The number of horror novels which take sideswipes (or direct hits) at religion continue to drop at pace, with American Rapture one of the whackiest yet. If you enjoyed Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus, Jimmy Cajoleas’s The Good Demon, Katie Coyle’s Vivian Versus the Apocalypse, or Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed with Us and you might well enjoy this one. Note that the aforementioned four novels are either YA or have strong leanings towards the teen age group. American Rapture has some of the same traits.

Until the zombie style and sexual violence arrives I did wonder whether I was reading a YA novel as it incredibly angsty and is written in a first person point-of-view from a girl who turns seventeen over the course of the story. Sophie has been raised in an incredibly sheltered ultra-Catholic environment and knows nothing of the outside world, little about boys and suffers from guilt for just about everything. Her feelings and thoughts dominate large sections (too much) of the book and this has a solid YA feel. She goes to Catholic school, has no mobile phone limited access to the internet and there is the shadow of her twin brother Noah who was sent to some sort of reform school years earlier, the reason for which is revealed (but is pretty obvious) later in the story.

At various times Sophie’s upbringing is so strict I was thinking about sects and cults, but there are other girls who have boyfriends (so her classmates are not so sheltered) and she smuggles books out of the library she is not allowed to read. Although these early sections read like a teen novel, with Sophie realising she is attracted to Ben, but feels shame about it, it remains very engaging and I was fascinated in which direction the story might head.

Although Sophie’s narrative keep the YA feel the rest of the novel hurtles into adult territory with bloody graphic descriptions of faces being chewed off and slightly more retrained sexual violence or happening in the background. Early in the action we find out that there is a new type of virus which leads to those afflicted being viciously sexually aggressive with death following an undiagnosed time later. Incredibly, due to her sheltered existence, Sophie knows nothing of this virus and it turns out it has been headlining news for ages as it spreads across America. Sophie knowing nothing of this virus was more farfetched that the infection itself.

Once the novel kicks off Sophie tries to find her brother Noah, but how can an incredibly naive seventeen-year-old survive in a world where you could be raped to death by thousands of infected? There were some startling scenes where both men and women and pulled from their cars, others turn in populated locations, but Sophie is protected by a vicious dog and builds a group of new friends around and a potential love interest. The middle section of the novel stalls somewhat, with Sophie and her group spending too much time in the same location with the action stalling slightly.

It is impossible to not make comparisons with Covid-19 and how different people reacted to the vaccine and the manner in which it was distributed, embraced or refused. American Rapture goes one step further and takes a (somewhat heavy handed) look at how some of the Christian community saw the virus as a sign from above and fight against the distribution of a potential antidote, seeking the infected as fornicators and sinners.

I found Sophie’s personal journey to be the strongest aspect of the novel, as she slowly shakes of the shackles of brainwashing and even though the world is in turmoil she still hopes to find her brother. Although American Rapture alludes to it, I would not consider this a full-blown zombie novel and was more reminiscent of Paul Tremblay’s Survivor Song, with added religious reflection. Teenage girls can make great survivors, another point of reference is fifteen-year-old Temple, who stars in Alden Bell’s zombie masterpiece The Reapers are the Angels (2010) where guilt also bubbles under the surface.

I have tried multiple times to try to get into this and I cannot. I really want to love this. I might come back around to try again. I’m not sure what it is at the moment.

American Rapture Review! 🧟‍♀️

I ate this book up!! American Rapture was a 3.75/5 ⭐️ for me. It gave the same dread as watching the movie It Follows. I loved the main character, but the dog was of course my favorite. This would have been a 5 star read for me, but the ending kind of killed it.

Fantastic. Pacing was for the most part great. Really identified with the main character. I left the church at the age of 17 and this very much summed up some the inner turmoil. Will be handselljng this through spooky season!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advanced copy of American Rapture!

If I could rate this over 5 stars I would.

American Rapture completely exceeded my expectations in every way possible; I honestly can't think of one thing that I didn't like about this story. When I read Maeve Fly, I think reviewers referring to it as "extreme horror" set me up for disappointment a little bit, because although taboo at times it wasn't really quite as "extreme" as other authors I've read. In hindsight, that book was never even marketed as extreme horror. However, American Rapture was also extremely hyped, and like any book that gets this much attention, I had my reservations.

