Not exactly what I expected, a lot more horror and supernatural considering we’re talking about the fashion industry. More like the Devil Meets Prada with a whole bunch of Sixth Sense thrown in. I did enjoy it. 4 ⭐️

Samara always dreamed of working for a famous designer, and is so excited to land the job of her dreams. But it doesn't take long for her to realize that the world of fashion isn't always all it's cracked up to be. Samara starts hearing creepy things, sounds and voices that can't be explained. I did enjoy this very much. It's perfect for anyone who enjoys fashion, a little darkness and a gothic type vibe.

Is it the alcohol, jealous coworkers, or a demon that is tormenting Samara? Fast paced story that grabs your attention and brings you along for the ride.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was so excited to read this book. I love a good horror novel but this one just fell flat. It just felt like a feminist liberal book full of feminist fews and how horrible everyone is and how everyone is racist. It got very very old after a while. There was hardly any horror elements and I was hoping there would have been more of that and fashion instead complaining about white people. Just a hard no for me.

This book was a challenge for me. It was a good thriller but not one I will remember and I'm not sure I would recommend (definitely comes with heavy TWs). I feel like the unreliable narrator due to substance abuse has been a little overdone and wasn't made enhanced or made unique in any way with this character. I wanted more fashion and more horror and it felt like those were lacking, with a focus on interpersonal dynamics that weren't even necessarily relevant to the core of the thriller. I would also give any reader a heavy content warning for rape/sexual assault/non-consensual sex due to alcohol abuse. There isn't anything necessarily graphic but it is on-page in multiple places. Overall, I thought about DNFing this book but pushed through and I'm not sure it was worth it.

I will say that the actual writing was fantastic and I will definitely seek out more of the author's work.

I accidentally submitted a review for another book under this one. I haven’t read this book yet. I will come back to edit this review once I’ve read this book. I’m sorry about this!!!

“Tiny Threads” by Lilliam Rivera

Thank you to the publishers at Del Rey for a chance to read Lilliam Rivera’s “Tiny Threads.”

A book in the larger reckoning of Latinx horror, “Tiny Threads” follows our protagonist Samara Martín after a trans-coastal move to pursue her dreams in fashion under a powerful designer. Things start getting spookier as she’s haunted by a mysterious girl, which unravels a much darker legacy afoot.

The plot beats are very similar to many other ghost stories, and our protagonist has enough pluck to come to some deeper understanding - albeit not too surprising - of herself and other women in her life.

We have a protagonist that walks into a seemingly perfect place (in this case a job instead of a new home or partner); weird shit happens in addition to microaggressions; other people gaslight protagonist when said weird shit happens; protagonist’s wellbeing deteriorates; hauntings/weird shit get progressively worse, until finally we hit a breaking point where protagonist finds out what’s haunting them.

I may have described “Get Out,” “Mexican Gothic,” or “The Other Black Girl.” I might even have described “Insidious” or a litany of other horror media… and that’s the issue.

Overall, a solid, fabulously short book. I just wish it did a little more to set itself apart from other horror stories. Then again, this is what I want: for authors of color to also have the privilege of being just ok, and know that we’ll still get more projects out there. Hoping this resonates more with other readers.

Samara Martin, a Cuban American from Jersey, flees the east coast for the west for a job with clothing designer Antonio Mota. Mota is staging a comeback outside LA in the creepy town of Vernon. Samara quickly starts hearing and seeing things. Is it the drinking or the smell from the nearby slaughter house giving her nightmares?
This book was not for me. It was well-written but I did find Samara someone I could connect to, nor did I find it mysterious or haunting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this DRC.
#TinyThreads #NetGalley

Think of the scene from “The Devil Wears Prada” where Meryl Streep utters the iconic line “Why is no one ready…”. Now, imagine instead of her calm—yet passive aggressive—drawl, it is being yelled by a man throwing a temper tantrum, and you’ve entered into the world of “Tiny Threads.” If you enjoyed the glamour and journey of the main character in that story, or you enjoy as Noemí uncovers the mystery in “Mexican Gothic”, you’re sure to fall in love with Samara Martín as she navigates her new high-fashion job in the mysterious Vernon, California. Lilliam Rivera does such a phenomenal job of world building & character development of Samara in this novel. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for this ARC.

This horror story told within the fashion industry blends the supernatural and natural, which means no one is ever safe.

Samara flees her family for a new job in California. Although she thinks it’s going to be the job of her dreams, she’s slowly crushed by an impossible boss, her unfortunate alcohol dependency, and dream-like visions.

