Daryl Gregory

From the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders comes the gripping tale of a family's mysterious religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their god. In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. These remote hills of the Smoky Mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as Ghostdaddy. Fifteen years later, after a tragic incident had caused her to flee, Stella--now a professional moonshiner and bootleger--returns for Motty's funeral, only to discover a mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny living on the property. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could ever imagine--and a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith. Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.

Revelator

Claire Jorgensen

Stella didn't know how to kill it. But the Bible had taught her how to negotiate with gods. All you had to do was be willing to murder what you loved.

this is such a good section of dialogue and quite honestly maybe some of my favorite of all time. And it just keeps GOING

"You still believe in eternal security, don't you, Elder Rayburn? Once saved, always saved?"

"Even the devil can quote scripture," Rayburn said evenly, "You always had a talent for it."

"There's one I remember about God granting eternal life," Stella said. "And no man shall pluck them out of My hand."

"Only God knows if she was in His hand to begin with."

A breathtaking story about belonging, emancipation and the old god of the mountain. This book made me laugh, brought me to tears, had me squirming in my seat, and I was drawn in from the first until the last page. 

Nezumi

Couldn’t put it down, love a good folk horror. 

Jules

Southern gothic at its finest. A dual timeline story of Stella and the women that preceded her who are the only people who can commune with the mysterious god in the mountain. I absolutely loved this slow burning examination of religion, its faults, and those to seek to exploit it for the sake of power. An unexpected and exciting new favorite for me. 

Grace M

I currently cannot find anything deeply wrong with this book to warrant it getting less than 5 stars. The writing is snappy and the dialogue quick. The last third of the book was thrilling which all ended with bone-chilling paragraph that will definitely haunt me a bit. Ethel Cain would love this book 💕.

Janice Hopper

A nice gothic tale of a mountain mystery and the families caught up in it.

I was a little dubious at the way some of the family reacted to events, but it wasn't enough to really throw me out of the book. 

I listened to this as audiobook from Kobo. It took me a while to warm to the narrator. By the end, though, I'd fallen into the story enough that she no longer bothered me.

Not too gory, not too spooky. The story bounces from its "current" day (1948) and a period 10 years earlier. We get the backstory of what's going on in bits and pieces. This actually worked pretty well.

I mostly listen to audiobooks when I'm doing something else (cleaning, laundry, knitting, etc). They really make sometimes onerous burdens slide smoothly by.

While the story took a little while to get into, the writing was beautiful, immersive, and just the right amount of spooky. I wished for a little more world building or background, but the ending felt satisfying and left me with a few questions that I someday hope to get the answer to. Great spooky season read!

Alex Goodwin

Jasmine

In 1933, nine-year-old Stella was left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. The mountains are home to dangerous secrets. Soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy.

Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella—now a professional bootlegger—returns for Motty's funeral and checks on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine—and she’s a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith. 

I wasn’t sure what to think going into Revelator. It was one of those books where one word made me question why I even thought to request it. That word? Ghostdaddy. You want your gods to inspire fear to control the masses properly, so I wasn’t sure where this would go with that kind of name. How wrong I was. Revelator doesn’t need a big scary god so much as it needs mostly blind followers searching for eternal life. That’s always more of the issue than the actual omnipotence. Add strong female characters, and you’ve got a killer story. 

I ended up being incredibly impressed with this story and the writing style. Stella, our main character, is headstrong and self-sufficient. I can’t think of many characters I’ve enjoyed more lately. She makes this book impossible to want to put down. The supporting characters are all incredibly well written, too. Stella is an even better character due to her supportive and understanding friends. The other, more despicable characters build upon Stella’s resolve, which makes her even more badass. Revelator is an unexpected 5-star book, but a 5-star book nonetheless. I recommend preordering or picking this novel up upon release.

Paola C

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC!

So this book was no what I expected. I believe this is classified as horror, which I typically don't read many books on, but the fact that there was a god called Ghostdaddy intrigued me. That being said, this wasn't scary to me, there were creepy elements, yes, but nothing that I would truly say was horrifying. I will say that the writing kept me going and the fact that Ghostdaddy is a creepy being that is manipulative, to the point that there is basically a cult around him. Basically, everybody in this story is messed up because of the cove and the god deity that they think will be their savior. 

I will also say that nothing really happens until you are about 80% into the book, then after that, the last 20% is nonstop action.

Jeanne L Collier

Morgan Thompson

Lennox Johnson 

Joni

Sadie Kimbrough

baku

Karen E

Dipo Apelehin

The dark, gripping tale of a 1930’s family in the remote hills of the Smoky Mountains, their secret religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their mysterious god—from the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders. “Gods and moonshine in the Great Depression, written with a tenderness and brutality … this is as good as novels get.” —Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. The mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy. Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella—now a professional bootlegger—returns for Motty's funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine—and she’s a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith. Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.

Revelator

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