Book: Primal Animals
Author: Julia Lynn Rubin
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC.

I found this one to be very difficult to rate. On the one hand, I did have a great time with it, but on the other, I was kind of turned off by it. In the first part of the book, I kept waiting for the horror elements to come out. Let me start there. At first, this seems like a book about a girl who is going to summer camp. She is nervous and has anxiety. Her mom went to this same summer camp when she was her age and had a great time there. When Arlee arrives there, people turn away from her because of her mother. She has no idea why and starts to ask questions without really getting any answers. Then, things start to get strange and once we get to this strangeness, the book will leave you with an almost sick feeling in your stomach.

I felt that the horror elements may be a little too much for a young adult title. We have a multination of dead animals and people. There are secret societies, which I did enjoy this touch. However, again, some of the things that the societies did were, in my opinion, a bit too much for a young adult novel. Now, I do understand why these people were selected to be killed-they was rapists. However, I think that the overall situation could have been handled differently. I know it may sound like I am defending the boys for what they did. However, what the camp did was also wrong. I just don’t’ know. All of this is discussed in graphic detail in the book. I know that other YA books have graphic content, but I think that this one may be pushing the limit. I can’t help but wonder if it is too much for the YA genre.

The characters were pretty solid, I thought. I did enjoy Arlee’s character and her development. At first, she starts as this meek character, who we think isn’t going to amount to anything great. As we go throughout the story, we start to see just how much of an impact the camp has on her. She starts to form friendships and bonds with the people around her. She also starts to pick up on the fact that everything may not be what it appears. This starts an internal battle with herself as she starts to think about what is right and what is wrong. You can see this toll weigh on her as she struggles to make the right choices. While she does want to belong, you can’t help but get a sense that she feels that people are crossing the line. You can sense this overall dread building upon her as she struggles to protect those she cares about, all while uncovering the truth.

I did almost give this one a four-star rating. However, again, I felt that horror elements just went a little bit too far in a YA novel. I think that readers need to keep in mind that this book does have a lot of trigger warnings-rape, sexual assault, body and animal horror.
This book comes out on May 24, 2022.

I’m trying to be better at DNFing books that don’t hook me in the first 50 pages, and this was one of them. I really loved the concept, but the writing didn’t click for me, and the pacing was awkward.

Okay, I have a lot of feelings about this book ... some good and some not-so-good. First off, GORGEOUS cover. Literally the reason I picked it up was because I was caught by the art. I started reading based on the promise of secret societies, dangerous sleep-away camps, and the LGBTQIA representation that other reviews mentioned.
Arlee was an interesting character. As a reader I liked that there was some darkness to her. I also enjoyed the changes in her character during the middle of the book. Her meekness at the beginning was responsible for a lot of her decisions throughout the novel, which of course led us to the main conflict so I thought that was a solid character arch -- moving from meek to a bit more empowered. Emphasis on "a bit". However, the fear of bugs (which I really liked exploring) was a bit too much for me. It is a constant issue for Arlee, clearly because she is terrified of bugs at a sleep away camp, but she's also terrified of bugs at a sleep-away camp. Even if this is a ritzy camp, it's a CAMP so yeah, bugs are going to be everywhere. It interrupted the flow of the story a lot in the beginning, but then I feel like the author found her rhythm of incorporating these buggy encounters and they made more sense later on.
That being said: I still don't understand her fear of the bugs based on what happened to her in the past "in the woods" and I feel like there was so deeply disturbing things going on in Arlee's mind at that time that we don't ever truly address.
The murder was predictable and the person who did it also not surprising. The creep-factor was there, the insta-love/slow burn romance was okay (instant because Arlee falls in love quickly, but the actual interaction between the characters takes a lot of time); and I appreciated the diverse characters that we saw in Arlee's friend group. I kept seeing commentary that this is a feminist, female solidarity kind of novel and to be completely honest I think it was the TOTAL opposite. Instead, this was a very dark novel about those in power pressuring those beneath them to engage in negligent, dangerous, and deadly activities. I enjoyed this, but I think it is a poor representation of the novel to consider it "feminist fiction".
The pacing was all over the place; most of the book taking place in two or three days, and then the rest of the book over the course of a month or two? I was honestly lost in where we were in time for a lot of the novel. Also, for a secret society -- everyone sure knew that Arlee's mom was a psycho of some sort and yet, no one knew of anyone else ever going "missing" from the camp... so there were some awkward plot holes there.
Anyway, book also comes with a lot of trigger warnings - so if you dive into it, please check those out first. Overall, it was intriguing, a little gory (though I think they could have really gored it up). Not my favorite book of 2022, but definitely not the worst.

