4.5⭐️ Following a school shooting in which her son suffers traumatic injuries, single Mom Elisabeth commits an act of violence to show the world just how cowardice men in power are. But when her action leads to a chain reaction, Elisabeth must reckon with what she has done. Was it just? Or is she, herself, just another monster?

The cover of this book had me so intrigued, I wound up reading it in lieu of others I had prioritized (whoops). Incredibly thought-provoking from start to finish, this story felt both quiet and introspective while also feeling loud and action-packed. Seemingly not much happens in this book, and yet at the same time, so much happens. It’s a feat maybe only this author could pull off. The format and style, at times akin to stream of consciousness, combined with Rickstad’s lyrical writing, pack a very powerful punch.

As a mom myself, this book was utterly heartbreaking, and I did struggle at times to get through the more graphic scenes. I think as tough as it was, however, this is a really important read especially as it pertains to an epidemic that remains unaddressed even to this day. It is hard not to put yourself in Elisabeth’s shoes; what would you do in her situation? I found myself repeatedly asking this question with each decision she made; each consequence she faced. This would make a wonderful book club selection.

🎧 I cannot imagine a more perfect narrator for this book than Brittany Pressley. This is a raw and emotional story and she voiced it to perfection.

Read if you like:
•political thrillers
•thought-provoking books
•emotionally tough reads
•books about the mother/child relationship
•first person, single POV

‼️This book has many big triggers including a school shooting on page. Please research before reading if you are sensitive to these topics.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing for the gifted copy.

When I tell you I cannot stop thinking about "Lilith" by Eric Rickstad, believe me. This book has occupied my thoughts incessantly. "Lilith" is a powerhouse of a novel that strikes straight at the wounded heart of one of America's largest controversies.

After her son Lydan suffers traumatic injuries in a school shooting, single mom Elisabeth Ross grows enraged at men in power. Believing it’s her destiny, she sets out to awaken the world to their cowardice and commits her own shocking act of violence. Going by the name Lilith—the first wife of Adam who fled Eden rather than serve a man—she posts a video of her crime that reverberates throughout society. Praised by some, demonized by others, and sought by the FBI and vigilantes alike, Elisabeth must keep her identity a secret as she tries to care for her son.

As events take startling twists, Elisabeth begins to question her act of violence and the very roots and mythology of violence itself. Was her act justified, or has she become the monster that the original Lilith was accused of being? When the FBI draws closer, and Lydan starts to display odd, terrifying behavior, Elisabeth plots to avoid capture and keep her son safe, fearing she’ll never escape what she’s done without losing him forever.

Kudos to narrator Brittany Pressley whose ability to change characters so seamlessly definitely added to my listening pleasure! She read this book with such conviction, I felt as though she was just as absorbed in the outcome as I was.

I thoroughly enjoyed Rickstad’s dialogue as it was amazingly set in real life vernacular that kept me on the edge of my seat. His use of language, female emotional insight, and profound suspense - makes Lilith is a vibrant story of our times.

Wow! This one was a very quick listen but I had to sit with it a while. This broke my heart very quickly and Brittany Pressley's narration performance just made it even worse (in a good way). Eric Rickstad took an interesting route to investigate a rough topic and did a great job with it. I can't thank Blackstone Audio enough for the ALC of this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing Audiobooks for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Brittany Pressley who does a fantastic job! Highly recommend the audiobook!!!

WOW! I absolutely LOVED this story!!! This is such a suspenseful, emotional, raw, and heart wrenching story about events that are triggered after a school shooting. It's the story of how a mother reacts to her own personal experience as a victim of a school shooting. It has been proven that trauma changes your brain chemistry, and this story accurately follows this.

Elizabeth is a single mom and teaches at her son's school. After both Elizabeth and her son, Lydan, survive a school shooting, from which Lydan suffers traumatic injuries, Elisabeth becomes enraged at certain men in power and their love of guns and violence. Elizabeth becomes convinced that she needs to act to stop the violence and commits her own shocking act of violence. Going by the name Lilith, the mythical first wife of Adam who fled Eden rather than serve a man, she posts a video of her crime that reverberates throughout society triggering similar acts of violence by women victims against the men who committed the acts. All of this builds to a climactic ending with a race against time for Elizabeth to evade the FBI who is chasing her.