Can she keep herself alive until after her boss’ big show? And what exactly do the spirits want? These are two major plot lines that are answered by the end. There are also themes of SA, power imbalances, and the horrible things that men — aided by the very worst type of woman — can do to Brown women, who they erroneously believe are beneath them.

Samara was definitely big-time flawed, but this made it easier at times to relate to her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

The captivating intro to this story brings you back in time to when a horrendous crime happened, many decades prior. This aspect allowed for a supernatural feel to permeate through the book.

Samara, the MC is brought to California to work for an acclaimed designer to prepare for an upcoming revival fashion show. I found Samara a little too insecure in her need to equalize every one of a similar or less fortunate background.

Through the storyline of preparing for the upcoming show, is Samara cracking under the pressure? Or is something more sinister at play? The gothic feel of this novel brings the culture to life, aside from a slightly annoying MC, I enjoyed this story!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC!

This was such a fascinating book to read. It's about Samara, a woman who's away from home for the first time (her family disapproves) and super into fashion. She's a writer, and is working with designer Antonio on his next big fashion event. It starts as a dream job, a fresh start for her life, but becomes a nightmare as the people around turn on her, she hears mysterious noises at night, and Antonio himself decides she's no longer his favorite person. This book lacked the oomph I wanted it to have--it all felt a bit predictable, such as her drinking more and therefore things getting stranger. But I did enjoy it it.

Tiny Threads by Lilliam Rivera is a horror novel focusing on the fashion industry and the racism faced by Latinx workers. The story follows Samara, who has come to work for fashion designer Antonio Mota. As Antonio's newest show approaches, Samara finds herself under extreme pressue and is confronted by haunting voices and images. Although the novel stemmed from a lot of good ideas, it ended up feeling unfocused and did not follow through on some of the expectations that were set up.

Some of the highlights of Tiny Threads include the setting of the town of Vernon, which is richly detailed with unique locations like a slaughterhouse with an uncanny mural. The offputting spaces in the town offer a wonderful setting for the story to take place. I also appreciate the integration of Spanish dialogue into the text, as it sets bilingual readers up as the target audience. The dialogue was easy enough to translate when I came across words I was unfamiliar with.

However, as much as the setting offered a great setup for a horror story, the execution did not follow through. The story itself moves very fast, with short chapters tending to be between 4-6 pages long. This leads to many scenes feeling rushed and constrained, where they are not given the proper space to build tension or go into much detail. Especially early on in the book, it feels as if Samara is jumping from one scene to another at such a pace that it is hard to follow the plot. Though some of the characters, such as Dolores and Antonio, are quite memorable, many others feel flat and vague, and the quick scenes do not give the characters enough time and space to be fully fleshed out.

As the story reached its climax, it also began unraveling even more. Keeping things vague to avoid spoilers, I felt that many of the expectations set up early on in the book took a back seat to new plot points brought up very late into the narrative. This led to a jarring shift near the end of the book which made the conclusion to the story feel unsatisfying.

As a whole, Tiny Threads starts with some great ideas. On the surface, a horror novel about the dark side of the fashion industry and the exploitation of Latinx workers sounds just like the kind of book I would enjoy, and I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Unfortunately, with the quick pace and unfocused ending, I found myself more disappointed than anything. There is certainly good to be found within this book, but the end result didn't reach the heights it set out for.

I felt for a lot of this book that I didn't know the plot or direction the book was headed in. It felt like the first half of the book was background, so I think that could've been reduced. It is overall a rather bizarre book/ rather bizarre concept, so I gave it two stars for being a new idea as far as thrillers go. Overall though, the execution could've been better.

Review posted on goodreads on May 8, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6452441916

Honestly I’m still unsure if I loved this book or not. I was definitely looking forward to a good haunting story and add in the fashion, perfect! I didn’t find that the book was what I was expecting though. It was like a train wreck that you don’t want to look away from. And I don’t mean the writing. The writing was fantastic and I loved the storyline.

But the main character Samara, was a lot! At times I felt bad for her but most of time, I felt annoyed by her. Her mental state throughout the book almost overshadowed the scary things happening to and at times I was confused if she was really being haunted or if she was going crazy. I’m sure this was done intentionally but the constant mess of alcohol and breakdowns at work got repetitive and like I said, almost overshadowed the rest of the book.

