While the blurb is not misleading, Camilla Bruce conjures up a compelling and strange tale that is much darker than is suggested. Ms. Bruce manages to put on paper the emotional intensity Hitchcock created in his film, Psycho. A stunning debut. but not my cup of tea.

truly enjoyed this book the characters were great, I hope to read more by this author. this was a really good. thank you for the arc loved this book

An unreliable narrator dealing with trauma leads readers through You Let Me In, a tale told by missing author Cassandra Tipp in her final manuscript left for her niece and nephew in the event of her disappearance. She tells them of a childhood haunted by fairies, and one in particular, the Pepper Man, who brought her into their world.

The fairies feed on life, and Pepper Man has chosen Cassandra as his victim. Over the course of her life, she grows to love Pepper Man, but it has left her family destroyed, her husband dead, and Cassandra at the heart of suspicion and doubt.

The question is whether her story is true, or if it's all a lie made to protect her mind from a childhood of abuse. It's fascinating to read through, although rather sad, and will make you question what truth really can be.

Cassandra has suffered, either from real or imagined forces, so there's really no question as to the victim here, so the story really becomes a study in how a person can cope with trauma, the ways in which it harms not only the person affected, but those around them, and the lengths we'll go to protect ourselves mentally.

Its sadly magical no matter how you look at it, and you'll quickly become wrapped up in Cassandra's story, hoping she can overcome the demons she's battling.

I have been procrastinating writing this review because I'm uncertain how to articulate the experience of reading this strange book. Reading it felt somewhat like wading through a humid, foggy forest; there was beauty and a sense of timelessness, and yet the story weighed heavily on me too, as I constantly questioned whether I was reading about a supernatural experience or trauma-induced mental instability.

Ever since she was a young girl, Cassandra could see fairies; one in particular, whom she has christened "Pepper-Man" due to his distinctive pepper smell, has been with Cassandra for as long as she can remember, and he has been feeding off her. Literally, mind you; this is not some metaphorical life energy situation; Pepper-Man literally sinks his teeth into Cassandra's flesh and consumes her blood. As he does so, he slowly grows more human, as fairies in this world take on the characteristics of whatever it is they're feeding off of, whether that be humans, trees, or animals. The adults in Cassandra's life believe she has a particularly badly behaved imaginary friend, but this gets harder to reconcile as Cassandra gets older and continues to see Pepper-Man. Most choose to believe that Cassandra is mentally ill, and in fact the psychologist her parents send her to strongly believes that Cassandra is having delusions as a reaction to severe childhood trauma and abuse.

What is the truth? Is Cassandra mentally ill or are fairies real? Well, the story posits that perhaps both options are true, or that one truth does not necessarily negate the other. Perhaps Cassandra was abused, but that doesn't mean fairies aren't real. The narrative constantly teases the reader with hints of what the truth may be, but stops just short of confirming one way or another, leading you to inhabit a nebulous, liminal space in which perhaps both truths are somehow a reality. It makes you question the meaning of reality itself; if Cassandra truly believes fairies are real, if they have continued to affect her life in such a significant way, what does it matter that others can't see them? What does it even mean for them to be "real"? They are real to her, and whether they are a manifestation of mental illness or not doesn't really matter anymore. This sense of being unmoored is greatly increased by the ambiguous setting; there are so few clues that indicate when or where this story is taking place.

Cassandra never seems to concerned with digging into her past to look for potential trauma that may be causing her to have delusions; she is perfectly content with her fairy friends, her only friends, who have also gifted her with the stories she publishes, brewed in fairy "tea." Incidentally, this is my favorite depiction of fairies that I've ever read. They are incredibly sinister. They are also not necessarily otherworldly creatures; here, they are humans who have died and come back to life in weird, twisted ways, and they long for a taste of humanity. Not to trivialize the toxic nature of Cassandra's parasitic (symbiotic?) relationship with Pepper-Man, but if you like villain romances, this is it. Pepper-Man is such an intriguingly ambiguous character; he needs Cassandra to exist, he feeds off her to the point where she is constantly sickly and deficient in vitamins, and even the book argues that he has groomed her since she was a child, but he...loves her? Maybe? Things become even stranger and more compelling when their relationship turns sexual, and it is never quite clear precisely when that happens, though the book hints that it starts when Cassandra is fourteen. Though Pepper-Man is seductive, he's also very bizarre and creepy, and the book knows this, even as it refrains from taking a clear side.

