I featured this book in a new release video prior to publication and was very excited about childhood trauma meets hungry amusement park lol. I ended up purchasing this book after publication and am currently reading it, it's looking like a 5 star!! The writing is slow but in the best way and is so beautiful.

At the End of Every Day is set in a curious Disney-esque theme park that’s closing down in a halting, indistinct kind of way; long-time employee Delphi and her boyfriend Brendan are two of the few remaining staff tasked with completing the shutdown. The blurb promises a dark, literary horror novel ‘about the uncanny valley, death cults, optical illusions and the enduring power of fantasy’, and there’s a bit of that, but too little too late for my taste. Delphi and Brendan are the kind of oddball characters who always test my patience. The way they’re written wobbles all over the line between charming and irritatingly quirky (the whole section about Brendan’s first girlfriend! interminable!) and Delphi in particular seems so vapid and immature I couldn’t help picturing her as a teenager, though the character is definitely supposed to be older. (There’s a... plot twist that arguably explains this, but in some ways only makes it odder.)

All of which makes it even more frustrating that everything about the park is just brilliant. The chapters are punctuated by letters between a brother and sister, discussing the design of an earlier incarnation of the park, and I was fascinated by these – racing through Delphi’s ramblings just so I could get to them. The setting itself is real feat of imagination, described in amazing detail. The cult, the bots, there is so much good stuff here! A lot of potential. Yet when the climactic scenes come, when the narrative actually starts digging into the mysteries of the park, the descriptive language falters; I found I really couldn’t picture what was going on.

I liked it! The reviews for this are pretty terrible, but I didn't think it was worth all of that. I liked the BTS in an amusement park and I appreciate that the author was trying to do more than just offer a run of the mill thriller. It falls under my "weird books" category- a subgenre I enjoy. That said, the format was tough to follow and the writing was choppy, which might account for some of the lower reviews.

Reiche has a wonderful way with language in At the End of Every Day. Unfortunately, the story isn't quite as strong, losing steam in the second half.

EDITOR'S NOTE (I'm very biased!)

Think of the dread that builds as you’re inching up that first steep incline on a roller coaster. Or think of the dizzying effect of a spinning teacup ride. That’s At the End of Every Day in a nutshell.

This genre-bending debut takes place at a Disney-like park with a history so complicated that no one really knows its true origins. The narrator, Delphi, is The Park’s most loyal employee, but she’s ordered to close it down after the very public suicide of a Hollywood darling.

Soon, unauthorized visitors appear in The Park. Delphi’s boyfriend starts acting . . . strange. Meanwhile, on the outside, a brother and a sister exchange frantic letters warning each other: DO NOT GO TO THE PARK.

On the surface, At the End of Every Day is a love letter to theme parks. Delphi’s last name is an Easter egg, and there’s also an Imagination Ranch, instead of the prolific “Imagineering Research.”

But this novel is also for people who gravitate toward the slow-burn, menacing quality of fiction by Alexandra Kleeman, Iain Reid, Jeff VanderMeer, and Julia Armfield—genre-clashing authors who write about all things peculiar, not only to shock readers but to encourage them to look at one known concept through new lenses. In Arianna’s case, she’s exposing parks as places of psychological manipulation—she takes us underground, into the guts of all the machinery it takes to maintain such a grand-scale illusion.

Readers of At the End of Every Day should strap in and proceed with caution. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

**Netgalley ARC -Published July 2023**

I tried at least 3 times since I received this book from Netgalley last year to begin it. I just couldn’t get into it. Finally, a few days ago I managed to get past the first chapter and at that point, I was hooked.

For unease and a general feeling of something just behind you, this was perfect.

I also very much enjoyed the fleshing out of the characters and seeing into their lives.

The twists were pretty well done and I was glad that what was going on was explicitly spelled out before the end.

There are definitely some things I found rather hectic such as the weird mix of tropes.

I would consider reading more by this author.

Fave Quote: “God, the blue. The blue had to be the source of something, something that people call God sometimes, but I’d call it something else if I could find words.”

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

"At the End of Every Day" by Adrienne Reiche is a hauntingly surreal journey that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Set against the backdrop of a dilapidated theme park, the novel follows Delphi, a long-time employee, as she grapples with the park's imminent closure and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of a celebrity visitor.

Reiche's narrative is a labyrinthine exploration of the human psyche, where the familiar becomes uncanny, and the bizarre takes on a sense of normalcy. The prose is rich and atmospheric, capturing the essence of a world that is both fantastical and deeply unsettling. The theme park, a place of joy and wonder in its heyday, now serves as a metaphor for Delphi's own fragmented memories and the dark secrets she must confront.

The novel's strength lies in its ability to evoke a sense of disquietude, making the reader question what is real and what is a product of Delphi's troubled mind. The interweaving of letters between two siblings with ties to the park adds layers of intrigue and provides a broader perspective on the events unfolding within its gates.

"At the End of Every Day" is not a book for the faint of heart. It demands the reader's attention and challenges their perceptions at every turn. Reiche has crafted a story that is as enigmatic as it is compelling, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of psychological thrillers. It is a novel that will resonate with those who appreciate the strange and the uncanny, and who are willing to embark on a journey to the darker corners of the imagination..

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the eARC! This book was certainly interesting, I didn’t quite know what to make of it and wasn’t entirely gripped by the story. It was compared to Disneyland while hallucinating, and it did somewhat feel that way. Certainly unique, an odd mix genres,

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

I had trouble getting into this book and ended up skimming through it. What a bummer! The premise just didn’t do it for me.

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

Lots of telling and no showing. A slow mess that I couldn’t get behind. The plot was so promising and I was so excited but I found myself wanting so much more

This was extremely strange and twisty. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, but I wasn't disappointed one bit.

Though this thriller was fast paced, and easy to flip through, I found the story a little too confusing to follow. Really cool concept, but the execution fell a bit flat for me.

Really wanted to love this one, but it didn’t come through for me.

The narrative fell flight for me unfortunately.

dnf @25%
seemed promising from its premise and the authors it's compared to, but i found this such a slog to get through - the writing style is just not for me, lots of telling over showing, and i have too many other books to read to continue something i'm really not clicking with.

A splendid gothic thriller in a way Interesting plot.
Many thanks to Atria and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

First of all thank you so much to the publishers and to Netgalley for my early read of At The End Of Every Day in exchange for my honest review.

Delphi works at an iconic theme park in California that has unfortunately had a fatal occurrence resulting in the death of a famous movie star. Her thoughts are very scattered but somehow calculated. Along with her boyfriend, Brendan, Delphi starts seeing things and can't tell if she's just imagining things or if there's something sinister in the park.

At The End Of Every Day explores the life of a theme park worker and adds an element of horror while painting a picture of a very fairytale-esque world.

This was very different from my usual reads. It's very much like a rollercoaster that stays upside down and makes your head explode. While I liked the element of robotics, fairy tale like themed rides and attractions, I did find it to be quite hard to follow and because of that I'm giving this 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

I have to say I love amusement parks but trying to get through this book, it really irritated me.

I found it creepy and disturbing. Maybe thats a good thing for others but not for me. I struggled witht this one.

I’m not even sure how to review this one, having not really understood what I was Reading until the end. Delphi is an employee at The Park, a Disneyland-Esque place where a celebrity dies and they must close permanently. From there the story becomes very descriptive, almost too much, and the plot doesn’t flow. I was Bored and found myself not really wanting to go on. I did Think the end was solid but can’t give more than 3 stars because it was a struggle getting there.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.