My Selling Pitch:
Fleabag’s sisterly dysfunction meets dystopian cult horror vaguely meets King Lear. A slow burn, fever dream, banger.

Pre-reading:
I loved Our Wives Under the Sea, so I’m really excited to pick this up. Vastly prefer the green and red cover. I have no idea what this is about, per usual.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Oh shit, that lesbian rizz was smooth.

I'm Irene.

Very Intermezzo

Why are her dreams giving child sexual abuse because I don’t wanna read that.

A little Fountainhead with the dad.

Are all three gay then? (Yup.)

God, these kids had no hope.

me: my childhood was fucked, but it wasn’t ~that~ fucked. Like it could’ve been even worse
me reading this book and finding exact dialogue transcripts: oh. oh no. lol

Put me down for 0% surprised that the sour patch kid I identify with is a Scorpio. (And if you’re like Samantha, you’re constantly going on about how you’re such a cap! And I am, but you know where my moon is?)

It’s also interesting that the sisters are such three distinct models of harm, but I identify with all three of them. It's very well done.

Very Intermezzo’s Peter’s stream of consciousness

Very Fleabag. Oh, that’s literally the hot priest scene.

Soporific

Detritus sin x3

It reminds me of Night’s Edge too

Girl, that pool would be filthy.

I wonder if the typo is some sort of Shakespearean easter egg to anyone with functioning brain cells. It’d be cool if it was.

Sedilia

Introducing yourself with milk is weird af.

The way my eyebrows shot up. Julia Armfield, you fucking legend.

Oh man, I didn't want anyone to die!

Me: googling the plot of King Lear now

Post-reading:
Maybe god is being fisted. Julia Armfield, you legend.

This book is not going to be for everyone. It’s slow. Like snails could lap this book, slow. But it works. It’s artsy and lyrical and haunting. It’s a fever dream.

It’s such a rumination on the different personalities emotional abuse manifests as. It's an examination of sibling dynamics. It's messy. The characters are deliberately unlikable and prickly, but you root for them anyway. It’s romantic.

It’s a creeping dread kinda horror- just this pervasive eerieness. You know something’s wrong, and you're not sure where it's going with it yet, but you can't wait to find out.

It’s got a stream of consciousness writing style that Intermezzo fans will fuck heavy with. It's got similar religious commentary. I think it would be hard to read this and not compare it to Fleabag. It doesn't have the humor but it has the sharp messiness to it.

I haven't read King Lear, but a cursory google doesn't seem like this book follows it a whole lot, so if you're going into this expecting an authentic retelling, that's not what you're going to find here.

I like the crescendo of the ending and how the book is no plot just vibes until it’s NOT, but it does feel semi unfinished to me. Like there's the death of their pseudo-mother and the forced change, but it's also like where do we go now? Just tell me Jude and Irene get to live happily ever after. I’m not built for this genre when I’m corn-fed on rom-coms, okay? And I know the ending is like the silence motif all over again so like it works, and it fits the characters, but it's not happy, and I just don't know how to muddle through. And I’m sure the UN-fixedness is the point, but it makes me itchy because im simultaneously all three sisters and-

And it’s just really fucking good. I want to read it again. I think I'll get even more out of it when I’m not out of my mind on cold medicine. Julia Armfield is an absolute auto buy. You're missing out if you like queer slowburns and don’t pick this up.

Who should read this:
Intermezzo fans
Fleabag fans
Family drama fans
Lit fic horror fans
Slowburn horror fans
Cult horror fans

Ideal reading time:
February- seems like the coldest and dreariest month

Do I want to reread this:
Absolutely

Would I buy this:
Oh yes.

Similar books:
* Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield-duh, queer, lit fic, psychological horror, the ocean is for me to fear, not understand
* Intermezzo by Sally Rooney-lit fic, family drama, character studies, religious and social commentary
* Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin-lit fic dystopian horror, family drama, queer
* Rouge by Mona Awad-lit fic psychological horror, family drama, social commentary
* Shark Heart by Emily Habeck-lit fic, family drama, psychological horror
* The Seaplane on Final Approach-lit fic, character study, sleazy

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly atmospheric dystopian novel. Realistic characters, nuanced relationship dynamics, just enough really freaking weird shit.

Julia Armfield, I am obsessed with you and your pelagic imagery.

What a wallop of a novel. I love its tone, its characterization, the banal slide of life view from the front seat of the apocalypse. Really fabulous

I enjoyed this book very much, though i felt as though the atmosphere took quite a while to build. It explores identity and relationships in a unique, atmospheric way. The writing is engaging, with a mix of emotional depth and unsettling moments that draw you in. It's a pretty distinct read (creepy but also tender) and definitely worth checking out if you're up for something a little different.

