There are few things quite as exciting to me as books that provoke strong and divided opinions, and that’s exactly the kind of book Lourey has given readers with UNSPEAKABLE THINGS. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. One by one, they return changed-violent, moody, and withdrawn. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.Īll that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Vivid, atmospheric, and genuinely unsettling, UNSPEAKABLE THINGS is a coming-of-age story as you’ve never read it before.Ĭassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. This book is sure to provoke strong reactions on both sides of the fence, in large part owing to the challenging themes explored within its pages, but it was a home-run for me. Told through the eyes of a girl on the brink of becoming a teenager, struggling to understand the dangers lurking on the periphery of her life, UNSPEAKABLE THINGS is an exceptional piece of suspense fiction. For protagonist Cassie, the world is a strange and dangerous place threats both outside and inside her own home make her young life a treacherous one.

Young boys are disappearing, and then they’re returning… changed. Something is rotten in the town of Lilydale, Minnesota. Inspired by a true story from the author’s hometown, UNSPEAKABLE THINGS explores exactly what its title suggests: the unspeakable horrors of a small town with unthinkable secrets. Jess Lourey’s stunning suspense novel UNSPEAKABLE THINGS falls into the latter camp. Some books terrify with blood and gore, others with the realities of life’s darkest corners. The Verdict: a dread-inducing, gripping coming-of-age tale

Unspeakable acts true story