A couple tropes I already love were already present from the start - zombie apocalypse, feminine rage, religious cults, coming of age, books set in Wisconsin...just to name a few. The ominous atmosphere throughout was eerie and definitely added to the tension. The characters were so well-developed. I was invested in all of them.

At first Sophie was just so innocent and naive, which when written this way can sometimes be extremely annoying - she was not. She was inquisitive and smart, and loved reading and trying to learn despite her parent's best efforts to keep her in the dark. Her entire journey - learning about herself, her sexuality, her religious trauma and subsequent guilt - was so well developed, and her building rage, grief, and frustration was *chef's kiss* absolutely satisfying. I love a fantastic "good for her" moment. Some of the events leading up to that were absolutely devastating, however I do feel that they were entirely necessary for her character arc.

And let me just say this - I'm a sucker for any zombie/zombie-adjacent story. This took your usual "illness infecting the world" and added a very unique spin on it - the inclusion of extreme lust, along with religious extremists. It was just SO. WELL. EXECUTED.

Everything tied in nicely, and there were tender, heartwarming moments followed by constant action. At the same time, CJ Leede gave me a LOT to think about. The pacing was perfect too - not once did I find myself bored. The book was a little slow to start, but it was necessary for character introductions and to start building the story. At less than 20% into the book, everything took off from there and didn't slow till the end. Some triggering moments include violent animal and child deaths - so please be cognizant of this when you're reading this novel - some people seemed really upset by those events (which is fair).

I absolutely LOVED this book. I honestly think this is one of my new favorite zombie apocalypse books - it was easy to read and understand, makes you think and keeps you entertained. Everything I wanted and more from a book like this. Congrats to CJ Leede for another fantastic novel!

5 Stars
Genre - Horror / speculative fiction
Tone - Bleak, tragic, hopeful
Tropes & devices - apocalyptic zombie-like virus
Reps - FMC reads white; a few secondary characters are Native American, others are racially ambiguous.
CW - violence, gore; religious themes; sexual content including assault and rape, some of it towards children; pandemic themes (including pandemic denial, masking, anti-vaxxing, etc); homophobia; physical abuse; alcohol consumption and smoking; explicit language; death, including children and animals; brief reference to self-harm.

Sophie isn't just a 16-year-old virgin - she's wildly sheltered. So sheltered, she doesn't even know about the "flu" spreading across the country. The flu her parents told her not to worry about. The one her church's congregation is viewing as the vengeance of the Lord. No phone, no internet - just the occasional call to her twin brother, separated from her in childhood. So when the flu's "sexual fervor" finally hits her town and she's forced to flee, she runs to her twin - the only person she knows who might give her some clear answers. Along the way, her horizons are expanded in ways she could never have imagined - for better or for worse.

Wow. This one hit me in the gut and just kept punching. I went to an author event for Bury Your Gays, and this was Chuck Tingle's recommendation. And what a good one it was! If you liked Camp Damascus, this one will be right up your alley. This is great for the ex-vangelicals, the ones with religious trauma (watch out though, it'll trigger you). If you love being triggered by your ex-fundy past, you might like The Free People's Village; and for non-fiction, Counting the Cost and the very popular I'm Glad My Mom Died.

I received a free digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Whether it is a superbug killing everyone or an old school living dead situation apocalypse narratives are one of my favorite things and American Rapture does not disappoint. Fair warning, the virus in this book is described as making people "feral with lust" and as such there is on page sexual violence. However, the story is very nuanced and the virus is not used as pure splatter but instead is used very purposefully to move the story on. The main character is so sheltered and has so little knowledge about the real world, there is an added layer of terror to every step she takes.

American Rapture has made the short list of my favorite reads this year and I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you Tor Nightfire for my free ARC of American Rapture by CJ Leede — available Oct 15!

