You can’t choose your family… but you can eat them
Lovecraftian horror meets kitchen sink drama in this darkly funny tale of toxic families, eldritch body horror and female rage.
Katy Porter is the thirteenth child of a thirteenth child in an inbred family of eldritch horrors, and her own eventual metamorphosis will change her into a creature that hungers for her family’s flesh.
All Katy wants to do is finish college and go backpacking with her mates, but as her changes creep ever closer and her protector is horribly murdered, that’s not looking too likely.
Katy needs allies, but she’s stuck with her oldest brother, a drug-addled playboy, and her eyeball-eating cousin, whose idea of protecting her involves abduction, dark rituals, and encouraging her homicidal side.
If anyone is going to survive Katy’s transformation, scores need to be settled and fears need to be faced – and Katy is not the only one who needs to face them.
A witty, dark and utterly bewitching eldritch family drama with a Lovecraftian twist set in East Sussex.
Thirteenth was such a fun read! I mean, a middle-class family of eldritch abominations living in a sleepy Home Counties town? Sold. Add in familial backstabbing, messy sibling and cousin relationships, a sentient house and a healthy side helping of tentacles, murder and cosmic horror, and you’ve got a fantastic book filled with vibrant characters (who made me feel like a terrible person for snort laughing at some very dark jokes). I look forward to returning to Pagham-On-Sea very soon!
goodreads review
This complicated family drama will entertain anyone who appreciates family values like sticking together through hard times, preserving legacy and tradition, and honoring the family matriarch’s unholy pact with a horrifying Something from a hell dimension that everyone calls Grandad.
goodreads review
Gory, funny, a bit on the viscous side of horror. LGBTQA+ rep, with ace, demi, and poly cousins dealing with their very messy family of eldritch cannibals.
I cannot overstate how much I love that Rosens combines teenage rebellion and coming-of-age woes with eldritch horror and speculative worlds.
goodreads review
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