3.5 rounded up. Audiobook version. This is a very interesting, and heart wrenching, take on the big bad wolf. Through a horror lens, we examine the complicated relationships children have with their parents and the manifestations of those relationships. We follow Jess, a young aspiring actress, as she finds herself on the run with a young child who has secrets of his own. The magical realism element was a welcome surprise, which kicked off around 31% in. As with all of his books, Nat is excellent at bringing his characters to life and making you truly care about them, their motivations, and the things they experience. The narrarator did a wonderful job bringing Jess and the boy to life. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this one just doesn't reach 5 stars for me. I think this will very easily find its audience of fans and is a good additional to Nat Cassidy's publication list.

This was an emotional rollercoaster I was not prepared for coming into this book. An endless thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy.

Wow. Jess was a wonderful main character, and I absolutely loved her internal monologue, she was hilarious. I near lost my mind at the description of one character being “an old man the consistency of beef jerky”. Alongside these little quips of comedy, there were some really dark and gruesome scenes, but it was also tragic and heart warming all at the same time.

This has the makings of a real horror classic, twisty, addictive and thrilling.

I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. Not only is it a perfect metaphor for crappy fathers, but the twists at the end especially you just don't see coming. It's also a story of how fear shapes and destroys the good things in our lives. Everything about this book was so powerful and wonderfully done. The characters are believable and you really root for them. Everything is fleshed out perfectly. I would highly recommend it.