Reviews

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

ericadc's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is my second read by Liselle Sambury, and she can do no wrong in my eyes at this point! Tender Beasts is an amazing story filled with murder mysteries and suspense. Liselle does such an amazing job tying in issues of racism, classism, family trauma and generational curses. I definitely recommend!

For the length of the book, there were a few small holes in the story that I feel should have been filled, hence the deduction in stars. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is an amazing book! 

*Not to compare the two, but I do prefer Delicious Monsters over Tender Beasts. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it as well.*

littleredmacks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book had me HOOKED. I did not want to put it down. I needed to know what happened. The family and sibling dynamics were fantastic. 

 

Though I do have mixed feelings about the ending. Still not sure how I feel about it. But I loved this and loved Delicious Monsters. 

va1kyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

books_in_badgerland's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

audiobook review

I thought the audio was great for this book, and I'm glad that's the route I chose. It was a slow book for me, and I have a feeling it would have been slower reading the physical copy. 

I think the pacing was rough for me in this book, and unfortunately I didn't love how it all played out. While it was also a slower read, I preferred Delicious Monsters as it seemed to flow better for me, and I was more invested in the story. 

A lot of folks enjoyed this one as it has almost a 4.0 rating on StoryGraph and GR, so I still encourage people to try it out! 

This could be a good fit if you enjoy:
- YA books with a focus on complicated family dynamics
- mysteries that span generations
- when wealth doesn't solve problems

bookishlass's review

4.0

Definitely disturbing

Content warnings: murder, violence, death, animal death, child abuse, racism, animal cruelty

cakt1991's review

4.0

 I really enjoyed Liselle Sambury’s prior books, especially her first horror title, Delicious Monsters, so I was pleased she would be writing more in this vein with Tender Beasts. I liked the concept of the book a lot more than the execution for the most part. While there are some great elements here, others missed the mark. 

I really liked the central family bond between Sunny and Dom, and how they’ve never particularly been close, and she’s predisposed to view him with suspicion, Sunny becoming aware of her mother’s concerns for Dom, and how it tied into their intense family history all was also fairly interesting too. And while the journals did bog down the pacing in places, they further added dimension to the family dynamics beyond what was presented in the present. 

The plot also was very odd, and I found myself struggling to remain invested, as while there were some interesting, odd things happening, I struggled to know what to make of it, the story overall meandered along where I would have expected a bit more excitement, given the content.The book was just too long for what amounted for a rather underwhelming payoff. 

I was very underwhelmed by this book, but I can see how this might work for others. While I would recommend Delicious Monsters first as the better book in this style, I think you’d enjoy it if you’re looking for a thriller/horror novel with complex family dynamics. 

india_nalani07's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Murder and Violence

shesochi's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Well…that ended in a way that I didn’t expect it to. Which I guess is the point. Even after all that, I am not clear on the “Milk Man” lol. How did Shirley come to know about him? Like how did a kid “game” turn into all of this?? Lol. 

sharpiemyshoe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

africhik's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0