Lilith

I feel like I was punched in the gut with humanity. What a powerful and feminist read! Humanity is slowly slipping and this book brought so many new thoughts to life.

After her son is irreparably harmed in a school shooting, one mother decides she’s not going to standby and let men in power continue to do nothing. Elisabeth becomes a vigilante, known by the name Lilith, after Adam‘s first wife in the Bible, the woman who refused to let her husband control her. Elisabeth becomes a vigilante of sorts, admired by many and despised by others after she broadcasts her own act of retaliatory violence online, and she becomes a target of the FBI. Trying to keep her identity a secret, even as she starts to see frightening changes in her own son’s behavior, Elisabeth find yourself caught in the world where violence seems to be the only answer. A powerful statement about how society views women and firearms in this country. Not to be missed.

Lilith is a compulsively readable novel about a mother who has been pushed to the edge because of a mass shooting at the school she teaches in. The narrator, Elisabeth, is a thirty something single mother of Lydan, a seven year old boy. Early on in the novel, a shooter targets their elementary school, leaving many children dead, injured, and/or traumatized. Lydan is grievously injured, but survives due to his mother's bravery.

Understandably, Elisabeth, becomes enraged by what happened at her school and continues to happen every week in the United States. She keeps seeing a gun enthusiast, Clay Akers, on the news, proudly proclaiming that the answer to gun violence is more guns. The writing style was a bit clunky and old fashioned for my tastes, but I was so enthralled in what might happen. Elisabeth is determined to quiet the voices of narcissistic, violent, foolish men like Akers.

This book is very thought-provoking and Elisabeth ponders what we're doing and why things have become so bad in the US. We express our opinions online, but to what end? Does anything actually change? How can we protect our children when mass shootings are so prevalent? Are school administrators helping or hurting when it comes to violence? Children are traumatized by drills and safety protocols may put children in the crossfire. Overall, a fascinating read about violence and how hard we can be pushed by it.

Thank you Blacstone Publishing and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Elizabeth Ross, single mother and school teacher, has had enough.
Her son Lydan has been seriously wounded in a school shooting and she herself was shot.
Men are on television advocating for more guns. Gun sales are increasing.
Elizabeth, under the guise of Lilith, takes matters into her own hands.

I read Lilith with white knuckles, with an elevated heart rate. It's been quite a while since I was so consumed by words on a page. This was an engrossing read and I took small breaks while reading this because I felt the anxiety, fear, and stress Elizabeth was under.

I am sure to recommend frequently Lilith frequently.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Lilith
by Eric Rickstad
March 19, 2024
Blackstone
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
From the internationally bestselling author of I Am Not Who You Think I Am—a New York Times Thriller of the Year—comes Lilith, an incendiary powerhouse of a novel that strikes straight at the wounded heart of America.

Mother. Hero. Villain. Killer.
Powerful and a book you will remember.
4 stars

I really don't know where to start.
A fast paced, riveting, emotional and rage inducing read.
I loved Rickstad's previous release, I Am Not Who You Think I am - wowza that book; I thought I was prepared for Lilith - I was not.
Such strength, brutal honesty and again points out the uselessness of thoughts and prayers. They do not serve a purpose - vote; protest; hold them accountable; vote!
A well timed, provoking novel.

Thank you Blackstone Pub #partner for the #gifted copy!

This book is one of my toughest reviews to write about, I feel like my words can do no justice no matter how hard I try. Eric Rickstad is hugely popular for his novel 𝙄 𝘼𝙢 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄 𝘼𝙢 but Lilith is my first book of his, and even though I was fully aware of the subject matter - gun violence in a school setting - I was not prepared to experience this story due in part to his prolific writing. I am not a mother, nor am I a school teacher, yet Lilith traumatized me, because gun death is all too real and unresolved in our country, as of today. If you have kids or you work in a school, please be aware Lilith is an extremely heartbreaking read, with child deaths via guns.

The author took about ten years to write this book and it shows. There is a vivid scene of an active school shooting, and a teacher who is also a mother who breaks canned school protocols to save her boy and other kids. There are also detailed descriptions and history of guns that are jaw-dropping. In addition, the same mother seeks revenge which causes ripple effects to the victim’s family as well as nationwide, and you will ask yourself where does it all end.

Needless to say, this story will make you extremely uncomfortable if you feel the USA isn’t doing enough to control guns. Books like these need to be written, read and discussed, and gun control, in general, needs to be re-addressed because our politicians keep sweeping the matter under the rug.

