𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗦𝗡𝗔𝗣𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧: One of the things I love most about Jess Lourey’s novels is that they are based on true crimes. Being a true crime junkie, I love reading books like this! Sure, they aren’t the easiest to read but they are so compelling that you can’t stop!

_____________________

WOW! This book, while hard to stomach at some points, is well written and compelling! I flew through this one in one sitting because I needed to see where the author was going to take it. It’s dark, disturbing, and infuriating! How people can do horrific things to children is deplorable. Thankfully, Lourey keeps out the gritty details making the book unsettling but not too tough to read. I honestly loved how she went about it.

So, do you remember hearing stories in the 80’s about a child abuse scandal that involved horrific crimes and satanic rituals? This is all that in a fiction novel. It gives me the chills! While I wasn’t born in 84 when this happened (I was born in 85) I remember hearing about it and even seeing some primetime specials about it. I think there are even a few made for tv movies involving this crime. Anyway, the narrator of this novel is a 14-year-old girl that was sent to live with her mom following the death of her father. When she gets to the small town of Litani she doesn’t expect to be thrust into a mystery that has the possibility of changing her life for the worse. Are there people out there who are really hurting children? A satanic cult who is abusing children and throwing them in the river? What is happening in this small town and how does her mother, new friend, and the people in the neighboring trailer park play a part in it all? All of those questions are slowly revealed in the compelling read!

So, why only 4 stars? One of the things that I am left questioning though when it comes to this book is who is the target audience? When reading it in the point of view of a 14-year-old, I felt at times that it could be geared toward the (upper) young adult readers. However, when I got more into the story, I realized that I wouldn’t want my kids reading a book this unsettling, so I thought maybe it IS geared towards adult. I’m still confused a little bit to be honest. Sure, the narrator is a child herself, but could the book have worked if the narrator were older? I don’t know. Either way, it did leave me feeling a little off, but I enjoyed it regardless.

If you’re in the mood for a darker book that will worm its way under your skin and make you squirm, then this is a great book for you! Lourey pens a dark mystery that readers can’t help but devour! I definitely recommend this one. I can’t wait for more from her! So far, I’ve read 3 and enjoyed them all!

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

While I didn’t love this book, I also didn’t hate it. The topic was a bit too dark for me. I did enjoy all of the unexpected twists and thought it was an overall decent book.

First I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

This book was a fast, creepy read. Its even creepier when you think about the fact that it's based on a true story.

I thought the author did a really good job of making this book sound as if the story were being told by a teenage girl.

I kept the pages turning!

This was written very well to sound like it's from a fourteen year old's perspective. In case you are like me and worried about the kitten - everything is fine, no danger!

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Held my attention from page 1 until the very last page. Based on the description, I went in to this book expecting one thing, but got something way better. The characterization of both the town and the people who lived in the town was so realistic that you could easily envision everything. It was a slow burning, dread I was feeling as I kept reading. The fact that this is loosely based on true events makes it even more disturbing. The author did a great job describing everything and I felt the topic was handled excellently. It wasn't too graphic which made it easier to stomach the topic. I have never read this author's previous works but will be circling back to check them out.

Thank you to Negalley and Thomas & Mercer for my advanced copy.

Review also posted on my Goodreads page. received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley~thank you! This is the third Jess Lourey book I've read, and all three were loosely based on true crime events in small Minnesota towns. I knew I would love this book about a summer of satanic panic. It is based on the 1980s child abuse scandal in Jordan, MN, but Lourey calls the town Litani. Frankie is our smart and intuitive protaganist, and I love just her brain and heart. If you enjoy reading about secrets, summer, scrappy girls who smoke cigarettes and run wild, plant lore, kittens, friendship, and kids as heroes, you'll enjoy this book. I loved Frankie's plant personality artwork throughout the book, too. I hope Jess Lourey keeps writing these Minnesota-based inspired by true events tales!

Frankie is a feisty 14 year old in 1984 who just lost her dear father and has to go and live with her estranged mother in a small town, at a time when there are rumors of satanic rituals involving child sacrifices, which her mother investigates as she is the local prosecutor.
All through the book I rooted for Frankie as she had some much going against her in a world with no friends nor family, expected to root in a hostile environment where crazyness happens. A true pagetuner, I've read this book in a few days staying up late because I wanted to know what was happening, although we get the gist early on. The only letdown for me were the last few chapters were everything was explained to a tee and one of the main character even changed completely. Nice in a book, but that is not how life works.
All in all, very good writing even if the main theme is very disturbing, it is described in a controlled and balanced matter.

