id1erwheel 's review for:

Private Rites by Julia Armfield

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armfield’s writing is so gorgeous and she captures the layers of familial dynamics — particularly sisterhood — so well here. i especially liked the use of the city as a voice and character, and the development of the relationships (for the most part). the end… however… felt just too abrupt and disjointedly connected for me. i feel like i don’t know where to place this book in my head — some stunning gems of world-building and character establishment, deft voice, irascible but endearing (to me…) characters, but the Big Overarching Plot fell flat. still, it’s been a minute since i read spec fic and this was a good entryway back

i was immediately enthralled by the book despite doubting it was going nowhere in particular due to armfield’s prose. i thought it would be a ghost story in a metaphorical and literal sense, not a cult one, and was thrown by what was happening at the end. it didn’t feel to me like the cult had enough embedding — which was disappointing considering how much was woven into this world. 

i didn’t realize this was in its way climate fiction but appreciated the commentary around it. i didn’t expect isla to die…… but also by the end of the book it felt like she was trapped in a tragic spiral. i loved reading about irene and agnes’ romantic relationships and rupture/repair, the tenderness that comes with vulnerability, how hard it all is, how even in the supposed end times things can grow and be renewed.