Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my review. This one is a brutal coming-of-age horror about family, fear, and the cost of wanting a normal life.
After a slight, and unintended, hiatus from the horror genre, I thought it was time to get back into the recommendations of Horror Aficionados. Ania Ahlborn is an author whom I’ve only become aware of through Horror Aficionados, as she’s been voted as a monthly read at least twice before. I read both of those books, Seed and The Shuddering. Both of which I enjoyed. I liked them, I just couldn’t go as far as to say I loved them. All the same, I was willing to give this book a go.
This story takes place in the heart of Appalachia and revolves around our central character, Michael Morrow. He lives with his family in an old farmhouse tucked away in the middle of nowhere. He lives with his parents, his older brother, Reb, and his sister, Misty Dawn. But these aren’t your typical family. Under the orders of the mother, the Morrows kidnap local girls, bring them back to the farmhouse, and slaughter them. The mother insists that it’s a ritual that keeps the family pure.
Michael would appear to be the only one who doesn’t enjoy it. But he goes along with it because he fears what will happen to him if he doesn’t. Michael is influenced by Reb, the most terrifying and violent of the family. The two brothers spend a lot of time together and frequently drive into town where they visit a record shop. In the record shop, Michael falls for the girl who works behind the counter. Alice. And Alice seems pretty taken with him, too. But he knows there’s no way she’d like him if she knew the truth about his family. Michael wants out of the Morrow family tradition. He wants to escape and live a normal life with Alice. But if he wants an ordinary life, he might just have to kill for it.
Of course, as the title would suggest, this is a book about brotherhood. It’s a coming-of-age tale. It’s also about first loves. Or maybe, first lusts would be more accurate. For all of that, this is a book I really wanted to like. The premise alone blows me away, even now. There are twists, which I won’t reveal here, and a handful of scenes that really stood out to me. But the execution was lacking something. Maybe it was the pacing. I just found myself zoning out.
In actual fact, this was a book I started earlier in the year, but gave up less than twenty pages in when I realised I’d barely taken anything in. I took a break and read two or three other books before giving this one another chance. I took more in the second time, and actually finished the whole thing. But I don’t really know if it was worth it.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
