Bingo Square: Sheep (it’s in the title)
This is the second of five Rachel Harris novel I read this year (I had never read her before but she’s the exact type of horror I enjoy, and while I wouldn’t put anything as 5 stars, they have all been reliable 3.5-4 star reads). Basically, I think the only full length novels I still have left are Cackle and her debut.
Her novels are just so millennial woman-coded; whether the main character is in a mostly successful job or a slightly dead end situation, like Vesper, there is just a certain amount of questioning or ennui with the situation. Even if everything is going to plan but also, is this it?
Vesper left home a few years ago and hasn’t been in contact with her family. She doesn’t talk about it too much with her coworkers but she grew up in a very insular and isolated community, with strict religious beliefs. Beyond that, she had an incredibly complicated relationship with her mother, and never planned to return home but when she gets a wedding invite for her former best friend’s wedding to her ex-boyfriend after a horrible day at work, Vesper is in just the right kind of mood to say, “fuck it” and go home for the wedding.
The result is messy and chaotic with some fun reveals for the reader, and later, many discoveries for Vesper that put her upbringing and relationships with her hometown into a new perspective.
I quite enjoyed this and the unique way Harrison explored orthodox religions. I also have been enjoying how Harrison seems to be working her way through all the major horror tropes with each book (werewolves, vampires, haunted houses, cabin in the woods), so you can’t really go wrong with any of her novels, and she likely has one for any readers’ preferred horror trope or will soon!
