Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for an advanced audio book in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

A Bachelor-type reality show knock off, The Catch, goes to a remote island for the final rounds. Goes from maybe romance genre to horror.

I'm not a fan of the romance reality shows so maybe I'm not the target audience. Wasn't for me.

Narration was very good.

Samantha Allen, I will follow you anywhere!
This book is exciting, deep & superficial, hilarious and kind of gross.
Basically, this book is everything!
Much love to NetGalley & RB Media for my audio.

What a wild ride - i loved it! Hilarious such a fun read. Loved the wacky characters the book is a delight highly recommend.

What was this book? Was it horror? Comedy? Romance? Thriller? Very very slow to get into, then around 70% it went off the rails.

The audio book was fantastic with a full set of narrators.

Thank you to Netgalley, Recorded Books, and Samantha Allen for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I went into this blindly after seeing a friend read it. I enjoyed the story which was a mix between a mystery, LGBTQA+ aspects, a dating show, and a sprinkle of some horror (or at least gruesome details) all wrapped in one. I found myself enjoying the characters more throughout the story as the expressed more about themselves but man I did not like Jeremy! I think this is a fun, summer read that would be the perfect addition to your beach bag. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

3.5 stars- rounded up to 4!

How long has it been since I got sucked into a book so quickly? I requested this book because the premise seemed intriguing, but I was expecting a fun romp and not much else.

Well, it was undoubtedly a fun romp, but it also managed to get several loud cries of "WHAT?!" out of me throughout the book. My fiancee (as well as the patrons of my local cafe) may or may not be concerned. The plot drew me in and I was riveted to know what would happen next.

I also really liked how well the writer made the characters seem like actual people. Admittedly, I don't think I would get along with people like Lilah Mae or Vanessa in real life, but here I came to care for them. This was largely due to the look we get into their heads. They are shown as they are, not just what they show. All of them had aspects that I could sympathize with.

That said, it was harder to warm up to Casey. I could understand her, of course. She is a person who always felt inferior physically so she made up for it with her brains...while venting her frustrations by looking down on everyone around her. But while I got her resentment, her sense of superiority somehow struck me as really juvenile. It was just really hard to read (err... listen to)

Even with Casey, though, I wanted her to get through the book in one piece. I wanted everyone to make it to the end and was upset when (spoiler) they don't.

Overall, I would say this book was a great listen. The narrators were great (a bit shrill in some areas, but I think that was intentional) and the story is a crazy romp that will get you invested in its characters. There's horror, but nothing too intense, making it perfect for people (like yours truly) who'd like to be able to sleep with the light off after reading.

Additionally, this book is an intriguing look at modern media culture, biting but also conscient of the work and motivations that drive it.

The only two criticisms that I would like to put forth are first, that the final survivors were a bit predictable, and second, that I would have liked a bit more of the focus to have been centered on the star-crossed lesbians.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for my copy.

Well if you’re looking for a book about a TV dating game “The Match” (The Bachelor) set on a remote island that is home to a female Sasquatch, then this is the book for you! 🤣 What a crazy ride!
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Did it all make sense? No. Was the ending rushed? Yes. Did it leave lots of questions? Yes. But was it a bit of light hearted fun? It sure was!
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My favourite parts were some of the women from the show giving their true thoughts about the ‘catch’ Jeremy - and to be honest, I’d have loved to see that all play out a bit more. I’d also have liked a bit more Patricia - maybe there will be an origin story. 🤷🏻‍♀️
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I’ve read a few negative reviews, and some good ones. It is a bit gory and graphic in parts, a bit slow in others, but honestly, it doesn’t claim to be anything more than what it is. A quick, fun romp!

A gloriously bonkers book. Patricia Wants to Cuddle begins as a satire on reality shows and media culture, and ends as a campy slasher, in the best way possible. Don’t expect happy endings for every character, but do expect unapologetic weirdness and surprisingly tender sapphic love letters.

A hilarious satire of the Bachelor and IG culture that evolves into a horror-filled glamping romp in the Pacific Northwest. Ultimately culminating in a lesson on accepting otherness and finding a true home. Narration, cover, and cover font are absolutely perfect.

this was bizarre, bonkers, whacky, bananas... everything!

I originally came across this book in a GoodReads list and immediately added it to my tbr. I was even more delighted when I saw the title on NetGalley the same day and got approved!

