Quite honestly, I don’t know what I expected going into this book, but it exceeded my expectations! Lilliam Rivera writes a beautifully horrific story about only the fashion industry, but what brown factory workers go through day and day out. The writing was so cinematic I was truly transported and really found myself feeling like I was apart of this world. I did feel like there may have been a little too much going on. I didn’t understand the maggots I was wondering if that would be explained but overall 5/5 loved this story!!

Lilliam Rivera’s “Tiny Threads” is part horror novel, part behind-the-scenes glimpse at the workings of a fashion house.

Samara is finally ready to move away from the sphere of her parents and their life in New Jersey to take a job as a copywriter at a fashion house in Vernon, California. The designer, Antonio, welcomes her with open arms at first but slowly becomes volatile as the date of his big fashion show approaches. This, however, is not Samara’s only problem as she is plagued by noises in the walls of her historic apartment and the inability to function throughout the day without just a splash of vodka. Then there’s the beautiful woman she keeps seeing but can never really find. Is Samara being haunted, or are her own psychosis and trauma raising their ugly heads?

I love the description of this book. I think the premise and the basic plot have a lot going for them. I appreciate the details about the town of Vernon. It is definitely a character unto itself. The cast of characters surrounding Samara all contribute to her slow descent into madness, and several of them are wickedly evil. I would have liked, however, to see a little more strength from Samara. I wanted her to have more guts rather than relying on the drinking to get her through her problems. She also seems to be a horrible judge of character, despite the positive influence of her abuela early in life. Ultimately, I wanted more of the “final girl” spirit from her.

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

This took me on a wild ride and was thoroughly entertaining!!! This was my first book by this author and I can't wait to share with others and read more

***Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review***

So, I was extremely hyped to dive into this book because it combined horror and fashion. That's a combo I've never even heard of before, let alone read! The premise had me hooked from the get-go, but the execution did leave something to be desired.

Samara definitely rubbed me the wrong way. All that 'not like other girls' stuff and constantly vying for attention. Nope, couldn't stand it. I wanted to connect with her background, but every time she put on that 'white voice,' I was ready to pull my hair out.

And don't even get me started on the pacing. The book starts off slow, and while it does pick up speed eventually, it just made the descent into the lives of the characters even more uncomfortable. I was hoping for more entertainment value, to be honest.

The author does use great imagery. She really knows how to paint a scene. But the pacing? It was all over the place.

Despite its flaws, the plot kept me turning pages. It dives into some seriously dark realities of factory work and abuse, which, when mixed with supernatural horrors, makes for one heck of a ride. I just wish there was more detail, especially regarding the toxic side of the fashion world.

Overall, it was an okay read. Not mind-blowing, but not terrible either.

I appreciated the Latina representation in this book and I enjoyed the idea of Samara venturing out of her life in Jersey City to do bigger and better things. However, it became a bit repetitive and slow. The sinister aspect was interesting but then it lost me.

Pub Date: 24 Sep 2024
Archive Date: 27 Oct 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for this arc!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this advanced reader copy!

I was so excited to be approved for this arc! IT was so good. 100% recommend this book

Samara has the dream job she's always strived for. Obsessed with fashion, she's landed a job promoting the upcoming fashion show of Antonio Mota. In an odd town in California, Samara soon realizes that there are far more secrets in Mota's design studio than expected. Samara begins to hear and see strange things in her apartment at night, spending her days hdiing alcohol in her coffee to get through the long stressful days at Mota's insistent and abusive beck and call. She does have bright spots, such as an affair with a wealthy investor. As the fashion show gets closer, Samara wonders if she can figure out the secrets of the town, the mysterious visions in her apartment, and what Mota's hiding. 

In Tiny Threads, author Lilliam Rivera captures the struggle of being an outsider while trying to establish a life she thinks her family will want for her. The novel features not only the very real threats of possible job loss and untrustworthy coworkers in the fashion industry, but also the existential threats of all those used and discarded in the name of wealth. Samara is not designed to be an easy character, but rather one where the reader can connect to her feelings of confusion and desire to make the sacrifices of others worth it. 

