Dead and Vampire's Grasp in her author's note.
Tillinghast is described as a "literary horror" and I would say this is very accurate.
It is a slow burn character novel that ultimately leaves the reader feeling hopeful: the ending left me feeling satisfied with the journey. A lot of horror novels end tragically, but Tillinghast is better off in the end. His character are is clear and ultimately, Tillinghast is an antihero worth rooting for.
I do wonder if there might have been better authors to use for the blurbs, though. I've read both of Kim's novels and find them visceral and fast paced with an overarching social commentary. Of Tremblay's work I've read, it has also been more punchy and topical. Based on the pacing and strong character journey, I think Stephen Graham Jones or Agustina Bazterrica could have been compelling options.
I am giving Tillinghast 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for GoodReads). Overall, this is a unique entry into the vampire novel genre and the concept is communicated well to the reader via the description, author blurbs, and cover.
I can appreciate a slow pace, but wish this one was organized a little differently. I think changing the way Tillinghast's confession is presented to the reader could help break up the tedium in the middle.
Tillinghast starts strong and sticks the landing, the middle just lulls a bit.
i find it really powerful, too, that the word "vampire" is not used at all in this novel.
If you're looking for your next antihero, I definitely recommend picking up Tillinghast.
I requested Tillinghast because I love a vampire novel and the blurbs from Paul Tremblay and Monika Kim seem incredibly promising. Tremblay and Kim especially are two authors I really respect and enjoy their work.
Based on the description, author blurbs, and the cover I expect that Tillinghast will be an emotional vampire novel with a tortured character who cannot come to terms with his vampirism due to his religious convictions (man vs self.) Tillinghast being named after the main character leads me to believe this will be a more character driven novel.
Unserious answer: vampire preacher, hell yeah!
THE REALITY:
Yes, for the most part.
Tillinghast is an incredibly character focused novel. With that being said, it is incredibly slow paced. It took me about a week to read this book and it was less than 300 pages.
The novel opens up in an exciting way, and like many vampire novels do: our vampire seeking out their next meal.
After this, though, we get really bogged down by Tillinghast's desire to write his "confession" before he ends his existence. From about the 20% mark until about 70%, I found this to be painstaking to get through. It feels very repetitive.
We get insight to Tillinghast's routine and habits, including his caretaking of his family's now dilapidated church. Tillinghast does not have a congregation: I struggle with this because he is still called Reverend. With no congregation, it feels strange that locals call him Reverend and not just the caretaker of the old Tillinghast church.
I also find that Tillinghast does not seem to retain a lot of his Godly convictions that he may have once had. I feel like this topic wasn't explored deeply. I feel like the Man vs God conflict could have been more fruitful than another storyline with a character named Sebastian who, in my opinion, doesn't serve a meaningful purpose to the overarching story.
Tillinghast's confession is interspersed throughout the novel. The format itself isn't my favorite. I wish that the confession would be its own chapters like a found journal sort of thing. This would have broken the novel up in a more digestible way, in my opinion.
I greatly enjoyed the bits where Tillinghast discusses his friend and him attending the exhuming of the graves of the Browne family. This is something that really happened - tuberculosis was historically called "consumption." It's believed that people accused of being vampires were actually suffering from consumption./ tuberculosis.
The Browne family in Tillinghast is inspired by the Mercy Brown case that took place in Rhode Island in 18g2. Tillinghast is also set in Rhode Island. Mercy Brown's body was exhumed and did not appear as deteriorated as witnesses believed she should have been. Her heart was cut out and burned, the ashes fed to her brother to keep her vampire from killing him.
I think the author put a lot of care and attention to historic detail into this story and that is greatly appreciated! It's obvious that Cavenagh did her research - she mentions Dr. Michael E. Bell's books Food For The Dead and Vampire's Grasp in her author's note.
Tillinghast is described as a "literary horror" and I would say this is very accurate.
It is a slow burn character novel that ultimately leaves the reader feeling hopeful: the ending left me feeling satisfied with the journey. A lot of horror novels end tragically, but Tillinghast is better off in the end. His character are is clear and ultimately, Tillinghast is an antihero worth rooting for.
I do wonder if there might have been better authors to use for the blurbs, though. I've read both of Kim's novels and find them visceral and fast paced with an overarching social commentary. Of Tremblay's work I've read, it has also been more punchy and topical. Based on the pacing and strong character journey, I think Stephen Graham Jones or Agustina Bazterrica could have been compelling options.
