Mysterious strangers show up in the small town of Burnt Sparrow on Christmas, a massacre ensues. Pay really close attention to the TW’s of this book, because they’re heavy.

Now, this book is completely bogged with walls and walls of text, paragraphs of information that just…. went on. It barely felt like there was dialogue and lots of time conversations got diced up in the middle with more paragraphs of internal monologue and info. I found myself extremely bored the first 25-30% before anything really happened. So I’m not sure if I recommend this book, a lot of things for shock value. But someone get this town a therapist!

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead marks the first entry in Eric LaRocca’s Burnt Sparrow horror trilogy. After recently reading my first LaRocca book and loving it, I knew I had to request this ARC on NetGalley.

The novel follows Rupert and Gladys, two lonely souls desperate to escape the suffocating grip of Burnt Sparrow. LaRocca’s strength lies in his atmosphere, within just 11% of the book corpses are already on the page, and you can practically feel the town’s decay seeping through. Between the unsettling cast of characters and the inclusion of eerie “magazine clippings” that piece together the town’s macabre history, Burnt Sparrow itself feels like a living, rotting presence.

As Rupert and Gladys’ lives violently collide, I found myself especially drawn to Rupert’s plight, sympathizing with his quiet desperation. Meanwhile, the villains commit such vile, stomach turning acts that you can’t look away, you read on, half in horror and half in hope for their eventual downfall.

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is repulsive, twisted, and utterly enthralling. Everything I look for in horror. It’s a grotesque ride that will leave your jaw hanging open, and I can’t wait to see just how much darker and more unhinged the next installment in the trilogy will get. Anyone else secretly hoping Mr. Esherwood meets an unspeakable fate?

Thank you to Netgalley, Titan books and Eric LaRocca for a chance to read this twisted tale in exchange for an honest review.

A small town horror with claustrophic cosmic nightmare vibes.

Where do I even start? I love everything about this book.

The writing is accessible, captivating and compulsively readable. At the same time Eric comes out with these SORCHING literary prose that made me stare at a wall for minutes at a time.

The book revolves around a mass murder that happened during a Christmas parade in the small town of Burnt Sparrow. However, it seems the people of Burnt Sparrow either can't or have no compunction to leave, and no one comes in. As if the town lives in a different plane of existence. The people responsible for the murder (or at least accused of it) is a family who are faceless. A father, mother and teenage son.

The story flips between a troubled 17 year-old who lives in the town and is given the unenvious task of guarding the dead bodies as they lay on the street. And an abused housewife of the richest man in town.

What elevated this book for me is the mini stories scattered throughout the book. The way Eric can take two things that seem so disparate and connect them by having the characters recount short stories or live through nightmares is magic.

I am ready to demand book 2 and book 1 isn't even public yet.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I am not entirely sure how to talk about this book. I found this book to be bizarre and disgusting and it made me sick but also it was really engrossing? Like, I couldn't tear my eyes away.

There are lots of short stories interwoven with the main story; stories about other strange events surrounding the town of Burnt Sparrow, written in different formats and mediums. I typically don't care for that sort of thing, but in this case I actually really liked it. While others may feel the opposite, I found that breaking up the main story with the short stories actually helped to sustain the overall sense of dread.

I don't want to talk too much, because I found the experience of going into this knowing nothing made for a rather intriguing experience. That being said, I think it is extremely important to check the content warnings if you struggle with dark or heavy topics, because this book does not flinch away from portraying them explicitly.

It feels like this book mainly exists to set the stage for the sequels: it isn't very plot-heavy and there is still a lot to learn about Burnt Sparrow. That being said, I still really liked this, and I'm definitely looking forward to the sequels.

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is raw, atmospheric, and devastating. LaRocca pulls us into the small town of Burnt Sparrow, where a senseless act of violence fractures a community and unleashes something far darker.

Thank you Titan Books for the ARC!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF pretty early in due to some major triggers. This book is slightly darker than normal horror, and I really recommend people check out trigger warnings prior to reading. I won't be reviewing on any review websites, since I didn't finish the book.

