Sunny Behre might be the fourth child in her family of five siblings, but she knows she’s long been groomed to succeed her mother as leader of their wealthy, influential Black family. Her mother Ainsley was a force of nature, parlaying inheritance of a ranch into various successful business ventures that catapulted their family into the Toronto elite. Perhaps nothing is more meaningful to the Behres, however, than the private school they founded for underprivileged kids. All the Behre children have attended as proof of the school’s excellent credentials, and continue to take an interest in it even after graduation, with their father Jay serving as principal.

After Ainsley’s unexpected death, seventeen year-old Sunny is poised to take over, so is shocked when her eldest sister Karter assumes the role instead. She’s even more displeased when the only instruction her mother’s will gives her is “Take care of Dom.” Dom is the youngest child, and has always been something of an outcast in their family, even before he was accused of murdering his white girlfriend. The Behres have absolutely closed ranks around him in public. In private, though, none of them are sure of his innocence. His best friend Jeremy has no such doubts, telling Sunny:

QUOTE
“It’s bullshit, man. You know, when me and Dom hang out, it’s like someone is always looking for a reason to call the law on us. We’re leaning against a lamppost–loitering. We’re browsing the shelves–finna take something. We’re laughing too loud–disturbing the peace. They’re always paying so much attention to us.[”]

I didn’t know what to say to him. Nothing he’d said was wrong. Justice wasn’t supposed to discriminate, but of course it did. And we [Behres] were exploiting it, too. Using every bit of money and influence to get Dom whatever we could in a way that Black people without the money couldn’t.
END QUOTE

Determined to grin and bear it till the family can see that she’s their rightful leader, Sunny throws herself into making a success of her school life and keeping Dom out of trouble. Her purpose doesn’t even waver when she walks into the academy’s cafeteria one afternoon and finds a bloodied Dom standing over the corpse of a fellow student. Her unrelenting commitment to her family and to her mother’s directive cause her to instinctively cover up the crime, even as she starts to realize that there is something very wrong going on with the people she loves the most.

Because – despite her family conditioning her to instinctively scapegoat Dom for any bad thing that happens – Sunny does genuinely believe that Dom is innocent of at least this last murder. But someone else is definitely guilty, as the bodies begin to pile up and the evidence points to one of the Behre children being an accomplished serial killer. Will Sunny be able to sort through years of family secrets to get to the truth of who’s truly behind this string of murders?

No one in any genre writes about hidden family trauma as well as Liselle Sambury does. Between this and her prior novel Delicious Monsters, her ability to dissect family expectations in the face of overwhelming horror and, perhaps more crucially, how to work towards a resolution which is healthiest for everyone concerned is unparalleled. Sunny’s plight as a habitual people pleaser is especially resonant, given that her determination to be the constantly upbeat cheerleader of the family stems from her survival of a terrible ordeal as a five year-old:

QUOTE
Everyone thought I would fall apart. I’d wanted to. I had a bit, honestly. But then I saw my parents fight. Saw my siblings who were supposed to be watching me wracked with guilt, compounded by our parents blaming them too[.] And I knew if everyone saw I was okay, it would stop. So I’d put a smile on my face and acted like everything was fine.

It worked. The fighting stopped. I still had nightmares until I was twelve, but as long as I pretended like everything was fine, I could keep the peace in my family. I had helped them with nothing more than a smile.

Mom said that was the moment she realized that I was resilient. I had the motivation to prioritize the family over myself. That was what was needed to lead.
END QUOTE

Between the keen psychological insights into both dysfunctional family dynamics and the political systems that victimize minorities and the poor, this would already be a terrific book. But Ms Sambury takes it one step further, composing a truly absorbing murder mystery novel with original folk horror highlights. Sunny and her family are all complex, engaging characters, and the tangled history that demands its reckoning of them is both unique in its details while staying strongly rooted in the kind of family issues that far too many people like to pretend don’t exist.

I became a fan of Sambury when I read Delicious Monsters. She has a great way of combining multiple storylines and the book was so creepy and chilling that I fell for it quickly. I was hoping for this one to cement itself into my great read list but I have to say it hasn't. I did like some of it but I it didn't grasp me like I was hoping.

The story centers around a wealthy family who run a cattle ranch and a private school in Canada. They aren't the closest of families but they deal with a lot and take time to keep up the image needed of them. When the mother is found dead and one of her sons, Dom, is being investigated for the murder of his girlfriend, the family slowly starts to unravel. One of her daugthers, Sunny, is the main POV and we get most of the story from her perspective. Secrets that were being kept for the safety of the family begin to spill and more murders pop up hinting of a serial killer. When that happens, Sunny must use everything in her power to keep the family from breaking apart. This part of the story is great, and sometimes a little gory, and I was liking it a lot. Especially as Sunny and her brother Dom look into what or who is leaving an evil-looking symbol alongside the dead bodies.

