A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly…something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.
Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.
It was an interesting take on the Antichrist thing. The dour MC is cynical and somehow very relatable despite not being really… normal.
I felt like there was something there re: generational trauma and religious trauma bundled into one. Being sacrificed at the hands of the religion you were born into but reshaping it into something just for yourself, learning how to make your own life despite it, separating entirely from the family you always knew in order to grow and become who you really want to be. It also feels a bit like wish fulfillment.
Overall though, it was mildly predictable and a fun book despite that. I did find the ending a mix of satisfying and not, but (shrug) it’s a step for the MC.