The book's lovely prose complements the bewitching tale of sinister fairies and amorphous realities. When I first started reading I was a bit hesitant at the second-person perspective, since Cassandra is speaking directly to her niece and nephew, but as she began to weave her tale of fairies, I was hooked, and from there I couldn't put the book down. I was drawn in to this strange, morbid fairy tale with its languid prose; there were so many scenes where I had to pause and re-read just to take in the scene and the words. There is so much richness in the way this book is written; it makes for a heady, captivating experience; by the end one feels almost like a mosquito gorged on blood: satisfied yet slightly nauseated.

I enjoyed the originality of this one. I do think that some won’t enjoy it because of its oddness. I however found myself thinking about it even days after. I enjoyed it myself.

The biggest question is whether Cassie is a reliable narrator or not: did what she says happened actually happen, or is it her way of dealing with the trauma? Beyond that, this is rather boring. The story of Cassie's life, as told via an unpublished manuscript that contains a password the readers (only her niece and nephew) must give to a solicitor to gain access to Cassie's estate, is told in a passive voice. There's very little to explain why her will reads the way it does, except as a way to explain (or excuse) what happened Back When. I'd hoped for something with more from the niece and nephew, or maybe with more action, or, well, <i>something</i>.

eARC provided by publisher.

I have to admit I'm not a fan of Faeries and if that had been stated I wouldn't have request it. And its a bummer they didn't put that in the blurb or pitch it with supernatural/fantasy elements because it could be going to the wrong readers resulting in lower/skewed ratings. With that, if you like Faeries or have never read anything with Faeries and want to explore I recommend this book to you. I would still check out Camilla Bruce's other work in the future.

The title and cover for his novel didn't prepare me at all for what was inside and I'm still not sure exactly what I read. It's written as a letter from Cassandra Tipp, a 74 year old successful romance writer who has disappeared, addressed to her niece and nephew. She had a tumultuous life to say the least, accused of murdering her husband and later losing her father and brother in a murder-suicide. She also suffered from trauma as a child and underwent therapy for years, becoming the subject of a bestselling book written by her therapist which resulted in estrangement from her family. In her letter to her niece and nephew she tells them about the influence of the faerie world on her life and the reader is left to decide if this is this real or if she has created an alternative history to explain her childhood trauma and subsequent mental illness.

Norwegian author Camilla Bruce takes us into a dark and creepy fantasy world. The faerie world is fully realised and the relationship between Cassandra and her faerie lover is entrancing but disturbing. It took me a little while to engage with the book but the further I read, the more I wanted to know about Cassandra and her world. Many will love this tale and many won't, but however you feel it will keep you on the edge wondering what really happened to Cassandra Tipp.

I really don’t know exactly what to write here. Quite a different story. Cassandra Tipp age 74 has disappeared. She leaves a final manuscript for her heirs, a niece and nephew. They must read it, to find the clue she left in it in order to claim an inheritance. The manuscript is a biography of her life, the absolute truth she states. Cassandra has lived under the shadow of so many lies and speculation about her life. Some could be true and some pretty unbelievable. Plus there is the questions surrounding the deaths, more than one, of people close to her..

Her psychiatrist says she suffers from childhood trauma induced Psychosis. She doesn’t remember, all she knows is the fairy that rules her life is real, others just can’t see him. Her psychiatrist wrote a book about her and her life that really upset her parents. Cassandra thinks it is a lot of fiction.

Readers who like deep stories, ones that make you decide what to believe will hopefully enjoy this complicated life story. I gave it a three but it fights to be a four in my head for well written. It’s the “I wanted to know more of her beginning” that makes it a three. However, it’s one that will leave you thinking.

Thank you Camilla Bruce, NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Best-selling author Cassandra Tripp is gone. Her will stipulates that will be held for a year and if she has not returned, then her niece and nephew are to go to her house and read a document Tripp has prepared for them. It is the story of her life. Cassandra Tripp was targeted by a faerie when she was very young. But these are not your sweet, light, fluttering faeries; these are thousand year old beings who move into your life and never let you go, feeding on your vitality. Trying to convince her mother and then, later, her psychiatrist, about her life never went very well. However, the psychiatrist did write a best-selling book about her. And then there were the murders, first her husband, Tommy and then her father and her brother. This is not a charming little story about living in a faerie mound, Camilla Bruce has written an interesting debut that might make you question your assumptions about what is might be like to invite the supernatural into your life.