The other perspective is from Sunny's mother's journal she kept when she was younger. It focuses on her life on the cattle ranch. This is where the story fizzled out a little for me. Her mother describes her time trying to fit in with the other kids living at the ranch. She becomes part of a cult-like group of them who all participate in killing animals to satisfy the cravings of the "Milk Man". As long as the Milk Man is happy, things go well for the ranch. But if he isn't happy, all goes wrong. Those who feed the Milk Man are called "calves". and I wasn't feeling that. Especially the milk with the taint of blood in it. Sambury does a nice job of blending the two stories but as the Milk Man part is brought up more and more I cringed. The story also dragged in the middle, where it is mostly filled with Sunny's thoughts about what was happening and there wasn't a lot of action. I needed more here.

Major props for Sambury's creativity in bringing something fresh and new to the scene though. And if the Milk Man wasn't part of the story I would have loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this!

Gosh, I have yet to meet a Liselle Sambury book I didn't devour. This one was no exception! In Tender Beasts, we meet Sunny, who has recently lost her mom and finds herself trying to navigate family dynamics in a family that... well look, it doesn't quite operate like most of ours, I suspect. The Behre's are quite wealthy, the owners of a private school for students who need the opportunity of a better education. Sounds really noble, right? And it is... until a student is murdered.

Sunny, who is extremely pragmatic when we meet her, almost to the point of coldness, is determined to find out what happened. She is insistent that her mother wanted her and her alone to take over the role of matriarch, but her oldest sister and father are hearing none of it. Add to it, her younger brother, Dom, has been a family outcast since they were children, for reasons Sunny can't discern. And the more time she spends with Dom trying to figure out what is happening, the more she realizes that her family was pretty messed up to cast out a child to begin with.

This is when the secrets start unfurling left, right, and center, and Sunny finds herself in the midst of all kinds of messed up stuff. Hidden family secrets from long ago and recently threaten to hurl the family into chaos, and the siblings don't know who among themselves they can even trust. There is so much to unpack, so many relationships to navigate, and it really was quite the ride!

Bottom Line: Delightfully messed up and full of family drama, this is another win from Liselle Sambury!

If you’re looking for a horror thriller family drama then this one might be for you!

The plot is fascinating, it’s one of the reasons I keep on reading because I was intrigued by the mystery behind all these murders and also the supernatural element of the ‘Milk Man’.

The characters are flawed and complex, each of them has their own struggle and dark secrets which makes to be a complicated family drama.
I have to admit I admire the FMC’s action after knowing the secret of her own family that has been kept hidden from her all these years.

As much as I enjoy this book, there are parts that felt a little bit dragging. The writing felt repetitive - the same things being repeatedly mentioned. Hence, making the book feels longer than it actually does for me.

Overall, this is quite an enjoyable read that was wrapped up quite nicely – I did like the ending which comes surprising to me.
I’ll keep an eye out for the next book by this author!

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: violence, murder, death, child abuse, animal cruelty, animal death

2.5 :/

I was so excited for this: a fairly estranged family somewhat works together to clear their younger brother of murder. Mostly it's Sunny, the fourth of 5 children, who is helping her brother Dom find out who killed the people he's been accused of murdering. Their family does not get along very well - their mom, who was the undisputed leader of the family, died a year ago, but her work to alienate the sibling from each other really had lasting effects.

Liselle Sambury's books are just so freaking long. But this book specifically just didn't really... have a point? I really did not like the way that the mystery ended up going, but even besides that, we are just stumbling through 500 pages of Sunny going on about how she's supposed to be the bubbly and fun sibling who is liked by everyone and eventually finds out she's liked by pretty much no one. I mean, it was a good exploration into the idea of people-pleasing, but I don't know. I just didn't feel very tied to it.

I just think that there are people who like their mysteries to go one way on the mystery spectrum, and people who like them to go another way, and this one just went the way I don't like. I'm being very vague because I don't want to spoil anything lol

Sunny's older brother has panic attacks, and her younger brother was in a somewhat controlling relationship, and one of her older sisters is having difficulty creating art which is something she's normally good at, so I liked the way that Sunny kind of realized that they had no clue what was going on in each others' lives due to the rift their mom had caused. They were kind of all basically healing from their mom's controlling nature separately and eventually came together to finish the job. So this definitely wasn't a total bust of a book. The family elements were interesting. It just was longer than it needed to be and like I said, just generally not my kind of book in the end.

