Setting the Scene: 🇺🇸 University town in Georgia, USA

POV: We follow an introverted literary studies prof recently single after a long-term relationship, and just settling in to their new lifestyle

 

-Cottagecore slice-of-life 

-Dark cozy, suggestive, not all is as it seems food and body horror (that could be a good book club discussion book)

-Sensory, atmospheric writing with like/love-at-first-sight, friends-to-lovers relationship suspense

-Exploring themes of longing, desire, obsession, curiousity, trust, infatuation, love, connection, passion, and decadence. 

 

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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕

 

🎬 Tale-Telling: I never thought I’d write this, I never knew I wanted this. I want so much more of this: Laura Ingalls Wilder farm-to-table coziness meets relatable loving-an-introvert being-loved-as-an-introvert struggles meets Dexter and Hannibal for a besties brunch. 

 

🤓 Reader’s Role: Slice-of-life story that we are watching from the sidelines and feeling the atmospheric, sensory, subtle undercurrents of coziness and darkness. 

 

👥 Characters: Our MC, Rosemary, is navigating single life and all the insecurities and past traumas that come with a break-up, but she isn’t afraid to set boundaries, even when smitten by enigmatic Lily. Lily is the personification of red flag vs self-discovered. She is mysterious, yet calm and able to articulate her own boundaries, and I found myself agreeing with her more than Rosemary. It made total sense until it didn’t…

 

🗺️ Ambiance: Comforting, chilling, eerie, cozy, satisfying, low-key productivity/satisfactions. Lots of second hand satisfaction/productivity energy. 

 

🔥 Fuel: There is a romantic suspense aspect but it’s more of a slow burn that’s about emotional connections instead of steamy scenes, and we spend most of that exploring the terrain between friendship and something more. A lot of the drive to keep reading was based on the writing, where the detailed descriptions of food somehow parallel fear and there’s symbolism in the sensory buffets, artisanal goods, and tactile joys of soaps and cupcakes and leaves. 

 

🚙 Journey: Loved every moment. Wouldn’t have gravitated to this based on synopsis, but so happy I found it. It has a way of blending genres, serving up a story that's equal parts comforting and chilling. Perfect for those who like their romance with a hint of horror, and their horror with a garnish of romance.

 

 

🤓 What worked: Everything about this book worked for me. It's a journey through the familiar and the unsettling, with twists that feel like the literary equivalent of finding a worm in an otherwise perfect apple. 

🫠 What didn’t: n/a

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Content Heads-Up: Food horror (graphic moments, but not present throughout the book). Sexual content (insinuated/recalled, not graphic). Infatuation/obsession. Murder/torture and body horror (brief, graphic, on page). Infidelity (brief, recall, off-page). Body insecurity. Animal death (farm pest;

killing raccoon

). Child abuse (memory, recall). 

Rep: Queer, bisexual, and questioning. Fat and thin characters. White and racially ambiguous characters. Cisgender.

 

👀 Format: Library Digital

 

“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”

 

😍 Potential Fav of 2024