I was excited about the story at the outset, but ultimately I didn't like where it went or how it was set up. I do think this will work for some people, but it just didn't work for me. It was definitely unsettling and the horror elements came through.

I did enjoy the narrator of the story and felt overall the audiobook was good (ie: I don't think I would have enjoyed the story any more if I'd read it physically instead of via audio)

SPOILERS:
I was confused by the basic motivations of the characters and the point. I was confused when the MC learned of the cult. She went from "WTF is happening" to "these are my sisters" so quick and I did not understand how she got there. I didn't feel the characters or relationships were fleshed out enough for me to be invested.

Felt a little childish and dull. Didn't have a lot of strong points to make me want to continue with the book unfortunately.

This book was SO DISTURBING on so many levels, I was so not expecting that. Sure, it’s marketed as horror, but also YA so I didn’t think it’d get so graphic (TWs at the end).
Primal Animals tells the story of Arlee Gold, an outcast teenage girl set to spend the summer at elite college prep Camp Rockaway, in preparation for college admissions. But from the moment she arrives, Arlee can feel there’s something off about Camp Rockaway. The other campers, who have all known each other for years, seem to be afraid of her and her mother’s reputation, who went to the camp herself as a teenager. And soon, Arlee is recruited to join a secrete all-girls “order” that is more than a little shady.

I’d say what this book has going on for itself is the atmosphere. An elite summer camp in the woods, with no cell phones and a bunch of privileged teenagers, is the perfect set up for a horror story. The writing and pacing were good, and I did feel creeped out by the descriptions of the environment and the bugs, but even more so by Arlee herself. She had a really twisted mind, her mood could change extremely quickly, and I really thought that she could do something crazy or dangerous (or both) at any moment, especially since it’s a first person narration. She clearly struggled mentally, with her weird bursts of anger that she couldn’t always control, and I actually thought that she was mad at some point, like she was making it all up and was an unreliable narrator. But then other times, she had weird bursts of ethics instead, and acted as if she were better than everyone around her, before going back to self-depreciation on the next page. If it was done on purpose to show how unstable she was, well-done, but it also made her rather unlikeable and appear almost hypocritical.
Regarding the other characters, I really loved the girls Arlee shared her cabin with. Her love interest, Winnie, was one of them, and she was cute but almost seemed like a fake person – which made the final reveal seem even more bizarre and out of place. But EVERYONE ELSE in the story was an absolute nightmare. The cult members, the counsellors, the camp leader, even Arlee’s parents (BOTH of them) who were actually very abusive… No wonder girlie was struggling. Speaking of, I didn’t really get why her mother didn’t send her to camp sooner, at the same age as all the other girls? Especially since it appears she had been preparing her daughter for the order ever since she was little… It might be because of money, but then isn’t it weird that Caroline (the camp leader) didn’t let Arlee go to camp for free, since she was so close to her mum? Also, at the beginning of the book, it’s said that her dad helped pay for camp, but then he's also showed living in a small and dilapidated flat. So I’m not sure what that was about.
There’s also a recurring theme in the book that everyone hates and flees from Arlee. For the other campers, it’s explained that they’re afraid of her because of her mother’s reputation, but that didn’t make much sense to me. Why would they assume Arlee’s a horrible person, just because they vaguely heard that her mother terrified everyone back when she was at camp… Same with the counsellors who all seemed to dislike her, but also be scared of her, like Anna, and I’m not sure we ever find out why. And finally, Arlee’s old piano teacher was an old BITCH, and I wish we had gotten an explanation as to why. Was she part of the order? Is that why she was so demanding? Anyway, without any good explanation for any of these things, I must simply conclude that Arlee was in fact super weird and disagreeable, and made everyone uncomfortable, and that’s why they stayed away from her lol.