I was really drawn into this book because the cover is so incredibly neat! However, I had a really hard time getting into this book and it was a bit of a let down. The idea behind the story was really cool and I liked the camp in the woods setting. I felt like there were a lot of drawn out details about little things I didn't find myself interested in and it definitely took away from the story when there was action/intensity going on. I also had a really hard time relating or enjoying any of the characters. Thank you for the opportunity, unfortunately this book just wasn't for me.

Arlee Gold has always lived in the shadow of her mom; and now she's been enrolled as a legacy at Camp Rockaway, an elite college prep summer camp. But, all the campers seems to have a lack of ease in Arlee's presence. She quickly finds herself caught up in a secret society that expects its sisterhood to protect each other from any and all who would harm them—by any means necessary. "Protect the girls." Finally Arlee feels like she's apart of something bigger than herself. Unfortunately, nothing is what it seems.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. While the premise sounded thrilling, it didn't live up to my expectations. Arlee, the main character, is extremely unlikable and most of the story felt unnecessary. I read this for the queer romance, but even that was disappointing and insta-lovey. There was no character development, the timespan is awkward and the narrative felt off track. In addition, the reader is left hanging at the end without purpose. I finished this book wondering what the point of it was. I wish I loved it as much as I love the cover.

I was hooked from the beginning. The author immediately introduced the MC's weakness, set a dark and eerie atmosphere, and gave subtle hints of something nefarious about the summer camp.

At about the halfway point I had said something along the lines of "If this book has a decent ending, it's going to be a great book. But if all this set up has nothing to do with the conclusion, I'm going to be disappointed." Boy, was I disappointed.

The ending felt like the author was hours from deadline and had to slap something together. It left so many things unexplained and makes you go *why*? What was the point?

Not only was the big bad reveal weak, but Arlees character arc was... strange, and not in a good way.

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't what I was expecting. I went to summer camp and can appreciate what was happening as the story was developing. I found it disturbing but realize this was the whole point of the story. Some people may appreciate the thriller piece of that plot. I am a middle school LMS so it's not appropriate for our audience.

Like the hazy days of Summer itself, this book will pull you in and keep you there in a daydream style stupor. The heavy weight and humidity of the warm forest air will bear down on you, trapping you forever in liminal spaces. You’ll find yourself reading for hours on end, even though you try your best to close it and put it down, but you won’t be able to tear yourself away. Much like Arlee Gold, you’ll be caught in its trance of mystery, thrills, tension, and romance until it’s too late and the horror has been unleashed. By then, you’ll gallop full speed, nonstop no matter the cost until you reach the end. It hardly feels real, that I’ve read any of this, and yet I have. It’s brutal; it’s gross; it’s horrific; it’s terribly bittersweet and romantic. And if there isn’t a follow up novel, or perhaps several and a series adaptation or a movie, i might set something on fire. Just kidding on that last bit but I really would be delighted to explore more of this universe. I’m very committed to this creepy folk horror/cultish atmosphere and I’m enthralled and engrossed with the world building here. I need more. I crave it. Sign me up and I pledge my allegiance! Thanks NetGalley for giving me the chance to indulge in some of my fave genre fare. I do agree with the comparisons of Lord of the Flies meets Midsommar meets the Wicker Man and dare I also throw in a reference to The Skulls and even a touch of Equus vibes? It’s deliciously demented in the best of ways. I couldn’t put it down!

Generally a good book, kept my attention. The story was great, characters well thought out, and the pacing was good. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author!! Thank you so much for the ARC!

Primal Animals was a huge letdown.

I liked the concept but honestly the blurb is just? The whole sisterhood isn't that big of a plot point and the feminism isn't there at all.

the plot would've worked better with a longer timeline to actually explore the characters more in depth. the pace was horrible and it also made the characters bland and underdeveloped. also the main character was so annoying it was actually causing me to pause reading. the romance was fine i guess but there wasn't much chemistry or anything special.

i actually didn't realize this was by the same author as Trouble Girls— another book I very much disliked so that's on me.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was difficult for me to fully rate, because on the one hand, I finished it quickly, but I don't think I liked it very much. The premise is sort of like Yellowjackets meets The A List (Netflix series that is not very good) and I actually enjoyed where the dark parts of the story went, though I think the author tried to go too far in some points while managing to not go far enough in others. What I didn't enjoy, was the forced feeling of the moral that it left off with.