In Litani, we follow Francesca Jubilee who after her father's passing is forced to move in with her estranged mother. From the beginning we see Litani is not a city like any other and seems to be guarding some very dark secrets, what are they and who could be involved? I want to say that I think this book is very well written and so I'd rate it more of a 3.5 than just a 3. I think the story sucks you in, I guess I just wanted a bit more from it, perhaps a bit more mystery? I felt like it was missing something, while it was very dark, I feel like another element could've been brought in but nonetheless it was an interesting story!

* I received an advanced copy of this ebook to read and review. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher. *

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me an advance copy of Jess Lourey’s latest thriller, Litani, in exchange for an honest review.

Jess Lourey is one of those authors whose writing alone could carry a novel, regardless of the plot. Fortunately, #Litani contained a healthy balance of both intrigue and imagery. Before diving into the review, readers should know that Litani involves some dark subject matter, namely, crimes against children. Although the story is fiction, it was inspired by true crime events, which are mentioned in the author’s note at the start of the book.

Following a tragic incident, fourteen-year-old Frankie Jubilee is plucked from her life in Pasadena, California and plunged into the grim town of #Litani, Minnesota to live with her estranged mother, Linda Jubilee. Linda is a small-town prosecutor who is rarely home and seems to only care about herself. The two have no relationship due to something Linda did to Frankie when she was seven, which was the last time she visited.

On Frankie’s first day in #Litani, Linda suggests that she hang out at the nearby playground before running off to a meeting. Without further explanation, Linda warns Frankie to stay out of the woods and away from adults. Thinking her mom is joking, Frankie ignores the warning and starts exploring the woods where she encounters a younger group of girls who ask if she wants to play “The Game.” The situation escalates and they end up beating Frankie to a pulp until Crane, a seventeen-year-old resident, intervenes.

Crane leads Frankie towards his home so she can clean herself up. Along the way, she meets Sly, yet another unsavory character in the town. The brief encounter prompts Crane to warn her to stay out of the woods and away from Sly. When Frankie inquires about what her assailants meant when they mentioned The Game, Crane reluctantly responds that there are Satan worshippers in town who hurt kids.

Between this revelation, her mother and now Crane’s warnings about the woods, and the strange murmurings she keeps hearing about her father from the townspeople, Frankie realizes that there is something inherently evil about Litani and she is determined to uncover it. When she gets roped in to helping a woman in town with a project that involves canvassing the community, pieces of the puzzle begin sliding into place and that is where the story gains speed.

Now, for the pros and cons. The best thing about the novel is the writing. The author does a phenomenal job crafting a story that involves an extremely difficult topic and does so without the gory details. On some level, the lack of graphic descriptions makes the crimes almost more unsettling. I also thought the set-ups were brilliant in that the author could build tension within a single sentence, as opposed to the gimmicky tactic of having to end a chapter in order to create suspense.

As for the cons, the story was engaging, however, I could not decide who the audience is for this novel. For instance, the characters are young, but their thoughts and actions are not. Maybe an older teen? Not sure. I also wished the story had explained more about the game, her father’s past, and the satanic cults. I was ready for this creepy, explosion of events, but it never happened.

Also, I cannot decide whether I enjoyed them or not, but there are mini poems with illustrations throughout the book that portray each character as a plant. You will understand the connection once you begin reading, but I found it sort of odd.

In sum, read #Litani if you are looking for a re-imagining of the crimes mentioned at the beginning of the novel or an engrossing YA plot. On the other hand, if you are searching for a straight crime-thriller or a story about satanic cults, this is not that type of read, but I still highly recommend it. As an added bonus, there is a shoutout to the long-forgotten game of TV tag and an 80s playlist at the end of the book.

That’s the creepiest, scariest, most disturbing thing I’ve read lately! I kept screaming while I was flipping my e-reader pages! I honestly don’t recommend you read it at the same time frame you watch Conjuring 3 like I did! So you don’t have to suffer from nightmares about satanic rituals just like I did, too!

Everything is blood freezing, shocking, jaw dropping about this story: an estranged mom who brutally tries to pull out her seven years old daughter’s teeth at her house kitchen and punishes her by ceasing contact for years after the little girl calls her father, screaming on the phone to take her back.