I can’t say too much about the story, because anything would be a spoiler, but I don’t have too much to say anyway. It was a weird and creepy cult story with lots of secrets, and when the main plot element (the “unthinkable” thing her sisters ask her to do, mentioned in the summary) happened, I wasn’t disappointed or surprised, it was about what I was expecting. SPOILER: I was definitely not expecting Winnie to be the one who killed Zach tho, so props for that, I didn’t see it coming. The blurb made me think it was going in a completely different direction, like maybe Arlee would be asked to hurt her or something.
I’m not sure how to feel about the order’s actions and mission. Because, yes, we SHOULD protect girls. We SHOULD punish rapists and abusers. And the history of their organisation seems to indicate that at some point, they were only doing what’s right, back when it was an eye for an eye, protecting themselves the only way they could, since the system wouldn’t. SPOILER: and to me, that includes Arlee’s mother skinning the guy who raped her friend (although it’s mentioned he was from a poor family and his parents didn’t have any money to investigate so… that also feels wrong). Same way with Zach – he had been harassing Winnie for YEARS so… maybe he deserved to die? I don’t know haha, but what I’m saying is that Arlee doesn’t seem to question any of that and she immediately goes into self-righteous mode and calls the cops.
So I think I would’ve liked a little more nuance. And actually, this would’ve worked much better if it had been set in the past, when there was truly NOTHING protecting girls from assault, because then the order’s actions and methods would’ve been much more legitimate in my opinion.

Overall, if you like twisted horror stories, you might enjoy this, but make sure to check the TWs. It was short (I listened to the audiobook) and again, I thought the atmosphere was depicted very well, so I don’t regret reading it exactly. But it was definitely too much for my taste.
TWs : sexual assault, rape, blood, gore, cult, animal flesh eating, corpse desecration, death, murder, bugs, parental abuse.

Thank you to Netgalley and Recorded Books for the ARC!

I don't even know where to start with this book.
The story was inconsistent and certain aspects were so ridiculous they felt like a parody of a horror story.

It's written in the first person, so we are stuck in the main character's head the whole time and she is annoying and insecure but also incredibly self assured somehow? Which would've been okay (because she *is* a teenager) if the whole book didn't feel like it was written by a teenager.
I could see what the author was trying to go for and I was excited. A sort of midsummer, cultish, "good for her" vibes. But it just landed so far off the mark.

I feel bad giving this a 1 star but I can't think of a single redeeming quality this book might have.

1.5 stars rounded up

I suspect this is going to be a polarizing book- it's either going to work for you or you aren't going to like it. As much as the concept was appealing and I wanted to like this, I really was not a fan. Primal Animals is a queer YA horror novel about a summer camp and a dark secret society.

Pros:
- Primal Animals certainly delivers on the horror and doesn't flinch from grotesque and disturbing descriptions. So if you're looking for that, you might like this. Personally, I want my horror to feel meaningful or like it's saying something and this didn't give me that.
- Queer representation including a sapphic romance and queer girls who are allowed to be messy and do bad things.

Cons:
- The horror elements are incredibly disturbing and involve things like harm done to animals, mutilation, gore, and consuming blood in forced and unforced ways. It was a lot to read in a book where I'm left wondering what the point was. I'm not a fan of disturbing things just for shock value. Like (view spoiler)
- What really was the point of this book? It's not feminist. It talks about sexual assault but doesn't handle it with any degree of care. It feels like a misandrist hellscape with the message that what? Murdering boys is bad? I don't get it.
- I also just don't buy that this kind of thing could be so easily covered up, or that it makes sense for her mom to intentionally send her there. The suspension of disbelief just wasn't there for me and I don't get the character motivations.

So yeah, I was not a fan of this overall. It had some interesting ideas and moments of character interactions where I thought it would go in a better direction. But ultimately it just feels empty, without meaning to the disturbing scenes. There is a world in which this could have been smart yet brutal, but this was not what I was hoping for. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook review: I found this book to be very confusing and at times very disturbing. For me the narrator was the only highlight. The use of dead animal fetuses and the blatant murder of teenage boys by this bizarre 'sisterhood' did not sit well. Not recommended.

**I was provided an ALC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Julia Lynn Rubin brings secret societies to summer camp with Primal Animals. Arlee has decided to spend the summer at the summer camp her mother went to as a teenager, needing a change of pace and scenery. Her mother promised that Camp Rockaway was "going to change everything" and that the elite college prep camp will get Arlee on track for the rest of her life. Arlee is drawn to bunkmate Winnie, a scholarship student, most of all, but quickly finds herself in a sisterhood of girls who may go too far to meet their goal to "protect the girls".

