I still love Cat Valente's books - as Ive mentioned before, my daughter and I read all of the Fairyland books together and I ADORED Space Opera. So I was excited when Tor announced Comfort Me With Apples, which, based on its description, I assumed was going to be some sort of Stepford Wives/Snow White mashup. Spoiler alert: I was half right. (The other half was not Snow White but the book of Genesis)

Sophia lives an idyllic suburban existence, surrounded by friendly neighbors when her husband travels for work, but she becomes unnerved when she discovers someone else’s hair in a hidden hairbrush and starts to uncover secrets that eventually unravel her marriage, her town, and her very existence.

The writing is beautiful, lyrical, evocative, and amazing. Ms. Valente is a singular talent. My enjoyment of this book was definitely enhanced by the narrator, who handled the material admirably.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free audio eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente is a strange and poetically written novella about Sophia, who seems to have the perfect life. She is a devoted wife with a lovely home and is friends with her neighbors. She resides in a closed patriarchal community with strict rules, where transparency and homogeneous behavior is paramount. Though she seems to have it all, she becomes curious about her life when she finds some strange inexplicable items in her home. The plot moves quickly and mystery of what was going on intrigued me. We learn what's happening/happened with Sophia and things become more unsettling with a grim conclusion. I listened to the audiobook which was well narrated by Karis Campbell and kept me interested in the story.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing this audiobook ARC.

Review of early-access audiobook provided by Netgalley

I pre-ordered this ASAP, so early in fact that the indie bookstore I ordered from asked “was this a mistake? It’s not coming out for a <i>while</i>.” And even though it’s now a lot closer to release I still couldn’t wait, thus my Netgalley request. Then a small moment of fear when I got access - what if it’s not as good as I hoped? OH NO! Well, it wasn’t as good - it was BETTER!
I’m thrilled I got to experience the audio version. The narration is excellent, and builds brilliantly. I’m even more thrilled that this will be in my physical library soon enough - this is a book to OWN.

I was excited reading this, which was quite a feat since the beats of the story are familiar. The first few chapters are straight-up fairy-tale retelling. And while I do love a good retelling, that’s usually not enough to make me pause and walk around a room just <i>dealing</i> with the story. Reader, I PACED. And as what I was dealing with became clear, I needed a moment.

A review is a challenge, because I don’t want to spoil at all. The synopsis makes you think it’s going to be about one thing, and it is, but’s it’s also another thing that makes <i>so much sense</i> that I’m almost mad about it. The audacity! The darkness! The seriously black humor that made me laugh out loud (that <i>line,</i>Cat. How dare you!) And the chilling, scathing commentary that gave me for-real goosebumps at the end.

I don’t give out 5 stars easily, but this is a damn masterpiece.

My review specifically for the audiobook: Absolutely terrible, I would give it zero stars if I could. The narrator doesn't even sound like a real person - it sounds like a computer reading the book. Awful.

What did I just read? It was so confusing, but in the best way possible. This short, 112 page novella was so entertaining and let me guessing until the very end.

Sophia wakes up every morning, in the perfect house, with the perfect hair, perfect body and of course the perfect husband. But is it really all that it seems? Sophia starts to question the things around her, especially the locked basement she is to never go down in. But why question it, everything is perfect, right?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC. I could not stop once I started. It was a perfect audiobook to listen to all in one sitting.

Once again I want to thank Net Galley and Cat herself for the arc of this book. Cat is one of those writers who constantly surprises me. I started this book thinking about one thing and ended with fifty other things on my mind. This one is going to sit with me for a while. There are about 10 books/stories/ideas that inspired this one and yet, she managed to make it totally original. I would say drop the mic, but I don’t want her to stop writing. The narration was exceptional. Each character had such distinct personality that I could tell who was speaking without any problems or identifying written markers.

"Comfort Me With Apples" by Catherynne M. Valente is perfectly written with perfectly lovely prose!

