American Rapture

I binge read this in one sitting and then just sat there, horrified. This isn't a *bad* thing, but I found myself being punched in the heart several times.

Firstly, I just want to give a big shoutout to @netgalley and @ceejthemoment for allowing me to give an early review on this book, it’s my first attempt at getting to be a real reviewer, so let’s get into it, shall we?
I have SO many thoughts about this story but I can’t give too much away,
even though I really want to, 🫠but I just wanna start this off by saying that if you’re a fan of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’, I think this book is definitely for you. However, be warned, this book is slightly more disturbing with way less pages to get through, okay maybe more than just “slightly”..🫣
But I think that’s one of the things I loved about this book! Being just under 400 pages yet it said so much.
I laughed, I cried, and at times I was speechless at what I was reading because it hit so hard.
I knew I loved C.J Leeds’s writing when I read ‘The Maeve Fly’ earlier this year, but after reading this one she has possibly become one of my favorite authors, and I know she for sure wrote one of my favorite books of 2024.

If you’re into catholic school girls losing and then finding their way again. Or the tale as old as time about a near and future apocalypse,then you’re going to enjoy this book.
It hits all the horror junkie marks!
It was gross, it was sad, and it was possibly one of the most through provoking books I’ve ever read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- and I wish I could give it more but then it would just seem like I’m sucking up😂
but seriously, you guys need to read this book!
Coming to this spooky season: October 15, 2024
Thank you again for letting me get an ARC of this book. Hopefully this is the first of many, as long as I didn’t bore anyone too badly with this review 😅

First off, thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC!

This book was an absolute gut punch. I loved CJ Leede’s debut, Maeve Fly, and had high hopes for this follow up. I think this second novel is on a whole different level.

Maeve fly kept us on the edge of our seat, with how unhinged our main character was. The thread throughout “American Rapture,” at least for me, was just how much my heart broke for Sophie, the whole time.

Having grown up in a similar religious landscape as Sophie, I related so much to the feelings of guilt, shame and fear that the church left her constantly battling against, amongst everything else going on around her. CJ nailed those complex emotions and the constant back and forth of wanting something more out of life and feeling deeply wrong for feeling that way.

When you set all those feelings against the backdrop of a virus that spreads across the country, indiscriminately causing the infected to violently act on their sexual urges, you get so many layers of both chaos, confusion and contemplation for our main character.

There’s so much heart and emotion in this story, and I definitely teared up on more than on occasion, but we still got that edge of your seat momentum that kept me glued to the page. I can’t recommend this enough. A very easy five stars.

Holy shit. This was intense.

End of the world and a virus that makes people violently sexually attack others? Sounds like it could be cheesy, right? Well..this definitely was not.

Like many other readers, I’m tired on the Covid adjacent stories. We lived through it and I really don’t want to keep being reminded of it. But while this is a virus book with all the classics of quarantine zones and quickly spreading infection, it was so well written that I didn’t roll my eyes at it.

The main character was so infuriating at times but Leede made us fall in love with her from the beginning. The whole book is full of likable characters, though. Which makes it that much more gut wrenching to read.

No one is safe in this book. NO ONE. Check trigger warnings if you have a hard time with death or murder of certain groups.

I have struggled to read anything pertaining to a virus outbreak since COVID, I never really consider it a trigger but it definitely makes me feel some type of way so I usually avoid the theme. This book made my pandemic experience feel like a trip to the beach. Holy. Fucking. Shit. This was gnarly. Gruesome and horrifying. Parts felt like a fever dream. 👀 I couldn’t put it down.

I’m a big fan of religious themes in horror and seeing a crisis that’s so familiar through the eyes of someone repressed by religion was incredible. Sophie coming to terms with how different the world is and can be from what she’s always known, dealing with the guilt and shame her religion instilled in her, and growing through such tragic times gave me so much hope for her. Hardly the best time to have a sexual awakening though 😅 Barghest was the epitome of good boy, I would level cities for him. 😫

CJ Leede knocked this out of the park, I am so excited to see what else she has in store for us. This book has left me completely GUTTED. I very nearly frisbee’d my kindle. I hated it and I loved it. I loved it so much.

CJ Leede can’t possibly write anything bad having hit another grand slam with her newest masterpiece, “American Rapture.”

This novel will have you cursing, laughing, vomiting, discovering Jesus, crying and wanting to run out and get the flu vaccination.

Leed has a gift with creating the most badass and intriguing female leads that are the heart and soul of the story and who leaves you wanting more.

Fingers crossed for a Sophie & Maeve crossover!!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read this amazingly brutal ARC.

American Rapture, on the surface, is a horror novel about a lustful virus that spreads across the US. (If you're someone who can't handle sexual assault or rape depictions, I suggest skipping this one.) But this book is also about grappling with desires in a world where lust is deadly, finding yourself and your truth after being raised Catholic and sheltered, and coming to grips with the beauty and wretchedness of being human, all amid a national pandemic.

While apocalyptic stories aren't my usual go-to read (or watch), I found this book compelling and traumatizing... but in the most beautiful, heart-wrenching way. Leede's descriptions are visceral, poignant, and altogether immersive—exactly what you want from a horror narrative.

I recommend American Rapture to anyone looking for a coming-of-age horror with smatterings of religious trauma, unique pandemics, and a diverse cast of characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this Arc in exchange for my honest review.
This book crushed my heart but in the best way. We have Sophie, who is a sixteen year old Catholic girl who is searching for her twin brother after a virus starts to spread, which makes everyone deranged with lust.
In this book, we see how Sophie struggles with her religion and who she is as a person. I personally haven't gone through religious trauma myself, but I grew up surrounded by extremely religious people in the South. The way C.J. Lede handles it is beautifully done, and I can just feel the internal struggle throughout the whole book.
I absolutely love all the characters in this. Barghest is the best dog ever, and Cleo is just the sweetest, most kick ass character.
While I would definitely still be wary going into this book for triggers, I would say the way the themes were handled was amazing. Nothing too overdone and just enough to send the right messages. The deranged lust part could have really been written to be too much, but I think it was written with just the right balance.
This book really breaks your heart but also somehow leaves you feeling hopeful. This book is one of my favorites I've read so far this year. It's definitely one that will stick with me.

This is a pulse pounding, unrelenting, gut wrenching horror novel. It has elements of grief horror, loss, guilt, and religious oppression while also being a full on blood drenched apocalyptic story.

Sophie is sixteen when a virus turns the world on it's head and very quickly runs out of control. Her entire life has been extreme religious indoctrination. She knows very little of the world as she has been raised to follow God's teachings and only those teachings. Her twin brother was disowned by her parents after discovering that he was gay and she's always looking for him.

Once the shit hits the fan, Sophie must leave her home to find her brother, hoping he's still alive. This virus is always fatal and those infected spread it as much as possible in some horrific ways before succumbing to it.

The author does a fantastic job with combining this almost coming of age story with the terrifying gory action of this new world she finds herself in. There's plenty of brutality, plenty of blood. But there's also plenty of heart and thoughtfulness.

We're going to meet some amazing characters along the way and they'll be with us through most of the book. Of course, not all of them will make it through. This is especially emotional with a few of them as the reader has gotten to know them. On more than one occasion I found myself saying, "NO....". when certain characters left us. That's the power of the author's writing. She made these characters feel so real that I thought of them as real beings.

This is a superb horror novel and one that will be on the best of 2024 lists at the end of the year. I highly, highly recommend it.

R.I.P. Barghest

To say that I am a fan of CJ Leede would be an understatement. Not only is she one of the most unique authors currently writing but she also rally’s for Weird Girl Representation which is such a gift to find in an up and coming author. The confidence with which American Rapture is written is something that only an author sure in their vision could pull off.

As for the plot of American Rapture it certainly is A LOT but in all the ways I have come to expect from Leede to deliver, The grotesque description of body horror as well as the description of moments of innocence from our MC are very well balanced serving to make all of the gore and horror that much more jarring to come across.

The only thing preventing me from rating this 5 stars is that the heaviness of this book would have benefitted from a bit of humor, something like what we read in Maeve Fly. There’s certain parts of this book that evoke such a visceral response out of me that it’s been hard not to shiver every time I think about it. That being said this is truly just a personal preference and not something that makes this book not worth reading.

Overall I am THRILLED to see the reactions once this book hits shelves in the fall. Best believe I will be grabbing myself a hard copy.

i am sort of conflicted about this book. It was well written and I grew to really care about the characters. The premise is wild in a good way. A pandemic comes and those infected get so horny that they become violent, murderous killers.
Sophie is a 16 year old raised in an extremely religious household. A catholic household. Her parents are basically cult members and she is very restricted in what she's allowed to do and consume. Very sheltered. Unhappy and knows nothing about nothing. When the pandemic comes to her families door she makes the first step. She takes her mom's car and drives. In a bid to find her twin brother who has gone missing.
I think this was well written and I am proud of Sophie for opening her mind. To me personally this book paints Christians in an overly crazy way. I say this as a horror loving Christian . Although I understand that the Author was drawing parallels with the extreme right in the U.S. And Sophie's experience growing up wasn't an uncommon one.
Other then that this book was engaging and well written. The ending was bittersweet. So much loss. So much unknown in Sophies future but also she has hope and is ready to take on her life. This book definitely isn''t for the weak of heart. It is a ride! I enjoyed it although I had some reservations. But that's just me. Not every book is for everyone. The chapter titles are clever. The structure is good and I came to care about the characters.
Thank you NetGalley for this E Copy of the ARC. All opinions are my own.

As someone who was a big fan of Maeve Fly, I jumped at the chance to read Leede’s newest offering. And while Maeve Fly was a blast to read, American Rapture is a major departure and, dare I say, CJ Leeds’ masterpiece.

I’m a massive horror fan, and what I love about horror like American Rapture is the amount of heart and soul, as well as a stark reflection on the human condition it provides. Beneath the apocalyptic horror surface is a coming of age story about a young girl seeing the world for what it is after living a sheltered, Catholic existence, both the beautiful and horrifying parts all at once.

I got the sense that this story was very personal to the author, especially after reading the author’s note at the end. Leede’s passion for this story and what it intends to tell us is evident and so powerful. Some
people look down on extreme horror and think it’s all about senseless violence, but this book is proof that horror media is so gorgeous and so absolutely necessary in exploring what it means to be human. I’d even argue that it’s the rawest and realest way to examine our own truths, as well as our personal morals and values. This book accomplished that and so much more.

THE END OF THE WORLD IS HERE AND IT'S HORNY !!!!!
Bible following/God fearing good Christians stay away from my review as it is unapologetic as this book is. CJ Leede's "American Rapture" ignites the page with a fiery apocalypse. As a horny virus ravages America, transforming the infected into feral beings consumed by desire, our God fearing good - christian Sophie embarks on a harrowing journey through the midwest to find her family amidst chaos.

Leede's previous work, "Maeve Fly," didn't quite hit the mark for me, but "American Rapture" devours expectations with gusto, leaving no crumb behind. This novel is a tantalizing cocktail of horror and religious fervor, where the end of the world collides with unbridled lust in a manner that's both audacious and provocative.

For aficionados of horror, this book is an unapologetic descent into madness. It's as if "It Follows" collided head-on with the Mayan apocalypse fever of 2012, with a generous sprinkling of religious terror for good measure. The book feels as a VIRGIN giving IMMACULATE birth to the Anti-Christ at-least that's how I felt.

In conclusion, "American Rapture" is a wild, feverish ride that earns a solid five stars for its audacious storytelling and unapologetic exploration of taboo themes. Brace yourself for a journey that's as thrilling as it is controversial, as Leede fearlessly takes readers to the brink of madness and back again. This book was a wild ride I would enjoy any day.

This book gutted me.

It was such a beautifully, tragic story. It was so easy to root for and get attached to the main characters. I especially enjoyed the growth of Sophie among so much destruction - she deserves all the good things. I also enjoyed that the book had background before the chaos started that you were able to get a good understanding of Sophie and her upbringing going into everything. I'm still sitting with the ending so I'll probably update my feelings on that once I figure them out.

This book is filled with so much loss and so much hope and I will definitely be buying a copy and doing a reread once it's published.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How to write the best post-apocalypse novel of 2024:

1.) Come up with the most twisted pandemic imaginable: one that turns you into a feral, lust-filled maniac.

2.) Tell your story from the POV of a girl so enveloped by Catholic repression that she feels like an alien the moment she's forced to leave the nest. Sophie is a modern-day Carrie if ever I've read one.

3.) Set your story in the most liminal space in America, the midwest where highways stretch on for eternity (almost as an illusion) and billboards either remind you to stop at Cracker Barrel or warn you of the next rapture. This is a sexy, modern take on the American gothic.

4.) Give your lead the best damn doggo imaginable. A consummate protectorate that compels Sophie to tap into her most atavistic instincts as she grows into a survivor and a young woman.

5.) Devastate me over and over again. Because this new America is a hellscape indeed.

F*cking brilliant, CJ.

this book has such heart. it's so different from Maeve Fly and i mean that as a compliment. i adore them both, but in wildly different fonts. it almost feels like two different authors wrote these books, but at the heart of both is an author deeply dedicated to her craft, who approaches the page with such tenderness and heart.

cj leede takes you through the full range of human emotion in this novel. the characters will climb inside your heart and call it home (then rip it out by the roots). the premise is gripping; the storyline propulsive; the atmosphere utterly engrossing. i felt like i was THERE with sophie for so much of the book. and sophie! my god, what a lovable protagonist. it takes a lot for me to enjoy post-fundamentalist coming-of-age books (when you've lived it, it all just kind of makes you want to walk away, ya know?), but sophie's story felt familiar yet somehow fresh.

i'm so thankful for the work leede put into this book; it's evident that she really, really cares about the story. i worked 4 out of the 5 days i was reading this book and kept sneaking pages as often as i could. i don't regret a second i spent with it. i want it to be october so i can hold it in my hands.

