Liselle Sambury never ceases to amaze. She is a master at creating complex characters and compelling plots. Tender Beasts is no different.

This one is a supernatural horror/thriller with chilling dash of suspense and a whole lot of family drama. While the antagonist fell a little flat ( I think it was the nickname I couldn’t get past), I think this is an overall satisfying read that shows the range in Sambury’s storytelling ability.

Liselle Sambury remains an autobuy author. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster’s Children Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this ebook. I am leaving a voluntary review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own.

A phenomenal story that delivers chills and thrills alongside some important themes and messages, TENDER BEASTS revolves around a wealthy Black family in Toronto who find themselves at the center of a murder investigation when the son is found with blood on his hands. This story is much more than just a simple murder mystery though, as Sunny and Dom realize their family is riddled with dark secrets. Everything this family has is at stake, and Sunny is faced with tough, life-altering decisions. ⁣
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Much like Sambury’s previous horror book, Delicious Monsters, I’m also struggling to give this book the glowing praise it deserves. Nothing short of brilliant, this book so seamlessly blends supernatural horror elements with atrocities committed by human hands, and there were so many parts that were so deliciously creepy. I’m intentionally being vague because I don’t want to spoil one tiny bit, but suffice it to say that this will appeal to lovers of psychological horror, gore, and everything in between. ⁣
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The author weaves in plenty of impactful and relevant themes, especially the injustice and prejudice that Black people, particularly young Black men, face in the justice system. The author highlights that so beautifully with Dom and how he’s going to appear guilty to the authorities even from the start. My favorite kind of books, particularly young adult books, are the ones that offer plenty of talking points and leave room for discussion, and TENDER BEASTS certainly does just that. All told, another winner from Liselle Sambury, and another favorite for me. 5 stars. Definitely pick this one if you’re a fan of:⁣⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Psychological horror ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Relevant and timely themes ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Murder mystery ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Page-turning plot ⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Family secrets
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣➽ Elite private schools

Sunny's family owns a private school. One day, after her mom dies, a kid is murdered at the school. The Behre family has to figure out what's happening before someone else dies.

This book wasn't for me. It was too slow moving and too long. I'm a believer that mystery books don't need to be over (or near) 400 pages.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘔𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬.”

Sambury is an auto-buy author for me so when I saw Tender Beasts in the works it was a must I get this book. I mean look at the cover how could that not influence you to read/buy it?

Tender Beasts was full of interesting twists and surprises packed with gory murders, family secrets, drama, and a mysterious supernatural entity. It’ll have you wondering and questioning who and what the milk man is.

The whole Behre family was rather odd and I love how Sambury played the characters against each other. She vividly describes them in such an intriguing way adding more emphasis to their mischievous side which made them all appear as suspects. Dom, the Feeny’s, the dad, the middles, a student seeking revenge, the crazy lady who keeps showing up‼️ It was nonstop back and forth between who was behind the school murders. I didn’t wanna believe it was Dom I actually thought it was the dad the whole time. But the author found a clever way to twist that narrative.

She staged the deaths and portrayed them with the kind of suspense you’d get from movies like The Bone Collector or Mindcage. She really used mystery and suspense to her advantage with this one but I still felt it was missing something. If it weren’t for the journal entry’s written by Ainsley I don’t think the story would’ve come together as smoothly.

Overall, Tender Beasts was worth the read Sambury is a masterful storyteller and knows how to keep you guessing. Although it didn’t outdo her last book I still think it’s worth the read. Special thanks to the author & @simonandschuster #MargaretKMcElderryBooks for my e-ARC‼️

I didn’t tend to read a lot of horror, but I could never pass up a Liselle Sambury book, and this certainly did not disappoint. Between this book and Delicious Monsters, she has made me a believer in the genre.

I was immediately drawn in and could not bear to put this book down. I kept going back and forth between who I thought was behind all of the murders and it was so exciting to see how everything tied together. No spoilers, but THAT ENDING!! Genius.

This is a book that I keep thinking about and I will definitely reread to see the crumbs left throughout.

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books, and NetGallley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this one, but something just didn't work for me.

This book borders on folklore horror and contemporary slasher. Mysterious deaths keep happening in the prestigious boarding school that our MC and her family run. And in the middle of all of those deaths is her brother. She thinks he's being set up, or by accident always appears in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they why is he the only one out of her 5 siblings an outcast in the family, even if he is the youngest.

