I loved the description and premise of this book… but the writing style and characters of Delphi and Brendan I just could not get into.

The first chapter felt like it would never end. The stream of consciousness narrative was at first intriguing but quickly became frustrating and dense.

Just wasn’t for me!

This book felt like a fever dream, and I mean that in both positive and negative ways. I can see why the author is marketing herself to fans of Iain Reid (one of my favorite horror authors), even if I don't fully agree. I like the unsettling atmosphere, and I think theme parks are underutilized as horror novel settings. I also enjoyed the twist reveal at the end - I didn't see it coming and I thought it was clever. My favorite part were the letters included at the end of every chapter.

With that being said, I had no idea what was happening in this book about 70% of the time. I know the author was going for a surrealist quality to her writing, but I couldn't follow along to save my life. I didn't see the twist coming because I don't think there was any foreshadowing. I didn't care about the characters or their relationships. Everything felt very detached.

I would consider picking up another book by this author in the future, but this one wasn't it for me. If you're a big fan of surrealist horror, however, you might like this one!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

The RIYLs on this suggested that there'd be bits of this I'd like and that there would also be Jeff Vandermeer-y things that generally aren't my vibe. That proved to be true - there's some ambiguous twisty bits that repeated shifts in perspective help bring to like, and there's a general eeriness that really made this a compelling page-turner, but I was a little let down by where this ended, since I felt like we yadda-yadda'd over some details that would have made things clearer.

“At the End of Every Day” by Arianna Reiche ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Theme Park Horror. Location: Southern California, USA. Time: Present.

Delphi Baxter wears gloves to cover her scars. She’s worked for years as a guest handler and maintenance staffer at The Park, an iconic California theme park. Brendan, her bemused, handsome boyfriend, works as one of the park’s princes. When Hollywood starlet Callie Petrisko mysteriously dies there, Delphi is told to permanently close the theme park. Strange new guests arrive, and Brendan starts acting oddly. Is something wrong with The Park, or is Delphi losing her mind? What will happen when Delphi, so intertwined with The Park, finally leaves? When 2 siblings with ties to The Park notice workers are disappearing, they discover why no one is allowed behind The Park’s curtain. Meanwhile, wildfires rage in California causing chaos. You’ll read about church cults, optical illusions, seriously scary bots, and the lasting impact of trauma.

Author Reiche gives us a dreamlike narrator as Delphi wanders behind and under The Park’s closing attractions. She includes a map of the above ground park. With detailed descriptions of rides and theme areas, she turns American theme park culture into something dark and unsettling. When Delphi goes underground in the last part of the book, Reiche’s narrative turns wildly metaphysical and becomes hard to follow. The first part of the book really doesn’t set the reader up for the switch, so it’s jarring and confusing. That being said , I’m not sure I’ll ever go to a theme park again! All in all, it’s a sinister theme park ride of a book, and it’s 3 mad teacup stars from me. Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley, and Arianna Reiche for this early ecopy. Publishes 7/4/2023.

I was drawn to the description of the book and the premise of a mystery in an iconic theme park. With elements of a cult and nod to 60s mysticism, as well as cutting edge AI technology, the story becomes less a mystery and more of a cosmic question. Surrealist and dreamy, it was definitely a strange read, but one I’ll remember.

2.6/5 - *Free NetGalley review copy* Great concept of a detailed amusement park (cute map included) w/ a haunted aura after a celeb commits suicide there. The telling is rather jumbled like it started as a teen English project (given the childish infatuation w/ the place) but then revisited by a grad student who too often makes simple things sound fantastically confusing. Though the MC is a girl who escaped some cultish family, she comes across like a wistful old man, content only to admire the park’s engineering and act tired and strange. The type of guy who vaguely warns travelers in horror movies not to head into town. Her roommate Brooke is a good foil, a blunt Australian who doesn’t seem suited to be a teacher but is funny with their judgmental theories. I’d rather her POV w/ its modernity, combativeness, and forward assessments.

At the End of Everyday by Arianna Reiche

Characters: 2/5
Plot: 2/5
Pace: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 2/5

I am terribly sorry but I honestly was more confused by the end of the book than I was in the beginning. The blurb sounded like this would be right up my alley but there were so many strange things going on. The narrative can be convoluted at times the way it goes between the park and the letters from Delphi’s brother. I get that Delphi wears gloves to hide the scars but it is talked about a lot in the book. The chapters are longer than I am used to but overall I would honestly say I am not the projected reviewer for this book.


Thank you to NetGalley as well s the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

After the tragic death of a celebrity on its grounds, a theme park must close down permanently. Delphi and a small contingent of staff are tasked with wrapping up operations. Meanwhile, one of the staff exchanges letters with his sister about the strange occurrences at the park.