Tender Beasts is a book that doesn't allow easy answers. It's a book committed to family. The family which lies to us, keeps secrets from us to protect us, and leaves us in the dark. It's also about the family who supports us when it's difficult, who cover our backs without asking, and who know the power of loyalty. Tender Beasts will keep you on the edge of your seat. Sambury's latest book is about images and legacy.

sunny was raised to be her family’s leader, so when her mother dies, she’s confused to learn that all she left sunny was a note: “take care of dom.” dom, sunny’s youngest brother, is the family outcast, with one murder charge under his belt and another on the way. still, she gets close to him, which means looking for who really murdered the dead boy she found dom standing over.

i really liked the family dynamics in this one. it’s rare that a child besides the eldest would be raised as the leader, so it was interesting to see how this affected sunny’s relationship with her older siblings, especially karter, the oldest child who took over everything after their mother died. sunny also learns many unsavory things about her mother after her death, which is always hard. i think liselle sambury does family dynamics well in all of her books, and i’m glad it was so present in this one.

the mystery and horror aspects were also captivating. the villain was unconventional and was so interesting to me. i enjoyed how everything played out and could not put this book down!

i highly recommend this book to ya horror fans and i can’t wait for whatever’s next from this author.

Do you ever just hate one of your friends and want to push them down a flight of stairs? Except it's that goofy hate where like, you don't actually hate them. They just wrote a ridiculous book that had you literally gasping at the reveals in the last 10%? Because Hello. I have a friend. Her name is Liselle Sambury. She wrote this book. Now, where are the stairs?

There are probably words in the English language to describe how this book made me feel but I sure as fuck can't string them together right now. I spent so much of this book trying to figure out what was happening and when I figured it out it made so much sense as to why that's what was happening and also why I couldn't figure it out. This was a wild time.

Honestly, if I lived a bit closer to Liselle I might fear for my life because if this is the shit her brain thinks up? Like... maybe we should lock the doors just to be safe. I love, love, LOVE a story with an old legend that you spend the whole book trying to figure out if it's real or just in everyone's heads. LOVE it. When the villain can influence literally anyone without you knowing it. It made this story so much more interesting and dare I say, fun.

A lot of this book was mystery/thriller vibes with an overall horror-y feel but it was a great time either way. Cannot recommend this book or this author highly enough.

I didn’t get to finish the book before it was taken off my NetGalley shelf, but so far it had been a mysterious and creepy slow burn. It is interesting, however, that no one on the family seems to be a good person—at all.

Liselle Sambury’s “Tender Beasts” presents readers with a gripping psychological thriller that intertwines family secrets, betrayal, and the relentless pursuit of truth. Set against the backdrop of a prestigious private school rocked by a shocking murder, the story follows Sunny Behre as she grapples with the complexities of her family’s dark past and the accusations against her youngest brother, Dom.

Sambury masterfully constructs a narrative filled with tension and suspense, drawing readers into a web of intrigue from the very first page. Sunny’s journey to uncover the truth behind the murder and clear her brother’s name is fraught with twists and turns, keeping readers guessing until the final reveal.

One of the novel’s strengths lies in its exploration of familial relationships and the intricacies of loyalty and betrayal. As Sunny delves deeper into the investigation, she uncovers layers of deception within her own family, forcing her to confront uncomfortable truths and make difficult choices about where her loyalties lie.

The character development in “Tender Beasts” is superb, with each member of the Behre family coming to life with their own distinct personalities and motivations. Sunny’s internal struggles and conflicting emotions add depth to her character, making her a relatable and compelling protagonist.

While the pacing of the novel is generally well-executed, there are moments where the plot feels slightly predictable or drawn out. However, Sambury’s skillful writing and attention to detail ultimately keep the story engaging and immersive.

Overall, “Tender Beasts” is a captivating read that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers and family dramas alike. Sambury’s exploration of themes such as loyalty, sacrifice, and the consequences of secrets make for a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant story that will linger in readers’ minds long after they’ve turned the final page.

I stayed up later than I intended last night to finish Tender Beasts -- it just kept getting better and better. Liselle Sambury continues to impress and remains on my list of favorite authors. She is a skilled writer who creates complex characters and interesting stories while making astute social commentary.

Sunny Behre was given one request in her mother's will, "take care of Dom". And Sunny always does what is expected of her.
Her younger brother Dom was accused of murdering his girlfriend, and now, there are more dead bodies piling up around the Behre family. As the outcast of the family, no one is convinced of his innocence, but Sunny decides she wants to solve the mystery. So is Dom a killer? Or does someone else want to ruin this wealthy Black family?