Rather than focus on the shooters, I loved how this story focused on the victims and how they processed their grief, anger, trauma, and loss. This is such a compelling story that will reverberate with me and other readers.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND 10 stars!!!!

Elisabeth is a mother and a teacher at her young son’s school. When the unthinkable happens and a shooting takes place, Elisabeth takes action, going against protocol but saving herself, her students, and her son. The backlash she faces from those in charge causes her to become enraged, and as the shooting sparks dialogue throughout the country, some voices are louder and more obnoxious than others. Elisabeth then does the unthinkable, taking drastic measures, and finds herself questioning if her actions were heroic or villainous.

I was expecting this work to be more of a thriller and less of a somewhat ranty/preachy monologue. Now I certainly don’t disagree with much of what the author said or what the intent was, but I don’t think this was executed well. And I get enough one-sided politics in the real world that I don’t prefer it in my fiction. A little nuance goes a long way.

That lack of nuance was also evident in the characters. Almost all the men in this book were described to be physically repulsive to really highlight how evil they were, to the point where it was comically cartoonish and not at all compelling. All of the characters would have benefitted from some development and dimension. I was expecting this to be a little less man versus woman and a little more parent versus “correct protocol” sort of thing. While it is touted as a feminist read, I don’t think it’s a healthy portrayal of real feminism.

The last portion of the book had some solid tension that kept me on the edge of my seat, which was a pleasant surprise and a good way to end the book. I can see this being quite a polarizing read and it is violent, so keep that in mind before picking it up. This one also has mostly high ratings, so if you’re interested in the premise, there’s a good chance you’ll like it more than I did.

This book. Man. It made me cry and feel a whole range of emotions. I wasn't sure about it going in, because a man writing about the pain and hurt of a mother just felt wrong, but Rickstad did a great job covering the pain and love that a mother must feel towards their child. This book is also very relevant in today's world. The message of "we don't have an inherent right to inflict violence on others" is so important in a world that is very self-centered.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Lilith by Eric Rickstad.

It's interesting that this was written by a man because it's full of recognizable feminine rage. I'm not mad about it.

Elisabeth is at the end of her rope after her son was badly wounded in a school shooting. There are men to blame and scores to settle with the people not only responsible for the shooting, but responsible for perpetuating harmful ideas about guns. Elisabeth is ready to take justice into her own hands.

I actually felt like this could have gone deeper, and I wish that it did. I could feel the anger, and the desire to do what we all wish we could, but I'd love more psychology, sociology, and passion behind the WHY. But, on it's own it was still very satisfying, full of tension, and easy to read.

This one was maybe just not for me. I couldn’t get into. Took me forever to get through, not terribly writing or anything like that. It just couldn’t pull me in , other readers may enjoy this one though. Thanks for the opp to hear this one out, NetGalley.

I just do not think that Eric Rickstad is the author for me. I should have realized that after reading I’m Not Who You Think I Am, but Lilith sounded so compelling. Its premise convinced me to give him a second chance.

While the story addresses a critical topic, it’s not a powerful exploration of school shootings and gun violence. The writing is overly dramatized, which actually diminishes shock value and the emotional tug. Lilith is also one dimensional and heavy handed. Even though I agree with the stance expressed in the narrative, this just isn’t the way to communicate a meaningful story. In fact, I think it will quickly lose the audience it really needs to be addressing because of how forced the perspective is.

I am immensely grateful to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

After seeing all the positive feedback and reviews about this book I wanted to give it a shot. It is out of my usual genre, unfortunately I just did not find myself connecting to the book or being invested in the storyline as much as I wanted. It was definitely a heavy emotional read, just wasn't the one for me.

