Unable to read as the "Send to Kindle" feature malfunctioned.

Interested enough that I plan to buy the book

It took me a while to get around to this review because I was still trying to wrap my mind around my feelings and trying to put them to words was a bit hard. As usual whenever I read something I am not used to reading. When I started the book, I had the feeling that it would be a murder mystery with some oddness? Boy, was I far off!

Reading this book is like being in a dreamlike state where you are not sure if what you are feeling is real or not. Think of foggy roads, deepest of green forests with a sense of something otherworldly about them and then, in between those is a feeling that something is truly, horrifyingly wrong about the picture you are looking at.

Cassandra has always been able to see fairies, one of them being the ‘Pepper Man’, they have been around her since she could remember. She can also remember that the Pepper Man has been feeding off of her for as long as she can remember. Literally. Due to this and a number of other things, the adults in Cassandra’s life think she’s an odd child and then later, a troublesome one. Then as time passes by, the adults finally think that maybe Cassandra is mentally ill and maybe could benefit from counselling. However it all backfires when the counselling reveals a troubled child trying to suppress some trauma and most likely, abuse.

Throughout the book, the readers are left wondering which one is the truth? Is Cassandra really seeing fairies or is she a troubled person who is trying to hide behind fairies rather face her trauma. The book is written in such a way where you are constantly changing your thoughts about this and I think this is where the author’s brilliant writing truly shines. Things are left so seriously ambiguous that I still don’t know where and when this story was supposed to take place, it just happened somewhere in the world and that’s all.

The fairies themselves are not your traditional ones either, they once used to be humans and now they have forgotten how to be one. They are not evil but they are not good either, think Gollum only in multiplied? They are the only ones who do seem to have Cassandra’s concerns in mind and while they are not doing anything that would help Cassandra in the long run, to Cassandra, they are the only ones who truly care for her. Especially the Pepper Man. Her relationship with the Pepper Man is so uncomfortable to read. It’s slightly parasitic (?) in nature, he after all feeds off of her and she in turn gets gifts from him. (Like fairy ‘teas’, trust me you need to read about it) Things truly become uncomfortable and downright bad when Cassandra and the Pepper Man become intimate. Yes. That’s right. There’s a sexual aspect to it that I might never be able to stomach.

It’s a bizarre and creepy book that’s going to stay with me for a long while, if only because of its brilliant writing and atmosphere. Also, if anything put me off, it was the second person narrative that almost never works with me. However there’s a way it can be done well and this time, it was. It took me a bit to really get into the book because the first chapters are all about the house Cassandra lived in and her niece and nephew but once Cassandra’s story truly starts, I can assure you, it will not let you go. The language is lush and rich, there’s a certain morbidness to the story that reels a reader in and despite the strangeness of it all, I was hooked till the end.

Before I go any further – a trigger warning – this book deals with both emotional and sexual child abuse.

The story unfolds in the form of a manuscript, which Cassie has left as an extended letter to her two surviving relatives – her niece and nephew. She talks of her fractured relationship with her mother, who clearly doesn’t like or love her much – and how that washes across and poisons her relationship with her sister, while her big bear of a father watches from across the table and says nothing. Or… from the age of five, Cassie’s life is invaded by a large fae man – Pepper-Man, whom only she can see. Who feeds off her at night, in her bed. Who accompanies her during the day and forces her to break things to distract him from hurting the people around her. He takes her to the fae mound, where she meets more of his kind and she becomes more involved in their community, while her odd behaviour increasingly alienates her from her family.

So this is a story of an unreliable narrator, telling the story from her own viewpoint, directly addressing her readers as ‘you’. Which version do we believe? And yes… if you put yourself in the place of those relatives – that becomes crucially important, as Cassie leaves a doozy of a twist, right at the very end, thus really upping the stakes.

It’s beautifully written. The child is heartbreakingly realised, and whether she wandered into a fae trap and is caught in their wiles; or the victim of sustained abuse at the hands of both parents – it’s a tough place to be. And yet… it isn’t a miserable read. Cassie finds wonder and beauty in the fae world she’s caught up in.

