If you’re a fan of Cassandra Khaw’s writing, Kailee Pedersen's Sacrificial Animals will be right up your alley. Both authors have a knack for weaving folklore into the fabric of modern life, focusing on the kind of prose where every single word and detail matters. Normally, I’m the type to throw on an audiobook while multitasking, but this book demanded more—Sacrificial Animals forced me to slow down, really listen, and absorb every nuance. The creeping unease that builds throughout is worth it when you reach that ending. This isn’t just a story; it’s an experience that explores race, familial relationships, and toxic masculinity in a way that sticks with you long after the final word. The audiobook narration truly brought this to life, elevating it from good to unforgettable.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance audiobook of this novel. This author is a writer of great promise. The concept of the novel is good. The author just needs to learn to use her gifts more judiciously. The prose is often beautiful but can be used as a sledgehammer. The horrific family dynamics could have been hinted at with maybe one or two scenes in flashback, and that would have done the trick. The dual timeline was not necessary, and the part in the past was repetitive because it focused on the same types of traumatic events repeatedly. The focus needed to shift from the trauma of the past to the events of the present, or more needed to occur in the past than the endless abuse. This tendency was amplified by the narrator, whose voice lacked subtlety. I think they were trying to match the tone of the novel. I do look forward to the author's future works.

This book was certainly unexpected for me. I will start with saying that I am usually not a fan of the horror genre and tried to read this book from the perspective of a true fan. I initially thought that I might become a vegetarian based on the overly detailed descriptions of animal deaths. Early on, I switched from audio book to regular format so I could skim past these scenes. Overall, the prose is flowery even when horrifying and overly metaphorical - just not the writing style for me. And the story is nothing but depressing in my opinion. However, I rated up by trying to read from the perspective of someone who really likes this genre and think that fans will enjoy the slow build, the tension and the unveiling of the traps that the characters make for themselves. The ancient Chinese fantasy and fables were an interesting element that I wished had been played up a bit more. Anyway, trying to keep all this in mind but this book was not enjoyable to me in any format.
I started with the audio version but switched to written early on due to the disturbing descriptions of violence but the narrator did a good job with all the narration and didn’t overly dramatize these scenes.
Trigger Warning - explicit animal and child abuse and gory scenes.

Reading the blurb, I knew I needed to listen to it especially with mythology. The narrator, Yung-I Chang did a great job portraying the characters in the story and kept me engaged. However, the way the author wrote the sentences was very prose. I have been struggling with stories written like this lately and the pacing was also slow for me. The story is written in dual timelines past and present and I really enjoyed the present timeline the most. I was hooked by the end with Emilia and seeing what her next steps and how she would proceed was fascinating. This story is perfect for lovers of family drama, and mythology. I would check TWs because there are a few in this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC Audio Copy!

This is a dark and gritty story that follows a character who was raised by a father who was violent and abusive, and tried to raise his boys in his image after the death of their mother. There is a lot of hunting, animal abuse, and violence enacted on the children during flash backs so be sure and check trigger warnings before you read this story.

I would not really classify this as a horror, it felt like a historical fiction with some thriller aspects, but I never really felt like I was in a horror story until the very end. The ending was not surprising and I could see it coming but that did not lessen the impact that it had on the story.

The story is wholly uncomfortable from start to finish, there are no happy moments, there is nothing pleasant about anything that happens, but it does a really good job of showing you just who the characters really are and why they are the way that they are.

This story is told in third person in a now and then format. It follows Nick as he returns to the family farm in Nebraska at his father’s request since he is dying from cancer. Nick also calls his older brother Josh and convinces him to visit as well since their father insists that he wants to reconcile. While I thought the story was well done in parts, it really wasn’t a read that I enjoyed all that much and yet I kept going to the end. The audiobook was expertly narrated by Yung-I Chang. He did a fantastic job telling this story of two brothers caught up in their desire to please an abusive father. I primarily listened to this read, only checking the text to verify a few things.