**Apologies - I've posted this review a little earlier than I should - I thought it had an earlier release date. Also, I absolutely loved it and was so excited to discuss it with everyone that all coherent thoughts fled my brain!

https://lynns-books.com/2020/03/19/you-let-me-in-by-camilla-bruce/
This book was brilliant. I loved it utterly and completely and frankly I’m flabbergasted that it’s a debut – it’s just so impressive and I can’t fault it at all. That being said, you’ll have to decide whether this is something for you and I’ll try my best to help with this review but I really don’t want to give away spoilers so let’s see how that plays out.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this and from the description was expecting something more akin to a mystery. I guess this is a mystery in it’s own way, although maybe not of the traditional style that I was expecting. What this actually delivers is a stunning and beautifully written tale within a tale and, frankly, there’s no clear cut decision to tell you which is truth and which is fabrication. I know what I think was going on here but I’m guessing this book will have different mileage depending on the reader.

So, what we know.

Cass, had a troubled childhood. One of three children she had a picture postcard perfect sister and a quiet and withdrawn brother. She was different than other children, didn’t make friends easily and seemed abrasive or confrontational – in fact other children were frightened by her and she was constantly at war with her mother, who seemed to be an angry, thin lipped woman.

As she grew into adulthood she seemed to have a brief respite, an interlude of ‘normality’ if you will, marrying a handsome man and becoming the perfect housewife – to the outside world at least. Until everything ended in blood.

Cassandra Tipp is a famous and reclusive novelist. As the story begins she has been missing a year. No body has been found but she is assumed dead and her wealth and property have been left to her niece and nephew upon condition that they read her final manuscript. Given Cass’s past you better believe that they’ll be reading this manuscript – anything to find out some answers to the strange history that brought such death to this particular family.

Those are the things I can tell you without any potential spoilers. I will try to keep my thoughts organised and give away as little as possible for the rest of this review.

I mentioned that Cass had a troubled childhood and this is one of the elements that plays into the ‘is it real’ or is it a figment of Cass’s imagination elements. Cass has an unseen friend – not your usual ‘imaginary friend’ but a fae person who she calls The Pepper Man. This is an unusual relationship and sometimes quite uncomfortable to read about as Cass’s narrative starts from a relatively young age. However, this is a consistent part of her life and leads her to make other fae ‘friends’ who dwell in the Mound within the woods. I can’t deny that I loved this aspect of the story. It’s so well written, so well imagined and makes for absolutely compelling reading. These fae are definitely not relatives to Disney fae. They are unusual looking and they feed off those they become attached to. They operate on a totally different moral compass to humans but at the same time do form attachments. The relationship between Cass and the Pepper Man being a perfect example of such. Both become dependent on the other even if it’s not always totally healthy.

The writing here is stunning. I have to say that I was pretty much hooked from the beginning, I admit that I have a tendency to love stories where I’m reading a narrative style like the one here. Here Cassandra is talking to her niece and nephew through the pages of a manuscript and relaying to them the story of her life. If they choose, at the end of the narrative, to continue with the inheritance then they will have at least been warned of the potential consequences. Sorry, went off track there a little. I was talking about the writing – it’s beautiful, it’s evocative and it was perfect for me. This is one of those books that is totally immersive. I went in and couldn’t get back out. Sometimes I was angry, sometimes I was sad, but I was always fascinated and couldn’t gobble up the words quickly enough. And, on top of this everything was perfectly imagined in my mind’s eye. There were no little irritabilities that sometimes pull you out of the story. I simply loved it and this is an author that I will now watch with great interest.

The characters – well, Cass is the main character and you’ll need to decide if she’s an unreliable narrator or not. Personally, I don’t really think she’s unreliable in a certain respect – because she believes with all her heart the story she’s telling. You, the reader, will have to decide what else lies between the lines on the page and reach your own conclusion in that respect.

The only other thing I would mention here is that there is a sense of discomfort at certain points during this read. Admittedly, nothing here is written for shock value and in fact everything that the author writes is necessary to the story. Just be aware that some of the aspects to this are dark and they may be triggers for some readers.

To conclude. I’m not sure if I’ve really spread any light on this novel or whether or not you might want to pick it up – I think the only thing I could say is this could be a very dark tale of the fae, or it could be a tale of a young girl with mental health problems brought on my trauma.

