I was nervous going into this, because I love Nat Cassidy’s debut- Mary, and I was SO hyped for this book to come out. But fear not reader, this book is really, really good. It follows Ana, Reid, and their new baby as they move to an exclusive Central Park building after winning a housing lottery. Ana, who is struggling to manage motherhood and a recent disability from her daughter’s birth that left her in a wheelchair. What at first seems like an idyllic new start starts to slowly unravel the longer they stay in the building. This book is so, so creepy. The atmosphere is incredible and the pacing is excellent as you slowly watch this family unravel. I’ve seen a lot of Rosemary’s Baby comparisons, which really hits the nail on the head. That creeping darkness in a seemingly elite, wealthy space. And as someone who would also risk imploding my life to live in one of these bougie Central Park buildings, I get the motivation. This book is so creative and original, taking a very familiar horror monster (you’ll see what I mean) and adding a modern twist that I genuinely have never seen before.

I'm posting this review on my Instagram @boozehoundbookclub in October.

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: ARC from Tor Nightfire

In the much anticipated (second) novel from Nat Cassidy, the horrors of New York City real estate, the first year of parenthood, and the (supernatural) converge in this chilling book. Inspired by Rosemary’s Baby and Salem's Lot, Nestlings opens with Ana and Reid as their luck finally turns around after a very hard year. They believe winning the housing lottery for a beautiful luxury apartment in a famous building will be the start of things looking up for their young family. But life at the Deptford is not as picture perfect as it would seem, and this is not just a few bumps in the night. Though Reid would rather turn a blind eye to the red flags, Ana knows there is something not right in their new home, and races against time to discover the truth behind the Deptford before its too late.

Many authors comment on the challenges of writing their second novel, especially when their first is a smashing success, so I was very intrigued to read this after finishing Cassidy’s first book last week. There are some changes in the writing style- Nestlings has dual POV between Ana and Reid, and is told in a single, linear timeline (though there were some brief flashes to other characters called “City Interludes”). This really highlights the rift between the couple as the story progresses, so I think it was a good change for this story. The setting created by Cassidy for this novel was very dark and disturbing which enhanced the unsettling plot, which revealed the secrets of the Deptford piece by twisted piece.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to horror readers, especially those who enjoy urban settings and corporeal antagonists. Nestlings has topics of postpartum psychosis, antisemitism, physical disability & ableism, and others, so be sure to review the content guide before reading.

Many thanks to Tor Nightfire for the review copy of Nestlings, which publishes on October 31st.

Whew.

Ana and Reid, and their nearly 1-year-old daughter, Charlie, have won a housing lottery. They are somehow, impossibly, now residents of the Deptford, one of the grand old apartment buildings of New York City. They break their Brooklyn lease in the middle of the night and move into their top-floor unit. Living in an apartment only reachable--and escapable--by a rickety Art Deco elevator is especially uncomfortable for Ana, who experienced a serious injury in childbirth and is now using a wheelchair to move around. Reid, on the other hand, is delighted by their good fortune, and immediately takes to the building and its mysterious, aging beauty. Charlie hates it, and screams and sobs in her crib.

Plagued by depression and anxiety, Ana is miserable from the start. That said, she's been miserable since before Charlie was born, struggling to get pregnant and then emerging from her labor racked with pain, mobility issues, and a sense that everything is wrong.

And really, everything is wrong. The Deptford is not normal, and the residents -- wherever they are, since the place feels empty to Ana -- are definitely not normal. Charlie isn't normal. Nothing is ok in Nestlings, and as creeping dread turns to something much more horrifying, the reader can't help but be sucked into this story that's simultaneously a terrifying drama and a meditation on grief.

I can't say I loved this book. It was well-structured, effectively executed, thoughtful, and deeply unnerving. There were some bits so scary I had to put it down. (I admit I skimmed anything to do with bugs; next time I'll read the content warnings more carefully.) It would make an incredible film. But I wanted to care more about and sympathize more with Ana and Reid. I came down a little more on the side of the villains, who were tremendous fun. I would love to read the same book from their perspective, in fact. And maybe that's ok. It's a pastiche of Rosemary's Baby and The Shining and a lot of other unsettling tales of two parents arriving in a very bad place physically, in addition to a bad place emotionally, and those stories often contain very bad people who are a lot more interesting than the purported main characters.

In any case, I certainly can't fault Nestlings for not being 100% what I wanted, when it was so brilliantly what the author wanted it to be. Highly recommended for horror fans (but please, check the content warnings!). 4.5 stars, rounded up.

