Reliquary, for me, is a classic case of a story that started well and didn't hold together in the last act, or at least didn't deliver on its potential. I feel the biggest reasons it didn't work for me were that the monster was neither scary enough, nor enough of a threatening antagonist, and that the story would not commit to any of the darker ideas it flirted with.

The Setup + Positives

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and pacing of most of this novel. The immediate start, the exploration of grief, compartmentalization, and dissociation, and the slow buildup of horror were well done. I liked Claire and I found her reasoning for wanting to join the Ashburys pretty believable even though I couldn't relate to it myself. I felt for her, as a person about her age similarly struggling with trauma and mental illness, albiet under very different circumstances. I thought Elias was a believably awful late fiance while still being someone Claire could feel reliant on for safety and fall in love with.

I found the first two thirds of the book extremely readable and quick, and I liked the prose a lot. I also enjoyed the unique formatting of chapters and sections, and I think it contributed to the pacing. It was also pretty funny, and there was a decent amount of good character detail established.

I found Claire's voice pretty solid - she was very pragmatic, introspective, and self-aware, but I could still see the seeds of naivety and loneliness that drew her to these people.

Once the dreams started, I enjoyed the horror elements, especially the marine references and theming. The introductions to the family and the arrival on the island were pretty interesting, though I felt most of the characters were pretty thin, and the suspension of disbelief re: Claire's lack of suspicion started to suffer.

I felt the relationship between Claire and Ash had a lot of potential. Ash was likeable while still being a bit of a dick, and I did genuinely feel that he cared about Claire and liked most of their interactions, especially him looking out for her and offering small comfort. It gave me a little bit of Crimson Peak vibes, especially with the poisoned cake.

Finally, I liked that while Claire was susceptible for a long time, once she actually saw something undeniable with her own eyes, she immediately sought escape and was willing to trust Ash to get her out. I also like that Ash and Theo had a reason based on the mythology to not be able to tell Claire straight up what was happening. I don't feel that these things ultimately paid off, but it made the move into the climax interesting, and prevented me from getting too frustrated with the characters.

The Downfall

The story started to gradually show its cracks and lose believability for me, but the clear turning point was Claire being recaptured and slammed back onto the rails for the sacrifice.

Now. I absolutely love Ready or Not. And it was absolutely on my mind throughout this book. It didn't really detract from my experience of most of the book, as I felt the book was able to stand on its own. It introduced different concepts, had a protagonist who explored a couple different elements, and I think having her be a near-widow instead of a new bride was an interesting twist. Furthermore, I expected that as the plot unfolded, it would diverge from the way Ready or Not played out its climax and do something really wild and original.

So Claire getting in a car wreck and getting recaptured and strapped to the altar anyway was not encouraging. Furthermore, the dialogue between Audrey and Deirdre at this point was ridiculous to me. It was silly and caviler in the way the antagonists were in Ready or Not, but here it wasn't charming and it undermined what I thought had been one of the strengths of this novel so far.

Take the scene where they sacrificed Mike at Elias' 'grave.' It was one of the biggest red flag scenes that should have alerted Claire that things were very wrong, and it almost did, but Audrey held and soothed her, and then later cried in front of her and compelled Claire to comfort her in turn, all of which nearly convinced Claire to ignore her intincts and stay.

The biggest difference in characterization between this story and Ready or Not is that the family, at least Audrey, actually cared about and wanted to comfort Claire.

SO WHERE WAS ANY OF THAT IN THE CLIMAX. For Audrey to become an almost flat villain with none of that depth remaining in her just ruined one of the strongest aspects of the story. And in the process Deidre is just there to be annoying.

As soon as this scene started I could feel my interest in the story waning, and it never really recovered.

The God

Just nothing about this monster, this god, this antagonist worked for me. It's only vaguely alluded to as a Presence in the deep for most of the novel - great, for a Gothic story which is either going to keep it subtle and unseen or reveal something Horrific in the last act. Neither of which occurred.

It rules and systems are almost non-existent. It has a pact with 13 year old Claire consisting of a vague child's promise, something more appropriate for a fae than a sea god that intends to make her its eternal bride. It has a pact with the Ashburys that Ashbury Snr designed himself, and was allowed to keep moving goalposts and experiment with to avoid suffering the full consequences. The rituals are bland and simplistic and the god itself seemingly doesn't care about any rituals, any worship, or any minor sacrifices, only the provision of a skin. All of this is supposedly justified by this being a nascent god that the family has nourished, which is an interesting concept - however this is never explored in any substantial way, just relayed to us in one of Ash's many exposition dumps.

Furthermore, the god keeps primarily appearing in the guise of Elias and talking like a douchey rich techbro. Which Elias WAS, but the narration also makes a point that Elias never called Claire petnames, only for the god to constantly call her pet names? Okay??? He doesn't act overly affectionate with her as if he, It, the god, actually loves her or wants her in a romantic or intimate sense, and Elias never called her baby, cheated on her, and his own romantic feelings were very much in question, so why the hell is it acting like this? It's silly and it makes It seem silly and nonthreatening!!

I wasn't impressed with any of the descriptions of the god either, which may have been that I was annoyed and impatient enough to not really absorb them, but really I think that they were just vague and handwavey.

Its mythology felt really loose and unfinished. If it's been with Claire this whole time, I wish there'd been a bit more indication of that. We knew she was afraid of the ocean and small spaces, and that there was an accident she felt guilty about, but her having a pact with the god felt like such as asspull, especially when the circumstances of the pact were so weaksauce. For a character to be involved in an accident at sea as a child and very vaguely promise her life to a sea god with her dying breath is, again, an interesting premise, but it's not what I'm especially from a Gothic or Eldritch horror that strikes terror. It doesn't scream 'evil god.'