Arlee experiences panic induced by the presence of bugs, and has "glitches" when she is too nervous. Arlee is constantly bothered by whispers and worries about seeming abnormal. This makes Arlee even more eager to be part of a sisterhood that is guaranteed to look after one another. The cult-like nature of the sisterhood is never really lost on Arlee, but this book makes it clear just how easy it is to be swept up in the crowd even when you know better.

I will say that there is not a particularly satisfying conclusion regarding Arlee hearing the whispers and having issues with anxiety. The plot moves along and away from these issues once it picks up, focusing instead on the relationship between Arlee and Winnie. The casual queerness in the book was appreciated. I might have preferred better pacing and balance regarding various plot points since the book was mostly plot driven rather than relationship focused.

Overall, I had a fun time with this read though I didn't think there was anything overly new or outstanding about the execution. Certainly, worth reading for an easy bit of summer entertainment.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

From the very beginning, this book grabbed my attention and never let it go. Everything was just so creepy the entire time, and I loved those vibes. It felt like it was going to be a horror book, and in some ways it was, but it was also a summer camp story about friendship and acceptance. And those things contrasted so deeply that it really rounded out the horror vibes in the best way possible.

I loved the journey that Arlee went on and the way she grew so much throughout the book. She was bombarded with so many trials from both within herself and from the people around her. It was hard to watch her go through so much, but that made it even better because I felt like I could relate to her even in the midst of all this wild stuff that was happening to her. The aspects of mental health were very well written, and I loved the way Arlee grew through her loneliness and want for acceptance. Her struggles with her phobia were also very well written and I loved the way that so much of it unfolded throughout the book and kept giving you little pieces of her.

This book did an amazing job of giving the reader warm fuzzy feelings and then horror moments later. If you're a horror/thriller fan, you definitely won't want to miss out on this!

This one goes out to all the Horse Girls out there. Or maybe anti-Horse Girls, because Primal Animals is an edgy take on YA horror that features dead horses in abundance at a camp for the wealthy, Ivy League-bound elite. There’s something about a summer camp that lends itself to the inherently eerie atmosphere of unknown danger lurking just on the edges of the woods. Perhaps it’s the isolated setting, or the winding paths through the forest, or maybe just how slasher movies have ingrained this as a opportunity for murder and mayhem into our culture.

In any case, Primal Animals is edgy in a way that frequently crosses the line from genuine horror to something so extreme it’s actually comical. It makes the story itself a bit ridiculous, especially when much of the “jump scare” type of horror present is the result of a bunch of girls running around the woods in horse masks. But I can say this book’s greatest strength is establishing this unsettling atmosphere. It has an incredibly strong start that eventually peters out into a jumbled mess of plot holes by the end, but the beginning is so effective I want to give it extra points even with a disappointing finish.

It’s just hard to root for a protagonist who is so easily swept into a cult, no matter how friendless Arlee may have been before Camp Rockaway. This could have been more believable had she not quickly found a group that was accepting of her at the camp immediately upon joining, even with her mom’s infamous legacy resulting in some suspicion of her. But she has a strong support group. And it still only takes a single night of initiation (complete with blood-drinking) for Arlee to transition from “I’m horrified and am going to report you all,” to “These are my sisters and I’ll ride or die for you.” In a matter of on-page minutes. It’s a difficult change to swallow as a reader, and everything just falls apart from there. Characters have no motivations. They do as they will to move the plot, or to perhaps create the most shocking scenario the author thought possible.

This book reads a little bit like Wilder Girls, between the isolated setting and sapphic YA horror. But it doesn’t fully commit to the horror aspect as completely as Rory Power’s debut novel was able to as it leaned into all of the eeriness of a quarantined island landscape with an (un)healthy mix of body horror. Primal Animals is the Diet Coke version of Wilder Girls, sitting in the sun with a melting ice-cube to dilute the taste of aspartame and leaving only the craving for real sugar. There’s something I was still wanting from it in the end.

Between the camp setting and the edgy blend of horror and teen romance, I can see this book being a fun if forgettable summer read for the same demographic that unironically enjoys Riverdale. It’s the kind of story that can find the appropriate, niche audience even if I’ve seen other books in this same genre do the same things better. For me, my Riverdale days were over after Season 1 - and I’ll leave it at that.

