Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a E-ARC of Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison!

I enjoyed reading this book. It is a horror book about a woman who escapes cult life and gets pulled back by her cousins wedding. I would suggest going into this book blind. Some of the reviews are giving away one of the biggest twists that I didn’t see coming. I literally had to reread what I had read to make sure I read it correctly lol.

This is my first book by Rachel Harrison and know I will definitely pick up some others that I had my eyes on.

Cults are something that fascinates me. It may be weird to say but they intrigue me and I'm always up to reading/watching something that talks about cults in any way. My first experience with one was with the Family of Charles Manson. That sealed my fate and I never looked back.

Harrison knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat with your mind racing. I lost sleep trying to finish this one because it was everything that I have ever wanted in a cult book. If you think you know what's going on, you really have no idea. I was shocked at the turn of every page and my eyes couldn't read the words fast enough. Everyone needs to read this book!

Black Sheep promised a devilishly delicious religious cult and it certainly delivered. Get your raw and bloody steak ready and come on this journey to the dark depths of Hell and back. You won't be disappointed.

Rachel Harrison has once again taken a horror subgenre/trope that we all know and love and given it her own spin full of all the emotions. BLACK SHEEP is a book I went into almost 100% blind. I think I read one 2-3 sentence synopsis. And I was hooked from the start! It had a few twists that really captivated me and one entire chapter caused me to hold my breath the whole way through. I loved the family dynamics at work, all the ups and downs. The religious community referenced in the synopsis was so much more intoxicating and interesting than I thought it would be. And the main character's mother? WOW! I could read an entire series just on her, her life, and all the choices and decisions she's made over time.

Saying much more about the plot would risk robbing you of the blind experience I had. I want you to read this and have all the "ooh!"s and "aah!"s that I did. I want you feverishly ripping through those final chapters with an almost insatiable thirst for the truth like I did.

BLACK SHEEP is destined to be a classic... perhaps even a cult classic!

I decided to read Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison on a whim. As usual, I went in blind and I just loved everything about it. The sarcasm and satire. The humor amidst the horror. Add this one to your list!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the electronic advanced copy.

First of all, thank you so much to Berkley for reaching out with an e-arc of this novel! Fall is my favorite time of the year, and this was the perfect book to get me started on my spooky season reads….I loved it so, SO much. I actually can’t remember the last book that I read quite this fast!

This is the story of Vesper, a 23 year old girl living on her own after leaving behind the religious confines of her cult-like family and community. This rigorous and stifling upbringing left her with some serious baggage, and a pretty cynical outlook on life. One night after an especially heinous shift at the mediocre restaurant she works at, she returns home to find a mysterious invitation waiting for her. The invitation is for a wedding, but not just any wedding. No, this is a wedding back home, a wedding for her cousin/childhood bestfriend, Rosie, and the only boy she’s ever loved, Brody. Vesper cannot believe that after she disappeared, instead of mourning her, Rosie and Brody got together, and are apparently soon to be wed. But more than that, she can’t believe that she was invited back, as everyone knows that once you leave the community, you can never return. And as much as she hates the idea of returning home, she hates the idea of not showing up, even more.

After she arrives back in her isolated hometown of Virgil, her anxiety is immediate. She’s met with all of the same, almost as if she never left: her mother’s complete disdain and cold disinterest in her, her father’s absence, her Aunt Grace’s unwavering affection, Rosie’s warm and sugary BFFness, and the overwhelming feeling of wrongness. As Vesper is thrown back into the cult-like community that she escaped once before, new truths start to surface, and she’s forced to question everything she thought she knew about her family, and herself.

I’m so serious, this book was EVERYTHING!!!! It was dark and twisted, hilarious, and Vesper was just such a great main character. This was a perfect balance of horror, and examination of familial trauma and identity. Rachel Harrison’s writing is sharp and to the point, and just downright addicting. The atmosphere was perfectly set throughout the book! I literally felt like I was in Virgil, sitting on a porch swing in the middle of nowhere reading this (which was terrifying at times because uhh…..iykyk lol). I just enjoyed this so, so much and cannot wait to read more from this author! I’m hooked!

Vesper is estranged from her deeply religious family, living in the city and struggling through her 20s. She never planned to go back, but when she receives an invitation to her cousin's wedding, she feels compelled to attend. Coming home is more or less what she expects, until a huge family secret is revealed that sends Vesper spinning — can it be true? And what does it mean for her future?