» READ IF YOU «
⛪️ were a little sheltered as a child (or adult?)
🖤 love when your horror novels have a ton of heart
💧 are looking for something to make you sob

» SYNOPSIS «
Sophie was raised in a strict religious household, separated from her twin brother. A new virus spreading across the country is making infectees rabid with lust, and it doesn't seem to care who's still holding their precious V card. Sophie decides to make her way across this apocryphal landscape to find her brother, but she'll have to dodge nympho zombies and far worse evils...

» REVIEW «
You. Bitch.

Apparently, 2024 is the year for sobbing over horror novels, because what the hell. This book was perfection for me, even though I'm still furious with CJ Leede over some of the choices she made in here (you know what you did, babe). But also, read the acknowledgements. Anyway!

Sophie is a perfect and perfectly flawed heroine; there's so much teen angst and emotional turmoil in her that it's almost palpable. I was raised Catholic so could relate to a lot of what's in here, but even if you weren't, I suspect that Sophie's journey to self-empowerment will resonate. I'm not sure how CJ wrote all the side characters so well too, but mannn a couple of them ripped my heart out. The pace, the plot, the characters, the setting, all just flawless.

I don't know what else to say about this book without spoilers, except that I loved it to bits and cannot wait to read it again. Don't go into this one expecting Maeve Fly, because it's different, but I actually liked American Rapture even better! Hit me up when you're done to chat about it, because this book will absolutely be in my top three of the year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you enjoy books about Catholic guilt and (sexual predator) zombies?
An apocalyptic-coming-of-age story?
Then this one's for you!

The book begins with song lyrics from Tori, Alanis, and Sinead (my 90s heart swoons).
We follow Sophie, sixteen, sheltered, from an extremely religious family, and about to find herself on her own through a viral outbreak, in search of her shunned homosexual brother, with a cast of chosen family.

I'm not quite sure how to feel about this one. There's too much ick to recommend to all, but some of that ick allows for character growth. There are some heavy themes and lots of religious horror.
Check the trigger warnings...
I think this one will be polarizing; find out for yourself this October!

This follows a teenage girl starting to question the conservative, Catholic lifestyle she was raised in. When a deadly virus (that basically is like becoming a zombie that sexually assaults on top of killing, which wtf?) starts spreading across America, she’s forced to flee and teams up with others in hopes of survival. With that premise, it’s actually impressive how boring this was. It read like bad Walking Dead fan fiction and all of the characters were hollow so I didn’t even care who died. I loved this authors debut last year so I’m extra disappointed that this didn’t work for me.

Amazing story with a fresh take on the zombie narrative. Lots of layers and unpacking of real world issues. Check your content warnings before reading!

American Rapture is haunting and will stay with you long after you've finished it.

The book follows Sophie, a sheltered teen from a very religious family, as she navigates the horrors of the secular world during a pandemic. The overall plot of the book, and the characters within, will give anyone with the faintest bit of empathy a healthy dose of constant anxiety.

CJ Leede's prose has been solid since Maeve Fly and continues to hone her skill in American Rapture. She manages to capture religious trauma and the budding teen mindset believably and unflinchingly. I now want to visit Wisconsin so I can appreciate the horrors experienced in the book on another level.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

Thank you so much to Tor Nightfire for sending me another digital ARC banger by the amazing C.J. Leede to review!

This book chronicles the end of the world through the perspective of (almost) seventeen year old Sophie, a Catholic schoolgirl on her own the first time. The fatal plague ravaging the United States makes humanity mad with lust, resorting to all manners of depravity to propagate the viral spread. Sophie wants embark on a roadtrip across the state to make it to her twin brother, but she must first navigate this new world and how it challenges her Catholic upbringing.

This book delves into difficult topics like SA, the bystander effect, religious trauma, Catholic guilt, animal violence, terror organizations, and puberty. If these are sensitive topics for you then I’d recommend skipping this one. But in my opinion, these aspects were depicted accurately and without any unnecessarily violent descriptions.

I could not put this book down! I might be biased, but I love a good apocalyptic plague novel. An absolute roller coaster of emotions with found family, exploring shame, and finding the confidence to learn about life outside your immediate bubble. I had a deep appreciation for Sophie journey- especially as she struggled to overcome her Catholic guilt and understand her feelings. This book had me on the absolute edge of my seat wondering who was infected and who would survive.

