First of all, thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine/Del Rey for letting me read an eARC of Tiny Threads. Tiny Threads was a fantastic read that was rich with character development and atmosphere as you deal with the inner workings of main character Samara as she traverses the fashion world. Samara delicately treads a fine line as she attempts to perform the tasks assigned to her while maintaining her own identity. The book slowly heads into darker territory as its true villian is revealed and does an amazing job building it up to it. If you love slow-burning mysteries and atmospheric horror-esque stories, this novel is an easy recommendation.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

I was a bit surprised as were a lot of reviewers that there weren't trigger warnings for s.a, torture, and HEAVY alcoholism. Cos, that starts right out the gate.

Overall, the story itself was great. The theme delves into the lives of the workers who are often abused by a system that generally oppresses all of us into consumption. It touches on race, and the settling of the West (California) while mixing in a delicious amount of horror elements that I think were perfectly paced.

My main issue here is the first half of the book. The book starts with a bang and then after all that, It takes forever to get to the meat of it all. Which, is fine because you do need world-building, but it does so by going into the most monotonous path possible. I get it, Samara is a needy person, she has to be liked by everyone, but how much of this do we need, now much of her trying so hard with the women in seamstress' row do we need?

Samara was a character I struggled to connect with, and that's fine, because to me characters are like people, and I'm just an observer, especially since the author is describing the fashion world, a world full of shallow characters. So if that was the intent, to have it from a "watcher" POV, then yeah, great! But if it was about having the reader connect to her, that needed a bit more work. The author also did a great job of constantly showing us Samara's alcoholism. It got annoying but annoying in the sense that "wow this woman is just a full-blown mess", and is she a reliable narrator?

Overall, I give this book a 3.5 mainly because of the pacing of the first half of the book and I also found that it could do with more editing, idk some parts I found a bit clumsy, but that could have just been me. I will say this though, I couldn't put it down because the story of Vernon and the women were very interesting to me and I wanted to see how it ended and what the mystery was.

Pretty good for a first adult offering from the author, can't wait to see more!

I enjoyed reading this book. Lilliam Rivera captured the essence of community, status, womanhood, and addiction. Tiny Threads was Devil Wears Prada meets horror. My only gripe with this book was the abrupt ending (I want to know what happens next!) and recurrent themes of assault and substance abuse without warning. Overall, 3/5.

Published on Goodreads February 23, 2024.

Equal parts terrifying and empowering. I couldn't put it down! The way that Rivera weaves together multiple stories across generations, especially utilizing the supernatural, results in a very powerful book. I was skeptical at first of how the supernatural element described in the synopsis would play out, because I'm usually somehow who prefers strict realism, but this was done really, really well. I definitely enjoyed this one and while it's not quite 5 stars for me, it will stick with me for sure.

In the beginning, I loved the main character Samara. She was witty, cool, and trying to make her way in the world. Yet, as the story went on, I kept feeling like something was missing. Not only did Samara become chaotic, but the story did too. I started to feel sorry for her rather than root for her. The supporting characters were just meh, I wanted more depth from them. In the end, the story does surprise you, but overall this book was not for me.

Samara lives for fashion and she needs to get out of Jersey so she is thrilled to get her dream job working with legendary designer Antonio Mota in his flagship house in the newly minted, up-and-coming area of Vernon, California, outside L.A. The job is stressful and Antonio is a lot to handle but Samara is sure she can succeed. She also meets Brandon, an investor in Antonio’s fashion line.

As Antonio’s big show approaches pressure on Samara ratchets up and she begins to hallucinate and hear voices. Is it just the stress or are things not what they seem in the House of Mota?

I’m totally here for the mix of fashion and horror and would love to see more! Samara’s identity as a Latina woman is portrayed well and I thought the fashion house seemed like what I would expect (given that I have no knowledge and no reason to believe expect anything.) I really liked this, but can imagine that some might not enjoy it as much…different tastes!

This was a creepy and dark Tale that went a little further into addiction and substance abuse then I realized it would, and as that is not normally a topic I seek out, I did find it to be a darker and heavier read than I was prepared for. Still, the creepy factor is very high, and I enjoyed the way things played out. It did feel as though it all wrapped up rather quickly, given the slow and eerie build, but I enjoyed it on the whole. It definitely makes a statement...