This is a book for discussion. I find it interestingly written by a man, but that perhaps explains why the protagonist's desperate choice to fight the patriarchy was fighting fire with fire and targeting men who make the situations possible. Men love violence and guns, so shoot them? So much of the book resonated with me except that. So much. There are whole paragraphs I'd like to read aloud to audiences of men and women so some semblance of understanding can be achieved. It was written with a lot of heart and empathy. It just missed the mark for me with the acceptance of violence as a desperate means of being heard and making change happen. Is that the only way? And women I know who have been victimized and traumatized and damaged by a man tend to focus their rage on the men involved and less on the bigger picture because maybe that feels less like violence against women is inevitable and instead that it was a bad egg. I do appreciate the light shown on the problems. And I encourage people to read this and talk about it. It's going to make for a powerful book discussion choice.

I received an arc of this audiobook through the author Eric Rickstad and NetGalley. This book was really great! Different from anything I’ve read before. I gave it 5 stars.
I do recommend looking up trigger warnings before reading this.

This book starts out with Elizabeth, a single mother and teacher, going through a school shooting at the school she works at. Instead of locking down and basically letting the children in her class and herself get murder, she breaks a window gets them out. She also goes back in to rescue her son. She is hailed as a hero at first, but the school (the men in power) want to penalize her for breaking the rules, although they all know she would died along with all the children.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, she states hearing more men in power being outspoken about openly carrying and buying firearms. One of the worst offenders even says he is going to run for president.

Whether it’s revenge or hatred, Elizabeth goes and murder some of those men. People know that “Lilith” is the one who murder them, but they don’t know it’s Elizabeth. Lilith is hailed as a hero, but also is being looked for by the police.

I loved this book! The narration was great. I was completely on Elizabeth’s side. I love her relationship with her son as well. The beginning was heartbreaking, but necessary for the rest of the story. And I loved the ending!!

Overall: wow… holy shit. I am just about speechless. Listening to this was a gift, truly. It captivates some of the very real issues of today. The idea that the world we live in makes us turn into the monsters we’re so afraid of. Filled with angst, anger and fear, my heart was racing and my palms sweatier then Eminem. It was so well written and the emotion behind it and passion to strike conversation was clear and concise. I was nervous in the beginning because I felt it was going to take on a very political tone but that wasn’t the case at all. This explored so many sides of things I’d never even considered and actually changed part of my soul. This was an extremely heavy listen, so please be aware and if I could suggest one thing: be in a good head space first. Hats off to @ErikRickstad for starting a very important conversation.
My only complaint is the ending felt slightly rushed…

Narration: the narrator was extremely slow paced IMO, however, I always speed my audios up and so it didn’t take away from the story at all. The narrator did an amazing job using voices to separate each character and truly made it feel as though it was an entire cast, I knew who was who without having a name very easily. The way this was written and the way it was read coinsided perfectly. I felt the anxiety and paranoia of the MC, I felt rushed and hurried and nervous, perfect performance. It felt like I was watching tv!

Going into this, I knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy read. Any book that involves a school shooting isn’t going to be an easy one, but I also firmly believe in reading things that make me uncomfortable in order to grow. Challenging my mind is a worthy pursuit, and school shootings is something I hear on the news a lot, but haven’t read much about yet. My generation was probably one of the last to go through school without having lockdowns or active shooter drills, having completed high school only a couple of years before Columbine happened and forever changed how we approach education in our country.

I’m going to start my review out by saying that there are some heavy trigger warnings involved with this book. Although I didn’t write them down as I went because it’s an audiobook, some major ones include school shooting, death of a child, and gun violence. But the author managed to always stay on the side of respectful storytelling and didn’t veer into trauma porn, which is something that I appreciated. So if you can manage getting through the triggers, this is a book that is well worth the read.

The narrator for this audiobook, Brittany Pressley, did a wonderful job with this story. She told it with sensitivity, yet still brought out all the emotion in the book. Her narration had me so invested in the story, which was already a gripping one.

While the book starts out with a scene that quickly evolves into a school shooting, Elisabeth Ross starts the day as a single mom and elementary school teacher, she becomes a heroine in the eyes of the media. Yet her actions aren’t appreciated by everyone, and as always, the actual event is drowned out by political chatter over gun control. Which leads me into how the shooting is actually the smallest part of the story—we never learn the identity of the shooter or why they targeted an elementary school, but it doesn’t really matter in this book. It’s the shockwaves within the community and the country that made up the actual story.