*4.5 stars*

This is a beautifully written character study set against the backdrop of a damp and unsettling apocalyptic flood.

A quiet, uneasy type of horror like Our Wives Under the Sea, the middle of this book lagged a little bit to me although I did find an interesting melancholy of the sort of day to day minutia in this climate change ravaged world. If you’re looking for a cut and dry plot and a nicely wrapped up ending I don’t think this will be the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

I’m not sure how to put my feelings into words. This book had me on the edge of my seat and uneasy until the last page. I think I understand the concept that the mothers joined up with a cult to try and stop the rain. And either it worked or not because now there’s snow and everyone is gonna freeze.

I enjoyed the characterization of everyone and how unique everyone felt. I liked the concept of seeing how they all managed to go through life in this dystopian world. The writing was beautiful. However I’m not sure I really understand the point of the story. I don’t know that I would recommend it because I didn’t get it. However I do think I would read from this author again.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

FINALLY. I’m done. It brings me absolutely no joy that I disliked yet another Julia Armfield book— it’s so annoying that on paper they should be one million percent my speed and yet once again I am bored out of my skull. It’s not for lack of writing talent— the poetry of this book is immensely beautiful, and so many turns of phrase caught my attention as stunningly poignant. I even really loved the world of this book: the constant rain, the infrastructure of a drowning city, “King Lear and his dyke daughters” being one of my favorite lines. The real problem is that for two hundred pages absolutely nothing happens. Less than nothing. It’s just talk talk talk fight fight fight going around in circles over and over again. It makes two hundred pages feel like a thousand, and yet in all of that absolutely nothing is said. It’s genuinely so frustrating.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. There's a lot I loved - Armfield's way with words and the lyric quality of the way the setting and characters come to life, the focus on the quiet moments in relationships, rather than a big plot.

I think the marketing does this a disservice by calling it a reimagining of King Lear - it is, but really isn't, and it's much much more about three prickly sisters recovering from family trauma that has left them wary of love and like to push away anyone who gets close. And in a world where connection is one of the only things left, it becomes more vital to be able to form or keep those connections.

There's a slow undercurrent of horror throughout, mostly from the setting until the very end, when a lot wraps up very quickly, but the two don't feel as woven together for me as I would have liked.

I think I also did a disservice to this by trying to read it during a period in my life that was so busy that it was hard to dedicate large chunks of time to it like the writing almost demands. It's the type of book that you almost need to read in the right setting and let yourself sink into it, and picking it up and having to put it down quickly doesn't let you do that.

as usual, julia armfield’s writing in private rites was absolutely stunning. however, i found that i was dragging myself through the majority of the book.

private rites had an excellent premise and foundation. the atmosphere of the world was palpable, i felt engulfed by the rain and the cloudy skies the entire way through this book. the family dynamics were incredibly intriguing - three sisters who are not particularly close but are drawn together by the death of their father, whom they were also not particularly close with. but it all felt very surface level, hidden under armfield’s lyrical writing.

i had a hard time distinguishing the three sisters, they were all so different and yet their voices felt very similar. i also had a hard time caring for them. sisterhood and complicated father-daughter dynamics is something i love to explore through literature, but armfield didn’t seem to go far enough. again, i was just weighed down by the slow-burn nature of this novel, which is something i absolutely loved in our wives under the sea, but here it felt like armfield was trying to do too many things while also not do much at all.

i think this is a good book, i just wish it kept any sort of forward momentum that it had at the beginning and the very last chapter. our wives under the sea was impossible for me to put down, but private rites was hard for me to pick up

julia armfield novels, on paper, are everything i love - queerness, horror, poetic and lush writing -but i just could not for the life of me get invested in this story
i muscled through OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA and liked it ... sort of ... but i just dont have space in my brain to trudge through a novel that feels like a chore to pick up.

armfield has a knack for creating an atmosphere of doom, for sharpening the anxieties of her characters (and thusly, the reader) like a knife. and it should've hooked me! it really should've. but i found the writing to be strained and affected. the characters flat, their differences spelled out but without consequence. this is not a bad book by any means, it just wasn't for me and that's okay

forgive me julia armfield fans, i'm the problem and the outlier

I am so thankful to Flatiron Books, Julia Armfield, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this gem before it hit shelves on December 3, 2024. I really enjoyed this one and am thankful for the opportunity.

