When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen is a haunting exploration of history and its lingering impact. Set in a North Carolina plantation-turned resort, the novel follows Mira as she confronts past traumas and ghostly presences. McQueen masterfully blends horror with social commentary. A chilling, thought-provoking read.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. From the description, it should have been my style, but it was not.

A thrilling premise, but a not so thrilling execution. The book flounders between genres, but never quite finds a home in one. The book is billed as horror, revenge thriller, with historical reflections; however, the thread of the plot never quite reaches the zenith necessary of a thriller. My favorite parts of the story were the flashbacks told as a collective memory and the coming-of-age story of all the characters. But I found myself reaching for the plot only to reach the ending unsatisfied.

Do you ever read a book thinking it’s going to be one way, and it’s not? I read 35% of this book and had to give up. The author is great. She was able to vividly write the surroundings and get you lost in the south. However I was really hoping for an evil plantation haunted by ghosts of the slaves done wrong. Tell me that story doesn’t sound amazing? I ended up quitting because none of that was happening and the story would jump back and forth from current time, to when they were kids. I was confused for a few pages every time. The chapters about the evil house and ghosts were good but it never amounted to anything. I think if you keep going, it might though. Give this a try. The author did do a great job, I just wanted more of creep factor early on I suppose.

I said that I would recommend this book but I hesitated. And I would hesitate to recommend this one without some pretty intense content warnings. With the premise of the book and the setting, it felt fairly obvious that the book would cover Black trauma, past and present - but it was much more intense than I had anticipated. There were several points where I had to set down the book and walk away before I could continue reading. Let it be known though that this is a credit to LaTanya McQueen and her ability to write a visceral horror novel. I felt like I was present and I could not look away.

Oh man! A desperately haunting read, this one. When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen is a marvelous exploration of what it means to be Black in the south, and the ways those closest to us can betray our confidences. My heart ached for Mira with every turn of the page.

Childhood friends reunite at a wedding held at a plantation in the south. I loved the that the horror elements revolved around atrocities of slavery. Unfortunately, the horror fell a bit short at the end. I would not hesitate to read from the author again, as I was impressed with her writing style.

A book that reckons with Southern refusal to account for it's legacy of atrocities, When the Reckoning Comes weaves a take worth telling in short order. I look forward to future works from this author that will hopefully expand character development within similar settings.

Haunting, dark and at times disturbing a Black woman returns to her hometown to attend a Plantation wedding.
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Ghosts and dark pasts paint these pages in a story like no other.
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Thank you @harperperennial for an advanced copy

I really had high hopes for this book. The book summary sounded amazing and I couldn’t wait to read it. Unfortunately, this one didn’t live up to the hype in my head. Don’t get me wrong; it was an ok book, but not what I had hoped it would be.

The bones of this book were good. The plot was interesting and felt very relevant to today. It was really the characters I couldn’t connect with. Mira was not a bad character. She had all the pieces for a someone you’d root for. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel there was a lot of emotion with her. I got more from Jesse’s character and actually felt a decent connection with him. There was some depth and emotion there. Celine was very one dimentional. There was absolutely no emotion behind her character.

I liked the mix of past and present. The experience that Mira and Jesse have at the Woodsman plantation when they are young is at the center of the story. Something happens at the plantation that changes them both. The friendship between Jesse and Mira ends, and distance grows between Celine and Mira. Now years later, Celine reaches out to Mira out of the blue begging her to attend her wedding, which you guessed it, is at the renovated Woodsman plantation. While Mira has hesitations about attending a wedding at the Woodsman (not only because of the incident, but because of its dark history) she is overwhelmed with her desire to see Jesse again. As soon as Mira arrives, she immediately feels that she made a mistake in coming.

The plantation has been transformed into a tourist trap that features reenactments of life on the plantation and features a very water-downed history of the slaves that were forced to work there. Most of the staff is black. You can feel the correlation that McQueen was drawing between the grotesque history of slavery and the prevalence of racism and oppression still around today. Everything about the plantation makes Mira uneasy and as the wedding events continue, the unease begins to rise.

I don’t want to give too much away so I won’t go into more detail, but I will say that the plot was good. McQueen is a good writer. She paints a vivid picture of a dark history and the impact it’s had on today. The past of the plantation is horrifying and uncomfortable to read about (obviously the point). I did feel a little bit like there were too many elements tossed in and that the book felt a bit choppy for me. It didn’t have a smooth flow. And again, I didn’t really connect with the characters. But despite that, I would still say it was a decent read and wouldn’t discourage you from reading it.