The story follows a show- The Catch (think Bachelor), and its crew and contestants on a remote island filming. But … they are not alone. Someone or something starts to target them.

This book was more than just horror-comedy. I did not expect such crisp and crystalline writing going into it, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's part satire, part slasher horror, and has multi-media elements to it that complemented and added depth. It was so good that I just could stop reading and ended up finishing it in less than 24 hours!

A new fav book and Samantha Allen just earned a new fan!

What a mad little book! I'd heard so much about it, and then began seeing that brilliant jacket image everywhere. This is a wild ride about a group of reality-show influencers who start out on a dating show called The Catch and kinda end up on Survivor... Just what is hiding in the bushes? Where did Amanda go? Who will take home the bachelor?! Takes a little bit to get to meat of things, but the writing here is funny and so self-aware that you easily move through it. It's a cool teardown of influencer culture and new media and Allen is clearly having a blast slashing through the filters of modern celebrity. The actors are great and each perform their voices well. This was just a really fun, original and edgy book to travel with. Highly recommend.

Well this book is full of twists and turns. A bachelor-esque show comes to a small island and they are in for more than the Northwestern winds. This book had everything that I like. Multiple points of view, a bit of intrigue, and female main characters. But where this book lost me was the with the strangeness of the mystery.

People turn up missing and then the contestants go camping in that same park ... obviously chaos is about to ensue. But the "monster" that attacks the contestants and the locals who are involved ... it lost me. I wanted to understand and think it's amazing but for me it just didn't click. I understand what it was trying to do but it just didn't do it for me. It was great writing and I saw what they were doing but I didn't love it. I wanted to because it painted a great picture visually, and the emotion was there (as well as some of the contestants frustration) but I just didn't love it like I wanted to. To me Patricia's reasoning and intentions were not clear. I understood the importance that the queer identity played on the island but I didn't feel like the story was clear with making that intention translate into the actions. Maybe I missed something and I will feel so dumb when it's pointed out but to me this felt too jumbled.

**spoilers ahead**

Are we to believe both the female hikers and the sister looking for them portrayed such a heteronormative behavior that it upset Patricia? Or that the lesbians who felt seen on this island are covering up "Patricia's" actions and then taking them into their own hands to keep their island a safe space? I saw how calm that island made Renee and I knew what that meant to her in her self discovery especially as we read the letter between the two lovers but the intertwining started to feel too haphazard. Was their really a limb floating in the water when Dex looked overboard? Why did the islanders invite the show to the island? Just to stimulate the economy and to kill them? Is it everyone on the island or just a few? It seems to be a predominantly female island so is this island like a siren? Calling to people to bring them to the island just to slaughter those who don't truly belong?

Overall, the writing is great and the pacing was great but the story is a no for me. I love a strange or indie storyline but it just didn't work for me. It made me think and question and as I write this review I do want to discuss but overall it left me with more questions and confusion than enjoyment of the story. Maybe that's the point but that is not at all what I was looking for from this book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story!

*minor/vague spoilers throughout*

I very much wanted to enjoy this book and for the first 15-20% I thought I was going to. However “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” has quite a few issues that stood in the way of me being able to enjoy it.

The most glaring issue is the pacing. We spend a good 80% of this book on the drama between the girls and yet in that 80% I didn’t find myself attached to anyone. Who are the characters at a deeper level? Or is there none?

It’s only at 80% so we really get any of the thriller that was subtly advertised in the description and that doesn’t leave enough time for a proper wrapping up nor does it leave enough room for the reader to sit in the chaos. This ends up negatively impacting the ending of the story for me. There’s no real conclusion and the lack of horror or discomfort to the gore and murders is just mind boggling.

The gore felt out of place and the very quick introduction not only to Patricia but also the other women involved was somehow overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.

The gay characters “understanding the monster cause we’re monsters too/outcasts too”. Narrative. This is so disappointing because yes while I understand where this was going, the callousness and the love for violence/acceptance of violence that the gay characters exhibit leaves a bitter taste in my mouth

The other area that left me disappointed was how sensitive subject matters were handled including the blatant homophobia and shaming of someone who had an abortion. The kiss between two characters solely for the pleasure of a man was also very disgusting to me.
. This is a hard area to rate because while this behavior isn’t portrayed as “good”, it isn’t condemned either.


I didn’t go in expecting this book to be super serious or perfect; I expected a romcom with thriller elements and overall just a sense of fun and enjoyment. Instead I found myself bored by the 60% mark and finishing it just to see how it ended.

