Camilla Bruce

You Let Me In delivers a stunning tale from debut author Camilla Bruce, combining the sinister domestic atmosphere of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects with the otherwordly thrills of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Cassandra Tipp is dead...or is she? After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy—everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie's infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far). Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body—just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript. Then again, there are enough bodies in her past—her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother. Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story—but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods—and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare...

You Let Me In

Colleen

3.5 Stars
 
*A dark, twisted tale of trauma and the evil we let into our lives*


You Let Me In is one of those books that is hard to describe. I can’t really even say that I liked it. After all, it doesn’t bode well to like a story about such dark topics. And I have to admit that reading this book was frustrating at times. And yet, it was a story that ultimately pulled me into its tangled web.


  “This is the story as I recall it, and yours now too, to guard or treasure or forget as you please. I wanted someone to know, you see. To know my truth, now that I am gone.

How everything and none of it happened.”

The story had a rough start. I very nearly abandoned it in the first chapter. Mostly because I despite second person, present tense. Just, no! On top of that, the beginning was so confusing. As it turns out, the narrator wrote a letter to her niece and nephew explaining her infamous life. But it was befuddling because Cassie basically imagined their reactions to the letter then wrote that down in minute detail. So it came across like an omnipresent narrator watching events in real time rather than someone just imagining what might happen. Pardon me for being frustrated when you tell me something is happening only to find out that is simply what the narrator fancies might happen.

The story was gripping while I was reading it. And yet, every time I put it down, I was never in a rush to pick it up again. I set it aside for days at a time, so despite only being novella-length, it took me quite a week and a half to get through it. Probably because of the general bleakness of the subject matter.

On top of that, the narration is rambling and full of run-on sentences. And people just don’t write like that in letters. They don’t describe such minutia or recap entire conversations verbatim from decades ago. Of course, since Cassie is clearly an unreliable narrator, it is hard to take anything at face value. But then, that sort of becomes the point…

The majority of the story is epistolary, told in the form of Cassie’s letter. There were a few newspaper articles and documents mixed in though. And let me say that this is not a story for everyone! If you dislike traumatic subject matter, unreliable narrators, ambiguous/nonlinear storylines, or faeries that aren’t cute and harmless, then You Let Me In is not the book for you!

This is a difficult book to rate. It's going to be one that most people either love or hate. The writing is very stylized, the storyline is nonlinear, the narrator is unreliable, and the plot is intentionally ambiguous. Nevertheless, the story drew me in, and I was intrigued by the premise. The story is atmospheric and haunting.

The main character, Cassandra, tells two versions of her life. One where she can see faeries (the wicked, trickster kind not the cutesy Disney kind that grant wishes and fart glitter) and is haunted by their capricious acts. One faery in particular claims Cassie as his own and rules her life, feeding off her blood as well as raping her from a young age.

In the other version, Cassie's abuse has a very human source and the faeries are a coping delusion. Either way, the story is full of trauma. Content warnings are a little hard to give because most things are presented in the story as possible realities not actual facts. But since they are mentioned in the book in one way or another. I’ll still include them: (view spoiler)[rape, incest, emotional and physical abuse, trauma/PTSD, pregnancy from rape, abortion, miscarriage, murder, and mental illness. (hide spoiler)] Although things are not described in overly graphic detail, they are continuously referred to. I would not recommend this to any sensitive readers. However, if you don't mind stories about trauma and evil faeries, then this is an absorbing tale.

I’ve mostly mentioned the aspects of You Let Me In that I didn’t like. But despite those, I did find the overall story quite compelling. It is gritty and dark and captivating. Unreliable narrators usually don’t fit my fancy, but Cassie’s fragmented, fractured narrative was so reflective of her mental trauma that it enhanced the atmospheric feel of the story.


  “What is born of cruelty begets cruelty. You cannot love darkness back to life. What is dead is dead, what is hate will hate. I was born to this, Mother. I was born to be your spear.”

I liked that the story had some serious The Turn of the Screw vibes. Both the ambiguity of the plot and the themes of hidden ordeals strongly reminded me of that book. I also enjoyed the portrayal faeries more in line with mythology. Traditional faeries were mischievous and malevolent, not the noxiously cute kind portrayed in cartoons.


  “I have grown used to the taste of you now. You let me in, and here I am, forever yours till the end.”

I have noticed that some people are billing this as a murder mystery. It absolutely is not! Although there are murders in the book, this is definitely not a mystery. This is the type of story where the reader is told exactly what will happen then is slowly given the details of what led up to those events. There may be elements of suspense, but it still is not a mystery.

Although I had some big critiques about You Let Me In, it was nevertheless an impressive debut. I’m glad that I did not give up on this book, because it certainly is one that will stick in my mind. Bruce’s writing shows a lot of promise and creativity. I look forward to checking out more of her work in the future.

(I'm really underwhelmed by that cover though! Bleh.)


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Raven Walker

'This might be the best book I've read all year' JOANNE HARRIS 'A glorious, pitch-black fairytale of a book' KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Things We Say in the Dark 'A feast of storytelling...lingers long after the last morsel's been consumed' SAM LLOYD, author of The Memory Wood 'Brutal and beguiling story of love and revenge' LUCIE McKNIGHT HARDY, author of Water Shall Refuse Them 'Lascivious and bloody' JAMES LOVEGROVE in the Financial Times Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder. Even her family were convinced of her guilt. So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her. But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories. One is a story of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . . The other is the story of a little girl trying to make sense of a damaged life lived in the shadows . . . But which story is true? Unsettling yet unputdownable, You Let Me In dares to cross the boundary between reality and somewhere else entirely . . . ________________________ What readers are saying... 'I loved this book, was blown away by it' 'I would certainly read more from this author' 'Unexpected, thrilling and darkly twisted' 'I found myself thinking about it for several days afterwards' 'The writing was just sensational' 'An impressive debut' 'I would love to see Guillermo del Toro make a movie based on this story'

sofie schei

Elfie Jeong

Adrianne

'This might be the best book I've read all year' JOANNE HARRIS 'A glorious, pitch-black fairytale of a book' KIRSTY LOGAN 'A masterclass in storytelling' DAILY MAIL 'Deeply unsettling' CAITLIN STARLING 'Deliciously terrifying' GUARDIAN Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder. Even her family were convinced of her guilt. So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her. But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories. One is a story of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . . The other is the story of a little girl who was cruelly treated and grew up crooked in the shadows . . . But which story is true? And where is Cassie now? ________________________ What readers are saying... ***** 'A haunting and beautifully written story of dark relationships' ***** 'This story lures you in and doesn't let you go . . . If you love a dark and twisted tale to lose yourself in, this is it.' ***** 'A unique and twisted dark faerie tale' ***** 'I loved this book, was blown away by it'

You Let Me In

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