| Title | : | Selah Gothic |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 376 |
| Publication | : | Published March 29, 2024 |
Now I lay me down to sleep.
Impure thoughts sent me spiraling toward my fate. I was the holy daughter of Lady of Sorrows Church. The one meant to bring millions to faith in God.
I pray the lord my soul to keep.
But my own sins had my dad banishing me to a seaside church of terrors and the worst and most terrible horror of them all… the exorcist.
If I should die before I wake.
Father Dante Amorth was meant to exorcise me of my sins and send me back to my father pure and holy once more…
I pray the lord my soul to take.
And I’ll spoil it for you. Demons were found, even inside me, but none of it was what I expected. Thankfully… it was so much worse.
This book is dystopian horror with very dark topics and themes. Please read content information before proceeding.
Selah Gothic Reviews
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3.5⭐️
Before I even give a review, please be warned. This has triggers listed below, and it is very religious truama=and stuff so if that's not your tea, please pass.
Selah, poor girl, she is to me nameless, nothing just a pure girl. And she's starting to have unpure thoughts when she does stuff she's not supposed to do. Which leads them to believe she's possessed and needs to be pured for her sins, so they send her to Father Dante to cure her. Little did they know that won't happen. Dante and his crew believe it's a setup, and they keep a close eye. But slowly find out Selah is way to shelter and pure for being a spy.
Slowly but surely, Dante comes obessed with her, loving the things he gets her to confess to they grow some attachments to one another. Selah lets her hair down she does normal things, acts like a normal person, and has a pet goat name, Luci lol. But that doesn't stop her old church from wanting her back.
And our man Dante isn't going down without a fight, and so isn't Selah she's going to fight for her right and all the women's rights.
The spice was yummy, and my inside curl heheh
No ow/tiny om, no cheating, slight secondary character, Drama, sexy times, virgin gal no manwhore
Recommend-yes
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶🌶.5
Slowburn
Age gap
20h/idk
Religious truama
Religious abuse
Childhood neglect
Purity culture
SA on page
Masturbation
Attempted SA
Praise kink
Voyagerism
Suicide
Pyshical Punishments
Demonic possession
Horror/gore
Hea -
Absolutely loved this. As someone with deep religious trauma, this book healed things in me. A book that you will definitely say "Good for her" over and over. Female rage is so perfectly portrayed. UGH. Obsessed and the spice? SHEESH 🥵
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fun but the writing could've been better... each time i think a quote's about to be good, it ends up being sexual. which would not be an issue if it weren't so constant
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Wow just wow! As someone who was raised heavily around the catholic religion books like these always heal something deep inside me🥰 This book was pitch black and absolutely delicious! Originally I read this on KU but I loved it so much I had to get myself a physical copy for my shelf🧡
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Super excited I received an ARC for this book and boy did it not disappoint. By far my favorite book from this author! I really liked the main character and the world of Grimm, I would love to see fan art of the cathedral. Had a fun little as h grove shout out at the end. I wouldn’t mind revisiting this world in the future
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I’m probably just dumb but I could not explain to you a single thing that happened in this book with anything close to even 50% confidence. I was lost the whole time.
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“Do you seek death, Selah?
Then you have him,”
It feels slow but it's short, and I'm also curious about where is this all going so I read it till the end. Thankfully, it was explained at the end. 70% into the story and I'm still clueless af. And the paragraphs 😩 too long for me.
But the suspense and mystery was what made me stay. I love it in the end. The baby goat??????? Didn't see that coming. He's the cutest. I want one.
Also, I still don't understand what exactly are the Amorth brothers?? How are they similar with Selah? The demon thing wasn't exactly clear for me. There's got to be a background story about their family, especially their father's ghost making a cameo lol. So the question remains...
Any sequel for the other brothers? -
Bee: Kat ties together supernatural and real life so effortlessly. When reading this, you get an inkling of what is going on but it’s just enough to still surprise you in the end. I loved Selah taking her life back. I loved her coming into her own. And I especially loved how Dante didn’t stifle her, he helped her reclaim her entire self. Beautifully written.