Tiny Threads is a quick thriller and enjoyable. Look for it September 24, 2024 from Ballantine.

😈 The Devil wears Mota 😈
Tiny Threads was an absolute treat— a horrifying, mind-contorting, gorgeous treat. While being a relatively simple, quick read, I closed this book feeling fully satisified by the literary journey Rivera took me on. At times, I wasn't quite sure what was actually happening and what was a mere hallucination, but I feel that was likely an intentional choice by the author to add to the suspense and uncertainty. Not only was this an excellent work of psychological horror that will leave you questioning reality, it also touches on very important, real social issues present in our society. 4.25/5 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for this advanced reader copy!

This book was TRIPPY! I was expecting a thriller in the fashion world, but this was nuts. It was a psychological horror and it freaked me out (but I'm a chicken so take that with a grain of salt...)

A definite creepy read! This story gave me Riley sager vibes in the spookiest way. I enjoyed uncovering more about the main character and her motivations. Great writing!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Samara is living her dream. She is working for a designer who she loves. As the days draw nearer to their show, strange things start occurring. She doesn't know what to believe. A well written story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC of this book! I was also happy that I was able to snag a physical ARC during Emerald City Comic Con.

Samara feels the east coast for a dream job in southern California at the House of Mota. What starts out as a Devil Wears Prada type book quickly takes a darker turn as Samara discovers the dark secrets of Mota and the city it's in. Samara tries to copy with her past and the pressure of her new job (and the smell of the slaughterhouse next door) by coming more reliant on alcohol. So when weird things start happening, Samara is unsure what to believe. Highly recommend rereading the first chapter after finishing the book. Be sure to check content warnings for this one.

I enjoyed reading this book- it was scarier than I initially expected, which was a pleasant surprise as I love horror books. I also liked how I was not necessarily a fan of the main character- Samara was off-putting and her actions made me want to scream at her sometimes, but she kept me entertained with her self-medicating and antics. I do think this book dragged a little in the middle section, but picked up at the end once the fashion show was happening. I would also say a trigger warning should be included at the beginning of this book, as it goes into heavy themes that may not be suitable for all readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for this advanced reader copy!

This is a great novel that reminded me a bit of the horror movie, In Fabric (or/and The Seamstress). It takes quite a long while to pick up and it's more of a character study than a plot driven horror story but I enjoyed it very much. Definitely worth a read for fans of the slow burn.

I was suggested this book because I've read other books by the publisher and I'm happy I decided to read it. The setting stuck out to me right away. The entire book revolves around a fashion industry and a popular "fictional" designer. It was fun to get a feel of what that industry is like and I applaud the author for such a unique, original plot.

Characters are dynamic and feel very real but my favorite thing about Tiny Threads is that it's dripping with feminist themes. I love me a feminist book with a strong, female MC. I found myself rooting for Samara and enjoyed reading her character development throughout events in the story. I also love how the author highlighted issues between social classes which millions of people experience every day in the work place. A lot of important messages packed into a fun, fast paced and unforgettable book.

The suspense and gothic noir of the novel was intriguing and kept my attention. As a non-spanish speaker, I could have used more translations for the spanish dialogue and references. It seemed a little unrealistic that of all the people working with Samara, no one noticed, commented on or addressed her increasing alcohol usage.