What to expect: Found Family, Coming Of Age, Final Girl/Survivor Girl, Apocalyptic/Pandemic Horror, Open ending

American Rapture follows the story of Sophie, a 16yo who was raised extremely sheltered in a religious household. A virus sweeps the US and she is thrust, alone, into a world full of death and violence. If she somehow survives the plague, she still has to ellude the red-cloaked terrorists who have taken the plague as a sign from God to cleanse the Earth of "sinners".

Sophie finds love and comradery with a new type of family while on the road to try find her twin brother. She starts unpacking her trauma and embracing the secular world outside the bubble she was raised in.

The story is extremely fast paced. In the beginning there is a looming dread, then the virus shows up in her town and the moments of peace become few and far between. I binged this read and have been ruminating on it for days. Leede forces readers to look at the pain of grief, religious violence and internalized shame.

*I read an advanced review copy from Tor Nightfire via NetGalley. I am leaving an honest review voluntarily.

Sophie, sixteen and from a very religious family is searching for twin brother Noah as the world around her is falling apart. A virus is spreading across the Y.S. Which makes people insane with lust. The end is nigh. Can Sophie and her group find safety?

In the wrong hands this book could have been an unreadable mess, and probably nothing but a great big trigger warning, and I would hope that most people are not interested in reading a book chock full o’ rape. However Leede deftly pulls this off, and actually turns it into something good.

In fact, this could even work as YA for the mature. There’s a good group of young characters (including the bestest boy). Religion is portrayed as a generally terrible thing and the billboard “the most powerful position is on your knees” is given two very different meanings.

There were some nice swipes at those who attempt to ban books from libraries and places that try to outlaw drag. In fact, nearly every book I’ve read recently has contained a great dig at Trump and/or Republican policies, regardless of the subject of the book. It’s nice to see that nearly all authors unite in their belief that these right wingers are nuts and it’s important that they be stopped.

I loved the Author’s Note, too. My husband and I have experienced that loss ourselves recently. It’s so hard, and there’s nothing quite like it. Book is recommended.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book fucked me up. In a good way. In the best way. I’m haunted. It’s heartbreaking, disturbing, tragic, devastating, and somehow hopeful. Sophie mirrored so much of myself and my thoughts from so long ago. I eat any book with religious trauma up. After reading Maeve Fly last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this author. A book that ripped my heart out and put it back in I did not expect.

First we say we love Barghest. I saw so many reviews say this and I mirror it. What a good boy. Literally everyone was so amazing. I loved Cleo the most. Fitting the big sister role who could tell you amazing life advice and then show you how to kill someone. Ben was solid and I’m so glad they found each other. Maro as well. He’s a real one.

Having the main character be 16 was a good move. We see everything through the eyes of a child. She’s frightened and questioning everything she’s ever known. Sinning, Hell, Heaven, God. Who’s good and who’s bad. What makes us rotten? At the root of this, Sophie is searching a hellscape for her twin brother. Her other half. The one her parents tossed aside. She is risking everything to find him. I was sobbing through this. I will say I loved this book and it is a favorite and nobody can tell me otherwise. Another great entry for C.J. Leede.

Absolutely incredible. American Rapture is a metaphor for human survival and a lesson on living your life on your terms while you have it. If the world was ending, would you like how you spent your life so far? Would you like how you're spending it now? And the themes of faith and control were *chef's kiss*. Leede makes you feel at home, rips your heart out, and puts it back together all at once with an ending full of hope. Hands down one of the best books I've read this year, and I can't wait to have it in my hands in October.

Imagine your coming of age story takes place amidst a zombie apocalypse. Everything you’ve been taught is true about the world is dramatically unravelled in a week, amongst a hellscape of death and destruction. But because of your “sinful” thoughts, you can’t help but wonder if God’s wrath upon the world is all your fault.

American Rapture spoke to me on the deepest of levels as someone who managed to break free from the idea that we are inherently sinful and must be meek, subservient and repentant to escape eternal damnation. Even more specifically, it speaks to me as a woman who wholeheartedly rejects and rebells against the notion that the world’s stability should fall on my unfaltering, pious shoulders because of my wickedness and inherent pull toward evil since “the beginning.”

Everything about this book feels calculated and intentional in the best way. Each character represents a part of our FMC Sophie’s literal and figurative journeys to unlearn her reality and reclaim herself. Sophie’s parents, brother, Maro, Barghest, Cleo, Ben and his mom, all exist to help her discover and eliminate pieces of her own identify in order to move forward and start fresh in this new world. The simple act of a librarian sneaking Sophie books completely changed the trajectory of her story, allowing her to entertain ideas outside of her immediate comprehension. Even the most heart wrenching, terrible things this book has us (and Sophie) experience feel important, painful, and necessary.

In the current setting, the worst thing that can happen is quite literally, to be overtaken by lust, as a victim or a perpetrator. Watching Sophie learn to decipher between normal feelings and a ravaging disease when she’s been taught to condemn herself for existing in her own body is fascinating. Watching her grapple with the complexity of good and evil as it exists outside of her “beige” living room, church and school is relatable and helped me remember the jarring nature of discovering all of life’s shades of gray for the first time.

American Rapture tackles some amazingly complex themes through the eyes of a teenage girl with such accuracy and poignancy that I could not put it down. It is a great work of science fiction and horror, but I think, more importantly, a fantastic coming of age story for any little girl taught that she was Eve, and should spend her life atoning for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

CJ Leede has set up a truly horrifying apocalyptic scenario; a rampant epidemic of a virus that creates insane strength, hunger and lust. Violent raping zombies.

Sixteen year old Sophie was raised in a deeply religious home and community. This strict Catholicism suppresses her emerging curiosity and intelligence. When the virus hits, she is forced to go out alone to find her twin brother who was excommunicated, disowned and sent away.

Gory, terrifying, emotional. This is a coming-of-age horror novel that has big goals, examining religious cults, modern conservatism, the divisive and angry American political climate, censorship, self-acceptance, parental abuse, sex, God, Hell, found family, sin and forgiveness.

Leede builds a great cast of characters, flaws and all, and Sophie is a real teenager, anxious, dramatic, intelligent and yet annoying, stubborn, ignorant and full of unexpressed passion. And I loved her commitment to her new collected family and dog. I found myself wanting more of this ‘quest for safety, family building’ part of the story and less of the running from TWO villians, the zombies and the new religious nuts purging the earth of sinners.

There were scenes that were scary, scary SCARY! Some of the most terrifying scenes I have ever read. Which I loved as an avid horror reader.

In all, a well-written, modern and intelligent post-apocalyptic love story that scared the living poop out of me.

Oh, wow. American Rapture is gripping, I finished it over the course of two days in which every moment I spent not reading it, I was thinking about it. I can’t remember the last time a book called to me so urgently.

Wow what a great read! The character work is some of the best I’ve seen in horror. I haven’t read Maeve Fly but it was on my radar but after reading this it is next on my list.

We follow Sophie who is growing up under extreme religious indoctrination where she is taught that basically every thing you do is a sin and the devil will get to you because of it. Her brother Noah gets taken away because his parents find out that he may be gay.
People start coming down with a sickness that is rapidly spreading across the states. Causing strange reactions and from there horror ensues.

From the first pages of this book I wanted to take Sophie and Noah away from their parents so I could love them the way they should have been. They felt so real and my heart just breaks for them. Thank you NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #AmericanRapture

Opening the pages of American Rapture we found ourselves wondering how CJ Leede would even come close to writing a story that is a good as Maeve Fly? Well, she did. American Rapture is a grim, gore-filled, heart-wrenching post-apocalyptic journey that will sit with us long after closing the book.


In American Rapture we are taken on a thrilling and blood-soaked journey through a post-apocalyptic America following a unique pandemic. The story follows Sophie, a young Catholic girl, as she navigates a world plagued by a virus that transforms the infected into feral beings consumed by lust. Leede gives us a perfect blend of a coming-of-age story with gruesome action and outright horror. A truly pulse-pounding horror novel.

CJ Leede's writing is nothing short of exceptional, which comes as no surprise to fans of Maeve Fly. She takes themes like survival, family, and sacrifice and weaves them together for intense and graphic scenes that left us horrified, captivated and surprised. Fans of Leede's writing will know she does an extremely amazing job at character development and this is no different in American Rapture. She takes Sophie from an innocent girl to a survivor willing to do whatever it takes to protect her loved ones.

Leede does not shy away from depicting the brutal realities of this new world, including a death towards the end that will hit some a bit hard, making for an immersive and unforgettable reading experience.

While the book is blood-soaked and gruesome, American Rapture has a nice balance of gore and heart. Some scenes are over-the-top intense, while others show more heartfelt moments for a perfect balance. There are plenty of bloody moments that will make even seasoned horror fans cringe, there are also moments of tenderness and vulnerability that add depth to the story. Leede manages to evoke a range of emotions from readers, from fear and disgust to empathy and hope.

Leede takes a typical post-apocalyptic story and turns it on its head. A devote Catholic virgin girl has to fight off humans turned into lustful creatures that are mysterious to the secular world let alone a sheltered 16-going-on-17 year old girl. American Rapture is not for the faint-hearted, but for those willing to brave its dark and twisted world, it rewards with an unforgettable journey filled with terror, heartbreak, and ultimately resilience in the face of unimaginable horrors.

CJ Leede's American Rapture is a front runner for our top-novels of 2024. Keep an eye out for year-end awards, this novel should be taking home a ton of them.

What a blast. So this is about Sophie, a teenager raised in an incredibly conservative family, told from her perspective, as a pandemic spreads. The virus, later called Sophia, has both flu like and sexual rage phases. There's a lot of zombie/virus/body horror stories/movies I thought of at that description, but I think this actually falls somewhere between the religious fanaticism of John Water's 'A Dirty Shame' and the spitting sadism of 'The Sadness'. Also, make this story a movie, it would be so good.

And I loved it.

Sophie is a great POV character that tries to understand the world around her and continues to position things from the perspective of someone who hasn't experienced anything--or is told it's all sin.

I loved Leede's previous book, 'Maeve Fly', and continue to see her strong writing style and applaud her for the creative use of violence.

Side point: I loved the Wisconsin setting. I haven't been there but the setting is so well described it felt like the reader was there. Also, the Trixie Mattel reference, legitimate question: does she know? I think she'd love to know she's referenced in a horror book like this.

Side point spoiler: <spoiler> I really enjoyed the ending but I see that it could upset folks. To that, I'll say it's an apocalypse horror story. You have to know what you're getting into and that in such stories, no one is safe. The religious fanaticism feels accurate to the kinds of extremes seen during Covid 19, and while it is A LOT, it forces the reader to confront the danger and horror head on. </spoiler>

"How to recognize the last moments before the world ends:
1. You won't"

A nearly nonstop whirlwind of dystopian fear.

This was amazing. A perilous, bloody, painful journey of a 16 year old girl and the friends she meets while trying to navigate the end of the world and come out the other side alive.

Sophie is 16 and has been raised in relative religious isolation by strict Catholic parents; she is naive to the world outside her sealed bedroom window. Her only reprieve is the library, where she reads How-To books and occasionally smuggles titles she has been forbidden to read, thanks to a kind librarian (thank the universe for librarians!). When a strange virus starts affecting people, Sophie realizes the world is much bigger than she ever believed, and is violently thrust into its jaws.

I experienced such a range of emotions that by the time I reached the final page, I had whiplash. I held back tears and seethed with rage.

Sophie's POV is sometimes disjointed and choppy, almost a stream of consciousness...but what teenage girl's experience ISN'T confusing and disjointed? Throw in a pandemic, religious guilt and shame, and discovering you know nothing about the world. The parallels to our own American experience are frightening, and I think that's what makes this work as a horror: humans are the real monsters.

Female MC, Bi/Queer rep, Black, Indigenous, and Latino rep.

Thank you to CJ Leede, NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this advanced copy for review.

Trigger warnings below (beware: spoilers!)
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TW: brief SA, animal death, body horror including sexual horror

Quick synopsis: A 16 year old catholic girl is navigating her religion, puberty, and a nationwide pandemic of a virus that causes people to be extremely horny and canabolistic and then die.
Review: I had the best time reading this book I can’t even describe but the vibes were just there. It was extremely fast paced and I never wanted to put it down I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There is a lot of grief and death in this book which seems to be a point the author was making. As humans, we are immortal and we live with death everyday, we will die, our loved ones will die, it’s all very sad and hard but also very human.
Thank you @netgalley and @tornightfire for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Releases October, 15 2024

CJ Leede. Why you play with my heart like that!? I never expected a horror novel, which it still is, to pain my soul the way this did.

Coming of age/ end times, apocalypse vibes/ gory, bloody, nightmare fuel/ an exploration of religious hypocrisy/ things that torment your heart and soul (I'm so serious about that one).

A hundo percent one my favorite books this year. Different vibe than Maeve Fly which speaks to Leede's diversity in the horror genre. I'm so fucking impressed.
Thank you for once again reinforcing why I love the horror genre. And thank you to the Nightfire team for making my day every time I get mail from you guys--it has been a bright spot during this period in my life 🖤

This book was incredible. I loved Maeve Fly, and while this is vastly different, I cannot get over how invested I got into Sophie's life. The character development in this book was SO good and it made the ending that much more heartbreaking and beautiful.

