I loved the small town setting, premise, and the 80’s!

The main character/narrator is Frankie, 14 year old girl who moves to Litani, MN to live with her mom, from CA after her dad passed away.

She immediately notices something is off about the town. The kids are weird and don’t play outside. Her mom is the county prosecutor and working on a big case.

There are so many little things that unfold and everyone who is an adult is under suspicion.

I think the writing was superb, Frankie’s voice felt like someone I knew when I was a teen.

Great story. Definitely to go subject matter but I am thankful that the author didn’t have to go into detail for the reader to know what was going on.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was just a fantastic book. I feel odd saying that since the subject deals with childhood sexual abuse, but the book was just so well written. The plot is heartbreaking and disturbing (and based on true events). The characters are well developed and interesting. The setting (the late 80s small town) felt realistic. I'll be thinking about this book for a while to come.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is the type of book the lures you right in, it got my attention right away.

Readers should check trigger warnings before starting this book for things such as sexual abuse, child abuse, loss of a parent, neglect etc.

Frankie is a 14 year old girl who has been living with her father until his untimely death, at which point she has to go back to living with her mother in Litani, Minnesota. Something is off about the town and all of the people in it. There are many secrets in Litani & many secrets in her family's history too. Frankie's mother is more like a grouchy roommate than a mother. Frankie's mother seems incredibly annoyed by Frankie's mere presence in her home. Following her dad's death you would like her mother would be more attentive and loving, especially since she rarely saw her daughter after the divorce.

The characters were well described & their motivations were well explained.

I enjoyed the illustrations from the plant journal that Frankie kept with her father. The drawings added something a little extra to the story and I thought it was really unique.

The book was enjoyable throughout and the conclusion was satisfying. I would absolutely recommend it to friends.

I really enjoyed this one. It was fast paced and the main character was relatable. I was immediately drawn into her story and I cared about what was happening to her. I could really relate to the small town setting, having grown up in one myself, and I always find that kind of setting to be a draw. I've enjoyed everything I have read by Jess Lourey and I am looking forward to her next book.

I was a big fan of the authors previous books so it was looking forward to this. It was interesting and kept me flipping the pages but not as engaging as I’d hoped. It took me awhile to get into it. I enjoyed the characters and how dark and disturbing this book was.

QUICK TAKE: I was a big fan of Jess Lourey’s previous book, BLOODLINE, a dark and twisty small town mystery, and Lourey is back again with a similar story, this time set against the backdrop of the satanic panic controversy of the 1980s. The book follows a young woman who is forced to move back in with her estranged mother after the death of her father, and finds herself caught in the middle of a dark and disturbing game that may or may not involve devil worship, and perhaps something even more sinister (😈).⁣
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There’s a lot to like about #Litani, in particular the setting and themes explored. The mystery kept me engaged and I thought Lourey did a nice job focusing on characters and relationships, in particular the relationship between Frankie and her mother. Did I like it as much as Bloodline? No, but the time period and twist in that book felt a little bit more unique. However, I think if you’re looking for a recommendation in the genre, this one is definitely a really solid choice!

This book was just okay for me. I really liked Bloodline and was hoping for something along the same line in the creepy factor. This one dragged pretty much from the get go. I just couldn’t get hooked. It was pretty transparent what was going on from the beginning and there weren’t any surprises. I will definitely keep reading Jess Lourey, this just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Based on true events this book is well written but it was at the same time quite disturbing to read. The kind of evil described here that still exists even today is just baffling and heartrenching 💔!

This is the first book I have read by Jess Lourey. The topic and story in itself isn't an easy one to write about in general and it takes courage to tackle such a the topic especially when the book is based on true events that occurred in the author's own hometown.

I received an e-Arc of the book by the publisher Thomas and Mercer and the author Jess Lourey via NetGalley.

Welcome to Litani, Minnesota. Stay out of the woods. Don’t go past the playground. Don’t play with any adults.

When 14-year-old Frankie has no choice but to move in with her cold, distant mother, she can’t help but to feel anxious about how she will settle in to a home where she doesn’t feel particularly welcome. She soon finds her home situation to be the least of her worries when she begins to explore Litani and get to know people around town. As dark secrets unfold and Frankie is invited to play “The Game,” she begins to sense something is really wrong with the town. Why did her mother warn her not to play with adults? What’s in the woods? And why aren’t there any kids playing outside?
This is my second book by Jess Lourey and I really enjoyed it. It was dark, twisted, and inspired by true events. Frankie is a very resilient and quick-thinking main character. She is very relatable and I am glad the novel was from her perspective, rather than an adult, as I found her narrative very objective and factual, which served the story well. I struggled to put this novel down, especially as I got closer to the conclusion.

* I do want to note that this novel may be triggering to survivors of childhood trauma and abuse. *

I love this author. She never disappoints. This is my third book from her and a new favorite! So dark and twisted. I loved the storyline and the twists and turns.

Set in the early 1980s, a teen moves the small town of Litani to live in with her estranged mother. Frankie is fourteen-years-old, recently lost her father, and is not happy to be living in Litani. Her mother is a busy prosecutor, and Frankie has time on her own to learn about her new town. She soon realizes something is off about Litani.

Frankie is a smart girl. She’s a young teen, with a lot going against her, but she knows to listen to her gut. As she learns more about the people in Litani, Frankie knows things are not right. As Frankie meets other teens, she soon learns exactly how disturbing things are in the small community.

An intense story about a satanic cult preying on children. A dark and atmospheric novel inspired by true events.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing. A dark and disturbing read! I was honestly surprised to find that it was based on true events. Loved it!!!