There's a dark secret that family is hiding, but Sunny herself doesn't yet know. When her mom dies, and Sunny expects to have the reins given to her, but they aren't she is left confused and lost, and now the only one trying to save her brother from all the troubles.

Just like my thoughts, I felt this book and the way it moved is a bit confused. The old journal entries were kind of explaining the plot, but really trying not to give it away till the end. And it left me confused, not intrigued. It felt jumbled, especially with so many siblings, and secrets of their own. Maybe they were explained and included to throw off the scent of the main story, maybe not? In the end, the whole secret wasn't as impactful as I hoped. It lost its steam somewhere along the way.

I did like Sunny finding herself, and figuring out who she actually is in the end. And the whole epilogue was exactly what it needed. Still an author I'd go for when it comes to YA Horror. There's something magical about her writing style, that will always deliver, even if it is slowly.

Tender Beasts, by Liselle Sambury, is a paranormal YA horror/thriller with a dual timeline.

The story begins with the mysterious death of Ainsley Behre, mother of five and founder of Behre Academy. This painful loss creates a leadership vacuum in a family already living in crisis mode. At the time of Ainsley’s death, her youngest child Dom is under investigation for his girlfriend’s murder. He says he’s innocent, but even his own siblings doubt him. Dom has been ostracized by his family for so long, no one really knows him.

Events after the Behre family matriarch’s death, are told from Sunny’s point of view. A senior at Behr Academy, Sunny is left a sticky note by her mother saying only “Take care of Dom.” Soon after Sunny and Dom return to school, a student is found on a hallway floor, brutally murdered. And Dom is standing over the body, covered in blood.

Interspersed with the present day events are excerpts from a diary kept by a teenage Ainsley. Atmospherically dark, these eerie and foreboding entries provide a glimpse into the childhood of both parents, who grew up together on a cattle ranch. Sambury is skilled in weaving dual timelines, so when past and present events collide, the two big reveals amplify each other.

The author is also adept at managing a large cast of characters, passing suspicion around and keeping the reader guessing. The favoritism, bickering, and jealousy between siblings is common to any family drama, and serve to ground the paranormal elements.

While Tender Beasts did not match my love of Delicious Monsters, I did enjoy the ride and recommend the book to YA readers who enjoy creepy mysteries.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley for providing me this eARC.

The wealthy Behre family runs a private school and cattle ranch in Canada. On the surface, they appear nearly picture perfect. Don’t be fooled. They’re harboring family secrets extending back for decades, and youngest son Dom is provided the bare minimum of care with food and shelter. After the death of Sunny’s mother and the second-degree murder charge against Dom for killing his girlfriend, the family slowly begins to unravel. Groomed by her mother to be the next family leader, Sunny is determined to protect their reputation – a lot of responsibility for a teenager. Still, she’s confused when her mother’s only instructions are to take care of Dom, while her older sister assumes the position of family leader.

Chapters alternate between Sunny’s POV and her mother’s journal entries from her teen years spent at the cattle ranch while living with several families. When the body count rises at the school and Dom is a prime suspect, Sunny is determined to prove his innocence. I didn’t care much for her the majority of the story because her actions and behaviors aren’t genuine. Her primary concern is preserving the family image. Over the course of the story she has tremendous character growth, and her loyalty to Dom is a redeeming quality. I was partially right in predicting the identity of the murderer, but the end still comes with shocking twists.

If disturbing, creepy psychological thrillers are your jam, look no further. This novel is filled with gruesome deaths and a cult-like group who make sacrifices to the Milk Man to keep him happy and ensure their lives run smoothly. Be warned – there are animal sacrifices I skimmed over. Harming children and animals is usually a hard pass for me with novels. At over four hundred pages, this is a long novel, and I felt like the story wouldn’t have suffered from being trimmed in certain areas.

Recommended for readers who enjoy whodunnits, dark thrillers, and complex family dynamics.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A fever dream of a book that leaned a little too much toward horror for my personal taste, but what a ride. Definitely recommend this to readers who are up for a crazy, dark ride.

The Behre Academy is run by the Behres, a Black family with five children. Sunny, the eldest, has been instructed by her mother to "Take care of Dom."