We follow Sophie, a devout Catholic, trying to navigate the end of world; a fast spreading virus that turns people into horny, zombie like creatures. She grapples with her faith, watching her family fall to this virus, and trying to figure out if she too is infected or just a repressed horny 17 year old.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor and @ceejthemoment for the ARC!!! Keep an eye out for October 15 when this beauty hits shelves!

American Rapture was a unique coming of age story following the onset of a global pandemic. The story flowed along with characters that have such unique depth and backstories, The author’s note at the end of the story made one of the most difficult scenes in the book understandable, but not easy to progress. I hope there is a sequel to this story!

Whoa…this book gave me all the emotions, and all the feels. It is rich in character development, plot, life complexities, and gore-lots of gore. And it is a cautionary tale of living in fear of the world around you. Our protagonist, Sophie, is a teenager who, after living in a strict, sheltered Christian bubble, is thrust into a world she wasn’t ready for. Her struggles, questions, feelings (physical and emotional), and doubts are at the heart of this apocalyptic novel. The pandemic, itself, is gruesome and sadistic-reducing the human population to violent, sex-crazed meat suits. But they are not the only thing the survivors have to fear. Leede gave us not one, but two, villain groups in the novel, and left the reader teetering between hope and despair. And the ending? Guy-wrenching. It was hard to read.

I loved everything about this book, and couldn’t put it down. This is a must read for horror/dystopian fans who love not only gruesome plot lines, but ones with tons of heart.

Release Date: October 15 2024

For now, I'll just let the star rating speak for itself because I don't have the words to express how much I loved this.

100% buying a physical copy

RTC!

I read this book in approximately two days. There are no good stopping points. You must just inhale it (while savoring it somehow). You won't want to put it down, so... just be prepared for that.

American Rapture follows Sophie as she navigates this bonkers pandemic that turns people into sex-crazed zombies, more or less. And I should mention that Sophie has grown up in a VERY religious family. Needless to say, this is truly traumatic for her.

I loved every single character and how well fleshed out they were. I loved seeing Sophie grow and change through the story. I was along for the absolutely wild ride that is American Rapture. I have also pre-ordered the book (I actually pre-ordered it before I was approved because CJ Leede is auto-buy for me after Maeve), and plan to reread it immediately upon receiving it in October. It will be an excellent spooky season read.

The way CJ is able to build out these incredibly intriguing, complex, and real characters in what is arguably a short novel (or maybe it just felt short for me because I would read 500 more pages of this haha) is impressive. On top of that, they will pull on your heartstrings BIG time. I was blown away by how much I loved this. It's definitely dark, gory, and freakin' brilliant. So smart.

Thank you NetGalley & Tor Nightfire for the advanced copy that I inhaled.

Review: American Rapture by CJ Leede (5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Summary:
In American Rapture, a terrifying virus sweeps across America, transforming the infected into feral, lust-driven beings. Sophie, a devout Catholic, must navigate this hellish Midwest landscape in a desperate quest to reunite with her family. As the world crumbles around her, she learns that some fates are far worse than death—especially when dying a virgin seems like the least of her worries.

Review:
SO GOOD. CJ Leede's American Rapture is an exhilarating plunge into a world where faith is tested, sins are laid bare, and survival is a moment-to-moment struggle. The story profoundly explores themes of sin and faith deconstruction, resonating deeply with anyone who has questioned their beliefs in the face of chaos.

Leede crafts a hauntingly vivid post-apocalyptic landscape that is both nightmarish and compelling. The tension is palpable, keeping you on the edge of your seat as you follow Sophie's harrowing journey. Sophie's character is beautifully complex, her inner conflict and resilience making her a truly relatable protagonist. Her struggles with faith amidst the apocalypse reflect a raw, honest exploration of belief systems under duress.

The narrative doesn't shy away from heartbreak. There are moments when CJ Leede shattered my heart with certain deaths, but this serves to remind us of the brutal reality of Sophie's world—mirroring the unpredictable, often cruel nature of life itself.

American Rapture is a masterful blend of horror and introspection, pulling you into a world where the end times force a reckoning with personal demons and societal norms. It's a chilling, thought-provoking read that lingers long after the final page. If you're looking for a horror novel that delves deep into the human psyche while delivering pulse-pounding thrills, this is it. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC!

I read Maeve Fly last year and was obsessed, so my expectations for American Rapture were high. This was horrifying in a totally different way, and did not let me down! It’s a coming of age story with a heaping portion of religious trauma, apocalyptic action and gruesome horror moments. I truly cared about our main cast of characters, especially the sweet dog.

Propulsive. Intoxicating. Bloody.
“I am adrenaline. I am fire. I am a girl desperate to stay alive.”

The flu is making its way through America but this isn’t your average flu. Sophie, a sheltered and well-behaved Catholic girl, is just trying to make it through the awkwardness of her teenage years; feeling ashamed and embarrassed when faced with the secular world. But when this “flu”—causing manic and lustful behavior in the infected—makes its way to the midwest, Sophie will have to do more than just face the secular world… She’s going to have to fight it, causing her to question everything she believes.

I love books with religious themes but they make me shake with rage because of their insanity and how close to reality it is sometimes. Very dystopian/apocalyptic which isn’t usually my cup of tea but alas, I loved it. Leede’s storytelling is distinct and refreshing; it’s hard not to gobble up her stories even if they tend to be slightly repulsing at times.

Compelling reflections on faith, sexuality, identity, mortality, and the freedom of choice.

A dark but brilliant novel.

Thank you Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Out 10/15/2024!

Thank You Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the arc.

This book was certainly one hell of a ride. Something about Horror and religious guilt always makes for an amazing story.

The care and attention that was put into setting in this book really puts it in a league of its own. From a small town, to a desolate county. I loved every second of it.
The cast of characters were amazing. Their dynamics with one another were one of the best aspects of the story. I love when apocalyptic books have that one scene where everyone is happy before the storm. This one didn't disappoint.

I find that books involving deadly viruses tend to deconstruct your thoughts on the world and rebuild them in a different way than before. I think its success in doing so is a clear sign of its incredible writing.

Definitely one of my top reads of the year.

After reading Maeve Fly and it being one of my favorites of 2023, I could not wait to get my hands on CJ Leede's next book. Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read it early!

American Rapture is a wild, enthralling ride with a lot of heart. The ending gave me the same ache I felt at the end of Maeve where you want so much for the character especially after all they've been through. I cannot wait to read Leede's next book.

Wow. This novel had me speechless. Part bildungsroman, part religious horror, I was hooked from the start. This gripping page-turner digs deep into religious shame, guilt, oppression, and trauma, but ultimately still manages to be hopeful and uplifting.

When a pandemic rages across the United States, the afflicted are stricken by feverish, basal lust before they die. Raised in a highly religious and isolated environment, Sophie has always had a curious mind. Now, faced with visceral carnality, she's forced to deconstruct her beliefs as she flees through a burning world while trying to stay alive and find her brother.

This novel doesn't shy away from religious trauma in all its forms: a highly patriarchal, oppressive family structure, sexual repression, conversion therapy, and more. Within that environment, Sophie is faced with the horrors of fledgling womanhood, living in a body that feels uncontrollable, constantly at war with her forbidden emotions, sensations, and desires.

While I found this novel less gory than Maeve Fly, these realistic, plausible, utterly human horrors were far more disturbing and unsettling. From radio personalities whipping the religious right into a murderous frenzy to the keening grief and loss amidst a pandemic with no end in sight, there was a persistent sense of fear, paranoia, and mistrust. This was an incredibly compelling read and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time.

American Rapture is a riveting post-apocalyptic horror novel about a teenage girl who has been repressed by overbearing Catholic parents her entire life. Then the apocalypse happens. A virus that leads to uncontrollable lust and sexual violence. American Rapture follows Sophie as she tries to survive both the apocalypse and overcome the guilt and repression that she was subjected to by her Catholic faith.

Leede does a fantastic job of both keeping the plot moving but also giving us time in the MC’s head. I am not a 16-year-old girl but I was able to relate to and empathize with Sophie because of how well she was written.

This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you angry (like seriously so mad at some of the awful people), and it might make you vomit during one particular sticky scene 🤢 American Rapture is not Maeve Fly - they are both very different books and they should be. But they are both fantastic and show Leede’s range with her writing. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

American Rapture will be released on October 15th from Tor Nightfire.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the advanced eBook in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a wild ride from beginning to end, and I read it in entirely one sitting. I'll be recommending it to so many people, because I genuinely believe that CJ Leede is a modern master of horror. I can't wait for the next one.

This book wrecked me completely. It means so much to me in so many ways. I'm going to say it now - it's my number one book of the year, and yes I know it's only June. This book has my soul.

I grew up Catholic and homeschooled, isolated from everyone and everything and I really relate to Sophie, at least my inner child does. I didn't have a good home life. As an adult, I relate with Cleo so much and I absolutely adored her. Also, the Spotify playlist CJ made for Cleo has my heart and I've been listening to it on repeat since finding it.

This is such a heavy story with so many deep and dark topics, but it was also extremely healing and validating. I'm so very grateful to CJ for this story and appreciate all the heart she put into this. There were multiple times I screamed "how are you in my head right now?"

CJ is one of my all time favorite authors now. She was one of my favorites already for Maeve, but this just further solidified that standing for me and bumped her up on my chart.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

A scathing critique of religious control of women and purity culture through the lens of a covid-era plague apocalypse. What if lust and attraction could end the world?—A truly unique addition to the zombie apocalypse genre.This plague really takes that rape apologist semtiment that "men can't help themselves" to the extreme. Be prepared for sexual assault and graphic descriptions of violence, gore, and sexual content.

The midwest version of "sad beige houses for sad beige children", teenager Sophie feels like a bystander in her own life. Other people decree what she can do and when. This overarching control stems twofold: from the small religious town weighing expectations down heavily upon her as well as her own micromanaging parents. Falsely believing that keeping their daughter incredibly naïve and sheltered from what they deem as <i>secular society</i> would keep her safe, Sophie is wholly unprepared to navigate social settings or the public.

Were it not for the copious hours she spends reading guides and how to books—as she couldn’t read the vast majority of what resided in her library—she definitely would have had an even rougher go of it. These tips and tricks she's memorized do come in handy when things go awry in action focused scenes, yet they don't help the all-encompassing awkwardness that is Sophie trying to talk to her peers. At times she's so sheltered and out of the loop she comes off as almost robotic until her religious guilt chimes in reminding her not to want for more or to belong.

The writing style is very choppy and lacks deeper descriptions or thoughts from our protagonist, which is intentional and highly successful in my opinion. Bored and miserable in a lackluster, unimaginative life Sophie coasts by and dissociates, while secretly longing for the freedom to make her own choices. Her coming of age arrives during the apocalypse, a taste of freedom surrounded by sweat, cum, and terror... oh and lust zombies can't forget about those.

This one is for all the girlies who are angry and have christian religious trauma. Midwest small towns are a breed all their own, and wow I know people personally who were raised like this. If you had religion used to hurt and control you, while the creed of purity culture hung overhead, I think you'll take something from this story. Also if you're a victim of SA and someone used religion to punish or shame you for your victimhood please know it wasn't your fault and you did nothing wrong. Surviving isn’t a crime any more than existing is.

TW: violence, sexual assault, homophobia, religious trauma and control, character death (parents, children, found family, pets)

A towering, complicated, emotional thrill ride through an American Hell. By digging deep and pushing boundaries, CJ Leede has produced what is easily her best work to date. The sleaze of "Maeve Fly" replaced with the massive feelings of a you g girl raised in a strict Catholic household in the Midwest. Half brutal post apocalyptic adventure, half introspective musings on what it means to alive. Excellent!

WOW -- EASY FIVE STARS!!!

I am now equipped to say that I will proudly consume and endorse anything C.J. Leede creates; this woman works wonders in her writing, and I cannot get enough. I am incredibly thankful to our lovely author, Tor Nightfire, and Netgalley for granting me early digital access to this end-of-times horror that hit all too close to home what with the Catholic guilt and rapidly spreading virus. At least COVID-19 never turned us into lusting, blood-thirsty rage zombies. This book hits shelves on October 15, 2024.

Sophie is a devout Catholic and knows nothing of the world outside her parish and catholic schooling. Her strict parents have limited her from the "threats" of the external world, reprimanding her for having an average teenage body and other frowned-upon "sins." After her parents found out her brother, Noah, was gay or damaged goods in their cherry-picking eyes, they sent him off to Sacred Hearts, a home for those who've fallen from God's path.

Separated from her brother and alone in her life, Sophie is left to her love for books and reading to keep her busy. As news from outside begins to spread more rapidly of a virus zipping through the country, Sophie and her brother grow nervous of what's to come. It's not long before people around her grow sicker and sicker, including her own parents, and it's almost overnight that they transform into sex-crazed blood-thirsty and flesh-hungry beings and they are after Sophie.

Thus starts her flee from the only home she's ever known on a journey to find her brother. Along the way she meets a cast of characters including Maro, a young cop looking to serve and protect those from this virus; Barghest, a trusty hound dog that protects Sophie from the infected and other perpetrators; Ben, a hometown acquaintance turned love; Helen, a young woman whose obsessed with her phone and social activism; Cleo, a recent widower who looks after Wyatt, a young orphaned kid. The group traverses around the midwest to find a vaccine, other resources, and stay alive while battling reformed religious terrorists who mean to "let the virus run its course, cleansing the world of sinners" -- Woof.

