I just reviewed Deliver Me by Elle Nash. #NetGalley
5 STARS! No surprise coming from Elle Nash. She is one of my favorites!

3 stars on this one because I have such mixed feelings... Our main character, Dee-Dee, has experienced miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage and is absolutely determined that this pregnancy will lead to a child. Being driven by the newfound affection from her mother and her boyfriend (who she only refers to as Daddy. Puke.), another miscarriage won't stop the life she's dreamed of. We get glimpses into Dee-Dee's childhood and that only partly (to me) explains how she navigates her world. This book was weird and wild.. I was captivated at moments and found my attention waning at others.

The ending makes this one worthwhile if you can stomach the rest of the read. Fitting that this is to be released in October.

This is classic Elle Nash. Dark AF but brilliant. Some of this I would say even veers into the Extreme Horror genre so be aware of that if you're going to read. Particular CW warnings for pregnancy, baby loss and umm.. bugs eating peoples nipples.

"Deliver Me" by Elle Nash takes us on a wild ride through the harsh realities of a meatpacking facility in the Missouri Ozarks, where Dee-Dee and her crew butcher thousands of chickens every day. But amidst the brutality, Dee-Dee's got even bigger worries – she's had some heartbreaking miscarriages, and now, she's pregnant again and hell-bent on bringing this baby into the world.

Of course, life ain't that simple for Dee-Dee. Her mom keeps nagging her to marry her boyfriend Daddy, who's got some seriously weird quirks. And just when she's starting to feel like she matters, an old friend named Sloane shows up, stirring up old desires and making Dee-Dee doubt everything.

But Dee-Dee's not giving up on her dream of being a mom, no matter what life throws her way – not even more heartbreaking news or Sloane's own pregnancy can stop her. Elle Nash's writing is raw and powerful, diving deep into the messy stuff of relationships, womanhood, and the search for acceptance. "Deliver Me" is an emotional rollercoaster that'll make you feel all the feels and leave you thinking about life's twists and turns long after the last page.

If you're a fan of Gillian Flynn or Ottessa Moshfegh, "Deliver Me" by Elle Nash is right up your alley! This book has that same dark and gripping vibe that'll keep you hooked from start to finish. Dee-Dee's character is so raw and real, just like the ones you find in Flynn's novels. And let me tell you, Nash isn't afraid to explore the nitty-gritty of life, just like Moshfegh does.

Overall I was on the fence with this one. Enjoyable for the most part, horrific at times, and of course sickening in some spots.
Not sure if the actual story flowed as much as I'd like it to.
But still worth your time.

Under the claustrophobic eye of god and the savage slicing of the knife Dee-Dee has found herself pregnant again after a series of miscarriages. We're immediately in a place of sheer panic.

After fleeing the pentecostal church where speaking in tongues and spiritual healing is pretty much the norm she sets up with her underemployed ex-con boyfriend, who is not only disturbingly called Daddy but also has an insect fetish. Giant red flags Dee-Dee, get out of there girl.

Living with Daddy is like replacing one deity with another, a misguided jump from god to man with equally unfortunate consequences. And if mantises biting nipples off and but-hole stinging bees' doesn't have you closing the cover, stick around for this devastating portrayal of disillusionment with her domestic deity.

Nash breaks women down into their baser bodily instincts to reproduce, breaking the body down like chicken bones in a factory line. She turns societal pressures to settle down, get married and have babies into something twisted and stomach-turning.

This book is a warning about pushing women to the edge, this is what happens when they come tumbling off it.

Content warning: Discussions of miscarriage and scenes of animal cruelty

Deliver Me is a glimpse into the gritty underbelly of the day-to-day life of a trauma-infested woman that feels similar to the lives Donald Ray Pollock brings to life. It is dark and twisted, and forces you to have moments of pity and understanding for Dee-Dee followed by moments of sheer disgust. Relationships, religion, self-worth, childhood trauma - it's all explored through the lens of Dee Dee, who's motives are pure and full of purpose. Well, purpose at least.

Some of the religious parts felt a bit lengthy and I felt the ending left a couple of loose ends, but overall it was a very solid creepy read.

I'm not much for trigger warnings, and animal cruelty was mentioned in the book description, but I will note that this goes beyond the chickens.

[NetGalley ARC]

How far are you willing to go to achieve your ultimate goal in life? For Daisy this question is easy to answer: all the way. Yearning for nothing more than a husband and a baby, Daisy is tired of her physically and emotionally exhausting work at the chicken processing plant. She wants to be a homemaker and care for her bug-collecting boyfriend and their future child, but however hard she tries, her pregnancies just won't come to full term. Fighting the religious trauma of her past, along with her overbearing mother's meddling, Daisy is willing to step beyond moral choices and have a baby. No matter what.

I went relatively blind into this book. I had only glanced over the summary on Netgalley, but something drew me to request it. And I'm glad I did. I have to give a warning that this book includes a lot of possible triggers for people and some of them disturbed me greatly. The story is very dark and bleak and you won't get any happy feelings out of this one. But at its essence, it is a story about a woman's self-worth and how much society (and religion) engrained into us what a perfect woman should be. At least, that's what I got out of it. You'll have to decide for yourself what message you take away.

The gore factor is also pretty high, so if you're squeamish make sure you're prepared. Either way, the ending is sure to blow your mind.

TW: miscarriages, animal death/ abuse.

This was just so devastating. It's dense with body horror and the grotesque of pregnancy (the original body horror), but really the horror here is how conservative Christianity dehumanizes women and girls in such a fundamental, bodily, sexual way that it's near impossible to recover from. It's about the way Christian ideology prepares women to accept, and even relish in a deeply masochistic way, their own abuse, and though the perversity of Daisy's internal monologue does a great job estranging us from commonsense Christian misogyny, the added element of David's entomophilia really brings it home with a nauseating gut punch. It's all so fucking sad, but I think Daisy's belief that her body is only valuable, that her personhood is only legible, that's she's only deserving of care or attention or love if she can get pregnant is the most difficult part. It's all laced with a subtle but biting commentary on fetal personhood, as well as the dehumanization of capitalism through Daisy's meat-packing plant job. Her intense, homoerotic jealousy with Sloane is another brilliant turn that helps us think about all the natural, normal bodies and desires Christianity turns ugly through its own perversity. I'm physically nauseous, 5 stars.

I had to stop and recall what I signed up to read. It was very descriptive and I could tell the writing was excellent but it just wasn't for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I read 50 pages and decided it wasn’t for me. Too much god stuff and the bug stuff creeped me out. The pregnancy stuff could have become interesting but I’m not sure I want to wade through the rest of it..