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A review by aoki_reads
Sublime Messages by S.Q. McGrath, S.Q. McGrath
4.0
I'd like to thank S.Q. McGrath for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, I enjoyed this novel.
What a rabbit hole.
Full of cultism and curses, violence, and time travel— Sublime Messages by S.Q. McGrath was a genre-bending horror story that read like a fever dream.
The story follows an interesting, yet quite confusing cast of characters. There's Vanessa Tan—a profiler called back into the career she left to put the pieces together when a cult holds a high school hostage. Ruby Rouge, a rambunctious teen who is utterly infatuated with the long hair, chiseled, older Damien. And Damien himself— handsome and mysterious. Possibly deadly. Could be a cult leader?
But all of what you think you know about our three main characters will leave you as the story presses on.
Told in two different but merging perspectives, Ruby's and Vanessa's— the book begins to unravel and spiral. You fall down the rabbit hole while also investigating a deadly, dangerous, and violent cult.
Who is villain and who is victim? As you read, time travel becomes an integral part of the storyline. At times entirely confusing, answers are eventually revealed.
And you realize time is looping, repeating.
How can Vanessa Tan stop the murders of hundreds of children before it happens again? End a cult leader's murderous streak— and solve her own past at the same time? Sublime Messages does a fantastic job at exploring all the inner workings of this story while staying on a fairly consistent track.
There's a lot going on in this book, which is why I'm giving a ★★★★ star rating. I didn't quite know what was going on with our main character, Vanessa, sometimes. When I thought one thing, it ultimately felt like another, and that could be my lack of understanding— but it made the book the tiniest bit confusing for me.
What I did love was the incredibly realistic characters and all of the magical realism. I enjoyed the world-building of the setting, Lone Rock. It felt just right for the novel— a small, seemingly desert town with not much going on. The writing was perfectly descriptive with great prose. Both the synopsis of the book and its plot were right up my alley. Cults and time travel should grab your attention. I was definitely the target audience for this read, and if you enjoy what I do, this one may be for you.
What a rabbit hole.
Full of cultism and curses, violence, and time travel— Sublime Messages by S.Q. McGrath was a genre-bending horror story that read like a fever dream.
The story follows an interesting, yet quite confusing cast of characters. There's Vanessa Tan—a profiler called back into the career she left to put the pieces together when a cult holds a high school hostage. Ruby Rouge, a rambunctious teen who is utterly infatuated with the long hair, chiseled, older Damien. And Damien himself— handsome and mysterious. Possibly deadly. Could be a cult leader?
But all of what you think you know about our three main characters will leave you as the story presses on.
Told in two different but merging perspectives, Ruby's and Vanessa's— the book begins to unravel and spiral. You fall down the rabbit hole while also investigating a deadly, dangerous, and violent cult.
Who is villain and who is victim? As you read, time travel becomes an integral part of the storyline. At times entirely confusing, answers are eventually revealed.
And you realize time is looping, repeating.
How can Vanessa Tan stop the murders of hundreds of children before it happens again? End a cult leader's murderous streak— and solve her own past at the same time? Sublime Messages does a fantastic job at exploring all the inner workings of this story while staying on a fairly consistent track.
There's a lot going on in this book, which is why I'm giving a ★★★★ star rating. I didn't quite know what was going on with our main character, Vanessa, sometimes. When I thought one thing, it ultimately felt like another, and that could be my lack of understanding— but it made the book the tiniest bit confusing for me.
What I did love was the incredibly realistic characters and all of the magical realism. I enjoyed the world-building of the setting, Lone Rock. It felt just right for the novel— a small, seemingly desert town with not much going on. The writing was perfectly descriptive with great prose. Both the synopsis of the book and its plot were right up my alley. Cults and time travel should grab your attention. I was definitely the target audience for this read, and if you enjoy what I do, this one may be for you.