Dom is a bit of an enigma. Is he just a troubled child, a grief-stricken child, or something worse. This aspect of the book had a truly creepy "Bad Seed" feel.

Sambury masterfully weaves a horror/mystery/pychological suspense plot with family drama AND social justice themes: inequity in elite education, law enforcement biases against people of color, and more.

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I ended up listening to the audiobook after publication. As always all opinions are my own.

I found this to be more of a YA mystery/thriller than horror, but it does have some horror elements as the story progresses. The majority of the story was more of Sunny uncovering family secrets and solving a murder mystery. This is disturbing and dark, but I didn't find it overly gory or gruesome. It does tackle social social issues like race and class.

This follows Sunny, the favored child of her late mother. Sunny is a people pleaser and was poised to be the next head of the family, especially her troubled brother Dom. Dom has always been treated poorly by her parents and siblings and Sunny has never really questioned why. She always smiles and puts on a happy disposition and does her best to diffuse any uncomfortable situation. Dom on the other hand always seems to be surrounded by trouble. Now having been accused of murder and being at the scene of yet another crime, Sunny isn't sure what to think about Dom. Determined to figure out what is going on with Dom and prove that he is innocent, she begins her own investigation into the crimes and finds that her family's wealth and success has been built on very dark secrets.

This was a great YA thriller. It was a little slow burn for my tastes, but the pacing fit the storyline. The story really starts to come together once Sunny's investigation leads her to her mother's journal, and the author really starts to clue the reader into what is going on. As the journal entries are revealed we learn more and more about the Behre family secrets and hone in on the horror elements. That was a really creative way to tell the story and slowly let out tidbits of information leading up to the big reveal when all is explained. If you like family drama with a twist this is a great one to pick up. I think this is perfect for younger readers or those who want to dip their toes into horror without tons of gore, though you will want to check the content warnings as this is dark.

Content warnings copied as indicated by the author [ Death of a parent/grief, animal death (on page - cow and lizards; off page, referenced but not described - cat; off page, referenced and somewhat described - unspecified animals), mentions of self-harm/suicide, drinking and drug use, infidelity, discussions of toxic intimate relationships, detailed body horror/gore, violence, death (includes child death)

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book. I had such high hopes going in because I have previously read and enjoyed two of Liselle Sambury's books, but this book was not for me.

My biggest issue was Sunny. Since the book is told in First Person POV, from Sunny's POV I was privy to her every thought and feeling, and honestly, I got annoyed quickly. I found Sunny to be infuriating and insufferable and unfortunately, I wasn't interested in her as a character or in the story for me to look past my dislike. I cared very little about the Behre family and the murder mystery so there was nothing to keep me going.

I also had a hard time believing the dynamic between the siblings. How can you go so many years and barely interact with a sibling that is in your age range and lives in the same house, to consciously and obviously exclude him? Whether by the mother's design or not. I didn't believe it for a second.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing (Margaret K. McElderry Books) for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book just didn’t work for me. I found the pacing to be slow and the story just dragged for me. I was so excited for Tender Beasts, as I had loved her previous book Delicious Monsters. I hope others enjoy it, and that it does well with its intended audience. Unfortunately that just doesn’t include me.

What would you do if one of your siblings was murdered? For Sunny the answer is simple, dig through the shadowey past of her elite academy to uncover the truth, no matter the horrors.

This is a nail-bitter of a book! In the best way imaginable. Liselle Sambury is quickly making a name for themselves as the master of thriller and suspense. Dark academia crime solves will never be the same after this story.

This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions! It's a gripping psychological thriller set in an elite school with a mysterious murder, family secrets, and strange occurrences. Sunny's journey to uncover the truth about her family is both chilling and captivating.

The complex family dynamics and the burden placed on Sunny to protect her brother add layers of suspense and intrigue to the story. The blurb perfectly captures the essence of the novel, making it a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and horror.

The narration by Kimberly Woods elevated the experience! Her fantastic performance, with varied tones and inflections for each character, brought Sunny, Dom, and the entire Behre family to life. It added an extra layer of depth to an already compelling tale.

Tender Beasts is a creepy and immersive psychological read, perfect for those who love a mix of cult elements, serial killers, and intricate family drama.

Disturbing family dynamics!