If you love a good world-ending virus book with a story that flips the premise of Stephen King’s The Stand, but features a teenage protagonist, her found family, a plethora of Catholic guilt, and the road trip of a lifetime to find her twin brother, then American Rapture comes out on October 15th.

Thank you to NetGalley/Tor Publishing Group for providing an early copy of this book

I am so happy I gave this one a chance despite not loving Maeve Fly. As a lover of religious horror, I was nervous about overhyping this for myself, but it ended up working well for me. Sophie is the perfect character to follow in a sex-crazed zombie pandemic. A specific encounter that sticks out to me which shows just how sheltered she is, is when another character asks her if she's Amish. We're talking peak Covid hysteria and she doesn't even realize the sickness is more than people getting seasonal colds. She only goes to school, church, and the library, and everything she consumes from books to music is strictly monitored. Of course, this extreme upbringing along with another traumatic event relating to her brother has led to deep-rooted feelings of guilt and shame surrounding her body, sex, intimacy, and even just thinking about anything remotely sexual.

The found family is done really well, and Sophie grows up a lot trying to survive not only the "zombies" but also the religious extremists that view this pandemic as a cleansing of the world intended by God. While this book is definitely very on the nose, it is clearly intentional by the author. This didn't affect my rating, but I can see others not enjoying it for this reason, as this was the main reason I did not enjoy Maeve Fly. The religious themes were handled well enough to overpower these feelings for me. Lots of great innuendos and references for those familiar with Christianity. 4.5 rounded down for Goodreads

This one wasn’t for me. I thought I would give it a try but it felt more like a Walking Dead fanfic than anything. I do love a story revolving around Catholic guilt but it was a bit heavy handed.

This one might be my favorite book of the year. I read this two months ago and think about it just about every day. I LOVED Maeve Fly and didn't even need to read the description before politely begging NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC. Thankfully, they let me give it a read and for that I will never stop being grateful.

This book is beautiful, thought-provoking, desperately sad, and at times extremely gross. It's also so very real in its examination of religion, hypocrisy, and the emotional damage and generational trauma extreme views can and do have. I was very, very invested in just about every character and found myself affected by every twist and turn they endured.

5 enthusiastic stars and yes, I will be adding this one to my personal library the day it hits shelves!

I thoroughly enjoy CJ Leede's writing. The storytelling, mixed with erratic thoughts from the MC's POV (Sophie), allows us a look into their chaotic mind. It brings an added flare to a normal plot. We get to see just how twisted up strong beliefs can make a person.

In this story, Sophie, a sheltered girl from an extremely Catholic family, finds herself alone, navigating a viral outbreak where everyone turns into horny, killer zombies. She meets people along the way that she bonds with and tries to navigate finding her twin brother.

My favorite character is the dog Barghest. He is fearsome, loyal, and an all-around bad@$$. Also, the wind is incredibly present and drives the plot forward throughout the story. There are so many layers of thought in this storyline. I went back and reread chapters, and each time, it hit a little differently.

The climax of Sophie's story had me raging and definitely brought a few tears. The ending hits perfectly how all horror stories should end 😁 I was only left wanting just a tad bit more out of Sophie and Ben's relationship. But the story overall was a hit and enjoyed every second of it!

A fantastically horrific beautiful novel. Meet Sofie, a heavily sheltered Catholic school girl. There is a virus spreading across the country in this dystopian apocalyptic story. In Sofie's coming of age story, she encounters some unimaginable characters. She is on a mission with Maro, a police officer, Ben, a schoolmate, Cleo the mysterious drifter, Helen, a girl close to Sofie's age and the loveable dog Barghest.  This story is a very blood and violent yet a heart wrenching roller coaster of a ride. I truly enjoyed this book. It is extremely fast paced.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Having spent a good chunk of my life living in this area of Wisconsin, I felt an ever deeper connection to this book. Speaking of connection, the authors note made me sob like a baby. Please don’t skip over it.

This story was jam packed with action, pain, found family, trauma, and so much more. It was disgusting and it was beautiful. Although I adored Maeve Fly, American Rapture dug deep into my soul and didn’t let go.