this book was really engaging and kept me reading & anticipating more.

overall the writing was beautiful, but there was a lot of descriptions that just… didnt make sense. this author seems to want to show just how big their vocabulary actually is.

the main character, Sydney, was the only character that i could actually recognize. This may just be a me thing, but it was really hard to keep track of the characters?

overall, this is a wonderful SCI FI horror (only marketed as horror on netgalley, and it seems that way until you get about halfway through the book) that made my heart race for most of the time i was reading it. once i picked the book up i couldnt put it down.

thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC i received in exchange for an honest review.

I was incredibly confused for most of this book. I’m the type that will read the ending to see if It leaves me interested enough to keep reading. This one did. It was gory in parts, weird as can be in others. Even heart wrenching now and then. And confusing. Which worked for me some how. It was like getting whiplash. I would be interested in reading more from this author. But....I’d like to not be so confused. I’d like some closure.

This one was heavy but worth it. The author does an incredible job putting the reader into the mind of a recovering addict. The confusion and conviction Sydney feels about what’s happening to her combined with the time skips and flashbacks all meld into a read that’s part horror and part eye opening. I love stories told be technically unreliable narrators, but the fact that Sydney is so steadfast in her conviction and the fact that the reader never truly finds out what’s wrong made for a gripping read.

I love anything horror/thriller and was excited to see that i was approved to read The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess by Andy Marino.

The imagery and descriptions in the book alone were graphic and disturbing.

Overall, there was a lot going on throughout the book. For starters, the focus was on sobriety and Sydney overcoming her own personal demons, but then devolved into a whole other place.

Although I love books that go between past and present this one got tiring and frustrating as I read on about Sydney's past will addiction and her self narrative.

I could admire Sydney's determination to stay clean for her son Danny, but beyond this book is nothing what I had expected.

I think this book has great potential but for now there is just too much going on for me to enjoy reading the book again.

I love anything horror so I was excited when my request was approved. Thanks, NetGalley!

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess started off well, but it didn't quite stick the landing.

I'll explain and try not to give anything away about the plot.

Is something strange going on? Yes.

Is Sydney Burgess a decent character? Sure.

Is this horror? Ehh...not quite. The descriptions of violence and imagery is very horrifying, disturbing and graphic.

But, then my standards of what constitutes a horror movie/novel may differ from yours.

This is more of a psychological thriller, a treatise on sobriety, how difficult it is to triumph over your personal demons that will damage your family, career, and the people you love.

Then, the author throws in a dash of biochemical warfare, there's some Matrix-y like creepiness going on (which I'm still not sure how it works) and everything spirals out from there.

The writing is good but the narrative is bogged down by Sydney's frequent flashbacks to her drug addled past, her constant conversations with the entity within her, and the time jumps.

I'm not a fan of flip flopping between the past and present.

There are loose ends, which I get, because that's realistic but the pertinent question is never answered like, what is the entity? How does it work? Is it a part of you or something alien? Just a few answers to my questions might have endeared me to like it more. Maybe.

Character development is decent for Sydney and her boyfriend, yet I always felt disconnected from her. I never really connected with her but maybe that's the point. I don't really know her, because she's not Sydney anymore.

I'm not sure about the title; it sounds misleading.

I thought the story was about multiverses; that's the newest trend since I've read a few ARCs with that storyline lately.

What are the visitations to Sydney?

This wasn't bad, but had potential to be great.

When I first saw this book on NetGalley I knew that I wanted to read it and I'm so glad that I did! The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess follows Sydney as she deals with the trauma of a home invasion. This a great debut horror novel told entirely in the first person and in a somewhat non-linear way that keeps the plot interesting and captivating.

