Thanks NetGally and J Yates Publishing for the eARC, I was super excited for this one!


Judgement Day is coming, are you ready??

Wow this book had me feeling all kinds of emotions. Think of the purge but with odd flying creatures. No one is safe unless you’ve prepared or are you? Which of your friends can you trust?

I enjoyed the story line and the characters different point of views. I hoped to be jumping off my couch in fear, but that didn’t happen. It could have been more thrilling if the story was longer. I would have liked to see more in depth with details about the actual “cleanse” that would have made the book even more thrilling. The ending tho, perfecto 👌🏼

This is a quick read great for fans of The Purge. It's told through different POV during the Cleanse which happens every 20 years. I read this in a few hours and was anxious to see how it ended.

While I loved the premise, I spent the entire book waiting for something to happen. It's not very action packed and the writing itself was sorely lacking. I guess it just wasn't the book for me.

This was such a great novel that was well thought out and put together. The creatures were also well-imagined! This was The Purge but every 20 years. This book started off fast and kept the momentum throughout. I love an awesome end of days book that highlights who people really are when it is life or death. I will say (no spoilers) that the ending left me with my jaw on the floor!

The Cleanse by James Yates was a bold and riveting read that gripped me from the outset. The story unfolds with unapologetic intensity—marked by graphic, visceral imagery and a level of gore that, while at times jarring, undeniably amplified the tension and urgency of the plot. It’s a cinematic, fast-paced survival narrative that fans of A Quiet Place, Bird Box, or War of the Worlds will likely devour.

What stood out most was the flawed yet compelling protagonist. Watching his growth throughout the novel added a welcome emotional depth amid the chaos, while the well-drawn minor characters brought extra texture and complexity to the journey. I also appreciated that while the ending leaves the door slightly ajar for a potential sequel, the narrative still delivers a satisfying and self-contained conclusion.

This was my first introduction to James Yates’ writing, and I’m intrigued to explore more of his work. The Cleanse is a gritty, unflinching tale that manages to balance character development with relentless action—making it an engaging read from start to finish.

Thank you to James Yates and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for this ARC.

The Cleanse by James Yates.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I did enjoy the concept. A purge like event lasting 24 hours but with otherworldly creatures that happens once every 20 years was interesting. I cannot understand though why instead to taking that 20 years between events to prepare people are scrambling in the weeks before.

The pacing of the story was difficult. The prologue was full action, then for about the next 60% of the book, it slowed right down. Almost to the point of boredom. The last 40% though was nonstop action.

I liked how each chapter was from a different character’s view, so you did get a few story lines all at once in a way that worked, I’m just not sure if all those story lines were necessary.

Then there’s the characters. There really wasn’t much to like about any of them, especially if they were female. While yes, it is up to the individual reader and the authors targeted audience but it’s time to move past the immediate sexualization or two-dimensional building of female characters. When a man gambles away his family’s life savings and the potential safety of his family and his wife gets mad, that does not then turn her into a nagging wife. But then they have sex so it’s all forgiven.

I did like the ideas in the epilogue but felt it may have been more of an afterthought. Could have built on that but it was an interesting twist.
Overall, the book was semi enjoyable but really did have good bones and could be great with some tweaking.

Thank you NetGalley, and J Yates Publishing.

For 203 pages, I really thought this would be more action packed, suspenseful, and centered around this ‘Judgement Day’ with these creatures. It took until about 56% before the Cleanse even began.

It just felt a little lackluster. Some of the details were gory and detailed, but other than that I just wasn’t really into it. Also, the other thing with the Church, and people sacrificing themselves felt so irrelevant to the story.

This book didn’t have near enough content regarding The Cleanse itself. Other than Chris’ prologue, the whole first part of the book seemed a bit useless. There were some explanations about The Cleanse itself and provided a couple of POVs which was interesting, but the part with Tommy and Chris and Justin seemed to drag on not really holding my attention.

I will say, when we got to The Cleanse itself, it was unique and creepy. It did feel a bit like the day just came out of nowhere, there wasn’t a lot of anticipation leading up to it, the story just fell into it. Some of the dialogue was cringey at best.