The story is told mainly in Frankie's point of view. This kind of had a creepy sense in it, like I felt like I was watching a horror movie. People living in the town of Litani believe in a cult which is Satanic and Frankie's mother is determined to save the little girls who went missing. As a result, I actually enjoyed the plot--the plot was interesting and intriguing that I was hooked into the book from the beginning to the end. Since it is based on a true story, it piqued my interest more. Frankie is somewhat a likable character and I like how her relationship with her mother seemed to improve towards the end of the book. Though the ending was OK, the story was a bit emotional.

I have to be honest -- I just didn't enjoy Litani. It tells the story of a very sad, lonely 14 year-old girl whose father dies and she is forced to move to Litani, Minnesota, with a mother she doesn't really know. Frankie's mother left her and her father when she was a toddler, and she's only seen her once in the interim. Frankie's mother is a county prosecutor and is much too busy with a big case to bother with a 14 y/o. Left to her own devices, Frankie ventures out and meets a group of mean girls and a strange, older boy.

The story is rife with pedophilia, weird rituals, and general child abuse. And even though the story takes place in the heat of summer, the whole thing just left me cold. It was a story devoid of any iota of joy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I wish I had liked it better.

This book 😳 I am still shocked it’s based on true events. It’s definitely one of the most creepiest and disturbing reads lately. It is sadly based around child sexual abuse. BUT, all that being said it was such a good read.

The book is very well written. The characters are well developed with back stories and is told from one POV which is Frankie, a 14 year old girl. She is such a loveable character. The story is full of mysteries and will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting to keep reading.

Now that I have read Bloodline and Litani and loved them both, I need to pick up Unspeakable Things!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas& Mercer for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

i was so excited, yet nervous, for this considering i absolutely loved Bloodline, but did not enjoy Unspeakable Things at all. this was going to be my "tiebreaker" for this author! unfortunately, it did not completely work out for me.
I loved the ominous & strange tone, our main character, Frankie, and the weird small town vibes. i love Lourey's writing and the fact that she uses true crime as an inspiration for her stories. but this book ultimately just fell flat to me. i think if you go in thinking of this more of a dark contemporary drama vs. a thriller, you may have a better time with it.
*minor spoilers*
there's really no major plot twist or surprise, which is something i think i need in my thrillers. from the beginning, you know there's a child sex trafficking ring going on. you're almost immediately introduced to kind of a creepy guy and - surprise! - in the end, he's a creepy guy. i guess the twist is who else is involved but you're only introduced to so many characters so it's not *really* a twist.
i will continue to read from Lourey because i was just that obsessed with Bloodline but this was pretty disappointing :(

As always, I love Jess Lourey. The way in which she paints a picture is both vivid and yet vague. Generally, books that are vague leave me feeling frustrated with the author, but that has never been the case with Lourey. I am always intrigued and find myself turning the pages faster because I have to know what is going on.



Her topics are disturbing without being overly detailed. Anyone who loves suspense will struggle to put her books down.



I listened to the audio on this and genuinely enjoyed much of it - my only complaint is that the narrator didn't seem to voice some of the other characters well. Thankfully, it didn't distract from the story.

Wow, what a dark and difficult read. Litani is the story about a small town in Minnesota at the center of a child sex abuse scandal. And it was inspired by a true story.

This is a dark book about a small town in rural Minnesota. At first I thought it was a bit slow, but it did pick up as I continued to read. And looking back on it, I realize even more how disturbing the story was. The book is told from 14 year old Frankie’s perspective, but it didn’t read like she was 14 at all. I actually thought most of the children acted older than they were, likely because of what they had to endure.

This is my first book by Lourey. I’m really looking forward to reading more of her books. As a true crime fan, I love how she bases her books on a true story.

I’ve read Jess Lourey’s cozy mysteries and really enjoyed them; they’re funny, witty, and the bad guy is always caught in the end. This book was definitely not a cozy but gets the same result in a much grittier, more disturbing way (but fortunately no descriptions of abuse). The story itself is told by a 14-year-old so there’s also the heartbreaking issue of losing innocence mixed in with the child abuse. Frankie is thrown into a situation where she has to live with a mom who doesn’t know how to love her and a town that has been ripped apart by this scandal in the past and is now again. There were some inconsistencies (what kind of parent lets her kid run around town when kids are disappearing?) but overall the story sucked me in and kept me guessing until the very end.

Following the untimely death of her father, Frankie Jubilee, 14, gets sent to live with her estranged (and unwarm) mother, the prosecutor in a small Minnesota town called Litani. The one time Frankie visited her mother, the mother used plyers to pull out a lose tooth and understandably upset Frankie who was then sent home. Is that really a thing?

There is something very bad happening to the children of Litani and Frankie and her mother individually are trying to stop it. Frankie hears whispers from other kids of "The Game" and her mother tells her to stay away from adults who want to play with kids. The book is harking back to the Satanic Panic of teh 1980s, which I think I vaguely remember from a Phil Donahue show that I probably shouldn't have been watching in the early-to-mid 1980s.

The book is told from Frankie's perspective, so reads like YA, but the subject matter is adult.

For me the problem with this book is not the writing or the characters (although parts of it were eye rolling in the too coincidental sense). The premise is flawed for me. I don't want to read a book where ritual sexual abuse of children is the plot point. I'm not saying I can't read about bad things or a book where bad things happen. Those are actually my favorite types of books.
I just don't want to read about ritualistic sexual abuse through the eyes of a child. I read the author's note, so I understand where she was coming from, but this book is a hard pass for me.