I loved this book and it's so aptly titled. It's a collection of stories and vignettes told by an unreliable narrator, that sort of all tie in together. It was a fun read with many different styles of storytelling used. If you're a fan of epistolary books and unusual formats like House of Leaves, I would recommend this novella! Even though The Madness was short, it had elements that reminded me of so many things. It was like House of Leaves meets bits of Brom's Lost Gods and Dante's Inferno. It had some reader gotcha moments similar to Christopher Buehlman. The prose at times was similar to Victor Lavalle and David Diop, while still being very unique to this author. I absolutely would love to read more by Jarale Phillips. It was strange and trippy and such a good time.

The book is written in a way that will keep your mind busy and offers a wholistic view of crime/gothic horror. The balance between narrative and narrator's feelings is well-executed. However, the dialogue between characters can be redundant, which may be due to personal perspective. Despite this, the book is enjoyable and shows promise for the author's future ideas.

A book of surreal, wild, and unique short stories. Definitely an interesting read, and enjoyable in some parts.

My thanks to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for access to a digital ARC to review.

"...at its core, madness is absolute truth. And all truth awaits us who choose to embrace it."

I have no idea what I read, nor can I explain coherently what the book is about. And therein lies the madness.
I can tell you that the book begins by the narrator telling us that he’s been incarcerated in a madhouse; that he is dictating his thoughts to be written by an inmate, because he doesn’t have hands; that there’s a devil-worshipping cult in the prison and that he has been asked to join if he could offer a sacrifice of an animal’s heart.
The book is all over the place, but also alarmingly focused. It is seemingly a collection of unrelated short stories that on a deeper level are very much interconnected.
In a word, The Madness is dark, forbidding, depressing, funny, disturbing, sardonic and derisive.
Thanks to the author, the publishers and the Netgalley for my free copy of the book.

The story is about a narrator who lives in the Southern California State Asylum for the Criminally Insane. He has no hands and his cell-mate, who has two hands, acts as his scribe. The book includes diverse perspectives such as a prostitute, criminals, a child living in a crack-house, and even the devil. The book is complex, yet the author's clever writing keeps the reader engaged. The characters are authentic and vulnerable, yet some of the most compelling and strong-willed I have read recently. The author seamlessly swaps between perspectives, genres, voices, styles, and formats, making the book a truly engaging and unconventional read.

This was a wild ride. Which was expected
Given the introduction were the narrator discloses use of cpc.. so you know you are in for a Trip. I liked the comedic aspect to his narration and while it got confusing, I think it was the narrators intention to get us all in this feverish dream state and see how the narrators world is working while doing time. I loved the sense of granditude from the narrator. This won’t work for everybody but it’s an interesting read

This was such a great concept for a collection of stories, it had everything that I was looking for in a horror novel. The characters were everything that I was hoping for from this type of collection. Jarale Phillips does a great job in writing this and left me wanting to read more. I enjoyed that there was different types of books and can't wait for more.

This book is so much fun! It feels like madness. Swapping between perspectives, genres, voices, styles, formats... it's totally trippy. But guess what? IT WORKS! There's this underlying plot that connects everything - the short stories, verses, poems, flash fiction, and even the epistolary elements. It's like they're separate but also somehow all part of one big story. I've been racking my brain, trying to think of anything similar l've read, but no luck so far. Unique!

Each character presented throughout the stories felt real, raw, and vulnerable whilst also being some of the craziest, if not most, badass I've read in a while.

I strongly recommend everyone to grab this book and give it a shot, even if it's just to experience how the author puts these stories together.

Uniquely done with some fun twists. Definitely a possible recommendation although at times it got a bit strange. Thanks for the arc

The title of this book is very fitting. I can only describe the experience of reading this book as a segmented dream of sorts. You start of following one story confused and puzzled and then it jumps to the next flow of characters. You become invested in finishing the entirety of the book if only to help yourself get some peace. The emotions while reading the story were ones, I can only compare to that of watching a car accident. And I don't mean this in a bad way. I was sucked in, in a way that I needed to know my brain was in fact making sense of what was going on. It was indeed Madness

I enjoyed this book very much! It was a solid read.
The Madness was enthralling from start to finish, and if you know me, you know how hard it is for me to stay focused on a book. The vast amounts of stories that carry so much substance in this 160-page book were the highlight of my reading experience. Not to mention the breaks in story-telling for our narrator to spill some of his insanity onto us was such a fun and clever choice!
I cannot wait to see where Phillips takes his writing career, because this was a damn solid first book!
3.5-4/5

Did not know what to expect, and pleasantly surprised. An enjoyable read. A talented writer. It plunges the reader into the depths of depravity and insanity. Narrated by a captivating inmate, the collection weaves interconnected stories, poems, and vignettes into a tapestry of darkness and chaos. Phillips shifts perspectives, embodying a diverse cast of flawed characters. Both intelligent and unhinged, Would recommend.

