Sacrificial Animals: A Novel

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars | 16 ratings

Price: 13.12

Last update: 08-23-2024


About this item

Inspired by Kailee Pedersen's own journey being adopted from Nanning, China in 1996 and growing up on a farm in Nebraska, this rich and atmospheric supernatural horror debut explores an ancient Chinese mythology.

The last thing Nick Morrow expected to receive was an invitation from his father to return home. When he left rural Nebraska behind, he believed he was leaving everything there, including his abusive father, Carlyle, and the farm that loomed so large in memory, forever.

But neither Nick nor his brother Joshua, disowned for marrying Emilia, a woman of Asian descent, can ignore such summons from their father, who hopes for a deathbed reconciliation. Predictably, Joshua and Carlyle quickly warm to each other while Nick and Emilia are left to their own devices. Nick puts the time to good use and his flirtation with Emilia quickly blooms into romance. Though not long after the affair turns intimate, Nick begins to suspect that Emilia’s interest in him may have sinister, and possibly even ancient, motivations.

Punctuated by scenes from Nick’s adolescent years, when memories of a queer awakening and a shadowy presence stalking the farm altered the trajectory of his life forever, Sacrificial Animals explores the violent legacy of inherited trauma and the total collapse of a family in its wake.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.


Top reviews from the United States

Bradley E.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great debut!
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2024
Just, wow. I don't even know where to begin. I'm so happy I got an advance copy of this book. It's a book I cannot wait to to see the reception for. I'm sure some will be put off by the slow burn but I absolutely loved it. It's only February and not to be hyperbolic, but this might end up being the best book I read all year.

The writing was absolutely phenomenal. At once, raw yet elegant. Then, vulnerable and frightening. I absolutely cannot wait to read more work by Pedersen and that this is their first novel is absolutely mind blowing. Mesmerizing, mysterious and taut.
Abby
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting concept
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I enjoyed this book but it wasn’t quite what I expected (or hoped) it would be.

This is told in dual timelines, which I liked. I got to see Nick (our main character) as a kid and learn about a situation he took part in that makes a huge impact on his and his family’s lives in the present timeline. I don’t think that everything we learned about Nick in the past timeline was totally necessary. I assume that most of it was there for us to get to know him better, and it did, but I still failed to connect with him (or any other character for that matter). I wished it all had more bearing on his life in the future.

I also think this could have benefited from being a little longer. I would have liked to spend more time in the present with everyone together in the house, with more signs pointing to the fact that something was terribly wrong. There really wasn’t anything to lead me to suspect that something was coming. It was good in the sense that it removed the element of predictability, but I would have liked to be thinking and wondering and questioning more than I was. I wanted to feel a creeping dread that never came.

I liked the writing itself and while there didn’t feel like there was much going on for a lot of the time, I was still interested and engaged with the story. I actually read the entire thing in one sitting!

In the end, I think the overall idea was cool and I did like where it ended up. I just wanted to enjoy the ride a little more than I did.
Matt
2.0 out of 5 stars A "slow burn" horror that is just too slow.
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2024
“Sacrificial Animals” is a tale that sells itself as a horror novel based in Chinese mythology. And, to a certain extent, it is. But those elements enter into the novel so late in the game (about 80% through) that it’s hard for me to say that that; ‘s what this novel is.

The story focuses on the Morrow family: patriarch Carlyle, eldest son Joshua and younger son Nick. They live on an expansive property called Stag’s Crossing. Carlyle is an angry, bitter, racist man who, after losing his wife and unborn child, starts abuse his sons emotionally and physically. Joshua, the favorite son, gets less of this treatment than Nick.

Eventually, Joshua meets and falls in love with a Chinese-American woman named Emilia and is disowned by his father, leaving Nick to withstand his father’s moods alone. Nick also eventually leaves Stag’s Crossing and Carlyle behind for several decades. On his supposed death bed, Carlyle seeks to reconcile with his sons, who reluctantly return.

That’s the basic plot of the novel, at least. It’s more of a family drama about abuse than it is a horror novel. It takes the term “slow burn” to a whole new level. However, if that’s what you’re looking for, then this will be right up your alley.

Adding to the slow burn element is the format. Chapter alternate between “then” and “now”. One chapter will be a “then” chapter and tell events that happened in the past. “Now” chapters will tell what is happening in the present of the story. Sometimes, though, I found myself forgetting if I was “then” or “now”, which led to a slightly confusing reading experience.

The language of this book is beautiful. Pedersen has a talent for rich, vivid, poetic description. Language lovers will relish in every bit of it. And while I do love rich and vivid descriptions and occasional jaunts into poetic prose, I often found the language too flowery. I longed for some modern, up-to-date, concise langue and storytelling rather than something that languished in the words. It probably could have helped speed up the pace of the novel, as well.

Throughout the novel, mostly in the “then” chapters, there are references to foxes and things that Nick and Carlyle have done both to kits and full grown adults (killed them, trapped them, that sort of thing). It all seems very metaphorical for most of the novel and I found myself wondering what it was all about until I hit that final part of the novel. So be prepared that it does go somewhere.

One more structural note I want to touch on is the complete lack of quotation marks in the book. This honestly bothered me a lot. It was incredibly difficult to tell when people began speaking or stopped speaking and I was constantly rereading sentences. I’m not sure why this choice was made, but it makes for a frustrating read.

I wanted to like “Sacrificial Animals”. I’ve been seeking out horror that is written by folks other than straight white guys. I’m interested in horror that reflects cultures other than one I’m most familiar with. I also don’t shy away from family drama. There’s a lot of potential for fantastic character work and development in a story like this. Instead, I found myself deeply bored by the book. At one point, I mentioned to a friend that I was finding almost anything else to do with my time but read it.

That said, like with all things, someone else may have a very different experience. As I mentioned earlier, if you are someone who really loves to sit with beautiful prose and is okay with a very slow burn, then this may be right for you.

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