This is definitely not similar to anything I’ve read before! Marino is a very talented writer- the story moves along at a very good pace, and some of his observations were real gut-punchers. I appreciated his treatment of addiction.

This is one of those books I think that’s more fun if you don’t think TOO hard about it. I wish there had been a bit more “world-building”- this isn’t sci-fi or fantasy really- but there are some elements that I wish were explained more. The story survives okay without it- but 1. There are some very interesting concepts that could have been explored more and 2. I like nerdy talk. Give me all the nerdy stuff.

The gore is……. gore. It’s gory.

I could have done without the gimmicky transitions.

I would recommend this to someone looking for a spooky read!

Thanks to Redhook and NetGalley for the review copy!

5/5 stars. Planning on buying my physical copy this weekend. Loved, loved, loved this book. The way the whole book played out left me with chills and thrills.

A different type of dark thriller and a newer genre to me.
The first couple chapters pulled me in. Weird, dark and creepy! Thank you NetGalley.

Reviewing books like The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is always a little tricky because I absolutely refuse to ruin people's reading experience by spoiling the twist - in this case multiple twists - so, in conclusion, I’ll just say what I said on Twitter: “This is the most messed up book I’ve read in ages which, if you know me, is my way of saying, “I would like to propose marriage to it.”

I’m seeing the revival of a trend in horror that I really, really love. If you saw my happy dance about The Lighthouse Witches you know what it is: an infusion of creepily plausible, near-future sci-fi into horror that brings real terror into the realm of the possible and reminds us that the real threat, the true monster, is other people. Shirley Jackson has my undying loyalty for codifying this sub-genre with stories like, We Have Always Lived in The Castle, and my nerdy heart sings at the idea of new authors having picked up the reins and added another layer that includes shades (see what I did there) of one of my other favorite genres.

Reading Marino’s book now is also a happy coincidence because the science upon which he bases his horror is one I recently listened to a lecture on that took the opposite stance vis a vis its possibilities, probabilities, and general impact on society. The contrast gives me a lot to think about. And possibly a story prompt. Don’t tell my novel. Or the other short story I started two days ago.

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is dark, disturbing, brutal, and at times a bit confusing. At the start you’d be forgiven for thinking this book is a straight forward thriller. With her boyfriend and son away camping for the weekend, Sydney, a recovering addict, is looking forward to a nice quiet night at home. But those plan ago awry when she discovers a stranger in her house. Attacked and tied up, she comes around to hear this stranger talking on the phone. He’s apparently looking for something. Sydney manages break free of her bonds and escape…or at least that’s how she initially remembers events, but the truth is much more shocking, more brutal, as she actually killed the intruder. From there things really begin to get dark. The deeper into the book we go the more questions we are presented with. What is gong on with Sydney? What was the man looking for? Is there some connection between the home invasion and Sydney’s boyfriend? As I said, at times things are a bit confusing, but I think that’s mostly on purpose and given that Sydney is a recovering addict, you’re constantly questioning how much of what she tells us is believable.
This is definitely one of the darker books I’ve read this year, and while It’s not the kind of book I can see myself reading over and over again, it was definitely an intense experience and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
I’d like to thank Redhook Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess.

Review to be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble upon publication.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3JSK9IPDGC3RO/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-seven-visitations-of-sydney-burgess-andy-marino/1138562441?ean=9780316629485&bvnotificationId=fbeb7c85-20c6-11ec-93e6-12f677be8a0f&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/188023677

First off the book cover and title are set up to draw you to this book and I was expecting it to be along the lines of a horror book. Instead, I feel like it was a science experiment gone wrong in a most confusing way that had my head spinning. The first 50% was great and drew me into the story with a home invasion gone wrong and the after effects of it all in which the main character has lost memory of certain things that happened and is eventually recalling them. However, after this point, things start taking a strange, psychedelic type turn that was VERY confusing and not at all likable.
This is a debut novel from this author and I believe the potential for good things is there but possibly needed to detailed differently.

So let me start by saying that I did not read the description of this book before requesting it on NetGalley 🤦🏼‍♀️ which I probably should have. That being said, I did enjoy this book.

