Wow. Great book! I do wish the end included her “story” and what happened with her dad and the cop but... all in all it kept my attention, kept me reading and intrigued. Lots of imagery!

1980's Lilydale, Minnesota

Twelve year old Cassie and her older sister Sephie grew up poor with an artist father and their mother, the sole provider, a teacher. Their world is rocked when boys in their neighborhood begin getting attacked by a man in a mask. These victims aren't the same after and Cassie wants to solve the mystery and catch the attacker.

The yuck factor in this book was a bit too much for me and that has nothing to do with the boys being attacked. Are swingers and sex parties really necessary to tell this story? Also, the culprit really comes as no surprise.

Anyhoo, what really pissed me off is the ending. Or the lack of one. Apparently the author decided to leave out the epilogue in favor of readers forming their own opinion. You can access the epilogue via her website to get some sort of resolution. This was an arc that was provided to me for free but had I of purchased this book I would have been really angry that I now have to go to her website to be provided the ending in which I already paid for. I hope they change this before publication. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF’d at 15%. I can tell that this book is going to be a disturbing and creepy read however this book is just not for me writing wise. I wish the best for those who read this book

What a great read this is! I am a huge fan of abduction and I was not disappointed. A real page-turner that you won’t be able to put down.

A disturbing story based on true events. There seem to be some missing links (didn't understand the strawberry reference). Maybe the same will be corrected in the final publication. The writing style didn't resonate with me. Could be because this is the first true crime account I have read. Normally used to fast-paced thrillers.

Unspeakable Things is a phenomenal read. Jess Lourey was influenced by the story of Jacob Wetterling and the other boys that were attacked in Minnesota in the 1980s. This book had me on the edge of my sit, couldn’t put the book down. Highly recommend. Stayed up until 3:30am to finish reading Unspeakable Things last night. Do not regret it.

“And we stood there, in that safe pocket of smiles and laughter, summer dreams and yearbook autographs, and it was the last time we’d all be together again. Alive, I mean.”

This is a very dark story. Although it does not come right out and put deep descriptions on the things that happen, you will have no trouble imagining it. This is told from a twelve year old child’s view. A young girl, Cassandra/Cassie, who has her whole life ahead of her but goes through so much. She is quite the smart young lady too. A very kind child who should live a carefree life without a worry in the world. But she is worried. She knows things are not good in the town she lives in. She’s heard all the talk about the missing then returned boys and how they come back different. She lives in a house where things are not so great either. Secrets are all around her and her older sister. Nothing is explicit at all in this story but you’ll know. You’ll feel so bad for the children. The boys, even though some are bad, are heartbreaking in what they must have gone through. The sisters who are afraid of their own dad. A mother who refuses to listen.
This story goes into things that happen in life sometimes. From the peeping Tom to the so called Chester the Molester. To hints of incest. Boys being molested and given back. There are several people who you will suspect are the bad man but will you be able to guess for sure. I had a pretty good idea but didn’t know until the end. Cassie is a strong young girl who just wants the life of a normal child. To live in a world of peace and true love from parents who cherish her and her sister.
While some people may not like this story at all I found it to be interesting. How things came together. How things in this small town ran. How a family can be called a family when in reality it’s not at all. It takes way more than a married couple to be real parents. I didn’t like Cassie’s dad or mother. Her mother seemed very week and scared to speak out for her children even though she was a very educated woman and a high school teacher at that. Her dad had many issues going on. One that he survived Vietnam but in my opinion used that to get his way about almost everything from not being a good dad or husband to now having a job to help support his family. He was really the weak one though I still don’t like the mother either.
The two sisters are close. Very close and love each other very much. But it’s Cassie who is strong and seemingly independent in so many ways. She’s the one who will pull this story together. Solve the mystery around all that is wrong but on the level of a twelve year old. The author did a great job of keeping her a child in her words and actions. I applaud her for that. Great job Jess Lourey. Great job.
The only problem I had with this book, thus the 4 stars, was the ending. I wanted to know what happened. What happened to the dad, the teacher, Cassie and her sister and mother. What happened. Did the mother ever decide to take up for her daughters? Maybe she did. Maybe that is the way it’s suppose to play out. Maybe that is why it ended the way it did. I’d like to think so anyway.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #UnspeakableThings, #JessLourey, #Thomas&Mercer for the eARC of this book. This is my own true review.
I gave it 4 stars and do recommend it. It was a fast read for me and a very interesting one.

“Bad news still finds you on sunny days.”

