Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good horror. Be warned there are several instances of animal abuse/animal death. The pacing felt a little off to me, but that very well could have just been a personal reading issue. The ending felt rushed, but makes sense with the events that happened; personally for me I would have like less of the parts with the animal death and more with the ending of the book. I found the relationship between Daisy and Sloane to be intriguing and would’ve liked a little bit more about them when they reconnect as adults.

I read this book in a day and I never looked back! The twist and the plot were pretty easy to identify but the different POV's kept me intrigued to see how everything was going to unfold. A couple of the characters were so unlikable that it made it hard to feel bad or connect with them in any way. I do wish that the ending would've given a little more, I wanted to know how the characters dealt with the aftermath.


*I received a copy of this eARC via NetGalley*

I'm not sure exactly what to say. I loved the premise and wanted a lot in terms of delivery. Although it was an interesting story with a rich backstory grounded in trauma, it fell a bit short for me. The ending was great but felt a bit rushed for such a slow burn. I will definitely read more of this author though.

Wow, this was not what I was expecting! Such a vivid and visceral read. It started off a little too slow but picked up. I didn't see the ending coming, and yet I still somehow felt sympathy towards the main character. Excited to read another by Elle Nash!

This was well-written, and I could see how much love the author poured into this book and how much compassion she had for her protagonist, but Deliver Me was also horrific and disturbing in a way that I hope to never ever think about again. It was just too much for me, and that’s honestly really saying something given the books I usually read. It didn’t give me the impression of being written for shock value, but it was still pushing it for me. Maybe good for fans of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (which I enjoyed) or Tender is the Flesh (which I disliked).

Tried to get into this slow burn…. You could tell where it was going from the beginning I just did not want to walk that road.

This has a lot of triggers and is a pretty dark book and goes over heavy topics. Please check TWs before reading.

𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘦 had my attention, somewhat... But part of the problem I had was that it moved way too slowly for my liking. I didn't dislike this book because of the extreme horror that you eventually do get, but rather that it just droned on and didn't do much of anything until you're at the last 30-ish pages. All-in-all, this was a flop for me.

Thank you to The Unnamed Press and Netgalley for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Dee works in a chicken packing factory. Her job is to cut the breast into nugget-sized pieces. It is a hectic and brutal job. After five miscarriages she finds herself pregnant again and is determined to have this baby with her ex-con boyfriend with an insect fetish. Her mother never has anything nice to say to or about her. Instead, she forever harps on about her leaving the church and living in sin. This is Dee's life.

This story is so visceral. It is absolutely brutal and shocking. There were parts where I actually felt nauseous, and books never affect me physically like that. I was glued to the pages. This is a dark and messed up story that I absolutely loved.

Deliver Me by Elle Nash

Release Date: October 3, 2023
Genre: Literary, LGBTQIA+, Coming of Age

Content Warnings: animal cruelty/death, miscarriage, Christianity/religious cults, abuse

Themes: Unhinged women, obsession, religious trauma, psychological

Synopsis: Dee-Dee works at a chicken meat processing plant where she must slaughter chickens on an assembly line every day. She lives with her boyfriend who is an ex-con and is desperate to have a baby with him. Her mother does not approve of her relationship or intentions to get pregnant because of her strong evangelical beliefs. Dee-Dee becomes pregnant after multiple miscarriages and is determined to carry her pregnancy to term so that her boyfriend will not leave her. Dee-Dee’s childhood friend Sloan moves into her apartment complex and seemingly has the life that Dee-Dee has been dreaming of which causes her to become jealous and obsessive.

My Thoughts: I went into this story completely blind without knowing the synopsis or even the genre. In the first couple of chapters I was gasping in shock from the intensity. Dee-Dee definitely tops the list of unhinged characters I’ve read. The choices she makes throughout the story made me feel so uneasy but I needed to know what was going to happen next.

Elle’s writing style and the general vibe of this book remind me a lot of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. So if you enjoyed that book I highly recommend reading Deliver Me.