There's all this and more, and this book sure did scratch all of my rapture horror itches.

Hands-down my favourite horror novel to date! Religion and pandemic really are the most terrifying combination.

What a horrific and beautiful book! I am plagued with emotions that I did not expect to have. Sadness, fright, hope, and happiness course through me. Following the main character as she navigates so many new experiences is one of the best coming-of-age plots I’ve read. Add in a fantastic found family and I am absolutely here for every page. I am already excited for a reread.

Please be warned, as beautiful as it is, this is a graphic and horror filled book as well.

Thank you NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and author CJ Leede for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Obviously I loved American Rapture. CJ is beyond talented. This book was full of heart, terrors, self exploration, grief, shock, all the feelings, etc., etc. I think we can all agree that a pandemic is scary but the real fear is the human component. I have nothing bad to say about this… although I wish there were some specific survivors. Leede has done it again!

First kills & first kisses converge in this soul-wrenching struggle for survival. With American Rapture, C.J. Leede has securely cinched her spot as one of my favorite architects of modern horror.

Horrific lust zombies aside, Sophie's world is painfully relatable for anyone who grew up being constantly reminded of the threat of eternal damnation. You don't need your body to be overtaken by a demon in order to be possessed— religious indoctrination is perfectly capable of possessing a person on its own. Baptized in blood, Sophie's awakening is bold and inspiring, and you'll be cheering her on all the way. All shame & oppression be damned!

Like Sophie, I was raised in the church, a culture of sheltering children from the vital knowledge of the world under the guise of protecting them. I was taught nothing about my anatomy or the workings of my body and I was in no way protected by my ignorance, but rather rendered extremely vulnerable to harm and woefully unprepared to face the dangers of society. I resonated deeply with her journey of having to relearn everything that her parents and church ingrained in her mind, as I endured the same deprogramming at her age. Reading American Rapture was emotional & cathartic in the best of ways and Sophie's story is certain to stay with me for years to come.

All of my thanks to Netgalley, Tor Publishing, & Tor Nightfire for the ARC!

"I am changed, and I am new, and in the darkest darkness of my life, we stand in lethal color."

American Rapture is one of those books that is going to stick with me for a long time. This is the aching, confused, coming of age story we all know so well, wrapped in the trauma of oppressive religion, and the horror of a viral apocalypse.

Sophie narrates beautifully, in ways that make us feel real and big feelings. We feel the horror, the loneliness, the desperation, the wanting. We're all rolled up and turned around in the chaos inside her, the questions she's being forced to reckon with, and the new people in her life that are equal parts confusing and loving.

Truly terrifying in parts, hauntingly beautiful in others, American Rapture is everthing I want in a horror novel.

I am sick to my stomach in the best way. I’m throwing up crying. 10 stars.

I’ll attach my GR and instagram reviews when I am emotionally well enough to perceive this book again.

Another fantastic book by CJ Leede! This was gripping, gory, and endlessly creepy. It reminded me faintly of an incredibly disturbing version of the movie Zombieland. I couldn’t put it down, and wish it didn’t end! I actually SCREAMED when I read the final paragraph.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this incredible book!

Thank you so much to Tor Publishing Group/Tor Nightfire, NetGalley & CJ Leede for this ARC of American Rapture.
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I'm a huge fan of CJ Leede's writing style - Maeve Fly is my favorite read of 2024 (and the book that single handedly brought me out of my self imposed reading hiatus). This is CJ Leede's second novel and it did not disappoint! This was such a fun read - the story is absolutely amazing and I just fell in love with the characters right off the bat. This book brought out so many nostalgic feelings for me - especially the feelings you feel when you're a teen and just discovering and learning the rules of love.
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This book is heavily based around Catholicism and how sometimes beliefs can be absolutely detrimental to a person. That being said, I feel like CJ Leede did an excellent job writing about Catholicism without it sounding mocking, judgmental or degrading. There are a few scenes that brought tears to my eyes because sometimes the church/religion denies you salvation even though you've done a kindness.
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I do want to add a content warning to this review because there is an animal death scene is this book that is rather long/horrific - so please be aware of that. The book absolutely could not live without the scene as it complements the story.
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I highly recommend this book. The apocalypse in the story is so unique and STICKY - what a wild ride!

This booked piqued my interest based on the description and I can say I was pleasantly surprised. I grew up in the church all my life up until the past few years and this book actually goes into a couple reasons the church has fallen out of favor with me. For a book that has a virus that makes people horny zombies, it also ends up being very un-sexy. Be warned this book also is very gore heavy. Also as a note there is underage sex alluded to but nothing explicit. And the teenage main character seems to have a crush on an adult male but it doesn't really go anywhere. Overall, I do love a book with a semi-open ending that may not be a happy one

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the arc. The premise, especially in the beginning, reminds me a lot of Crossed or The Sadness (plague media where the afflicted are violent). But, there is more to this one.

I love that this story calls forth ideas about who we are as people. Should we be good because of fear what comes after death? What is goodness anyway? The use of Catholicism is masterful even if it is sometimes a bit on the nose.

It would be difficult to survive and come of age in such an eerie apocalypse. How do you wrestle with a world from which you were sheltered? Sophie, and by extension the reader, are challenged to think beyond easy platitudes. Engaging in critical thought could be your salvation (from tyranny or zombies or god’s wrath (?)).

This is an absolute BANGER of a novel. It is horrific, but perhaps the monsters of our quotidian existence should scare us more. The ending is open, but it should be that way. In the end, Sophie learns what we all should. You might even say she had a revelation.

This was an instant 5 star for me! It was everything I was hoping for. The adventure, the emotions, the relationships were all so perfect and I will recommend this book to everyone!

C.J. Lede is quickly becoming a favourite author of mine and has yet to disappoint. American Rapture was such a great story and beautifully written. I won’t be forgetting these character and their stories anytime soon!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all the characters and really felt for them during the story. I also really loved the ending! I will pick up anything she writes from here on out.

This book broke my heart in the best way. If CJ Leede wrote about paint drying I would eat it up. I am so thankful for this ARC, American Rapture exceeded my expectations and is definitely my favorite book of the year so far. Virgin heroine isn’t my favorite genre but this book was so amazing I might have changed my stance on it.

Ok, I finished this book 11 days ago and I haven’t fully recovered yet. I don’t want to give a lot away because I could go on and on about what I thought about this book!!!
CJ Leede you are a treasure and must be protected at all costs so you can continue to write these masterpieces!!
This one had my damn heart! I loved all the characters, I felt like I was living through Sophie and damn that was tough! I felt like my heart was ripped from my chest, thrown down, stomped on and then put right back.
I have never cried as a result of reading a book like I did with this one. I cried for a solid 45 minutes, maybe hour after I was done and anytime I thought of something I would just start crying again.
I am unwell but I would read this for the first time all over again if I had the chance. I’m actually kind of mad that I can’t ever read this again for the first time.
Read it!!! It is a tough one so check for triggers but if you can, read it. You will not regret it!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC. *deep breath* This book is a wild ride from start to finish. C.J. managed to capture different facets of horror and brought them together in a gorgeous fashion. Equally devastating, beautiful & terrifying, it also manages to be so relatable to many. I could not put it down. This book feels like C.J. bared her very soul to us, she gave us a raw and real tale that I will not soon forget. Thank you C.J. for that gift. I cannot wait to read what else you have in store for us.

The biggest thanks to Tor Nightfire for the eARC!  

Brutal, heart-wrenching, deeply honest. In the follow-up to her debut novel, CJ Leede takes a long unflinching gaze into Catholic guilt, the horrors of sheltering, and the end of the world. American Rapture belongs among the ranks of books such as King’s Pet Semetary in terms of its ability to conjure the most visceral dread and induce the deepest sense of horror. It’s the variety that makes you sick to your stomach, not for gory bloodshed (though there’s plenty of that to go around), but for the sheer amount of innate bleakness with few glimmering moments of hope to grasp onto. Sophie’s story is devastating and will bring you to your knees. Still, it is ultimately a story that needs to be told, giving words and feelings to the most intimate feelings which are typically indescribable.   

Attempting to provide a synopsis sans spoilers feels like a treacherous endeavor so I’ll leave you with the basic framework. Sophie, a sixteen-year-old girl, lives in Midwest America and is devoutly Catholic. At the hands of her even more devout parents, much of the secular world is off-limits in a way that feels like extremism yet is rather common in the American landscape. To live is to sin, a lifestyle that produces a near-constant state of guilt for Sophie, a girl who does think for herself but ultimately obeys the laws of her church, school, and family. However, a virus begins to spread, the details of which Sophie is sheltered from. Equipped with little to no information or understanding of the real world, she is quickly thrust into the violent, unthinkable landscape of (what feels like) the world's end.   

From the epigraph, CJ Leede sets the tone for Sophie’s character, a girl indoctrinated by Catholicism for the entirety of her life. The very beginning of the novel depicts the depths of unawareness Sophie has for the workings of the world so far as not understanding her own body. The first few chapters feel as though Leede is tapping into the same horrific religious extremism that King implements with Carrie. There’s no room for wonder or conjecture; Sophie’s world is shaped by the understanding that to be a woman is to sin. It is up to her to prevent the sins of others (particularly men) by covering her body, her beauty, herself. It’s a heartbreaking fact of the Catholic lifestyle that feels like a dramatic flair of fiction but is sadly a very real fact. There’s instant empathy for Sophie maybe because of her naivety, maybe because of her existence which seems to be born of suffering, maybe it’s because I used to be just like her.   

This novel could substantially exist within the realm of horror if you remove the apocalypse. The crisis of self, the reckoning of possible fiction and fact, and the mental purgatory Sophie endures are the deepest psychological horrors. This reckoning she experiences fuels an over-arching atmosphere of existential dread for the entirety of the novel that plunges into the deepest, darkest depths of despair. As I said, this book could thrive without the virus that turns folks into violently lustful beings, but it doesn’t. Adding much fuel to the blazing fire, this virus is any Catholic’s worst nightmare come to life, and the ways in which Sophie must learn of the onset of the pandemic are the kind of horrors that leave your muscles tense, your jaw clenched, and sweat dripping from your brow. And to think things only get worse.   

Words do not exist to impart the levels of dread utilized within the confines of these pages. Yes, the strict religious ideas, censoring of information, and gory violence are more than enough, but Leede doesn’t dare stop there. Extremism, politics, and radicalization are all aspects that are fully explored in their most depraved nature throughout the course of the novel. These are frightening on their own, but Sophie’s unique lack of experience in the world elevates this fear into something else entirely. While she is shown kindness, love, and acceptance along the way, there is so much loss, so much depravity that accelerates Sophie’s character arc into a place in which she must decide the woman she wants to be. Ideas of sexuality, especially in the context of faith, have long been avoided in discussion or danced around delicately. Leede boldly, authentically enters this conversation with grace and emotional beauty that sheds light on so much of what is shoved into the dark.   

“You are a precious thing, you. And you get to do whatever you want. You matter, and you have to live your life as though you matter. Now and always.”  

American Rapture is a novel that will thrust you into an emotional stratosphere, experiencing anger, joy, grief, and utter terror. CJ Leede expertly gives words to complex feelings of angst, guilt, and anguish over sexuality and morality. So much of this novel succinctly details the experience of questioning faith and growing in confidence as a woman, as a human. This is a champion of a novel that will forever mark my heart and soul, a novel that may change the landscape of horror fiction for the better.

American Rapture is already my favorite book of 2024, and will stay there for the rest of the year. I have never been so enthralled by a book where my heart is racing while I'm weeping and needing to know what's next. Everyone can identify with one of the core characters so it really feels personal while reading it. CJ Leede this is a masterpiece.

NetGalley, thank you for the ARC!
I loved this book. I didn't want it to end.
I am putting C.J. Leede up there with Grady Hendrix and Rachel Harrison as far as readability. I couldn't put this book down. And she knows how to make you care about her characters, effortlessly, and quickly. Some of the characters didn't have a ton of time on the page, yet still resonated with me. The found family trope was strong so when there was death, I really felt its impact. I want to say the one that killed me the most, but I'll keep this as spoiler free as possible. But legit crying!
The themes of this book really resonated with me. The struggle to disrobe religious trauma and the deep set lingering guilt. How it's impossible to understand some of the things done in the name of God. I don't need to rehash everything, l'll just say | 100% agree with the views expressed in this book. They are things I have pondered time and time again.
The letter to the reader was also quite moving
The scariest thing about this book is the truth in its pages. This could really happen. It did happen with the aids epidemic, and religious zealots telling the world that it was God's judgement.
Zombies didn't play as big of a role in this as I thought they were going to, but were well done. There wasn't a: much gore as Maeve Fly, but what there is was described in excruciating detail - and well done.
But still check trigger warnings. There are a number of scenes that contend with rape, and while brutal, I think it was handled well, and had a purpose.
I already wanted to go to House on the Rock, but now I think it's a must.
I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time.

Wow.. yeah this one… this is one of those rare books that come a long once in a blue moon and really make you not only challenge what you’ve believed your whole life through merciless feats it also gives some of the most unapologetic hope I have ever experienced.

At the end of the day this story is about self discovery, and found/finding family and true love in its purest forms. CJ Leede holds up an amazing mirror to Dante’s inferno and asks the reader to look deeper and see what each circle maybe bring and what each of us hold within ourselves to climb our ways out (even if it’s kick and screaming and by the skin of our teeth).