Nik: I lovedddd the female rage and revenge components of this story. I enjoyed how strong the plot line was and all the twists and turns. It kept me engaged the entire time and I was dying to find out all the secrets. I really really enjoyed how Kat flipped the switch with the villains and “heroes.” Overall, a very solid read. I definitely enjoyed seeing Selah take her power back! -
“Rain and sea, he and I were both these dreadful things and together we were drowning in each other’s whirlpool.”
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🚨IMPORTANT NOTE: the trigger and content warnings list for this book should not be ignored or taken lightly. There is an exhaustive list on the author’s website. Please acquaint yourself with it before diving into this book. It’s definitely not going to be for everyone.🚨
“Selah,” he spoke my name like a song, and I stopped at the threshold of confession. “Your body is yours. Not your future husband, not your father’s, not god’s, it is yours.” Tears pricked the corner of my eyes at hearing such a radical notion. “And,” he said gently as I turned my face so he wouldn’t see. “You are forgiven.”
If I could give this blasphemous, sacrilegious, absolutely fucking beautiful book a billion stars, it wouldn't be enough. Selah Gothic deserves all of the stars in the firmament... and considering what actually resides within the pages of this book, it feels a bit blasphemous to even say that, but it's how I feel in the immediate moments after finishing.
Selah Gothic was like a love letter to all of the shadowy corners of my soul that stay hidden away under lock and key - the religious trauma, the gothic romance, the hints of the divine nestled within in the profane and monstrous, the beauty and the beast vibes... all of it had a chance to feel seen, acknowledged, and soothed. Despite how extreme Kat takes things in this book, it still managed to provide catharsis.Father Dante didn’t treat me like a shell. He didn’t treat me like a Holy Daughter or a nun. While his instructions were undoubtedly obscene, I felt a sense of ease around him, like he saw me as a whole person. For the first time, did someone see me? Did someone see past the religious garb, my sheltered upbringing, even my engrained beliefs, and understand something about myself even I had scarcely explored? I could only hope and sorrow at the thought. It was outrageous and unrealistic.
This story follows the journey of Selah, a young woman who has been bred and groomed to be a nameless vessel of purity, a symbol of perfect virtue for a cult masquerading as a god-loving mega church. Her entire existence has been defined by emotional and physical abuse, isolation, neglect, and endless seas of shame. But like any normal, red-blooded woman, she can't outrun her own sexual awakening. So when it's discovered that she's been tempted by lusts of the flesh, her father - the head of this megacultchurch - declares her to be possessed by demons and she is immediately sent to the secluded island of Grimm to be exorcised by the infamous priest, Father Dante Amorth.
What follows is a tale of delicious darkness, intrigue, intense desire, and unfathomable mystery.
The imagery is rich and lush, the parallels to popular Christian iconography and philosophy engaging and thought-provoking. All of my fellow survivors of religious trauma will see the hypocrisy in certain traditions and practices, and Kat certainly doesn't shy away from spotlighting the absolute hell out of them. But there's this underlying thread of spirituality and reverence that spoke to me - not so much the pagan or blatantly "demonic" aspects, but the more naturalistic, universal truths... the inherent good that hasn't managed to be "fucked up" by the egos and greed of men (as Dante would argue).
I absolutely adored that the setting for this gothic tale was an isolated island in the middle of the ocean. The surf and waves and tempestuous storms not only make for excellent atmosphere, but they provide such fertile ground for allegory, which only served to strengthen the emotional impact of the book.The rain picked up, coming in sheets, and the thought of swimming back was half-baked when another wave caught me by surprise—pushing me under, deeper, deeper into a swirl of tiny bubbles of dark silence.
Blessed silence.
This was dying, wasn’t it? Officially dying. Because I was already dead, I realized. My life held no value, no more value than a breeding heifer.
Keep pure.
Keep sweet.
Stay silent.
Be obedient.
Commands you’d give a dog were my life’s decree and the most I could aspire to. Why would any man want me for anything else? I was here to be a vessel for god, for old men’s semen, for violent men’s babies, for their fists, for their sermons, for their dinners.
No, the most I could do would be to take that power away from them.
To say I’d rather greet the ocean of black eternity than live under their chains.
Finally, I’d had enough.
Finally, I no longer cared about being their nameless Proverbs 31 virtuous woman. She worked too hard and did too much. Did anyone ever ask her if she wanted to be the virtuous wife? The verses never even gave her name.