So here's why I love Tender Beasts:
1. Dual POV/timelines. The majority of the story is told through Sunny's perspective in present day, but we also get a good amount of story telling through her mom's old journal entries from her teen years.
2. I never knew what was going to happen. Even towards the end, I couldn't decide if the horror actually came from a paranormal source or it was all made up.
3. The Behre family -- as messed up as this family is, I loved them. Especially Dom. My heart ached for him.
4. The idea of the Milk Man. I still don't really understand what he is or where he came from -- I wish we had more of a backstory here. But it kinda sorta reminds me of Slenderman (which I find really creepy)
5. The epilogue. As bleak as this story is, the ending somehow came across as hopeful. I usually want everything tied up in a neat little bow (which didn't happen here) and I'm ok with it because that epilogue worked for me.


To be fair now, I do have a few areas where this could have been better:
1. Pacing was slow in the beginning. But as I said at the top, once I was at the halfway mark I couldn't stop.
2. I re-read the first chapter about Ainsley in the airport and I still have questions. Actually, I have at least 3 questions about that scene that I don't think were explained by the end of the story.
3. Again, I want more of a backstory on the Milk Man. I need to understand the milk maidens and little calves a bit better to appreciate this story.

(I don't want to under rate with my stars, but really I'm giving this a 4.5)

Well…this one was certainly a wild ride.

Quick summary:
Sunny Behre’s mother just died and all she left for her was a note: “Take care of Dom.” Dom, Sunny’s younger brother, was recently accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and no one knows if he really did it. When someone else mysteriously dies, Sunny begins digging and uncovers secrets about her family’s past that she may regret ever finding out.

Pros:
I SPED through this one. Partially because I needed to get this review in lol, but also because I was really hooked on the story. Sambury excels at creating a creepy atmosphere and I loved her invention of a small-town local legend/paranormal force(?): The Milk Man. I felt completely transported while reading this and I contribute a lot of that to my connection with the MC, Sunny. Sunny certainly isn’t perfect, but I understood her fears, insecurities, and dedication to her brother, and I was holding my breath for a few scenes that had me on edge. Having a strong main POV is really make-or-break for me and I think it’s another reason I love Sambury’s writing.

Cons:
There were definitely a few scenes where things seemed way too convenient/unrealistic, but they obviously had to happen for the plot to advance. I really wish everything had tied together more smoothly instead because this could have been an amazing read.

Overall:
I had a lot of fun with this one, but I was a bit let down by some issues with the plot. That being said, if you like weird, kinda campy horror books with mysterious, murderous villains and dysfunctional families, you might want to pick this one up!

This is an amazingly good, intense horror YA novel, and at this point I'd expect nothing less from Liselle Sambury when she's in horror mode. It's got amazing social commentary of many types, truly immersive writing, and some great (and intentionally not-so-great) characters who are all fully rounded and well-developed.

As soon as I heard this was going to be a thing, I just HAD to get my hands on it. It wasn’t even a question of whether or not I was going to read this. Why? I LOVED Delicious Monsters and I was adamant that everyone read it. And so it pains me to say I didn’t love this one as much I thought I would.

Ok the reason I didn’t care for this is the length. WHYYYY did it take so long to get to the point? It was hella repetitive. And it just got annoying waiting on it. And let me just say, there is nothing during this time that is explained, it’s just a long drawn out story. And then even when it starts to make sense, it still doesn’t lol I don’t know how to explain this in a way that makes sense. Like it has some weird happenings, but when they happen, no one knows why. Or there’s people who do and they just don’t want to say anything. It’s so weird the way she wrote it. Idk why she chose to write it like this, but I was not a fan of the writing style.

I also was really weirded out by the genre choice? Like yes there are some scary bits, but they’re so few and far between. And they’re only at the end. I would have called it a mystery. But when it was pitched to me, it was called a horror novel. And it wasn’t that I didn’t like it, it just wasn’t what I expected.

BUT the mystery itself was ok. It wasn’t really terrible. Besides the repeating, it was cool. The entire mystery is who is killing people and what this one sign means. And it is weird, and you never learn anything even though they are getting some answers. I don’t know how to explain it lol But just know, don’t get frustrated like I was. You’ll get answers, but they don’t come easy or early lol

The characters were the saving grace for me tho. I KNEW how it was going to end up. I remember yelling at Sunny to let her know not to trust anyone. (Not that she listened lol) But I also didn’t understand that. Like how in the world did all of this happen, she was kept in the dark, and then when the stuff is in her face she still was like “I don’t believe it?” Girl, whet? This is happening in your face and you’re like “NOPE, CAN’T SEE IT” It truly made no sense. As for the rest of their family, I can confirm, they were all liars. I’m telling you like I told her, DON’T TRUST ANYONE.