Lastly I want to say I really appreciate how the author gave zero spotlight to the shooter. So often, our media glorifies the perpetrators even if notoriously, and the victims become footnotes. That’s not the case here.

In summary, extremely tough read but a necessity to remind ourselves what’s at stake for our future generations.

Lilith is a hauntingly tragic and stirring story that will punch you in the gut, leaving you teary eyed and breathless. Eric Rickstad has expertly crafted a profound tale that holds up a mirror to today’s society and asks us to explore our humanity.

Elisabeth Ross is a teacher who heroically saves her class from a school shooter, then returns to rescue her wounded son. Their lives will never be the same and she dedicates herself to caring for her physically and mentally traumatized son. But there are powerful men who use this tragedy as a means to further their second amendment cause, enraging Elisabeth and making her wonder how this epidemic of violence will ever end. She decides to act and posts a video of her crime under the biblical name Lilith. As people both praise and demonize Lilith online, and with the FBI closing in on her, Elisabeth questions the justification of her actions and wonders if she’s a hero or a part of the problem. Regardless of the answer, she knows she will do anything to protect her son and stay out of prison to continue caring for him.

This book might be a work of fiction, but damn if it doesn’t feel real. It probes the fear, helplessness and rage that follows every school shooting we hear about in the news. And it puts the reader in Elizabeth’s shoes, giving us a taste of the pain and anguish survivors feel in the aftermath. It then makes us all question what we would do if this was our own child. If the system and protocols fail us. If others use our suffering to further their own interests. Would it justify perpetrating violence on those who use it for their gain? Or does that make us no better than them? Tough questions that require a lot of introspection and Lilith forces the poignant discussion.

This novel is emotional to say the least. It wrecked me. Left me a mess with tears streaming down my face. But I’m grateful to Eric Rickstad for having the courage to write such a challenging, significant and powerful story. It’s an important book to read. One that goes well beyond literary excellence and entertainment, pushing readers to search the depth of our souls to determine who we want to be as a society.

Not for the timid or feeble minded, Lilith requires strength and bravery to read. But if you can summon the guts to pick it up, you will be rewarded with one of the finest books you’ll read this year.

Oh my! This book is so touching and relevant to today; I'm still weeping as I finish it. Elisabeth is a kindergarten teacher when a shooter enters and all of the teachers react as they've been trained to do--except Elizabeth who races to save her son and doesn't follow protocol--thereby saving many other children as well. And then self-proclaimed activist Max Akers announces he's running for president after advocating arming everyone to protect themselves and their families. And as son, Lydan painfully recovers from his injuries, Elisabeth makes some radical decisions that will impact their lives forever. After having taught high school for 40 years, I was so touched by this novel that even though it brought up painful memories of yearly school evacuations to practice "in case" of a shooter, I remember clearly the petrified looks on their faces as we ran to the football field, as well as the relief we all felt as we were able to return unharmed. It's a heart-wrenching book that NEEDS to be read!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Holy cow what a Ride!!!!

Liliths son doesn't want to go tonschool says he feels icky but his mom insists he goes to school!!! Ends up and there is a school shooting!!! Lydans mom doesn't stand by she decodes this has to stop!!!! I couldn't put this book down just amazing!!!!

This book is gut wrenching and will stay with you!!! Mom. Hero. Villan. KILLER!

This is such a powerful book!!!!

Thanks NetGalley for such a powerful read!!!! I couldn't put it down!

Once I started reading this, I couldn't stop. I read it in one 3 hour sitting.

Tragic, compelling, and vindicating. It will make you hug your children and contemplate keeping them home from school. But it also feels familiar. This book flays open the reality of modern American on many levels while also showing the fierce love and understandable moral compromise that comes with having children. Once the horror begins, it cascades across the country - violence begets violence begets violence.

For a book written by a man, he does capture the fury of being a woman in a world that kills our children. There's a line about the men obsessed with the 2nd Amendment they they are hiding their "right to guns" behind their real belief which is their "right to violence" and nothing has resonated with me that much in a long time. I stopped and stared off into the middle distance for a solid five minutes. For so long that my husband noticed and checked on me. So cheers to his fantastic writing for connecting so well with a feeling I didn't know how to articulate.

I also loved the strange magic woven through the story. Is it exhaustion? Trauma? Or Lilith herself leading the women along? We don't know, and I don't mind.