The religious content is HEAVY, the deaths are ROUGH, and the emotional turmoil is GRUELING, but… somehow still… you manage to come out the other side. I hope those who read this book take what they need from it and choose to carry themselves forward in this world like a bird on the wind.

Looking back on when I originally requested this book, I shouldn’t have. I know that now, but at the time I just saw the pretty cover. Beware, readers, that the prettiest and most interesting cover can fool you into reading one of the hardest things I’ve ever read.

Let’s dissect why I have problems with this book — I don’t necessarily. Although it is gratuitously violent or sexual in some parts, it helped the plot. Although it made religious leaders and congregants the villains of the story, it was beneficial for the plot. Although [SPOILER] the dog dies at the end, it was beneficial for the plot. All choices throughout the book were good ones, they just didn’t sit right with me, and that’s why I have to give this book a good rating because of the writing and craft that went into this book, even though it wasn’t meant for me.

I think I disliked this book because I’m Christian. Although the main character’s Catholic upbringing and mine were very different, I identified with her guilt and her grappling with her faith throughout the novel in the wake of a plague changing her entire life. Throughout the book, we see the characters turn on their upbringings because of the events taking place, and that’s the part that I take issue with. Not that it’s not accurate, but I’m afraid that this book will give readers an excuse to turn away from their faith, to say, “this book said God isn’t real, so I guess He’s not.”

Sixteen-year-old Sophie has been kept in the dark her whole life. No news, no internet, no cell phones, she knows only what her ultra religious parents tell her. When a pandemic sweeps across the land, she is told she is protected by God.

After her parents die in a horrifying manner, Sophie embarks on a journey to find her brother, who was sent to a faraway school.

As the world collapses, Sophie's eyes are opened to the reality of life, and she must rely on her instincts to survive.

I loved Maeve Fly, and I love this book. CJ Leede can write both the heartwarming and the revolting and create brilliant characters. I will read whatever she comes up with next.

Whew, damn. Ok CJ. I'll be back once I get my thoughts in order

Ok, I'm back. I still don't think I can get everything fully out at this time. I have many mental health issues. Most from the way I was raised and my past. Many from just where and how I was raised. I've been working on that since 2018. Trying to figure out myself and why I am this way. I've never felt "triggered" by a book. I feel that for the most part, that's why we read, to experience other's POV and experiences. I feel that you should give books a chance to broaden your horizons. I grew up in the Bible belt of Georgia. I didn't or don't go to church every Sunday. I did go a lot with my grandparents. Even though we weren't "in church" or "catholic", you can still GREATLY feel the themes in any public setting. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just acknowledging that it's a part of everyday life. That being said, a big part of my mental health journey has been to rid myself of shame. Shame is a reoccurring theme I run into. I did not realize AT ALL until I read this book, that it was religion and where I'm from that affected me. That maybe there is something there I need to investigate further. When I say this is a horror novel, I'm saying it reached into the depths of my being and brought out long forgotten trauma. That was scary and so very real. It's also a pandemic story. It's altered to fit the story, but that is an event that I witnessed. I was deeply immersed in it as a pharmacy technician. We lost some family members too. That's scary to relive. I just think this story opened me right up. It put me on display and forced me to acknowledge some things about myself. Last year Leede's book Maeve Fly became one of my favorite books. I didn't know if the book was special or the author or both. I'm here to tell you now, that CJ writes straight from inside my bones. I don't know how she does it. I am forever changed by both stories. I have a new favorite author. For a little back story on myself, I was a virgin until age 17. In a true "after school special" story, I became pregnant. I didn't know anything about anything. I am still learning everyday. My son turned out to be an amazing young man, thanks to the support of some special people. It wasn't my whole family. They weren't supportive through the entire event, but some showed up briefly throughout. I say that to say, I could have easily been this MC. I guess that's why it touched me so. This is a horror book, but if you make it through, there are some amazing revelations. I'd like to add that there is one part of this book that I wasn't prepared for. I would almost deduct a star for it, but in the author's note, CJ explained her reasoning and I forgave her. There are so many great quotes. I'll be back with my kindle to add those. Thanks to Netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel. This was the best book I have read this year and I am so impressed with the way the author made the reader feel the emotions Sophie was feeling. The author has done a great job at invoking fear in the reader but she's also made the reader feel validated. I cannot recommend this book enough, CJ Leede has knocked it put of the park again. I cannot wait for the world to read this book.

this was SO gripping, actually couldn’t put it down once I started it.
loved the themes it explores and the whole time I read it I was just giddy and knew it would be a 5 star read for me.
I’m a sucker for a coming of age and reading an apocalyptic book for the first time ever or in a while (truly can’t remember the last one I read) hit the spot and reminded me of being 13 and obsessed with the walking dead and the last of us.
what a treat, i feel so lucky to have gotten to read this and get it early.

First I would like to take a second for @netgalley for this opportunity to read and review this novel early.

Damn… this book. I couldn’t put it down. So real and so good and also so heartbreaking all rolled into one novel. This is an amazing follow up for CJ Leede after this banger of Maeve Fly. An instant classic. There were many times in reading this thinking wow how much further can this go and just to have my mind blown even more proving to me this book wasn’t done with me yet. Loved it. Just up banger that’s all I can say with keeping it spoiler free.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and CJ Leede for the opportunity to read American Rapture in exchange for an honest review. This book was so much more than I expected going into it and it just solidified my love for CJ as an author and a human being.

Sophie is a teenage girl, raised in a strict catholic household. She has a twin brother, Noah. Noah is sent off to a hospital for kids full of “sin,” essentially. Sophie has lived a sheltered life and is homeschooled until she is 16 when she starts going to a catholic school for girls. She faces temptation and sin at every turn and she is riddled with guilt, shame, and fear of what God will think or do to her. She soon discovers that a virus is taking over major cities and everything she thought she knew may not be the truth. She has to face this virus essentially alone until she meets some other survivors along the way, including Ben, the boy from her hometown that she met briefly before the virus took over.

This book is totally different than Maeve Fly but in a good way. My 16 year old self can relate so much to Sophie. Even my adult self can relate to her. My heart broke for Sophie so many times because she had to face a world she didn’t know or understand and then deal with the religious guilt and shame on top of it. But through it all, she was still strong, fierce, and powerful. She kept showing up for the people her own religion would condemn. Ugh, this book was heartfelt and moving and powerful. It was also scary and heartbreaking. I loved everything about this book, maybe even more than I loved Maeve Fly which was one of my favorite books of 2023.

Before I begin I want to say a huge thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review this book early!
Imagine having your coming of age story take place during the apocalypse. That’s exactly what happens to 16 year old Sophie. There’s a virus spreading across midwestern America, and it’s causing people to act on their most base animalistic instincts. Once the Slyvia virus infects you, it’ll give you the normal flu-like symptoms on top of making you unable to control your sexual urges. Basically, it’s the world's deadliest STI. Sophie herself is a good catholic girl who has been sheltered her whole life. She must learn how to survive in this hellscape that Wisconsin had become, while on a journey across the state to find her twin brother Noah. This book was very intense, and is not for the weak of heart. I spent the whole time reading it dying for the answers at the end, and once I got them, I wanted more. Leede does a phenomenal job of creating a terrifying world in which even the slightest touch of another human could sign your death warrant. I loved this book, and would recommend it to fans of apocalyptic fiction and coming of age stories!
American Rapture by CJ Leede comes out on October 15th 2024!

American Rapture tells us the story of good Catholic girl Sophie trying to navigate a hellish world where a virus is spreading across America. This virus is making everyone feral with lust. She is journeying across the Midwest in search of her family. Along the way she meets a ragtag team of people also trying to survive as the world burns around them.

I devoured this book. As someone who grew up in the Midwest in a very sheltered and controlled religious household I saw way too much of my own life reflected back at me. Religion has this way of trapping you in it, even when you know what you’re learning and being fed contradicts itself and seems false it’s a stick trap to escape. And as Sophie tries to navigate this lustful hell she can’t help but view it through her Catholic lens. Eventually, if you’re lucky, those raised religious find their way out and learn to live life on their own terms. It was fascinating to watch Sophie navigate those emotions all while this virus ravages the world around her.

This story is heartfelt, honest, brutal and horrific. Thank you netgalley and Tor Publishing Group. Thank you CJ for your honest writing and for continuing to grow, learn and share your writing with the world. We need more baddies in horror!

American Rapture is out October 15th, but you can preorder your copy today like I did 25% through the book! 🤍

This book was provided as an ARC by Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.
American Rapture follows Sophie as she struggles to understand the complexities of the world while attempting to survive the Sylvia epidemic threatening United States
Sophie, and her estranged brother Noah, were both raised in a very strict Christian household with little known information available to them about the world. One night, Sophie's world changes after an incident with her brother, in which he is sent to live elsewhere to rehabilitate his life. Since Noah's departure, Sophie has a strained relationship with her parents and quietly resents them for what they did to Noah. With Noah having been gone for several years, Sophie kept to herself until the titular events of the book begin to take place. Once the events of the book begin, Sophie struggles with themes of guilt and shame that are tied to her religious upbringing. She finds herself contemplating her relationship with God and tests her faith throughout the duration of the book. Along the way, she learns many valuable lessons that begin to change who she is as a person, but also her relationship with her religion.
Overall, this was a five star read from start to finish and I cannot recommend it enough. There is so much more depth to this book than meets the eye and it provides a great commentary on religious pressures faced in society today.

I loved this so much. The action and gore were superb but what I really loved was watching Sophie deconstruct her religious beliefs and blossom into a strong young woman. And sweet Ben, we all need a dear, sweet Ben in our lives. This left me in tears. CJ Leede knocked it out of the park yet again.

American Rapture
By CJ Leede
Pub date: October 2024
Format: digital

Sophie Allen is a sheltered Catholic girl, figuring out the world while a pandemic rages on.

Warnings: sexual assault, religious violence, so much death

This book has earned the highest compliment I have for any book. I will 100% be rereading this in the future. There’s only been a handful of books I’ve reread and this will be one of them.

I had all of the feelings while reading this and cried way too much. I abandon all my other current reads to devour this. I would have left my family to savor this book.

Pick this up if you’re ready for an emotional roller coaster.

CJ Leede is officially on my auto buy list.

I was so excited to read American Rapture. Meave Fly was my favorite book of 2023!

Ironically I read this book while dealing with crazy health issues and surrounded by illness and people dealing with their mortality. It was the perfect book to get me through that.

Sophie is a sheltered catholic girl who had just lost her twin brother to a religious intervention. During an apocalypse, a disease which causes the infected to lose their minds and become overly sexual, Sophie finds herself with a makeshift family.

I loved Sophie’s character as she comes to terms with who see is, what she believes and how she can control her own destiny.

By far my favorite character was Barghest the dog. I’m a large dog owner. And his love and unconditional support of Sophie made me cry.

Loved this second novel from CJ Leede. Make sure to read the author note at the end.

Wow wow wow. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t read the author’s previous work (but now I will). This was incredible. Sixteen year old Sophie is coming of age during a virus outbreak. She’s been sheltered her entire life, raised Catholic in a small town. We watch her grapple with what she’s been taught and what she finds as she goes on this journey throughout the novel. She meets many people who all are all great side characters. I usually don’t like first person POV, but here it was necessary, because we are seeing her thoughts and beliefs be challenged. I was scared, stressed, sad. And then the ending? I’m not okay. Highly recommend.

My favorite book of 2024 so far. Absolutely phenomenal. I finished this last night but couldn’t type up a review because I was too busy sobbing. I haven’t had to put a book down for a moment because I was crying so hard since I read Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow. For a horror novel to pack such an emotional gut punch speaks to how great CJ Leede is at her craft.

Don’t get me wrong, this IS a horror novel. It has scary scenes that will stick with me. It’s bloody. It’s violent. It’s the end of days.

Leede’s themes around religious trauma were also incredibly interesting to read. The 16yr old main character grows up suppressed by her Catholic parents, then is thrust out into the world where not only is there a virus running rampant making those infected feral with just, but atheists (gasp) and homosexuals (double gasp) also exist. Leede’s writing is not preachy in this aspect. Instead, she challenges the main character (and her readers, since this is told from the POV of the main character) to think for yourself, to overcome Catholic guilt, to challenge the views forced upon us by our parents at such a young age; it’s being a good person for the sake of being a good person that matters, not because you’re terrified of burning in Hell for an eternity.

If I haven’t sold you on picking this up already, let me give my unhinged selling point: if you love Lady Bird, The Last of Us, or Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter album, grab this one.

Writing this, I just want to pick it back up and read it again right away. I wasn’t expecting to love this one as much as I do, but damn this was phenomenal.

Thank you Tor for the e-ARC!

The writing has a literary bent that I really like. I did stop after chapter 2 (3%) but it feels like a solid 3-4 stars with 5 for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

American Rapture is my most anticipated read for 2024. CJ Leede's first book, Maeve Fly, took my breath away and left me yearning for more. I wasn't sure what to expect with her new book, but it blew my hopes and expectations out of the water. This beautifully written apocalypse - end of world book is a must read for anyone trying to learn who they are, and learn from their parent's mistakes.

Sixteen year old Sophie has to flee the safety of her home during a pandemic, and partakes on a road trip to find her twin brother. Along the way, sheltered Sophie has to learn how to blend into the real world and navigate an ever changing and dangerous environment to stay healthy and safe. This book is wonderfully gory, and the characters are exceptional.

BRB on my way to re-read this book AGAIN.

