Vesper left her home in a closed off, extremely religious community at 18. Six years of no contact later, she receives a wedding invitation. Unemployed, unhappy with her life, and deeply curious as to who has missed her enough to invite her back, she decides to go. But returning home is never easy.

This was a slow burn. Vesper is a fun character, but initially the cult stuff was very milquetoast. Until all of a sudden it wasn't. When things finally popped off, they went off. Holy hell!

I received this arc for free on netgalley.

maybe this isn’t a straight out 5 star read re: the strength of the believability of the plot BUT i absolutely had a blast reading it and i barely wanted to put it down until i’d finished it! so in that sense it’s getting a five star rating for entertaining me fully and for having a main character that i absolutely adore.

i thought vesper was the perfect main character with her own little flaws and Childhood Trauma™️ with her difficult relationship with her mother, constance, who i was super intrigued by. i won’t go into detail because it’s all plot relevant, but i loved them both and their messed up relationship.

black sheep was so so good and rachel harrison is quickly become an author i just have to read everything by now that ive read this and such sharp teeth. will definitely have to read her other books on my tbr!

thank you to titan books for the arc on netgalley!

It's a mix of black humour and serious horror, a book that kept me on the edge and I would not advise to read it late in the night.
Great world building and atmosphere, excellent storytelling.
I loved this story that kept me hooked even when i wanted to stop reading.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and Net Galley.

This book was wild! I read it in one sitting. It’s quite short and it’s utterly gripping.

Our main character Vesper is working at a not great restaurant having run away from her family and their quite extreme church six years earlier. After losing her job due to a freak accident involving a customer, she gets home to find a wedding invitation requesting she return for the marriage of her ex boyfriend and her cousin/former best friend. She returns to a town with mixed welcomes and one that’s particularly frosty from her mother, a horror film actress and icon. Her mother’s terrifying home is a shrine to her movies and is filled with unnerving props. And then things get weird…. (Not saying anymore because the reveals in this were so good!)

This was really quite creepy, the sense of malice was just totally pervasive. I was constantly worried for Vesper’s safety. Vesper isn’t presented as a particularly nice character but when you learn more about her church and the actions of some of her family you understand why she is so guarded and standoffish.

I’d recommend this for fans of Silver Nitrate, Mister Magic, My Best Friend’s Exorcism. It isn’t horrendously scary but it’s certainly tense and unnerving. Content warning for animal harm. I thought this was a great, fast-paced horror novel.

I really enjoyed this. It follows a girl called Vesper. Vesper has ran away
from her family who are in a satanic cult. Her mother is extremely hostile and distant, her father is absent. I'm new to horror and I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't much of a horror aspect to the story. However, it was a very fast paced angsty read. It was my first book by Rachel Harrison and I really enjoyed her writing style and found it an easy read. If you're new to horror like me then I this would definitely be a great book to start with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan books for a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I feel like I've read a different book than everybody else. I have seen a crazy amount of rave reviews for Black Sheep on social media, so when my fav publisher Titan picked it up I was thrilled!

However, I think I was hoping for a more serious horror. I love the trope of an escapee dragged back to their cult history and to start with I was reallly enjoying Black Sheep...

Until it got silly. Ridiculous even.

Harrison started to hint at a revelation and I thought - Oh please no, don't ruin it this way. The tone completely changed halfway through the novel and although still entertaining I was annoyed by the B movie vibes.

Go into this book expecting cheese. Or just watch Sabrina on Netflix.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for gifting me this fun, gritty and cult like classic!

This is my first Rachel Harrison read and it isn’t going to be the last. I had an absolute blast with this one. I must admit at first it did take me a moment to get in to. I was confused by how contemporary the book was, and for some reason was expecting something more eloquent in writing style. But once I realised how free, modern and quirky this book was going to be I quickly got into the groove of adoring it.