Brief synopsis: Kyle Portnoy breaks Into a home he thinks is empty. Sydney Burgess happens to be home. She brutally murders him, but has no recollection of doing so. When she finds an old nano pal in her house with no explanation, memories start coming back. And Sydney digs deeper to find out what really happened.

‼️Trigger Warnings‼️
🔴Drug and alcohol abuse
🔴Rehab
🔴Addiction
🔴Murder
🔴Possession

What I liked: The chapters were pretty short, and the book was fast paced. It started strong and kept me intrigued throughout. I got some The Silent Patient vibes from this book early on.

What I didn’t like: The author was very descriptive, and have many, many details describing what happened in situations. Some were a bit too graphic or disturbing for my taste. The author wrote in a Non linear timeline. It made the book confusing to follow at points.

I think this book did a good job depicting addiction and the struggles that go along with it.

If you like dark, twisty, and disturbing, this book is for you!

So this was, unfortunately, not for me. I love possession stories, and Marino really had me in the first half, for a little while. But then the narrative started to get really twitchy, and disjointed, and I know that was an artist choice - which I respect - but I really threw me out of my groove and I couldn't enjoy the reading experience anymore. Obviously not everyone will share that opinion! Sometimes readers are just incompatible with certain titles, and given the strength of the first part of the book I'm sure that readers who enjoy disjointed (purposefully) narratives will delight in Marino's story of a woman's slow descent into possession-induced madness.

Wow. What a novel. The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is quite unlike anything I’ve ever read. This is a novel that blurs the lines of reality like no other. I consumed this book and audio at an astonishingly quick pace for how bizarre and at times, confusing, it can be. It’s one of those books that I’m glad that I slept after and took a day to process. I think the way you approach and analyze this novel will completely affect your rating. I’ve seen ratings on Goodreads that were a 2 star and ones that were a 5 that I could agree with points from both. This isn’t a neat little book that will fit itself into your brain with ease; this is a story that will make you uncomfortable, disgusted, sympathetic, and horrified. The pieces of The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess come together with jagged edges that are sharp enough to cut.

“My first instinct is to look away, like I do whenever gory crime-scene footage comes up in something I’m watching. It’s not that I’m squeamish, exactly–I just decided after I got clean that the fewer images of humanity at its worst I see during my short time on this earth, the better.”

This is a gory book. The descriptions of violence are explicit and disturbing. I found when I listened to the audiobook, these moments were much more palatable. I felt less like crawling out of my skin. Somehow Christine Lakin (the narrator) made these moments of savagery seem poetic. This is also due to the masterful writing of Andy Marino, he truly has a gift for language and imagery. As disgusted as I was, I marveled at his ability to describe murder and addiction in such lyrical terms, and Lakin’s soft enunciations contrasted perfectly with it. I don’t know if I would have been able to stomach some of this book without her gorgeous narration.

This is a book about addiction, it’s a book about possession. There’s a stunning comparison to the feeling of possession that comes over one in the throes of addiction; the feeling of being controlled by your vices. On the other hand, there’s the feeling of being addicted to that possession, in the most literal sense for this book. Sydney becomes aware of her possession but doesn’t exactly want to get rid of the feeling.

Though I haven’t experienced extreme addiction the way Sydney has, Marino paints a vivid picture of the way addiction takes over your mind. The disorderly way that our brains can operate, much like when our mental health declines and mental illness takes over. Which makes sense, as addiction is often attributed to a mental illness. There’s a noisiness mixed with numbness that takes over when one experiences a mental breaking point that I can relate to, and Marino describes it in a way that makes sense to anyone who has experienced it.

One thing I also loved was the way our author described parental love. You could be the most capable parent in the world, and you’re still going to hope that any moments of imperfection don’t negatively affect your child. I imagine this is amplified when you come out of a haze to realize the ways you’ve screwed up in front of them. One hopes that the good outweighs the bad when it comes to parenting.

“I’m reassured by how naturally he assembles. I comfort myself: his mind is running smoothly. Yet I know only time will tell if I’ve fucked him up, implanted traumas to glitch his adolescence.”

