Whoa. I tend not to read the description of an ARC, so I was a little surprised with the last bit of this book took one heck of a turn. I was cruising right along in what I thought was a domestic thriller-type read and then we did a 180 into supernatural horror.
Carlyle is a widower with two sons. His wife and third son died in childbirth. He is not a good human being. Joseph is the older son and heir to the estate and Nick is the younger and not really worth Carlyle's time. This book is centered around these three characters and goes back and forth between then (their horrific childhood) and now (men in their 40s). The descriptions in the book are, well, descriptive. There's lots of flowery language and words that I had to stop to look up. It was distracting enough to be annoying. I know we know big words, but they're sprinkled quite liberally throughout the book. Sentence structure was good, but lack of punctuation was also distracting. I got used to the lack of quotation marks, but lack of commas had me rereading sentences to figure out what they were trying to impart.
Pay attention to the fox references.

Well that was tough. Maybe if it was a novella I could have worked my way through the book. But it’s not and the flowery writing style was just too much for me. It was too hard to get through and I found myself nearly forcing myself to try to get through it. I ended up giving around 10% of the book and decided to just tap out.

From what I gathered from the book description I feel like I don’t even really need to read it. If I ever decide to look up spoilers I’m sure my assumptions gathered from the description will be correct.

Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me which is disappointing because I was actually excited to read this.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I like the idea, but this is written with very purple prose, and the dialogue is done from the perspective of Nick, but with no quotation marks. It manages to distance itself from the narrative, and I lost track of who was talking quite a bit. Certain character details felt disconnected from the overall story. I think this would have worked better as a novella, to keep the style of writing, but with a leaner storyline.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6893602005

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/fe30a76d-cf4c-453e-9a21-94cff556af92

Check out this review of Sacrificial Animals on Fable. https://fable.co/review/b1993cf1-24e6-4dd8-bb23-b8da5bc2aad0/share

The synopsis looked really promising but the way it's written was impossible to get into. There is no way to tell someone is speaking until you're part way through the sentence. The lack of " turned me right off of trying to get into the story.

I often see a meme going around about how story ideas don't start with a plotline or a character, they start with an interesting image and vibes. Unfortunately this book ended up taking awhile getting to the plotline or character parts, and in fact maybe never even quite got to the character parts as the MCs were so one note and basically unchanging throughout. The eeeeevil father. The dickish golden child big brother. The...sorry, but...femme fatale. And all this anchored by our narrator Nick, cursed to inhabit the contemporary lit archetype of the aimless queer millennial who doesn't care about their job, can't keep a boyfriend/girlfriend, makes dumb sex decisions, and is haunted by small town childhood trauma.

Which - you know, listen. Me too, tbh. You hate to take a look in the mirror and be like lmao yikes. But it is exhausting enough to be this person without spending hundreds of pages hanging out with another humorless man who stupidly continues to engage with his garbage family even as you're reminded as the reader with every alternating chapter taking place in the past that this is the absolute last place this guy should be, there's nothing for him there, please get some self-respect, etc. It's like watching a horror movie where you're yelling "Noooo! Don't go into the room where the killer is obviously hiding!!!" at the protagonist except instead of the scene being over when they're murdered in thirty seconds this book lasts 304 pages and nobody ever learns anything.

I almost DNFed this but a couple of good reviews swayed me to keep going. I don't HATE that I read it all, because there were some interesting things happening here (the vibes, actually, were communicated very well), but I can't say I'd recommend this one.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

I started this book and had to set it down as I was not into the writing. I felt I was working too hard to enjoy the book. That being said, I picked it back up and really became immersed in the story of a father and his two sons, the then and now, of the bullying abuse by a father and the rivalry between two brothers.
The story is told by Nick the youngest of the two brothers. He has always felt less than often wishing he could just disappear. Reminding his father of the wife he loved and lost during childbirth of the last son, Nick has been tormented his entire life by his dad, Carlyle, an extremely racist, misogynistic, homophobic man. He had no capacity for kindness. He was cruel to the point of being abusive, his words like daggers.
This is a slow burn and dubbed as mythology, which occurs at the end. There is always mention of a female fox throughout the story and the end pulls everything together
The prose were eloquently written and smart. The author has a way with words that paint intricate pictures. However, I felt I had to refer to my thesaurus for uncommon words that took away from the story.; such as, “always taking what was not his, the indefatigable magpie of his childhood”.
This is more atmospheric horror. Lots of animal abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse.
At times confusing, such as; the author was talking about building their new house on a 1,000 acre parcel in Nebraska, calling it Stags Crossing prior to the birth of their first son. In the next paragraph, the father and two sons are hunting deer. There is no correlation between the two and its years apart from each other.

All and all, I did like the writing style, minus the overuse of uncommon words. I took off one star for that. Otherwise, for me, it was a good yarn

A lyrical and violent story, Kailee Pedersen stitches together past and present to bring to life a heart-stopping story of choice and consequence and what happens when power goes unchecked.

