Jessica Lourey

Inspired by a terrifying true story, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota town where nothing is as quiet--or as safe--as it seems. Cassie McDowell's life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents' strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she's grown accustomed to them. All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale. One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed--violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who's responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie's own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

Unspeakable Things

The book explores horror so subtly that you'll start to question everything and everyone you know. It gives a glimpse into what goes on behind closed doors as well as right in front of us, carefully hidden by those in powerful positions. I would highly recommend it. 

Hannah Colbert

Denaiir

I was really into this book and finished it in 2 days, but the more I think about it, the less I think I'm going to remember it in a few months. 

I loved 12yo Cassie as the main character, which was surprising since I don't like kids. Her thoughts were juvenile but she was smart, which was actually quite refreshing (the last time I read a thriller with a child narrator she was creepy, Cassie was a regular kid and her age was transcribed pretty well by the author). And the fact that it was set in the 80's brought back lots of good memories. 

The story was quite suspenseful, but since it was told from Cassie's point of view, it felt a little bit unfinished because she doesn't know much throughout the book, even though the start of the book is her reminiscing as an adult. The mystery of the boys being attacked isn't the main focus, it's more about Cassie's coming of age and her weird family, her starting to understand things better (that scene with her aunt was very disturbing). I enjoyed both sides but understand that it could be quite annoying if you're just looking for a mystery, and that's why I generally like procedurals better.

Some parts of the book are either a bit too obvious or too much is left unexplained. The parents' parties are pretty obvious (even more if you've read the synopsis which gave it all away) but there are weird things that come back a lot and don't have any implications in the end (for example, why is the dad always clipping his nails, except to add a disgust factor? what the heck was the purpose of the stawberries' line?). 

The ending really fell flat for me, there were many options for the culprit and I didn't really enjoy the big reveal because I think other suspects would have made the story more interesting. But maybe since it's based on true facts the author just kept true to the actual story. And the final chapter was really unsatisfying, I was not into it and it felt unresolved. 

Jess Lourey also released an epilogue, here is the link to it, even though I personally really didn't like it: http://jessicalourey.com/survey-two

Emily Pauls

this was so creepy and gross, it made my skin crawl. but i also couldn’t stop reading it

Lacey Feigl

Small town life in Minnesota during the 80s was a turning event for most parents. When word gets around that young boys are being sexually assaulted, they aren't quite believed. Especially because they're from the wrong side of the tracks. But Cassie, a nice middle school-aged farm girl notices a change in the boys. She has problems of her own and feels as though she can recognize that they have become broken. When her crush goes missing she feels like she needs to solve the case and save the boy she likes.
     Unspeakable Things is 283 pages long and took me 3 days to read.
     This book gave me nightmares! I'm giving it a 3 out of 5! I didn't know if I would be able to finish it because it creeped me out so bad. I did enjoy Cassie as a character and was rooting for her throughout the book. Be wary of this book if you have a difficult time reading about child abuse!
     Thank you, Thomas & Mercer, for sending me this copy!
     Here's to the adventure of finding a novel novel!     Lacey

Tamara

This dark tale inspired by real life 80's crime case has captured the essence of mystery and hidden dirt in human roots through perspective of 12 year old Cassie.

To sum it up, I think the story was captured in original light and freshness. It felt real but at the same time kept its own aesthetical beat of nostalgia and intensive thoughts of little people and how in a lot of cases they see what adults reject to admit is on display.

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

** spoiler alert **
           Written by Jess Lourey, Unspeakable Things follows Cassie as, in the 80’s, her small town in Minnesota deals with the boys disappearing and coming back… changed.

Before I go any further: there is child abuse and child murder in this novel. This is not a happy novel. And if you want to read this just to read about the murder, while that isn’t the only focus of this story.

Okay.

So.

This review will be hidden for spoilers, because I can’t review this without discussing the spoilers.

This is a really well written thriller/murder/mystery novel. Very well written. And it deals with very tough topics. Child abuse. Children having sex with … okay. I guess there is a line for spoilers I am willing to not cross.

The fact that the father WASN’T the guy doing all of this, and the fact that she was only saved BECAUSE DAD WAS LOOKING FOR HER? I just… creepy crawlies.

This is one of those books that you don’t really want to read, but if you don’t think bad people exist, read this book. All the characters are fictional, but it was inspired by something that did actually happen.

If you like a novel that looks at the dark parts of humanity, this is a great novel to read.

Unspeakable Things

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