A review by amandaglowgetter
American Rapture by CJ Leede

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

 
This book is just…wow. It broke me, in the best way. For me, a five-star rating is a perfect book, one that I wouldn’t change a thing about, and this is that. 
 
It’s the end of the world, in the form of a pandemic that makes people lustful to the point of violence. We follow Sophie, a teen girl from an ultra-conservative Christian family who was raised in an extremely sheltered environment. As she’s navigating the weird apocalypse hellscape to try to reach her twin brother, we learn about her life, her family, and her shifting morals and ideals. 
 
I love horror as a means of processing trauma, and it seems that this is what CJ Leede has done with this book. I was raised Catholic growing up and so much of Sophie’s questioning of her religious views reminds me of myself at her age. Sophie proves to be an extremely capable, knowledgeable character (despite her parents’ efforts to quash that). I also love pandemic horror, processing our collective experience of the past few years. 
 
And the author’s note at the end makes it clear that THAT character death was her way of processing a personal loss, too. 
 
If I’m being nitpicky, the pacing seemed to lag at times, but more importantly, 

******SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE********



I think that this book would SERIOUSLY benefit from a big ole trigger warning for the most horrific, prolonged animal death I’ve ever seen in a horror novel…and I’ve read a lot of horror. That scene and the ending, I cannot stop thinking about.
 
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC/ALC of the audiobook. 
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