Carlyle pitted his two sons against each other from a young age, telling Josh that he would inherit the farm and Nick that he was weak. He was a bitter about the hand life had dealt him and abusive in many ways, both physically and emotionally. When Josh marries a Chinese woman, Carlyle disowns him and Josh leaves with his new wife. Nick was also fascinated with the wife, Emilia, and the fascination continues into more in the now timeline. The now and then format was a little muddled. I often couldn’t tell which section I was in due to Nick’s reminisces in the now timeline.

There is a secondary subplot about a huli jing, a nine-tailed fox from Chinese mythology. I thought the concept was fascinating, but I didn’t like the way it was incorporated into the story. I felt like it justified Carlyle’s derogatory thoughts and actions. Also, despite the fact that I had no particular love for Josh or Nick, I also felt like they were abuse victims and while the story did a good job of showing perpetuating cycles of abuse, there was a sins of the father visited against the sons theme here that I wasn’t comfortable with given the situation. While the abuse story was well done, the mythological part didn’t work for me in context though I would love to know more about it.

Recommended to horror lovers that enjoy dysfunctional family dynamics and Chinese mythology. Watch any trigger warnings about abuse, including animals.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for a copy provided for an honest review.

This was an interesting read. The writing style was very distinctive, and the third person POV felt very detached. The descriptions and comparisons throughout felt very graphic and gory. I don’t consider myself overly sensitive to animal death or cruelty in books, but this was a lot.

While this book had a plot, it was definitely heavier on the atmosphere, through extensive descriptions, imagery, and Nick’s thoughts. The synopsis felt almost like a spoiler, because the events described didn’t take place until over halfway through the book. It was a very slow-paced literary horror.

Overall, this book was a struggle. None of the characters were likable, nor were they supposed to be, but they also just didn’t feel very compelling. I felt more indifferent to them than anything. I think this also contributed to my difficulties following the story. The timeline moved between then and now, and sometimes I lost track of which timeline I was in, especially because they felt very similar. I listen to the audiobook for this, which helped some with the atmosphere, but I wasn’t a big fan of the narration.

I think some people will love this one. If you like slow-burn literary horrors and unlikable characters, check this out! It just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

Kailee Pedersen's Sacrificial Animals blends Chinese folklore with American Gothic in a mesmerizing family saga. Alternating timelines create tension, particularly in the present-day narrative. Pedersen's lush prose, enhanced by Chang's narration, combines with atmospheric elements to craft an immersive, beautiful, yet disturbing experience.

Pedersen explores complex themes like race, trauma, and sexuality through skillful use of animal imagery, particularly foxes from Chinese and American folklore. Biblical and mythological references add depth to the narrative, while morally ambiguous characters and the absence of a clear protagonist create an unsettling atmosphere.
This captivating tale is ideal for readers who appreciate Gothic horror, complex family dynamics, and lyrical prose exploring challenging themes.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"My mother said it was only a cautionary tale...About falling in love with the wrong woman."

"...the season of forgiveness was long past."

The intensely unsettling atmospheric gothic story, Sacrificial Animals, by horror debut author Kailee Pedersen, is a master crafted work of literary fiction.

Influenced by the writer's life as an adoptee from China, raised on a farm in Nebraska, and based on Chinese mythology, Sacrificial Animals is told in alternating, "Now" and "Then" short chapters.

Nick, 43, receives a call from his father Carlyle, asking him to come home to the farm after 20 years away. He's dying and needs to see him and his brother Joshua. Carlyle disowned Joshua for marrying that "Asian" woman. But it seems all is forgiven. He wants Emilia to come too.

Carlyle is a racist who abused his sons. Trying to teach Nick to be a man, he performs an act of unconscionable animal cruelty involving several fox pups. Carlyle thinks nothing of sacrificing animals or humans; but it haunts Nick his whole life.