I loved it. The pacing, writing and characterisation is masterful and beguiling. It could so easily have gone horribly wrong. And it didn’t – it’s pitch perfect. This book won’t leave me alone – a sure sign it has wriggled under my skin – and I’ll be looking out for more from this highly talented author. Though I’m not recommending it – because of the nature of the story, only you can decide whether you want to plunge into this world. But I would say, it’s been wonderfully depicted. The ebook arc copy of You Let Me In was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
10/10

You Let Me In, Camilla Bruce's début novel is a fascinating and disturbing work of folk horror.

Impressive throughout, the plot centres on bestselling novelist Cassandra (Cassie) Tipp, who has disappeared without a trace. A controversial figure, as a child she had been the subject of a bestselling book called “Away with the fairies: A study in trauma-induced psychosis” written by her therapist, Dr. Martin. Then, later in life, she was a suspect in two gruesome murders. Her long estranged mother and sister remain firmly convinced of her guilt.

Romance novelist Cassie, 74, has left a manuscript that her heirs, niece Penelope, and nephew Janus, need to read in order to discover the password to her testament, when hopefully, they'll be able to claim her estate. In the manuscript, Cassie relates an elaborate story – a fairytale. She suggests that, from a young age, she has been acquainted with a faerie community, particularly one faerie she calls Pepper-Man, whose influence, according to Cassie, is the reason for her problematic childhood, the deaths in her family, and other things, besides. It's left to you as the reader, Penelope and Janus to decide whether this story could, or not be true.

What I do believe to true is that You Let Me In is a strange and beautifully written book, and the ambiguity of it is just one its strengths that makes it so fascinating. Though it's a tough, grisly read in places, it's also certainly very thought-provoking and unlike anything I’ve read before.

Camilla Bruce is undeniably a talented writer and I will be looking out for her next book with (im)patience!

Thank you to Camilla Bruce, Pigeonhole, the publisher, and NetGalley for the complimentary copy and the opportunity to read this book. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘You Let Me In’ by Camilla Bruce in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel is seriously one of the most fascinating and disturbing works of folk horror that I have ever read. I was totally hooked from the opening and it continued to impress me throughout. On publication I bought its ebook/audiobook editions as I certainly will want to revisit.

“This is the story as I recall it, and yours now too, to guard or treasure or forget as you please. I wanted someone to know, you see. To know my truth, now that I am gone. How everything and none of it happened.”

The plot revolves around bestselling romance novelist Cassandra Tipp, who had disappeared the previous year without a trace. She is a controversial figure, who as a child had been the thinly disguised subject of a bestselling work by her therapist and later in life was a suspect in two gruesome murders. Her long estranged mother and sister remain firmly convinced of her guilt.

She has left her entire estate to her niece, Penelope, and nephew, Janus. Yet there are conditions before they can collect their inheritance. They have to go to her residence and together read the manuscript that she left behind in her study. Within it is a password that will release the estate to them.

Penelope and Janus follow these instructions and we read alongside them. The manuscript details two interwoven stories. One is of a girl touched by the faeries, who allows them into her life and is granted entry to the Otherworld and receives their magical gifts. Yet these gifts carry a price. The other is of a girl cruelly abused by those she should have been able to trust.

Which story is true? Is Cassie a victim of trauma, who as her therapist believed retreated into an elaborate fantasy world peopled by beings of folklore and legend or is she truly living between the worlds? Is she a reliable narrator or an unreliable one?

This is a very dark and atmospheric tale that is quite shocking and gruesome in places. Camilla Bruce is a very gifted storyteller and her descriptions of the faeries reminded me of the otherworldly artwork of Brian and Wendy Froud. She writes with respect for Faerie and an awareness of its allure and dangers.

Highly recommended to those who love sinister tales rich in folklore.

An intriguing tale with strong characters that developed throughout. In depth imagery and characterisation.

One of the most different book I’d read in my life, left completely open to interpretation.

The story went thus, Cassandra, a 7-year-old novelist had disappeared. One year later her niece and nephew were given the key to her home and told to read her last manuscript in order to get her wealth.

Then came the story as written in the manuscript, where Cassandra had been taken in by the faerie called PepperMan who sucked her blood when she was a child, continued even when she became pregnant at 14, and lived with her until the end. The PepperMan helped in the murder of her husband and her faerie daughter had a hand in the murder-suicide of her father and brother. Believe it as a story written by a novelist or think about the truth behind the story.

