🪳Ameila by Aw Rene 🪳

Thank you @bdapublishing, Aw Rene & @netgalley for this ARC!

"what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do”

Pages: 114
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5️⃣
Book Goal 2024: 58/100

✨ If you have a fear of bugs, what bug scares you the most? If not, are you hanging out with the cicadas lately?✨

Amelia drew me in purely from the cover. It was giving Silnce of the Lambs. If you are looking for something disturbing, stomach turning and you don’t mind triggers, you would probably love this book. (Please check those warnings)

The book is written in a form of letters and 911 calls. It’s a view into a wild mental state of the main character. As you read, you recognize her mental deterioration happening.

Overall, I enjoyed the disturbing aspect of this book but the transcripts felt mildly unrealistic and I felt the writing was a bit chaotic. Then again, this was an ARC version & you are watching chaos ensue so it may have been purposeful.

If was a very quick read and my disturbing horror followers would probably enjoy this. If you are a bit squeamish then this book may be questionable for you.

"Even the most stubborn and persistent blood eventually gives way to the purity of the water, joining the streams that carry away the debris, the remnants of memories best left forgotten."


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This novella begins in the winter of 1981, when we see letters from a mother to her daughter, Amelia (aka, Delicate Moth). They’re your typical letters, like what’s going on with the neighbors, how redecorating the house is going, men she met who she wants to set Amelia up with, and sweet little anecdotes about the past.

It’s all totally normal…except for the bugs, which colors make the stairs cry, the ghosts, the blood, the sinister parts that are crossed out and changed to more pleasant topics, and the manic, rambling notes that make no sense at all.

The letters definitely become more unhinged as they go through this mother’s rapid mental decline, and we get some chapters interspersed with 911 calls. These are just snippets of a woman’s madness, though. The end result is a lot of police incident reports, and those are what tie the story together.

This is a different horror story, written in a different way - I wasn’t sure I liked the letter format until I read the ending. Some parts were amusing, and some parts were sad, but I liked how it all came together. 3.5 stars.

(Thank you to BDA Publishing, A.W. Rene and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

A mesmerising and disturbing psychological horror that follows the inner workings of a woman with increasing interruptions to her mental clarity. A story told through her eyes, letters she writes to her daughter, Amelia, as well as 911/ Police transcripts.

I really enjoyed this story, and this disjointed stream of clues that clearly descend further into chaos. I was very impressed with this mysterious and unsettling style. I read this novella in one sitting. Highly recommended.

Readers are advised to check the trigger warnings at the very back, as there are quite a few.

Thank you to NetGalley, A.W. Rene and BDA Publishing for this advanced digital readers copy.

Umm...?!

What did I just read and why did I like it?!

The letters to the reader in the beginning had me hooked from the start. This story is written in a series of letters from a mother to her daughter; the letters range from what you might call ‘normal’ to immensely disturbing. The images created throughout this short read are graphic and not for the faint of heart; with that said, check the TWs because the main character is unhinged and suffering from severe psychiatric illness.





4 / 5 ⭐️

This super short read is well worth it. The way this is written in letter form is both eerie and beautiful. If you need a quick palate cleanse and something different, this is perfect. Highly recommend!

Thank you A.W. Rene, NetGalley, and BDA Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story was a story of toxic maternal affection, told in a between the lines epistolary form addressed as letters, but honestly reading more as the eeriest diary of nightmare fuel ever. It should be noted that Amelia is novella length, while sporting both a laundry list of TWs in the back, and a long passage warning of TWs at the front, told via flowery in-character language. I found that both ominous and very unique, as if the voiceover from something like Bridgerton were warning of sinister, murderous behavior rather than high society drama.

AW Rene has created a bite-size master class in horror epistolary, in my opinion. The specific creeping dread that only epistolary format can provide was in fine form here, cataloguing several months in the mother's life. The occasional entry that veers sharply off course, with degradation in tone, punctuation and grammar, serves as a written Freudian slip of sorts, giving us a glimpse of what's really going on between the lines of doting maternal concern. Subsequent entries reverting to perfect English make it even creepier.

What I particularly enjoyed about this story is that it reads so uniquely, portraying elements of the extreme horror genre, but not explicitly on-page. The writing was amazing in achieving this, reminiscent of vintage horror classics.

Five stars from me. Each release from AW Rene replaces the last as my favorite.

Kudos to the author for letting the reader know about the trigger warnings. I don't have trigger warnings but this book may really have an effect on readers. Great Job to the Author.

As you read the book, you never know where this is going which is great in a book. You really need to concentrate on the book to know what the author is writing about and what is is saying. I wish the book would have been longer.

I would recommend with the trigger warnings. It was amazing and was a great read. I hope that i read more from this author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.
Anyone who reads this really needs to take the trigger warnings seriously!
While the author skillfully wrote about the main character's spiral into madness, I felt there was a lot of repetition (especially the bugs), which may have been intentional.
I must be a horrible person, because I actually found the first third or so kind of funny...but definitely no laughs after that.
The police reports at the end helped fill in the (incredibly depressing) blanks.

This book was such an adventure to read through. I loved the format and the way that the story played out. It was a fantastic read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Since being kindly sent ‘A Tainted Soul’ a while ago, AW Rene has become one of my Must Buy authors. I was intrigued when I saw the blurb for this next work, as it looked very different - and so it is.