I am giving Tillinghast 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for GoodReads). Overall, this is a unique entry into the vampire novel genre and the concept is communicated well to the reader via the description, author blurbs, and cover.
I can appreciate a slow pace, but wish this one was organized a little differently. I think changing the way Tillinghast's confession is presented to the reader could help break up the tedium in the middle.
Tillinghast starts strong and sticks the landing, the middle just lulls a bit.
i find it really powerful, too, that the word "vampire" is not used at all in this novel.
If you're looking for your next antihero, I definitely recommend picking up Tillinghast.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Clare Cavenagh’s debut novel is a tantalising mix of macabre and austere, grounded in the New England gothic of Hawthorne and Poe. It’s a claustrophobic story featuring a highly unusual antihero, Stutley Tillinghast a clergyman who’s survived for more than a century feeding solely on human blood. Like a classic serial killer, he’s honed his hunting skills – which resemble Ted Bundy’s – aided by sporting a trust-inspiring, clerical collar. Although Tillinghast’s deliberately named after real-life people caught up in the notorious, nineteenth-century, New England vampire panic, the name crops up in Lovecraft too. And there are definite Lovecraftian echoes here. Not in the cosmic horror sense – or the disturbing views – but in Tillinghast’s situation. He’s overwhelmed by existential angst, profoundly isolated.
Tillinghast’s traversed America but for the last fifteen years he’s inhabited the dilapidated house where he grew up, nearby is the distinctly unorthodox church founded by his father. The church is empty but the house is rapidly filling up, bodies crowding its dank cellar. In the chill of winter, Tillinghast is trying to find a means to end his torment which seems more about loneliness and ennui than guilt. But it’s hard to die, he’s tried several times but always springs back to life. Then he’s contacted by Sarah a young English woman with his surname, she’s in town looking for her missing mother Lena. But, so far, all she’s found is a gravestone with Lena’s name. But this Lena died a long time ago – cue flashbacks to Sarah’s Lena and their troubled relationship. Sarah’s showing signs of an illness Tillinghast recognises, symptoms that suggest she’s like him. So, he begins an account of his life for her to find. As a plot device it’s slightly clumsy but it allows Cavenagh to branch out into a dual timeline, part present day, part Tillinghast’s and New England’s past.
Tillinghast’s confessional letter reads like a version of John Ames’s in Gilead – if Ames was a creature bordering on vampiric. It’s similarly quiet and measured, doubling as an indictment of a New England steeped in Puritanism and an obsession with rooting out sin. A place and a time equally shrouded in suspicion and lingering superstition. Tillinghast’s childhood was harsh and unwholesome. Still young when both parents died, his father’s papers revealed deep-seated hypocrisy and a prurient curiosity. Revelations which primed Tillinghast for rebellion. It’s not clear what Tillinghast is meant to be or how he came to be it. But Cavenagh frames his transformation as a kind of fall from grace – not that his parents' brand of faith seems particularly close to it. When Tillinghast accepted Lena’s offering of an apple, he yielded to temptation, unleashing suppressed sexual desires. Lena had been unwell. Not long after their encounter Tillinghast developed the same sickness. When he recovered, he was overcome with a desperate craving for blood.
But Cavenagh hints at other reasons for this metamorphosis. It seems both Lena and Stutley were born with teeth, reminding me of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III, suggesting the beast was always lurking waiting to be set free. And beast seems a better description than vampire for Tillinghast. There’s a marked absence too of anything resembling conventional vampire lore here – sunlight’s definitely not an issue. Instead, there’s something frenzied and primal about Stutley’s initial attacks on his prey. At least before he turned violence into an art. Cavenagh’s depiction made me think of Tillinghast as somewhere between werewolf and wendigo – folkloric creatures who are a potent counter to the religion of the New England Puritans.