Mary was such an amazing book that when I got approved for the ARC for Nestlings, I knew I was going to love it. Right from the jump, the creepiness just exudes from the story. You get the first taste of it from Vera, the realtor, and how she decides to eat a cockroach she found in the apartment she was showing. I loved how, as the book progressed, that you would get little glimpses of things that happened in the past like Ana and the knife. The moment gets caught off abruptly leaving you wanting to know what happened. Then when Ana finds a random key and uses it to open her neighbors door, I was like "Girl you’re just asking for something bad to happen to you!" Then things became even stranger as you started to learn more about the residents of Deptford and the weird things that would happen. Like when Bizzie saw the old woman drink the vomit and Charlie biting Eliot. I loved how Nate Cassidy had the characters be involved in something book related. Reid gets the book of the building they live in while also loving bookstores. While Ana is the narrator for an audio book of a series titled Blood Rink.  
Thank you to @netgalley and Nat Cassidy for allowing me to read this one ahead of time. Nestlings is out on October 31, 2023!
The Good: The creepy, eeriness that lingered. As if you were being watched too. The description of people and things occurring could be pictured in your mind. 
The Meh: Some parts were a little too long. The book itself could've been a bit shorter.

Nestlings was absolutely everything I thought it would be. Rosemary's Baby and Salem's Lot couldn't more perfectly describe the vibes. There was a perfect mix of supernatural horror and real-life horrors, whether they were from rotten people or just general bad luck in life. Ana's struggles felt real and even though they weren't things I can relate to, they called on very real fears I have, and I truly appreciated Reid's arc. The whole thing was so believable, and that makes for the best sort of horror!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

In a world without enough Jewish horror, Nat Cassidy takes a firm look at the genre and decides to do his part for more. “Nestlings” is a story of family, loss, parenthood and identity spun through a lens of Jewish identity and featuring Jewish folklore that works only to its benefit. Easily Cassidy’s best work thus far and one that shows his utter flair for the horror genre.

Ana and Reid are a couple struggling after the birth of their child. In need of a break, they find one when they win a new apartment that overlooks the most beautiful areas of Manhattan. But paranoia soon sets in, and the couple begin to discover bite marks upon their baby. Their neighbors seem nice, but grow increasingly strange and disturbing. Eventually, Ana and Reid are left to wonder just what they’ve gotten themselves into-and if there’s any hope of escape.

Cassidy writes “Nestlings” with a razor whit. The book is intelligent and incisive, with commentary on current events. Most poignant is the portrayal of Reid’s own Judaism and how it has become even more vital to him in the current climate of rising antisemitism. For Reid, reclaiming his heritage is a statement against oppression and is the most real that Reid feels throughout the book.

Ana and Reid’s relationship feels all too real and familiar. They love one another, but have their problems and drama. Cassidy does not shy away from the portrayal of love, with all its problems. And simultaneously, he shows the difficulty of being parents and bringing a child up in an unjust world, asking what choices a parent might make to protect them when the terrifying unknown awaits.

Cassidy builds the terror to an absolute crescendo. Every piece of the novel lines up, with Jewish vampires portrayed in a positively brilliant and frightening manner. “Nestlings” understands the fear of parenthood, love, and choice while pushing the reader from their nest of comfort.

After winning an affordable housing lottery in NYC, a couple and their baby move into their dream apartment, but (of course) strange and haunted things are afoot. The horror elements were genuinely scary, the bug stuff in particular had my skin crawling. Not only is the mother dealing with postpartum depression, but she uses a wheelchair after a labor related injury and that representation was great. This story manages o be frightening and emotional but still a ton of fun.

Yo, as if new motherhood isn’t terrifying enough!!

Nestlings is a story of grief, healing, and generational (and cultural) shared trauma.

Ana and Reid seem to have hit the jackpot after a rough labour of their daughter has left Ava in a wheelchair. They win an affordable housing lottery for a prestigious building called The Deptford. The Deptford is New York City royalty, a beautiful old apartment building full of the rich and famous. Of course, not everything is what it seems.

I’m going to go against the grain and say this is a mashup of The Strain and Archive 81 (both WONDERFUL shows)! You’ve got a NYC apartment building with a secretive and dark history, unsuspecting tenants, and gargoyles!!