Deliver Me was disgusting and tragic, and everything I love in a book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Net Galley and Unnamed Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely like nothing I've ever read before. As a sufferer of religious trauma myself, I could relate to the character. This book has many trigger warnings, so proceed with caution if you have any. I just could not handle the animal abuse.

Harrowing and gorgeous. A triumph of the weird. Loved it. Thanks to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you have triggers concerning miscarriage and/or pregnancy, this book may be too much for you.
I loved the writing. The way it made you think. I can relate with the main character in some ways, as I struggled to have a child.
This book was brilliant and I look forward to seeing more by this author.

Dee-Dee works at a meatpacking plant in the Ozarks, is an ex-member of the Pentecostal Church, has a deadbeat boyfriend who's obsessed with insects, and wants nothing more than to have a baby. An ex-best friend from her teenage years reappears, throwing a sharp contrast on the ways their lives have diverged.

DELIVER ME is a convincing, compelling vision of working-class America and religious conservatism. Nash has an attentive eye to the banal, backbreaking, and horrifying realities of the meatpacking industry, and the ways women look at and look down on one another. There's a lot in here about carnality and the body, our relationship to animals, and the ways dehumanization can come from within and without.

I was surprised and impressed at how the novel committed to its grisly foreshadowing—often, books claiming to have 'unhinged' narrators have hinges that squeak rather than go truly and sincerely off. This is a Southern Gothic that treats its disturbing subject matter with seriousness. In other hands, the gross-outs may have come across as cheap shocks, but DELIVER ME brings them into the world for a higher cause.

If you have triggers, check them because this one is heavy with triggers but if not, just go in head on.

I love depressing shit, and the disparity and desperation to be a mother in this one is massive. DeeDee is beyond mentally damaged, suffering from the loss of many miscarriages and struggling through her day to day life. While I recognize she wasn’t quite an exemplary person, I still found myself feeling so much sympathy towards her regardless. The ending I kind of saw coming, it was demented enough for me to still find it shocking. Many thanks to the publisher, Unnamed Press, for my eARC. Deliver Me is available now.

This is the type of book to give me nightmares and not in a fun, spooky way. This is one of the more disturbing books I have ever read. In some ways, the female main character reminds me of Pearl, from the A24 movie franchise. The absolute desperation to have a baby and to be loved by her mother, boyfriend or by anyone really, is incredibly sad. I think this depiction of mental illness is appealing because it is written in such a way that feels scarily atmospheric and fever dream like. I wish so desperately that weird books like this did not have animal violence in them. If you have any type of trigger for animal violence do not read this. I was able to set the chicken factory elements aside, but there is a scene with a dog that is absolutely vile. This book made me feel very nauseous and overall unwell. It is the type of book you need to watch an episode of Friends after.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Unnamed Press for this ARC.

This leans into the best kind of body and emotional horror around growing up in one of those kinds of religious upbringings, overbearing mothers, the slow motion car crash of a dissolving relationship, desperation, the meat industry, yearning and repression, the way jealousy can eat you alive, and someone making the worst possible life choices. Also, for fun, bugs and gore and just absolute nightmare shit. This is up there for my favorite horror books of the year. Fun, fucked up, and leans hard into it.

This gave me some LaRocca vibes. It is dark and twisted and it is not for the faint of hearts.

The story is about a 34 years old Daisy who works at a meat factory and wants to be a mom desperately. Surrounded by toxic people from her childhood, like overly bearing and religious mother and not so present father, Daisy starts seeking comfort with her friend ,Sloane. And to be frank, Daisy would have done much better without Sloane as Sloane is not a good friend either.

Her boyfriend who she calls daddy is even more cringe-worthy character and it made me question why was she even with him. Daddy's obsession with insects was unhealthy and Daisy's obsession with keeping daddy happy mirrored almost the same desire. It was the same level of unhealthy. The story feels raw and callous. Every character has a very dark side which nobody is even trying to hide which made me feel like I was rathee reading a dystopia or maybe I really haven't come across so many toxic people in one place and time.

