We are all just dry tinder. And eventually we will all burn.
PLOT SUMMARY:
A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust. Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin.
GRADE: A
REVIEW:
American Rapture is a complete departure from Maeve Fly regarding protagonists. Maeve is violent and kinky while Sophie is a tender-hearted virgin. The apocalypse is here and it comes in the form of a virus that causes those infected to become sexually feral. Sophie goes on a wild road trip across the Midwest in search of her brother but also tries to outrun a virus that is infecting everyone. While the virus sounds horrific (because the person dies a few days later after being infected), the real horror is how Sophie was brought up. Sophie had a very strict Catholic upbringing that had her parents not allowing her to watch television or read books they didn’t approve of. Her descriptions of her upbringing – the constant fear, guilt, and shame are scary (and can understand why people decided to remove themselves from religion when that is what is being preached). I guess for me, despite being Catholic, I was raised very liberal and so never understood the restrictions some of my friends had (I’ve also noticed that Italian Catholics are more chill cause Roman paganism still hovers predominately over us). This is to say that the most horrific things that happen in this novel are caused by the religious cult and misogynistic men – which are very real horrors (and ones we deal with in our own lives). If you enjoyed movies like Zombieland, you will love this novel as the group of characters get to visit and stay in some really fun Midwestern locations (I was having a blast Googling and finding pix of these crazy but cool places!). This book will make you feel all the feelings – but there are enough horrific, gory scenes for the extreme horror lovers out there. I really loved reading this and going on this wild ride, and Leede always lands her endings in ways that are hard to beat. This is a phenomenal novel that is jam-packed with emotion and grit, and never a dull moment in sight.
I recommend this book if you love horror that leans on cults, conspiracy theories, pandemics, and zombies (although not entirely zombies, what happens to the infected is close enough).
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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The Inkblotters 
I’m reading this right now and I love it so far! I was raised Catholic but I don’t follow it anymore. I knew someone who had family who took religion as far as it is depicted in this book and it’s not just scary it’s truly sad.
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I was also raised Catholic, but I’ve noticed that Italian Catholicism isn’t as extreme as American Catholicism seems to be, because my experience growing up was entirely different (like I was allowed to watch horror movies, listen to whatever music I wanted). The extremes some ppl take religion though is really nuts!
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It wasn’t extreme for me either to be fair. What happened was I met someone (my ex boyfriend) online and his parents were extremely religious but they followed a hybrid Jewish/christian religion I couldn’t remember exactly what it was. His family had it super extreme, limited internet time, limited music, limited everything. He was beat up for being caught when he found porn. It was a surprise at all that he managed to talk to me at the time. Everything ended pretty horribly cause he ran away from home and then they brought him back and because I was with someone else (I never cheated he ghosted me for a year.. I realize now that was his family taking away any internet access and I fell in love with someone else only for him to contact me 3 months after I was already in another relationship) and things got very complicated he told me never to speak to him again.
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Wow that seriously sucks for your ex bf. It sucks when people take religion to those extremes because it never ends well. His family sounds like a nightmare.
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It was a truly awful experience and he was my first love. I don’t blame him for the hate and anger he had towards me in the end. But I worry about him from time to time. The person I met after him is the man I’m with still, it’ll be 5 years in January. I’m happy I found true love, but I wonder sometimes if my ex’s trauma and the ideals that his family gave him will ever allow him to find the same.
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That’s sad. I hope he’s doing okay and managed to free himself of his family, because staying trapped in that situation sounds terrible.
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I wish him all the same.
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