For 2 hours and 20 minutes I wondered what the heck am I listening to? I wanted to know more. I listened to every word for clues, hints and innuendo and you know what? It was all there!

The cover art is perfect. The writers prose is perfect and the narrators voicing is, well...just perfect!

It's a perfect community and everything about it is designed to perfection. There are rules and they are long but they are very perfect rules. If you break any of these perfect rules, you're out!

This is one crazy ride, for sure, and totally worth the hype! I enjoy different, quirky, out-of-the-box kind of reads and this one fit me just perfectly!

I recommend you go in completely blind for this one. The pleasure is in not knowing anything at all!

Would I listen to it again? Yes, and I did! And, I loved it even more!

I find apples so perfectly comforting, don't you?

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Catherynne M. Valente for an ALC of this book. It is my pleasure to give my honest and voluntary review.

This book is a mixed bag of of multiple genres featuring but not limited to suspense, romance, horror, and mystery. I was utterly perplexed as I tried to piece together Sophie’s mysterious existent through Inner monologues, interactions with her neighbours, and rules from the homeowner association share the beginning of each chapter.

Unfortunately as the thread began to unravel and the books implicated origins became clear I was left feeling more perplexed and uninterested. The ending was abrupt and will leave most readers flipping back a few pages to see if they missed something.

Spoiler alter: You didn’t miss anything it’s just that bizarre.

⭐️⭐️ Two stars for a promising read with what I would consider a belly flop ending. 14+ for complex themes.

Let me start by saying this was a captivating novella. It kept me interested and trying to figure out what the heck was going on kept me on the tip of my toes. It was paced well and flowed beautifully.
That being said, the whole message of this book was not my cup of tea. When you start to figure out what exactly is being insinuated here and the picture it starts to paint about what this story is basically based on, it can go either way. I think you will either love this book or find it meh. If it finds it's way into the hands of someone super religious, you might even hate it. For me, I enjoyed the story because I can separate my own personal beliefs from spooky mystical interpretations. I can also see why some people may not be able to enjoy this book.
I found it good for a quick goose bumpy read.

First, I have to say the narrator for this audio was absolutely wonderful! I would listen to her read novels to me all day long.

The book itself, short and to the point. If you are like me, the synopsis, along with the title, prepped me for the content.

I was intrigued to say the least, I wasn't disappointed but I'm not all that hyped either. I fall somewhere in between.

The prose Valente uses is just .... lovely. I enjoyed the writing style immensely.

The mystery very much stayed a mystery until the ending, everything leading up to this though was a bit like; wait, huh? A bit confused on what the heck is going on. It all comes together in the end. I feel this could have been a longer book and with much more details.

It has a total stepford wives vibe going on to it. Definitely one of those bizarre books that you kinda like. I will look for other works by the author.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing the audiobook for review.

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente is deliciously weird. It won't be for everyone, but if you like weird stuff, check this out. You don't quite know what's going on for a while, but it eases you in slowly.

A novella, short read, about 2 hours. Well worth the time. The audiobook narrator did a great job.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and netgalley for a copy of the audiobook ARC.

What a surprise. With the feel of The Stepford Wives but told like a modern day fairy tale. This is actually a retaling of a well known tale/mythos but saying what it is would spoil the story.

A quick and dark tale that will keep your attention until the last sentence. After finishing this audiobook I was tempted to re-listen right way and definitely will do so very soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook for review.

**I was provided an audio galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Comfort Me With Apples is Catherynne M Valente's newest novella that seems to defy genre. There is a bit of horror, a bit of fabulism, and a literary sort of vibe all wrapped into a mystery as readers try to figure out what is going on with Sophia. Rules from the homeowner's association are revealed throughout the tale and give insight as readers learn more and more about Arcadia Gardens.

My rating above is likely very misleading. I Did Not Like this audiobook. I distinctly did not enjoy the method of narration. I very much had trouble following with the story, and found the delivery to be rather monotonous for my personal preferences. If I were rating the book solely based off of the audiobook, which is what I received for review, I would rate this 2.5 stars. However, I do not feel that this rating is fair to the author.