Okay, so based on that synopsis you're like, "girl, where's the horror?" and I get it, I really do. But the thing is, I don't want to give away anything about this book because the surprises are what make it so fun to read!! Vesper is a great time and so is her icy scream queen mom, Constance. I absolutely love the descriptions of Constance's movies, memorabilia, and decor. What a house!

Anyway, there's a great twist pretty early in the story (~20% in) and it just gets better from there. Rachel Harrison's tone is light and fun despite the horror components, and that's a combo I can't get enough of lately. This is a PERFECT spooky season book and I highly recommend it when it hits the shelves in September!

Thank you to Rachel Harrison, Berkley, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

Vesper escaped from the strict religious community when she was raised in at 18 and never looked back. That is, until a wedding invitation shows up at her doorstep inviting her to her cousin/former BFF’s nuptials. And something tells Vesper she should go home. Just for the weekend. But when your family’s as…..unconventional…..as Vesper’s, even a quick visit can turn into a nightmare.

This was a great, quick read, with a couple of really fun twists thrown in for good measure. With the spooky season right around the corner, it was easy to sink into a book centered around a strange religious community and the “prodigal daughter” who returns home to find that nothing’s changed, but has some big secrets revealed to her.

I’m not going to give anything away, but this book was great in its delivery - it’s got all the makings of a good horror/thriller, but it also has some great dark humor in it to. The twists and lines are revealed sometimes casually, like an afterthought, almost making me laugh out loud as the characters chatter on like nothing’s wrong. It was brilliantly written stuff!

I can’t stress enough how fitting this book is for the fall season, especially as you’re curled up with a blanket or with your pumpkin spiced treat of choice. It’s a great choice for horror fans and dark humorists alike!

3.5 stars
Not the strongest writing but an extremely fun horror. It took a great turn about halfway through that I wasn't expecting and made me even more excited to keep reading. I definitely wouldn't recommend this unless you love horror; there were some highly gruesome parts that I know are just not for everybody.

I loved the cult classic style of Rachel Harrison's new book! So clever and spooky, perfect for the fall season!

Vesper has been working at a disgruntled server at Shortee’s. When a customer remarks that she’s a dead ringer for Constance Wright, the famous scream queen horror film actor, Vesper acts aloof, but the comment angers her. Bad things happen to the customer and Vesper is fired. Later that night, she feels like she’s being watched and then discovers a large-red envelope on her format. She knows right away it’s from her estranged family. She left her cultish family behind when she was eighteen and never looked back. But now, her ex-best friend and her ex-boyfriend are getting married and she’s been invited and takes the bait and returns home to the toxic family she’d sworn off. A family that harbors a lot of dark secrets. This is a dark and funny novel about fractured family’s, secrets with a twist on dysfunction as well as a focus on father-daughter relationships. An enjoyable horror novel indeed. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for my free copy in exchange for review.

Black Sheep immerses readers in the life of Vesper, a young woman who emancipated herself from her family and the religious sect she was raised. Despite lacking any maternal affection from her mother, Vesper's undeniable attachment to the only family she has ever known leads her back to them. Little did she anticipate the true nature of this religious cult.

The novel delves into the unwavering faith that sustains this tight-knit community while exploring themes of familial bonds. In Vesper's case, although she no longer embraces the religion imposed upon her upbringing, there remains an innate longing for connection with her family - their love and care during moments of solitude. She yearns for an absent father and ponders why her mother is so emotionally distant.

At its core, Black Sheep offers a profound narrative about human relationships — our innate need to belong and our journey toward finding the inner strength to release what no longer serves us.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC of Black Sheep in exchange for my honest review!

An equal mix of darkness and comedy take you on a wild ride through Vesper’s past colliding with her present. The first twist actually caught me off guard, but really set the scene for the rest of the book to be a fast-paced ride. It’s one of those books that I think would make a genuinely fun live adaption. I could absolutely see this on Netflix and turn into a crowd favorite like the Fear Street movies or Happy Death Day. I loved the writing style, I loved the pace, and I loved how ridiculous the story was - it was all combined together for a really great book!

I highly recommend checking this one out when it released on September 18, 2023!

This was a DNF for me at 25%. All I read was a really annoying and unlikable main character and nothing was really happening. The character’s dysfunctional family wasn’t very compelling to me and there just wasn’t a single element I was enjoying. Sorry, not for me.