Sacrificial Animals is one of those very difficult to describe books that I find myself reading periodically. It falls into the horror genre, but isn't terribly frightening. Instead, I was deeply unsettled reading this novel, waiting for it to become terrifying, and wanting to warn Joshua and Nick to leave and not look back.

The plot has some aspects that are triggering for some--an abusive, bullying father and animal cruelty play a big role in the story. I am not sure I fully understood the purpose of the dual timeline, though it gave insight into the trauma inflicted on Nick in his childhood.

The writing and feel of the book reminded me of books by Andy Marino that I have read in the last few years. Sacrificial Animals is more creepy and unsettling than it is scary. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital copy of Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen. The opinions in this review are my own.

This is a strange story, but, in my opinion, many horror stories are. Chapters alternating between Then and Now are expertly woven together to tell about the lives of Nick, Joshua and their dad, Carlyle. It is definitely a slow build with a lot of disturbing themes. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

DNF at 12%. This writing and the style choices are not for me. I can’t get into this one even though it sounds really interesting.

This is a slow burn ominous tale of one family unravelling. Nick receives an invitation to return home to the family farm because his abusive father is dying. Nick reaches out to his disowned brother, Joshua, to try and get him to return home to say goodbye. Joshua was always the favorite brother but when he first brought his wife to meet his family his father became irate and disowned Joshua for bringing an outsider to their farm. Emilia is Joshua’s wife and the wedge that separated the three men from each other’s lives. Hoping to put the past behind them, they all meet on the farm for reconciliation and to say goodbye. Joshua and his father quickly resumed their old bond, leaving Nick and Emilia alone for hours and hours every day. Nick’s old feelings for Emilia resurface and they develop a closeness that becomes romantic. While reflecting on his life Nick begins to feel a sinister presence at the farm that may have been there all along, that threatens to destroy everything he ever thought was real. I honestly thought this book would be scarier than it was, but overall, I was not disappointed in this read. The flashbacks to his past and his father’s generally weird behavior make this feel more like a coming-of-age tale with sinister undertones. The prose has a lucid feeling which gives this entire book a dreamlike quality, but nothing much happens until the last ¼ of the book. The folklore elements of the book are not really developed much throughout the story but being familiar with Chinese mythological creatures I was able to see what was happening between the lines. This is a quick read that delivers a sinister lit-fic story.

DNF @ 10%. Unfortunately I could not get into this book and at this time have decided to put it aside.

This is a very engrossing story. I kept me in its grasp from the beginning until the very last word. Carlyle, Joshua, and Nick living their lives at Stag Crossing. Tormented by Carlyle the two sons grow into men and leave as fast as they can. Joshua marries Emilia and very striking Asian woman who is very mysterious. She has grabbed the attention of Nick, he can’t seem to not think of her.

This strange mixture living in this house on the middle of nowhere.

This was a very interesting read and would recommend this book

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced readers copy. This is my honest opinion.

I would like to extend my thanks for the advanced copy of "Sacrificial Animals" by Kailee Pedersen in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, I must admit that this book did not resonate with me.

The narrative unfolds at a pace that I found to be excessively slow, which made it challenging to stay engaged. As I progressed through the chapters, I felt that the story lacked significant developments or events that would propel the plot forward. This left me yearning for more action and depth, ultimately leading to a sense of stagnation.

While I appreciate the effort and creativity that went into the writing, "Sacrificial Animals" simply wasn't the right fit for my reading preferences. I believe that some readers may appreciate its contemplative nature, but for me, it fell short of delivering a compelling experience.

I love a good redemption story & this one delivered! We follow Nick in the present where he's visiting his terminally ill father, Carlyle, & in the past where we see the abuse he suffered at the hands of his his dad. Nick's brother Joshua also visits with his Asian wife, Emilia. This was dark with horrific animal abuse shown on page. Some of my favorite stories have a person seeking revenge for being wronged & the ending was wrapped up perfectly.

Wow! I thought this was fantastic. While the writing style was different it worked for me. I thought the violence that Nick and his brother were raised with was nuts. Talk about toxic masculinity. As the story creeps on it becomes pretty clear who Emilia is. Still, I found it so clever and shocking, I can't wait to read more by this writer.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and MacMillan Audio (#MacAudio) for the ARC/ALC!

When Nick left home, he never expected his abusive father to invite him back to their Nebraskan farm. But neither Nick nor his brother, Joshua, who has been disowned for marrying an Asian woman, can ignore their father’s request, as he is dying and hoping to reconcile with his sons. Joshua quickly falls into a routine with their father, while Nick ends up earning special interest from his brother’s wife, Emilia. It doesn’t take long for Nick to wonder if Emilia’s interest is more sinister than heartfelt.