Thank you Net Galley for the advanced ecopy. I have mixed feelings about this book. Let’s start with the good: the main character Sydney is incredibly well written and fleshed out. Sydney is an addict, nine years sober, living an ideal life now with her son Danny and boyfriend Matt until a violent home invasion occurs. Sydney can’t remember everything that happened during the invasion, and as she is questioned by police she begins working to find answers to what really happened on that day. Without giving too much away, this story goes everywhere but where I thought it would! The author really wrote each character well, none are cut and try stereotypes, and his representation of addiction as truly a disease and the painful effects of relapse were sad, well done, hard to read, but extremely realistic considering the out there storyline. Here’s where I had an issue: this book is labeled horror but really is more akin to sci fi which is rarely something I read. It is not a happy book and the end is open ended enough to allow the reader to decide for themselves whether what happens to our characters is fair, good, right, or even real. The book jumps back and forth in time which can be confusing at times but once I got into a groove with the authors writing style I enjoyed it. Overall a strong effort but definitely go into it expecting something more akin to a sci fi novel. 3.5 rounded to 4 for creativity and such a well written protagonist.

The writing in this book was solid, but the way the story itself was told was really disorienting and confusing. I liked the book’s vibe and I’m always a sucker for a paranormal thriller, but there were too many loose ends left at the end for me to truly enjoy this book.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be more paranormal than it was. I thought it was a good storyline but after a while I lost a little bit of interest. The writing was good though.

Hooked from the first line, this original take on a possession storyline will have you feeling paranoid and overwhelmed along with the main character Sydney, in the best possible way. As a doting mother, girlfriend, and former drug addict, Sydney has overcome many obstacles throughout her life and the latest ordeal — surviving a violent robbery attempt — ushers in her biggest salvation/temptation yet. Highly recommend this fast-paced and compelling book!

Andy Marino has brought us an interesting story with many layers to it. Sydney is relatable, a woman spiraling after an extremely traumatizing event. The only grounding element in her life is her son, and even that feels like it is slipping away. The memory she is slowly uncovering of the night she brutally carved the face of the burglar is jarring, and she’s not sure who to turn to.

This book is written in a bit of a fever dream style, and sometimes it was hard to follow because of it. Because the pacing is so fast, there are moment where if you blink, you’ll miss it. The chapters drop off and then start again in different places, and that makes sense the further you get in the book, however, it’s jarring for the reader. While I enjoyed the way addiction is genuinely treated like a disease, and the way it was handled in this book, the general writing style damaged the ability to truly process and appreciate it.

I was provided an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley as well as the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this.

I enjoyed this story for the most part. The way the author writes certain scenes, it makes you feel like you're really there, experiencing what the characters are.

However, there were a lot of times in the book where I wasn't exactly sure where we were or what was happening. I tried to follow the "go with it and don't over-think it" mindset. But honestly, after I finished it, I was left with a "what the hell was that?" response. Felt very confused and not sure that the story was wrapped up as well as it could have been. A lot of things were left unexplained for me.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Stephen King. Pretty disturbingly (mostly bc there's a young child involved) but we'll written, trippy and will definitely leave an impression.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook for sending me a free copy of this book!

I am a huge fan of the horror genre, so I was instantly captivated by the description of this book! The cover art is also very appealing to this horror fan (let's be honest, the covers really do make a difference in if someone will buy the book or not).

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the book begins with Sydney being a victim of a terrifying home invasion. I felt that the author did a great job portraying that fear- I was able to imagine being in the scenario. This home invasion leads Sydney down a dark and nightmarish journey.

I enjoyed the story and think this would be a fun read for anyone interested in the horror genre (or anyone who just wants a spooky little read).

3.5/5 Stars

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

Full feature for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess reads like a fever dream. Sydney is a recovering addict who is the victim of a home invasion. Later, she explains to the cops about how she escaped but they show her that the man is dead and she is believed to be the one to kill him. She has no memory of this and it sends her into a scramble.

I don't want to give away too much of this book. It is most definitely horror even though the beginning reads more like a murder mystery. I don't normally read a lot of horror but recently have been getting into the genre. This book feels similar in tone to White Is for Witching to me. Not gonna lie, during the first half I was sort of starting to lose interest but then out of nowhere it wildly shifts tone and I couldn't put it down. I feel like this book would be an amazing one for a book club to read in sections to discuss it, because I know I was desperately wanting to talk to someone about it. The protagonist isn't really someone who is likeable or hateable so I never knew where I stood with her. Even though it did have little hints of the back half throughout I wish there was more in the beginning or just more glimpses. For me, this was a 3.5/5 because I just wanted more horror aspects in the front half.