My first book by author Camilla Bruce, the story creeped me out with the entire idea of the PepperMan sucking the blood of a young child. The interpretation filled me with the horror of what the child might have gone through and how her mind tried to find its stability via the instability of an unbelievable tale.

You would think that such a topic would trigger my nightmares, but the author cleverly bypassed that by writing it as a tale from the fertile mind of a novelist. It read like a fantasy in most parts. Only the shadow in the depths of the murky psyche trying to find its ray of light was open to interpretation.

The prose, written as a fictional story, was stated as a body of facts of Cassie’s life which made reading easier. There were many things in the book that hit me hard. The author kept my thoughts a swirling mess all through the book. I raced through the book, it was 200 odd pages, to know if my interpretations were right. Were they?

Read it if you dare to, it would just surprise you. That was my breakfast read… A surreal one.

Cassandra Tipp is a mystery, and if the stories are anything to go by, she’s also mad woman and possibly an axe murderer to boot.

But now it’s time for Cassie to tell her story: a tale of life and death and everything in between. From love and companionship, and loneliness and loss, to the never-ending complexities of family, and faeries who just aren’t content to lurk in the shadows, Cassie’s world is strange, heart-wrenching, sinister and beautiful all at once. What’s real and what’s make-believe? You’ll have to read Cassie’s story to find out.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review, with thanks to Camilla Bruce, Tor Books and NetGalley.

Wow! This was a really interesting book and unlike anything I’d read before. From my perspective as a therapist I read this as an affecting and disturbing allegory for the abuse suffered in our main character’s childhood. Cassandra Tripp has disappeared at the age of 74. She is a romance novelist with a very complex past that she has written down for her heirs to read after her death. Despite being a recluse, Cassie had a certain amount of fame and notoriety. Her therapist wrote a book about the time she was accused and acquitted of her husband’s murder when she was in her thirties. A few years later her father and brother died in a murder/suicide pact, The manuscript Cassie has left that details her traumatic life, has to be read by her heirs so they can receive a key to claim their inheritance.

From here the manuscript is our storyline and it is a fairy tale, Cassie claims that she has had a life-long companion called Pepper-Man, who is from a ‘faerie’ community she became acquainted with. Her niece Penelope and nephew Janus learn that Pepper-Man is the reason for her complex childhood and has had a malign influence on her life, including the deaths of her husband, father and brother. Could this be true or has Cassie constructed a story to avoid responsibility? At first I’m of the same mind as her therapist. I have seen people construct whole new realities to avoid facing the abuse they suffered as children and I think this is the case here. Cassie has been so traumatised by abuse that this tale helped her make sense of it, and if we deconstruct the fantasy we run the risk of re-traumatising her. However, the fantasy does make sense of the more fantastical elements of her husband’s death.

There were aspects of Pepper-Man that took me back to a favourite novel of mine Jonathon Strange and Mr.Norrell, Mr Norrell uses a faerie gentleman to bring a woman back to life. At first the faerie is quite seductive, charming and funny. He wears beautiful clothes and talks about a beautiful castle where there is a ball. However, later we find out that he traps people so that whenever they sleep they wake in his castle and dance endlessly till they are exhausted and their feet are bleeding. Making a bargain with a faerie is a little like deals with the devil; faeries cannot be trusted. Pepper-man is similarly seductive, dark and delicious. I found I wanted him to be real. I couldn’t see how the two could be separated because the bond (or the fantasy) is so inextricably linked to the formation of Cassie’s character. The authors descriptive prose suited the faerie world perfectly.

I wonder if the title and blurb are letting the novel down, The title sounds like a basic thriller and I think it might be better aimed at readers of fantasy such as Susan Hill, Diane Setterfield or Susanna Clark. I really enjoyed the fantastical and psychological aspects of the story and would recommend.

I'd give this 3 out of 5. It hooked me at the start, lost me somewhere in the middle and then had me again towards the end. In the beginning, Pepper man is so spectacularly creepy but this kind of wears off and becomes just a bit odd. I enjoyed the psychological element to the story, but I do wish there was more of a resolution as to what was real and what wasn't. I suppose that's the point, but for me it felt unfinished.
Overall it was a decent read and if you're interested in psychology then it might be a good pick for you.

“‘Fiction is sometimes better than reality, don’t you think?’”