She had no name. The Virtuous Wife was her name and all we knew her by, much like me. The Holy Virgin Daughter. The nameless woman that was my mother. That bore me in silence and died like nothing more than a contract fulfilled. I wondered if she loved me or hated me. I wouldn’t blame her if she despised having me infiltrate her womb.
We were the same, the woman who birthed me, the virtuous women of the sacred texts, nameless.
The only one to use my name, to look beyond the thin pages of me that were written by men, was Father Amorth.
Is this book violent and horrifying and even disturbing at times? Absolutely. But like Selah, I couldn't help but be enraptured by the beauty running just beneath the surface, and the serenity and sense of peace and self-actualization that came along with it.
It's just... this book is beautiful, you guys, I don't know how else to describe it. It's massively fucked up and definitely not for the faint of heart. And yet, I almost feel like those shocking and disturbing elements lend weight to the overall message of the story. It all serves a purpose... even if that purpose can be a little twisted at times. But that just adds to Selah Gothic's charm.Selah was perfection. She was holy and pure—but not in the fucked up patriarchal ways her upbringing had poised her to be.
Selah was an untamed wildflower forced into a row of carbon copy, dulled roses. Selah wasn’t mechanical and pruned.
Selah was rusty church bells singing a siren song after a hundred songless years. There was something enchanting in her tenderness, in the wildness lurking within, in the gentle violence of her challenging gaze as she sought to see me for who I was...
She was the church bells, wasn’t she? Come to life to bring beauty into my dried and fire-ready garden of nothing. Could I be so selfish as to accept that offering? Could I be so egotistical as to invite a world of sin and darkness into the life of The Holy Daughter?
Now, some things to note:
Selah - adored her as a main character. Her entire arc from start to finish was poignant and exquisite. Zero notes.
Dante - he is one fucked up and disturbed exorcist/priest, but I'm honestly okay with that? Like... it works, especially for this story. He's OTT for sure, dark, depraved, possessive... but he's also the first person to ever actually see Selah, and the way he advocates for her is goddamned beautiful. I loved him. I should probably go back to therapy because of this - not sure I want to know what it says about me - but there you have it.
Dante's brothers - Silas and Nikolai: I'm very much intrigued by the pair of them. We see Silas more than Nikolai, and both have moments where I wanted to smack them upside the head hard... but there's also something very endearing about these two psychos. I know this book is intended to be a standalone, but I would definitely not complain if we got any sequels that allowed us to spend more time with those two.
The nuns on the island: I can't recall all of their names, but I absolutely adored each and every one of them. The way they treat Selah in particular warmed and broke my heart simultaneously - in large part because our girl has never had a single kind word spoken to her until she arrives on the island and meets these women. These sisters are wonderful and the twist about their true natures was fascinating.
TL;DR - I adored this book. I probably shouldn't and maybe this resonating so profoundly should disturb me on some level... but it doesn't. This book is dark and profane and beautiful and cathartic, and I will absolutely be coming back to it again.
If you're looking for a book that throws a big "F U" to purity culture while offering safety and reprieve from religious trauma, if you aren't faint of heart, Selah Gothic may just be the book you've been looking for.He kissed me with passion and fervor, and I closed my eyes, moaning into his embrace. His tongue parted my lips and danced with mine, flicking in and out of my mouth. His taste was more intoxicating than altar wine, the heat of our bodies like two prayer candle flames sparking upwards to eternity.
We were two instantly ignited prayer candles, him and I, and I would gladly burn beside him until the wick met glass, and we were nothing but forgotten smoke in an empty cathedral.
Maybe our pleas for some almighty god to acknowledge us would always go unanswered. Maybe there was nothing greater awaiting us beyond this one life, and what a liberating and terribly wonderful thought that was. Because right there, right then, I had my exorcist priest’s cock pressed against my stomach, his teeth scraping against my black cum-stained lips, and the only thing I wanted was to feel him inside me again.
This didn’t feel like sin. It didn’t feel like an obligation to a husband, didn’t feel like pain accepting my burden of opening my womb to potential blessings from god in the form of children.