I felt on the edge of my seat the whole time and I thought Nat Cassidy handled the issues of postpartum depression and the struggles of being a caretaker for a loved one really well. It really captured the fear of change and new chapters in life. Those additions made Nestlings wonderfully creepy and real!

Stick around for the afterword, it’s a really great note from Cassidy about his personal inspirations and struggles that come through in this novel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Available October 31, 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Tor and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tw: antisemitism, ableism, postpartum depression, discussion of infanticide

The story follows young couple, Ana and Reid with their newborn baby Charlie. They win the lottery for a low income apartment in a historic high rise in Manhattan. Ana is in a wheelchair due to problems during childbirth. She struggles with postpartum depression so the couple thought a change of scenery would help. They soon realize the apartment is on the top floor of the building which makes Ana nervous considering her condition however, they take the chance and move in. Shortly after they settle in, strange things begin to happen… specifically with Charlie.

This book gave me a lot of feelings. I wasn’t a fan of the pacing as it started very slow and then all of the action happened halfway through and then it got super slow again until the end. The redeeming qualities would probably be the character development of Ana, the plot reveal, and the authors notes at the end that explain certain aspects of the story. I wish some of those things were more clear from reading the story.

Overall I liked the plot and the main character so I’m giving this book 3 stars.

I read a bit of an interview of the author, Nat Cassidy, and it helped me see more into this incredible work of horror. The idea of vampirism and how exactly it affects different cultures or religious groups other than Christianity. This put the book on a whole new level for me, and I was very impressed.

This book is short but very slow moving. It absolutely reminded me of the vibe of one of my favorites, an oldie, Salem's Lot. In that story, the whole town seems to be an entity, trapping the townspeople within. The same can be said of this story and the oppressive apartment building that seemed to be taking over.

Every line had a purpose, driving the point forward. I was on alert the whole time I was reading this.

Out October 31, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Ana and Reid win a lottery they entered years ago for a low-rent unit in the upscale apartment building, the Deptford. They now have a baby and Ana's legs are paralyzed from a complication from childbirth The building feels strange to them and baby Charlie becomes a sleepless, cranky, nightmare.

A book that explores motherhood and what it means. I really enjoyed the book and found it nauseating a couple of times. I liked both Ana and Reid though they both had traits that made them grey at times. I had a very good time with this but I can tell it isn't going to be rememberable after a while. A good read that reminded me of a cosmic Rosemary's Baby.

Like Rosemary's baby but if Rosemary was postpartum and in a wheelchair.

The subject matter of this one is dark and sinister. I am impressed at the author's ability to write from the perspective of a mother the way that he does. However, I think the subject matter of postpartum isn't my favorite to read.

“𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝.”

After a horrific birthing experience, Ana and Reid need a lucky break. They think they’ve got it when they’re chosen to move into the Deptford, a prestigious apartment building in Manhattan, NY. But moving into this place is only the beginning of many nightmares to come.

Though I was not a fan of Mary: An Awakening of Terror, I really liked this one. It has been said to mirror the creepiness of Rosemary’s Baby (but not heavy on pregnancy/postpartum themes) and Salem’s Lot. I can’t agree more. However, it is still extremely original and unique.

The “haunted” building and “disturbed” child tropes were done well, whilst maintaining complexity with the main characters. And the gory descriptions? Disgustingly brilliant. Beware of all “creatures” at the Deptford.

I will say that this was a bit more of a slow burn than I would’ve preferred. Because of that, I didn’t always feel compelled to pick it up. For those reasons alone, it isn’t a new favorite.

All that being said, I’m sure this will be a favorite for many horror lovers. It would be a great fall/spooky season read.

Frustration is real world horror. Everyone is frustrated, pining for something more. Yes, there are terrible monsters in this NY city, but they almost seem the backdrop to highlighting all the ways Anna and Reid are truly unhappy in their lives at this current moment and just the mechanism that brings it to light once they move into the Deptford with their baby Charlie. They weren’t always unhappy, but that is where they find themselves together as a family and yet why they each - Anna, Reid and even Charlie are left alone to navigate the Deptford and the monsters calling to each of them within.

There are so many unique elements to this story that I don’t want to give it away, so I’ll just say that it touches well on the emotions of fear, isolation, loss, guilt, envy, anger, repulsion, and grief.

I really enjoyed how uncomfortable the book made me at times and how unsettled I was with the ending. Appreciated the author afterword as well. Highly recommend checking this out once it is released on Halloween.