I think my disappointment comes (once again) from the book not living up to the description and the marketing falling kinda flat for me. I guess it should’ve been obvious what Patricia was given the cover of the book but it felt contrived and not utilized well at all.

The irony that the trigger warnings are giving in the book at THE END, for gore and disturbing details….oh boy, just the icing on the cake.

An absolute WILD time. I loved every second of it. I feel like there are some really meta and deep undertones to this story and I'm going to be unraveling and processing it for years to come. Samantha Allen is a genius, what's new.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

I don't even know how I would categorize this book - fiction with some mystery? It was epic - take Devolution by Max Brooks and add in a behind the scenes dating show and there you have it. This will definitely be in the top 10 books of the year for me; maybe even top 5.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle is an outrageous, bonkers, and somewhat unhinged romp of a good time through the isolated wilderness of Otters Island where, in direct correlation to their production budget, the cast of reality love-finding tv show "The Catch" is filming the culmination of their much-awaited season. The result is almost more horrifying than the real-life shows it is based on.

I loved the characterization of the characters, and I get the impression that you're meant to despise all of them - though reading from their perspectives is so, so fun. There was not much I disliked about this book. It was funny, gory, campy, and even the epilogue was satisfying in its own way.

This book fluttered it's way into my life somehow and I am still not sure how it managed to get here. It's not a book I would have searched out necessarily and it's definitely not TOTALLY aligned with my reading tastes but there it sat and I was instantly drawn to it.

First and foremost. The cover. Brilliant. Beyond Brilliant. It tells the story, fits the story and instantly makes you want to read this book.

The contents inside. Fun. This is classified as a horror novel and there are for sure horrific things that happen but overall the story is fun and it unfolds in a smart, snarky and silly way. The setting is the backdrop of a reality dating show called The Catch and the final 4 contestants are about to go on a trip with their eligible bachelor and when they finally reach Otter's Island in the Pacific Northwest something strange starts to happen.

All of their petty dramas and their infighting actually build to a huge crescendo that lays the ground work for the horror to come. They all settle neatly into roles and of the entire crew, only about one of them is likable (but there's a point to that, I promise.)

I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything for you. If you are looking for a frothy and fun horror book, this is for you. If you are a huge fan of reality dating shows and maybe some Bigfoot documentaries, this book is for you.

What it's like:
The Bachelor meets Harry and the Hendersons
Love and First Sight meets Animal Attacks
Unreal meets American Horror Stories

Overall I enjoyed this immensely. It was such a good time. My only complaint is that it went by too fast. It wasn't long enough and I wanted more from the story. I loved what I read I just felt you could have continued to tell the story for another 100-200 pages. I wanted more of this. Truly. I wanted to keep turning the pages. Maybe if this book is successful the author will give us some prequel story or at the very least let us know what happened to Patricia and the women of Otter Island.

Book Grades:
Plot Development and Pacing - 100/100
Character Development - 90/100
Theme and Subject Matter - 95/100
Writing Style - 100/100
Reader Engagement - 100/100

Overal Grade: 97% - A+ OR 4/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: 6/28/22

This is definitely a weird one but if you don't mind that sort of thing then you are in for a treat! This book has it all: romance, humor, horror, mystery, a lonely big foot! There is nothing more this book could need. I had such a good time reading this book and following along with everyone's story. If you don't mind books that are a little odd I would definitely give this a shot.

3.75ish (?) stars

This one was wild. It definitely left me in a “what the heck did I just read?!” state, to a certain extent. I think I’m still processing some of it. It was amusing and entertaining for sure; I laughed out loud more than once. It also dealt with some real issues but in a fairly light-hearted way. I don’t think I loved it quite as much as some did, to be honest, but I’ll probably still be inclined to check out whatever the author writes next.

I won’t lie, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book when I saw there was a gorilla on the cover but it was actually a fun read! The final 4 women are are competing for one guy but believe it or not, they’ve all got their own motives. 😏 The cast head to a weird island that isn’t at all glamorous for the end of the show but things start to go LEFT!

Now listen, I’ve never cared much for the reality show, The Bachelor because it’s just never diverse enough for my liking but I feel like the author did a great job capturing what it’s probably like being on a show like this in real life especially with diverse contestants.

This was a fun read because it was mystery-ish + rom-com-ish + action-ish which kept me entertained. I loved the ending even though I would’ve wanted a few more pages of it.