Finished reading:
We are always tender with our dead by Eric LaRocca
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⭐⭐⭐⭐,25/5
Pages: 304
Format: e-book
Genre: Horror
LGBTQIA+ rep: gay MC
First book in the Burnt Sparrow trilogy
Started reading: August 21st
Finished reading: August 31st
❗TW: death, violence, torture, gun violence, death of child, murder, necrophilia, rape,...❗
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The lives of those residing in the isolated town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire, are forever altered after three faceless entities arrive on Christmas morning to perform a brutal act of violence—a senseless tragedy that can never be undone. While the townspeople grieve their losses and grapple with the aftermath of the attack, a young teenage boy named Rupert Cromwell is forced to confront the painful realities of his family situation. Once relationships become intertwined and more carnage ensues as a result of the massacre, the town residents quickly learn that true retribution is futile, cruelty is earned, and certain thresholds must never be crossed no matter what.
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I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you @netgalley for the ARC

In the beginning of the book, Eric says this book is not meant to enjoy, but to make you feel things and man, it does just that...

This book is a true piece of art, in the way that it makes you feel, it makes you think and it will stay with you for a while after you parted with it. It is absolutely brutal in every way, cruel, visceral and terrifyingly honest at times.

I will not say I loved this book, but it did exactly what the author intended and I could not put the book down and devoured it as I went along.

I cannot wait until I can get my hands on the next book in the trilogy.

I literally just finished this and immediately ran to netgalley to give my review.

Where to start with this one? Eric LaRocca has very quickly become an autobuy author for me. This is my first book and it most certainly won’t be my last. Eric’s way of writing is able to get right under your skin and will have you reeling for god knows how long after.
I loved the slow build up on this one. It set the scene for such an eerie and creepy time. Lemme tell you, there were many times I had my mouth WIDE OPEN in shock. It was so disturbing but in the best way possible. You never knew what was coming next.

You really get a deep dive into each character and actually get taken on a journey that might have you feeling sorry for a couple of them.

Now this type of horror isn’t for everyone, the list of triggers might scare off some but it didn’t for me. I just want more, I need the second book immediately!!!

Top tier!!!! Forever thankful I got to arc read this one!

I'm sitting here staring at this screen with no idea of what to say about this book. I had many reasons NOT to read it. For one, it has a list of trigger warnings as long as my arm. Also, extreme horror is not my cuppa anymore, at least-not for the most part. As it turns out, I needn't have worried and I've just come to this stark revelation about myself: I like it when Eric LaRocca writes it. What does that say about me?!

The synopsis gives you everything you need to know before you start, (as well as a list of those trigger warnings, I suggest you read them first), and I'm not here to ruin the narrative for you. I'm not sure I can summarize anything accurately anyway, because all the threads are still spinning in the air without connecting up to...much else. For instance, who are these mysterious town elders walking around and making decisioons for everybody? What is wrong with this town where they leave....things in the street? Who does that? Is this some kind of evil in a small town thing? Maybe a cult? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

There are enough tantalizing tentacles of information dangling here to make me want to continue with this story. I want to reach up to one of those dangling tentacles and pull it down so I can read on. RIGHT NOW. Right now, I say!

This story certainly won't be for everyone but it was definitely for me. If you were on the horror book scene back when Clive Barker exploded and each new book was filled with beauty and stark terror, then you will know how I feel when reading Eric LaRocca's work. The same adjectives come to mind: creative, obscene, imaginative, outstanding and unique.

I will now eagerly await the next book.

*ARC from publsiher

Please make Book 2 come out SOON! I can’t wait to find out more about the unique and strange characters! So many outrageous and mysterious elements! I’m on pins and needles and need answers! 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Book for this ARC!

Eric has been one of my favorite horror authors for a few years now. I’ve read pretty much everything they have released and one thing about LaRocca? They can write anything. Whether it be short stories, novellas or full novels.

We Are Always Tender with Our Dead was so good! Eric immediately pulls you into the lore of little bitty Burnt Sparrow. A creepy town with a history of strange and violent crimes. I finished this book in less than 24 hours and I can’t wait for book two!!

As always check the TWs because they are quite a few and definitely some heavy scenes.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley

I'm not sure you can ever say that you love an Eric LaRocca book, there are always too many disturbing and harrowing things in them to say that you enjoyed reading them. I will say that I will read anything that this man writes. Their metaphors and tone always draw me in to their books and keep me reading, even if its with a look of disgust on my face. Their new book is no different, it is a tale of the horrors that take place in one town mainly from the perspective of Rupert, a guy getting into adulthood and trying to escape from where he grew up.
The horror, as always, with Eric LaRocca's books is the people in the books and the things that go in their minds and what they do physically and this book does not disappoint. The bathtub scene will be imprinted on my brain for months.