It isn’t until after the dust begins to settle, and Elisabeth learns the extent of the changes to their lives that are necessitated by Lydan’s injuries, and the effect that this will have on his life in the long-run. But as soon as the gun control debate starts raging, and the anti-gun control advocates start lobbying, I couldn’t help but think that any normal person would snap. How is someone supposed to keep functioning after their life, their routine, their job, their child has been torn apart by a school shooting, and people immediately see this tragedy as a political football in the long-running debate over gun control.

And so, the story becomes something more. One event has ripple effects, which leads to another event that would never have happened otherwise, leading to a cascade of events that rapidly spiral out of control. I found myself on the edge of my seat, and wracked with emotions—not just for what Elisabeth and Lydan go through, but for the families who experience this horror in real life, for the kids who have to go through active shooter drills regularly despite limited evidence of their effectiveness and the potential to traumatize students, and for the teachers who have to go through all of this right along with their students.

Ultimately, this was a story that grabbed my attention immediately, and didn’t let go until the very end. The chapters are short, and I couldn’t put this book down—I finished it in a single day, binge reading this with only a short break for a meal. I loved how it was written, how things unfolded, and how tense the story got the more involved it became. Seeing the chain of events that were unleashed by the initial school shooting was surprising in its scope, but in recent years, we’ve seen how quickly movements can spread, and gun control seems to be one of the longest running issues that our country has been ignoring. This book makes it seem like a reckoning is coming, and suddenly, the events in this story don’t seem unrealistic, at all. But overall, this was an outstanding read that I can enthusiastically recommend, as long as you can handle the triggers.

HOLY S. H. I. T!!! Oh my! WTF did I just read?! This book was so emotion inducing! My heart is still racing.

I read the premise of this book, and I thought it would be interesting. Well that’s the understatement of the year!

Elizabeth was such an awesome and strong female main character. She is fierce, loyal, intelligent, and just a bad ass!! I felt every emotion reading this book - fear, sadness, anger, rage, vindication, frustration, and anxiety.

The character development was great. I felt like I was friends with Elizabeth, and I was rooting for her! I wanted to see her come out on top. Her love for her son was heartwarming.

Being a mom and someone that has worked in a school before, this story was so relatable. The fear and the anger - so real. The author took those emotions we all have surrounding these incidents in our schools, and he created a masterpiece about one mom’s quest to seek retribution. The plot was captivating and thrilling. It developed in a way that I just couldn’t stop listening. Brittany Pressley did a phenomenal job narrating! She was perfection with every character and every emotion.

I’m still reeling. If you like suspenseful, emotional, engrossing thrillers, read this book. Better yet, buy the audio!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is excellent! I love how Rickstad captures the frustration that so many of us have in the face of these constant horrible shootings. And the anger that so many of us feel when in the aftermath of yet ANOTHER mass shooting people give "thoughts and prayers" and then insist that they answer is more guns. The irony of using violence because you're fed up with the violence is great. I sympathized so much with "Lilith" even as I am against violence as an answer. This book is just really well done.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advance copy of this book for review.

Lilith by Eric Rickstad and narrated by Brittany Pressley is a powerful, soul-rending story of the often untold story of the aftermath of a school shooting and the devastatting effects it has on the hearts, minds, body and souls of the victims.

Elisabeth Ross is a fantastic protagonist and an even more incredible anti-hero. Elisabeth is a first grade teacher at the same school her young son attends. The book opens with Elisabeth talking to her son and the wonderful relationship between them is immediately apparent, right down to Elisabeths maternal instinct, feeling her sons fear of going to school that day. Lydan kept saying he had an "icky feeling" which Elisabeth interrets as him trying to pull a sicky. There is nothing more than she would love then to pull a sicky and call out to spend the day with him, but she has to go to work and as such Lydan has to go to school

Immediately, Brittany Pressley's incredible narrtion is apparent and just how perfectly she performs a powerful, difficult and highly emotionally charged narrative with grace, emotion and a huge strength. Outstanding

When Elisabeth gets to school, it is heartbreaking how she has a conversation with one of her students. It's the 3rd Monday of teh month and this means active-shooter drills across the school. Lydan's words are still playing on Elisabeths mind as she absent mindedly listens to how the little girls brother had said that hiding under the sand table would end up with the girl being hamburger and this I think also had a part to play in Elisabeths decisions