This is graphic in a very factual way, so be in a headspace where you can read this safely.

Elizabeth’s son, Lydon, doesn’t want to go to school today, he says he has an ‘icky’ feeling and asks his mum if he can please stay at home? She’s sympathetic and would like nothing more than to stay at home with her beloved boy, but he’s not ill and as a teacher at his school it’s not a request she can sanction. It proves to be a seminal moment. What transpires that day will change everything - on this day a man with a gun will enter the school.

Elizabeth will survive the events that transpire but it will change her. Later, she watches the strutting owner of a gun shop announce his intention to run for president, as he also declares that more guns, not less, is the answer to the ongoing succession of mass killings. She knows that someone needs to do something about this idea, about this man. Could that somebody be her? Adopting the name Lilith – the moniker attributed to the woman theorised to be the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-devil – she decides she will concoct and execute a plan of her own.

I recently read Bloodbath Nation, Paul Auster’s reflection on America’s relationship with guns. In this memoir/essay, the esteemed writer says that the country has done nothing to address the problems that arise from this irrational love affair, one that is unique to the United States amongst developed nations. It’s a powerful and totally scary piece, as he talks readers through his own experience with guns and lists details of many mass murders across the country. In his conclusion, he concedes that the current impasse between the anti-gun and pro-gun proclaimers will not be resolved any time soon. This novel picks up a different angle to this phenomenon: that just about every mass killing is born from the actions of a man. So perhaps it’s about time women did something about it.

This is a thrilling told story, it's short but totally absorbing. I raced through it in a few sessions, never quite knowing how events would play out or what fate awaited our anti-hero. The suspense is maintained throughout, right up to a gripping finish. I liked the way it was set-out too, in an unusual way with sometimes only a few words on a page. It definitely worked for me. I’d enjoyed the author’s previous novel, I Am Not Who You Think I Am, and this story definitely picks Rickstad out as a writer I’ll be looking out for in the future.

“I’m dead and I don’t know you”

I truely don’t know where to start with this book.
This is absolutely phenomenal writing.
“Lilith” took me on such an emotional journey, particularly as a mother, and just what the human psyche is capable of.

After a tragedy at her son’s school, Elizabeth is met with internal conflict, feminine rage, intrusive thoughts and a passionate hatred for the patriarchy, alongside her obvious PTSD.
Who are men to dictate what is wrong and right in the world, the difference between murder and killing, lesser sentences for young men with “strong potential” and the profound obsession over firearms.
Why does the status quo remain acceptable.

It wont, Elizabeth won’t allow it.

Filled with heartbreaking dialogue between mother and son and Elizabeth’s own internal monologue, this book will have your heart in pieces.

This will be a book I will forever recommend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

This exploration of a mother’s response to her son being injured in a school shooting made me feel a lot of things. I don’t think there’s a parent out there who hasn’t thought about how they would respond if their child was injured or killed in a senseless act of violence like a mass shooting. The one reaction that no one talks about publicly is meeting violence with violence and exacting revenge on the people who make these mass killings possible. I’ve seen several reviews call this book a “punch to the gut” and it certainly is that.

It is also a brilliant story of an anti-hero who does the things others only dream about in their darkest dreams. In the hands of a less-capable author, this would be a melodramatic mess but Rickstad turns this into an Everywoman story that tensely explores the journey of a mother who is hurt, terrified, and very, very angry.

I am left conflicted and would welcome discussion with others. That’s saying A LOT because I am a solitary reader. I’ll be recommending this for book clubs for sure.

Lilith is hands down one of my favorite novels of 2024. A masterly crafted work of fiction that brilliantly captures the tragic, shocking, devastating & disgusting realities of brutality & corruption, all realities of our broken world today, so viscerally that it could be categorized as non-fiction.

It is a powerful, impactful & intense reading experience that will stick with you long after you finish reading it. It left me heartbroken, agitated, anxious, fearful, apprehensive, as well as panic & horror stricken. I don’t think I have ever felt so many different emotions from one novel.

Favorite Quote: “Has it always existed, this vulgar compulsion for destruction, germinating, populating and repopulating, until now it is an insidious, noxious weed, its roots too deep and fixed and stubborn to rip out from the hardened earth of so called humanity, its thorn stems too tough for the axe, its fruit poisoned?”

My sincere gratitude to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing & Eric Rickstad for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.