YOU LET ME IN - Camilla Bruce

​4.5 stars

Super weird, definitely meant to disturb, and not afraid of killing any expectations you had about faeries. Welcome to You Let Me In.

Concept: ★★★★ 1/2
Writing style: ★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★★
Content warnings: Yes, a lot of them, please see end of review.

You Let Me In comes out on April 21.

First off, I'd like to make a disclaimer that I'm about to praise this novel, but it in no way means that I am praising the subject matter. There are dark themes in this, and if you are concerned about warnings please see the end of this review.

You Let Me In follows the story (or stories?) of Cassandra Tipp's life. Tipp was a reclusive writer with a troubled upbringing and a tragic life, and it's time for her to tell her story. She's ready to share her truth...but you might not be able to believe it.

It's literally so hard to decide what to share and what not to share about this novel. I went in with very little—just what's in the description. I think in order to enjoy this for what it is, you should go in with little information.

One of the main themes at play in You Let Me In is the concept of memory and trauma. Did these events happen as Cassandra said they did? Is it possible for two conflicting stories to both exist? What is the "real" story? Is there a "real" story?

Now, you might be wondering, this was published by TOR...the fantasy publisher. Memory and trauma don't sound fantastical. What's up with that?

According to Cassandra, the "Pepper Man" is her closest companion. A "faerie," the Pepper Man lives next to Cassandra, lives off of Cassandra, and ultimately entwines her life with his and takes her on adventures under the mound. Faeries in this are not handsome, not romantic, and NOT something mysterious in the woods. These faeries are the undead/unmade. I don't know if I agree with the designation of "faerie" in this, but it IS very otherworldly. (In a way, I think readers who enjoyed Never Contented Things will like this too. Similar executions on unsettling faeries meant to horrify.)

My favorite aspect of this novel was its extremely masterful pacing and sense of truth. Novels often claim that they "leave the truth up to the reader." In my experience, they rarely deliver. There's always a more fleshed out "truth" to believe. In You Let Me In, this debut actually delivers on a double-edged sword of truth. What really happened? It's up to you. I know what belief I took out of this, but you and I might disagree. It speaks to the author's skill that we can have such opposing takeaways.

One of the main sticking points (as I see it, anyway) for You Let Me In revolves around its placement in the discussion of speculative fiction at this point in time. It's getting harder and harder for speculative dark fiction to deliver on an engaging, well-crafted, and memorable narratives. On the one hand, it seems like we're just getting more twisted and triggering narratives to deliver on this promise. On the other, some of the recent entries into the genre are dark and yet amazing (see Follow Me to Ground, which I also loved.) While this one's themes are dark and its content very upsetting to people with different expectations, I found it extremely singular and one-of-a-kind. Does it fall on the side of "too much" because of that? I don't know. I struggled with my opinions. I definitely loved what it was doing in realm of writing and story development, but I really struggled to enjoy the content due to its extremely dark themes.

Bottom line: read this if you like the genre, but definitely go in with eyes wide open regarding warnings and expectations.

Thank you to TOR for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: Potential rape (depending on the versions of the story), potential familial abuse (same as previous), consent issues throughout, bad family treatment of main character's mental health, childhood trauma, abortion discussed, death of a child (discussed, version of truth issue again), murder, mind games, problematic mental health professional, etc.