When Dante’s bare skin, so warm and all-encompassing, pressed against my middle, my breasts, it felt like wholeness. If I could step back, even just a few feet, and stand in my nakedness like Lady Vanessa had, I would have undoubtedly felt shame in my body in the blasphemous act of fornication on the sacred floors of god’s church.
But then again, here our combined passion dripped to the floor, evidence of life and pleasure and bliss— while back at Lady of Sorrow church, red blood of pain, of sacrifice, of death stained the ground.
Which would a loving god prefer in his house?
Which offering was more pleasing to an all-knowing entity?
Sinners painting the altar with love, or saints marring it with hate? I didn’t know the answer. And though I’d been taught of god my entire life, I realized I knew nothing of the being that supposedly guided my every step and ordained my every purpose.
... one more quote, and then I'm done, I swear. But seriously - read the book!“Is this holy water?” Selah asked in a small voice.
“It is. And next are holy anointing oils.”
“You shouldn’t waste these on me… I am now so incredibly far from holy.” I stopped with my hands on her knees and leveled her with my stare, getting close so she could for once see my horrible eyes and my wretched face. If any point needed to be shocked through her, it was this one.
“You are sacred, you are worthy, you are beautiful, you are whole. You are not changed because you’ve had a man inside you. Men’s cocks have no power over you. They do not change your virtue in the least. You don’t deserve pain. You were not born wicked. You are and always have been whole. Understood?”
...
“I do not believe love and my priesthood are so far removed from each other. There are things beyond the sacred texts, beyond the veil, that ring true. Men have fucked it up, muddied the waters, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some good in there. More importantly, there are people within these systems who have been forgotten. They are worth fighting for, worth staying for..." -
I need a baby goat and a demon daddy 🥵
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The story was such an incredible showcasing of overcoming trauma, gaining strength and just amazing character growth. This book was so deep but also so freeing. I knew going into it that I was going to love it because it was written by Kat and I have not read anything by Kat that I did not immediately fall head over heels in love with. This book did catch me a bit by surprise because I was expecting a little bit different, but it surprised me in a great way I wasn’t expecting bad just different and I was definitely shocked and loved all the twist and turns that we got here along with the underlying story. The premise was so fun to explore.
I felt for Selah and everything that was going on with her. I could not imagine being treated like she was and following this book and seeing her get the realizations that she did, and become the person that she became with all the strength that she has was just incredible. I loved Dante. He was delicious. He had a filthy mouth, he was a troubled soul, but his darkness found her darkness, and they went together so well I loved seeing him be so kind and gentle but only for her.
I really don’t want to give away too many spoilers but obviously check the trigger warnings before going into this one. There are quite a few big ones in there but if this does seem like something that you would enjoy drop what you’re doing and read it right now, you will not regret it. I could not put this book down, it had me in such a chokehold.
Tropes:
🩸Religious Dystopian
🩸Dark academia
🩸“Yes, Father"
🩸Exorcist Priest x Holy V^rgin
🩸Haunted seaside church
🩸Cults + demon mystery
🩸Age Gap
‼️ This book contains extremely dark topics, themes, and imagery. TW's are inside the book & an exhaustive list on Kat's site.
“You are very much possessed, my dear, and I will never free the demons within you, for I am far too fond of them.” -
Selah Gothic by Kat Blackthorn
Please before reading this check your trigger warnings and content warnings. This book will not be for everyone and that's totally okay but it is dark
I'm going to start off by saying that this book was a 5 freaking star book! This book is so beautifully written that it just had me so drawn and hooked right away.
Selah is the Holy daughter and she is casted away, no one can look at her, touch her, they say she full of evil and needs her demons removed. When Selah is sent away to get exorcised by The Father Amorth. Once she gets to Grim she isn't sure what to think because things are so different. She is treated differently, women can speak, they dress different, boys talk to her. She is just confused and not sure what she should be feeling. She wonders when will the time come that she has to be exorcised, she is told that when Father Amorth is ready he will come and find her.
When Selah goes to first confess her sins to Father Dante Amorth he isn't sure what to think of Selah. First he thinks she is a spy that was sent to come and find out what is going on at the church because things are so different there. But soon Dante becomes obsessed with Selah and he wants to get rid of her sins because he will be the only sin she has.
