The premise and beginning of this book grabbed me from the start. It lost me after that though. There were some interesting concepts here and I felt like it would make an interesting movie. In book form though, it didn't really work for me. It was a bit too slow for me. It was also too dark at times. I liked it well enough that I am curious to see what else the author will write though.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Looking for some deeper meaning at the base of your horror reading?

Samara is ecstatic to be hired to work for a fixture in the fashion community, but as she attempts to settle into life on the West Coast she’s bombarded with strange incidents at work & in her apartment. The slaughterhouse next to the designer’s headquarters doesn’t help matters with the noxious stench that periodically permeates the surrounding area, & as the big high-pressure fashion show approaches Samara takes to self-medicating with alcohol in hopes of relieving some of her stress. She starts to question her sanity as more & more unexplained occurrences stack up - is the tension all due to her job? Or is something supernatural at the root of her problems?

This story shines a spotlight on the history of migrant labor in textiles & other factory work, & how these employees are both the foundation of the industry while also being taken advantage of by it. The way that Samara’s abuela & the seamstresses in the story could craft fabric was beautifully portrayed by the author. I’d never read anything from this writer before but I’ve already purchased another one of her works & will definitely be on alert for future novels.

Thank you to NetGalley & Del Ray for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love fashion and horror. The plot is good but uneven, as is the pacing. I liked the MC but not so much the love interest (which I'm not sure is accurate for the character anyway). Thought the novel tried to do, say, and be too much. However, I would read more from this author.

The good: It held my interest. I learned a lot about the textile industry as I ended up on side quests to learn more about seamstresses and the fashion industry. I went so far as to buy another sewing machine, which is great if I had decent vision and would use it.
The bad: I wasn't completely able to understand some of the themes of the book but that is on me and a reflection of my life and feelings, not the author.
I loved how weird it was. I loved the idea of "family lunch" because I would rather die than be obligated to eat with colleagues every day. I love the gross slaughter house stuff. My town has a dog food factory and that is bad enough.
I liked this. I want to listen to it too.

CW: sexual assault, alcoholism, racism, physical abuse

Tiny Threads asks but doesn't answer questions about the intersection of capitalism, racism, misogyny, and abuse in the fashion industry.

Samara starts a new job working under her idol, fashion mogul Antonio Mota. Despite his reputation for bold fashion pieces, Samara starts to see patterns of abuse and misbehavior from Mota and others in the industry, often at the expense of their Latinx colleagues. On top of that, she starts experiencing haunting visions of people and objects that others don't see. The further she enmeshes herself in the scene, the harder it is to escape.

Starting with the good: A+ on the setting for this book. Vernon, California (“Exclusively industrial. Founded 1905.”) situates textile manufacturing plants next to slaughterhouses. The metaphor of exploitation and abuse could not be more apparent in that arrangement. The themes were broad, but interesting. The characters were nuanced.

And now for the bad: I do think some of the themes could have been tighter. It could also be an issue of my expectations being too high: I thought I knew where the book was going but it ended up veering around. I wanted the protagonist to be a stronger character but she really wasn't. I wanted more resolution at the end.

Overall, not a bad read. I'll definitely pick up what the author writes next.

Samara lands her dream job- working for a fashion designer, an unfortunate caricature of an adult man child with a whiny personality . Like most thrillers, the dream slowly unravels to become a nightmare. Same story, different verse. And a bit of a yawn.

Samara was such a confusing character. One moment, she’s attempting to befriend everyone, kiss butt so to speak; and the next, she’s purposely causing tension, putting the very characters in harms way. It felt as it the direction of the character was never fully committed. Samara is a very unlikeable character so it was hard to care about what happened her. The pacing is erratic; and while the ending is powerful, the set up felt like it left too much out to make sense of it. The story is a little disconnected, leaving me wanting more to extend the middle, maybe dual timelines or connecting the past to the present better would have helped.

Overall, a very slow build up to an impactful ending. I really hope the line is edited out where the main character actively dismisses racist jokes because she’s “too happy” in the final copy. I should have just DNF’d this one

As many other reviewers have said, this is an amazing book, but it's very, very intense and should come with a more overt content warning for SA. The fashion-based violence and mess is there, and it's exquisite, as is the racial commentary on both the US and the fashion industry in particular, but there are also historical violence and assault present on page in ways I was unprepared for. It's a great book, though.

I really wanted to love this one. The prologue/first chapter had me intrigued; however, I only got to 40% in the book before I stopped reading. I could see where it was going, but unfortunately the pace after the first chapter was too slow for my taste. There also was nothing in the plot that happened from the first chapter to the 40% mark that made me want to continue reading. This book just did not work for me. I'm sure that there will be people who love this book. The writing was good.

This was thoughtfully paced story that had a palpable and passionate sense of place and a slow burn that swelled to a frantic and urgent conclusion. It s incredibly relevant and tells a tale that will always resonate with young people who find themselves in a world that seems stacked against them.

TW/CW: Physical abuse, anxiety, toxic work environment, drinking, classism, alcoholism, sexual assault, drugs, eating disorder, child sexual abuse, incest, trauma

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Fashion-obsessed Samara finally has the life she’s always dreamed of: a high-powered job with legendary designer Antonio Mota. A new home in sunny California, far away from those drab Jersey winters. And an intriguing love interest, Brandon, a wealthy investor in Mota’s fashion line.