Yes, little Frankie’s story starts like that and 7 years later she returns back to Litani, Minnesota: the same house her mother acted like Little Shop of Horrors’ dentist Orin Scrivello! But this time her return is not temporary. She left her Pasadena / California home behind because her father is death and she might have killed her and gotten away with it! I know this little 14 years old nerd girl whose main interest is reading and learning about plants, carrying the Book( she mentions it with capital letters because she inherited this sacred book from her father) gives you the creeps. But there’s still a chance she may be unreliable narrator!

She is escorted by a police officer to her new home to live with her county prosecutor mother who is too focused on her job, forcing her teenage daughter to get the hell out of the house to play with children at the park at the first day of her arrival. Yes, don’t wait to read the entire book to give the woman: the mother of the year award!

Her new hometown Litani gives you the chilling vibes of Wayward Pines, Lakeside, Stepford with more satanic, evil worshipping rituals from the beginning ! ( this book is inspired from the real events which make things more frightening!)

Under aged little girls who knows lots about sex, smoking cigarettes, threatening to steal your things just like three ten years old girls did to Frankie as welcoming committee of the town! Thankfully she’s saved by Crane- a young man in her ages living in trailer park.

Before getting attacked, Frankie hears the girls’ mentioning to play THE GAME. When she asks Crane about it, he doesn’t want to talk about because he thinks she never believes but when Frankie insists he spills the beans : there are Satan worshippers in the town. They hurt kids. Some people say they murder them to use their virgin blood in rituals.

Yesss! And this is not the only thing disturbing about Frankie’s new life in town. When she tells her last name and talk about her father, people gives him scary looks. What her father got involved in when he was teenager like her? Why did he leave the town and never came back?

And Frankie summons the trouble in her life by accepting to play THE GAME to find out the ugly secrets of town! Oh girl! You just set free the monsters from their chains. Now they will chase in the daylight and you have nowhere to go and no one to trust!

What an intense, gory, scary, mind blowing story shake you to the core!

It’s well written, perfectly constructed, riveting book but it is not for everyone! Especially the one who cannot endure the disturbing violence: because there are graphic descriptions about child molestation which truly gives you stomach cramps and breaks your heart into tiny pieces!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas& Mercer for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advance copy of the ebook.

Definitely another gem by Jess Lourey. Told through the POV of brave and goofy Frankie, we see the suffocating town of Litani and the terrible things that are happening there. The novel works because of Frankie and the children. I was once again transported to my teenage years reading this novel; all the good and bad that comes with childhood is perfectly captured by Lourey.

The story is a page turner and I was hooked from the beginning. I would definitely recommend the book and the author.

4.5/5

Definitely not an easy story to read, but one that will leave a lasting impression. Frankie is a 14 year old girl who moves back to Litani, Minnesota, to be with her mother after her father passed away. She has been living with him in California for the past 9 years since they were divorced. After a disastrous first visit when she was seven, she hasn't been back. She barely knows her mother and is hoping that somehow they can develop the warm and loving relationship she has always wanted - but she's not too optimistic.

Once she arrives, it's clear her mother time will be consumed by her work, so Frankie sets out to explore what little there is around town. She quickly becomes ill at ease after encountering the locals. Something just feels...off. Very few kids are out and about and those that are appear too rough and weary for their young age. She's asked by one young girl to play "The Game" but gets no further explanation as to what it is. As she was warned off playing with any adults, she gets a suspicion that this is no typical playground game.

She makes one friend named Crane - a standoffish boy a few years older who tells her to stay away from certain neighbors. He won't elaborate, but she hears the adults reference Satan worshipping and missing children. Is this related to The Game? Or is it a bunch of hysteria created by bored people in a small town craving drama? She wants to investigate but fears the more she learns, the more danger she will be in. And at this point, is anyone safe?

They story is based off of events that occurred in the 1980s, when this book is set. Child molestation and abuse is hard to read about, but you know what you're in for, as the events are summarized in the author's note at the beginning. There's not too much graphic detail, but it's heartbreaking envisioning the innocent children that were involved. The author does an amazing job portraying their point of view. At least the story gives them the justice and promise of hope the real victims were cheated out of.

Holy Moly what a crazy ride this book took me on!
This is better than Jess's other books if I'm being honest!
The story was just awesome crazy and I never put my Kindle down once!
(The laundry and dishes could wait) 😉
"Do you want to play a game"?
I can't thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer enough for this advance ebook!