I very much liked the story. I liked the writing. I liked the way Valente retold a familiar story and revealed just enough at a time to gradually draw a reader in and make it clear what tale Sophia was part of. Likely, I would have enjoyed a great deal more about it had I been reading this one with my eyeballs instead of listening to this audiobook. I rated 3.5 to reflect my feelings toward the story itself and then rounded up to 4 as I'm certain that's what the story would have received if I were reading physically or digitally rather than audibly.

I would still recommend this book, but I would absolutely hesitate to recommend the audiobook specifically.

Crazy pants story, but I totally appreciated the beauty of the allegory in the end.

I'm glad I went into the reading of this book with no preconceived ideas, I had not even read the synopsis, which is highly unusual for me. That helped, because this was a very short, quick read. I listened to it as an audiobook, which was a fantastic way to experience it. Karis Campbell narrates, and she is "perfect" as Sophia. The way she conveys Sophia's naiveté in the beginning and her dawning realization that all is not the perfection she believes it to be is beautifully done.

This is definitely not a book for everyone. I fully got on board with this trippy feminist take on a very familiar story, but I know it won't connect with all readers as much as it did for me. My best advice is to just go with it--it's short enough that maybe you will love it and maybe you will hate it, but you'll want to find someone to talk to about it after you're finished regardless. It would make a very intriguing book club choice.

I was offered a ARC of Comfort Me With Apples for an honest review. I would like to first thank Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the approval of this ARC audiobook. It is difficult to review this book without revealing too much. This novella is crazy! It starts out with small bits of world building, with suspense on what is to come. This story did not end where I expected it to end - which is a good thing (predictable reads are the worst). The Novella was definitely unsettling. I get Handmaids Tale vibes from this and I loved it.

Overall, I wish this was a fully written thriller/horror novel and not just a novella. I would have enjoyed learning more about this society and the community of Arcadia Gardens. This novella is definitely a good October read. I did find the narrator a bit boring and her tone was not keeping me as engaged as I would have liked.

I was looking forward to this, but was let down. It truly made zero sense and I was constantly rewinding to relisten to a portion. The narrator was extremely monotone. Not enjoyable at all.

In Comfort Me With Apples, Sophia plays the perfect wife for her perfect husband. Absolutely everything in their life is perfect except how much he stays away and the locked basement she is banned from entering.

I was not expecting what I got from Comfort Me With Apples. I thought it was just another run of the mill spousal thriller with what seemed to be a pretty passive wife. This audiobook is only a little more than two hours and for the first half I was pretty confused as to what was going on with the neighborhood and the character names, but then the second half hits you with everything and makes it all so cool. The narrator almost made Sophia sound like a robot or a doll which at first bothered me. After finishing the book, I think it was the right choice. Definitely a very intriguing short audiobook. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like odd books where everything becomes clear at the end, neighborhoods with strict rules, or want to see what happens to the perfect wife, this is the one for you.

I received a copy of this audiobook free from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy a bizarre book and this one fits the bill, but I didn’t feel impressed by the ending, despite sticking it out for the mystery- which remained a mystery up until almost the end. I really appreciated the author’s prose and enjoyed the creepy undertones but didn’t love the story overall. I did, however, feel the narration was perfect for this audiobook- the narrator had the right tone to match the story throughout.

Bizarro factor: Yeehaw
Characters: Meh
Writing: Hooray
Pacing: Tasty
Plot: Ehh
Narration: Ear-licking good
Conclusion: Blue-balls

This was absolutely incredible. I don't want to say what it was a retell of, but it was amazing. On the surface it was gripping and then deeper? Just wow.

It's hard to say something about this book and not spoil it for everyone who reads reviews before diving in... but let's just say that as a woman (not that I put any credence into the bible in the first place) I feel vindicated.
I also feel like there was a lot of symbolism that I missed because I'm not educated enough in literature.