A family has the chance to move into a highly coveted building after winning a housing lottery. But despite their incredible luck somethings off. The building staff is super creepy and where are all the neighbors? What are those marks on the baby?

This book is described as Rosemary’s baby meets Salem’s and while it does pay homage and brings that ominous creepy factor it’s also so much more. The story brings a different, fresh perspective and unique premise. I loved everything about this. I love when an author has a love for what they are paying homage to. Love that it explores the idea of “the residents” from a Jewish lore perspective. Loved the atmosphere, liminal spaces and the personality of the Deptford itself and the mysteries surrounding it and its residents.

The buildup of the story is exquisite and the feeling of claustrophobia and dread that builds as small hints of what’s to come and as we uncover new horrors adds to the readers unease. The escalation of each new horror is also super intense! The characters are flawed and complex and the exploration of the of relationship between the characters of Ana and Reid and of motherhood and birth trauma and what it means to survive was really well done.

The Halloween release date for this is perfect. This is for all the horror lovers out there and the perfect spooky season, late night read.

I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Summary:

Ana and Reid needed a lucky break.

The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling: with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear—affordable housing lottery.

They've won an apartment in the Deptford, one of Manhattan's most revered buildings with beautiful vistas of Central Park and stunning architecture.

Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana’s deep unease and paranoia as the price of living in New York—people are odd—but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on the baby.


My Thoughts: This is my second book by Nat. I LOVED it! This books was bingeworthy. Nat has become an auto read author for me.

OMG. I owe all of my appreciation to Macmillan Audio, Tor Nightfire, Nat Cassidy, and Netgalley for digital and audio access before this wickedly delicious treat hits shelves on October 31, 2023 -- the perfect Halloween fright.

This is my first Nat Cassidy book, but it definitely won't be my last for obvious reasons.

Ana and her husband, Reid, are relatively new parents. After a devasting labor & delivery-related injury, Ana is paralyzed from the waist down and even more disconnected from her baby girl, Charlie. This family can't seem to catch a break. That is until they win the affordable housing lottery in a gorgeous and historic apartment building draped with gargoyles, buttresses, and a whole bunch of secret rooms deemed for selective entry.

Charlie simply won't start crying and can't seem to sleep through the night, leaving Ana restless and resenting her baby, feeding into her post-partum depression. But it's not long until something eerie knocks on Charlie's window to quiet her screams, transforming her into something else entirely with an appetite for sugar and blood!

Ana begins to spiral further into her state of insanity while Reid loses his job and begins to work for his building's tenants in some cryptic manner. It's only a matter of time until the truth comes out about this building's monstrous origins, and this tiny family will likely be unable to make it work.

DNF @ 37%. Look….. I can’t do bugs! I wish I had known that was going to be a component of this going in - because I would not have picked it up at all. :/

That aside, from what I’ve read so far this was right at the border of tense and unrelentingly grim. I guess it’s a taste thing - my personal preference would be for this story to be, like, one episode of Buffy/Angel/The X-Files/Fringe/whatever. Although it was objectively well-written, I really didn’t enjoy reading it.

I felt quite torn by this book, it was full of old school horror tropes and vampires and nothing felt particularly surprising, but I liked the central couple who had numerous real life issues to contend with as well. At its core the thoughts on how to manage being a survivor, and if one would actually want to be one were quite profound. Unexpectedly, reading it also made me really thankful for the NHS and care being free at the point of need
Thank you to netgalley and Tor publishing group for an advance copy of this book

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy is listed as the most anticipated horror book of the year and trust me it lives up to all the hype! This fast-paced creepy read follows Ana, her husband- Reid, and their one-year-old baby, Charlie. Ana is suffering from post-partum depression while experiencing her new reality of becoming recently paralyzed from the waist down. Throughout this book, I really felt for the characters and the traumatic life events that are happening to them.

The family hopes their luck will change when they win an affordable housing lottery for an apartment in Deptford, one of Manhattan’s most obscure and legendary buildings. However, strange things begin happening at Deptford once they move in. Charlie begins to act oddly, and something is off with the people in the building. Ana and Reid try to uncover what’s going on, why locals won't enter the building, and what caused the building's gruesome history- including the "plummet" when 20 residents jumped simultaneously to their deaths from the rooftop. Then they discover bite marks on Charlie . . . and all is set in motion.

This book is an original mashup between Salem’s Lot and Rosemary’s Baby, but you’ll never see what’s coming in this completely epic ending. I could not put this book down and I highly recommend it!