The plot and premise of the story grabbed me right away. I wanted to keep reading (which is what I want in a book) to see what was going to happen or if it was all in her head. Dark, twisty, and a little supernatural. Overall a very interesting read unlike anything I’ve read before!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sometimes dreams, as wonderful as they may appear on the surface, have a darkness lurking beneath to be grappled with before too much harm comes to pass as one young woman soon discovers in Tiny Threads by Lilliam Rivera.
Samara has finally landed the life she’s dreamed of with a job working for a legendary fashion designer Antonio Mota to tell the story of his career as he launches an inspired return, which also is happily across the country from the past she’s desperate to escape in New Jersey. Though a bright and shining opportunity to begin with there’s some darkness that begins to seep in at the corners, first in some strange sounds in Samara’s apartment, then with a haunting appearance of a woman outside her apartment at night, and finally as the stress increases with the impending approach of the fashion show with some improbable appearing and disappearing stitching on clothing and photos appearing in odd places that can’t easily be explained. Retreating into alcohol to cope with the stress and anxiety, Samara’s mind becomes a fragile mess and she questions both herself and those around her as she looks into the dark reality of just what lies beneath the shiny, beautiful surface of the world she’s become part of.
In a narrative that quickly and quietly introduces hints of the supernatural throughout the course of the more mundane daily minutiae of working for a demanding fashion designer before ramping up to a more overpowering and threatening presence of the supernatural, a strong sense of suspense and something looming just beyond reach is maintained for the duration of the novel. In the treatment of the people of the neighborhood over the years there was a portrayal of gentrification as a form of colonization with a violent, forceful minimization of those who made the area vibrant in favor of things more profitable and convenient than what might have been traditional or morally right along with a manufactured story to cover the true history of the place. With the mental toll on Samara it was unfortunate that the crutch relied upon to make her unreliable and unbelievable was alcohol as it’s an overdone method, but the unraveling that occurs was an apt way to depict the concept of pulling at just one small detail and how that can begin an unspooling that creates a bigger mess that you can no longer ignore.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is DARK. I read the synopsis before diving in, but was unprepared by some of the thematic elements of this book (most notably sex/rape, drug and alcohol use). There was an undercurrent of paranormal, which kind of worked, but also could have been done differently. In my opinion, this book built too slowly for the generally short overall length of the book. It touches on spiritual elements and the gift of sight to the other world that Samira may have, but I feel like this should have been explored in more depth. It would have made Samira’s unraveling (for lack of a better word) more suspenseful. The prologue was a dramatic opening and the ending of the book tied back to that.

Ultimately, it held my interest, but it was more sinister than I expected. I’ll say 3.5 rounded up.

I was totally hyped for the setup of this story - like a spooky version of "The Devil Wears Prada," mixed with some supernatural horror vibes! But dang, it didn't quite deliver on that promise. Instead, we follow Samara, the main character, as she runs away from something bad, lands a new stressful job, and starts self-medicating like there's no tomorrow.

The problem? Well, all those creepy moments I was expecting got overshadowed by me wondering if Samara was just going off the deep end. Like, was she so high that she was hallucinating, or were there really ghosts involved? It’s giving unreliable narrator more than scary thriller.

And then there's the pacing - it's like slow-motion for a good chunk of the book. We spend ages watching Samara go through the same routine every day, dealing with her horrible boss, drowning her sorrows in vodka, and seeing things that may or may not be real. It got pretty repetitive, and honestly, I struggled to stay interested.

Who knew fashion could be so dark and haunted? TINY THREADS is a gothic thriller cleverly juxtaposed with its setting in the sunny and glamorous, Southern California. Working with a legendary fashion designer surrounded by art should be harmless, right? Except when the art is connected to a past that refuses to let you forget.

The themes of light/innocence (whiteness) and darkness/ terror are mirrored in the protagonist Samara who struggles to reconcile her past and the growing curse of her present. Will the desperate need for approval from people she works with only add to the illusion that everything is fine or will she break free?

A slow burn Latin Gothic story that digs into your mind.

Samara moves to California from Jersey for her dream job. She comes to work for an aging designer whose legendary temper drives her to drink in excess. It also doesn't help that she hasn't had a good night sleep since moving, being woken up by strange noises and shadowy figures. It all comes to a head as the fashion show looms closer.

Lilliam Rivera's prose grabs your attention from the start. She weaves theads of racism and supernatural horror beautifully together. The author slowly builds up the tension making the reader feel like they are hearing voices along with the heroine. Is Samara really experiencing something paranormal or is it a figment from her heavy alcohol consumption? Another reviewer compared this to The Devil Wears Prada if made by A24 which I completely agree with.

If you are looking for a modern Latin Gothic story then this book is for you. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of Tiny Threads.