Feast While You Can

September 16, 2024
In this tantalizing novel from married authors Clements and Datta (The View Was Exhausting), a horny lesbian is possessed by a monster. Angelina Sicco lives with her divorced friend Gemma and protective brother, Patrick, in “tiny ugly” Cadenze, a conservative Italian hamlet. The town only gets tourists during the summer months, when Angelina does what she can to satiate her libido. Her world is upended by the reappearance of “dykey” Jagvi, a childhood friend and Patrick’s ex, who, since her departure from Cadenze, has become smug and condescending. The Siccos joke about a folkloric soul-devouring monster called “the thing,” purported to live in the area’s caves, where they sometimes go to party. When the thing follows Angelina home one night, she becomes violently possessed by it. She turns for help to Jagvi, and the women reckon with their long-simmering mutual desire and resentment as they work to vanquish the evil spirit. With arresting body horror, electric suspense, and intense sex scenes, the story moves at a breakneck clip. This carefully calibrated tale of queer desire is a feast for the senses.

September 15, 2024
A young queer woman who's lived her whole life in the dead-end mountain village of Cadenze finds herself violently possessed by an ancient, malevolent, memory-eating entity that inhabits the caves bordering her home. This novel tells the story of Angelina Sicco, who's determined to be content with the cards she's been dealt--both good and bad--and her generally uneventful small-town existence. All that begins to change, however, when her brother Patrick's ex-girlfriend, Jagvi, returns to Cadenze. Jagvi is hardheaded, undeniably alluring, and fiercely loyal to the Sicco siblings despite their complicated past, and Angelina struggles to deny her growing attraction to her. The tension between them gradually ramps up in intensity until it feels like one or the other will have to give in to their emotions or go mad with desire, propelling the story forward at a rapid pace. To make matters more complicated, Jagvi's return to Cadenze appears to have awakened an ancient creature lying dormant in the caves surrounding their home. It soon attaches itself to Angelina, who finds that the only thing that keeps the creature conveniently at bay is Jagvi's touch. Throughout the novel, Cadenze itself feels like a living, breathing entity. It's full of life, character, local lore, and the complicated relationships harbored by all small towns, fictional or otherwise. Similarly, the novel's portrayal of growing up queer in an isolated location never feels disingenuous or overwrought, adding a different layer of anxiety and complexity to the story. These emotions, in turn, deftly weave in and out of the horror created by Cadenze's resident monster. A fresh, queer spin on possession horror with a sharp focus on deeply complex small-town dynamics.

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April 1, 2025

In a departure from their sapphic women's fiction debut, The View Was Exhausting, Clements and Datta offer a queer, small-town horror featuring exceptional narration by Jaclyn Kelso. Set in the conservative Italian mountain village of Cadenze, the story follows Angelina Sicco, who has been secretly pining for Jagvi, her brother Patrick's glamorous ex-girlfriend. When Jagvi unexpectedly turns up in town, she awakens an ancient soul-devouring demon who dwells in the caves surrounding their home. The crisis sparks an electric relationship between Angelina and Jagvi, for the demonic creature is intent on possessing Angelina, and only Jagvi's touch can keep her safe. Narrator Kelso skillfully evokes the story's gothic atmosphere and the small-town dynamics, voicing a host of characters with distinct accents and inflections. Kelso viscerally communicates the book's body horror, offering a deeply creepy demon's voice and terrifying sound effects during moments of violent demonic possession. VERDICT Queer possession horror for those seeking an atmospheric and steamy paranormal romance. Recommended for fans of Rachel Yoder's Nightbitch or Sheri Lewis Wohl's She Wolf.--Shannon O'Connor

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