Thank you kindly to CJ Leede and the NetGalley team at Tor/Forge for my ARC.

First, thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of American Rapture in exchange for an honest review.

American Rapture is a brutal coming of age story set at the beginning of the apocalypse. We follow Sophie, a sheltered and repressed sixteen year old girl, growing up in an extremely religious household and community -- a girl who suddenly finds herself alone, facing the infected of the new plague, whose symptoms manifest as violent lust.

As Sophie attempts to traverse this new world on a quest to reunite with family, she encounters people along the way who inadvertently teach her about the world from which she's been sheltered.

American Rapture is about grief, loss of innocence, and hope. However, the core of the story teaches valuable lessons on the dangers of repression as it dissects the harmful religious indoctrination of the main character. The friends met along the way are not there to explicitly teach Sophie about the world to which she's very much a stranger, but instead, to guide her on her own path of self discovery.

This is an important novel that gently asks the questions (and encourages finding answers) that many of us, whether religious, on the fence, or full blown non-believers also struggle with. This is a novel that warns us about hypocrisy, secluding ourselves from people unlike us, and encourages diverse learning.

C. J. Leede has the emotional intelligence of someone who has lived a thousand lives. Each scene in each plot point is so carefully constructed as to make you feel exactly what the characters are feeling. There is an emotional honesty in American Rapture that is hard to find in modern fiction, and Leede wields it with unyielding mastery.

This novel will kick you in the face and spit on you while you're down. And from the same pages, it will lift you up and give you hope. This is one of the best novels of 2024.

You know that feeling when you’ve read something incredible, but feel a bit disappointed because you know there’s no way the author can top it? That was me with Maeve Fly. There’s no way CJ Leede can top this because it’s so so good. Then I read American Rapture. ⁣
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This story was one blood soaked traumatic experience after another and I loved every moment. A beautifully heart wrenching coming of age tale of a found family in the middle of a lust fueled apocalypse. It made me cry, cringe, and laugh. Don’t sleep on @ceejthemoment ! Grab your copy on Oct. 15! I can’t wait to see what she does next! ⁣
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Thank you so much to @tornightfire and @netgalley for the advanced reader, and of course @ceejthemoment for two of my favorite books. ⁣
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✝️🎠🌪️🧟‍♂️🐕

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

There were different points in reading American Rapture where I put this book down for a second and said ‘what am I reading?!?’. This books draws you in and doesn’t give you a chance of getting away. In other words, I finished this feeling disturbed and ultimately absolutely loving it.

Its unique premise attracted me to this (and many others who I have described it to) but the cast of characters gripped me (including the dog… poor dog), and the idea of this virus that makes you extremely sexual coupled with our main character being an overly sheltered child of religious zealots really was like nothing else I’ve read.

Filled with gore and very disturbing, I’d recommend anyone who doesn’t mind all that because the plot is the definition of unique and the ideas explored were enticing.

American Rapture, C.J. Leede’s STUNNING sophomore novel, is hands down the best book I have read this year.
In a world ravaged by viruses, fires, monstrous storms, and the shambling, lustful dead, one terror stands out above the rest: the Christian Right.

(But we all knew that, didn’t we?)

In a post-COVID America, this apocalyptic horror novel feels chillingly plausible. If Maeve Fly, Leede’s debut, was loud, this is even louder, practically begging to be heard. Every former Christian likely recalls the one thing that shattered their faith - a moment, a comment, a story that prompted a complete reevaluation - I certainly can. Witnessing it unfold for Sophie, our protagonist, in real-time is overwhelming, painfully familiar, a descent into absolute terror. The world tilts on its axis. The notion that this very question could constitute one’s greatest sin, their downfall, is profound. It’s a heavy burden to bear.

Yet, Leede navigates us through it with a depth only those who’ve experienced it can comprehend. That’s why I placed my complete trust in her narrative. This book teems with potential triggers lurking in every chapter, and while I’d typically proceed with caution, savoring each page, I devoured this one hungrily.

From the outset, it feels like being trapped in a pressure cooker. The tension steadily mounts until you’re fully immersed. It’s a terrifying, grisly, electrifying, sorrowful, hopeful, introspective, tender, and tragic journey. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Forgive me, Father. I've been a bad girl...

Imagine living your entire life in the dark. No cell phone, no tv, and no internet. Your parents only allow you to read certain books meant for younger kids and even thinking about the opposite sex will earn you a paddling. Now, what happens when a pandemic sweeps the nation and you're the last one to know anything about it? How would you handle this? All I know is that Sophie is in for one hell of a wild ride!

This book contains a lot of gore, violence, brutality of life, and a lot of heart. I didn't think that I would be sitting in my house with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face while reading this but here we are. Prepare yourselves for the gut punch that this book is. It's a powerful one, so you better come prepared.

CJ knows how to capture an audience. Her work is incredible and you'll become obsessed very early on. With her last book, she took the book world by storm and she is about to do it again with a completely different novel but still with a badass main character who you'll instantly fall in love with.

American Rapture was a phenomenal read by one of the new masters of horror. I loved every page and I can't wait for the rest of the world to grovel at the feet of CJ along with me.

i'll be honest, when i first started i wasn't sure if i'd be able to push through and finish this because it did give me a lot of anxiety as it brought me back to 2020 when an apocalypse felt like it was right around the corner. the beginning of the apocalypse mirrored the covid-19 pandemic but very quickly turned into something different so once that happened i was less anxious.

there is a lot of unpacking religion and belief systems throughout this book that felt so real and i know that many will be able to relate to at least one character's feelings or story.

and i sobbed, of course, through the last 15-20% of this book. i got really attached to sophie's little misfit group she found herself with and just wanted them to feel safe. i really truly loved every single part of this book. i thought sophie, our sheltered catholic-guilt riddled queen, was the perfect and most unique point-of-view for this specific apocalypse. and also such a fun twist on your classic zombie apocalypse survival story.

An apocalyptic lust pandemic. A Catholic teen named Sophie who you can’t help but love. Her journey through hell on a mission to find her brother.

This book f*cked me up. 🥹

It’s rare to experience together. Like a fever. Like having a sibling. Like losing everything you have, your family and your home. Like really loving a dog, and that dog loving you back. Like falling in love. Like death. Like no matter how bad life gets, there’s a secret cure and it’s laughing with your girlfriend who will be there on the ground in the thick of it with you no matter how dizzying it all gets reminding you that you matter, helping you get back up. Like really great gifts. Like recognizing cages and evil disguised in righteousness. Like loving and living despite the absolute horror. That is what this book is, and it is fucking beautiful, painful and paralyzing.

I literally don’t think that I’m the same after reading this. It’s really fucking great and really fucking brutal, and all I can say is to just read it. I can’t wait to have my physical copy! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC! ❤️‍🔥

Also, the letter to the reader is special - for the women whose dogs are soulmates and guide them in life. I felt very seen, and also bawled again. 🤍

Thank you to Tor Nightfire, NetGalley, and CJ Leede for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Heart wrenching, gory, complicated, and beautiful all wrapped up in an apocalyptic, lusty, “zombie” novel. In Maeve Fly, Leede gave the “weird,” or “dark” girls a home. In American Rapture she opened that home up to those who grew up in a religion who no longer feel home there, or are confused with managing their upbringing with the world they’re witnessing first hand. She gave us an insight into *some* of their upbringings and then tore down those walls that religon had built up.

This book handles some heavy, and relevant, topics such as religious extremism; watching the beginnings of a pandemic, and figuring out this new reality, while dealing with the chaos and crisis; coming of age and then finding yourself suddenly alone in the world; internal emotional, and physical, conflict; and grief. Leede’s execution was so well done, she not only managed to juggle each separate topic in a thoughtful and sophisticated manner, she weaved them together to create a thought provoking, horrorifying novel. She did not lose the gore factor from Maeve Fly, but expanded on it to be less “shock factor” and more mindful horror that fit the story line and character types. This book shows the worst in humanity, while touching on good in humanity and showing at all of the major events that there is still good in this world, and religion.

It made me cringe, cry, and yearn for more. I can’t wait to see where Leede goes from here, especially considering this is only her second novel.

The ultimate book for me is one that can make me “feel all the feels” and American Rapture did that and more.

It’s an unputdownable coming-of-age story that everyone can relate to in some sense. The main character Sophie is struggling to find herself and better understand “what it all means”, and she’s doing it during an apocalyptic pandemic.

I became a fan of CJ Leede after Maeve Fly, and American Rapture did not let me down. I actually loved this more than Maeve, and the author just proves she’s a literary force to be reckoned with. She could write a how-to manual for operating a dishwasher and I’d eat up every word. IYKYK

In the end, I can’t recommend this book enough. Highly, HIGHLY suggest moving this to the top of any TBR and cancelling all plans to truly immerse yourself in CJ’s masterpiece and Sophie’s world.

I was so lucky to be given an ARC on behalf of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

I am jumping to pre-order my hard copy to re-read when it comes out later this year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

American Rapture follows a young girl, Sophie, as the world ends around her.

The writing style follows a more stream of consciousness style along with some lyricalness thrown in. I really like this style for the book as it encapsulates who Sophie is throughout the book. Confusing moments for her are often written out in a confused manner where its *almost* hard to follow. I love this because it really reflects how Sophie is feeling and thinking. It just gives the first person perspective some more flair.

I do think the writing style for this one will be hit or miss for people. It’s fragmented and choppy but it was the best way for Sophie to tell us what was going on.

The story isn’t necessarily original but i loved the idea of sexuality freedom and religious trauma being explored in the start of an apocalyptic world with a raging horny virus lol i think it worked very well.


The Characters felt realistic and alive. I felt they were all complex and believable and despite not being raised similarly to Sophie, she also felt really relatable. Yes the dog dies, but after reading the authors note to the reader it just made sense and destroyed me even more. Do not skip the authors note at the end.

Overall a really enjoyable and immersible read for me. I wasnt even going to give it 5 stars as I had most of this review written at 80% but that last 20% really sold it for me. It was a perfect book for me in the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I can't remember the last time I was so deeply engrossed in a story that I forgot about my phone and any outward distractions for 4 hours straight, but that's what American Rapture delivered.

I've yet to read Maeve Fly, so this was my first CJ Leede book. Typically, apocalyptic novels fill me with anxiety and leave me sleepless, and while this was no exception, it was one I couldn't put down. The religious trauma and frustration, the perversion of Christianity, the yearning for connection, the found family, the fear of loved ones lost, oh, the list goes on. Everything in this story, you can't help but feel so deeply. Leede's story of a lascivious apocalypse through the eyes of a sixteen year old reached into my chest and tore my heart out. I bit my nails, I teared up, I yearned... no matter what it was, I felt it consumingly, and that's how I know Leede is an amazing story teller. She told the story through Sophie, a teenager girl's words, and elicited in me a magnitude of emotions I hadn't felt since I myself was a teenager.

Cannot recommend enough, and cannot wait to get my hands on a tangible copy.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the chance to read this book prior to publishing. This book will publish Oct 15, 2024.

My favorite line from the book, “No hate like Christian love.”
The main character of the book, Sophie, grows up in strict catholic home. She’s a teenager, and dealing with new feelings and new developments of her body. She has been separated from her twin, who her parents have labeled a sinner for being gay.
Amidst these struggles a plague breaks out. A horny plague, that makes you want to fornicate and then kills you. Her parents fall ill and attack her, she escapes the attack stealing the family car. She sets off to find her brother.
During the journey to find the brother, she makes friends, falls in love, finds herself, becomes injured, loses people she has befriended during this time. In the end, only she and Ben, the guy she falls in love with are left. They set off on the final trek to his family’s land and to the islands where she hopes to at last find her brother.

This is not the first plague story, or horror book I have read this year. Hands down it’s the best one though. I was completely entranced and on edge wanting to know what was going to happen next. The places they stop on the journey, the people lost, I was very invested. I would 100% recommend this story to others who like myself enjoy a good wtf did I just read book. Three words to describe this book- bloody, sick and hopeful.

Sophie was raised in a very religious home, her twin brother recently being sent away for an indiscretion that we learn of throughout the story.

We see her trying to fit into her school and find her place in the world, but a virus nicknamed Sylvia has other plans.

It’s a story of a terrible disease that kind of turns people into Sex-crazed zombies, but there’s so much more to the story. Sophie learns about herself, opens her mind to the world, accepts and cares for her new friends, and fights to survive. And of course there’s Barghest.

**spoiler*** as someone who grew up in a religious home what happened to Noah was my biggest fear, it’s really well portrayed here.

I am messed up by the ending, it’s beautiful, tragic and hopefully all at once.

Absolutely devastating in the best way possible. I do not like apocalyptic, dystopian anything and yet I could not get enough of this book. It sucked me in from the beginning. The writing is perfection, it’s a little disturbing, and fairly graphic. I am quickly becoming a huge fan of this author. Like the main character, I also unfortunately was raised in the Midwest and in a religious family, so this hit so so close to home. While it was a little painful, it was ultimately cathartic. It was everything I didn’t know I wanted.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for this (my very first) ARC!

No hate like Christian love.

TWs: Religious trauma, sexual assault, rape, animal death, homophobia, near-incest, minors in sexual situations, sexism, misogyny

American Rapture follows Sophie, a heavily sheltered sixteen-year-old Catholic girl on the search for her brother Noah after a pandemic begins. The virus is like the flu—until it hijacks the infected’s brain and turns off everything but primal lust. Reading the synopsis, it may not be entirely clear if this novel is a religious metaphor for the power of abstinence or not, but make no mistake. This is no Christian manifesto. Everything Sophie believes about the world comes crashing down, and she must navigate this apocalyptic environment while deconstructing her own belief system.