I’m very shocked by the lack of content warnings for this book. If you’re triggered by graphic depictions or descriptions of sexual abuse and assault do not read this book. I was severely unprepared due to the blatant lack of trigger or content warnings and as such my reading experience wasn’t a pleasant one. This book is marketed as a “suspenseful supernatural thriller” when in reality it is a commentary on social structure, racism, rape culture, politics, and sexual assault. Had I known that it was this sort of book I wouldn’t have picked it up. The only mention of anything “supernatural” was perhaps a handful of pages at best. I don’t recommend it if you’re actually looking for a creepy supernatural thriller as that’s not what this book is AT ALL!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS BOOK. NEVER.

Moving across the country after a traumatic event, Samara lands her dream job in California working for long-time fashion designer Antonio Mota. Under intense pressure to be the golden child and finish working on the upcoming dual fashion show meant to re-launch Antonio into stardom, Samara's dream starts to become a living nightmare. Forever blanketed by the grotesque smells of the nearby factory, Samara starts to unravel as she learns the ugly truths of the fashion house and the history of her new idyllic town.

This novel put such a fun spin on psychological horror and gothics. It has the beautiful magical realism and gothic nature of Silvia Moreno Garcia mixed with endlessly entertaining and extremely unsettling horror elements a la Agustina Bazterrica or Melissa Broder. This novel stands all on it's own, however. A fashion house set next to a slaughterhouse served as the perfect setting for the blend of high fashion and horror. Preparing for a mega fashion show, the vibes are hectic and chaotic and it all lends to this feeling of impending doom which certainly comes to a head.

Genuinely, I loved everything about this book and I KNOW the girlies are going to eat it up when it comes out.

This is the sort of book that just can’t lose in today’s market. A mostly young, tragically hip (literally), almost all-minority cast with gender politics heavily threaded through. The only thing its missing is a heavy queer angle on top of it.
So, yeah, how much social commentary do you like in your genre fiction? If your answer is “oodles”, you’ve picked the right book. Though to be fair, Tiny Threads does a very credible job of passing for a scary story for a significant portion of its page count.
Anyway, in the The Devil Wears Antonio Mora aka Tiny Threads, a young woman makes the trek all the way from Jersey to sunny Cali to work for a famous designer. It is supposed to be her dream job, her dream life, etc…until it all turns into a nightmare.
The question is this, is she hallucinating terrors because of all the drinking she’s doing because of work stress or is she in real danger?
Read and find out. It’s a quick and entertaining read, compelling enough even if you don’t particularly care for the characters. The real star of the show here is, of course, that gorgeous cover, but the fun itself is fun enough. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Tiny Threads.

The beautiful, brooding cover and intriguing premise drew me in so I was excited my request was approved.

Tiny Threads reminds me of old school movies with a supernatural theme where the main character is haunted by a ghost because they have similar traumatic backgrounds and/or histories.

Samara has left behind her home and family to pursue her ambitious. She's scored a high profile marketing position with a legendary designer named Antonio Mota.

But, soon after arriving in sunny Cali, a vast difference from her Jersey roots, she discovers her dream job may be a nightmare.

She can't sleep, haunted by strange noises and seeing things that only she can see.

Is she losing her mind or is there a more powerful force at work here?

What is it and what does it want with Samara?

The author touches on many themes in her narrative; sexual violence and predation, elitism, sexism, just to name a few, and readers should be aware of these triggers.

Yet, none of these themes are fully fleshed out; for example, Samara meets the head of the company accused of poisoning its staff and customers and her entanglement with the heir of the company, Brandon, is creepy and tenuous yet the author never delves into these topics.

It doesn't help that Samara is an unlikable and forgettable character.

I understand she's 'run' away from home to escape her past trauma, yet her personality is weak, unmemorable.

At times I forget how she got the job with Mota anyway, based on an well written essay, which I found hard to believe Samara was capable of because she doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent or talented.

She's desperate to be liked, especially by Mota, self medicates with alcohol (another trigger to be aware of), and bed hops with no thought to her safety.

I'm all for sowing your oats but not at the expense of your self esteem and self worth.

I think the story would have read better if it had been written as a straight forward supernatural thriller and character development had been devoted to Samara and her family.

Also, if Samara's haunting had led her to investigate the reasons behind why this was happening, her initiative would have made her a stronger character; she takes action instead of experiencing these strange occurrences and just keep drinking and letting her mental health spiral out of control as a result.

Lackluster characters and a narrative unsure of its purpose made it hard to love this, much less like.

I was so excited for the premise of this story - like a gothic Devil Wears Prada, but with supernatural horror!! Alas, that is not what this was. Instead, we see the main character, Samara, escaping some sort of trauma, fleeing across the country to a new, stressful job and self-medicating like crazy.

