eastendreader98: Blog Tour- Primal Animals

Title: Primal Animals (Goodreads)

Author: Julia Lynn Rubin
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Horror, LGBTQ+
Age Group: YA

Source: ARC (epub)

Rating: ⭐⭐

Tour Schedule

Review

I would like to start off by saying a big thank you to TBR Beyond reads, Wednesday Books, and Julia Rubin for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and for having a chance to read this new exciting book in advance of its publication.

Primal Animals is definitely a book worth reading if you love spooky horrors and exciting creepy twists! This is one to add to your tbr pile for the spooky season this year. Primal Animals is perfect for readers if you ever watched Parent Trap but hoped for something with a darker twist to the summer camp story.

“So, you get what I mean, then? I mean, it’s beautiful here. It’s…almost like paradise. But there’s something off, too. You know? […] I’ve felt that way since my first summer. I remember being so excited, that this place was so cool, and these people were so awesome…but then…things change you. Things I think you can only understand once you’ve spent time here.”

I can see why there will be many readers that really enjoy this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. This is because the girls and story felt too juvenile to me in the first half of the book and therefore I lost interest in what would happen to them and how the story would progress to explore the darker sides of the summer camp. That is why I gave Primal Animals a two star rating because I couldn’t regain the intrigue I started off with coming into the story.

That said, I continued to read the book because I respect the time and efforts it takes an author to write a book and there was still a part of me that wanted to see how the darker side played out. The darker theme of this book is definitely when this book started to get creepy and intriguing again and I became reinvested in the book for the last half.

Overall, I would still recommend this book to readers who are looking for a book with darker themes, as there is plenty in Primal Animals. Also, this book is LGBTQ+ which for readers who want to read more about stories with diverse sexualities than this is one to check out. This was also one of the reasons why I would be tempted to push my rating upwards because I believe diversity in books and reflecting this in our literature is important. Do go and check out Primal Animals and give some love to this book and its author Julia as it’s a really refreshing new book which incorporates themes of insectophobia, creepy cults, and summer romance.

‘For just a moment, there’s a brief, beautiful stillness between us. A comfortable kind of silence you usually only feel between people you’ve known a long time. Outside, the birds chirp and other girls talk and laugh, and I realize that I could just stay here, on this bed with Winnie, in this silence, all damn summer long.’

Synopsis

Protect the girls

Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways.

Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in…until her new “sisters” ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.

Content Warning: Blood, gore, mentions of Sexual harassment/assault

Book Links:

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indigo / IndieBound / Book Depository

Author Information

Julia Lynn Rubin lives the writer’s life in Brooklyn, where she finished an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults at The New School in 2017. For three years she served as a writing mentor for Girls Write Now, New York City’s premiere writing program for high school girls, and she continues to facilitate pre-K literacy programs throughout Brooklyn at libraries and family shelters.

Julia has been writing books, poems, and stories since first grade, and loves reading about everything from film analysis (she’s a film nerd) to psychology and philosophy. Her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review, Sierra Nevada Review, and The Lascaux Review, and she has written for a variety of online publications, including BuzzFeed, The Content Strategist, Fatherly, and Wetpaint Entertainment.

Julia is passionate about realism and diversity in teen literature. She hopes to one day own a French bulldog, pug, Boston terrier, or perhaps a mix of all three. She loves indie films, drag shows, and spending as much time as possible at the beach.

She is represented by Lauren Spieller of Triada US Literary Agency