It also makes no sense that all the other characters and narrative treat her pact as if it's so serious and damning. Obviously Claire feels guilty because she's traumatized. But for Ash to respond to her confession like it's in any way equivalent to what his family does, for the family to keep saying she chose this, she gave herself, it's all utterly ridiculous. SHE WAS A CHILD!!!!!

Claire's battle within the god also had potential, and this is one point where I feel like a bit of a hater. But I just didn't think it worked. Claire gets a vague idea that maybe she can resist the god, gets swallowed, and then just… does? What did work for me here was Claire's internal dialogue of refusing to give up, despite how easy it would be. Her statement about how she would be walking herself willingly into hell. This is a very clear allegory for mental health, something along the line of the climax of Madoka Magica. The sentiment was very touching. However, this just wasn't as impactful. The narration kept offering up lines like 'maybe I can push it out' 'maybe I can make it change' to prep the reader to accept this happening, and then we're given no actual justification for how this could happen, other than 'she said so.'

As she's fighting back, Claire is thinking stuff like 'in the end, the sacrifice has to be willing,' but I feel that was not well established previously and it feels really doubtful that all the previous sacrifices acquiesced at the end. Even if they did, it still feels like a weak reasoning.

For Ash's part, I really didn't understand or enjoy his decision to embody the god. From his own point of view, I can understand the reasoning. However, for the good of the story, I think it's far less interesting to have the secondary character make such a big, status shifting choice rather than the actual protagonist. I don't see what it added to the story or their relationship, as the god wasn't fleshed out at all and neither was the way in which Claire and Ash's relationship had changed.

This god shit sucks yo.

The Unsullied Bed

I don't understand why the author put these characters in a submarine with a bed and just had them talk for a whole chapter, in an ostensibly adult Gothic horror novel.

I certainly didn't need them to actually fuck, and definitely would have had a hard time accepting a rape scene between Ash and Claire, unless he was possessed or something.

But the entire section seems utterly pointless other than exposition, and adds no tension that couldn't have been built up elsewhere. The Ashbury's just push the couple into the sub, expecting them to have sex while adding absolutely zero pressure or motivation for them to do that, and… the god also doesn't care? And the characters are not at all interested? Please explain why we're here.

There's some interesting conversation and comfort in the scene, but again, this could have been set ANYWHERE, and it was set in the sex submarine, the thing that was supposed to be Claire's ultimate dread, and then it was just mainly fine. And then they just come back up and Ash's dirty old dad grouses vaguely about them not fucking. Why is my time being wasted like this.

Speaking of, let's go back to the wedding, because it's a complete farce on every level.

Point one: A marriage can't legally be forced in this manner, so Claire and Ash a neither married legally, nor in a mutual consenual commitment, nor in the eyes of any god, because -

Point two: THE GOD DOES NOT REALLY CARE ABOUT HUMAN MARRIAGE. If it did, it would either insist that they are married in a sense that matters to them, or it would have its own marriage ritual. Instead, there are NO actual wedding vows, and Claire and Ash are not required to indicate any consent to a union or interact in any way. Patrick doesn't even say "you are married now" or rename Claire as an Ashbury, just declares they are joined under the god. This is not a farce of a marriage, it's just an utter nothing, a ceremony lasting less that thirty seconds, and the god does not care.

Point three: Again, there's no vows, no witness, no cossumation, no intent of being married, and no interaction between the bride and groom during the ceremony. There is no way in which they can be said to be married, making the whole affair pointless and laughable, even before they get in the sub.

We got a more disturbing forced wedding in A Series of Unfortunate Events. This was nothingburger.

The Romance….?

Were Claire and Ash meant to be a romance? The book doesn't want to commit. Every time Claire willingly draws close to him she reminds herself she doesn't know him. Nevermind that they're going through hell together, that she did know Elias for years and still didn't get a good and faithful partner from it, that they're about to die, that they're gods together, that she has every excuse to say fuck it and fuck him.

It would have been far more reasonable for her to abstain because she wasn't interested in a relationship with a man who stalked her, with her late partner's brother, with the person who was meant to sacrifice her. Or if she just didn't have feelings for him. Or he just didn't have feelings with her. They would have been fascinating as a deep platonic relationship.

But instead we get these vague gestures that don't really satisfy any of the options for the potential growth of their relationship, and it's boring.

The Conclusion

I find most things about Claire's epilogue and her being god-touched fairly interesting and I think the conclusion would be satisfying with a stronger climax and a bit more exploration of these ending ideas. It's nice to see her coming into herself and healing after everything, and that she's pretty accepting of the ways she's changing.

However I'm not sure what we're meant to get out of her and Ash's reunion for the previously stated reasoning and because god!Ash is just very blank and undefined as a character. It also feels unclear what Claire intends to do and how her godhood will develop. It feels as though the book is trying to suggest that she might become a divine horror herself and wreak terrible things, but isn't actually showing any of that. It feels like another failure to commit to interesting ideas and potential significant developments.

This is a fictional story involving a nascent sea god - it could do anything it wants. And what it decides to do is have the protagonist straddle worlds as a normal human woman and an unknowable horror, without any exploration into that contradiction.

Overall, I'm frustrated that this didn't push some of these ideas in more interesting ways, or explore more unique and developed elements. I feel like it could've been pretty good and it just fell flat.