4.5 stars, rounded up.

This is one disturbing sliver of a story.

Aside from some police reports, Amelia is told through letters from a mother to her daughter Amelia - her "Delicate Moth". AW Rene builds the tension so exquisitely. Amelia's mother complains about the mundane - neighbours and busybodies at the store. But then writes odd things about the stairs in her house crying and screaming. You start to read between the lines noticing hints of the mother's violent reactions, and visions of larvae and insects. Rene's writing and pacing allow you to learn even more from what Amelia's mother doesn't say in her letters. By the time it picks up speed, there's no turning back when the horror ramps up. I'm not a horror fan unless it's a novella or short story. This was the perfect length for me.

Amelia comes out May 14. Thank you to #netgalley and BDA Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an interesting way to read a story.
Through a series of letters from a mother to her daughter we see a story unfold. It’s a little confusing at certain points. You get the sense that something isn’t quite right, oh wait, yeah, far from right. Eventually the story wraps up with a series of police reports that close the gaps on those alluded to horrors.

Disturbing and sad and messed up in a way that only human monsters can be without going into graphic details - just enough of a story to make you feel for dear Amelia.

Although veteran extreme horror readers will find almost the entire book's plot predictable and unoriginal, the format, the prose, and the genuine emotion literally flooding from this short novella will be appreciated even by those too jaded to care. 'Amelia' is an immersive, addictive read, perfectly structured as a series of letters from a mother to her underage daughter and the eventual police reports that explain some of the events indirectly described in the letters. Masterfully bluring the line between mental issues and the manifestations of a haunting, the book is filled with uncanny imagery, subtle menace, creepy ambiguity, and unsettling moments of implied abuse and murder. The author avoids melodrama for subtlety, which makes the letters short works of art. The real monsters here are the people one trusts blindly, though everything is brilliantly layered with aspects of the supernatural. An incredible read!

Okay so there’s a lot of content warnings for this book. What I didn’t like is that I didn’t know that, because the content warning was at the bottom of the book past all the content.

This was beautifully written and such a trip. Exclusively written in letters and police transcripts, this was so amazing. I truly did enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for this ARC. This will be out in May!

Wow, was Amelia a ride and an uneasy one at that. I do suggest reading the trigger warnings before delving into this story because it does deal with some heavy topics.
This book is written as letters from Madeline to her daughter Amelia and I loved that. It felt super unique since I don’t recall reading a book that's in this format before. We also read 911 transcripts and incident reports which really grabbed my attention. We watch Madeline descend deeper and deeper into madness and as the book goes on it gets more unsettling. At parts its unsettling to the point you don’t want to keep reading but you’re so addicted you keep going. It was a super fast read and I loved the horror aspect.
Im excited to read more from this author. And I’m looking forward to more books. Thank you to Netgalley and BDA Publishing for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

First off, Amelia is one of my favorite names. Bonus points for that alone. I give this 3.5 stars. (rounded up)

I really like the concept of this little book. I really like how unhinged it is and the letter format from mother to daughter is definitely something I enjoy. However, something about the writing style was stilted to me and didnt flow as smoothly as Id like. I think the wonky writing was a stylistic choice to show the insanity of the mother, which IS a nice touch but it’s hard to tell how intentional it was with the way the PDF rendered.

However, despite that, once I started reading I really couldn’t stop! I love a weird bloody gruesome tale and this did not disappoint! I really like the mother as writing from her chaotic and unhinged mind really made the letters go from “this is peculiar” to “OHHHH”.

A very hard subject matter please check your trigger warnings before reading.

I will be interested in future horror stories from this author for sure!

I loved the unique formatting of this novella through the perspective of letters and police reports that let you progress into madness with the protagonist who is literally one of the most unhinged characters I have encountered in a long time. The content warnings do not need to be taken lightly and some of the content can literally leave your stomach contents threatening to come up. The personification of the house is enough for nightmares to linger as the lights go down and readers will be left unsettled as the final page turns. I highly recommend this novella for fans of the gruesome, fans of horror, and fans who want to be shocked.

I really enjoyed the book, but I don't think too many words should be lost about its content so as not to spoil the reading experience.

Without giving too much away: Amelia follows the story of a mother who is slowly spiraling into madness. Over the course of the story, bits and pieces of her condition are revealed, and the reader notices from very early on that something’s clearly not quite right with her - until the revelation at the end of the story drops like a bombshell.

It’s an uncomfortable and haunting read. It made me feel incredibly anxious to finally understand what was going on. The ending was not a happy one, but nonetheless rewarding. Would absolutely recommend if you don’t mind the several sensitive topics raised in this novel (check TW before diving in!).

Thank you BDA Publishing and AW Rene for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Amelia. This book is everything I wanted and didn't know I needed. Five stars all around for a book that made me uncomfortable in my own skin, a feat not easily obtained.

Amelia made my skin crawl and made me feel so many different emotions, and isn't that what a good book does? Makes you feel something. I couldn't get enough of the epistolary style and didn't realize how much I adored it. The series of letters from mother to daughter encompass a horrific life filled with secrets and horrendous acts.

The single narrator added to the disturbing feelings AW Rene left in my stomach with her descriptions and setting. I felt like I could hear the stairs wail, and see the dust floating in the air. I could hear the crunch of cockroaches, and feel the flutter of moths around me.