Vesper is a young woman down hard on her luck. No one at her job likes her - not that she gives them much reason to - her only friend uses her to be the main character in her own tale, and not to mention, she does not get on well with her mother, Scream Queen, Constance Wright. Estranged from her movie star mother and her tight knit community, Vesper feels even more lost when she loses her job, and receives a wedding invite from her old best friend who is getting married to her ex boyfriend.

Can this get any worse?

Well, yes it can, because when Vesper returns to her old life- everything is not as you’d expect it to be. There’s religious trauma like no other, and Vesper soon realises that there are more secrets that her family aren’t telling her and she needs to find out … but at what cost?

Black Sheep was fast, fun and overall reminiscent of 80s horror movies with its almost corny story line and always vaguely happy ending. I loved Vesper’s father and his attitude, and how her mother although a downright bitch at times, had ulterior motives and everything wasn’t as it seemed.

Definitely recommend this one to the contemporary horror lovers!

Me ha dado por leer terror en diciembre, así que me puse a mirar en la pila física y digital qué tenía de terror. Hacía tiempo que no me daba por el género, con lo que había poco donde elegir, pero encontré una novela de Rachel Harrison, una de las autoras que más me hacen disfrutar del terror.
Descubrí a Harrison con «Cackle» hace ya un par de años, y me encantó, y este mismo año leí también «Such Sharp Teeth», que me dejó un poco fríe. Su terror es muy actual, con mujeres siempre en el foco y tramas un tanto tópicas, pero con algunos elementos que a mí me han llegado a sorprender para bien.
Total, que me apetecía leer terror, me habían enviado una copia de prensa de lo nuevo de Rachel Harrison, que sale en enero, y allá que fui, a por «Black Sheep».
En el centro de «Black Sheep» tenemos a Vesper, la oveja negra de la familia, que a la tierna edad de 18 años se marchó de su hogar para no volver. No es que tuviera una mala infancia ni una familia disfuncional. Simplemente no creía en ese «Señor» al que le rezaba con tanto fervor su familia y el resto de la secta a la que pertenecían.
«Black Sheep» me ha sorprendido. Me ha hecho reír un poco, sufrir por la protagonista y alzar alguna que otra ceja con escepticismo hacia el final porque no sabía cómo acabaría la cosa, ya que yo lo veía todo muy chungo. Pero lo he disfrutado muchísimo y me ha dado ganas de seguir leyendo terror y de desempolvar la pila de novelas terroríficas.
No sé si Rachel Harrison sacará más novelas en 2024, pero yo estaré ahí en primera fila para leerlas.
¡Gracias a Titan Books por el ejemplar en digital!

Black sheep is a gripping cult based horror story filled with hope and a lot of humour too.

I really loved the character development throughout this story, our main character Vesper, has a hard time with her family (and I'm sure a lot of us will experience that in much cases) but not exactly how Vesper experiences family life, it is very dark and horrific and Rachel Harrison writes this in such a gripping way. You really feel bad for Vesper and her childhood and can see why she is very cynical.

I enjoyed reading this story, although I would say Cackle has been a favourite Harrison novel that I've read in recent times. Black Sheep is still a great read and cements Harrison as a horror author that I enjoy reading from.

This was perfect. This is my favourite thing I’ve read this year and she’s definitely my new favourite author. Satanic, spooky, omen vibes that needs to be read by everyone. I’d read this again in a heartbeat.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC to review!

This is a tough one....I'm stuck between giving it a 4 - 4.25 but towards the end and the end knocked that baby down to a 3.25/3.5??? so I'll put a 3 star rating for now

I loved the start of this. I freaking did. I was INVESTED. I was intrigued!!! The story itself was a little predictable after the initial plot was laid out before me.

But let me tell you that dinner scene. LOL my jaw dropped. I was so ready to read about her being the black sheep of her family and not fitting into their ways. BUT FOR SOME REASON THAT NEVER CAME TO MIND LOL

so for that alone I gotta give this book some credit.

But the damn ending I just didn't like. It felt almost different the start of the book. But, I enjoyed this so much!

