I am in a horror state of mind recently! And Reliquary is just my most recent release. As a fan of Whitten’s previous books, I knew I wanted to check out Reliquary! Keep reading this book review of Reliquary for my full thoughts.
Summary
Sometimes, you just want to belong.
When Claire’s fiancé mysteriously dies of an unknown neurological illness, seemingly destroying her chances at the belonging she’s sought, she’s prepared to sink back into the lonely life she lived before. Orphaned by a freak boating accident in her childhood, she never expected to find connection like she did with Elias, anyway. Even if sometimes, that connection seemed more like something he felt obligated to than something he wanted.Their relationship wasn’t perfect—his coldness, his secrets, his strange aversion to the ocean—but what relationship is?
When Elias’s family reaches out—his incredibly wealthy family, from whom he was estranged—and invites Claire to a wake at their family home on a private island, Claire is given the chance to have connection again. To belong to something, just like she’s always wanted. Just like Elias knew she was desperate to have.
Even if that family is a little strange. Even if their home built partially into the sea stirs up memories of the accident that killed her parents and sister. Even if Ash, Elias’s older brother, seems insistent on Claire leaving as soon as possible.
Claire can’t bring herself to be lonely again. And as the strange circumstances of Elias’s familial connection with the sea becomes more and more apparent, her window for escape is rapidly closing.
Does she even want to?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Reliquary is a horror centered around connection. For Claire, she craves belonging. The seamless knowledge of where she calls home, who will be there waiting for her, and the power of being chosen. Reliquary proves we all have secrets in our closet. All the things we don’t want to talk about, the secret soft spots we crave but cannot expose. From the get go, we can see the ways Claire is desperate for connection, for smoothing over the abundance of secrets and comments that don’t land right. I know what it’s like to paint red flags green just so we can feel we belong, that we weren’t wrong to be so trusting.
With a “Ready or Not” vibe, Reliquary asks us how far we would go to belong. If all of our dreams were within reach, how far would we go? There are deeply sinister secrets as Whitten explores both what it’s like to be chosen, but also to choose. It’s only a matter of time before our dark secrets see the light of the day. While the actual climax of the story felt a bit short considering the gorgeous lead up, Reliquary was a fast paced horror. In some ways, it’s about the different ways we navigate guilt and how close we want to be.
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Find Reliquary on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.