I think the two types of people who may read this will have vastly different yet equally meaningful experiences.

The first camp is readers like me: raised religious, with strict rules and a limited worldview, who may have endured childhood trauma at the hands of the church. This book, for them, might bring back painful memories. It could feel like solidarity with Sophie, with her deconstruction of her parents’ beliefs in real time while they read her intimate thoughts as if they’re their own. They might have been, once upon a time. These readers will recognize the significance of Ben being left-handed, of all the little “cultural” nuances Leede has soaked the prose with.

The other group is the opposite: those who weren’t seriously impacted by Christianity or Abrahamic religious doctrines. These people may have issues getting into Sophie’s narration because of the sheer amount of religion poured into her every word. But, once they do, (I hope) they’ll be able to understand Sophie—and by extension, people like me—and how her thoughts weren’t really her own until she began to question them. How the church indoctrinates so deeply, and how the control is cult-like. I hope they’ll understand how difficult the deconstruction process can be.

There is some…"chemistry" between Sophie and the twenty-four-year-old cop who helps her along the way. Sophie is coming into her own with sexuality and experiencing crushes and romance for the first time, and doesn’t quite grasp how inappropriate it would be for him to pursue a relationship with her. I think she says it best herself, though she doesn’t realize it. She quotes Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights: “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” A line that sounds deeply romantic, as Sophie thinks of the man, but the context from that novel makes it what it is—toxic and codependent (not to mention incestuous). The inclusion of this quote was very clever in my opinion.

The pacing may feel strange to some, but I think it was almost perfect. It’s as if it follows Sophie’s inner deconstruction rather than the virus plot. Those two mostly sync up, but in my interpretation that explains the slow beginnings and fast ending. To me, it seems just as intentional as the choppy style. It’d be easy for a horror writer to lean into shock value, especially with a concept like sex zombies, but everything that happens feels very deliberate and contributional to Sophie’s story despite how shocking some events may be.

There are some very apt commentaries about our current world. The themes it touches on are so important, and I hope this book starts some much needed conversation. If you can stomach the trigger warnings, read with caution, but read indeed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the arc and chance to review this book.

I loved Maeve Fly so when I heard C.J. Leede had a new book releasing, I knew it was an automatic read for me. American Rapture is a bit like The Stand (a contagious deadly virus spreading through the world) meets Carrie (religious trauma and guilt). A deadly virus spreads through the world, shaking up everything that good little sheltered Catholic girl Sophie has ever known and she has to survive the aftermath in order to find her brother. It's an apocalyptic-like, found family, wild ride of a book full of searching - for family, safety, and answers. Highly recommend this one but check trigger warnings.

I was equally apalled and sucked in all at the same time. This is the perfect horror book, holding tight to your heart and making your stomach swirl all at the same time. I was pulling for Sophie the entire time, her bravery against a world unknown and survival against a lustful gore dripping population is unbelievable!

This book was such an amazing experience. Yes it’s horror and yes there’s violence and yes there is heartbreak, but there is so so much more. There is dealing with the purity culture so many of us grew up under, the shame and guilt of a big bad God in the sky looking to punish us, and deconstructing from all of it during the middle of a pandemic that is ending the world, at least the United States.

Following Sophie’s harrowing journey, the heart behind who she is becoming and the choices she has to make. Her love for her brother is beautiful and heartbreaking, how she would walk over hot coals and broken glass to get to him.

The virus is weird and uncomfortable, but it’s also a way to force us to look at ourselves, our guilt and shame we carry around, and maybe see ourselves for who we are - good.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Tor Nightfire for the advanced copy

❤️‍🔥 “I am adrenaline. I am fire. I am a girl desperate to stay alive” ❤️‍🔥

Sophie, a sheltered girl with a strict religious upbringing, is suddenly thrust into the real world when a virus begins to ravage the nation, turning the infected into lustful, violent monsters. She sets out across the Midwest in hopes of finding her long lost brother as the world burns around her.

American Rapture was one of my most anticipated releases for a few reasons. One being that Maeve Fly was one of my favorite reads from last year, and second being that I grew up in the Catholic Church, so horror books that explore religious trauma are 100% my thing.

I absolutely adored this book, and I ended up reading more than half of it in one sitting. This is an apocalypse drenched in blood and Catholic guilt, and at times it feels like we’re traveling through Hell itself. It is scarily appropriate for the current political climate we live in, which only made the experience that much more anxiety-inducing.

This story is a testament to the human condition, showcasing characters who crave human connection in a time where that can be a death sentence. Heartbreakingly, Sophie only got to start truly living once the world started ending. This is a book packed full of action, tension, and plenty of emotions.

This book hit so close to home for me on so many levels, but I’m sure you will enjoy this book even if you’ve never felt Catholic shame before 😅 Thank you so much to @netgalley & @ceejthemoment for letting me read this one early. I’ll probably be getting a physical copy when it releases, because this was such an incredibly powerful and important story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This has been one of my favorite reads of the years hands down. Initially, I was worried this premise could go off the rails rather quickly, but I’m glad to say I was blown out of the water. The writing was captivating and while there are a lot of disturbing moments, I didn’t feel it was over the top or exploitative of the characters. Throughout the intense page-turning moments my heart was with Sophie as she grappled with her religious trauma, and her sexuality all while dealing with the horrors of the world around her, physical, political, and philosophical. This story was brutal but with just excellent writing that is really poignant and thought-provoking. I do encourage people to check the trigger warnings before reading though as there is a lot of graphic content.

As a side note, as someone who grew up in Wisconsin, it was fun to see a lot of locations in the book that I’ve been to in real life. If you’ve never been to the House on the Rock, I cannot stress enough how wonderful and truly bizarre it is. It is the perfect place to put in a horror novel.

What if zombies were horny? Leede sets up a repressive, controlled environment for our hero, and then lets all hell break loose. Heartbreaking and faintly gross, American Rapture brings our hero from a christian school and a controlling family into a hellstorm of sex-driven flesh eaters. Her only refuge is with the strangers she meets along the way to finding her brother, and no refuge lasts long. Perfect for horror fans.

Wowowowowow. When I say I like reading horror books, THIS is what I'm talking about!

CJ Leede's observations about Catholicism are razor sharp. I grew up Catholic, and there were points in this book where I had to stop for a few minutes, just to stare at the wall and process what I read. Her examinations are so acute, so specific, and so completely accurate. It truly is the most fear-based, dread-inducing, guilt-ridden subsect of Christianity.

We watch as Sophie grapples with her natural teenage curiosities - a stark and dangerous contrast to the shame and humiliation accompanying her inner-most thoughts. But repression can only go so far, especially as the world you know begins to fall apart.

"𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

As a fellow Wisconsinite, I also have the added benefit of picturing the atmospheric elements this book has to offer. The fact that The Dells was like heaven on Earth to Noah and Sophie honestly cracks me up, and makes this picture of their sheltered life all the more palpable.

I loved how different this book is to Maeve Fly, while still maintaining so many of the same elements: lust, guilt, and violence. Another reviewer likened Sophie to Carrie White, and I couldn't agree more. She is a victim of her environment, to the things being done to her, and the events she is forced to endure. At some point she turns against her manufactured expectations and blows, and you find yourself saying "good for her!"

This book solidified CJ Leede as an auto-buy author for me. I will purchase each and every book she puts out without question. I wish I could give this book six stars! I highly recommend you check this one out. A huge thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to honestly review this book ahead of publications!

Thanks to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of American Rapture by CJ Leede. American Rapture was an absolutely incredible take on zombies that was a joy to read. The joy came from the character development that made the misfortunes befalling our main characters completely soul-crushing. Sophie and the crew she picks up across her desolate journey in search of her family allowed me to become the most invested I've been in a novel in a long time. If you love horror with human drama at its beating, bloody heart, you need American Rapture.

Wow, definitely 5 stars and added to my favorites!

In this book we follow Sophie, a 16 year old girl raised in a devout catholic household, as she tries to survive a pandemic in which a viral infection causes aggressive lust and ultimately death in its infected.

Fair warning: there is a lot of graphic content in this book. Check trigger warnings if needed before reading

I enjoyed Maeve Fly and was excited to pick up CJ Leede’s next work American Rapture. Similar to their previous work, this novel is graphic and shows humanity in all its forms. I absolutely loved it and devoured every page! There are several characters we meet throughout this book and each one is fleshed out and nuanced. Sophie was such a great lead and each supporting character was just as strong. The ending was beautifully written and smartly done. Truly a beautiful and heart-wrenching book.

CJ Leede has become an auto-buy author for me and I cannot wait to read her next work! Highly recommend to horror readers, particularly fans of Maeve Fly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review! I cannot wait to pick up a physical copy of this work

American Rapture weaves themes of coming of age, religion, and family trauma into an apocalyptic story that is impossible to put down. The brutal elements of the plague are contrast with the tenderness of Sophie growing up and coming to terms with everything she was indoctrinated with since birth. CJ Leede writes with an accomplished ferocity that compels the story forward so adeptly. The characters are fleshed out and dimensional and the story evokes a roller coaster of emotions

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

C.J. Leede’s 2023 debut, Maeve Fly, presented us with a gleefully sociopathic protagonist. Maeve is an unapologetic hedonist, masochist, and, well, murderer. In Maeve Fly, this proud middle finger to female role expectations and to discourse about the “likability” of fictional characters, is set against the backdrop of the world of the Disney Princesses. Maeve works as a princess in the park, and the contrast between her extracurricular activities (consuming porn, listening to Halloween music, weird sex, and murder) and the well-scrubbed image of the princess does a lot of work. It doesn’t hurt that in Maeve Fly, we know that the Disney mythology is just that, myth, a cleverly spun illusion used to sell an experience and merchandise.

It’s a testament to the power of Maeve Fly that Maeve is so “likable.” Even at her worst, there’s a core of damaged humanity lurking underneath, and–let’s face it–she’s a hell of a lot of fun.

In her follow up, American Rapture, Leede flips the script.

Sophie is the sheltered innocent, held captive by her parents’ decidedly extreme version of Catholicism, and tormented by her body’s hormone-fueled transformations. She is the princess in the tower.

In other words, she looks a lot like a Carrie White, ready to explode, perhaps transforming into something very much like Maeve. And who knows, had the world allowed it, that might have been her trajectory, but the normal course of teenage rebellion and religious trauma is hijacked by the end of the world.

A virus sweeps through the North East, into the Midwest, transforming the infected into violently sexual animals that rape, kill, and mutilate everything in their path. It’s an apocalypse tailor made to push all of Sophie’s buttons, and the traumas pile up one after the other as she finds herself alone and then, slowly, part of a found family, as she searches for her missing twin.

At literally every turn, this plot–and there is a lot of plot–is colored by Sophie’s own burgeoning sexuality. This is, as you might expect, troublesome, given the circumstances. It’s especially troublesome for Sophie, who has been taught to feel the most extreme shame and guilt at her own desires.

What Sophie gets is the slow and painful process of becoming an adult (questioning received wisdom, becoming a sexual being, being challenged by competing belief systems, having one’s heart broken) all compressed into the space of a week or so.

It’s a lot, and it would be a serious bummer if Sophie’s found family weren’t so compelling and dynamic. Early on in the book, I thought to myself that what Sophie needed was a Maeve, someone to shake her out of her shame spiral and teach her some of the simple joys of pleasure. We don’t quite get that, but we do get Cleo, a perfect mentor for Sophie’s hero’s journey. As much as I love Sophie, Cleo absolutely steals the show, presenting the adult figure who knows that the time is much too short to play the games of patriarchy, and who recognizes herself in Sophie. Her character is a monument to the power of truth-telling. She is the enemy of every taboo, and a kind of warrior queen.

American Rapture begins in trauma, and the trauma doesn’t let up. That goes for Sophie, but it also goes for the reader. Leede is uncompromising, and knows no boundary. It’s the apocalypse, and in the apocalypse, people die. That those deaths are so powerful says a lot about the depth of the world of American Rapture.

Leede has built something out of the raw materials of Maeve Fly: desire, pleasure, guilt, and violence, and she has remixed them into something very different, something that might hold out some slight chance for hope.

It’s is a roadtrip through the heart of a country turned sick on its own hypocrisy and hate, a Dantean journey into a moment that feels very much like our current historical moment. It’s also a love story, a coming of age story, a dog story, and a guided tour through a surreal midwestern landscape. It’s a little bit of everything, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to rip your heart out.

i am seated. the tor nightfire employees are scared and keep asking me to leave because it’s “not october yet” but i am simply too seated. american rapture is if the last of us, ethel cain, apocalyptic horror, religious trauma, found family, and midwest emo were compiled into one novel, which is genuinely my ideal reading situation — and should be yours too. cj leede never quits and never fails, and this book just proves her entirely upwards trajectory in the horror genre. it’s refreshing to see more women writing splatter *about* women, while also revamping the typically cishet space with queer voices, and i hope she never stops. as she has said, leede focuses on the places, and settings play a heavy hand in her novels; this one is no different. being born in the midwest, i never thought id want to visit wisconsin with my own free will, but here we are. i cannot get enough of this book, i recommend it to everyone who breathes near me 50 feet in any direction. please do yourself a favor and preorder this book immediately.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tor, and CJ Leede for an ARC eBook in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly the kind of book I was hoping it would be, as the second novel from the author of Maeve Fly - one of my favorite books of 2023.

