Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Nestlings

I enjoyed this for a lot of reasons, but it definitely comes second to Mary (which blew me away with how much I just LOVED it). I really liked Ana as a character - her disability and her relationship with motherhood were so good. I also absolutely loveeeed the inherent Jewish-ness of the novel. I think the way it was incorporated was so satisfying and the fact that you couldn’t have major plot beats happen if you erased the Judaic aspects is so chef’s kiss. I’m not even religious and I want to see more religion in horror. The vampires were an interesting new take too. Not my favourite the way they were presented but definitely novel and cool! I do wish the book had maybe been a bit more scary or had more of the vampires doin their thing than it did, but also hearing about it was so GROSS LMAO that maybe I’m good with what we got. I also really enjoy hearing Nat Cassidy’s thoughts at the end of the book and it felt comforting that his 2021 was as much a dumpster fire hell year as mine was, even though I wish very much that there wasn’t need for comfort or to be comforting. Also Reed wins shittiest man award I hated him and baby bird was the cutest friggin nickname ever ok that’s all :)

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jkpiowa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A retelling of Rosemary's Baby that was... fine. If you've read Rosemary's Baby, or seen the movie, you don't really need to read this. It was written well and took a slightly different path at the end, but the overall themes and ideas are the same. I did appreciate the perspective of the female MC at the end, it was different and unexpected.

The landlord character seemed somewhat superfluous to me. The author needed a nefarious villain and threw him in, but he was more a convenient bad-guy plot device than a well rounded character.

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thefinalfangirl's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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cortanasreadingnook's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Know your home. Know you’re home.”

4.5 ⭐️

When I tell you nothing could have seriously prepared me for this book. I am so fucking amazed at how Nestlings is a horror story that also teaches the bitter, painful realization of grief and heartbreak. Eerily so, this story begins when a couple with their baby daughter moves into the Deptford, a luxurious high-rise building from winning the lottery. Things have been fine till they start noticing creepy shit going on inside the building and when their baby starts showing up with bite marks, they later realize that the Deptford is hiding something. The plot escalated from there and it’s just so mindfucking. You’d think this was simply a book about vampires, but it really isn’t. This book will truly leave you speechless. It’s about how beautiful and scary motherhood can be and that it can truly fuck you up. It was an emotionally challenging read for me and

I think I’ll be suffering because of this book days from now. I’ve loved horror & slasher films since I was a kid but reading this was truly an unforgettable experience.

Content Warnings

alisonvh's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Rosemary’s Baby meets Salem’s Lot. ‘Nough said.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

When it was pitched to me as "Rosemary's Baby meets Salem's Lot in New York City", I was interested. When I listened to Nat Cassidy talk about this book and he said it was, in part, a Jewish vampire story, I was sold. It more than delivered on those promises with a building that feels alive, some of the most horrific body horror I've ever read, and an extremely satisfying series of Chekov's guns going off at the end.

Please publishers, give us more disabled protagonists and more Jewish horror!

Content Warnings

aparker89's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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