Thank you to the publisher RB Media for providing an audiobook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book exhausted me so much I just want to forget I ever read it. So, since everything about this book was weak as heck, so too shall be my efforts at sharing my thoughts.

Arlee: girl has demons and trauma. too bad I couldn't figure out half of what it was

Pacing: off off off. the beginning is so boring and nothing substantial happens until way too late

Cult: lol okay. honestly, I'm just embarrassed for Arlee and how she handled all that because there was so little to work with

Characters: way. too. many. There are so many people introduced that I forgot almost half of them, couldn't figure out the significance of any of them, and I didn't enjoy the mean girl vibes

Bugs: apparently Arlee is scared of them because of something that happened but I don't get it

Horror: disgusting. for such a boring book, the small scenes of gore felt there for shock and awe only and were highly unnecessary and inappropriate

So little in this book made sense and it felt like a half-baked idea that needed a strong overhaul. It tried to be edgy without knowing how to follow-through with it.

Arlee goes to summer camp is the basic premise of Primal Animals. Her mom attended the same summer camp, and all the campers know about her reputation, but Arlee remains in the dark. Soon weird things start happening and Arlee is thrust in the midst of a secret society.

I want to say something good about this book, but I'm having a really hard time. First of all for a horror book, this was not scary at all and many of the scenes just dragged on. What's more is that there were no likable characters at all in this book. Not Arlee, not anyone. And because of that I wasn't even the slightest bit invested in the romance. This book is also riddled with swear words, and I know teens cuss, but it felt very much like an adult writing kids and trying to be edgy. It didn't sit well with me at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Suzy Jackson was a fine narrator, but this book wasn't for me.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I know this is supposed to be a horror story, but it was such a slow burn, I just couldn't get into it. It's definitely creepy and some pretty terrible stuff happens, but because of the pacing, I just didn't stay interested. I did enjoy the narrator, I thought it was well-done. Thank you for the chance to read and review this.

I don’t know why I don’t like this, actually it has so many elements that I love. But I just couldn’t get into it and I just kept feeling 🤷‍♀️

As an audiobook, this was done well. The narrator has a very sweet voice that matched the vulnerability of the main character. If I hadn’t listened to this book, with her voice in my ear, I’m not sure I would have finished it.
This is a YA book, but more of a really older YA. There is drug use, sexual content, cursing, and some big gross triggers in it. I don’t think anyone below 9th grade should read it, which is not like me. But the amount of all of that, plus the whole vibe of the book is panicky and over dramatic, isn’t something I think younger readers need to be exposed to so early. It’s definitely for mature YA readers who may like to test the dark waters.
I appreciated the secret society aspect, that was almost cultish, and got into it because of this. But the rest of it kind of lost me. It dragged on, took too long to build up the love story, and was super repetitive. But, I also felt the ending was rushed. It was all hurry up and wait for the climax, then tapped out. Lol
I wanted more from this book. It has a great summer camp setting, but that was it.

I am just not tracking with this one at all which is unfortunate. Characters and plot are falling flat. Interesting creepy vibe but not enough to make me finish

Sinister summer camp, secret society, suspicion and more secrets. Alliterative and awesome ideas!
Unfortunately the final product didn't work for me.
The story fails to nail the atmospheric horror I believe it was trying for, instead relying heavily on occasional grotesque scenes. Without creepy buildup, these moments come off as ridiculous and laughable instead of horrific. They work in the sense of being startling and weird, but shock value can't carry a story.
I honestly couldn't tell you anything about any of the characters. There are so many introduced, with so little development, that they became interchangeable names in my head. Arlee herself seems inconsistent in characterization and decisions. However, her anxiety feels well-written. I got a little bogged down with the repetition and immaturity of her thoughts, but they feel very accurate for a teenager. I expect Primal Animals will be a big hit for YA audiences, and I'm just a little too old for this one!
Suzy Jackson does a great job with the narration, really evoking a confused emotional teenager. My only complaint is that when girls are chanting or doing call and response, the way their lines are read doesn't sound at all like a group response.
TL;DR: Everybody in this book needs a LOT of therapy.

This was an interesting & refreshing read that I ate up and flew through! The story has an intriguing concept with a weird creepy atmosphere. I'm a sucker for a camp story & this delivered.