After Sunny’s mother dies, her family seems stretched to the breaking point. Her father and siblings have all followed the mom’s lead in keeping up appearances and keeping secrets. On the surface, Sunny sees that her 15yo brother Dom has always been shunned by the family and left alone, now he’s suspected of killing his girlfriend. She knows that her mother wanted her to take care of Dom, so she befriends him and the two siblings start to investigate information their mother left behind. When murders occur at their school, Sunny is frantic to clear Dom’s name. What she discovers changes her life forever.

Likes/dislikes: I like the unique storyline with a mix of mystery that includes horror and supernatural elements. Alternating between past and present made the story more interesting. The author showed how loyalty can be good but also twisted.
Mature Content: PG-13 for mention of sex, underage smoking and mention of drug use.
Language: R for 165 swears and 54 f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: predominantly black with some white side characters.

I have this title on my shelf but I cannot find it on my device. Now the archive date has passed so I cannot download it again to read and properly review.

Sunny Behre might be the fourth child in her family of five siblings, but she knows she’s long been groomed to succeed her mother as leader of their wealthy, influential Black family. Her mother Ainsley was a force of nature, parlaying inheritance of a ranch into various successful business ventures that catapulted their family into the Toronto elite. Perhaps nothing is more meaningful to the Behres, however, than the private school they founded for underprivileged kids. All the Behre children have attended as proof of the school’s excellent credentials, and continue to take an interest in it even after graduation, with their father Jay serving as principal.

After Ainsley’s unexpected death, seventeen year-old Sunny is poised to take over, so is shocked when her eldest sister Karter assumes the role instead. She’s even more displeased when the only instruction her mother’s will gives her is “Take care of Dom.” Dom is the youngest child, and has always been something of an outcast in their family, even before he was accused of murdering his white girlfriend. The Behres have absolutely closed ranks around him in public. In private, though, none of them are sure of his innocence. His best friend Jeremy has no such doubts, telling Sunny:

QUOTE
“It’s bullshit, man. You know, when me and Dom hang out, it’s like someone is always looking for a reason to call the law on us. We’re leaning against a lamppost–loitering. We’re browsing the shelves–finna take something. We’re laughing too loud–disturbing the peace. They’re always paying so much attention to us.[”]

I didn’t know what to say to him. Nothing he’d said was wrong. Justice wasn’t supposed to discriminate, but of course it did. And we [Behres] were exploiting it, too. Using every bit of money and influence to get Dom whatever we could in a way that Black people without the money couldn’t.
END QUOTE

Determined to grin and bear it till the family can see that she’s their rightful leader, Sunny throws herself into making a success of her school life and keeping Dom out of trouble. Her purpose doesn’t even waver when she walks into the academy’s cafeteria one afternoon and finds a bloodied Dom standing over the corpse of a fellow student. Her unrelenting commitment to her family and to her mother’s directive cause her to instinctively cover up the crime, even as she starts to realize that there is something very wrong going on with the people she loves the most.

Because – despite her family conditioning her to instinctively scapegoat Dom for any bad thing that happens – Sunny does genuinely believe that Dom is innocent of at least this last murder. But someone else is definitely guilty, as the bodies begin to pile up and the evidence points to one of the Behre children being an accomplished serial killer. Will Sunny be able to sort through years of family secrets to get to the truth of who’s truly behind this string of murders?

No one in any genre writes about hidden family trauma as well as Liselle Sambury does. Between this and her prior novel Delicious Monsters, her ability to dissect family expectations in the face of overwhelming horror and, perhaps more crucially, how to work towards a resolution which is healthiest for everyone concerned is unparalleled. Sunny’s plight as a habitual people pleaser is especially resonant, given that her determination to be the constantly upbeat cheerleader of the family stems from her survival of a terrible ordeal as a five year-old:

QUOTE
Everyone thought I would fall apart. I’d wanted to. I had a bit, honestly. But then I saw my parents fight. Saw my siblings who were supposed to be watching me wracked with guilt, compounded by our parents blaming them too[.] And I knew if everyone saw I was okay, it would stop. So I’d put a smile on my face and acted like everything was fine.

It worked. The fighting stopped. I still had nightmares until I was twelve, but as long as I pretended like everything was fine, I could keep the peace in my family. I had helped them with nothing more than a smile.