This book is told in a strange order, it’s confusing, it is scary, it’s abrupt and astonishing in its ending. It’s a mixture of brilliance and peculiarity that won’t be for everyone. The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is a great horror book for the rainy, dark seasons. Thank you so much to Redhook/Orbit for the physical review copy and to Hachette Audio for the audio review copy. I enjoyed (and was appalled by) them both.

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess opened with a bang. A woman with an addiction survived a potentially deadly home invasion and soon becomes the center of their investigation due to the brutality in which the burglar was murdered.

From there, Marino took the reader on a dizzying tale of addiction, hallucinations, and conspiracy. Most of the The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess was confusing and the ending wasn't satisfying. Readers who enjoy books that focus on conspiracy theories may enjoy this one more.

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess begins with a bang, as the titular character, a recovering addict who has rebuilt her life, walks in on a home invasion. When she wakes up in the hospital, she learns that the man who broke into her home is dead -- killed by Sydney herself in an oddly personal, ultra-violent manner. From that point on, Sydney begins to descend into paranoia and unrest, haunted by the cravings and events of her past as she struggles to keep a grip on the present reality she's made for her son, and the future she hopes to have.

Seven Visitations is a fascinating, startling, and pitch-black read. A looming sense of dread permeates the narrative, aided by writing that is strange and forceful and gritty. Andy Marino's insights into addiction are some of the best writing I've ever read on this topic, with visceral, gutting passages about temptation and recovery. The entire book can be read as a metaphor for addiction: how an external force can take total possession of a life, both physically and mentally; the way our addictions manifest in those around us. Sydney is a sympathetic character, pulling readers along in claustrophobic first person through her inner turmoil and temptations and confusion. As a whole, the discussion of addiction is so thoughtful and impactful and something I honestly didn't expect out of this book.

There's so much good stuff here, but it's couched in a narrative that is often dense and confusing, with a jarring, fragmented structure. As the book goes on it becomes increasingly disorienting -- definitely an intentional choice as the narrative descends into a fever dream in which we, and Sydney, are unable to tell what is real. While by design, the fragmentary nature of the story doesn't make for a pleasant reading experience, and not just due to the subject matter: It's disjointed, and the abrupt shifts in time and place consistently took me out of the flow of the story.

If there is any genre in which a writer can push the envelope, it's horror, and Marino definitely does that here. I appreciated this fresh take on a classic possession story, but I can't necessarily say that I enjoyed the experience of reading it. Marino has a lot to say, and I think I got the point of it all -- but it wasn't easy going. Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Horror is the genre I find myself reading most, however this book just didn’t cut it for me. While the idea was intriguing, enough to keep me reading to the end, ultimately I didn’t really buy into the events as they unfolded. Perhaps it was due to the flat characters, many of which could be erased from the novel with minimal impact to the story.

While I do enjoy split narratives and other forms of non linear storytelling, I felt the alternating chapters served little purpose aside from giving the reader a break in between boring scenes. There were times where I had to flip back to previous chapters to regain my bearings so I could follow the story.

There was, as well, a continual over exaggeration of the novel’s theme: addiction. It became a victim of telling vs showing in this regard; I wanted to feel the impact of Sydney’s vices instead of simply being told in every other paragraph that she was an addict. This is also where, in my opinion, the aspect of horror went wrong. Just because blood and guts are involved, doesn’t automatically make it horror. The fright in this novel relied on shock value that came from flat descriptions of gruesome violence, rather than building upon terror and evoking emotion from the reader.

Try to recall the weirdest most “out there” Dean Koontz or Stephen King novel you’ve ever read and you might have some idea of the type of mind that created THE SEVEN VISITATIONS OF SYDNEY BURGESS.

Opening with a home invasion robbery and a narrow escape the story spirals into a gruesome tale that may have been meant as a warning about drug addiction, or

The non-linear structure of this novel which is part psychological mystery and part horror story is occasionally difficult to follow and the brutality itself is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

For those who prefer their mysteries less fiendishly sinister and more of the cozy variety… I recommend you steer clear of this one.

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess by Andy Marino

Wow!! I really enjoyed this one!

It's reads like a thriller with horrifying details then it feels like a horror book with thrilling twists.

Such a nice combination!