It discusses religious cults, wildfires, and eerily human-like robots.

Usually, the weirder a book is, the more I love it. But this one had me confused nearly all the way through. It has a mind-bending quality, making it hard to tell what’s really going on. The ending took the sense of unreality to the next level.

I did enjoy one of the sibling’s POVs.

Avid theme park lovers might enjoy this mind-bender of a novel.

2.5.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley.

https://booksandwheels.com

I was really intrigued by the idea of this book -- creepy amusement park, Hollywood actress's mysterious death, etc. -- it all sounded like a good starting place for a novel. I stuck it out and read it all, hoping it would sort of make sense by the time I got to the end, but for me it never really clicked. Maybe it's not my genre, but my hunch is it is just confusing for many others as well. The further I got into the book the more confused I got -- unknown people on the grounds of the amusement park, secrets hidden within/behind/under the rides, the boyfriend -- what does he know? What is happening in the world outside the amusement park? Delphi with the gloves all the time -- it took a long time to explain that. I found it all just a really strange plot. For me this was a no, and I can't think of any people I would recommend it to (maybe my friends have similar reading tastes, but I can't really think of who this book would resonate with).

I thought the concept of this debut horror novel was extremely promising, but the execution left something to be desired. The theme park the plot revolves around, a kind of dark Disneyland, is wonderful to read about, but the characters have few redeeming qualities. I especially struggled with our protagonist "Delphi" and her frustrating immaturity. Other reviews have compared "At The End Of Every Day" to Iain Reid's novels and while that may have been what it is aiming for, the writing compares in comparison to Reid.

This is hard to review for me. I had extremely high expectations because the comparison to Iain Reid made me super excited. And there’s definitely some of that here.

That said, at about the halfway point, I thought to myself, I really hope this isn’t going where I think it’s going. And it did. It did so in a unique way and there was a nice extra at the end. But it left me wishing it was a different book. I wanted it to be an Iain Reid book where the emotional part was more impactful and the horror elements were less… actual horror? That might sound weird but I thought - despite the twists and weirdness - it was too straightforward. It felt like sci-fi horror and it was with some unique elements.

I think a lot of people will like this - and I definitely liked it. But I wanted to love it and the more genre-specific elements were just too genre-typical for me, I suppose?

It’s very hard to review this in an articulate way. Because my specific issues were basically just a personal disappointment that I wasn’t reading another Iain Reid book and that’s no one’s fault. I doubt anyone else will be disappointed in that - he’s just my favorite author right now and that bar is VERY hard to reach.

SPECIFICS NOT POSTED PUBLICLY:

I loved the idea of her being trapped and time passing but her not facing it. My concern was solely that I didn’t want there to be any horror or supernatural element. So the whole Renata thing and the cult just felt disappointing to me. Again, this is just because I love Iain Reid so much that I was so hoping for another “horror” that was just essentially sad and about mental health.

I changed this from 4 to 5 stars because it definitely sticks with you. And I don’t think anyone else will be sad that they’re not reading their favorite book again. I was just a bit disappointed that I didn’t love this as much as Iain Reid’s books - and that’s a silly standard.

This had a whole lot going on and even though it could get a bit confusing, I really enjoyed it. The only time it got a bit much was towards the end. I found things got a bit muddled with all the different themes coming together at once and so much happening, but it was still good. I just kind of had to accept these things were happening without thinking about it too much, if that makes sense.

I would have liked more of a look at what was happening outside of the park beyond the letters, I think that would have been interesting.

Thanks to Net Galley for an advanced copy. When I heard this was for fans of Iain Reid, I was quite excited.

The book was a tad confusing. At times I lost track of what character was who. There were also some passages that I feel mirrored other passages in the same chapter. I liked it and it's an interesting premise, I'm just not so sure about the execution. I definitely didn't love it.

DNF.

Got to a little more than 30% and I was bored out of my mind.
The chapters were so long, which is fine if you can grab my attention, but when you can’t…no.
The writing was confusing as well. Sometimes I was questioning which time period I was reading about and who was writing the letters back and forth to each other.

It’s a cool concept and an interesting backdrop of a theme park, which is what initially peaked my interest on wanting to read it, but I was under the impression that it was more of a murder mystery/who done it type of thing and by 30% I was able to figure out that it was going in a totally different direction - one that made me roll my eyes and officially say “I’m not finishing this.” Lol

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author, Arianna Reiche, for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the theme park setting and the main character’s love of it. For me, though, that is about as good as this book got. All the other stuff going on, I never really latched onto too much. There was some good creepy vibes as things built up, but the payoff and end wasn’t all that great for me. I do feel some people would really like this story as a whole, and there was enough here for me to put it at 3 stars instead of 2, but sadly overall this ended up a bit lacking.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

Wow, this book is easily one of my favorites this year, especially if you're a fan of good weird books by authors like Mona Awad, Iain Reed, Karen Tidbeck, and others. The story follows the slow and unsettling closure of a Disneyesque theme park, narrated by Delphi, an employee who has an unhealthy attachment to the place and its mystique. At the end of each chapter, we're treated to letters exchanged between siblings Catherine and her brother "bro," which reveal the dark and deeply weird history of the park, along with warnings to stay away.