Mom said that was the moment she realized that I was resilient. I had the motivation to prioritize the family over myself. That was what was needed to lead.
END QUOTE

Between the keen psychological insights into both dysfunctional family dynamics and the political systems that victimize minorities and the poor, this would already be a terrific book. But Ms Sambury takes it one step further, composing a truly absorbing murder mystery novel with original folk horror highlights. Sunny and her family are all complex, engaging characters, and the tangled history that demands its reckoning of them is both unique in its details while staying strongly rooted in the kind of family issues that far too many people like to pretend don’t exist.

I became a fan of Sambury when I read Delicious Monsters. She has a great way of combining multiple storylines and the book was so creepy and chilling that I fell for it quickly. I was hoping for this one to cement itself into my great read list but I have to say it hasn't. I did like some of it but I it didn't grasp me like I was hoping.

The story centers around a wealthy family who run a cattle ranch and a private school in Canada. They aren't the closest of families but they deal with a lot and take time to keep up the image needed of them. When the mother is found dead and one of her sons, Dom, is being investigated for the murder of his girlfriend, the family slowly starts to unravel. One of her daugthers, Sunny, is the main POV and we get most of the story from her perspective. Secrets that were being kept for the safety of the family begin to spill and more murders pop up hinting of a serial killer. When that happens, Sunny must use everything in her power to keep the family from breaking apart. This part of the story is great, and sometimes a little gory, and I was liking it a lot. Especially as Sunny and her brother Dom look into what or who is leaving an evil-looking symbol alongside the dead bodies.

The other perspective is from Sunny's mother's journal she kept when she was younger. It focuses on her life on the cattle ranch. This is where the story fizzled out a little for me. Her mother describes her time trying to fit in with the other kids living at the ranch. She becomes part of a cult-like group of them who all participate in killing animals to satisfy the cravings of the "Milk Man". As long as the Milk Man is happy, things go well for the ranch. But if he isn't happy, all goes wrong. Those who feed the Milk Man are called "calves". and I wasn't feeling that. Especially the milk with the taint of blood in it. Sambury does a nice job of blending the two stories but as the Milk Man part is brought up more and more I cringed. The story also dragged in the middle, where it is mostly filled with Sunny's thoughts about what was happening and there wasn't a lot of action. I needed more here.

Major props for Sambury's creativity in bringing something fresh and new to the scene though. And if the Milk Man wasn't part of the story I would have loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this!

Gosh, I have yet to meet a Liselle Sambury book I didn't devour. This one was no exception! In Tender Beasts, we meet Sunny, who has recently lost her mom and finds herself trying to navigate family dynamics in a family that... well look, it doesn't quite operate like most of ours, I suspect. The Behre's are quite wealthy, the owners of a private school for students who need the opportunity of a better education. Sounds really noble, right? And it is... until a student is murdered.

Sunny, who is extremely pragmatic when we meet her, almost to the point of coldness, is determined to find out what happened. She is insistent that her mother wanted her and her alone to take over the role of matriarch, but her oldest sister and father are hearing none of it. Add to it, her younger brother, Dom, has been a family outcast since they were children, for reasons Sunny can't discern. And the more time she spends with Dom trying to figure out what is happening, the more she realizes that her family was pretty messed up to cast out a child to begin with.

This is when the secrets start unfurling left, right, and center, and Sunny finds herself in the midst of all kinds of messed up stuff. Hidden family secrets from long ago and recently threaten to hurl the family into chaos, and the siblings don't know who among themselves they can even trust. There is so much to unpack, so many relationships to navigate, and it really was quite the ride!

Bottom Line: Delightfully messed up and full of family drama, this is another win from Liselle Sambury!

If you’re looking for a horror thriller family drama then this one might be for you!

The plot is fascinating, it’s one of the reasons I keep on reading because I was intrigued by the mystery behind all these murders and also the supernatural element of the ‘Milk Man’.

The characters are flawed and complex, each of them has their own struggle and dark secrets which makes to be a complicated family drama.
I have to admit I admire the FMC’s action after knowing the secret of her own family that has been kept hidden from her all these years.

As much as I enjoy this book, there are parts that felt a little bit dragging. The writing felt repetitive - the same things being repeatedly mentioned. Hence, making the book feels longer than it actually does for me.

Overall, this is quite an enjoyable read that was wrapped up quite nicely – I did like the ending which comes surprising to me.
I’ll keep an eye out for the next book by this author!

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: violence, murder, death, child abuse, animal cruelty, animal death