Because of this, what should have been creepy horrific scenes were overshadowed by me wondering if she was suffering a psychotic break, so high that she was hallucinating, or really seeing ghosts. It was neither scary nor thrilling.

That was also partially due to the pacing. It took way too long to get into the “meat” of the story. Fully half of the book is Samara going to work, getting triggered by her caricature of a boss, putting vodka in her coffee, going home, drinking way too much, and having visions. It was repetitive and it was hard to stay interested. Then, as the fashion show gets closer, I feel like the pacing picks up and suddenly, we have a thriller! I wish the rest of the book could have had that urgency.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing – Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting premise. I really liked the story and
It was a nice quick read and the “supernatural suspense” was all there!!

“Tiny Threads” is an interesting psychological horror that follows Samara, who leaves her past life behind and moves to Vernon to work for a famous fashion designer. Shortly after starting her new job, she begins to have haunting visions that make her unravel and question her sanity.

I enjoyed the concept of this book but feel that it could be better if it dug deeper into the other characters and concepts that were touched on. The book felt slow since most chapters felt similar to each other with the events that unfolded.

This book contains the following subjects; trigger warnings for: sexual assault, drug use, and excessive alcohol use.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐹𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑜𝑛 & 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓. 𝐼 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝐼’𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎’𝑠 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛.

In a strange way, this book kind of reminded me of a day-old pastry. As I was reading it, I didn't mind the writing or the storyline (in fact, I got through most of it in one sitting), but upon finishing it, I was left wanting more. More specifically, I saw the potential that it had and was disappointed that the book had ended before expanding on what it had built up. Another issue was the sheer number of topics/themes that the book tried to address. While I appreciated how the author addressed the intersectionality of many societal issues (e.g. racism, classism, sexism), the book didn't delve deeply into any of these topics. A good 2/3 of the book was focused on racism and classism, but it ended with a statement on sexism, which felt a little thrown in at the end. If the book had been longer, or if there had been more discussion about sexism integrated earlier, I think the story would have felt more cohesive. Nevertheless, I appreciated the vision of the book and the message that it had for the reader; I only wish it had been conveyed a little better.


Thank you to Net Galley and Random House-Ballantine for this ARC!

This Latina Gothic story will haunt you long after you finish the novel.

Samara has uprooted herself to California to work for a legendary designer with a legendary temper. The stress of working for the aging desinger causes Samara to drink to excess. Maybe that is why she hears voices every night or sees strange things in the office. Why don't the seamstresses like her? Why is she hearing the whispers and seeing the dark figures. Things come to a head when the big fashion show approaches and Samara needs to make a stand.

I loved this gothic story. It seeped into my bones and I am still thinking about it many days later. If you are looking for a scary tale, a fashion story or a latina flawed heroine, this is the story for you!
#randomhouse #tinythreads #lillianrivera #netgalley

Supernatural thrillers aren’t always my favorite genre but this was enjoyable for the most part although I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

3.5/5 Tiny Threads

Samara is living her dream. She's accepted a job with the infamous designer Antonio Mota, been given a fancy new apartment, and is surrounded by high class clothes and people. But there's a darker side to the city of Vernon and the people who reside in it. A slaughterhouse "perfume" coats the streets, pigs squeals in the night, and Samara is having visions of a blood soaked woman. 

Are these visions simply the affect of her heavy drinking mixed with the caffeine pills and drugs she's using to keep up with the high stress fashion work environment or is she truly being haunted by the ghosts of Vernon's past. 

The Devil Wears Prada meets Last Night In Soho, wrapped in psychological horror - Tiny Threads shows how systemic racism and classism can be just as terrifying, if not more so, than being haunted by literal ghosts. 

It took me a good eighty pages to get into the swing of this novel. The focus of the first half of the book is primarily character development and background of Samara. There are snippets of horror elements until the halfway point, when Samara begins to spiral, then more direct hauntings come into the story after that. 

Samara was a difficult character to connect to for me mostly because she needed everyone to like her, she wanted to be the center of attention receiving "gold stars" with every complement, and that's my least favorite type of person. I understand that is a part of fashion industry culture and key to the novel but her anxiety about being liked didn't endear me to her until the very end. 

Overall, Tiny Threads was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to those who enjoy psychological horror.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this upcoming release!

I am settling on a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars here. This thriller follows the story of Samara and her new job. It is her dream job in fact, and it is a tale of her ultimate undoing. I don’t love supernatural thrillers and this was one, it could’ve been a bit scarier to really grab me.