Review by natashaleighton_ - It's Not a Cult

natashaleighton_ 's review for:

It's Not a Cult by Joey Batey

4.0

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As contradictory as it was lyrical, Joey Batey’s debut was an uncanny folk horror I found myself utterly hooked on!

Filled with lush passages bursting with rhythm, yet grounded in the gritty realism of everyday life (via our characters’ dialects, their colloquialisms, and those awkward conversational pauses we’ve all experienced at some point.) And was enthralled and unsettled in equal measure!

Especially as the band’s music, woven with the fictional myths of “The Solkats” (a pantheon of northern gods created by the band’s founder, Cal) begins to take on a life of it’s own. With followers committing ever increasing acts of chaos and violence as the band’s notoriety (and fame) expands.

It’s set in the pubs and small venues in the northeast of England and told primarily from the POV of Al, the drummer in Mel and Cal’s unnamed band. And gave readers a really good insight into the daily grind of gig culture, and the underlying horror-esque tension of their songs (about fictitious, half forgotten gods) which become gospel-like, and dangerous as they take on a life of their own.

The pacing is a little slower than I anticipated, and the timeline of events is fractured (we travel back and forth through Al’s POV of their time with the band, along with the occasional chapter chronicling the aftermath and fans via an influencer who becomes caught up in the fanaticism) which shouldn’t have worked soo well, but did!

And I loved how Batey’s prose skilfully blurred the boundaries of reality, and art. Portraying just how easily collectivism can subvert the meaning behind art, or its original intent, into something almost unrecognisable.

So, if you love your reads dark, a little disorienting but fabulously unputdownable, then I highly suggest checking this one out! But do check the TWs.

Also, thanks to Rachel Quin & Bloomsbury/ Raven Books for the proof.

Content Warnings