Although Daisy is hateful , spiteful and a horrible person you can't help but feel sorry for her. Her whole life feels like a festooned wound ready to burst at any point and that's what it does in the end.

The book's tone is excessively religious at point, it annoyed me and even though I get the point that it was to show how Daisy's mother was, but it felt like overly done. Something we could have done without.

Also the jumps in the books are abrupt and disorienting, it confused me a lot. There are many grammar mistakes which made the reading experience somewhat unpleasant, I hope it will be corrected on the publication.

Even with all the enumerated flaws , this story kept me engaged from the start till the end.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for providing me with ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Deliver Me by Elle Nash

Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: This is my introduction

Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978195121...

Release Date: October 3rd, 2023

General Genre: Erotica, Literary, LBGTQIA+, Coming-Of-Age, General Fiction

Sub-Genre/Themes: Motherhood/pregnancy, patriarchal, evangelical, religious cult, identity, female agency, repressed sexuality, unrequited (sapphic) love, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, obsession, and desperation. TWs: animal cruelty/death, fertility issues (miscarriages), pregnancy, abuse, trauma

Writing Style: Psychological, introspective, character-driven, explicit, stylistically complex, flashbacks

What You Need to Know: The main character works at a meat-packing plant. Her job is processing chickens so if you’re a vegan or squeamish about meat processing, there are a lot of detailed descriptions. The main storyline is a detailed account of one woman’s struggle with not being able to carry a baby to term; miscarriages. There is a lot of psychological trauma because of the religious context she grew up in and the current romantic/sexual relationship she’s in. Strong themes of harmful Pentecostal/Evangelical doctrines include gender roles, identity, female agency/purpose, sexual predators in the church, and purity culture. The weight of all these themes is staggering. Having an Evangelical church background myself, this book is terrifying in its accuracy. If you’ve experienced religious trauma at any point in your life, especially as a woman, you might find this book as cathartic as I did.

My Reading Experience: This book is compulsive as fuck. Lately, I’ve gotten into the habit of reading the first page of all the books that come into my house so I know how to prioritize my reading list. I read the first page of this book and then just kept on reading. The prose is intentionally intimate, drawing the reader close as the MC, Dee-Dee runs through her thought-life.

It’s exceptionally painful. A strict, patriarchal, evangelical religious upbringing has damaged Dee-Dee’s sense of worth, purpose, and identity beyond repair. Now, she’s in a relationship with a live-in boyfriend she calls, Daddy. All Dee-Dee wants is to be pregnant. She fantasizes about motherhood. It’s horrifying how fucked up she is in her head.

Nash does an exceptional job presenting Dee-Dee exactly as she is, fully informed by the worldview/context she has been in while simultaneously giving space for the reader to witness all the ways this toxic, abusive environment has produced ignorance, immaturity, stunted growth, and ultimately, mental illness.

It’s frustratingly tragic yet, mesmerizing. I couldn’t put it down. This book had me in its grip until the final page and long after I finished. My thoughts were racing! The high of reading this book lingered.

Final Recommendation: Carve out exactly how much time you will need to finish this book--it demands one sitting. You won’t stop thinking about it if you have to interrupt the flow so I suggest downing the whole thing in one, satisfying gulp. Be mindful of triggers. Reach out to me if you need specifics. I’ll be reading Nash’s back catalog and hunting down new releases.

Comps: Has “Tiffany McDaniel vibes” with the grim tone and female-centric sense of desperation and despair. Similar themes to Conjuring the Witch by Jessica Leonard. Accessible, absorbing storytelling reminiscent of Ashley Audrain’s The Push.

Either you will love or hate this. If you have mommy issues and/or religious issues you will relate. Nash dives deep into what it means to be a woman and grieve over what is expected of her as a woman in a religious upbringing.

There is a lot to be said about this but I do feel seen as a person who wants to be pregnant but haven’t tried yet.

Wild, unexpected, and darkly beautiful. Elle Nash has done it again with another tragic tale of female desire gone wrong