Elisabeth is an incredible character, not only does she take her entire class out of the school during the attack of an active shooter and secure them in the library across the street, but she goes back in for her son, finding him in a closet, in a room of bodies. Stay or go? Elisabeth decides to go, she grabs Lydan and smashes out the window, as the shooter shoots out the door lock, she dives through ad is shot in the side. If she had stayed, they would have both been unalived

The book talks about the aftermath from the pov of Elisabeth and how a mother deals with others after the attack and her powerful need for vengance for the life-changing injuries her son received, injuries that meant he was seconds from being unalive when the EMT's got there

Elisabeth sees a television report while she is in the hospital room watching over Lydan in an induced coma and she sees the face of the man who is the owner of the biggest gun shop in the world, the leader of a pro-gun group and now, candidate for president. The man who represents everything that has destroyed the lives of Elisabeth, her son and so many others

The power of this book is the human aspect of the surviving families and not the story of the shooter. It is a book that is an essential read no matter what side of the debate you are on

Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing, the author Eric Rickstead and narrator Brittany Pressley for this incredible ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

A harrowing revenge fantasy come to life. I’d have a hard time believing anyone who says they have never felt rage like that of the main character in response to (literal trigger warning) a shooting at the school where she teaches and her son, who is badly wounded, attends. I love that we learned next to nothing about the school shooter—this was all about the people affected and maternal vigilante justice. Even the cover of the book is striking: stark black and white with grimly symbolic gray areas. Grisly and thought-provoking, this book will haunt you.

This book, Lilith, was the most hard-hitting, emotional, gut-wrenching book I’ve read in a long time. Many thanks to @blackstonepublishing for allowing me access to their titles in exchange for a fair and honest review. I listened to this on @netgalley as read by the amazing voice actor @britpressley !!! Brit!!!! This book was had such hard content, I don’t know how you did it, but you did it with a depth of emotion and grace, brava!!! Such a fantastically emotionally hard book to voice-act. I really felt so much from your performance! @ericrickstadauthor what an amazing story of heartache, bravery, and righteous anger! I find the cover of this book to be so fitting, as in life, and in this story, there is right and wrong and shades of grey, what a strikingly vetted cover - there’s light and darkness in all of us.
For you readers: this is a brutal story of a school shooting, a little boy who didn’t want to go to school that morning, and his mommy, a teacher at the school, feeling compelled to bring him there anyhow… the shooting and her acts of bravery. So there are major trigger warnings for school shootings, violence to young children, gun violence… and it is hard to read/listen to. The empathy and fear I felt (and anger) while listening to this story was intense. I don’t feel that meeting violence with more violence is the right way, and I have to say this book makes its stance on guns. Well it makes several points, one being that guns give people the means to easily kill other people, that more guns in a crowd doesn’t necessarily make it safer, especially if caught off guard, that there are too many unstable people with guns in America. I still believe we have the right even if I choose not to myself. There is SO much to chew on and debate in this book and the ending left me torn between wanting to cheer for Lilith and wanting to condemn her. Amazing job by the author for making a stance but leaving us to suss out our own feelings on this tough national issue.
A 5 star read for me, and I just bought his 2022 NYC Times best thriller “I Am Not Who you Think I Am” can’t wait to read that as well! A heartbreaking story, one so many know too well.

A gut-wrenching novel from the point of view of a school teacher who saves her classroom from an active shooter by NOT following the school's "cower in place" policy...and the fallout that results. The author has written thrillers and this ripped-from-the-headlines novel contains many elements of suspense. The well-narrated audiobook had me listening compulsively. It's a novel that imagines what might happen if a grieving mother took matters into her own hands when the government fails her and the all-too-many other victims of gun violence. Actions have consequences that have further consequences. Makes you grieve, makes you think.

There's a point in the story where men are blamed for everything (I'm generalizing of course) ... but then a man is especially helpful to the main character. Some magical realism (not my thing) and other minor nits, but not enough to deduct a star. It's still worth a read or listen on this important topic.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook for review purposes.