Synopsis
Vesper Wright is in hell. The night she gets fired from her unglamorous restaurant job, she comes home to find an invitation waiting on her doorstep from her estranged family to the wedding of Vesper’s cousin and childhood best friend, Rosemary, the one person she regrets losing touch with. Something inside her is telling her she has to attend the wedding, even if it means suffering through a weekend in the Satanist community she defected from. When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a horrifying family secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s fanatical beliefs and her own unexpected identity.
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Review
I wasn’t sure what category to classify this book. Part of me says horror, and apparently, this is what the author writes, but it wasn’t horror like I usually see. Horror light, maybe? Or perhaps just a dark novel. I will say it wasn’t until I was further into the book that I understood why it was classified in this genre. To give away that would ruin the book for the future reader.
Vesper left her family at 18 and ventured into the real world. Let’s just say she grew up in a religious cult, and when you leave, you are cut off from everyone. However, she receives an invitation to her best friend’s wedding, back in the cult, and she decides to attend. This sets off a chain of events that is just a bit insane. Vesper learns the truth about her family and is put into a position that she really doesn’t wish to be in. I think she regretted going back to the wedding.
The story is quite intriguing, and there are twists that I didn’t expect. At least not until we understood more about her family. It also explains a little bit more about Vesper and some situations that arose during her time away.
While I’m not sure I would read any other horror books, I do like to expand my horizons. This book might leave you in disbelief or perhaps even chuckling at different scenarios. I liked the ending, and it leaves me wondering about Vesper, her father, and the rest of her family.
We give this book 4 paws up.
About the Author
Rachel Harrison is the National Bestselling author of CACKLE, SUCH SHARP TEETH, and THE RETURN, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection BAD DOLLS. She lives in Western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord.
