A Review of Kristi DeMeester's "Dark Sisters"

Kristi DeMeester’s “Dark Sisters” is a horror tale that addresses the relationship between women’s power and their duality. Themes of oppression and exploitation are explored through a traditional horror lens.

Camilla is the daughter of a very wealthy, very elite preacher who basically runs a cultlike country club. Women who don’t quite fit in are sent to “Retreat:” drugs, spa treatments, and prayer. As Camilla comes of age and plans to finally attend her Purity Ball, a mysterious illness attacks her mother. Through two other narratives, one at the founding of the cult and the other set in the 1950s, the reader uncovers the curse plaguing Camilla’s family and community and comes to realize the real threat to the women living there.

This was a great horror novel. I enjoyed the three-fold narration which didn’t uncover too much too quickly. The primitive lifestyle of the founders and the overly posh women in the future narratives offers a glaring juxtaposition which helps build the horror elements. Each of the women at the front of the different stories is flawed yet driven, likable and believable. The story as a whole was satisfying and creepy.

I look forward to more from Kristi DeMeester and definitely recommend “Dark Sisters” to fans of female-forward horror.

I received this novel from NetGalley.

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