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Revelator
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
14 posts | 11 read | 27 to read
The dark, gripping tale of a 1930s family in the remote hills of the Smoky Mountains, their secret religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their mysterious godfrom the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders. In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. The mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy. Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stellanow a professional bootleggerreturns for Motty's funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagineand shes a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith. Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.
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snapsnarlgrowl
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

Best woman written by a man I‘ve read in ages and turns out none of the women are human! 🤬

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snapsnarlgrowl
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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I‘ve had this sitting in my Kindle library for ages and never got around to reading. It‘s actually pretty damn engaging.

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Centique
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

I picked this up because i loved Daryl Gregory‘s Spoonbenders. This is so much darker - but i loved it. I think it counts as Horror but compared to what @Reggie reads, its probably Rainbow Magic Fairies level 😂😂. But for anyone else - this is a dark twisty tale of Stella, an Appalachian moonshiner in 1948 who is drawn back to her childhood home for a funeral. Her family practiced their own secret religion out in the woods… ⬇️

Centique Gregory‘s writing is marvellous, it keeps you totally spell bound with fascinating characters and a spooling out of two timelines where youre racing to find out what happened in the past as well as whats happening in the present. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1y
Reggie I really liked this book. It‘s another in the cannon of men who just cannot play second fiddle to really special women. Lol “We men have to interpret the revelator.” Whatever. Bunch of sad ass man struggling to control a narrative but knowing they can‘t. Which also sounds like a news headline right now. Also, loved the writing. I could eat that writing with a spoon all day. How‘s it going Paula? Our landlord who is 84 decided to sell the house👇🏼 1y
Reggie we‘ve been renting for 13 yrs. He gave us 3 months which is super nice. So I‘ve been looking for places to live. Pretty sure I‘ve picked the one where im going but it would be nice if I could hear back from one that is 2 minutes away from work. Wish me luck. 1y
See All 8 Comments
Centique @Reggie im so glad you liked this book too! Wow, moving after 13 years is a big change. I hope you get a great new place. And landlord of the close to work house - Ring Reggie Back Already!!! 1y
rwmg Having just gone through the throes of an unexpected move myself after 7 years, you have my sympathies, @Reggie. 1y
Reggie @rwmg I‘m really just being a baby. In 20 years this is my 3rd time. But moving suuuuucks. So thanks! Lol 1y
batsy @Reggie Moving does suck! All the best and hope you hear back from that place close to work 🤞🏾 1y
Suet624 @reggie, 13 years is a long time and the act of moving sucks. I hope you find a quirky place to live that suits you to a T. 1y
56 likes1 stack add8 comments
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MissHel
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

Well, shit. I wanted to get things done today, but instead I finished this book. I haven‘t read a whole book through in a day since I was a teenager. You might love Revelator. It‘s spooky, twisty, and you can‘t trust anyone.

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MissHel
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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I needed some time to get to Revelator. It feels, so far, like an episode of Old Gods of Appalachia but without the tenderness. Mind you, that‘s not bad! It‘s just very different. My reading buddy and I are shirking our eternal laundry responsibilities, and maybe that‘s okay.

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Addison_Reads
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

Excellent new horror!

Set in the backwoods of Appalachia, this story follows a family full of secrets and a strange religion. I absolutely loved the setting and felt it added a lot to the overall gothic feel.

I don't want to give away too much but there are some truly creepy moments, a few great twists, and a perfect ending for this unforgettable tale.

Highly recommend this one to horror fans.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Cool cover 🖤 3y
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katcalvin
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

This is one of the wildest and most original books that I have read in a long time. I‘d call it Appalachian Gothic.

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kyraleseberg
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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I've been waiting foreverrrr on libby because my local hasn't purchased a copy and I am promptly devouring it. It's incredible so far!

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sprainedbrain
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

This book was even better than I expected. Really great writing, fascinating characters, clever twists and some seriously jaw-dropping moments. Such a strong sense of place and time—I loved the backwoods setting, the people, and even the messed up religiosity. And that perfect horror novel ending! 😎

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Great choice for #LMPBC, Reggie! It is on its way to you, Karen. 😃

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ReadingEnvy
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

I'd let this book slip by on my eARC list and thought I'd try it and maybe abandon it but NO. This was a riveting novel of southern gothic horror centered around an Appalachian community where there is a "god in the mountains." Select women are the revelators and commune with the god while the men are interpreters and getting ready to introduce the god to the world.↘️