The ending is what saved this story. A nice twist & was the perfectly executed in the epilogue.

This book has potential, but needs some work.

This book has an interesting premise: every twenty years, creatures descend on earth and kill any living creatures they can find. No one knows what the creatures are or where they come from. They mysteriously appear and then several hours later disappear again.

The plot focuses heavily on Tommy, who is a thug wrapped up in all sorts of illegal dealings , and his associates. I found this boring. I didn’t want to read about Tommy blackmailing people or Tommy being violent.

I also couldn’t understand why people didn’t build bunkers that would last for a century instead of buying metal boxes to stay in. And why wouldn’t new houses just be built with automatic shutters on them? They knew this would be happening every twenty years.

I thought this book was just okay. Readers who like reading about the mob may find it more entertaining than I did.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

2.5 rounded up. The Cleanse very much felt like The Purge meets A Quiet Place. Unfortunately, this mash up led to the book having an identity crisis. It felt like the author couldn't decide between an alien invasion creature feature or human vs. human survival horror story. it also felt like all of the adult female characters were present for the sole purpose of sex. A man loses the money needed to finance a safe shelter for his family during the cleanse. We're talking 80,000£ down to 35,000£ His wife is understandably upset but still ends up having sex with him that night. Women are very much the powerhouses of horror, and they deserve better characters representing them.

Some of the gore was fun, but this was largely a miss for me.

review copy provided by @netgalley in return for an honest review. This one will be published on 6/24/25.

The Cleanse is a gripping, fast-paced dystopian horror novel that combines the emotional depth of survival fiction with the terrifying unpredictability of a full-scale societal collapse. I wasn’t just reading — I was living through the countdown to annihilation alongside these characters.

The premise is chilling: every twenty years, a global “Cleanse” unleashes unspeakable creatures upon humanity. Governments respond with legalized weapon rentals, panic-prep gear, and makeshift bunkers — all of which feel disturbingly plausible. What I loved most was how deeply character-driven the story is. Justin, Chris, and Hannah are flawed, messy, human — and their choices carry real, devastating weight.

Yates does a brilliant job of exploring themes of class disparity, trauma, addiction, and family through the lens of the apocalypse. While the horror elements are brutal and intense, it's the human decisions that truly shook me.

My only reason for not giving it a full 5 stars was a slight lull in the middle — I wanted a bit more focus on the creatures or world-lore to balance the strong interpersonal drama. That said, the final act pulled no punches and delivered one hell of an emotional punch.

Perfect for readers who enjoy:
The Last of Us
Bird Box
Apocalyptic fiction with moral complexity
Character-focused horror that still brings the gore

Content warnings: graphic violence, child endangerment, addiction, grief, cult behaviour

Final Thoughts:
The Cleanse is haunting, timely, and completely unputdownable. It's not just about surviving the monsters — it’s about what kind of person you are when the world ends.

I'm half way through currently and plan to finish it but I am not interested in other books by this author.
Every single woman character introduced is sexualized within two sentences of meeting her. It's 2025, are we still doing this?
Will add more thoughts once I've finished. The premise is interesting. The Purge meets The Quiet Place.

Update: I finished it. The story is interesting though I thought the writing was poor. I really enjoyed the idea of the Cleanse and the monsters and was disappointed by how much the book sort of skimmed over them. There was of course the delicious but predictable "twist" at the end where we find out the Cleanse is man made. I assume this is to leave things open for a potential sequel?

Unfortunately I still give this book two stars. The characters weren't fleshed out, I didn't care about them, and I didn't like them. And, as I mentioned before, every single woman was sexualized almost immediately.

A thrilling story with great characters and a bone chilling plot. I haven’t read a creative thriller/horror like this in a while, there was so much thought behind the story and creatures. This book also pulled no punches, it started out fast paced and carried on like that all the way until the end. A real page turner, this was such an enjoyable read!