As Joshua and Carlyle reconnect, Nick and Emilia begin bonding, Nick infatuated with Emilia's beauty. In fact, she looks the same after 20 years...exactly the same. Inevitably, they make a decision that has unfathomable consequences.

Listening to voice actor Yung-I Chang anguished heartache as Nick, suffering from generational trauma, sexual identity, and overbearing guilt is an emotionally visceral experience. Reading the book made me realize that every word mattered because each word was a stepping stone to a deadly conclusion that some might say was justice, others vengeance, many more evil. Just remember, "Tricky things, foxes."

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

A slow mythical-horror burn with complicated family ties!

While the narrator is even-toned and at times lackluster, "Sacrificial Animals" story keeps listeners engaged. Listeners follow Nick through the past, navigating a life in rural Nebraska, and present, returning to his home. Both Nick and his older brother Joshua return to their former home to say their last words to their dying father, Carlyle, who traumatized them during their childhood.

Pulled back to Stag's Crossing the story takes a mythical-horror turn.

A slow burner perfect for fans of horror/thriller/ and fantastical.

Thank you NetGalley, thank you Kailee Pedersen and thank you Macmillan Audio for bringing this title to us!

I liked the middle and the end a lot. The beginning was slightly slow and too focused on a farm in Nebraska that is owned by an abusive patriarchal white male who acts as the right hand of God. And we kinda hate this man who shapes his two sons with violence, racism, prejudice... they want nothing else than to run away. But that is the point. To set the mood and justify the end of revenge.
Emilia, a woman of Asian descent, marries one of the sons...
An amazing, satisfying, and creepy ending. Rarely do I love an ending more than a beginning, but this was a good example.

Thank publisher for the audio , The post is scheduled for tonight (Sunday night) will share links after the book is out Tuesday afternoon

The story sounded intriguing but I just couldn’t handle the narrator. There was no inflection in his voice at all. I got through chapter one and that was it

I received a gifted ALC copy of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS by Kilee Pedersen from Macmillan Audio and Netgalley!

SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS follows Nick, a young man raised on a farm in Nebraska. His abusive father pushes him to do things he isn’t comfortable with like hunting and killing animals. Both he and his older brother have left the farm and their father behind in the present day. His brother’s marriage to a Chinese woman puts an even bigger wedge in the family as his father can’t accept this. When their father gets a dismal diagnosis, he calls his sons (and his son’s wife) back home to care for him and say goodbye.

This is a book that pulls from the author’s own history. She was adopted out of China and raised on a farm in Nebraska itself. From the tone of the book, the atmosphere of this transition morphs into a supernatural horror story with a lot of trauma and darkness.

I would say that this book felt more like a literary fiction story and family drama for much of the book. We go back and forth in time following Nick through his youth and in the present day. The relationship with Nick’s father and his own questioning of the life his father is pushing him to lead is complicated and well defined. The horror does come in later in the book, but I personally would have liked that to come in sooner.

This was a really interesting read and a quick audiobook to consume as well. I think if you go in expecting a slower story and more of a character driven book, this is one you may enjoy!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, for the free E-copy for review.

This gripping read delves into the darker realms of sibling rivalry, woven together with mythical Chinese lore.

We follow Nick, the second son, as we explore his tumultuous childhood. Always feeling inconsequential in his father's eyes and bearing the brunt of his cruelty, Nick dreams of escaping his childhood home when he’s old enough. It’s a visceral experience as he navigates the push and pull of trying to make his father proud while grappling with his distaste for hunting.

Kailee Pedersen masterfully infuses just the right amount of suspense, employing an interchanging timeline that builds toward a shocking climax. The incorporation of Chinese mythology adds an intriguing supernatural element, with some scenes so viscerally gory that they left me gasping.

Yung I-Chang’s narration perfectly captures Nick’s voice, reflecting the deep-seated resentment he harbors for his father and brother. The audio production enhances the atmosphere, pulling the listener deeper into the story.

