#Review – White Ibis (Florida Gothic) by Wendy Dalrymple

“Truly terrifying” – Jenna Dietzer, author of “The Lovebugs”
“Creepy as hell” – Sheri L. Williams, author of “Forest of Blood’

Obsession. Lies. Greed.

Chelsea is vain, self-absorbed, and driven in life only by want and her obsession with being the best. Even though she is desperate to portray an outwardly perfect image, things are far from perfect at home.

One day at yoga class, Chelsea meets a woman named Damaris who is exactly like her; beautiful, confident, and reaching high to be her best self. Damaris and Chelsea become instant best friends and bond over healthy eating, fitness, and their love of luxury items. As Chelsea’s heart hardens toward her boyfriend, her obsession with the enigmatic Damaris only blossoms.

As one bad decision turns into another, Chelsea begins to think she is being followed by a white bird. Her new best friend Damaris suggests a girls’ weekend in New Orleans to get away from it all and Chelsea readily agrees. Unfortunately for Chelsea, it soon becomes clear that she can’t run away from her problems and instead finds herself tumbling head-first into a downward spiral

Content Warning: Mentions of suicide and eating disorders.

I just want to start this out by saying that I really have no idea what I just read. But at the same time, I couldn’t stop reading because I had to know what was going on and how this story would end.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m new to reading horror – huge fan of horror movies – but reading horror, hits differently, ya know?

I’ve recently fallen down the horror side of TikTok and after a friend introduced me to horror novellas, I’m quickly becoming obsessed. They are quick little reads, perfect for a busy schedule when you don’t have time to read a ginormous book but still want to get some books added to your reading goal on Goodreads or to just get some words read.

Enough of my rambling. Let’s review:

Chelsea is a thirty-something year old woman who has a deadend job and is also in a deadend relationship. She ends up befriending Damaris, this beautiful woman, who almost seems to good to be true. I didn’t overly trust her. Too many times she hardly ever gave any insight into herself. It felt like she was holding a lot of secrets.

As their friendship grows, which is more like obsession on Chelsea’s part, they decide to take a trip to New Orleans and that’s when the crazy starts. Something is up about the women Chelsea hangs out with that weekend. When she gets home, I read the rest of the book with wide eyes and was like “OMG”.

Something happens to both Chelsea and her boyfriend and obviously I don’t want to give it away but it does leave room for questions. A lot of questions. A part of me wished we could have gotten more answers BUT the horror loving part of me, absolutely loved the open ended ending.

All in all, this was a perfect little read by a new to me author.

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