But it’s not long before Samara’s dream life begins to turn into a living nightmare, as Mota’s big fashion show approaches and the pressure on Samara turns crushing. Perhaps that’s why Samara begins hearing voices in the dark in her room at night—and seeing strange things that can’t be explained away by stress and anxiety, or by the number of drinks she consumes every night.

And it may not only be Samara’s unraveling psyche, because she soon discovers hints that her new city—and the house of Mota—may have been built on a foundation of secrets and lies. Now Samara must uncover what hideous truths lurk in the shadows of this illusory world of glamor and beauty, before those shadows claim her…
Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 256
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing was good
2. Story flows
3. Love the culture references

What I Didn't Like:
1. Author seemed to lose their thought in certain places

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Final Thoughts:
I feel like this book started off at a 5 star but somewhere along the way I felt like we lost our focus with too much going on .

I liked the creepy moments that would happen and made you question your own sanity between what's real and fake.

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Thanks to Ballantine | Del Rey and Netgalley for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This needed several content warnings overall. It is a harsh critique of society and looking at societal hierarchies but it was not really a supernatural horror to the point I thought. I had to DNF it for my own sake.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book. Young me was so fascinated by the world of fashion. I even wanted to work in the business. We follow Samara who leaves behind her past to pursue a career in fashion with a famous designer. As the day of the final show, Samara starts to experience scary visions, voices, & encounters. She grappled with her reality & unravels hidden secrets in the world of fashion. I thought it was interesting. I dont care for the heavy drinking & questioning whether whats going on is her drunk mental state or if it's a true haunt.

This hauntingly beautiful narrative that weaves together the lives of characters caught in the intricate web of power, privilege, and cultural identity. Lilliam masterfully exposes the raw underbelly of systemic oppression in brown communities while crafting a story that's impossible to look away from. What sets this novel apart is her unflinching portrayal of how powerful men's unchecked desires ripple through generations, leaving lasting scars on families and communities. The prose is both lyrical and cutting, each chapter peeling back another layer of uncomfortable truth.
Lilliam doesn't just tell a story – she creates an experience that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. This isn't a comfortable read, but it's an essential one.

Horror and fashion are two of my favorite things, but despite being drawn in by the blurb, this one didn't quite come together for me. It was definitely horrifying but took too long for anything to happen - the first 40-50% is pretty repetitive and slow. It does pick up in the back half but I found it hard to stay invested.

Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations given the description. It also felt like it was taking way too long for something substantial to happen. Too much ground was covered in terms of the social commentary so it felt like what the author was saying was getting lost in the mix and was only surface level and not as impactful as it could have been. In similar stroke, the writing needed to go a lot deeper into Samara’s psyche and improve on painting a picture with the storytelling rather than summarizing the story. Since the book is in the fashion world, I expected deep-cut gems or references but only got drops on popular and accessible content.

A pretty tidy little story about the evils of colonization and the things (mostly) white men take from the brown people whose lands they take. The unreliable and, honestly, unlikeable main character made this a little tricky to get into. The rising action was pretty repetitive and the non-reveal about what led her to where she was at seemed pretty obvious so again, it didn't really make me feel a lot about it. There was a few plot holes and missing pieces that are fine to overlook, but also it would just be better knowing what happened and holding people accountable. Overall, it was an important story, told kinda well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This book was not my favorite. I felt like it was quite predictable and not so much horror driven as just gory. The parts I wanted expanded on weren't and other things were repeated and reexplained over and over.

Tiny Threads is a psychological horror novel set in a manufacturing town that's trying to reinvent itself. Samara has moved across the country for her dream job of working for the acclaimed designer, Antonio Mota. The more time Samara spends around Mota things start to unnerve her. His disposition in quick to change and she keeps feeling like someone is watching her. With the latest fashion show quickly approaching perhaps it's just nerves or maybe there is something more sinister at play.

I wanted to like Tiny Threads more than I did, sadly. I didn't mind the flashbacks Samara is presented with, but I did feel like it left everything in an anticlimactic setting. There are very few supernatural elements in this book, whereas I felt like there would be more based on the synopsis. This book is based on a lot of trauma so if you're easily triggered, this book may not be for you. Ultimately I wanted more from this book than I was given. The majority of the "action" of this novel it's presented until the third act, which was too late in my opinion. I would have DNF'd but I wanted to know how it ended. Luckily it isn't a long book, clocking in at just under 250 pages. Even at such a short length, there were times when it felt like a burden to pick up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

I didn’t know what to expect with this book but I really liked it. I liked the world Lillian Rivera created. I love books that take place in the fashion world and thought this one was really good. I thought the thriller aspect of it was really well done and I wanted to keep reading.

Social horror, but make it fashion. This was my horror novel for spooky season (not that I'll limit myself to one, or to only spooky season). I appreciated the social commentary, or rather that author Lilliam Rivera wove it in, and not with tiny threads but with bold strokes. "During dark times, scary tales provide me with a sense of comfort and control," writes Rivera in the Acknowledgements. "Factories have been poisoning brown communities for decades, while powerful men believe that their sexual predations are a right. Truth can always be found in the horrific." This novel succeeds in conveying this, within a truly haunting tone and setting, and from a truly haunted main character. 

[Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]