Some other things that irked me throughout: repetitive writing ("her face turned blueberry blue"), the writing itself felt a bit choppy and rigid, and inconsistencies within the plot and characters that I found it hard to ignore. Some examples (***spoilers from here on, though mild***) include the insta-love aspect of Arlee falling for Winnie, yet having no real interest in her whatsoever (Winnie is telling a story and Arlee isn't even paying attention, she is absorbed in her own thoughts, she doesn't actually know anything about Winnie and barely learns much about her even after the insta-love moment), the introduction of her mom having a bottle of wine every night when Arlee's dad leaves yet the one night Arlee needs her mom to pick her up she "got lucky" and hadn't "downed any wine", seeing someone's eyes and recognizing them behind a mask at a pitch black ritual in the woods at night. It was just enough to make me feel like it wasn't edited/executed very well, but I would have forgiven it if the main bones of the story weren't so difficult for me to swallow, which leads me to...

The main parts of the book that you're waiting for, the "thing that Arlee did in the woods." You wait probably about 60-70% of the book to get there and it's barely anything at all. Meanwhile, the descriptions of what her mother did at camp, and some of the other parts of the sisterhood are very graphic and disturbing (which I was fine with! But commit to it!). It was like she committed to these disturbing images and moments, and then second-guessed herself and pulled back way too far in others like ((Major spoilers****)) Winnie committing to killing a boy over...insults/threats to her dad's business? Like we have Arlee's mom who skinned a boy alive for assaulting a girl, and Winnie's doesn't feel as vindicated. I truly appreciated the sisterhood's MO and I felt like the author was trying to force us to not sympathize with what these women throughout the history of the camp had gone through, which was a weird flex imo. So, pulling back and making some of the stories have less of a disturbing factor felt intentional for us to side with Arlee, which just wasn't my take on this story. For that reason I felt it was too messy and inconsistent to add to my library's collection.

After I read Trouble Girls, I thought that story was a dark but compelling read. I felt this book was a bit darker, but equally compelling.

Arlene Gold, 16, was afraid of moths, fleas, insects, and flies. She suffered from extreme anxiety about this especially after what happened to her in the woods by her house. She retreated into herself and lost friends she once had. So her mother, Sam, decided to send her to a camp for the summer; the same camp she herself attended twenty years prior. Sam kept telling Arlene the camp will change her, she’ll fit in, and she’ll come away a new person. Well, it certainly did that, but not the way anyone expected it to be.

This was a hauntingly dark story that took place in the perfect setting. The camp had a diverse group of people and personalities to match. The teenagers enjoyed their freedom away from home. As usual, some campers got along, others did not. Arlene wanted to be liked, especially by her bunkmates. When she received a special invitation to join a secret society, she agreed. Arlene more than anything wanted to fit in and not be the weird girl afraid of flies. She embraced this sisterly love the secret society offered and swore to always protect the girls. After this point, the paced increased and the tension heightened.

This was one of those stories where I wanted to keep reading until the end, but at the same time didn’t want to read anymore because of some disturbing events. But it was the pull of Arlene, who was very likable, that kept me reading. She was at times emotionally wrecked, confused, and her anxiety seemed to override conscious thoughts. Other times she was a happy camper who dreamed of kissing her bunk mate and camp best friend. But then the author suddenly pushed those scenes aside and once again took her reader into Arlene’s world of anxiety ridden fear.

This was a very well written and fast paced story. My only complaint was the ending. After everything that took place, I felt more closure was needed. I think those that enjoy the horror/ thriller genre will enjoy this one.

Primal Animals is one of those books that really is not afraid to go there. This is a blood-drenched, gut-wrenching type of YA horror book that holds no prisoners and offers no easy answers.

I discovered Julia Lynn Rubin last year, when I read and loved Trouble Girls. That dark and unrelenting exploration of issues is something that appears characteristic of Rubin’s work, with Primal Animals going even further. This is a book that I would recommend going into pretty blind, in order to fully appreciate the unhinged mayhem that ensues. That being said, please be aware of the trigger warnings, as this is a book that gets pretty mucky at times. Rubin throws some gruesome and graphic descriptions at times, showing the messy reality of these situations. It gets elbow-deep in all the mire and darkness encircling.