I thought this was a wonderfully crafted, haunting novel. It's heavy and dark as it deals with enslavement, violence, microaggressions, and racism, but it gave me so much to think about. The ending felt a little rushed, but I highly recommend When the Reckoning Comes to fans of horror and ghost stories, especially as this one deals with our nation's history.

Haunting, honest, brutal, and beautiful. LaTanya McQueen has made a marvel in the form of When the Reckoning Comes. Truly one of the best books of 2021, I couldn't put it down.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a really good supernatural horror novel. Mira comes back to the Southern small town she grew up in for a friend's wedding....at a plantation. Seriously. Mira is uncomfortable with the event being held at a recently renovated plantation, a fact that doesn't mean to phase the bride, her childhood friend, Celine.

I really enjoyed the way this told, especially the interstitial Greek chorus chapters that really get into what was going on in the plantation. A story that will make you think about what history means to all people involved.

I wanted a bit more from the climax, but a thought-provoking story.

I enjoyed this book, though it was hard to get through some of the scenes of brutality and racism. The writing was really compelling, however, and I felt like the characters' backstories were some of the strongest parts of the book. I thought the dynamic between the three friends in both past and present day was very clear..

One of the best parts of experiencing an author’s debut novel is the the thrill of discovery. Whether the book turns out to be an amazing experience or not, witnessing the work and the mind of someone new is an event. In the case of When the Reckoning Comes, by LaTanya McQueen, readers needn’t worry. Supernatural horror and the very real horrors of racism and prejudice are joined with a real talent for storytelling sure to engage readers.

Told from the viewpoint of Mira, a Black woman who has attempted to escape her past through lack of proximity and her career, she heads home for the wedding of one of her oldest friends, Celine. McQueen wastes no time endearing readers to Mira; her anxiety and even feelings of hope are on full display as she makes the trip home. Flashbacks are woven seamlessly into the threads of the novel in order to provide both context and a deeper sense of connection.

It is this build up, this attention to detail and care for the readers’ investment, which makes Woodsman plantation all the more shocking. As mentioned in the synopsis, this former home of slavery and pain as been renovated and, of course, it is the Celine’s chosen wedding venue. McQueen deftly discusses the real horrors of the past and their ever present mark on today’s timeline. Jesse, Mira, and Celine realize they must face what has become before in order to have a hope for the future.

This debut falls solidly in the horror genre. Much like Toni Morrison’s Beloved, When the Reckoning Comes is the intersection of fictional horrors and very real ones. From a certainly haunted plantation, to terrifying revelations, McQueen taps into the kind of dread and darkness readers hope to experience. In fact, several parts of this might be quite difficult for even the most seasoned of horror readers. It is that earlier connection, that personal engagement, combined with truly captivating writing that makes it all the more horrific.

If you are looking for a great, important read this September (or whenever) consider picking up this book. It is sure to appeal to a wide variety of readers. This is a stunning debut novel.

There’s a lot to unpack with this story. I don’t know why anyone would want to have a wedding on an old plantation. Then to invite your only Black friend like it’s nothing and I don’t understand why Mira didn’t stay home. Mira had me shaking my head during this story because she really let these racist white people say and do whatever. “ Oh you’re Celine’s Black friend?” Excuse me? That’s not how you address people.

This story did take some time to build up and when it did I was really invested to see how it would unfold. The last few chapters were intense, but I wanted more from that ending. For a horror story I didn’t really get any scary/spooky vibes while reading. Overall, I did enjoy the story and would definitely read another book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. This was tough to read. The depictions of slavery were brutal, and hard to get through. The present day story started out compelling, but I'm not the biggest fan of supernatural horror, so it ultimately lost me toward the end. I like the overall concept of a haunted place, haunted memories, and the intersection of the two in the present, but I skimmed through a lot of the end.

When the Reckoning Comes plays out in ways that I didn’t foresee. I basically expected dumbass wedding-goers to get picked off one by one by supernatural forces as Mira put the pieces together. And, in a way, it’s almost that, but also not really. So, shame on me, because I should’ve known that Dr. McQueen was going to deliver something much more complex and nuanced. The story definitely has bloodshed, but there are layers of mystery and pathos carefully weaved in as well. She explores the delicate line separating memory and history—the methods our subconscious uses to shield us from a cruel past versus the methods racists use to systematically reconstruct harsh realities to uphold their supremacy. All the while, the novel never forgets that it’s a ghost story. LaTanya McQueen is a gifted writer unafraid of tackling serious and under-discussed subjects. Her When the Reckoning Comes is just the right amount of uncomfortable, striking a nice balance between haunting and unrelenting.