I DNF’d on page 147.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the disturbing, extreme horror parts except than to include them for shock value opposed to serving a purpose of storytelling or exposing the evils of humanity. There is a cursed town mystery hinted at underlying throughout the main story but it's lost to all the extreme parts and the main characters lamenting their situations instead.

The main story is too repetitive, the editing of this is hard to read - almost like just a stream of conciousness in story from different character perspectives with random mixed media parts thrown in messily throughout chapter breaks.

The mixed media parts serve as to show how "cursed" or "evil" the town is but they seem to have no connection to what's going on in the main story. It's messy, mean spirited and not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity of the ARC as I'd not read any of LaRocca's work before but definitely know it's not my cup of tea.

My god, what a novel this ended up being. Yes, the imagery may be violent and horrific at times, and the subject matter involving Richard, our lead’s, life can be deeply unnerving. But, it is all weaved together to tell a story of one’s identity and closeness to their true self, driving into the unsettling thoughts one has about themselves. I’m absolutely stunned by the scope of this novel, the places that LaRocca takes us within Richard’s small world that feel oddly universal for the queer experience. It’s shocking to see a publisher get behind a book like this one, but I am so glad they gave it a chance, since I cannot wait to see what comes next in Burnt Sparrow.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC*

I wanted to like this one, but it was not my cup of tea. I was promised "visceral intensity and profound eloquence" and got soulless shock value and proper nouns repeated 15 times a page. Mixed formats when done well can tell a story in a way that fully-encompasses a reader's every sense. Most of the articles did add interest and variety but I was so disengaged from the main plot that I did not care about anything they were adding. Murder, necrophilia, and homophobia abound but nothing is given enough substance to go beyond cheap shock value. Weird, dark, splatterpunk horror can have enough literary value to challenge the reader's perception of both the book's reality and their own. We are always tender with our dead did not achieve anything more thought provoking than passing roadkill on the side of the road and thinking "damn that's gross".

If you are someone who enjoys gratuitous violence purely for the sake of violence you might get something out of it.

This book was so utterly weird and I have no idea what was even happening at times… but in a good way. I’m very curious to see where book two takes us!

Unapologetically queer and I loved every moment of this.

I will be 100% continuing this series, and going to to buy more of their works.

Thank you so much for this ARC.

I will be making multiple videos on my TikTok about this book

Reading We Are Always Tender with Our Dead was a disorienting, often uncomfortable experience — but I think that was the point. LaRocca doesn’t shy away from the grotesque, and this book leans fully in.

That said, I would read future books.

LaRocca lets his readers and his reputation down with We Are Always Tender with Our Dead. It reads like a first draft than a finished work. The writing is sloppy and repetitive, particularly in the sections about Rupert. I found it incredibly difficult to get past the first third of the novel and then got hooked in by the first article. Sadly, the articles interspersed throughout the novel appear to be simply a vehicle for LaRocca to insert a few additional horror prompts into the novel.

There was promise here; the Christmas Day massacre perpetrators, Rupert's mother's story and the bird with the human face were all great ideas. Sadly, only the perpetrators really got any attention in this particular novel and seemingly mostly for gratuitous violence. I don't mind violence in a horror story but the violence perpetrated against the family was simply cruelty and didn't hold any horror value for me.

I won't be reading the rest of the series.

2.75 stars rounded up.

Although deeply disturbing, certainly thought provoking. This book will make you question what is true horror – is it scary stories and paranormal encounters, or is it the evil humans can inflict upon each other and being trapped in a place/body/cycle of behavior that inhibits you from being your true self? Are your deepest darkest and strangest desires/inclinations even more horrific?

I can see the larger commentary the author was making with this story, and the atmosphere and setting for this story was great, but for whatever reason I could not connect with either man POV character (Rupert or Gladys). Rupert, although only seventeen years old, felt so indecisive to the point it seemed crippling. Gladys, before realizing that she was physically unable to leave the house, stood by her abusive and sadistic husband and kept someone else with her, selfishly, to ease her loneliness.

There are quite a few points in the story I would like some resolution for, but I do realize it is the first book in the series, so I hope the author answers some of the questions left unresolved such as:
Why were the bodies from the Christmas massacre were left out on the street? Why were people trapped in the Elderwood home? Where did the faceless family come from and who are they – did they also crumble once they left the house? What was Rupert’s father’s obsession with the dead corpse?

I would be interested in continuing the series in order to see how these events are all tied together in this strange town.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and Eric LaRocca for a digital advanced copy of this book!