Yet again, I found Rubin’s writing style so addictive. I did not put this book down, racing through the pages. The tension was so immaculately pushing down on you at all times. Arlee’s headspace can be pretty suffocating at times, with her vivid anxiety and the way she really puts every fibre of her being into everything. Right from the start, you get a sense of the fragility of the veneer of this idyllic setting. There’s something there that sends a shiver down your spine, something unspeakably sinister and unsettling. I love the type of horror that sinks into your bones and this is one of those types of books. The dread and suspense just gets woven around you, building to a crescendo of absolute chaos.

Primal Animals is a book that does not pull its punches. It surrounds you with its creeping dread, pulling you into the grotesque and dubious world it inhabits.

3.5-3.75

I really liked the premise of this book, but I don’t think the execution lived up to that. There were definitely some really interesting elements, but nothing was really explained/had enough lasting impact. The characters were fine, but nothing special for the most part. However, I really did not like Arlee. Not enough to stop reading, but she just felt very whiny and stock ya protagonist to me. Also her fear of bugs really had no impact on the plot or her character at all except for one small moment. I feel like everything was just sort of forced to wrap up to a happy ending, even though it didn’t feel deserved.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an arc.

Mother of God, I despised this book's overall messaging and ideology. The writing was fine, and the character building seemed fine enough too, but Christ above, that ending...big old nope for me. If you want to read legit feminist takes on boarding school/elite teens and fucking up the patriarchy, read a Hannah Capin book instead.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was honored to be invited to read the title.
Let me start with the beautiful cover. I wish the inside matched the cover. The description of thr hook was appealing to me as a summer camp girl for 8+ summers. Unfortunately I felt remover from the main characters in this book including the main character Arlee. Maybe it's my age- but I enjoyed Maureen Johnson's The Box in the Woods thoroughly. everything felt flat and pointless to me. Maybe the intended audience is late teens, but I cannot reccomend this book to anyone over 30.

2 5/5☆

A secret society at an elite college prepish summer camp? Sounds great! The reality, not so much. This novel DRAGGED for the first half (or more) until finally the action starts. I found the main character to be unlikeable and boring, And the ending did not save this.

So this was…trippy, and I mean that mostly in a good way. The book builds up this sense of dread from the very beginning in Arlee’s narration style—I can see why other people may not have liked it or thought of it as infodump-y, but as someone with pretty nasty anxiety the almost word vomit style of the narration gives us a very clear picture of the character from the get go, and I liked that! It added to the sense of dread that ramped up over the course of the book. Everything felt Wrong in a very distinct way and it made me want to keep reading with every new development and twist.

I’m not gonna say it fumbled it in the last quarter because it wrapped up far better than I was expecting it too when I saw how much of the story was left, but there was some stuff in the last chunk that made me drop a star—gonna get into spoilers here so don’t read on if that’s not your cup of tea!
One is a little thing: let’s not throw the word psychopath around like that. Yeah everyone in this book is goddamn bonkers and yeah, most people, especially teenagers would use psychopath to mean violent, dangerous, unhinged, but that’s not actually what it means so I was a little uncomfortable with that.
And lastly, I’m calling shenanigans that teenage girls, no matter how athletic and fueled by rage or what have you, could decapitate someone/skin somebody alive. Like yes we’ve been told they have access to copious large knives but cmon.

So yeah, overall a weird trippy bloody book that kept me very much enthralled, and if you can suspend disbelief about the decapitation and that sounds like something you’d like, go forth and enjoy

I received an arc from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday books for my honest review.
I am not sure where to begin. I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. I found myself putting this book down quite a bit. It just didn’t keep my attention. That is not to say the book was boring, just not for me. I did not like the main character Arlee, I found some scenes unnecessary and added nothing but shock value. I can see where some may like this book, it did give a creepy feel.

Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin follows Arlee Gold. Arlee is going to spend the summer at the college prep camp Camp Rockaway. Her mother attended this camp when she was younger, and she insists this camp will change Arlee’s life. When Arlee arrives at camp, she likes her roommates and even develops a crush on one of the girls. Arlee is puzzled by the other campers because they seem uneasy around her. Soon Arlee gets an invitation to join a secret society and she hopes this is a sign she is beginning to fit in with the others. But the secret society wants Arlee to do something dangerous that puts both herself and her crush in harm’s way.

This is a dark, disturbing read. Perfect for people who love to read about secret societies!