Sacrificial Animals is a powerful exploration of belief, family dynamics, and vengeance.

Thank you to NetGalleyand St. Martin’s Press as well as the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #Sacrificial Animals #KaileePedersen #MACAudio2024 #macmillanaudio

Title: Sacrificial Animals
Author: Kailee Pedersen
Format: eBook
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Themes: Father/son relationship, Brother/Brother relationship, Chinese mythology/folklore, familial drama, LBGTQ+, slow burn

Trigger Warnings: child abuse, hunting, graphic animal death, cancer, familial abuse/estrangement,

This book is so beautifully written! What a talent this author has. No one has written familial abuse this well since “Flowers in the Attic” by V.C. Andrews. This book tells the story of Nick and his relationship with his father and brother. After growing up with an incredibly abusive and cruel father, the last thing he expects is to be called home by his father to be at his deathbed. Also, he’s expected to call his estranged brother, who has been disowned by their father because of his marriage to an Asian woman, and ask his brother and his wife to come home to bury their father. Their father receives Nick’s older brother warmly, while Nick and his sister-in-law are ignored. As Nick gets to know Emelia better, he begins to suspect that her intentions may not be benign as he had assumed.

This is an author who is talented. There’s no doubt about that. Her prose is lovely and descriptive. The story is also quite compelling. I love the blend of western and Chinese folklore. I learned a lot about both and I was fascinated. It is, however, simply too slow. Not much happens until the last third of the book. That last third is really fun, but this book should have been WAY shorter. It does a great job of building tension through a lot of nothing happening. It does require time and patience. It turned out to be worth it, mostly.

The audiobook has a great narrator. I had a much easier time listening to this one. The narrator is very expressive, yet soothing. I found that I could listen to it while I did housework and it was easier to handle the slowness rather than sitting down to read and endure the grueling build-up.

All in all, the reader/listener needs to go into this story knowing that this is a time commitment and not an easy read. Fans of Ally Wilkes and V.C. Andrews are likely to get it. I had mixed feelings but I’m glad I read and listened to it.

This must be the year of novels featuring fox spirits because this is the third I've read this year (by the way, I'm not complaining; it is just something I noticed.) I started the year with "The Fox Wife," then there was a fox spirit in "The Emperor and the Endless Palace," and now this one. In her thrilling debut novel, "Sacrificial Animals," Kailee Pedersen takes readers on a slow-burn journey through a rural Nebraska farm, where family secrets and ancient mysteries collide.

The book focuses primarily on Nick Morrow as he navigates a complicated homecoming to Stag's Crossing - the family farm - to visit his ailing father, Carlyle, with whom he had a tenuous relationship when he was a kid. Carlyle calls Nick to tell him he is dying of cancer. Carlyle would like to see his sons - both of whom he's had little to no contact with over the years. When Nick arrives, it seems maybe the temperamental and often abusive Carlyle has changed, but when Nick's older brother Joshua shows up at Stags Crossing with his alluring and mysterious Asian wife, Emilia, it doesn't take long for Carlyle's racism and abuse to resurface.

Throughout the novel, Pedersen weaves together past and present, delving into the depths of family dynamics and the devastating effects of intergenerational trauma. Carlyle is an awful human being, and while he treats Joshua as a prince, he is very abusive toward Nick because he thinks he is too soft. Not only is he physically abusive, but also mentally and emotionally, as he forces Nick to hunt and kill the foxes that keep killing their chickens. Little does Nick know that this violent act will haunt him and his family for years to come.

The complex relationships between Nick, Carlyle, and Joshua are expertly crafted, drawing readers into a world where love and violence are intertwined in heartbreaking and mind-blowing ways. As Nick grapples with his past and present, Pedersen slowly builds tension while uncovering the dark secrets buried beneath the farm's surface.