I did have some issues: the ending felt rushed and Sarah could do with fleshing out. But otherwise, I was gripped. I thought the story was inventive and intriguing, although I can see it won’t be popular across the board. It’s very much literary fiction. Dense, formal, extremely leisurely, it’s also very much centred on character. For long stretches it’s essentially an intense, noir-ish two-hander focused on the tentative bond between Tillinghast and Sarah; and where that might lead.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher The Borough Press for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
Tillinghast’s traversed America but for the last fifteen years he’s inhabited the dilapidated house where he grew up, nearby is the distinctly unorthodox church founded by his father. The church is empty but the house is rapidly filling up, bodies crowding its dank cellar. In the chill of winter, Tillinghast is trying to find a means to end his torment which seems more about loneliness and ennui than guilt. But it’s hard to die, he’s tried several times but always springs back to life. Then he’s contacted by Sarah a young English woman with his surname, she’s in town looking for her missing mother Lena. But, so far, all she’s found is a gravestone with Lena’s name. But this Lena died a long time ago – cue flashbacks to Sarah’s Lena and their troubled relationship. Sarah’s showing signs of an illness Tillinghast recognises, symptoms that suggest she’s like him. So, he begins an account of his life for her to find. As a plot device it’s slightly clumsy but it allows Cavenagh to branch out into a dual timeline, part present day, part Tillinghast’s and New England’s past.
Tillinghast’s confessional letter reads like a version of John Ames’s in Gilead – if Ames was a creature bordering on vampiric. It’s similarly quiet and measured, doubling as an indictment of a New England steeped in Puritanism and an obsession with rooting out sin. A place and a time equally shrouded in suspicion and lingering superstition. Tillinghast’s childhood was harsh and unwholesome. Still young when both parents died, his father’s papers revealed deep-seated hypocrisy and a prurient curiosity. Revelations which primed Tillinghast for rebellion. It’s not clear what Tillinghast is meant to be or how he came to be it. But Cavenagh frames his transformation as a kind of fall from grace – not that his parents' brand of faith seems particularly close to it. When Tillinghast accepted Lena’s offering of an apple, he yielded to temptation, unleashing suppressed sexual desires. Lena had been unwell. Not long after their encounter Tillinghast developed the same sickness. When he recovered, he was overcome with a desperate craving for blood.
But Cavenagh hints at other reasons for this metamorphosis. It seems both Lena and Stutley were born with teeth, reminding me of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III, suggesting the beast was always lurking waiting to be set free. And beast seems a better description than vampire for Tillinghast. There’s a marked absence too of anything resembling conventional vampire lore here – sunlight’s definitely not an issue. Instead, there’s something frenzied and primal about Stutley’s initial attacks on his prey. At least before he turned violence into an art. Cavenagh’s depiction made me think of Tillinghast as somewhere between werewolf and wendigo – folkloric creatures who are a potent counter to the religion of the New England Puritans.
I did have some issues: the ending felt rushed and Sarah could do with fleshing out. But otherwise, I was gripped. I thought the story was inventive and intriguing, although I can see it won’t be popular across the board. It’s very much literary fiction. Dense, formal, extremely leisurely, it’s also very much centred on character. For long stretches it’s essentially an intense, noir-ish two-hander focused on the tentative bond between Tillinghast and Sarah; and where that might lead.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher The Borough Press for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
July 2, 2026
“Nothing is clean, all is putrefying, everyone, from the newborn babe to the man who breathes his last, all the flowers, all the animals. Now we know that the world itself decays, the sun burns out. There is no permanence, there is no health. All dissolves.”
📚
It’s 2017, and Reverend Stutley Tillinghast lives as a recluse, seemingly acting as the pastor of an isolated, inactive Rhode Island parish. Aside from the numerous corpses buried in his cellar — periodic casualties of his insatiable bloodthirst — he’s avoided human contact for decades. Having lived longer than any person should, he’s haunted by the only one of his kind he has ever encountered: Lena Browne, who may have turned him into a monster, and for whom he still yearns. His lonely existence is disrupted after a woman named Sarah arrives bearing his last name and a remarkable resemblance to Lena. Her presence invigorates him, awakening long-dormant memories and establishing an instant and profound connection that hinges on Sarah's condition: she’s ill with symptoms Tillinghast understands, and that only he can cure.
Opening with a riveting and horrific crime, Tillinghast is a tantalizing, slow-burn slice of literary gothic horror that immediately hooks the reader, shifting between timelines via Tillinghast’s confessional writings interspersed with Sarah’s fevered reflections, revealing each individual’s life story. The primary setting is supremely gothic: Tillinghast’s remote childhood home situated amid faded paths and encroaching woods; atmospheric, decaying, frozen in time, and filled with relics.