We read from the perspective of Madeline, a mother writing to her daughter Amelia. At first, it’s standard gossip about the neighbours, encounters at the store, that sort of thing, before we quickly see that all is very much not well in Madeline’s head. And where is Amelia, anyway?

This book flies past with the speed of a held breath. It reminded me of the old ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ stories, moving from the normal to the bizarre almost before you have time to notice. I had an inkling of where things were going, but every twist was like a punch to the gut, until the inevitable sense of ‘this is going to end badly’ ramped up… and up… and when is this rollercoaster going to tip?!

Gorgeously written, this is a slice of suburbia that will make you eye your own neighbours a little more carefully. Nasty fun.

An utterly disturbing and brilliantly written look inside the mind of a woman with psychosis. This book is on the shorter side, but is sure to leave a lasting impact on its readers.

Amelia by A.W. Rene
My Rating: 4 Stars
Themes: Mental Health, Motherhood, Psychosis,

The novella, Amelia is written almost entirely in letters from a mother to her daughter, Amelia. The writing is chaotic and the author does an excellent job of immersing you into the chaos and confusion of the main character's psyche. The tension increases as the main character's mental health deteriorates, alongside the reader's understanding of what's going on.
Kuddos to the author for writing such a visceral and graphic description of the character's experience and events.

A note for readers: be sure to check out the author's list of trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you to NetGalley & BDA Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Amelia to read and review.

There are so many words I want to use to describe this short read:
Surreal, eerie, concerning, uneasy definitely come to mind.

The reader journeys with Madeline as she writes a series of increasingly disturbing letters to her daughter Amelia. There are also 911 transcripts and police reports that give more insight into what is actually going on.

There was a lot of darkness, and I was definitely confused at some moments, but I felt the ending did give somewhat of a resolution. I definitely have lingering anger and sadness, so A.W. Rene really did strike a chord with this reader.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and BDA Publishing for a copy.

This is beautifully and hauntingly written, which I was not expecting for a book of letters between mother and daughter. It starts off as typical letters and slowly delves into worse. A great and quick read.

Thank you NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the early access to Amelia, in exchange for a truthful review.

Amelia is a very short epistolary novella that you’ll be able to read in an hour or so, if you don’t take any vomit breaks - so maybe two or three hours.

The narrative is delivered (mostly) in the form of letters from a mother to her daughter, with occasional procedural breaks - breaks that start to feel like gulps of fresh air in a fetid room.

Make no mistake, this is a claustrophobic, very disturbing novel, increasingly surreal and constantly delusional, building to a trigger-warning happy finale.

Got a little repetitive for my tastes, I always feel like less is more when it comes to maggots.

Stomach chruning and very truly disturbing. Amelia is easily one of the best short horror stories I have ever read. The is almost entirely made up of letters from the main character Madeline, written to her daughter Amelia. It's clear from the beginning that Madeline is not well, but the reader gets to read a bit between the lines to figure out exactly how deep her illness runs and what exactly she isn't saying. It certainly isn't the most subtle of writing, but paired with the intense bug imagery, horrendous acts of violence and abuse, and the quick pacing I'd say that it definitely works. Make sure to read through the content warnings before going in if you are sensitive to certain subjects. Amelia will not be for everyone but it was for me. I'm sure I'll be revisiting this story in the dark of my nightmares for some time to come!

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a free ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The author did a great job with the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. I felt like k knew exactly what I was getting myself into.

At the same time, I didn’t know where the narrator was taking us. Sometimes that can be annoying but in the book it was fun. I enjoyed how crazy she was and how you had to read between the lines of what she was saying. I only wish we got a chance to have a little more at the end of the book. I wanted to read the psychological evaluation or something like that so we had a chance to see some history of her or even more details.

Overall, this book was filled with the most amazing imagery. I haven’t read a book like this in a long time. I hope this author writes more because their style needs to be out in the world

This was an unsettling descent into an unraveled mind. The protagonist, a mother of Amelia, journals to her daughter about everyday life, and past memories. What the author hints at with the wanderings of Madeline's words and thoughts is a dangerous Jekyll and Hyde complex-doting mother, on one hand, and deadly predator, on the other. The prose envelopes the reader in a sense of dread, as we wait for the other shoe to drop and the real story to be revealed. The ending slams us with the truth, and it is more horrible than could be imagined. It is the stuff of nightmares, and will break your heart.

This story will not be for everyone because it is not an easy story to digest. It deals with truly awful topics, and isn’t for the faint of heart.

Book review 📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Thankyou @netgalley and @bdapublishing for my arc copy of this book ❤️
I loved this little horror novella. It’s told completely through letters and police reports which made it so interesting.
The letters are all from Amelia’s mother to Amelia and I guess you sometimes don’t know if you believe what the narrators saying or they hint at stuff sometimes so you really want to read on to find out the truth.
It gets really dark towards the end so do check the trigger warnings.
I’ve loved @intheinkpot previous book, now she’s an auto buy author 🤭.

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This was my own fault. I just don’t think this was for me. And had I done a bit more research before requesting it I probably could have come to that conclusion. Although having the authors note at the beginning actually included in the description might help.