ReadingEnvy Also there are moonshiners with far too many distillation jokes (the author really doubled down on those for some reason). This is set in the 1930s and 1940s so the other background issue going on is the same families losing their land due to eminent domain (and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.) ↘️ 3y
ReadingEnvy Most of the people living in this area are very religious (primitive Baptist!) and very white. It's interesting to see a cult-like religion around the god in the mountain be absorbed into such people and how they justify it to themselves. 3y
Pogue One of my Favorite podcasts is Old Gods of Appalachia. This book sounds like the podcast. 3y
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ReadingEnvy @Pogue ah I'll have to check that out! The author has family from Cades Cove. 3y
Reggie I thought the book was missing 300 pages in the end. But I loved it up until then. 3y
ReadingEnvy @Reggie missing 300 pages? Were you wanting more than the dynamite and new god reveal? Or a pacing problem? 3y
Reggie Have you ever watched the movie Species? Where the little blond girl who is the alien escapes and jumps on a train and kills the Black lady conductor. Well I feel like we got a very wonderful story of the conductor. But the movie itself keeps going for another 1 1/2 hrs so we can find out what happens to the alien. Lol It was a great book. I‘m just being curmudgeonly. 3y
ReadingEnvy @Reggie I get what you are saying but to me it was enough to know it would continue, whatever that will look like. Except maybe she could have killed her and it's done! 3y
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Reggie
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

There is this comedian, Katt Williams, who does this bit where he‘s talking to the ladies saying that there are no 100% men. That some of them are sitting next to 70% men hoping for an upgrade they can‘t even laugh at the joke because he‘s looking over at them. How some of them have a 98% man going to his job, paying the bills, cooking them food, taking care of her children better than he takes care of his own, and she throws him all away 👇🏼

Reggie because of that 2%-just because he cheated. And that‘s how I feel about this book. Do I let 2% ruin everything beautiful about this novel- the characters, the setting, the lovely writing-because 2 hours after finishing it at the laundromat I‘m still bothered. How big is that 2%? Don‘t tell me a story in front of a big red curtain and allude to behind the curtain and finish the story before showing me what‘s behind that big red curtain!!! 👇🏼 (edited) 3y
Reggie Daryl!!! Really, it‘s a great book. (edited) 3y
AmyG Ha!!! If my husband cooked and cleaned....screw the 2%. 😂 (edited) 3y
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Lindy I just saw this on the NY public library list of top 100 books of 2021 👍 3y
CarolynM The only thing worse than failing to reveal the thing you keep referring to is revealing it to be something that doesn't live up to the hype. 3y
Reggie @AmyG Lolol 3y
Reggie @Lindy honestly what I should have said that this was a beautifully written story in the 1930‘s where a young woman left behind by her father to her family in the south Tennessee mountains of Appalachia finds out her family has their own god hidden away in a cave. A god who only communes with the youngest female. This story is compelling and wonderfully infused by the time and setting specific metaphors used by the author. I‘m still on the fence 3y
Reggie with the ending. 3y
Reggie @Carolyn At the end I felt the book was missing 300 more pages. I wanted so much more. It was good, though. 3y
Lindy @Reggie It does sound good. If you‘ve read Moreno-Garcia‘s Mexican Gothic, how do the two books compare? 3y
Reggie @Lindy I haven‘t read that one but what I will say about her books is is that I have read 3, Signal to Noise, Certain Dark Things, and Untamed Shores, and none of them are like the other. They all take place in Mexico. They are all good in their own way and Untamed is my favorite because the protagonist is coming of age and uses her village‘s small mindedness to escape a murder being put on her. She‘s a skilled author. Also, you read a book 👇🏼 3y
Reggie about mycology and I hear mushrooms feature prominently. 3y
Lindy @Reggie Yes, I have read Mexican Gothic and your description of Revelator sounds like it has similar elements. I guess I will have to see for myself 😊 3y
Centique I get that sometimes when I‘m angry at a book because it was So Good it was nearly perfect and then the author screws up my perfect reading experience with this 2% of something I hate. And yet it‘s still an excellent book. I‘m looking at you 3y
sprainedbrain I‘m excited about this one now! 3y
Rissreads @Centique what was the 2% you hated? The goldfinch is in my all time top 10 books! 2y
Centique @Rissreads I hated the bit in the middle where he is stuck in that house in that dead end suburb for so long. In truth, there is nothing wrong with it, I just hated him being away so long from the city setting with the antique store which I loved so much! 2y
Rissreads I loved both equally. To me that book was perfection. It‘s one of the only books I‘ve read more than once. @Centique (edited) 2y
66 likes3 stack adds18 comments
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Reggie
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Just started this for my LPMBC pick and the writing is Appalachian exquisite.

TrishB That cover is also very cool! 3y
Reggie @TrishB turn it sideways and it also looks very cool. Like a river into a forest or jungle with clear skies. 3y
SoapboxEdits 🤯 3y
Bookzombie I‘m just going to stack it now, lol. 3y
Centique Wow, I love the way the cover looks so good sideways too! 3y
81 likes6 stack adds5 comments
review
HillsAndHamletsBookshop
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

Revelator is a delightfully creepy Appalachian folk-gothic-horror novel about a mountain family and the strange, vaguely sinister god they worship. Think H.P. Lovecraft meets V.C. Andrews meets Mexican Gothic. Not my normal fare but I really enjoyed it! Thanks to Libro.fm for the complimentary listening copy!

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Mel
Revelator: A novel | Daryl Gregory
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Pickpick

Unique unsettling tale about a girl in Tennessee and the god her family has worshipped for years. Hard book to classify in just one genre, has a bit of everything in it (horror, gothic, coming of age, mystery, creepy ick, heartwarming vibes, and sci if). #NetGalley #Revelator