Initially, Tillinghast appears almost an emotionless automaton, hunger his sole mortal link. Longevity and seclusion coupled with grisly acts have desensitized him and made him long for oblivion. Simply put, he’s tired and disgusted with himself, and he’s had enough. Despite this, the narrative is richly imbued with feeling, emotion, and sensation: intense guilt and inner turmoil, along with smell and touch. As part of his ongoing penance, Tillinghast has established rites of meditation and remembrance: though he sees his victims’ bodies as objects post-death, he refuses to forget their humanity or his grotesque violations, a reality so mired in pain and self-loathing, the reader can’t help but root for him.
The novel is inspired by the real 19th-century New England vampire panic, when consumption (tuberculosis) was prevalent, with related local legends and incidents forming a fascinating backdrop. The stakes are literally life and death: Tillinghast is prepared to end it all, and Sarah could be the thing that stops him — or that finally drives him over the edge. Add to that existential angst and unwelcome meddlers, and past overlaps present, muddying the future and producing a creeping sense of inevitability and unease: a melancholic yet hopeful and moving chronicle of impulse and instinct, loss and gain, virtue and destruction, belonging and companionship, comfort and comprehension, doubt and uncertainty, question and confession. A macabre, sharp, and captivating account that never actually employs the word “vampire,” which only enhances its allure.
Thank you to Viking Books for providing a copy of this fantastic title. It’s a quietly reflective, deeply satisfying tale and a unique take on the creature feature topped with (in this reader’s opinion) one of the most superb covers of the year!
📚
It’s 2017, and Reverend Stutley Tillinghast lives as a recluse, seemingly acting as the pastor of an isolated, inactive Rhode Island parish. Aside from the numerous corpses buried in his cellar — periodic casualties of his insatiable bloodthirst — he’s avoided human contact for decades. Having lived longer than any person should, he’s haunted by the only one of his kind he has ever encountered: Lena Browne, who may have turned him into a monster, and for whom he still yearns. His lonely existence is disrupted after a woman named Sarah arrives bearing his last name and a remarkable resemblance to Lena. Her presence invigorates him, awakening long-dormant memories and establishing an instant and profound connection that hinges on Sarah's condition: she’s ill with symptoms Tillinghast understands, and that only he can cure.
Opening with a riveting and horrific crime, Tillinghast is a tantalizing, slow-burn slice of literary gothic horror that immediately hooks the reader, shifting between timelines via Tillinghast’s confessional writings interspersed with Sarah’s fevered reflections, revealing each individual’s life story. The primary setting is supremely gothic: Tillinghast’s remote childhood home situated amid faded paths and encroaching woods; atmospheric, decaying, frozen in time, and filled with relics.
Initially, Tillinghast appears almost an emotionless automaton, hunger his sole mortal link. Longevity and seclusion coupled with grisly acts have desensitized him and made him long for oblivion. Simply put, he’s tired and disgusted with himself, and he’s had enough. Despite this, the narrative is richly imbued with feeling, emotion, and sensation: intense guilt and inner turmoil, along with smell and touch. As part of his ongoing penance, Tillinghast has established rites of meditation and remembrance: though he sees his victims’ bodies as objects post-death, he refuses to forget their humanity or his grotesque violations, a reality so mired in pain and self-loathing, the reader can’t help but root for him.
The novel is inspired by the real 19th-century New England vampire panic, when consumption (tuberculosis) was prevalent, with related local legends and incidents forming a fascinating backdrop. The stakes are literally life and death: Tillinghast is prepared to end it all, and Sarah could be the thing that stops him — or that finally drives him over the edge. Add to that existential angst and unwelcome meddlers, and past overlaps present, muddying the future and producing a creeping sense of inevitability and unease: a melancholic yet hopeful and moving chronicle of impulse and instinct, loss and gain, virtue and destruction, belonging and companionship, comfort and comprehension, doubt and uncertainty, question and confession. A macabre, sharp, and captivating account that never actually employs the word “vampire,” which only enhances its allure.
Thank you to Viking Books for providing a copy of this fantastic title. It’s a quietly reflective, deeply satisfying tale and a unique take on the creature feature topped with (in this reader’s opinion) one of the most superb covers of the year!