Through Nick's reflections on his past and his relationships with his father, brother, and Emilia, the author explores identity, sexuality, and how violence and abuse contribute to our trauma. Pedersen's beautiful prose paints a vivid portrait of rural Nebraska that is as beautiful as it is haunting. Her attention to detail brings the farm to life, making it a character in its own right, with its secrets and shadows looming over the Morrow family.

While I enjoyed the story's slow burn and the beautiful writing, I will admit that the story held few surprises. I had a clear sense of where we were headed, but that didn't detract from the journey. What did bother me, however, was the author's decision not to use quotation marks. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. It seems to be more and more prevalent in books these days, and I honestly don't understand why it's necessary. It adds nothing to a book.

Not only did I read this book, but I also listened to an ALC, and I was truly impressed with the narrator. Yung-I Change does a phenomenal job of capturing the characters and manages to hit the highs and lows perfectly, enhancing the overall reading experience.

While not overly shocking, I found this to be a mesmerizing and thought-provoking read that carries a hefty punch. With its richly drawn characters, atmospheric setting, and spine-tingling suspense, this novel is sure to captivate fans of dark literary fiction and psychological thrillers. I knew exactly where this one was heading from the beginning, but I still enjoyed the ride.

A much needed change of pace in horror. From the start, we feel a building sense of dread. The flashbacks kept the reader engaged in trying to figure out how the past related to the present & we then got to see how it made the perfect setup for what was to come. Makes me think of the saying, "a tiger can't change it's stripes" when the main character sees the effect of his well-intentioned deed.

Sacrificial Animals is a slowburn horror literary fiction featuring daddy issues, toxic masculinity, and Chinese folklore. In the story, we follow Nick and Joshua as they go back to their hometown after getting a call from his dying father. He wants to be forgiven for all the things he did to them. Nick, Joshua, and Emilia (Joshua’s wife) go back to seek reconciliation. (CW: child abuse, animal abuse, racism).

This is the classic ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ situation. This book gives slowburn a whole new meaning. It takes a long time until the horror starts and until then all we get is an unsettling and disgruntling literary fiction about family drama and daddy issues. Both things are stuff I don’t enjoy. It was just very slow and reflecting. I’m the kind of person who loves a good character study or character-focused books, but this was just reminiscing about one’s effed-up past and it’s just not my thing. The two timelines of then/now also made it feel slower to me.

Around the 80% the story picked up super quickly and it became AMAZING. The ending was crazy fun and it made it all worth it.

I don’t have much to say other than the writing is beautiful (if you enjoy literary fiction) and that I loved the ending. 3.5 stars because of that (but I can't round it up because it just was brutally slow).

This was really great. It was giving me Frailty (the movie) vibes in the beginning but had a fun twist at the end that I didn't expect, though could have guessed at if I had read the description. The narrator Yung-I Chang did a great job.

Oof.

I probably should write more than that.

So... I didn't like this book.

The story is told in "then" and "now" timelines. The problem is that these timelines feel interchangeable. In the "now" timeline, the characters are obviously older, and we have the addition of the enigmatic Emilia. Otherwise, the dynamics are the same, and it doesn't feel like there's much of a (or any) character arc.

Through most of the book, nothing happens. It's all repetitive, slow nothingness told in overly flowery prose. None of the characters are likable, and honestly, they're barely even interesting. The father is abusive and hateful. The sons are jealous and hateful. And that's about it.

At about the 80% mark, something happens that's just weird. I mean, I wasn't all that surprised, but it just seemed tossed in with no real explanations as to the how of it all. And that's when the action and violence happens in this horror novel.

Then it's done. And I'm left wondering why I bothered.

I received a free print copy from St. Martin's Press, and a free audiobook download from MacMillan Audio. I started with the print, planning to alternate. Not only was I bored, but the author chose not to use quotation marks, and I was incredibly frustrated as I tried to sort when someone was speaking or thinking, or when it was exposition.

I switched to the audio, which was marginally better. At least I didn't have to think about what was being spoken aloud. The narrator did a good job.

*Thanks (and apologies!) to St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the free copy and download.*