Romance novelist Cassandra Tipp has been missing for a year and as per her Last Will and Testament, her considerable estate is to be shared by her niece and nephew. The only catch is, in order to make the claim, they need to go to Cassandra’s home and find the password hidden somewhere in the manuscript she left for them.

“You’re standing in my study, holding this story in your hands - the last one I’ll ever tell.”

In doing so they will learn about Cassandra’s life, from her early childhood onwards, and the versions of the truth that continue to haunt their family.

“‘Maybe the past came back to haunt her. She has a history here’”

The feedback on this book seems fairly divisive so far. You’ve got the ‘I loved this book!’ people on one side and the ‘What the hell did I just read?!’ people on the other. As I’ve come to expect, I’m a bit of an anomaly. My initial response to this book was ‘What the hell did I just read?! That was so good!’

It’s been over three weeks since I finished reading and I’ve spent plenty of time since then trying to figure out a way of talking about it without wandering into spoiler territory. I also haven’t been able to get Cassandra’s story out of my head.

“And things weren’t quite as they seemed.”

I’ve gone back and forth countless times, trying to decide one way or another what I truly believe and while that would usually frustrate me, here it has only added to my appreciation of the story. You could see it purely as the ramblings of an elderly woman with a history of unresolved trauma and inadequately treated mental illness. That’s what Dr. Martin, Cassandra’s psychiatrist, would say. And he did. In fact, he wrote an entire book about her.

Or you could believe in Pepper-Man’s existence and know in your heart that what Cassandra says is true.

I’m still not entirely sure exactly which parts of the story I attribute to mental illness and/or trauma and which I believe Pepper-Man is responsible for, but because this is a story I think I can get away with what I still consider cheating. I believe both to be true. How on earth can I hold that position?

I think there were certain traumatic events in Cassandra’s childhood that contributed to genuine mental illness. Whether she would have been mentally ill without these experiences, I cannot say for sure but I suspect she would have been, to a certain extent. I believe that these traumatic experiences caused her to need coping mechanisms and one of these was the creation of Pepper-Man. Now, this is where reality and book world diverge a little: in my heart I want to believe that Pepper-Man truly existed, that somehow this young girl’s trauma physically manifested a protector. An unconventional protector, sure, but a protector nonetheless.

“‘Can’t both stories be true?’ I asked. ‘Why is it that only because one thing is true, the other thing is not? Why do we always have to decide?’”

I’m definitely interested in learning what other readers believe and if the author ever answers this question in an interview and you don’t think I know of its existence, please, please send me the link.

“I wanted someone to know, you see. To know my truth, now that I am gone.
How everything and none of it happened.”

I’m not usually a ‘Have you considered adding more pink?’ kind of person but definitely feel like an opportunity was missed when the covers were designed for this book. Cassandra, the main character, is an author whose books all feature pink covers so it would have been perfect if this book’s cover had been a creepy Pepper-Man design in various shades of pink. Usually when I buy a book I make sure I choose my favourite cover image, even if it costs more. Unfortunately I don’t have a favourite here.

“‘She would have us believe she’s off with the faeries’”

While you probably need to know upfront that this is a strange story and it may not be for you, I don’t want you to not attempt it at all. If you’re intrigued and want a sneak peek, you can currently download a digital preview of the first 34 pages here - https://www.torforgeblog.com/2020/02/11/sneak-peak-you-let-me-in-by-camilla-bruce/

Content warnings include mention of abortion, alcoholism, bullying, child abuse, death by suicide, mental illness, murder, self harm and sexual assault.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for my copy. This was not the sort of book I normally read but I found it strangely compelling, in fact quite gripping. I'm not usually a fan of the supernatural, fantasy, faeries etc but this book's genre crossed over into several categories; in some ways you could call it a psychological thriller as it was as much about the complex nature of Cassie, her background, childhood and adulthood as it was about the creatures in the woods. It was unsettling, particularly the ending which I must admit I found disappointing as it was inconclusive. However, this was a very well written book and I did enjoy reading it.

This was not for me in the end. I lost interest in this and was not as willing as to continue with the story as it was not really going anywhere. I thought the framing of this story was good and i did appreciate it for that aspect but overall, this wasn't what i thought it would be.

