Welcome to Litsy!

This reads very YA, but the type of YA I actually enjoy. (Plucky female heroine!) However the will they/won‘t they romantic subplot really wore on me by the end.

Sophie is a very sheltered virginal Catholic high schooler. Her parents have been hiding that a deadly disease is spreading across the country that causes victims to viciously attack and rape others. Sophie must find her way out of this hellscape on her own. #aardvark

Trying to get out of an upcoming road trip? No sweat, just lend them your copy of MEMORIALS 😉🚐

#aardvarkbookclub #memorials #thescholarandthelastfaeriedoor #americanrapture #perfectfit #eleanoreofavignon #likemotherlikemother

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Apocalyptic stories aren‘t really my favorite, but this is a timely and challenging take on that genre. Blending with horror, these narrative frameworks serve as a brilliant vehicle to deconstruct religious trauma and purity culture. C.J. Leede creates fantastic characters and intense emotions while incisively skewering the hypocrisy and absurdity of some religious teachings. 🎧

(Trigger warning under a spoiler tag below)

The instant USA Today bestseller from CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly—a scorching and sweeping new novel about the end of the world as we know it.

A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust.

Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin…

Well, I filled my #aardvarkbookclub box, I added 2 for #bookofthemonth #botm (bog wife being one I‘d missed last month), and yes, I sucke… er, *subscribed* to botm‘s volume 0 set. Bc. I… had to? 😳

And then I also joined #belletrist 😨🫣 (paired w Tertulia, a book coop)

Good times…. 😁🥰😎

Combat your Halloween hangover with our official November squad 🤺 Don‘t forget to grab a *signed* copy of American Rapture ✍️😉

#aardvarkbookclub #americanrapture #memorials #thescholarandthelastfaeriedoor #likemotherlikemother #perfectfit #eleanoreofavignon

Damn! Aardvark coming in hot again! And the tagged one is signed. I just couldn‘t help myself. 😂 #aardvark

The pandemic breakout storyline really does grab you by the throat & doesn't let go. This was a horror read with a lot of gore that I thought I wouldn‘t like but surprisingly I did! I was fascinated by the exploration of religious conviction through Sophie's harrowing journey across a virus-ravaged country. This probably won‘t be for everyone as it tackles weighty themes of faith, desire, morality, all along with horror elements!

After Leeds‘s debut novel, I was curious to dive into this. Set across Wisconsin, this spooky & tense listen is gripping, tense, full of action, blood & even tears. Sheltered Sophie rebels against her strict Catholic parents in small ways—an illicit fiction novel checked out & a yearning for the twin brother they sent away. But when a terrifying pandemic erupts, it gives Sophie the chance to see the wider world & find out what & who matter to her.

My husband really likes Catholic horror and this book provided an interesting take on the subgenre. The characters- except Sophie and Barghest - were a bit bland for the story to have any real emotional heft. Thank you to #netgalley for providing me with an eARC.