At first it was difficult to keep up with other characters because there's too many too soon, but I ended up getting a hang of the main important ones. I liked Arlee and Winnie and enjoyed their relationship, though, it did feel pretty much like insta love. The passing of time & timeline of the book isn't too clear to me, yet, I would have liked more of a slow burn between them, along with more depth to Winnie's character so we could be more invested in her and Arlee as a couple.

I really liked the secret society idea but their motives didn't convince me and I didn't get their actions. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the twist and once the motives to the twist were revealed, something clicked for me. It's really dark and I was there for it!! I don't completely agree with the way Arlee resolves things in the ending and it did seem a bit inconsiderate of her, but i'm not mad at it.

This was an engaging read with a what-the-heck-is-going-on approach throughout the whole book, creepy weird camp atmosphere, friendships, sapphic love, diversity, and some fun twists. The writing was great and I'll definitely read the author's future and previous books. Adding Trouble Girls to my tbr right now!

I was so excited to read PRIMAL ANIMALS by Julia Lynn Rubin since I really enjoyed her book Trouble Girls last year. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. It’s categorized as a horror and I didn’t find it to be scary at all. It’s about a teenage girl, Arlee, who goes to summer camp and joins a secret society.
.
Things I liked:
- queer rep, Arlee crushes on the girl bunking with her, there’s a gay couple and one character questioning
- Intrigue as to what’s going on in the secret society and what happened at the camp before Arlee got there
- Fish out of water aspect since the camp is mostly rich kids and Arlee doesn’t fit in right away
- Suzy Jackson was a good narrator

What I didn’t like:
- So much description about the daily camp life like everyone’s outfits, what they’re eating, and all their activities
- Boring plot, there’s some thriller like twists but they weren’t shocking
- None of the characters were engaging, I wasn’t rooting for Arlee at all
- The whole “primal animals” thing felt like a stretch, I’m not a horse girl
- Finished it to find out how it ended but it wasn’t satisfying

Thank you to Wednesday Books for my advance review copy!

Much of the book is a great teen read. There's frustrating characters that are very believable as teenagers, as opposed to older characters that have been aged down to make the book marketable to a specific audience. Overall, most of the characters and their motivations are solid. But around 65% into the book, things started to get shaky, The writing took a turn for the lazy, and overall I found everything after that point to be a huge let down.
When Arlee first arrives at the summer camp, she's immediately welcomed by her bunkmates and a couple other friends. She's also got a few people who are weirdly drawn to her in relation to her mother. We find out those people are interested in a legacy to a secret society at the camp when they invite Arlee to join their ranks.
What follows is a blood ritual that... makes no sense, and Arlee becoming obsessed with the sisterhood for no reason.
She knows absolutely nothing about the sisterhood, but constantly has thoughts like she's fully aware of what it's about. She feels drawn to them because it told her they're sisters. a kind of love overload upon her initiation that helps her feel welcomed. Because they said she is. But then out of no where, there's a crazy presentation with a dead baby horse and Arlee's bunk mates decide to open up to each other. It's a jarring shift in characterization and tone from the majority of the book. A scene that would have been tonally better placed earlier in the story. It just feels awkward and out of nowhere. Then there's the obvious implications that Arlee now has the acceptance of her bunkmates (which she really already had they just didn't tell her their deep dark secrets on day one, its been like... maybe two weeks at this point) she feels town about wanting to be in the sisterhood- and that hesitance becomes valid later, but at this point in the story makes no sense. There's no reason for her to suddenly not want to be part of the sisterhood, beyond "i have no friends now" and it gives an air of flightiness to a character that didn't really have that kind of personality before, and made me start to really dislike her. Her hesitation is 'proven justified' when she's asked to do something horrific, but there had been no reason for it before beyond connivence of her being untrusting of the sisters.
After the 65% mark, there's also a sudden increase in 'woke awareness' a lot of really weirdly placed lines about being 'on the bones of indigenous and enslaved people' and it was just poorly placed and hollow sentiments. As though the author thought "if they celebrate fourth of july, they need to acknowledge the real history and show they are aware of systemic oppression" It was awkward and seemed performative.
Overall, a book very well suited for an older YA audience (though the graphic level of death and violence is really on the adult side) that could lead to a pretty decent discussion of gender and violence. It just could have done with a bit more editing to iron it out.