Successful 74-year-old romance novelist Cassandra Tipp has been missing for over a year: her will specifies that her niece and nephew will inherit her fortune, but only after they have read the document that she's left for them, typed on pink paper, in her isolated mansion.

Cassandra has been estranged from her family for decades: indeed, for her whole life. She was always the bad girl, the odd one out, nothing like her 'tangerinemarzipan' sister or her fragile, kind-hearted brother. Her childhood and adolescence was a constant war with her mother, who believed Cassie's beloved friend Pepper-Man (he smelt like pepper) was imaginary. It had to be Cassie breaking flower-pots, hoarding sticks and bones, tormenting her sister.

But, as Cassie's account reveals, her relationship with Pepper-Man changed her life. The tragedies that have shattered the family -- the death of Cassie's husband Tommy, the murder-suicide of her father and brother -- did not unfold in the ways that made the headlines. And psychiatrist Dr Martin's lurid bestseller <i>Away with the Fairies: A Study in Trauma-Induced Psychosis</i>, which explained Cassie's stories of faerie friends and a secret child in terms of sexual abuse and mental illness, was just another story. ('Can't both stories be true?' Cassie asks Dr Martin. 'Why is it that only because one thing is true, the other thing is not? Why do we always have to decide?' [loc. 1264])

This is an unsettling read. Whichever version of the story one gives more weight to, Cassie has been groomed and abused -- either by a human predator or by an ancient, almost vampiric being who craves blood and humanity. And whichever version is 'true', Cassie is deemed culpable: even the title of the novel is an accusation.

It's hard to say, too, when and where this is set. There are no identifying details. Most of the story takes place in the small coastal town of S---ville, or in the forest nearby, or within a mystical mound in that forest. There are cars and phones -- landlines, I think -- but no computers. (Oops, one mention of 'a chunky old laptop'.) Cassie's novels -- their plots apparently inspired by faerie tea -- are typed on a typewriter. Cassie sought refuge in books as a child, but we never learn the names of those books.

Cassie's prose is magical and delicate, replete with odd detail, when she describes the faerie realm, but there's something curiously flat about her accounts of interactions with other humans. Her tale of love and abuse and vengeance, of facades and masks, is timeless. And if the faeries are real, they too are timeless: here, they are seeded from the dead, though not all humans have the strength or 'will to life' for post-mortem metamorphose. And some eschew humanity, feeding on animals or trees. There's a thread running through this novel about prey and predator, about whether a human being gives the Sunday roast a choice: and Cassie is, or has been, prey.

This is Camilla Bruce's first novel: I'll definitely look out for more of her work.

I received an Advance Review Copy via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

A very mixed bag of tricks!

Somehow was led to this one thinking it was a crime novel, or a domestic thriller, and instead found myself in there with imaginary friends - or are they - and a toxic family situation that was only ever going to end one way.

What YOU LET ME IN did very well was to slip and slide around the realities this poor woman was experiencing. I changed my mind several times as to the severity of her suffering, as in was it a coping mechanism away from more real family issues, or whether she was truly caught between two worlds.

A little of the paranormal in your mystery reading can spice things up but in this novel does swing the balance the other way. It is not so much that there is a lot of dark faerie lore, but that the story is predominantly structured around the fey storyline. It drives the plot, it does not run alongside of it.

A very interesting debut that kept me reading to see how it was all going to be resolved.

The story begins with a letter in which the heroine of the novel addresses her niece and nephew who arrived at her large abandoned mansion on the edge of the forest a year after her mysterious disappearance to claim their inheritance.

This short book is essentially a letter from Cassandra Tipp, famous author of numerous novels, to her young relatives, two stories intertwined. One is of the bloody nights and the scary man with a black mouth and pepper smell, who does awful things to little Cassie and makes her do awful things, explaining all this with love. This is a story about lost children, a husband made of twigs and moss, pieces of meat hanging from the trees and a bitter potion from which bestsellers are born. This is a story about the world of faeries and the so-called twilight universe, the space between life and death, where fairy tale characters and fears live.

The second story is about a little girl Cassie, who has an uptight mother, a frightened silent brother and a father whose cologne smells like pepper. The family is all about poorly veiled hatred. Some years after she becomes famous, her therapist would write about about Cassie and her dysfunctional family, explaining her obsession with fairies and the other world. But whether to trust him or her is up to the reader. And this is not an easy choice.

