This was certainly an intriguing book, but getting past the first section (when the MC is understandably enmeshed in her Puritanical culture and has FULLY signed on to being a 'saint' in her society) took a bit of effort. It can definitely be triggering, but if you persist it does become something much more angry and assertive after that. I appreciated the sapphic relationships throughout and the way witches were thematized and developed. Overall, this was a pretty great spooky season read, particularly if you like the VVitch or similar early-American style horror. (Though, note, that this seems to take place in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world where societies have gone back to those Puritan 'roots'.)

Incredibly creepy and empowering. I had some issues with the pacing as the novel drew to a close, and some crucial plot points were glossed over, but overall a very cool book. This will be easy to recommend to teens.

I loved this book! The story immediately swept me in and I got captivated by the dystopian world where women are second class citizens. Amity/Rage is a great narrator and I enjoyed seeing her grow and become more confident with herself and her friends. I was a little unsure about the twist with the mountain. I felt that it was a bit rushed and things happened there too quickly. However, I think this was an excellent feminist tale about finding answers to your questions and believing in those who you love .

Claire legrand. Where do I begin. After reading her furyborn series and devouring it only in a few days, I knew I was going to love this. Lesbians and witches. Can you really ask for anything else? Really?

Extasia quite literally follows a girl who’s slowly becoming a saint and by the grace of god, after the lands are destroyed by awful women, it’s really the best place for survival if not the only place for survival.

After the village has been consumed by a number of deaths and horrid plagues killing people one by one, our main character realises her village might not be what she was originally expecting.

This is a book that follows cults. I love books that follow cults and I think Claire legrand did an amazing job on focusing on the cult aspect. It felt like you could really visualise the Puritan and Christian cults and what they bring to the story and I absolutely loved our female character. She was brave and had so much character, I didn’t want to stop following her on her journey. Which is why I say, this is an absolute 5 out of 5 star read. I cannot wait to see what else Claire has planned for her books in the future. 5 out of 5 stars absolutely!

4/5 stars. To be released February 2022. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book.

My first thoughts while reading this was 'this book is wild'. And it kept getting wilder. It is dark, it is cruel, and it is violent. It was an intoxicating read that I could not put down. An extremely religious society juxtaposed with a coven of witches give you exactly what you expect. This is not like the other books about witches you have read. They are vicious and violent. But so are the people who live in Haven, the last remaining settlement of people after a world-ending war.

There's a lot in this book that will bother people. Physical abuse, mental abuse, gore, and some slight animal cruelty (no live animals are directly hurt, but it may still bother some). I was completely enraptured by the first three parts of the book and then utterly disappointed by the start of the fourth. The end of the book helped recover some of my disappointment, but, without spoiling anything, I felt it was a major let down. Regardless, this was still one of the better books I have read this year.

I did not want this book to end. It had everything: witches, queer relationships, coming-of-age, feminism, and a surprising plot with revelations that I truly didn’t see coming. I felt so strongly for these girls and their desire for freedom. The supernatural elements are done very well and I appreciated the complexities of some of the relationships. I was drawn to this book due to its cover and description. Fans of VE Schwab should enjoy this one! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. I will be purchasing this in hardback to keep forever!

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand is one of my very favorite books, one that I often book talk for students, so I was really excited about Extasia. It did not disappoint!

Witches and saints and secrets and lies. So many secrets and lies. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I won't go into detail, but I never had a clue what was actually going on in this book until the main character, Amity, figured it out. There is a lot of religious trauma here, which is hard to read, along with abuse and brainwashing. But in the end it's about girls realizing their power, their strength, their gifts, especially when they come together and work as a united group. That in itself is a glorious thing. Loved it.

I had a hard time with the religious overtones in the beginning of this book, it was a struggle to read. But after that the book is pretty good.

I'm an odd one out but I unfortunately couldn't finish this one. I couldn't get past the focus on religious trauma - even knowing that it eventually moves away from that, trying to read past that point was exhausting for me and once I put the book down I didn't want to pick it back up. I really wanted to finish this one because I'm a big fan of horror and witches, but this just wasn't for me.

#Extasia #NetGalley
The book has very religious overtones at times in the first half, once you realize the plot the rest doesn't seem so in your face. Claire Legrand is beginning to show what an amazing horror writer she is with Saw Girls and Extasia. They are clearly terrifying in very different ways. I highly recommend this novel!

I had a really hard time with how.... overtly religious this book was in the beginning? I understand the cult-like society's purpose for the story but I personally had a really hard time reading and getting through all of that. The writing was wonderful and the world building was strong, but I don't think that this one was for me.