Unspeakable Things is a wicked, factual based novel that leaves you feeling unhinged. I devoured this book in the matter of a few hours (ok 1/2 my day)- it keeps you tuned in thanks to its own sultry flavor of perversion. 5 stars

Dark and twisted, I really enjoyed this book. This is a “one sitting” type of book that will keep you reading long into the night.

Enjoyed this book with all it's twists and knows. So many unanswered questions....so many suspects. Would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense.

Heartbreaking story of Cassie, a 12 year old girl who is dealing with horrible events in her town and her life. Someone is molesting young boys and Cassie is on a mission to find out who. Told from Cassie’s point of view during the 80’s, this heartbreaking story was impossible to put down. Living in a house where she must hide in a closet to keep herself safe at night, Cassie is very much aware of the horrors adults can inflict on children. Excellent, well written story that will stay with me for a long time.

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey is a psychological thriller written from the perspective of a young girl, Cassie, who lives with older sister Sephie and their parents.

When boys start being assaulted and then start disappearing, Cassie tries to find out what is happening. She also deals with issues at home and at school.

I did enjoy this book but it wasn't one of the best I have read. It left a lot of things up to the readers imagination leading you to suspect certain things even though they are never confirmed.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book but once I did I thought it was pretty good and it kept my interest through the rest of the book ...I received a free copy from netgalley and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

Unspeakable Things by author Jess Lourey is a story that depicts the lives of many children out there today. Those that live in fear, fear of abduction and/or molestation. Sometimes it’s a stranger, maybe a neighbor or it can even be from a parent at home. There were parts of this story that were hard to read. The life that these 2 girls lived was awful in my opinion. I felt really disgusted with the mother and her lack of actions to protect her children. Cassie, the main character, showed tremendous strength and loyalty towards her friends. Her bravery is an inspiration. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc to read and review. All opinions are my own. I enjoyed reading this but not sure it’s a story for everyone. It might be upsetting to some. I rate this at 4 stars.

DISCLAIMER : I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I read the synopsis of this book and was very much excited to read the story. Because it was inspired by true events that happened in the author's town I thought this book is going to be so good. I really had high expectations when it came to this book. I was disappointed in the execution of it and the number of questions the story leaves unanswered made it hard to accept the ending as well. Was it thrilling? Yes, it was thrilling and there were these events that were foreshadowed in the book to keep the mystery going, but just left them without bringing clarity to the intention behind those events. There were a lot of creepy and weird happenings and the characters were really creeping me out. The mentality of small towns, prejudices against homosexuals, abuse, maintenance of a perfect facade on the outside, corrupt police officers are all brought attention to. I felt the story could have gone in a better direction with a lot more clarity when it comes to certain events. Overall I felt the story was OK and it was interesting enough and engaging enough to keep the reader going. I gave it 2 stars.

If you are interested in a quick read that focuses on some really heavy and dark events, try this one out.

This book catches your attention immediately. We first meet Cass and her family. The book is from Cass’s point of view and anything that is hinted is from her perspective. I like the mystery behind her thoughts, that’s one of the big parts that keeps me interested and wondering.

Cass is a pretty average teenage girl. She does stuff that you think is normal and things that makes you smack your head. Teenagers make stupid decisions sometimes and she isn’t an exception to that rule. That makes her an extremely likable character, she’s normal, flawed and doesn’t seem to have any Mary Sue tendencies.

The big mystery in this one is about young boys being assaulted which the author does a good job of keeping you guessing the entire time. I will say that there are certain aspects of the book that I still have questions about. This is a good book and I definitely enjoyed it.

R E V I E W - Unspeakable Things - Jess Lourey
⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Unspeakable Things takes place in a small town in the 80s. School is about to break for summer but instead of this being a time that students look forward to, they're scared. Scared because they've been advised not to spend time outside alone. Scared because a curfew has been put in place. Scared because boys are going missing.

Unspeakable Things is a unique story in that it is adult fiction told through the perspective of a child. The narrator of our story, Cass, is a 7th grader who's home life is pretty tricky. There are a lot of things going on that are alluded to but never explicitly said. Does this mean they're happening or that the fears Cass has are in her head?
I immediately sympathised with her as she is a young girl with a pretty uncomfortable home life. She has a loving relationship with her sister but she doesn't have many friends at all. Even though her life isn't ideal, she gets on with things, she's adventurous and she has a little spunk that comes out now and then.
Unspeakable Things is a quick read and a page-turner. It's a breath of fresh air in this genre as it's inspired by true events from the authors hometown and because of our young narrator. The story progresses well and has good pacing. I did feel that the story ended very quickly and that one of the lines wasn't closed off however I found out later that there is a deleted epilogue which can be downloaded here: www.jesslourey.com

If you read it, definitely download the epilogue but also go back to read the prologue too.