This wasn’t what I expected or wanted, from this but it was ok. I expected this to be like a book that was about a family of feral beasts that might have gone rogue. What I got was a story that had a hella weird generational trauma that I never even dreamed of. And trust me, you won’t have dreamed of it either. I can say I will never be drinking a certain thing again. Or at least not any time soon. But y’all read it and let me know what you think!

🥛listen, I don’t think I’ve been both hooked and terrified by a book in such a long time but oh gosh has this book made me scared of bumps in the night…and milk 🙈

🥛Upon the sudden death of their mother, Sunny is given a single note, Take Care of Dom, who is their younger brother that is currently being investigated for the murder of his girlfriend. I should say that it is a very OFF family dynamic, being that Dom is sort of the outcast of the family (literally), so while no one was surprised by this charge, Sunny is determined to prove that they are wrong about her brother and show that she will do anything to protect him.

🥛Oh, but there are SO many more layers to this book including a demonic-type summoning that has now cursed the family since the mother was a child…but no one in the family knows or talks about it. Known only as ‘The Milk Man’, we are told bits and parts of what has happened in the mother’s childhood that had led to her early passing…and what needs to be done in order to stop any more deaths from happening.

🥛This book had me hooked from the start, and while I wholly was disgusted by the family’s actions, there were so many more things that happened that had me terrified to turn the page 😬 Overall, this will have everyone trying to find answers while trying to figure out…why are we protecting Dom?

If I had a nickel for every time I read a book that spiraled into a weird supernatural cult plot twist, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.

I was really excited to dive into this book, expecting something along the lines of “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” I wanted the main plot to be the back and forth of wondering - is Dom a murderer/psychopath? With that, I was disappointed when it got derailed by a supernatural entity reveal. I am personally not super interested in that type of story, especially when it is not marketed to include those elements. However, I can acknowledge that it is a well-written story and had a lot of positives. It was entertaining enough to keep me going to the end, but I think it was a bit of a miss for me. I definitely see it being more appreciated by others and wishing them the best on their journey with this one.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an early review copy. Tender Beasts was an amazing, multifaceted thriller/horror story. The pacing was a little slow in the beginning, but once we got into it, it was a solid ride. I loved the characters, and the supernatural aspect of it. It felt like a twist on a classic mystery, and I can't wait to read more by Ms. Sambury

A bear will protect it's family... or die trying. Sunny Behre has four siblings and one of them is a murderer... yet when her mother dies Sunny's picture perfect life is thrown into chaos. Sunny was groomed to be the next family leader yet when the only thing she receives in her mother's will reading is a note saying "Take care of Dom" Sunny is left mystified... especially since Dom, her youngest brother, is the one found guilty of second-degree murder. Sunny is determined to fulfill her mom's wishes... but when more of her classmates begin getting murdered and Sunny finds her brother covered in blood... she is beginning to realize taking care of Dom is going to be harder than she though. It's only worse when there is a real killer out there and the fact that Sunny's family has its own dark secrets... secrets that demand to be paid in blood and sacrifice... secrets that will cost Sunny and the Bhere family everything if they don't find a way to solve it and catch the murderer. This was such a fantastic thriller mystery read, it had cursed family secrets, touch of paranormal horror, a who dun it mystery, and a very complicated family relationship. This was so much fun and I loved the constant "is it really a demon or is it all make believe to cover for the sins" element of the story. It truly had me guessing and at the edge of my seat all the while I was reading this. I loved the family relationship in this one because it was so complex, all the siblings loved each other but each wanted to prove to their mom that they were special, and when pitted against each other, and forced to do things that would hurt each other or in the name of protecting each other, all their relationships were tested. This is a great horror read and I would absolutely recommend it!!!

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

very well done horror edge thriller with a lot of very weird elements that resolve beautifully by the end. thanks for the arc.

Generational trauma is real, it can cause both physical and mental issues for people and can ruin families. But what is that trauma was more than that? What is if was a curse, one that as long as everyone in the family plays there part will never come out? The Behres are a wealthy black family who seems to have it all, each child with their own specialty and focus and their parents starting and running a top level school for students for free of all backgrounds. When their mother dies however everything takes a turn and the glamour surrounding the family begins to wear off. This book deals with so many important topics such as generational trauma, racism, the injustices in the justice system and how commitment to family image can be destructive. This was a unique read and one I am excited to bring into my classroom.