July 1, 2026
Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh is a slow burn, literary horror novel. The story follows our main character, Stutley Tillinghast, as his ordered, solitary life is upended with the arrival of a stranger – a young woman, Sarah, who bears his last name and a strange illness. The novel is told in alternating chapters of third person point of view following Tillinghast and later on Sarah, interspersed with epistolary first person point of view accounts from Tillinghast as he purges a confession of his life onto the page. Because this is literary horror, readers shouldn’t expect a faced paced thriller, but a rather deliberate telling of a story that examines it from different angles and places in time. Overall, I thought this was a somewhat satisfying read that I would recommend to fans of Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and weirdly enough, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
Right out of the gate, I thought the pacing was clear and steady. I absolutely loved the first chapter and the introduction to Tillinghast’s world! It’s clear what Tillinghast is after and whether he gets what he wants or not you'll have to read for yourself… Some of the imagery Cavenagh creates through her writing are so vivid that they burn into your mind like the description of what’s happening down in the cellar...
I felt like the underlying plot was solid, if delivered in a meandering way that sometimes felt more like noise than clarity, especially when we start going back in time. The writing style comes off very detached. Initially this feels intentional as Tillinghast appears to be practicing detachment to his ‘work’ – a coping mechanism to deal with the creature he has become. He's been living his life in a certain way for so long that it's just going through the motions, a ritual, impassioned - until it's very much not. However, once chapters following the female character, Sarah, are introduced, I started to realize that she short clipped sentences are the writers writing style and not necessarily used to convey anything specific about Tillinghast which was a kind of a bummer.
Where this novel fell short for me was the narration. I could never get a clear sense of who was telling the story, except for the diary entries where Tillinghast becomes the narrator of his own journey. When were in third person POV, it's unclear who is narrating the story and why, or how they know what they know. The third person omniscient narrator continuously head-hops between the characters so we somehow know what each of them are thinking, but their thoughts don't add anything to plot. They take away from letting the reader try to figure out what's happening and how the characters are feeling about it through descriptive imagery.
Additionally, Sarah's chapters really dragged the whole book down for me and I don't think they added much to the story, especially in the beginning. In my opinion, switching around slowed down the plot without adding much more substance. Toward the middle and end of the book, I found myself skimming pages and skipping ahead without feeling like I missed much.
All in all, if you’re looking for a vampire read that’s a more slow-paced unpacking of a complicated man’s family life mixed with a little bit of gore, some creeping unease, and a bit of history mixed in for good measure, this book is probably for you!
Right out of the gate, I thought the pacing was clear and steady. I absolutely loved the first chapter and the introduction to Tillinghast’s world! It’s clear what Tillinghast is after and whether he gets what he wants or not you'll have to read for yourself… Some of the imagery Cavenagh creates through her writing are so vivid that they burn into your mind like the description of what’s happening down in the cellar...
I felt like the underlying plot was solid, if delivered in a meandering way that sometimes felt more like noise than clarity, especially when we start going back in time. The writing style comes off very detached. Initially this feels intentional as Tillinghast appears to be practicing detachment to his ‘work’ – a coping mechanism to deal with the creature he has become. He's been living his life in a certain way for so long that it's just going through the motions, a ritual, impassioned - until it's very much not. However, once chapters following the female character, Sarah, are introduced, I started to realize that she short clipped sentences are the writers writing style and not necessarily used to convey anything specific about Tillinghast which was a kind of a bummer.
Where this novel fell short for me was the narration. I could never get a clear sense of who was telling the story, except for the diary entries where Tillinghast becomes the narrator of his own journey. When were in third person POV, it's unclear who is narrating the story and why, or how they know what they know. The third person omniscient narrator continuously head-hops between the characters so we somehow know what each of them are thinking, but their thoughts don't add anything to plot. They take away from letting the reader try to figure out what's happening and how the characters are feeling about it through descriptive imagery.
Additionally, Sarah's chapters really dragged the whole book down for me and I don't think they added much to the story, especially in the beginning. In my opinion, switching around slowed down the plot without adding much more substance. Toward the middle and end of the book, I found myself skimming pages and skipping ahead without feeling like I missed much.
All in all, if you’re looking for a vampire read that’s a more slow-paced unpacking of a complicated man’s family life mixed with a little bit of gore, some creeping unease, and a bit of history mixed in for good measure, this book is probably for you!
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