This one is somewhat less fun than Such Sharp Teeth, but I respected how much she leaned into the fact that evil can look extremely banal. I did think it took a little long for the main character to realize her role in the story, as I figured it out in the first half and since it's written in first-person, I kind of figured she should too. However, I did like the through line of being able to recognize and address toxic relationships, and the idea of being your own person, no matter what your possibly demonic parents think of it. It'll make a fun little Halloween treat for many libraries this fall. Unless some bozo decides to challenge on account of the fact that it's about a Satanic cult, let's be real, that is a very real possibility.

Wow, this was not an expected read and that is such a good thing. It can be hard to surprise me with a creepy but satisfying thriller/horror book but Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison is one that I will think of when I of as more than I expected from a book (and I expected a good horror book to be fair but this one is thought provoking and I can't say that about every horror/creepy book I have read). You get a good story but also a lot of solid twists or at least unexpected plot developments and a good examination of ... family secrets, themes about returning home when you thought you were gone/not welcome back, and how going back means facing, and risking, long standing secrets.

This is tricky to review as I want to say yes yes read this if you like a solid unsettling read but I don't want to say more about the plot, I am so glad I went in generally not knowing what this was about other than seeing a few earlier raves for this book (and now I know why!). Family, secrets, cult vibes, and feeling unnerved in a good way this one is for you. I am all in for examination of fanaticism and cults and Black Sheep does this so well.

Thank you to Berkley for this read and to the invite for the book tour for this in Sept. I will be sharing my review more broadly then! Now to go read Rachel Harrison's backlist...

Wasn't 100% sure what I was getting into when I started this book and I can honestly say I was taken by surprise.

When we think of a cult we normally think religion. This book takes that concept and essentially kind of turns it on its head. There were quite a few twists in here that I think most people would enjoy and for a horror novel, this definitely will be seen a "cult classic" (pun intended.

I found the concepts that were talked about in this book very interesting and I felt that were some good arguments made when it came to the topic of religion as a whole.

The fact that this book managed to stay creepy while having this important discussion definitely is a plus in my book.

Really interested in checking out more Rachel Harrison.

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Rachel Harrison for an ARC of Black Sheep. Rachel Harrison has truly made a name for herself in the modern horror genre, and I was super excited to read this!

I enjoyed the twist on the cult mentality and how it was outside of what we would think of as organized religion. This made the book unique, but it also made if fairly unrelatable. I don’t know much about people worshipping Satan, but I know people who have been part of religious cults (otherwise).

I have to say that I lost interest in the book about 40% of the way through. I like horror that is borderline realistic because that is what messes with my head the most; I found most of this book to be comical rather than scary, and I wasn’t prepared for that. I don’t think the romance aspect did much for the book.

If you like horror novels, step right up! If you like the novel Rosemary's Baby, step right up! If you like horror novels about cults, religious fervor, and family secret - this is the book for you. It had my heart beating on a few occasions and there were a few laughs also. I loved the author's previous novel, Such Sharp Teeth, and this one doesn't quite measure up but it did serve up the scares!

At this point I'm not even bothering to read the synopsis before I buy Rachel Harrison's books, because she has never missed. Black Sheep is amazing. I had to keep checking the % mark on my e-reader because it felt like so much was happening, and surely we had to be approaching the end, but no! There was always more! And it just got stranger. Every new twist and turn plunged Vesper (and us with her) deeper into a frightening new reality that challenged everything she believed to be true. Please understand that when I say "what a freaking wild ride" I am not simplifying or understating just how delightfully unpredictable this book was. 10/10 would read again.

Let me just add: when we're first informed that Vesper grew up in a very fundamentalist religious town (it's a cult, Vesper, honey), that was NOT the fundamentalist religion I had in mind! Harrison red herringed me, and I loved it.

Vesper is living a listless existence as a waitress at a chain restaurant in New York City. Disaffected and sarcastic, she has fled the authoritarian religious group she grew up in, knowing that if you leave, you can never return. She's surprised to receive an invitation to the wedding of her childhood best friend and her first love, both of whom stayed loyal to the cult and remained in their tiny New Jersey town. Despite a tense relationship with her cold, detached scream queen mother, a star of b horror films, Vesper's curiosity gets the better of her and she returns for the wedding, the prodigal child.

Vesper learns secrets about her family and childhood faith that she struggles to accept. It's a darkly humorous book that still manages to wrestle with themes of faith, memory, family, and identity. How much of one's identity is tied to one's past? Can you escape who you used to be or who other people wanted you to be? Harrison has written a book that is fast paced and filled with great characters. If you are a fan of fiction about cults, family tension, or strained parent/child relationships you will enjoy this release. There are twists and turns that will keep you reading.