This Story didn't go the way I thought it was going too at all! The beginning while slightly confusing was intriguing and pulled me in. The time jumps back and forth kept me questioning and quite confused throughout. All I can say is don't even try to predict what's going on because you will probably be wrong. You're along for the ride for sure. Full of WTH moments. I'm still asking myself what I just read.

Such a great horror read, particularly if you struggle with mental health/are a parent. Reminiscent of Last Time I lied which I also loved. The writing style was a bit draggy in some areas and I didn’t love all the dialogue but overall a solid read!

Twisty and surreal. A recommended purchase for collections where niche horror is particularly popular.

Thank you for sharing the ARC with me. While I found the concept intriguing, I must admit that I struggled with the book at times. The plot was a bit confusing in places, and by the time I had reached about a third of the way through, I found myself becoming disinterested. As someone who enjoys reading thrillers, I have come across many different writing styles and suspense-building techniques, and I must say that sometimes these can become repetitive, making it difficult to differentiate between novels. Nonetheless, I appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

This was a strange novel that made it hard for me to put down. It could be confusing at times since the narrative jumps time throughout, and you don't know what is going on or who you can believe. This book is weird but interesting.
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I was very excited to get my hands on this one… and then just couldn’t get through it. I made it halfway but then gave up. I just wasn’t interested. I’m grateful, as always, for the ARC and will try this author again.

Nice creepy suspenseful read. Perfect for this time of the year. The writing easily flowed. The characters situations and actions felt in tune with each other. I really enjoyed the read. First time reading the author and was happily entertained.

It took me a while to finish this book. The beginning was great but as the story developed, it gets confusing and very disconnected. The premise of the book is great but I found that the book lacked basic research, and it was very disengaging. I try not to give very low star reviews, but I just didn't enjoy the book.

Fast paced & spooky possession thriller! Twisty & ambiguous! The kind of book you want to start over again after reading the ending!

By 11% I'm unsure I want to continue with this book and after reading some other reviews, I've decided it's not for me. Apparently it is graphic and violent and gory and disorientating and that's just not what I need.

This started out so strong. Great cover, interesting synopsis, I was so ready to dive in to this. As the story begins, I was instantly sucked in. An attack and a death - and she doesn't remember any of it. I was totally on board for many of the visitations - the book is well laid out and easy to pause after each part to catch your breath and process what you've read.

But around half way, the story started stuttered for me. I was losing the thread, left wondering what was really going on. I decided to keep pushing, assuming it would all wrap up. Instead it ended with me even more confused and disappointed. I wish I'd loved it more.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This was another great addition to the unreliable narrator troupe and had some callbacks to Gone Girl. I received an ARC because many of my favorite Booktubers were discussing this book all over the place and I had to read it. Well, none of my friends were wrong. This book swept me up from the first page to the last one. I was constantly is suspense and I loved every moment. The ending was particularly satisfying.

This book was a wild, psychologically thrilling ride. As a horror lover I was immediately intrigued by the dark and twisting narrative. Anthony Marino does a great job of hitting the reader with a harsh, bracing reality right from the start. Not an easy read, especially if you are not acclimated to horror novels, as it is full of difficult themes and body horror. I enjoyed this book overall and would recommend it to any horror fans.

This was somewhat thriller, some horror. I had no clue though and certainly wasn't expecting all the twists and turns. I've been a reader a long time and never saw this one coming. Very entertaining and should be added to all tbr piles! Thanks to Redhook for the advance copy for an honest review!

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess started out with so much promise. The action immediately sucks you in, especially if you are a true crime fan. What follows the first chapter or two of confusion after a home invasion is just that. More confusion. The story quickly becomes difficult to understand what exactly is going on, and I'm not sure it's intentional.

This just wasn’t for me. I found a lot of the story to be disjointed and confusing, though I do see a lot of potential for future awesome stories from this author.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess started out good with a fast-paced story of a break in. But once the break in is over, the book makes absolutely no sense. The story jumps from past to present without any indication that it’s doing so… leaving you completely confused. The story doesn’t flow nicely, it just leaves you saying “what?” and not in a good way. It seems like the author was more concerned about using big, complicated words to make himself sound smart rather than make the book make any sense at all. As the reader, I feel no sympathy or empathy for Sydney. She’s a weak character who is extremely predictable in the worst ways. It was a painstaking read that I would not recommend.

One of the best novels I have read this year...a masterpiece! I thoroughly recommend it...it deals with a real subject matter (trauma after a bloody attack in the home), while also having a science fiction edge to it that takes on Big Pharma. This is a work about trust, it is about anger, it is about motherhood and the difficulties of keeping together a marriage that is not going well...it is about memory and the issues surrounding it. I was thoroughly impressed by the many layers....and how it grows to a crescendo that you will not see coming. Impressive, impressive work!

Title: The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess
Author: Andy Marino
Publisher: Redhook (September 28th, 2021)
Sydney Burgess was not even supposed to be at her house when she is suddenly the victim of a home invasion. During a sudden burst of survival instinct and quick thinking, she manages to escape from her attacker. In the hospital, authorities question her about the attempted robbery and the physical assault but also relay information about the event that she does not remember happening at all.

For the duration of the novel, readers join Sydney as she desperately tries to piece together the truth of what happened during that violent encounter while also battling lingering trauma from her days of drug abuse.
Fans of psychological thrillers will love the way the author slowly and painfully peels back layers and layers of Sydney’s psyche; unreliable memories, snippets of her past that may or may not be related to real-time events, and that feeling of staring into a fogged-up mirror-unable to really make sense of anything the main character is experiencing but waiting for that fog to clear and give clarity. The big reveal.

But also...

There’s a real sense that the author is manipulating the audience to formulate theories and buy into a narrative so that later, there will be a shocking ah-ha moment. And this is effective, for the most part. But it’s also confusing and mildly frustrating. A big reveal doesn’t feel quite as exciting if the method used is just to bombard the reader with this struggle to figure out if everything that’s happening is just a metaphor for “fighting your demons”.
Are we talking about real demons or drug addiction? Is Sydney haunted by her past or really haunted? I’ve never been a fan of this trope. Example: The movie, Mother! With Jennifer Lawrence-am I watching something symbolic or is this a real-life situation? Just tell me, because I’m getting annoyed.
Thrillers that employ the female unreliable narrator due to hormones, or pregnancy, or trauma, or whatever, wear thin. I hesitate to pick up any more dark thrillers, horror crossovers if it’s immediately clear the protagonist is unreliable. It’s too easy for the author to lean into exploiting mental illness or some other disability in order to pull one over on readers.

2 our 5 skulls
Sadie Hartmann
(Originally published at SCREAM Magazine issue 68)

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Redhook Books for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.