“From CJ Leede, the author of Maeve Fly, comes a scorching new apocalyptic novel. American Gods meets The Last of Us in this epic and sweeping story about the end of the world as we know it.”

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“A bold, fiercely sharp, and deeply unsettling reimagining of the zombie apocalypse genre, which Leede crafts with equal parts anger and unwavering empathy.”
—Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus

About The Book 📚

Title: American Rapture

Author: CJ Leede

Publication Date: October 15

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Genre: Horror, Apocalyptic

Pages: 384

Content Warnings: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/85a78443-f5c4-4e12-b834-412e0a36ebc7/content_warnings

Three Words That Describe This Book: apocalyptic, identity, humanity

About The Author

“CJ LEEDE is a horror writer, hiker, and Trekkie. She is the author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture. Her debut novel Maeve Fly won the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award and Splatterpunk Award, and earned a Bram Stoker Award nomination. When she is not driving around the country, CJ can be found in LA with her boyfriend and rescue dogs.”

My Review

› I love the cover for American Rapture. This image is of a beautiful young woman and cartoonish clothing. Her face is realistic, yet her clothing and accessories are fake-looking. Are they a real depiction of what she feels? The bright neon colours remind me of neon signs. And the fire – certainly makes me think of hell. This newest horror from C.J. Leede will appeal to teenagers, however it doesn’t read like a young adult novel. It’s very mature, violent, and sexual – yet appropriate for most high schoolers. I admire authors who respect teenagers and believe they can read about hard things. I haven’t read from C.J. Leede before.

› Leede wrote this book before COVID-19, so it’s not inspired by that. I noticed nods to Stephen King’s work about a virus, but these characters and story are unique. This book is about American culture and the complicated relationship with sex and religion.

Dedication: “To the librarians, the animal rescuers, every last rebel. And to my Chupacabra, forever and ever.”

“These precious things, let them bleed, let them wash away.” ~ Tori Amos

“How to recognize the last moments before the world ends:
1. You won’t

How to recount the end of the world:
1. Don’t spare any details, no matter what the cost.
2. Back up and start from the beginning.”

› Sophie is a sheltered 16-year-old girl who lives with her parents in a small town. She attends Catholic school and her parents run a strict religious household. Her mother doesn’t pass the milk for cereal until Sophie has prayed. They have a strict diet of “pure” food (no fried food or treats). She isn’t allowed to walk to school alone. Her parents control which books she’s allowed to read, mainly how-to books, which has made her extremely knowledgeable. She sneaks books from the librarian to read in secret. Books like Brave New World and The Valley of the Horses. Her brother was forcibly removed from the home five years ago and Sophie feels like it’s her fault. She hates living with her parents and yearns to see her brother. Her brother Noah lives 200 miles away at Sacred Hearts “a spiritual sanctuary for families afflicted with challenged children and teens.”

› One school day while reading outside at lunch Sophie sees a group of boys dropping off a couple of girls. The driver catches her eye. She later sees him at the mall and learns his name is Ben. At the mall, she notices people wearing masks and talking about a sickness spreading. She’s not allowed on the internet so she has no idea what this sickness is. The symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, irritability, increased appetite, and erratic sexual behaviour. Certainly a horror to religious people who don’t believe in having sex for pleasure.

› Sophie must find a way to survive, going on a roller-coaster of an adventure across the midwest, finding new friends, experiencing romance, discovering her strength, and being determined to reunite with Noah.

Quotes that stuck with me:

“Noah and I were five years old when our parents first told us that God, Jesus, demons, and the Devil are always watching, that they all know our every thought.”

“To Catholics, thoughts are sins as much as actions are, and our thoughts do not belong to us alone.”

I noticed the nods to Stephen King: “Some people are just like that. Just, you know, shining.”

“According to this, there is a different version of the story. One that has been redacted from the Bibles of Christians today, one they took out for a reason. According to this, Eve was not the first. Not the first woman, and not the first wife. According to this, Lilith was made from the clay at the same time as Adam. Not from his rib, not from anyone’s. From the earth itself. Like him.”

“You matter, and you have to live your life as though you matter.”

“We could be in Dante’s Hell. If Reverend Ansel is right, we are on Earth, and these are God’s smiting winds and plague sent here to punish us. And maybe the Christians have been raptured. Maybe their bodies remain, but they’ve gone on to Heaven, been taken there. Or it could be that demons have finally taken over this deviant world, have possessed all the wicked.”

“And she is sharing this moment of rapture. She is making me a part of it. All the eyes watch us, and I am the one she speaks to.”

› American Rapture has well-developed characters, excellent description and mood, and high-quality writing with well-developed dialogue. I didn’t want to put it down and I had a really good time with this read.

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: action-packed, character-driven, issue-oriented, unconventional, tragic
Pace: medium
Tone: emotional, bittersweet, heartwrenching, romantic, sad, suspenseful, thought-provoking, dark, edgy, bleak, gruesome, violent
Humour: offbeat
Writing Style: conversational, well-crafted dialogue, compelling, descriptive, gritty
Character: authentic, awkward, complex, flawed, likeable, relatable, strong female, unlikeable, well-developed, diverse
LGBTQIA+ Representation: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, queer
Racial Representation: Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, people of colour

Read Alikes:
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
The Reapers Are The Angels by Alden Bell
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
We Burn Daylight by Bret Anthony Johnston
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King
The Fireman by Joe Hill

› In the past I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• American Rapture is a suspenseful coming-of-age Apocalyptic horror novel about guilt, shame, religious trauma, sibling love, found family, friendship, and love. I highly recommend this and can’t wait to read more from C.J. Leede!

 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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