I really enjoyed this post apocalyptic nightmarish fantasy, religious, and magical story. The novel where faith takes unpredictable bizarre turns. Where strange fantastic creatures roam a dried deserted landscape. Where people fights to survive by any means.
I loved how the author put together religion and mysticism ( I believe based on the Mexican or Mayan’s?), where they are on the first plan, and how the many characters cannot fully understand what they encounter.
Fantastic characters development. They’re three parts of the book where we follow Magdala from innocent naive child until she kind of criminal/ hero.
And I loved that the book finished with a such hopeful note.

Desert Creatures is excellent for people watching HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us. The main characters share a similar dynamic in a parallel post-apocalyptic world where plants/fungi are the world's rulers. A father and daughter are traveling across the southwest desert region of some version of The States. When his very thirsty and ill daughter drinks the juice from a cactus, she becomes infected and will soon transform into a cactus-zombie person, and they must travel away from the madness to find a cure and survive.

4.5 stars
This story follows 9 year old Magdala who suffers from a ailment called clubfoot is hoping for a miracle . Her and her dad Xavier unforcedly to leave their home.
While traveling on foot, they encounter a group who seemingly have set certain policies and procedures in order to survive the unforgiving terrain . However, tragically after a horrible incident, all die but Magdala.
Now alone, Magdala must learn to survive. After several years Magadala decides its time to veenture off to Las Vegs in hopes that once and for all she can be healed.
While traveling, Magdala runs into a exiled priest and forces him to help guide her there.
This story was beautifully written and I found myself staying up all hours to finish it.
There is a level of creep and fear that sets in as more untraditional characters get introduced.
It reminded me of The Road and makes me thankful that I have what I have.
Climate change is real, and eventhough this book had nonfictional creatures in it, the fight for survial is real.

Desert Creatures is the dystopian (or post-apocalyptic not really sure to be honest) story of Magdala and her father, Xavier. Club footed, Magdala hears about Las Vegas, the place where she can be healed and finally gain her independence.

Unfortunately, this book failed to pull me in. For one, exhaustingly long chapters are generally a no for me. I also, sadly, found the prose to be uninteresting, and it didn't hold my attention. More that that books that get oddly religious part way through are not something that I enjoy reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Gail Shalan, Thom Rivera, and Samara Naeymi were all fine narrators, but this book was not for me.

This was a brutal, haunting, and compelling story, unafraid of nakedly staring at the cruelty humanity is capable of without succumbing to the voyeurism of the torture-porn variety of horror. At the same time it was also mediation on the tenacity of the human spirit, the nebulous experience of faith over a life time in the face of adversity, and the power of stories to shape truth into something recognizable and lies into something true. Skillfully written, the descriptions are beautifully rendered without becoming purple, and by the end of the book, everything read had served a purpose which befits the austere nature of the world we’ve been immersed in. Desert Creatures is very much a story to read for the atmosphere, the complicated but very honestly messy characters, and genuinely discomforting horror elements. The desert provides an effective backdrop for a story of desperation and persistence, and the power of even small kindnesses. Of the books I’ve read this year, the imagery and echoes of this story are most likely to stick in my mind.

Chronister's novel is steeped in the barrenness of a world that has been stripped, where society has devolved once again into enclaves of shelter, power, and provisions. Magdala seems to have lived a somewhat sheltered life where her father has protected her against the vagaries of what is now their existence. However that all changes when they have to flee what was once a safe place to survive in the unknown.

As they are taken in by different communities, we gradually learn of how the waves of survival move across the land, changing the very characteristics of individuals. It is a bleak existence and the prose conveys each level of loss and violence clearly.

Magdala is only nine and was born with a clubfoot, and she and her father are exiles from their home. Travelling across the Sonoran Desert that is plagued by zombie-plant-like creatures, they try to find a place to belong away from violence and danger. They join a small group of pilgrims heading to the holy city of Las Vegas in search of healing from the relics of saints. It’s seven years before she’ll make it to Las Vegas, and only after taking an exiled priest hostage. Can Magdala find the healing that she yearns for and survive this wasteland?

I really had no idea what to expect from this work, but I was blown away by the time I finished it. The author excelled at creating an immersive, engaging, and realistic setting. It was easy to become lost in the story and the characters because of the atmospheric descriptions and vivid pictures that were provided of this wasteland. The author also seamlessly incorporated characters’ backstories and the different histories surrounding the “end of the world” in a way that created a rich backdrop for the plot. I would have liked to have a few more details included about the virus/zombie-ism that affected the desert, its creatures, and some people, but I still learned enough to keep me immersed in the world.