I received a digital copy of this book free from NetGalley and Redbook Books in exchange for an honest review.

I have no idea what I just read.. Let me explain:
The book starts off with a home invasion. Sydney remembers what happened completely differently than what the police can piece together. So now I am really interested, right.. I mean:
what really happened?
Did Sydney remember it wrong, or did something totally different happen?

So I settle back for a really good mystery... But then...

The book starts telling her backstory, and then things start happening to Sydney and I started getting confused..

Oh wait - this is a horror novel! Ok, I adjust my mindset and keep reading..

But I was just confused through the second half of the book. What WAS happening to her? And the timeline was confusing, since everything was written as the present tense, and I really tried to hang in there, but let's be honest. Horror is just not my thing. Maybe i just dont have the right imagination? But you need to spell it out for me, and in this book I just didn't get it.

On the other hand.... I did finish it. (and I am one to quickly give up). But I kept thinking if I kept reading I would better understand it. And I actually wanted to know what was really happening..

Overall, it was an interesting read and horror fans might love it. For me, it was a "I think I kind of liked it"

The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess started with a bang, as Sydney Burgess, mother to Dylan and a recovering addict, returns to the home she shares with boyfriend Matt, to discover a masked man in the home. He attacks her and knocks her unconscious, and when she awakens, she escapes the home and wakes up in the hospital...where she is told that she brutally murdered the robber, and she has no memory of any such thing. At this point in the book, the categorization of the novel in the 'horror' genre was a bit confusing, as after the first few chapters, the book read more like a psychological thriller. This did not last long, however, as Sydney begins to have memories and visions that continue through the book which land the reader back into horror solidly. As Sydney figures out who the robber was, and how he is connected to her current life, the novel also takes the reader through Sydney and Dylan's life up to the present, explaining how she got to where she is.

I liked Sydney and felt empathy for her throughout the story. I struggled a bit with the explanation for her condition, and a few threads were not completely tied off, in my opinion. Overall, it was a good horror read, leaving me with a sense of unease.

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for an ARC of The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess in exchange for an honest review.

⟾ 2.5 stars

i really wished i ended up liking this one, but i was confused for half of the book. i don't know if it was the way it was written, but the plot felt very fragmented and i didn't exactly understand what the book was trying to do. it skipped around a lot, but it didn't give us clues to figure out we're reading a different part of the story. i get sydney is supposed to be an unreliable narrator but idk, it was pretty hard to follow. maybe it's a me problem.

the characters were interestingly written and i quite enjoyed a few chapters because sydney's descend into madness was quite intriguing. however, i couldn't for the life of me figure out what was haunting her. the "swimmer" was mentioned quite a lot, but we didn't get a single explanation as to what exactly this thing is and why it did what it did.

the writing itself i really enjoyed. i loved how the author described certain things, how he introduced some of the characters, without breaking the first person pov.

the ending wasn't great. it left me with so many unanswered questions. i wish it dipped more into how the swimmer came to be, some backstory about the whole thing or maybe why it picked sydney. ik the open ending was probably done on purpose, but imo the book would have been better with a closed ending, so at least a few things were explained.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

After a terrifying home invasion Sydney wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what has happened, and the police are asking her if she was the one to brutally kill the home invader.Sydney has spent years trying to be a better person and get rid of her past as an addict. She wants to build a life for her son and remain sober. However after the home invasion... things begin to shift. She begins to feel like she is losing time... and that there is something more to this home invasion than just a regular home invasion.... and soon she discovers that there might be something in her waiting to get out. This is a story that deals with addiction, trauma, and family. Sydney struggles with sobriety but constantly wants the best for her son. This story definitely is in the horror genre and definitely had an interesting aspect of sci-fi(?) in it.

*Thanks Netgalley and Redhook Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*