The Madness has to be one of the closest things I've read to an actual piece of art in a while. Phillips has delivered such a unique overall story broken down to almost read like short stories, all with different voices, pacing, moods, and formats that it makes for a wild ride. If you fail to be drawn into the narrator instantly I'd honestly be shocked, It's truly impressive that this book was written by one single author because the way points-of-view are all so drastically different is great. If you're looking for something different, deranged, and that will leave you questioning your sanity....follow along in The Madness.


Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I had to let this book jump the TBR queue as it is simply genius! The Madness by Jarale Phillips took me all round the houses, up the stairs, into the basement, dropped me off at the park and hit me with a double decker bus out of nowhere. That good.

You think you are reading a compendium of different stories and poems with a uniting theme but all from different pov's. But are you? really? Nope. I will let you read it and find out.

The beauty of this book is the sheer versatilitiy, creativiity and skill of one person to speak with the voices and perspectives of many, to explore so many different psyche's and situations, all with a different view. The only other way I can describe it is by looking through a shattered kaeidoscope, still viewing a myriad different combinations, but each one is perfection in it's darkness, you still see thoes bright, sharp shards and one can take your eye out at any time (just for the purpose of metaphor, in a positive way, no negativity here)

Flipping brilliant


Thank you to Netgalley, BDA Publishing and the incredible author Jarale Phillips. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read and advance copy of this book. This book was great, and I liked that it was different from what I normally read. I really enjoyed each piece, and each was different. Overall, would recommend.

Despite this being a book I would probably never pick up, I really enjoyed it! The narrator is hilarious and the different stories were well written. At some points I was confused about what was going on but it was still very enjoyable. I love the ending a lot, specifically chapters 19, 17, and 16. This book was super fun to read and I definitely recommend checking it out!

The book starts in a very interesting way and I think it's well written, I unfortunately wasn't pulled in by the story, DNF at 35%

Thank you NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Where to start?

This book has been described as a piece of Dark Fiction - if that is indeed a genre, and it represents a spectrum, let’s say this little bundle of joy inhabits the <b>really horrific, dark, murderous and sick</b> end of that spectrum.

The narrator lives in the Southern California State Asylum for the Criminally Insane – he has no hands because he, quite simply, chopped them off. His two-handed cell-mate is his scribe. The narrator creates a relationship with the reader immediately, he even apologises for introducing us to this journey of insanity. He warns us, the madness conveyed in this collection of twisted stories is CONTAGIOUS. Yeah, yeah – I hear you say – BUT there was a moment late in the book, where I was attending a séance hosted by our narrator – and I did indeed feel the chill down my spine as he ‘talked’ to me. It was at 1am admittedly, but yikes!!!

The various POVs of each story (don’t worry our narrator drops in now and then to keep us on his miserable track), are again, unique, dark and at times violently depraved. We follow the misfortunes of a prostitute, criminals, a child living in some sort of crack-house whose best friend is a TV, I think – the devil himself even drops in, and so many more reprobates.

I won’t pretend to understand everything here, it’s not just the content it’s the pace, it’s relentless, and it’s complex. The author is so clever, he changes format and style throughout. We even have poem titles “The Definition of Insanity”, and chapters that read like the Bible – or a variation of it.

There’s even a really clever transcript of an interview between an asylum doctor, who later took his own life, and a leader of one of the cults of the asylum concerned. The pages really did look like a photocopied typewriter written interview – even with images of the paperclips at the top of the page. Wow – authentic.

There’s not much joy here but reading this book and my experience was visceral.

The author, Jarelle Phillips, is a star. Up and coming, and remarkably unique and shocking, but wickedly clever.

I’m gonna stalk you and your books Jarelle Phillips – you deserve it!!

5 Stars!!!!!

This book is one that is different from anything else I have read in the past. This book isn’t divided into chapters but does have different photographs to help break up the sections. Some of the words mentioned within the book do not resonate with me. This book may be for some; however, this isn’t necessarily something I would read again.

2.5 stars

The book commenced with a compelling narrator's voice that captivated me from the beginning, creating a unique and unsettling reading experience. While I appreciated the interconnected perspectives and diverse writing elements such as verses, short stories, and poems, the conclusion and direction the story took didn't resonate with me. Despite the initial intrigue and engaging writing style, the book didn't leave a lasting impact, as it lacked the lasting scare factor and memorability I was hoping for.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.