There is something undeniably eerie about Claire Legrand's latest horror novel, Extasia. Sure, eerie seems a fitting word for a story rife with ghosts, magic, and gruesome, unsolved murders. But what had me shrinking into myself and shuddering in my reading nook wasn't so much the gore and hauntings as the setting - a post-apocalyptic neo-puritanical society - and the way women are treated therein.

It is here the reader finds Amity, entrenched in ritual, and seeking to prove her worth in spite of her mother's sins. But even Amity has her secrets; everyone in Haven does. And bit by bit, Legrand weaves a tantalizing tapestry, revealing the history of the place, its people, and their hurt. Though perhaps a bit slow to start, once it gets going Extasia rages and calls out for blood in an ode to sisterhood I simply couldn't put down.

Because this book is sisterhood, in all its incarnations. The relationships Claire has written are real and messy and these woman don't always get it right. They've been hurt by the men in their lives for far too long, and each of them finds different ways to cope and heal, often at odds with each other. But they support the others in their coven nonetheless. They find a way.

For all its horrors, Extasia also contains a great deal of gentleness and strength and I cannot begin to express how much I needed both of those things. I also loved all the mentions of flowers throughout, and couldn't help but look up the various symbology. And that ending? So many twists and turns I never saw coming. Plus, who could say no to queer witches kissing in the woods?

In a post-apocalyptic pastoral setting, a young woman becomes a saint, saints becomes witches, and a coven of witches face off against those who would challenge their power. Torn between a world she no longer recognizes and the religious doctrine that has led her whole life, our heroine bleeds, burns, and metamorphizes into more than she could have imagined. Extasia is a hoarse and guttural cry against the forces that bind young women and make them feel small and Legrand's palpable rage makes these words burn.

Thank you to Edeleiss, Netgalley (for approving me 30 minutes after I downloaded it from Edelweiss), and, of course, the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not usually a horror reader but it has been appealing to me lately with several upcoming releases, and since I read Claire Legrand’s Empirium Trilogy, I figured I’d give this a shot (especially since it’s a standalone, which I always tend to like more)

Extasia follows a girl becoming a saint in what is, essentially, a cult. The World That Was was destroyed by the hands of wicked women and Haven is the only place where humanity survives, by the grace of God. Saints are young teen girls chosen by the village elders to become vessels for people to take out their sins on, by way of beating/scratching/etc so they won’t lay their hands upon anyone else.

But the village has been plagued by gruesome and unnatural deaths and our saint, named Amity, discovers there is a lot more to her village and the other three saints than she thought. Strange creatures watch Amity, and wraiths haunt her steps. Witches beckon from the woods outside the walls, casting spells, telling Amity of the village’s lies.

As Amity struggles with her newfound power and the bodies begin to pile up, it will be up to Amity to either save Haven or burn it to the ground.

Two words to describe this horror novel: religious trauma.

I’m not quite sure what I expected from the synopsis but a pseudo-Christian/neo-Puritan cult book apparently wasn’t what I had envisioned for this fantasy horror. I usually read high fantasy books like Claire Legrand’s Empirium Trilogy so I guess I expected more of a fantasy religion instead of one so clearly influenced by Christianity in a quite possibly dystopian/post-civilization Earth. Just not really my cup of tea to read about. In the beginning of the book it was, in all honesty, quite hard for me to read. The way the women are treated and blamed, how severely Amity is brainwashed and abused… not exactly for the faint of heart. But it is a horror book so I suppose that’s the point. I was uncomfortable and uneasy and nauseated and if that was what Legrand was going for, she nailed it.

But as the novel progressed and Amity’s eyes were opened, where the plot began and Amity given purpose other than mindlessly following the rules that allowed her to be abused, it became easier for me to read. I had initially worried I wouldn’t like it, but I grew to enjoy it and really liked the aesthetics. Extasia became a novel about female rage and witchcraft and sisterhood and escaping abuse and freeing oneself from oppressive religions.

In turns, Extasia cycled through scenes of the sunlit village of Haven, comforting save for the neighbors that can turn vicious and hateful and the gray wraiths that haunt Amity, and a twilight world with a blood red moon and white trees, where magic is want made real, impossible things brought to life.

And yes, the book is sapphic! Think witches kissing in elm groves and flower gardens. Not only were two side characters sapphic, but Amity also is and has a relationship with another girl.

So I would recommend this for those looking for a deeply unsettling horror fantasy with lots of religious trauma, wlws, and witches.