Black Sheep is a novel about a woman who returns to the weird religious community she grew up in, only to discover a secret that changes how she sees herself. Vesper left home at eighteen, leaving her horror film star mother and everyone else she knew, and escaping from the religious upbringing she realised she didn't believe in to work in depressing chain restaurants. An invitation to her cousin and former best friend Rosie's wedding, even though Vesper shouldn't be allowed back, leaves her returning home, but once there, she finds out something that blows apart everything she thought she knew.

I enjoyed Harrison's previous novel Such Sharp Teeth and its combination of everyday and supernatural elements, and Black Sheep does a similar thing, taking a somewhat lost female protagonist and bringing in some light horror elements (neither are particularly horror in plot, more supernatural, or at least up until the ending of Black Sheep). The writing is gripping and it's easy to speed through this book, with a few twists in the narrative (the earliest one I didn't even realise until it was revealed, so I'm avoiding mentioning this element even though I think other reviews will probably talk about it specifically, as I enjoyed the reveal). The narrative could've lingered more on the community and what Vesper's childhood was like, but I think the choice to make it really focus on Vesper as an adult and her perspective makes it a more fun book and more character focused.

Again, without spoilers, I will say that I think the religious community element is a very fun thing, but also (almost hilariously) misrepresents the real life versions of it to an extent it almost needs mentioning. I would've liked a bit more about the beliefs and how they work, as I think some of the religion/cult stuff felt a bit light and like you needed to know more about what they actually believed on various issues/topics. The twists in the book are the kind of twists I very much enjoy in a book, and it was almost funny that I didn't realise going into the book that it was about this area, but I didn't read anything about it beforehand.

I like Rachel Harrison's style of light horror that focuses on regular, often cynical protagonists dealing with supernatural situations, and Black Sheep is a fun read ideal for people who like character-first supernatural stories. The end goes a bit closer to darker horror and I really liked that, but also people who are less into horror could still enjoy this one as its not about the scares.

Okay, so this quickly jumped to one of my favourite novels of the year!

Of all of Rachel Harrison's work, this was definitely my favourite. Vesper was a fantastic protagonist. I really enjoyed watching her character and storyline unfold. I really liked the worldbuilding around Hell's Gate, and was not expecting that to be the dark family secret, by the way, but boy, did I enjoy the ride. There was an intriguing mix of old-world mythology and religious horror, mixed with a campy modern feeling, which I think only made the atmosphere better. Wholeheartedly enjoyed this and would recommend to others!

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book ahead of it's release.

Having previously read Sharp Teeth by Harrison and not really enjoying it, I was a bit nervous to read this but I had seen some good reviews and thought why not to giving it another go. Ultimately, for me, I just don't think this genre is my jam. I do struggle to enjoy horror novels in general so this is probably not the review to listen to, but I just did not vibe with this book at all. The writing is good and descriptive and sets the tone perfectly and I really do think if you enjoy horror books then you will enjoy this one. I am well aware that I am in the minority here! I can't really pinpoint specifics as to why I did not like Black Sheep, I just could not get into it at all.

I don't know.. I wanted to love this one but I'm not sure it's horror. Maybe contemporary fiction with a Satanist theme. (Also a pretty lose interpretation here of what Satanists actually worship!)

This book cleverly takes the reader in some very unexpected directions and I was more than happy to tag along for the ride and see where we ended up.
Its hard not to give spoilers but is one I will be recommending.
Thank you to netgalley and Titan books for an advance copy of this book

