Review of You Let Me In

Blurb: Cassandra Tipp is dead...or is she?

After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy--everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie's infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far).

Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body--just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript.

Then again, there are enough bodies in her past--her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother.

Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story--but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods--and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare...

Review: Cassandra Tipp is a successful romance author with a traumatic past. She's gone missing, possibly dead, but no one knows for certain. Her niece and nephew are her heirs, and they must read the final manuscript written by Cassandra about the truth of her life to earn their inheritance. It's a horrific tale of abuse, murder, and faeries. Yet is it actually true? And is Cassandra truly dead?

I've been reading a bunch of books by Camilla Bruce lately, and this is my favorite one so far. It's an incredible standalone faerie horror story, and one I don't know why more people aren't talking about. Cassandra is the eldest child of a wealthy family and her mother demands they keep up a certain reputation, and Cassandra is considered to be the bad child. (She's not actually a bad kid. There is extreme abuse happening in her household, and her mother pushes off her own responsibility for how she treats Cassandra onto her daughter. Lots of trigger warnings, especially alleged sexual assault by the father resulting in pregnancy.) It's dark and disturbing, hiding the abuse in the household. As the reader, you never know exactly what's going on. Cassandra's mental health is constantly questioned, even by her own self.

In this rotten household, Cassandra's only support is Pepper-Man, her faerie companion who feeds from her. This is no cute and kindly pixie. Pepper-Man is like the faeries of old: self-serving, without morals, and horrifying. (Truly, he abused her too, but since that has been her entire life, she doesn't know how to separate the abuse from love.) Apart from the disturbing behavior of people and faeries, I loved the faerie lore and how they survive in the world. What happens with the faeries is no less as dark as what's happening with her family, but the old magic is strong. Again, there's always the question of whether there really are faeries. The truth of the story is murky, and I love how that adds to the mystery. It keeps you guessing and wraps you in a myriad of emotions.

You can find Camilla Bruce on her site and buy the book here.