3 things to consider while reading my review:
1) this is my first from Armfield
2) I'm discovering I'm much more of a litfic girlie than general fic
3) my family experienced a loss recently that caused a similar inheritance-related riff, this could have tempered some of the novel's power for me

Since I was provided with an ALC I'll start with our narrator, Hannah van der Westhuysen. Hers is a name I'm always happy to see when choosing audiobooks. Her accent is so enjoyable, and I'm still able to understand what's being said at 2x speed. That isn't usually the case with accents I'm not hearing daily (so, anything other than plain 'ol Midwestern. I know, smh). Not only would I recommend Private Rites narrated by her, but anything else you're interested in reading that she's lent her voice to.

Private Rites itself... felt lackluster. Good? Yes. But there wasn't anything that stood out to me as profound.
The way Julia explored grief and the difficulty coming to terms with losing someone who, on the surface, doesn't feel like much of a loss. It's above my paygrade, but I'm going to venture to that say the girls are emotionally abused throughout their childhoods. While the hands doling out the punishment and the methods of carrying out said abuse varies, all 3 daughters are left to grapple with who their parents really are - and have been their entire lives. Once such a polarizing member of their families is no longer a viable option for scapegoat, the stories they've been told - and told themselves - must be reconsidered before/while moving forward.

My biggest problem with Private Rites was the ending, it just...didn't fit. I don't know how else to put it. Too haphazard? Too abrupt? I don't even know. I love the themes here and the variance of perspective brought to them, but this isn't something I'd read again.

Salt Slow & Our Wives Under The Sea are on my physical TBR shelf, so wish me better luck w those, plz!

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Julia Armfield, Hannah van der Westhuysen, Macmillan Audio and Flatiron books for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!}

Received an e-arc audiobook via the publishers and netgalley. This is a spoiler free review.

Set in upon the backdrop of continuous rise of water levels (?) and perpetual storms, Private Rites takes readers through the lives of three estranged sisters on the cusp of their father's death. This is my second read by Julia Armfield and there were so many thought provoking passages in this book for me. Especially from the stand point of being an eldest child who has experienced broken connections and even indifference from close relatives.

Our main characters Isla, the organized eldest sister. Irene, the abrasive and short-tempered middle child. And Agnes, the aloof and indifferent youngest daughter that neither of her sister really know much about.

Their father was this well-known and generally suspenseful architect whose building and structures which allowed the well-off the ability to close themselves off and escape the rest of the world (I took this as an concussion decision to escape the rising water levels and global warming crisis existing around them).

But as readers learn more and more about each sister and the tattered relationship they each had with their father, we begin to realize just how similar they are to one another. And I began to wonder, how strong their relationship might have been if they recognized just how similar they were to each other. Isla, Irene and Agnes had strained and an emotionally abusive and manipulated relationship with their late father in various different ways. And all three girls grew-up in absences of a mother all while living in this grand 'glass' house.

Personally, reading each of their accounts of living in the home would make me think of large prison or box they were all desperate to get away from. So their father's death affect each of them differently. None more so than Isla, the oldest whom seemed aware of her flaws and issues but did not lean into them as much as Irene and Agnes.

And through Isla's bitterness of trying to appease their father and have her life "put together" and in order, causes her outer defenses to crack the fastest I felt because, as the oldest child, she repressed her emotions the most. Whereas, Irene and Agnes who are just as messed up, but only slightly less so because they embrace their flaws more rather than hide from it.

I find this is mostly evident in each sister's romantic relationship in the book. They and their respective partners have this emotional tug of war as the Carmickle (?) sisters consistently keep their partners at arms length. I could go on and on about Armfield structures her characters down to the prickle of a finger. For example, I could easily relate to the uncomfortable feeling that Agnes feels about looking like her mother. As if it is in some subtle way a connection to one's own personality. Like you are preconceived to act just like them and be just like them. When in reality you don't want any such connection to that parent or relative whatsoever.

No detail or nuance left unexplored.

When I got to the last chapter, I found that each of the sisters had their own breakthrough within themselves and their relationship as sisters but at bittersweet cost. Because the pull of the narrative was leading them and the readers in this magnetic direction of iconoclasm revelation of the past and a series of events that led Isla, Irene and Agnes to a share moment in their lives a the peak of one of the worst storms and floods yet.

Overall, Private Rites at the forefront harbors themes of abandonment, loneliness, depression, isolation, a desperation for closeness, connection and love. This is a spoiler free review, but I find it important to mention the undercurrents of religion/cult presence in the narrative as the story progresses, for readers to be aware of.

The largest failure with this book is the cult. Other than the bookends, it was so scarcely referenced that it almost felt like it was added in at the very end of the writing process simply because we needed an excuse to end things.

I had a hard time following what happened in the present versus what was flashbacks to childhood. I also wanted to see more of the actual apocalypse beyond an incident on the ferry (which could just as easily happened on a commuter train) and the ending. Like, why was it so important that this take place during the slow inexorable flooding of the world?

Unlike in Our Wives Under the Sea, where the poetic meanderings into body horror kept me fascinated and repulsed, Private Rites relies heavily on each sister’s internal monologues (and intrusive thoughts) to both carry the story and remind the reader that yes actually this is technically literary horror and not just a family drama set against the backdrop of the apocalypse. There were some funny one-liners as Isla or Irene or occasionally Agnes thought something absolutely bananas, but they were also one or two very poignant lines (again, I think Our Wives did this much better).

The writing itself is beautiful and enjoyable. Love that it’s inextricably queer. Just don’t think there was enough plot or structure to hold me

Reading the synopsis had me excited to read this, expecting post-apoc or dystopian vibes and a mystery. However, in reading it, I found I had to really force myself. It was rather dull, literally putting me to sleep and having to be restarted several times … only for me to still have to force myself to see this book through.

The dystopian vibes just aren’t there for most of it. Once in a while something will be said that made me go ‘oh yea, this isn’t contemporary’ but mostly, the world-building was lacking or it just felt like the ‘real world’.

I found no mystery in this, other than the mystery of ‘why is this so dull’. Though I solved that one, I think. Likely it’s due to ‘telling’ writing style instead of showing.

Not bad per se, but not for me.

2-3 stars for the content.

Audio:
Okay. Overall clear sound quality. The narrator had a smooth, pleasant voice, however sounded a bit robotic. 3 stars for the audio production.