A review by sarahweyand
Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.
This is the first horror book in a good long time that genuinely scared me. Very wary of reading this one too late at night, and that's such a good thing. The atmosphere and slow-burn mystery was so well executed that my mind went wild trying to guess the endings and twists. I was right on a couple, but that is rarely something that "ruins" a book for me.
I really enjoyed the relationship dynamics between all the characters and watching how our protagonists evolved. The characters and their motivations were all realistic and it made some of the choices they made easy to empathize with even if I hated the character themself. The inciting incidents leading up to the climax were some of the most haunting things I've read recently, and I found myself gasping and talking out loud while reading, which doesn't happen often.
I will say that once everything was revealed and the climax was occurring I found myself getting a little more bored and confused, but it didn't do a lot to mar my overall enjoyment of the book. Nestlings is being marketed as Rosemary's Baby meets Salem's Lot and while I haven't consumed either piece of media, I can totally see where they're pulling from and I think it's brilliant.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to my fellow horror lovers and I can easily see Cassidy becoming one of my favorite authors in the horror space today.
This is the first horror book in a good long time that genuinely scared me. Very wary of reading this one too late at night, and that's such a good thing. The atmosphere and slow-burn mystery was so well executed that my mind went wild trying to guess the endings and twists. I was right on a couple, but that is rarely something that "ruins" a book for me.
I really enjoyed the relationship dynamics between all the characters and watching how our protagonists evolved. The characters and their motivations were all realistic and it made some of the choices they made easy to empathize with even if I hated the character themself. The inciting incidents leading up to the climax were some of the most haunting things I've read recently, and I found myself gasping and talking out loud while reading, which doesn't happen often.
I will say that once everything was revealed and the climax was occurring I found myself getting a little more bored and confused, but it didn't do a lot to mar my overall enjoyment of the book. Nestlings is being marketed as Rosemary's Baby meets Salem's Lot and while I haven't consumed either piece of media, I can totally see where they're pulling from and I think it's brilliant.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to my fellow horror lovers and I can easily see Cassidy becoming one of my favorite authors in the horror space today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Medical content and Emotional abuse