"Selah was perfection. She was holy and pure - but not in the fucked up patriarchal ways her upbringing had poised her to be. Selah was an untamed wildflower forced into a row of carbon copy, dulled roses."
I couldn't put this book down. Once I started reading I was completely hooked on right away and knew I needed to finish this immediately. I can't even begin to explain and tell all my thoughts and feelings about this book and the way I felt while reading it. I am just here to say that this book was five stars and I loved Selah and Father Amorth 🩶 Luci was also freaking adorable. -
THIS BOOK. 🫠
I don’t have enough words for how hauntingly amazing this book is. Kat just… Gah. I am in awe of your mind.
I adored Selah and Dante’s story so much. It was dark and twisty. He was extremely rough, but it was absolute perfection with his character. Their chemistry was absolutely wild and hotter than sin.
Above all else… Luci stole the show. 🐐
Make sure you check the trigger warnings but I promise it’s worth it! -
This book was DARKKKKKK
BUT SO FREAKING GOOD!
I swear dark romance is helping with religious trauma one reader at a time.
This book comes with a side of religious trauma therapy 😂 at least it did for me.
It’s an amazing book, please read the trigger warnings, and believe them, it’s one of the darkest books I’ve read, and I am obsessed with it. -
There's just something about religious trauma dark romances (especially involving nuns) that make me ovulate 🤣 I 100000% love this book!!! It was so beautifully written and went in a completely different direction than what I was expecting. There's so much I could say about this book, but I don't want to give anything away!
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Unhealthy Catholic upbringing deconstructed with a lot of dark themes and triggers. I don’t have the religious trauma to understand all the twists and turns of the plot but I was still able to enjoy every bit of it. The spice was top tier 🥵 and I love Selah so much! 😮💨
Also Luci 😍 don’t fuck with the baby goat okay?
Also, LOL that I finished this book on Father’s Day… IYKYK 😅 -
Wow.... Just wow!
I absolutely loved this. A lot of people have felt they don't belong or that they are nothing but a body of sin because of what the church has said. A lot of churches change the words in the Bible. But this lets everyone know that we are equal. I love their story. I live now, and she found her strength. And welcomed her truth, and his. And was able to defend the actual evil in the world. -
This book was incredible the mystery surrounding it, I would have loved more interaction between the characters, Dante became so cute when he is around Selah. Dante's brothers intrigued me, I need their own books
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gosh darn that was good
Want to read something that pulls you in?
Keeps you guessing until the end?
Gets you hot and bothered?
Then give this a go. -
4 ⭐️ 2.5 🌶️
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This was so dark and twisted and I loved it, as someone who knows many who have suffered at the hands of “religious men”, this was a beautiful masterpiece for them;) Selah was amazing and Dante made me want a confessional booth for fun times lol!
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I loved this
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Forgive me Father for I have sinned…
First let me say, the way Kat has set up this entire religious infrastructure was astounding. She really did remember everything and coming from a religious background myself, I need it to be as realistic as possible in order to enjoy the book. Having ladies of sorrow never being able to speak and showing the oppression of women in religion was very resonating.
Selah is the holy daughter of Lady of Sorrows Church and as such is to be pure in every way; mind, body, and soul. The only problem is Selah is a little rebel and doesn’t want to be religiously oppressed, marry an old bishop, and only be used for squeezing out babies to populate the church. She sneaks away and finds a saucy blog on the internet because it makes her feel things. When her Father (the head honcho) finds out, he sacrifices one of the nuns and sends Selah to have an exorcism by Father Dante Amorth.
At first he believes Selah is a spy sent by the main church because they do things very differently on their island but soon he becomes obsessed with her as he “purges” her sins by having her play them out for him. When she admits she feels this growing tension and obsession, there is no going back for either of them. However, just because they’re content together doesn’t mean her father isn’t coming to get her back! When Luci showed up I screamed with delight. The plot, twists, and charaters were amazing and I will be reading again and again. -
4,75/5
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🔥 “You don’t belong to god anymore, Selah. After this, after today, you are mine. You belong to me.”
~~~
Selah’s life hasn’t been easy. As the Holy Daughter of the Lady of Sorrows church, she’s been groomed to be a nameless woman, a vessel of purity and virtue. At first, Selah appears shy, quiet, obedient and timid. But there’s a fire in her that just waits to be stroked. Even more, I loved her defiance, courage and curiosity. Selah is an absolutely incredible woman and I adored her so, so much!