AW Rene has written one of the most captivating horror novella's I've ever read and I will be recommending it to everyone I know. Five stars, all around.

This book is written as a series of letters from a mother to her daughter. Whilst some letters primarily focus on reminiscing about the past others play more of an insight into the "mother's" minset with it becoming increasingly apparent that all is not well.

This is quite a challenging book to read due to its content. On occasion it can be somewhat triggering.

I found that I took time reading this book due to the nature of it's content.

A middle aged woman writes letters to "Amelia", presumably her daughter, about creaky steps in her home, nosy neighbors, the large oak tree, moths, and reminiscing about "Amelia".

The letters show the writer, mother, is undergoing some sort of breakdown, being very irritated with people around her. She is concerned with the noise the creaky stairs make for which she offers colors, which, don't seem to make any difference. And thus it goes.

The devolution is blatant from the letters but it is the mystery behind "Amelia" that takes this short novella to its edge.

A great fun, psychological horror in its element and the singular narrator voice makes things creepier.

Thanks to Netgalley and BDA Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about a mother writing letters to her daughter Amelia. The letters go from loving to sinister throughout the length of this novella.

I had such a great time reading this book. Rene did a really good job with Madeline’s chracters. The deepdive into the character and the realistic potrayal of her derailing mentalitity was unnerving to read. You get sucked into her letters and deeply disturbed by her writing. How she goes from caring to blaming her daughter for everything wrong happening in her life. The whole novella is a a excellent charachter study and I’m definerly going to pick up other works from Rene.

Madeleine loves her daughter so dearly. She writes daily letters to her Amelia. She misses her….why doesn’t Amelia call or write? She has so much to tell her. Nosy neighbors and their misbehaved pets going missing. Rude people that stare in the grocery store…so what if she elbowed a couple of old ladies in the face. Why they were being rude. Rude!

Read this book of Madeleine’s letter to watch the local “crazy lady on Maple Drive” descend into a spiral of madness. I felt a dark and ominous cloud settle in letter by letter. Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to read and review #Amelia.

Tough subject matters, but that’s what TW’s are for! Enjoyable read., would recommend for a certain audience.

AW Rene shows through 'Amelia' how to excel in modern Gothic literature. The dark, descriptive undertones draws the reader into Madeline's psychosis and goodness it is terrifying!

This Novella stands out straight away thanks to the writing style, made up of letters and police reports. The letters gave little hints of Madeline and Amelia's past and present and I was enthralled to keep reading to reach its conclusion.

Thank you to Netgally and BDA Publishing for the opportunity of reading this brilliant Novella.

This book was written in the form of letters from mother to daughter. I didn’t know what to expect from this one as it’s a first for me. This short story follows Amelia’s mother who is very clearly unhinged and I saw her slip into madness. This was horrific and disturbing but boy did I eat this up! Please read the trigger warning before you read this one!

Thank you netgalley for an an advanced ARC of this book

While reading this it started off simple but as it went on the letters this woman writes get weirder and it was fun to see what happened next, a very enjoyable read and worth a look at

Read this book in a few hours yesterday afternoon. It was a quick read as it is composed mostly of letters written by a mother to a daughter.

I’ve read many suspense novels and this one differs from other books in that it is usually an omniscient narrator that tells the story and throughout the mother’s letters, you get a peek into her inner mind by the typos she makes which are crossed out.

From the beginning of the book you get a sense that something strange is going to happen. There are forewords given by the author and her friend which really heighten your expectation of something extraordinary happening.

Reading through the letters you get a sense that you know what is happening and are just waiting for the hammer to come down and for your thoughts to be confirmed. There are times when the letters are interrupted by various police reports alluding to something that is happening.

The end was a bit predictable to me, but I enjoyed the story and the pace of the book was good. The book does leave some lingering thoughts-for example, I could stop thinking about the moths, larvae and Amelia,

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, quick read that can engage you for a night or two.

There are some trigger warnings at the end. For example, some descriptions of gore could be deemed explicit by some. There is mention of S.A. of a minor and victim blaming.

I’m giving it 4 stars because of the ease of reading, its brevity and the suspense that builds.

This book is written in a format of letters from a mother, transcripts from 911 calls and police reports.

The protagonist is absolutely unhinged! Some letters seemed somewhat normal and others felt like some sort of fever dream. I appreciated the clarity that the 911 calls and reports gave. I think the constant confusion took me out of the gore or horror that was happening in the home so that aspect didn't hit as hard for me,

The writing is great, there was just something that kept taking me out of it. The only thing I can chalk that up to be is the confusion. There were a lot of names and things to figure out in the beginning,..

The ending of this book was HORRIFIC! Once we got some clarity, my stomach turned to no end.

I love a wild, unhinged disgusting ride and this novella was nothing short of that!

Thank you to Netgalley and BDA Publishing for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! I didn’t know what to expect from this one but it managed to exceed my expectations. This was a really quick, but good, psychological thriller story. Usually, I don’t like books that are told using letters or journal entries but this book did it very well! I also really enjoyed how unreliable the narrator was and how you need to read between the lines to get the whole story. I could definitely see myself rereading this later and having a different reading experience because I already read it. I recommend this one!