UNSPEAKABLE THINGS
Jess Lourey
Thomas & Mercer
ISBN-13: 9781542008785
Trade Paperback
Mystery/Thriller

UNSPEAKABLE THINGS is the perfect title for Jess Lourey’s latest work. It is a perfect read, though an uncomfortable one due to the subject matter. Lourey takes a real-world incident that took place in her Minnesota hometown in the 1980s and spins it into a tale that will shock and haunt the reader long after the final page is turned.

UNSPEAKABLE THINGS is a coming-of-age story about Cassie McDowell, who is thirteen years old and on the cusp of puberty as the events in the story, narrated by the adult Cassie, unfold. Lilydale is the small town in Minnesota where Cassie resides, or to be more accurate, in the rural part of her very rural small town. As with any place where two or more are gathered, there are the haves and the have-nots, and the McDowells are numbered among the latter of the two groups. Cassie’s mother is a schoolteacher and the primary earner of the family, while her father fancies himself as an artist of the starving persuasion. Sephie, Cassie’s older sister, is complex in the ways that teenaged girls tend to be, but there are depths of sorrow to her that only gradually make themselves known. We meet all of the McDowells within the first page or so of UNSPEAKABLE THINGS, and if we might have mistaken them for having the domestic tranquility of the Waltons at first blush Lourey chips away at that misapprehension all too soon enough. The center of the evil that quietly permeates Lilydale does not lie only with the McDowells with their extremely interesting and popular parties, however. It is abruptly manifested by a series of abductions involving local boys who each go missing and then come back emotionally damaged and closed-mouthed about what happened to them. The rumors as to who may be responsible may begin to fly, catching the totally innocent to the possibly guilty in their net. Meanwhile, what goes on with the McDowell household is just as bad if not worse. It simply occurs in a smaller sphere of influence. What is occurring in Lilydale, however, has a connection, however tenuous, to what goes on within the McDowell house, particularly in those areas that Cassie’s father has declared off-limited to the rest of the family. Secrets, however, always seem to have a way of revealing themselves. So too, here.

There are some extras that come with UNSPEAKABLE THINGS. One is a series of illustrations from a book that Cassie treasures titled Nellie Bly’s Trust It or Don’t. The title of that book is an ironic twist on what occurs in UNSPEAKABLE THINGS. Another extra is on Lourey’s website, which contains the Epilogue to UNSPEAKABLE THINGS as a bit of lagniappe for those who read the book. No peeking. You won’t be able to entirely appreciate it until you read UNSPEAKABLE THINGS all the way through anyway. Even with UNSPEAKABLE THINGS and its Epilogue, however, there are just enough loose threads (as well as a hint in the Epilogue) which indicate that Lourey may not quite be done with either Lilydale or the McDowell family. If Lourey does see fit to revisit either that journey will no doubt be mesmerizing and unsettling. Hopefully, she will bring her talent for creating similes and metaphors, which by themselves would have made this tale worth reading. Recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2020, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Small-town kids are pebbles in a river, pushed around by the flow, forming pockets and piles, reforming when the current picks up and we find ourselves in a whole new cluster."

I was given an ARC of this book by Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review, though this was already on my ever-growing TBR list.

Jess Lourey tells the story of life in a small town in the 80's through the eyes of a girl on the verge of her teen years. A story about a dysfunctional family and town with secrets, broken innocence and tragedy. This was a dark coming of age story that was loosely based on a true abduction that took place during that time frame. That was only the cusp of cumbersome issues addressed throughout this trigger heavy book (rape, murder, abuse, homophobia).

Cassie's voice as the narrator was convincing. There were parts of the story, however, that seemed to be missing. Certain details were brought up, such as the strawberry incident with Sephi, that didn't make sense. It linked back later on in the story, but specifics early on were confusing. I had actually gone back and reread a couple of times to make sure I hadn't missed something.

Minus the few spots that read a bit like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that didn't quite fit into place, this was a well-written account from a child's perspective. While the ending left much to be desired, I was satiated with the author's online epilogue: http://jessicalourey.com/survey-two.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it did a great job of amping up that suspense slowly. Killing me slowly as I wind towards the end desperate to know who was taking the children and what was up with Cassie’s dad.

I do agree with others that the ending was very abrupt, but, I also understand that there’s an epilogue online. I think I’ll go find that now and get a bit more of a wrap up!

Overall 4 star read for me. Left me a tad underwhelmed in the end, but is still a great little thriller with a good amount of suspense and nice characters!