Debut author Ariana Reiche delivers a great main narrative through protagonist Delphi, using dreamy sentences and weaving in quick flashbacks of childhood trauma amidst vivid descriptions of the decaying theme park. What adds to the intrigue is that Delphi becomes increasingly unreliable as a narrator, subtly hinting at inconsistencies that challenge the facts presented. This creates an overall unsettling experience in the best possible way.

The book is sprinkled with mysteries surrounding the park, including the true reason behind its closure, which goes beyond the death of an actress initially mentioned. It also introduces uncanny AI, enigmatic founders of the theme park, and highlights the significance of setting as a character and driving force in the story.

This book held my attention so strongly that I finished it in just two days. However, if you're not a fan of unsettling and occasionally confusing or ambiguous books, this may not be for you. But if you enjoy the best kind of weirdness in books, keep an eye out for this debut release on July 4th, 2023. I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with the opportunity to read the ARC.

This is probably closer to a 3.75 but for the sheer audacity of this story I will gladly round it up to 4 stars.

What if Disney was darker? More sinister? A little bit unhinged? What if never wanting to leave the happiest place on earth... had its consequences?

Okay so the setting of this book is The Park, but its BLATANTLY obvious that it is modeled after Disney. I hope Disney execs actually read this book and use it as a blueprint of what not to do in the future, should they ever consider going down this path. Reiche has constructed an absolutely BONKERS story. I found myself reading it with a perpetual "wtf" face because, seriously, WTF. It is definitely a story that seems to be going down several unrelated paths, and that can be confusing at times, and there were times when I thought parts of the narrative were unnecessary, but Reiche ties it all together in the end with a very unexpected bow.

This story is unsettling. Much of that has to do with the fact that the narrative is a little convoluted and it moves between a day in the park and letters between an unknown brother and sister that further lay out the creepy narrative. But its also unsettling in its setting. Reiche does an incredible job of demystifying theme park rides and spaces. She does an amazing job of forcing the reader to see the unseen, the see what should not be seen. She forces the reader to be made uncomfortable by these things in a way that was genius. If you're a Disney fan, or a fan of any type of theme park, you know there are secrets, whether that be in the way its designed or how the staff moves around. All of this is flayed open for the reader and it is... uncomfortable. To think about the inner workings of a park that is supposed to be magical and mystical. To see it with the lights on (this is an overarching theme and it... does kind of make your skin crawl). Its unnatural. Much like this park itself.

There is something... I dont want to say supernatural going on, but otherworldly. And its dangerous in that its unknowable and unseeable. And its not until the very end that you understand to what extent.

Also, never have I been more taken aback by the use of a books title in the text. I usually find that comforting or like a little wink from the author. NOT HERE.

I really wanted to like this book!! Everything about it sounded right up my alley, ThemeParks and murder but it fell flat. This is a slow burn, so it was hard for me to get into and by the time it picked up I had lost a lot of my interest. This has such potential and I might go back and read again but would have to skip some of it. Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC.

This one was really hard for me to judge.

It starts out with an interesting idea: a once-famous and beloved Southern California theme park (the author tries really hard to describe Disneyland without actually saying Disneyland) that is closing up because of a disastrous incident involving a famous young starlet’s death at the park during the opening of a land devoted to a movie starring her. The main character, Delphi, and her boyfriend are among the last of the employees to stay for the final weeks of the park to usher in its closing and guide around VIP groups and tour groups given permission to visit the non-closed parts of the park. Then weird thing start happening.

And in between the chapters of Delphi’s stream-of-consciousness narration of her days at the park, we read letters between a brother and sister describing weird things leading up to the fateful opening of the land opening and such.

It seems good right?

But the action is pretty slow-moving at first, and Delphi and Brendan, the boyfriend, never actually seem to be doing any actual work at the park, which you never get a good read on, because there’s so many names of areas and rides being thrown around, it’s hard to keep track. Then power! Things seem to just rocket forward. It’s really just kind of a lot, especially since the “solution” is kind of complicated and involves some technical issues to bring it all together.

It’s not that I didn’t like the book. It’s just that I think it could have been a little bit better organized to make it easier to follow and to keep the pace more even.

From the first page of At the End of Every Day, I was all-in. This book was an uneasy ride, and I mean that in the very best way.