Considered supernatural horror, “Sacrificial Animals” contained everything I love in a horror book! The instant feeling of unease and darkness looming drew me in quickly. I found the use of flashbacks to Nick and Joshua’s childhood to be the perfect way to dig into their past; the use of dual timelines worked very well. I also loved learning more about Chinese mythology, and seeing how the author drew from her own experiences was really cool too. I was fascinated by the character of Emilia, and I felt the pacing always picked up when she was the focal point.

The author also tackled the dark topics of racism, homophobia and childhood trauma in such a respectful way as well. Those topics were all interwoven into the story in such a way that this also read like literary fiction to me. Overall, a deeply atmospheric and spooky read, “Sacrificial Animals” is not one to miss!

This story is out now! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly )

I had such high hopes for this book. I love atmospheric horror. I adore when the atmosphere itself feels like a character. Like a presence. And I really enjoyed finding these devices in this story.

What didn't work for me in this story was mostly the writing style. I feel as though the prose really bogged the story down at times and the plot felt very sluggish. I found myself getting bored waiting for something to actually happen. It is well over the halfway mark that the plot actually starts to really get moving, and in my opinion, even what was meant to be the climax of the story wasn't enough for me to justify reading through so many slow points.

The author also chooses not to use quotation marks to identify dialogue which I respect as a stylistic choice, but their were instances where it was difficult to differentiate between what was dialogue and what wasn't.

Overall this book wasn't totally my cup of tea, but it did have aspects that I enjoyed, so I would say that if you enjoy atmospheric horror and are okay with a slower story, I would give this a shot.

In Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen, it is becoming more difficult for Nick Morrow to understand the truth about himself or his family.

Sometimes the enemy is not who or what you think it is. It can be hiding in plain sight, disguised by a friendly face.

Nick thought he had things figured out to some extent. Then after many years away, he returns to the family farm in Nebraska, Stag’s Crossing. It sounds like it should be a lovely reunion with his father, brother and sister-in-law.

Unfortunately, his father, Carlyle, is a racist, abusive tyrant. He is practically on his death bed with a very short time to live. Carlyle wants to make things right with both of his sons. He even makes peace with his daughter-in-law, Emilia, who he had called derogatory names and banned from the farm years ago.

Emilia is a person of Asian descent. Her heritage was the reason that the father banished his son, Joshua, from the farm. Emilia was so kind to her father-in-law which was unexpected. I don’t know if anyone that I know would have been so forgiving.

Nick begins to think about some of the harsh lessons that his father tried to teach him. One of the lessons was about killing the fox that was in the henhouse. This lesson comes back to haunt him in the present. I wish that I could tell you more but it was a surprise.

Personally, I enjoyed the mystery of what was happening at the farm. Everything is not what is seems when the sons and Emilia make their return. Nick and Emilia become involved in a romantic relationship which seems sort of strange.

The father seems so harsh about killing the fox. He is all about self-preservation, maybe to a fault. I don’t think he’s wrong about the fox. It’s just difficult to see beyond his faults to really listen to him.

If you like thrillers and mysteries, then you will love Sacrificial Animals. If you are on the foxes side, I’m not sure if you will enjoy this book. Foxes are so tricky. Who can say what they really want besides whatever hens are in the henhouse.

For me this book is very confusing. The writing style of the author is captivating and easy to read, the main problem is with the story. I cannot grasp the story line or just my mind drifts off since the topic is not really interesting. It's a very slow horror literary fiction (but this you will realize, when you are about 3/4 into the book) daddy issues are taking main part of the story, toxic masculinity, and Chinese folklore.

Sacrificial Animals is about the two brothers Joshua and Nick, twins whose mother died at childbirth. They grew up with their abusive father Carlyle on Stag's Crossing which is a farm.
There is a lot of killing of the animals in the woods going on, but so far I have no clue what this has to do with the story line.
Joshua gets married with Emily, who is not according to Carlyle's liking since she is Asian (Chinese if I understood correctly) and therefore he disinherit him and they stop talking. This relationship is renewed when Carlyle is diagnosed with the cancer and Nick askes Joshua to come back to the farm. When the family is reunited under the roof once again, Nick has an affair with Emilia and learns she isn't what she seems.

This story in no way is for me a horror story as I do not feel the eerie atmosphere, which is completely lacking. The creepy atmosphere is lacking, although parts involving animal death can be partially considered here, but they did not bring the effect on me.
Most of the book is set in parts of THEN and NOW, so the story goes from present and retells the past about the Carlyle and his childhood on the farm as well. It takes a long time until the horror starts and until then all we get is an unsettling and disgruntling literary fiction about family drama and daddy issues. Therefore this was a super slow book for me and it took me long time to read through it. Around the 80% the story picked up super quickly and it became very good (but sometimes people do not invest so much time, if they are bored for so long). The ending was crazy and it made it all worth it.

I like the revenge aspect in the story and am waiting how will that develop. I enjoyed the writing style of this author and ending was great. I would most probably never choose this book, if I wouldn't be approached via Netgalley. I am thankful for the opportunity to read this ARC.