Buzzfeed, "New LGBTQIA+ YA Novels You Need This Spring"
“Primal Animals is a relentless thrill ride, offering a summer camp with danger at every turn, staggering twists, and a deeply human heroine.” —Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark
“Bold, fresh, remorseless, Primal Animals will sink its teeth into your throat on the first page and hang tight until the devastating finish.” —Hannah Capin, author of Golden Boys Beware
“Like a queer version of the Wicker Man, a wonderfully-creepy mystery set under sunshine and fresh air, where nothing is what it seems and no one is what you expect. Keep your eyes open, watch your back, and beware of the flies.” —Emma Berquist, author of Missing, Presumed Dead
“A spine-tingling descent into the darkness of the mind, Primal Animals is terrifying and beautiful in all the best ways.” —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper
“Raw and unnerving, Primal Animals gets under your skin and doesn’t let you go until the very last page.” —Laurie Devore, author of How to Break a Boy and A Better Bad Idea
"Rubin shatters the heteronormative boundaries of the horror genre and creates an eerie and unsettling atmosphere of taboos without room for any bigoted notions about race, gender, class, or sexuality." - INTO
"Not for the faint of heart, Rubin crafts a tense horror story where the deepest terror lies in the truths it reveals about whose lives hold value and how far those with power will go to protect themselves." —Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books
“Wonderfully creepy…. A consistently unsettling, atmospheric read.” —Publishers Weekly
“Low-level suspense gives way to clear horror…. [A] chilling revelation…proves sufficiently terrifying.” —Kirkus
“A disturbing psychological horror for readers who like to savor a gripping yet slow-burning, sinister story, and who don’t shy away from the gruesome.” - School Library Journal
06/01/2022
Gr 9 Up—Sixteen-year-old Arlee Gold arrives for her first summer at Camp Rockaway, a college preparatory program deep in the wilderness that sets elite young people on the path to the Ivy Leagues. Though she struggles with anxiety, intense panic, and a deep phobia of bugs, she is brave and determined to find her place and succeed there as a legacy camper in the shadow of her successful mother, a feared camp legend. Despite the stigma set upon her by her mother's mysterious reputation, Arlee finds family with her bunkmates. Their cabin is a sanctuary for an inclusive, supportive, and loving cast of characters including Ginger, a trans musician; Winnie, Arlee's sapphic love interest; and Jane, who is Black. Other campers' identities are not discussed. At long last, Arlee's found a place she can belong. However, her harmonious camp experience begins the slow descent into horror when she's invited to join the camp's secret sorority, whose aim to "protect the girls" may not be as heroic as it seems. This dark and disturbing psychological horror will keep readers turning pages to learn every answer they can about what's really going on at that camp, but it's definitely not for the squeamish. VERDICT A disturbing psychological horror for readers who like to savor a gripping yet slow-burning, sinister story, and who don't shy away from the gruesome.—Kayla Fontaine
2022-02-09
At an elite summer camp, a girl faces phobias and discovers dark family secrets.
Sixteen-year-old Arlee Gold did not do well in her first two years of high school, so her high-achieving mother sends her to Camp Rockaway, where she herself made crucial upper-class connections in her own youth. Arlee is most concerned about insects, to which she has an intense aversion, but the rich, judgmental campers intimidate her too. There’s a creepy vibe that only gets stronger as the summer goes on; engaging, dynamic prose establishes Arlee as a strong-willed narrator who is also deeply haunted. Hints of Arlee’s troubled past—“the thing that called me to the woods years ago”—and the camp’s horrific present—“they’re watching you, Arlee”—never offer enough detail to serve as supplementary clues. Low-level suspense gives way to clear horror about two-thirds of the way through the story, when a gruesome crime scene pulls Arlee away from a burgeoning romance with another girl and into a silent battle with the camp’s ominous secret society. While a chilling revelation about Arlee’s mother proves sufficiently terrifying, the story’s resolution doesn’t provide satisfying enough closure for either Arlee’s emotional journey or the many sinister hints scattered throughout the narrative. Physical descriptions cue Arlee and most of the cast members as defaulting to White.
Possesses great promise but stops short of brilliant. (Thriller. 14-18)