The book was set up in three sections. The first was told from nine-year-old Magdala’s POV, the middle section was told from her captive’s POV, and the last section was told from early-middle-aged Magdala’s POV. This was the perfect way to tell this story. It made it easy to become invested in Magdala as a protagonist while also getting a view of her that is unbiased by her opinion of herself, which provided some fascinating insights into her character. I would have liked if each section was titled in some way that depicted the movement of time (e.g., “Seven Years Later”) as it was a little difficult at first to become situated in each new section. The characters in this work all had their own, unique motivations and flaws, making every single character, no matter how small their role, feel well developed and alive.

This almost read like an old-timey western, but much more dystopian and post-apocalyptic. I highly enjoyed this read, though I wouldn’t classify it as one of horror. Many thanks to NetGalley, Erewhon Books, and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Desert Creatures is a Western dystopian horror — the opening scene was completely captivating and the plot kept me engaged. The story jumps around a lot, so it was hard to keep track at times. I found myself getting a little confused on whether things weren't explained or if I was just forgetting. Regardless, I loved the premise and look forward to reading more by Kay Chronister.

This audiobook was so incredibly beautiful, even with all the cryptids and tragedy. It felt a little like how Fallout made me feel, which is perfection. This world is full of tragedy and people trying to make sense of senselessness. Vegas is a holy city and women are property. There is magic and strange mutations. There are people trying to
survive.
There are also "monks" and the "saint touched".
It was a glorious read with the perfect narrators. I could listen to this again and again.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader and audiobook copy of Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister in exchange for an honest review. This was a very interesting book and reminded me a bit of The Stand and a bit of The Book of Koli. Yet it had its own feel to it too, its own desert sickness that seeped through each page and character. It was bleak and beautiful, grim and gracious. I really enjoyed the writing and a new take on the dystopian genre.

Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister
Narrated by Gail Shalan; Thom Rivera; Samara Naeym

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Dreamscape_Media for the audiobook published on December 13, 2022.

This post-apocalyptic world combines the wild west, magic, monsters, and miracles a girl grows to a woman, searching first for healing and later for salvation. Steeped in the lore of the desert and framed by biblical and Catholic tradition, this dystopia is more a setting for a tale of redemption, sacrifice and survival.

Desert Creatures takes its name from the zombie like creatures that rise from the desert after the fall of the world. Part human, part plant, partially alive and always hungry the creatures are not the center of the story, but an allegory and abomination that drives the underlying religious imagery throughout.

The audiobook is well produced with the three narrators matching the tone of the character they are portraying in each section. The lead, Magdala does seem to be held at arm’s length, limiting the impact of the story. There is also little discussion of the world before, but myths of saints that created the power structure of the world depicted are rich and like all good myths somewhat conflicting.

Overall, this is a dark escape in the same category as The Road.

An acid-western fueled by the New Weird (of the Jeff Vandermeer variety) that is steeped in biblical imagery pushes forth a bildungsroman in the deserts of future America.

Young Magdala, club-footed, sets out on a difficult journey across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts with her father Xavier into a world warped by acid rain and unknown forces. Amalgamations of men, cacti, and desert critters roam the desert as people flock towards the pilgrim road that leads to Holy Las Vegas. Home of bizarro world version of Christianity that uses vernacular of Catholicism but instead of centering on Jesus, has been co-opted by Saint Sheldon (I am assuming Adelson).

Magdala hits detours on her way, including a patriarchal society of outlaws where women are branded to note their "owners," a riff on the Desert Fathers featuring cacti-sitting hermits, and finally into the proverbial heart of the gluttonous beast that is Las Vegas. Eventually, this book becomes more than the journey as time passes and perspectives evolve. A fantastic book.

I LOVE dystopian novels.

Setting - maybe near future, Earth. Something has decimated the land. From the mutations, nuclear?

9 yo Magdala & her dad are evicted from their community. They’re headed to Vegas to find a cure for her club foot which she feels makes her a burden. We experience 3 stages of her life.

Similarities to The Stand, The Road, Swan Song, a treacherous trek to salvation.

Gruesomeness happens but she perseveres.