Every 20 years, the cleanse happens. Justin wants to everything he can to protect his family. However, his little gambling habit gets in the way. He's able to afford a small shelter for his family, but he must face the day by himself. This book is filled with shady people, cult members and regular people trying to survive.

This one is a quick read - it starts fast and never really slows down. The idea as a whole is very interesting, but not well explained. I wish we knew more about the creatures and saw more action with them. The actual cleanse is a very small part of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author James Yates for an ARC. If you go back into this world, I would definitely read more!

3.75 Stars Rounded Up

This book is set in the West Midlands in the UK, in what seems to be a fairly sparsely-populated city called Saddlesbury. Every 20 years, these alien/dragon-like things terrorise the world for a night of gruesome torture and death.
This is a story told from multiple different yet somewhat connected perspectives, following the events that unfold on the most recent "cleansing".
I found the book to be well written, highlighting the most gruesome details as well as the emotions that one would go through having to endure a night like this. With a focus on the clear class divide that takes place, forcing the poorer people to essentially suffer because they don't have the means to protect themselves fully.
The chapters were a good length, which kept my attention firmly within the books grasp. My only qualm being the perspective shift not being mentioned upon starting a new chapter. Other than that, I thought this book to have a decent pace, an interesting storyline and overall - a really good horror novel. I shared a few laughs, winced at the gore, and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the bashing of a certain terrible Canadian music star.

The Cleanse is a tale of survival in horrible conditions. When faced with the knowledge that your life might end on the day of the great cleanse, how far would you go to protect your family?

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the story interesting, but was left wanting more. I didn’t connect to any of the characters, and felt no one had any redeeming qualities. The writing had holes and unanswered questions. The ending wasn’t surprising to me, and I wish there had been more about the Cleanse itself. I think this book had a lot of potential, but for a “horror” book, there was very little horror given.

This book might be for you if you like -

- supernatural horror
- tales of survival
- isolation horror
- save vs. kill

Thank you to NetGally and James Y publishing for the chance to read this in advance.

Wanted to love this one because I do love the Purge, but it just didn't hit the way I wanted it to. The concept is definitely there, so it has the bones of a good story, but I didn't jive with the writing style. The beginning chapters felt repetitive, especially those about Justin's struggles to prep for his family and his gambling issues. It was hammered way too much for such a short book, making it take too long to get to the action part of the plot. And despite this back story, the characters all still felt one note and unlikeable. The ending was good, but was otherwise predictable and the main action of the Purge-like event was a let down.

There are definitely a few things that could be improved, especially the use of British slang, as I feel that makes it hard for people in different countries to understand some things. Also not sure I am a fan of the cover art, I don't think it matches the story.
Overall I thought it was a fairly unique story that kept my interest the whole way through. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars.

A quick read, hampered by amateurish writing. I don’t want to get too down on it, because I did find it entertaining. That being said, some of the dialogue and references were over the top, and the sexual commentary came off as unnecessary at best, borderline gross at worst.

There are good bones here, but there is also a lack of voice. An abundance of cliches and tropes pad the story. I have no doubt that with some refining, this author is capable of producing some very good books.

The positives are the character work. There’s a small ensemble, and for the most part, their motivations and personalities were pretty well fleshed out in a short period of time. The pacing was a little off in my opinion.

Definitely serviceable and an entertaining read for those who know what to expect.

Quick very high level summary.
Every twenty years there is a cleanse. You must be prepared to protect your family or die trying. Our MC Justin was the only surviver in his family of the cleanse 20 years before. His mother, sister and father being killed. His father sacrificing himself to save him so Justin spent the next 20 years preparing for the next one but one mistake could damn them all.

My Take.
This books is none stop action. It starts out running and does not let up. It’s like the Purge with a religious cult run entirely by the British government.If it had any faults it would only be that is was so short that information that might have been useful was omitted. This did leave me a bit confused every now and then but not enough to detour me for enjoying the story. Just enough to make me question my understanding. Over all Its action backed, fast paced and a nice quick read that was perfect for me after an in-depth high fantasy read.