Review: Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I ended up listening to the audiobook after publication. As always all opinions are my own.

I found this to be more of a YA mystery/thriller than horror, but it does have some horror elements as the story progresses. The majority of the story was more of Sunny uncovering family secrets and solving a murder mystery. This is disturbing and dark, but I didn't find it overly gory or gruesome. It does tackle social social issues like race and class.

This follows Sunny, the favored child of her late mother. Sunny is a people pleaser and was poised to be the next head of the family, especially her troubled brother Dom. Dom has always been treated poorly by her parents and siblings and Sunny has never really questioned why. She always smiles and puts on a happy disposition and does her best to diffuse any uncomfortable situation. Dom on the other hand always seems to be surrounded by trouble. Now having been accused of murder and being at the scene of yet another crime, Sunny isn't sure what to think about Dom. Determined to figure out what is going on with Dom and prove that he is innocent, she begins her own investigation into the crimes and finds that her family's wealth and success has been built on very dark secrets.

This was a great YA thriller. It was a little slow burn for my tastes, but the pacing fit the storyline. The story really starts to come together once Sunny's investigation leads her to her mother's journal, and the author really starts to clue the reader into what is going on. As the journal entries are revealed we learn more and more about the Behre family secrets and hone in on the horror elements. That was a really creative way to tell the story and slowly let out tidbits of information leading up to the big reveal when all is explained. If you like family drama with a twist this is a great one to pick up. I think this is perfect for younger readers or those who want to dip their toes into horror without tons of gore, though you will want to check the content warnings as this is dark.

Content warnings  as indicated by the author:   Death of a parent/grief, animal death (on page - cow and lizards; off page, referenced but not described - cat; off page, referenced and somewhat described - unspecified animals), mentions of self-harm/suicide, drinking and drug use, infidelity, discussions of toxic intimate relationships, detailed body horror/gore, violence, death (includes child death)

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