Nothing about this novel disappoints.
CJ Leede is an author who makes bold, provocative choices - but with intention. I really respect her for that. She certainly doesn't shy away from the darker stuff here, in American Rapture.

But this. novel. ATE! (No crumbs were left.)

Public Service Announcement...
CJ Leede IS the moment.
American Rapture IS where it's at.
PeriodT.

Is it as good as Maeve Fly?
Well, yess!
I think it's now safe to say Maeve was just the jumping off point for CJ... And I couldn't be more excited to follow her horror journey. American Rapture cements her as an author my lil horror-loving heart will be closely following.

I guarantee this book is gonna rocket it's way into many horror lovers hearts and on to their Top 5 of 2024 lists.

It resides securely in the #1 spot for me,... And it's going to take one hell of a behemoth of a book to knock it out.

Full Review coming in October. (Publication Date: October 15)

American Rapture is a story filled with emotion and heart that paints a disturbing picture of the dangers of blind faith.

I really enjoyed this book but I think I would be remiss to not heavily encourage checking trigger warnings before reading. This is a horror novel, so violence, death, and a healthy dose of gore is expected (and delivered!). The premise of this book is a zombie-esque virus that causes people to lose their impulse control for lust - leading to sexual assault. The plot of the book also heavily revolves around the main character's religious trauma, so if those themes are a trigger for you, be aware going into this book that they are heavily entwined throughout. Additional warning that is a spoiler: (view spoiler - detailed animal death). I will say that the inclusion of all of these serve a purpose and are not flippantly included for shock value.

On to the review!
This book is WILD. Watching the main character attempt to overcome her extremely strict religious upbringing in the midst of a sexually aggressive pandemic is such a unique plot! Her journey was compelling and interesting to follow. It very much reads as the inside of a teenage girl's head/ As an adult it was frustrating at times to experience her thoughts of other people and discovering her sexuality during what is truly the ultimate life or death scenario. But at the same time it made Sophie (the MC) that much more of a realistic and compelling character. As an older ten escaping an oppressively religious upbringing, and having her first real contact with the rest of the world during a pandemic, logically she would be trapped between this teenage awakening and the perils of the dangerous new world around her.

The author does an amazing job of introducing you to new characters and causing you to become attached to them in such a short time- much like Sophie becomes attached to them in such a short time. Over the span of just a few short chapters they become so important, causing the reader to feel Sophie's pain when they're ripped away.

The blurb of this book really tells you all you need to know going in - but especially sums up that "she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin." I'm a sucker for any book that turns a critical lens on religious and blind faith, so this book immediately got points for that, and earned the rest of a full 5 stars through earnest and emotional writing, and a heart-wrenching connection with the reader.

WOW.

I am a horror girlie and it takes ALOT to make me uncomfortable or cringe but CJ Leede hit all the horror marks! Not only that, while hitting all the horror feels she tied in self discovery, coming of age, complicated family relations, accepting fluid sexuality, etc.

This novel takes place in the midwest where a virus is infecting the population at alarming numbers. At first it just seems like a COVID type virus but then it mutates into something so much worse and scarier. The virus turns people into zombies whose only firing neuron is the one that drives lust and the need for sexual release.

We follow the female MC Sophie who is a sheltered girl and has to learn about the world during this terrifying pandemic. We make friends with Sophie along the way and she even finds her soul-dog who is a giant wolflike dog that protects her at all costs.

Serious trigger warnings on this one - especially having do with SA.
But I HIGHLY recommend this read. I will be thinking about this for a long time.

Also, I never cry... but when I tell you I was sobbing for the last 50 or so pages. My poor partner thought I was having a breakdown haha.

Raised Catholic in a small town, Sophie who is 16 years old, must navigate around the Midwest while a virus plagues America. This book had horror elements, found family, coming of age, and final girl themes. This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year! The FMC's journey is amazing and heartbreaking. The ending will have you shattered. I definitely recommend this book to horror fans!

This book is everything. A coming-of-age in a zombie apocalypse, found family, political/societal commentary, and a deep dive into religion. Every aspect was done in such a meaningful and full way that just felt correct. There was no part of the plot that I felt was unnecessary and everything connected in a heartbreaking but beautiful way.

The story follows Sophie, an extremely sheltered Catholic teenager. Her twin brother was taken a few years before after her parent found out he was gay and sent him to a conversion group. When a zombie apocalypse begins, turning the infected into list filled zombies, Sophie sees her own parents become infected, she and decides she must find her twin brother wherever he ended up. The rest of the book follows her journey, the people she meets, and the questions she has surrounding her religion.

This book had me absolutely hooked from the first chapter and it was all I can think about for the three days I read it. I fell in love with all of the characters and their stories and really gained so much from this reading experience. Easily one of the best fiction books I’ve ever read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Sophie is a devout religious daughter growing up in a christian extremest family. After a strange sickness begins working its way through the country Sophie is forced to flee home and head out into a sinful world in order to find her brother. Sophie’s journey is not for the faint of heart and with each trial she faces she begins to question her morals and what it means to be a young girl coming into adulthood.

As I write this review I lay in bed holding my dog sobbing. This book was not what I expected it to be. I expected it to be similar to her previous book Maeve Fly (which I enjoyed) but gave us so much more. This story explores grief, growing up, family, friendships, religious trauma and maturing as a young impressionable girl in today society. This book was thrilling, devastating and horrific. It leaves you with equal parts hope and despair. I loved every minute of it but in all honesty I’ll never forgive C.J. Leede for the turmoil I feel for that dang dog. RIP Burghest.

TW

SA
Religious Trauma
Death of a child
Death of an animal
Homophobia

Catholic Guilt and the End of the World give rise to a heady mix in American Rapture.

The story follows Sophie as she’s given a bite of the apple and descends into the sinful world of knowledge of good and evil.

Perfect for fans of Hell Followed with Us.

One of the best reads of 2024.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

When you’re raised in a righteous community as a young woman, one thing is drilled into your head - “ Beware of lust; it corrupteth both the body and the mind.” What’s a teenage girl to do when curiosity is the lust of the mind? Sophie is torn between what she has always known and the world outside of her small Midwest town. Parents and teachers telling her to stand with the Lord only for those like minded people to forsake the innocent. When Sylvia, a new virus, sweeps across America, Sophie is faced with an impossible choice. Her hand forced, she ventures out to search for answers, finding unlikely companionship along the way. Horrors of this changing world plague Sophie as she questions her beliefs and faith. She needs to stay curious, it might be the only thing that keeps her alive.

I will start off by saying rarely ever am I frightened by a story, regardless of the format. What Leede did with American Rapture was haunting.

Off the heels of Maeve Fly, Leede came out swinging with her second novel. I’m so glad horror has taken on more modern day religious extremism. Head on, this is a creature feature; as the reader delves more into the story, they discover the true monsters set on purging the sinners. A sinner is a person who transgresses against divine law by committing immoral acts, not someone that goes against YOUR beliefs. Leede could not have set the scene better. This story wouldn’t have hit as hard if it took place anywhere other than today’s America.

Leede’s dialogue feels true to how a teenager who is discovering parts about themselves would talk especially to people who don’t share the same ideology. She also splices in “How To” sections into the story as if Sophie is remembering all the information she has compiled from reading books other than the Bible. American Rapture was a fast-paced read that you don’t want to put down. This book is one the reader will not soon forget.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the arc!
Oh man where to begin. CJ put a piece of herself into this book and it shows. The prose was great, the characters were believable and including places that exist in real life was super fun because I could google where she was at and see it for myself.
Adding elements to make me feel morally conflicted right along with Sophie was genius. This book is going to sit with me for a long time and I can honestly say without any hesitation it is the best thing I have read all year.

6/8/2024
SOBBING.

I’ll sort this review after I’ve processed a bit more.

Preorder the HELL out of this one. It comes out Oct 15, 2024.


Update 7/19/2024
DON'T READ THE AUTHOR NOTES UNTIL THE END. They're at the end for a reason, trust me.

I thought about this book for a month before writing a review. I really just want everyone to read it and love it as much as I do.

This is a horror story, but there is hope.

On the surface, this is a survival story. The main character, Sophie, is a 16yo young woman raised by religious zealot parents. A pandemic forces Sophie to leave her home and everything she has ever known in hopes of finding her brother. Facing challenges she has been sheltered from, Sophie is both horrified and in awe of the world around her.

In her second novel, Leede’s has given us a story that we can connect with, a character we can root for, and people we will love along the way. She made me laugh. She made me cringe. She made me cry so much.

I love this book!





Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the eARC of this book! It was both and honor and a pleasure to read!

_American Rapture_ is a tragic, suspenseful, and unputdownable apocalyptic horror read. It follows Sophie, an extremely sheltered teen, as she experiences a pandemic that halts everyday life and leaves those infected violent with lust. Sophie is forced to reconsider her faith and evaluate her sheltered upbringing in order to trust others and survive. It’s an emotional and entertaining book that will engross the reader.

Wow!!

I’m not normally a horror girl— but I’ve been dipping my toes into it because it was something I enjoyed as a teen. This was EVERYTHING. I very much enjoyed the world and the characters that was present. The theme of acceptance and finding yourself was amazing

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.

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.

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!

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.

American Rapture is the second novel by CJ Leede and it follows a very sheltered catholic teenager named Sophie who finds herself in the middle of the apocalypse. Surrounded by sex obsessed zombies, Sophie is determined to find a way to her twin brother. Meeting several different people along the way, Sophie learns more about herself and the world in this coming of age horror novel.

I read an arc of this author’s debut novel and while that was a gory romp, this book has a lot more introspection. This book is for the people who are dealing with religious trauma from their childhood. I feel like this book approached religion in such an interesting way. There were times that this book felt incredibly relevant to things that are happening in the world right now.

I found this book to be incredibly captivating. I was so engrossed in it every time I picked it up and I think that’s because of the great character work Leede is able to do in this story. The writing style has a certain snappiness to it that keeps the story moving and the way that it is told from Sophie’s perspective really allows the reader to learn with the character.

This book also has an almost episodic quality to it. Like while I was reading it, I kept thinking that it would make a perfect mini series because of the way it could be broken down. I think anyone who is a fan of things like The Walking Dead or The Last of Us would love this. Anything that has a zombie type vibe but is really more about human nature.

This book is very different from Maeve Fly but I feel like I loved it just as much in a different way. This is definitely one of my top books of the year and I will be recommending it to everyone who will listen.

Thank you NetGalley and TOR for providing me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First, WOW this was incredible, thought provoking, shocking, touching, and unique take on an apocalyptic sci-fi horror. I devoured this in under 24-hours. It was an engrossing read that weaves together themes and compelling characters. The story's pacing keeps you hooked from start to finish, with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. The author's ability to blend different elements into a cohesive narrative is impressive, making this book a must-read for anyone who enjoys a mix of suspense and reflection on deeper societal issues. Definitely worth picking up if you're in the mood for something that challenges your perspective while entertaining you.

American Rapture is a complete departure from Maeve Fly regarding protagonists. Maeve is violent and kinky while Sophie is a tender-hearted virgin. The apocalypse is here and it comes in the form of a virus that causes those infected to become sexually feral. Sophie goes on a wild road trip across the Midwest in search of her brother but also tries to outrun a virus that is infecting everyone. While the virus sounds horrific (because the person dies a few days later after being infected), the real horror is how Sophie was brought up. Sophie had a very strict Catholic upbringing that had her parents not allowing her to watch television or read books they didn’t approve of. Her descriptions of her upbringing – the constant fear, guilt, and shame are scary (and can understand why people decided to remove themselves from religion when that is what is being preached). I guess for me, despite being Catholic, I was raised very liberal and so never understood the restrictions some of my friends had (I’ve also noticed that Italian Catholics are more chill cause Roman paganism still hovers predominately over us). This is to say that the most horrific things that happen in this novel are caused by the religious cult and misogynistic men – which are very real horrors (and ones we deal with in our own lives). If you enjoyed movies like Zombieland, you will love this novel as the group of characters get to visit and stay in some really fun Midwestern locations (I was having a blast Googling and finding pix of these crazy but cool places!). This book will make you feel all the feelings – but there are enough horrific, gory scenes for the extreme horror lovers out there. I really loved reading this and going on this wild ride, and Leede always lands her endings in ways that are hard to beat. This is a phenomenal novel that is jam-packed with emotion and grit, and never a dull moment in sight.

I recommend this book if you love horror that leans on cults, conspiracy theories, pandemics, and zombies (although not entirely zombies, what happens to the infected is close enough).

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"American Rapture" by CJ Leede is an apocalyptic coming of age horror novel following a young woman searching for her brother amidst a mysterious Pandemic.

This book is simply beautiful. It challenges ideas of what it's like to find yourself through the lens of what it's like to be a woman. Atmosphere and tension breathes through its pores to create a creepy, sad and exhilarating ride.

This book is a slow burn and at times I struggled with it, but for me I feel it was less about the pace and more about the material. I could see it being adapted into an awesome TV show a-la "The Last Of Us".

I can't wait for this book's release so I can proudly display it on my shelf.

Thank you endlessly to NetGalley and Tor who gifted me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is easily one of my favorite reads this year, and I'm super pumped for the release of this book. It only took pressure from everyone telling me to read it, but I finally got to it, and now I need to get on with Maeve Fly. CJ Leede is a beautiful writer. This book made me feel a thousand emotions, and chapter 41 made all those feelings pour out. I appreciate my emotional support friends through this read who knew what I was getting myself into. I'm gonna gift this book to so many people.