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A review by queenginger
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Coming off of Our Wives Under the Sea, I was intrigued to read another Armfield.
I definitely went into this book assuming that it was going to be a horror, subtle and unnerving as her last novel. However, while not screaming horror at its core, this story does serve the unnerving and disturbing notions of family dynamics and environmental degradation.
At its root, this is a story of family and grief. The sisters were extremely fleshed out and stood on their own. Even the side characters, though only briefly mentioned from time to time, added a wonderful fullness to the story. On a character level, this novel excels with bringing the reader into their world.
However, I struggled to follow the plot. Around the halfway point I debated whether I could finish the story. It got very bogged down with all of the relationships happening, and I wanted to know why it was important. I’m glad I chose to keep going because it gave an ending that shows the finale that Armfield wanted to achieve, and it asks the reader to ponder the why of it all. I always love that in a story.
I do prefer Our Wives Under the Sea, although it seems nearly impossible to hold these two side by side seeing as they are completely different from each other. Regardless, I’m excited to see what Armfield does next.
I definitely went into this book assuming that it was going to be a horror, subtle and unnerving as her last novel. However, while not screaming horror at its core, this story does serve the unnerving and disturbing notions of family dynamics and environmental degradation.
At its root, this is a story of family and grief. The sisters were extremely fleshed out and stood on their own. Even the side characters, though only briefly mentioned from time to time, added a wonderful fullness to the story. On a character level, this novel excels with bringing the reader into their world.
However, I struggled to follow the plot. Around the halfway point I debated whether I could finish the story. It got very bogged down with all of the relationships happening, and I wanted to know why it was important. I’m glad I chose to keep going because it gave an ending that shows the finale that Armfield wanted to achieve, and it asks the reader to ponder the why of it all. I always love that in a story.
I do prefer Our Wives Under the Sea, although it seems nearly impossible to hold these two side by side seeing as they are completely different from each other. Regardless, I’m excited to see what Armfield does next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content