Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder.
Even her family were convinced of her guilt. So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her.
But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories.
One is a story of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . .
The other is the story of a little girl who was cruelly treated and grew up crooked in the shadows . . .
But which story is true? And where is Cassie now?
Book Info: Print length: 237 pages. Publisher: Transworld Digital. Publication Date: 5 Mar 2020
Camilla Bruce was born in central Norway and grew up in an old forest, next to an Iron Age burial mound.
She has a master’s degree in comparative literature, and have co-run a small press that published dark fairy tales.
Camilla currently lives in Trondheim with her son and cat.
You Let Me In is her first novel.
My Review:
Oh my gosh – I really don’t know how to review this book. I don’t know what genre to put it in and I don’t know how I am even going to start to explain the premise behind the story.
What I can tell you is how I felt whilst reading this book. I felt dirty, uncomfortable, confused, shocked, horrified, saddened and my new favourite word: discombobulated.
You should know that despite this being a relatively short book at only 237 pages, it’s a very powerful and disturbing story and one that I read over an afternoon – having to take a break here and there to remind myself it’s only a story and think of fluffy bunnies and kittens between chapters.
This is the tale of Cassandra Tipp, a bestselling author of romance novels, who has gone missing. She has left her niece and nephew strict instructions to follow in order to unlock their inheritance if she is not found within a year of her disappearance.
This was the easy bit to explain, the next part of the story is where we get a little confused. Cassandra has left a detailed manuscript of her life that her heirs need to read to the end in order to claim their “pot of gold” and this is where things get weird because Cassandra has written her life story which is not for the faint-hearted.
Having been accused (and acquitted) of her first husband’s horrific murder, her time in a psychiatric unit, her estrangement from her parents and siblings, it’s fair to say she hasn’t had an easy life and once you start reading her manuscript things go from bad to worse.
This is a story of faeries and folklore and not the sparkly, twinkly fairy who grants wishes. This is more of a blood-sucking, abusive and grotesque faerie who only Cassandra can see and hear since a very small child and has been by her side ever since.
I don’t want to say much more, except days after I finished this book I’m still shuddering with discomfort thinking about this tale. It’s highly atmospheric, very sinister and dark and so very, very twisted. I can’t say I “enjoyed” the book but I will say that it got under my skin and is one I don’t think I will forget.