Private Rites is Julia Armfield's sophomore novel set in a post-apocalyptic world and based on Shakespeare's King Lear. Julia's background with poetry is what shines through here, their way with words and prose is fine and sophisticated. It's unlike any other, the way the author is able to create a world and transport the reader directly to the setting and the scene. I will never forget the opening chapter and believe that it should be taught in schools. This book is a masterclass in storytelling and while the pace might not be for some, it was definitely for me. This is my kind of dystopian/science fiction.

Actual Rating 2.5

I thought for sure I would love this one, but it ended up not working for me for several reasons. This work heavily relies on introspection and people remembering things that have happened rather than us seeing the action happening firsthand. This made for a lackluster representation of events and certainly made things feel more boring and emotionally distanced than I wanted them to. This book is also massively overwritten, to the point where you could skim pages and not lose any relevant information. The characters could have been quite strong, but they were drowned in all the unnecessary exposition.

This work read like a literary fiction, with very minimal flashes of horror. I loved the characters and their complexity, as well as the somewhat apocalyptic world. There were also interlude chapters from the POV of the city which added some strong atmosphere. The themes were melancholic along with the atmosphere, which was an added bonus.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work well for me due to the writing. However, if you go in expecting literary fiction and are prepared for the overwriting, you may enjoy it more. My thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’m glad I read this book for the ethereal quality of the story and the genuinely beautiful prose. But if you’re going to do a Shakespeare retelling, lean into it. The premise is perfect and would have made a fabulous backdrop for the tragedy and melodrama of King Lear. But it was muddy at best which led to the entire work feeling directionless.

Unsure if this is a marketing thing from the publisher or the author’s actual intent. But I think going into it without expecting a Lear retelling would make it way easier to enjoy the work for what it is—an eerie and atmospheric exploration of family, inheritance, and the unanswerable questions we all have.

I really enjoy Julia Armfield’s writing, it’s ethereal and atmospheric. It seems the words to her novels flow so smoothly and I float through her books so easily. I love how queer this is and I love the inspirations from Shakespeare IFKYK. Her characters are dynamic and complicated, she isn’t afraid to portray women realistically, even in a post apocalyptic society. I recommend this book to anyone eager for a different world to be immersed in. Beautifully written.

Julia Armfield’s “lesbian Lear” follows three queer sisters navigating a “mundane apocalypse” of unrelenting rain and societal collapse. Coastal regions are submerged, governments are inept, and most people live in deteriorating high-rises, clinging to routines in denial of the disaster. The wealthy live above it all, while others join cults, protest futilely, or disappear.

Sisters Isla, Irene, and half-sister Agnes maintain tense relationships, especially with Agnes, whose rebellious streak includes mischief at work and random sexual encounters. Their father’s death, a sadistic architect who built their childhood home, forces them back together, reviving buried traumas and triggering eerie events centered on Agnes.

Armfield’s prose is vivid, her vision of climate devastation haunting, but the novel feels uneven. Folk horror and speculative elements are overshadowed by the sisters’ fractured dynamics. The final twist feels predictable, perhaps intentionally, as Armfield suggests traditional horror pales before real-world environmental crises. Ultimately, the story emphasizes empathy and meaningful connection as humanity’s best response to looming catastrophe.

Man this is a tough one for me. I think I got my hopes too high after Our Wives Under the Sea. This had really no plot to speak of, which I can enjoy sometimes but I have to really connect with the characters and, in this one, I really didn't. It almost felt to me like the story had no point or sense of purpose that was driving it. There was no theme to keep me engaged. It was a rather dull read, unfortunately. The one strong point of the story was the world-building. I really liked the bleak atmosphere and potential future dystopia that the story took place in.

"Private Rites" is *King Lear but queer*, a haunting, lyrical tale of love, power, and betrayal, where intimacy and tragedy intertwine in a dark, emotional journey.

This is a harrowing tale of womanhood - being a sister, daughter, girlfriend and having a sister, daughter, girlfriend. Armfield describes the complexity of family and grief in such a way that I think anyone can relate to. Truthfully, it was such a thorough exploration of these characters and their deep familial and personal disfunctions that I'd forgotten Armfield writes horror until over halfway through. I wish that had been a bigger theme.

Is Julia Armfield going to keep writing novels involving lots of water? I enjoyed her first novel so much because of the eerie atmosphere, cleverly created using the ocean as almost a character. This novel uses seemingly endless rain to create a unique setting and riffs on King Lear, one of my favorites. Armfield really seems to understand families and relationships. The narrator was very good. I'll probably read this again because I feel like I can keep getting more out of it. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.