Such a good book - but not without faults. A book where until the very last moment I was not sure whom to believe. Do you believe the doctor, whose version, if you read the book carefully, finds confirmation in the stories told by Cassandra (or are these red herrings, placed to throw you off)? Or do you believe Cassandra, who could not do everything that she is accused of, without the help of someone strong and powerful.

A creepy debut - in the best sense of the word! I could not tear myself away.

I have lived through Cassandra's life, hating, loving and hating again. "You Let Me In" is difficult, multifaceted, ambiguous and scary when for a few moments you allow yourself to think that faeries are indeed just a defensive reaction of the imagination.

Where to begin!
To start with this story was 100% not what I was expecting. Aunt Cassie is missing presumed dead and her will has been written. Enter her study and read her final manuscript and the inheritance is yours. Penelope and Janus don’t really know their aunt except for dark family history that has torn the family apart but into the study they go.
I went into this story thinking it was going to be the usual family drama but that’s an understatement...the writing is so clever! I absolutely devoured this 💕 twisted, dark and deeply disturbing but so very good! My favourite read of the year so far
I don’t really want to say too much as I don’t want to give anything away - I think this story is definitely best read not knowing anything - however I will say this was brilliantly woven and I’m still not sure exactly what I have just read!

Before writing this review, I just have to take a moment..... For this is one fantastic book that deserves my full attention.
From the first few pages, I was hooked! I love the way it is written. I'm a huge fan of those darker tales. Eerie and atmospheric and this one is no exception. The author just pitches it right, every single thing is on the money.
Plotline - check
Characters - check
Atmosphere - check
Writing - check
Overall deliverance - check, check, check!
Such beautiful prose, the story flows easily and engages the reader, welcoming you in and enclosing you in the fantastical world created here. I just never wanted it to end. *Sigh.........
But I'm so looking forward to reading more from Camilla Bruce. You let me in becoming one of my stand out novels this year. It's going too take an awful lot to knock this off of it's pedestal.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and netgalley for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

After reading the blurb I thought this is classic detective story. Police/family, someone… searching for missing writer who left clues in her book… but with first few chapters everything changed.

The only thing I liked about the start was how the "you" point of view slowly changed and past and present, two worlds, collided together. This already gives away how easy Camilla Bruce blends two different things into one.

This is a story of Cassandra Tripp who is an author and recently went missing. I go as far as to say this is her autobiography. Cassandra Tripp is a fictional character of course and You Let Me In is a fictional manuscript of her last book. You read a manuscript addressed to her niece Penelope and nephew Janus. At the start the story seems almost boring until the Pepper-Man arrives. He is a fairy who keeps Cassie company and in return feeds on her blood. If you find this disturbing then maybe this book is not for you. But it caught my attention all right. Suddenly everything changed and I found myself somewhere in between two worlds. The life of Cassandra Tripp is dark, unhappy and very painful.

The chapters are short and it adds even more dramatic feel to the story where you are never sure what is true and what is fantasy. Language is rich, full of pictures and metaphors and delicious similes. I could imagine everything really well and several parts were not pleasant maybe even sinister.

This is the first novel of Camilla Bruce and it is a chilling adventure into the world where lines between real and not real are not just blurred but they seize to exist. This book was great in every sense. Perfect writing style, great drama, fast pace and interesting descriptions.
I highly recommend this book if you like thriller, horror, mental health topics and dysfunctional family problematics.

‘Why is it that only because one thing is true, the other thing is not? Why do we always have to decide?’

Fantastical, sinister and disturbing. Unreliable narrator, Cassandra Tipp is an elderly author, and she is missing. However, she has left a manuscript for her niece and nephew to read which details her strange and harrowing life, while also holding a password to accessing the vast fortune she has accumulated from her romance novels.

Cassandra’s story is darkly surreal and woven around her lifelong relationship with ‘Pepper-man’ a vampiric faerie (yes!) and his community of woodland creatures. ‘Pepper-man is perhaps metaphorical – as companion and abuser – or perhaps not. Up to the reader to decide!

An unusual and weirdly compelling debut that layers in the real and the supernatural experiences of a troubled life. One that lingers, though if I have one gripe, it is that I don’t believe that the book title does this story justice.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.