I'm undecided whether to round down to a 4* or up to a 5*?
I really enjoyed this.
(Since this doesn't actually release in the UK until Jan 2024 I hadn't intended on reading it yet but I'm doing it for my opinion on the Good Read Choice Awards 2023 long list and went into the book as soon as the long list was announced not knowing anything except the author who I've enjoyed before)
So.....I'm going to presume that you've all read the synopsis and know what it's about....I love The Omen let's get that out of the way, an antichrist child is just the best to me and to let a character (who in my mind was Angelica Houston) birth that child was perfect.
I loved how fast my head snapped when the reveal of the "religious community" aspect and the fact that our MC was a runaway from this was brilliant.
I am probably biased in my gushing for the book since it's a topic I love but that can make me harsher on it but I'm not going to. It was perfect. I loved it.
So why was I contemplating rounding down? Well the MC, Vesper was a tad annoying and the sass was getting on my nerves a bit towards to end. I think my favourite character was Rose the best friend, she definitely summed up to me the obeying Cult members thinking everything was lovely and great and so innocent.
My favourite Rachel Harrison novel that to me is a mix of The Omen and Carrie.

I have tried all of Rachel's work before and this one has been my favourite so far! Ypu can really see how she has evolved as a writer over time. Black Sheep is brilliantly told and plotted. My only criticism is that it's a bit longer than it needs to be. I could really see the story being perfect for a screen adaptation!

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
Vesper’s family is not like the others and she is about to find out that sometimes it is better not to come back home.
I really liked the idea for Rachel Harrison’s latest novel, Black Sheep. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, am I right? And I really enjoyed the first couple of chapters and the wedding came, and the ambience was kind of weird, and then it was more corny than weird… and finally it just fell flat for me: Vesper’s character changed from intriguing to predictable,following every single step of the very same road I had imagined for her after from the very beginning. Some of the background characters I expected to be kind of important ended up not having any depth at all(I am looking at you, newlyweds),…
I am not going to deny that Harrison’s prose is good and some of the jokes were pretty funny, so I suppose the tone of the novel was just not for me. Again, too corny. I thought it would be more of an horror I-laugh-because-I-am-nervous kind of book, but there wasn’t any horror at all, just some supernatural elements.

Oh my goodness, she’s done it again, this is another winner from the hugely talented Rachel Harrison. In this one, she explores the meaning of family and the ties that bind, but not necessarily in a way you would expect, oh no, this is much more original and creative. This is Vesper Wright’s story, she is 24 and is currently working as a waitress, running the gauntlet of some customers to whom she has to be unerringly polite. She hides her true feelings with a laugh, but there is rage building there and after one disastrous incident, she’s fired. Still, I guess it gives her time to figure out who or what she wants to be. Most unexpectedly, she receives a wedding invitation and a plea to return home to Virgil, New Jersey. She escaped from there six years ago and although she’s not sure of her motives, she does decide to home. One thing is for certain she won’t get a warm welcome from her movie star mother, Constance. What she doesn’t anticipate is learning a terrifying secret about her family and herself, and what that signals for her future. So, Vesper is back in Virgil, the black sheep, or is she?

Well, all I can say is, if the BIG SECRET doesn’t pull you into the storytelling I don’t know what will! I lose count of the amount of times I gasp during this utterly glued to the pages read or utter the odd naughty. It’s fantastic in every possible way. It’s claustrophobic, it sends shivers down the spine, it’s weird, it’s occasionally yucky, there is oodles of tension, it’s dark, brutal but never, ever, dull. You have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next and I love that in my books! Of course, there is humour and it’s the snort with laughter kind!

The characterisation is excellent, especially of Vesper, who, while she is vulnerable, she is also one brave woman, although at the start it’s uncertain if she is broken or the reverse. As for her mother, Constance, cold doesn’t quite cover it, but her characterisation is so good. I’ll leave the joys of the rest of her family to future readers…

Despite the horror show that unfolds there are some vivid descriptions that are almost movie worthy, and that is the impression the author gives for much of the novel. It’s the blockbuster kind too. I love the way it builds revengefully as we go to hell and back, what a book! Rachel Harrison is one of the most inventive writers around right now, and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next. Where do I sign??

PS Sweet Child O’ Mine, yep, sure puts a whole new spin on that. I don’t think I’ll ever hear that song again without bursting out laughing. Clever.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Titan Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Post to Goodreads and X on 1/1/24 and to Amazon and Waterstones on 23/1/24.