A review by starrysteph
The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C. Shipp

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A mysterious meditative cult within a bizarre once-abandoned amusement park? A strange ‘accident’? A swirling undercover dive into an eccentric community? I’m into it.

Seraphina spends her days working as a party princess and her nights snuggling her cat Heracles - but when her free-spirited sister Eff has a strange accident and falls into a coma, she jumps into action. Phina has to infiltrate the last place her sister lived (a goblin-themed amusement park that houses a cult)  in order to discover the truth. 

It was so weird. It was quite clever. It was often whimsical.

Shipp’s skill is in their masterful world-building. The park was truly a character. The descriptions were so good; so imaginative; so detailed. The imagery was crystal clear. 

Seraphina’s narration also had a distinctive style that I found interesting, unique, and inviting. It was all just so inventive! I loved the specificity of each oddball character and the ways they nudged Seraphina along in her journey.

I also enjoyed the humor (both in narration and in dialogue). I totally “got” the tone and jokes and playfully burgeoning romance and it felt very casually real.

I was ready for more horror, actually. The narration has a very light, almost cheeky tone – and we never quite “dropped in” to full spooky madness. 

I also wished there was a bit more resolution. I don’t mind a mystery, but the ending felt very abrupt and didn’t hold as much care as the rest of the book.

But truly - I loved The Merry Dredgers. It was sharp and honest. It celebrated the ferocity of sisterly love, and delved deep into grief, and explored vulnerability and trust and embracing the quirky and bizarre.  

CW:  drugging, violence, domestic abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, grief, injury, gore, car accident

Follow me on TikTok for book recommendations!

(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)