So this book was recommended to me. I don’t mind it but it wasn’t my favorite book. I didn’t like some of the trauma reveals but that’s on me. The plot idea was really good I truly think this could be a really good tv show I feel like some parts weren’t fleshed out as much as they should be but I got the gist of it and I enjoyed the mystery of it all

I do want to say thank you to the publisher, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, and Netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

For an adult debut this book wasn’t bad, but I don’t think that it fully got the adult theme in several regards. I really enjoyed the idea of this book! It had a lot of promise, and I can tell that this author has a lot of potential. I just wouldn’t call this book a full adult novel, maybe somewhere in the new adult realm, but I don’t think that is common for thrillers. It wasn’t quite juvenile enough to be YA but not quite fully developed or explored enough to be adult. There were a lot of great ideas and themes presented in this book, and I wish that the list would have been shorter, so they could have been more fully explored. It was bordering on the feeling that a lot was thrown out there to grab attention, but for no particular reason. Focus and development are key for me. I felt things lagged in the middle, and it was a bit of a drag, never quite picking up steam. And then the ending. I feel that as a reader, if the middle is a drag, then the ending should at least be worth it, but that was not the case here. The ending was disappointing to say the least and just left a sour taste in my mouth after muddling through the pages.

The Devil Wears Prada but if it was produced by A24, this haunting story had the same paranoid insidious atmosphere found in Rosemary's Baby, somethings not quite right in the city of Vernon, Rivera seamlessly weaves threads ( 👀 ) of supernatural horror and the very real horrors of racism and oppression of women together in this unnerving social commentry, ambiguity plays a big role in this and the reader is left questioning if our protagonist Samara is experiencing something paranormal or if it's a product of her heavy self medicating, a unique slow burn psychological horror, burn being the operative word as the description of the stifling suffocating atmosphere of Vernon leaves cinders on your fingers as you turn the pages, highly recommend to fans of gothic horror, this wasn't what I was expecting going in but throughly enjoyed it

Oof. I liked the idea of this, the project of this, but the execution was rough. :( I'm the outlier here, so your mileage may vary.

This is about a young Latina woman, Samara, as she starts her new job as brand manager for a designer in California. The stress of the job increasingly starts to get to her, and she starts getting haunted and seeing things that no one else sees. It's hard to describe more of a plot than that, to be honest.

There are some specific things about this book that I did like. For example, there's a "family lunch" everyday at this company, but in practice it's highly stratified. The upper echelon jockey for favor from the designer, and it's really pathetic. They try to entertain him, put others down, etc. in the hopes of winning some points with him. It was great, I loved it. ;)

Samara as a character seems divisive based on what I see in other reviews, but I was fine with her. I mean, yes, she does bad things sometimes, but I enjoy reading about people who are messy. Her problems were all tied into the thematic work the book was trying to do.

My problems with the book:
1) Thematically it was trying to do too much with too few pages. Racism (internalized, microaggressions, explicit), sexism and sexual violence against women (as well as women's enablement of this), low wage worker exploitation, toxic fashion culture, substance abuse, etc. The book desperately needed a focus. So many threads (haha) were picked up and dropped. Themes were dabbled in but never fully explored.
2) Nothing much happened for the bulk of the book. The hauntings, such as they were, were quite repetitive and didn't escalate much until the end. Neither did they hint what the haunts were all about or why Samara was targeted.
3) The writing quality here was fair to poor for me in multiple ways (except for the prologue, which I loved!). It makes sense that this is Rivera's adult debut and that she wrote YA previously because one of my complaints is the simplistic handling of the themes. It was very ham-handed (another unintended pun), which makes more sense in YA. I also found the writing style in general too simple. Everything zips along like the book itself is skimming the story. Rivera often summarizes and "tells" instead of shows. There isn't a lot of introspection from Samara or lingering in any scenes. Chapters often end abruptly. It felt a bit skeletal and shallow.
4) The ending was quite the letdown. There are multiple reveals and events that feel very random. The "villain" of the book for the most part feels like Antonio, but the end of the book seems to argue otherwise. I think the root of the problem here is the lack of focus in the theme.

Better books that grapple with similar themes: Kindred by Octavia Butler, The Good House by Tananarive Due, Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith, and The Corset by Laura Purcell. I didn't love Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, but many people did, and I do think it's more successful than this novel. Movies I'd recommend are In Fabric and Neon Demon. Even The Phantom Thread. Rivera lists authors in her acknowledgements as inspirations, and I was like... yep, they did it well! But this book feels underdeveloped and messy, unfortunately. :/

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.