That being said I absolutely loved this book. I could literally read it again right now and I’m desperate to talk to everyone about it.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 5 out of 5*

I loved this book. I didn't realize it had a fantasy aspect, and am glad, as I wouldn't have picked it up. I am so glad I did! It centers around eccentric author Cassandra Tipp, who disappears as an old lady at the beginning of the book, but leaves a manuscript for her niece and nephew to read in order to claim their inheritance. The manuscript tells the story of Cassie's life, with conflicting stories around what Cassie believes happened and what her psychiatrist believes happened. Cassie' has maintained for her entire life that she has become entrenched in the fairy world and that most of her key life experiences have been influenced in some way by this relationship. The psychiatrist wrote a book that got him famous around Cassie creating this world in order for her mind to defend itself from horrible abuse. We don't know where the truth lies, but we get an amazingly written story from Cassie's perspective.

The way the author described the fairy world and the fairies themselves was so descriptive and engaging- I was easily able to suspend my disbelief and fully immerse myself in that world. The juxtaposition between the logical and what Cassie explains really happened is fascinating. I literally woke up in the middle of the night to finish reading.

If fantasy isn't your thing but you like mysteries (and fantastic writing), I think you should give this book a chance. This will stick with me for a long time, and I am excited to see what Camilla Bruce comes up with next.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A completely different & unusual book to what I normally read. I the style & format is fast moving & intriguing & the storyline grabs your attention instantly

I thought it was bold to compare this title to Sharp Objects. I stand corrected. A dark tale that cuts and leaves a mark.

When I signed up to review this, I liked the thriller element. The blurb sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun. But then I got to the parts where it was less mystery/thriller and more supernatural. I guess if I was expecting that, it wouldn't have been so off-putting. But nothing in the blurb said that it was going to focus mainly on faeries, and the role it plays in the narrator's life. I think because of that, I was just unable to finish and review this, as it's not the right book for me.

The amazing way that this character lived to hide the pain and nightmare that she was living was unlike anything I have read prior.
I have to admit that the beginning of the story was a little hard to follow and left me wondering if I had the wrong book as it didn’t really add up to its brief description but as I read on, I began to fit the pieces together more clearly. The abomination of what Cassie went through is unbelievable. The glimpse into her mind and the world she built for herself had me wondering what was actually real. I hurt for what she went through and could understand why she would dive into this other world to escape it all.
Just don’t give up on this book too early, you may have difficulty in the beginning as I did but it does get better and it is worth it to hold on! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is a very strange novel. The blurb describes it as “sinister,” which is a great word for it, but it’s also compared to The Ocean at the End of the Lane and that threw me off. This is not a nice story. It’s a very dark fairy tale. Literally. It’s unclear what’s real and what isn’t, but the world that Cassandra Tipp inhabits is disturbing. She’s supposed to be a gifted writer and, being the narrator, the prose is beautiful and dense. It’s a short book and I read it in a day but it was still slow. The actual events could be described in a few pages and the rest is images. This is not a crowd-pleaser but it’s impeccably written, even if the characters are too strange to be relatable. I’m not even sure about my rating. It’s one of those books that will stay in your head for a long time.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Macmillan-Tor/Forge!

This was so not what I was expecting! This was such a wonderfully strange and bizarre story that I just had to keep reading to find out what was really happening. How much was true - couldn’t tell you. What really happened - couldn’t tell you. How enjoyable and upsetting was it - hugely !

I found this book so hard to get into. It was all over the place and I am not interested in fantasy/fairy stories. Not my genre !!

You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce – Publish date 4/21/20.
Five Stars.
What a brilliant novel! I wanted to read this book because of the comparison in the blurb to Sharp Objects (one of my all time favorite books), and it doesn't disappoint, although it could also be compared to the writings of Carolyn Turgeon, who writes wonderfully dark fairy tales.

I think it's hard to give a synopsis of this novel without spoiling it...truly it is best to go in blind. However, know that it involves family dysfunction, childhood abuse and trauma, fairies, magic, murder and mystery. It's really so well done with lots of psychological insight. Camilla Bruce did an amazing job with a very heavy topic and yet it is not overly graphic. (Wait...how did she do that?) I was startled after the first couple of pages, but I am so glad I kept reading. You Let Me In is a terrific, as well as terrifying, psychological thriller that kept me turning the pages and hoping it would never end. That's good writing IMO and I am very grateful for Netgalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Camilla Bruce for the opportunity.