From the outset you know somethings not quite right with all that Syndey remembers. She has more demons in her closet than most and has trouble differentiating between things being real or imagined.

I loved taking the ride with her as she realizes the devil lives nearer than hell.

Great, horrific, thrilling book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to @netgalley and Redhook Books for this advanced copy!

Ps. Watch yourself if you get triggered by alcohol usage, drug and alcohol abuse and addiction! We spend a good amount of time in this book talking about various forms of dependence.

This Story is extremely horrifying, detailed, and graphic. Sometimes, I am still not sure what I was reading. It completely spins in different directions than what I was expecting. This is a horror story from the perspective of Sydney. It follows her after she is horrifically attacked in her own home. After the attack strange and unexplainable things begin to happen. So she begins investigating her own attack. This story follows Sydney at the present, but there are a lot of flashbacks to her past. I want to emphasize that there are a number of trigger warnings, so if you're thinking about checking this book out, please double check them before reading. I found this book mind boggling, at times it was very confusing, but I think it is important because the main character does not know what is happening, so it is important for the reader to feel the same. I was horrified and disgusted by the graphic detail of the violence in this book. It definitely hit its mark with horror, twists, and shocks. After I finished it, I was still thinking about it days later because it took me that long to just process what I read. I would definitely recommend this book if that is something you really like reading especially with Halloween and spooky season coming up.
Trigger warnings: drug addiction and use, prostitution, mutilation, abduction, murder.
I received this advanced ebook, via netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I read a lot of horror and am fine with plenty of violence and nastiness. But this book was unpleasant in a way that wasn't at all enjoyable. It's starts off in an interesting way, but between the disjointedness of the writing and how unlikable every single character is, there's not much to keep you going. Add to it a way too heavy handed "addiction as a monster" metaphor and I barely managed to make myself finish this.

I truly wanted to love this one. But the writing style was not for me. I also did not care about any of the characters. I do think the story did have a lot of originality and would definitely give this author another try though!

WOW! Ok, I need to catch my breath to write this review. What did I just read?

I was completely consumed with every word written on these pages. I devoured this novel in one sitting.

Andy Marino, is an author we all need to be on the look out for.

Sydney has been trying to bury her past and give her and her son a better life. Sydney has a dream job in the marketing industry, a beautiful boyfriend who adores her son, and a pretty decent roof over her head.

One day Sydney's life is flipped upside down when she answers her front door and a masked intruder knocks her unconscious . But there is a problem with Sydney's story. The cops are telling her that when they arrived at her house, the intruder was dead and she was responsible for killing him

The murder looks extremely personal. Sydney can not remember killing this man but no one seems to believe her.

Sydney starts to flash back to the past she has tried so hard to forget. Has the past come back to haunt her? What really happened that one tragic night?

Tune in September 28, 2021 to find out! You do not want to miss this one!

Sydney Burgess is living her pleasant suburban life with a doting husband and son when she is attacked by an intruder. She wakes up one the hospital and does not remember much of the incident.
The writer is talented in creating a creepy atmosphere, however the plot became a bit overly descriptive. The timing and pacing of the story was slightly jagged which pulled me away from the story and did not make me feel for Sydney’s situation. The relationship between her and her son did not instill any empathy from my point of view because it felt forced.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hesitate to put this in writing, lest I jinx it, but the book world may have been delivered an exceptionally promising horror writer in Andy Marino. Truly good horror fiction, which to be clear is a rarity, must be a palpable experience for the reader. This is one of those.

Sydney opens her front door, expecting to luxuriate in some me time and is instead confronted by a masked intruder who knocks her unconscious during a struggle. When she awakes in the hospital and tells her story of a harrowing escape, it turns out that the police have a different story. And entirely different one. And at this point things begin to unravel for Sydney, in ways that are both ceaseless and insidious.

I went into this book thinking I was going to be reading the story of a woman haunted by a home invasion. Oh, she is haunted alright, but not by what you might think. And with every part of the story, broken down into the visitations referenced in the title, I thought that I finally got it. Nope, the author had only just begun to tease and terrify me.

Brutal and devasting in all the ways you can imagine, and many more you cannot.

It must be noted that beyond the ingenious plot, the writing here is a triumphant use of language and its arrangement.