And then, there’s Father Dante Amorth - a man shrouded in darkness and mystery. The legendary Exorcist of Grimm is so depraved, dominant, deadly, disturbed, over the top possessive and obsessive. And that filthy, filthy mouth of his! But Father Amorth is also fiercely protective and a man, who will do everything for the people he cares about. Dante is one intense and absolutely irresistible man and I couldn’t help but adore every single thing about him!
I absolutely loved everything that happened between Selah and Dante! When Selah gets caught doing things she’s not supposed to, she’s sent to Father Amorth to be purified and rid of sin. I absolutely adored those two! I loved the tension so much and every moment they fought to resist their desires. I absolutely adored Dante for being the first man to see Selah for who she is - a worthy and whole woman who should not be ashamed of who she is or her desires, a woman with a name. Even more, I loved that both accepted each other exactly as they were. And when they couldn’t resist the undeniable need for one another, the passionate moments they shared were blazing hot and I couldn’t get enough of all the unholy and depraved delight. Selah and Dante were truly meant for each other! Furthermore, what I loved most about this story was Selah’s development. Witnessing her grow from a timid, shy and quiet young girl to a powerful, strong, bold woman was absolutely incredible. Female rage is a powerful thing and when it’s unleashed… walls will bleed!
In addition, the storyline and worldbuilding were phenomenal! I loved the gothic vibes of Grimm and the mysteries surrounding it. I loved the dark forests and the unholy rituals taking place in them. I also loved everyone in Grimm - the nuns, the priests, the students, even the monsters. And with everything happening, I was glued to the pages till the very end. Also… baby goats, but… extra!
Overall, Selah Gothic is an intense, dark, suspenseful and sinful story and I absolutely loved every page of it! -
Just Wow
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes Dystopian, Horror, Age Gap, Religion
⚠️Read TW's⚠️
I don't even know where to start with this one. It was not what I expected going in but is a fantastically well written and imaginative story that as hard as some scenes and the overall subject matter are to process kept me engrossed and turning page after page all the way through.
The MC's are strong and you root for them even though for most of the book you try to figure out who & what they really are along with the supporting characters. I can say that all my guesses were wrong and the story came together even better than I could have imagined.
This story is about evil disguising itself as pure and godly and how in the wrong people's hands, to much power and turn into something dark and deceitful taking power from over half the population by taking their voice & humanity in the name of religion and godliness. The so called good guys do this with a nod from government, basically taking over politicians and government to rewrite the laws to reflect the bible which this group of men have rewritten into something blasphemous and unholy.
Meanwhile, the roles have been reversed and those cast as dark, evil and Satan worshipping are the ones saving the women & children being used as wombs, breeding stock & slaves to serve men and the bishops and head of the church & government and nothing more. They have no names, their voices are taken so they literally cannot speak and are chained to beds when they come of age for breeding purposes and to deliver the next generation of "holy children" then murdered after giving birth. For me it relates to actual things that are going on in our government and evangelical churches right now. I can see a direct correlation to this being our country & the world at some point although the author makes no such assertions and reiterates this is a work of fiction.
The Author flipped the script. Imagine the roles reversed between the Church of Satan & Christian and other denominations. If you have no triggers this is so worth the read. I hope we get additional books because I'd love to find out what happens with the two remaining Grimm brothers!
Highly Recommend! -
“We were two instantly ignited prayer candles, him and I,
and I would gladly burn beside him until the wick met glass, and we were nothing but forgotten smoke in an empty cathedral”
Welcome to Grimm, your confession starts now and Father Amorth awaits….
Wow. Let me just say, I have never read a book so deliciously depraved. Kat Blackthorne is an artist and it was incredible to read her masterpiece!
We follow the story of Selah, the holy daughter as she navigates her life within a strict religious community and grapples with her beliefs and feelings. The confines that she has been told she must live within feel more like a cage but any expression of individuality must quickly be expelled. She answers to her father and clergy who soon realize Saleh is not one who will go quietly and in their desperation to keep her docile and complicit they unknowingly set her on a path to discover her true destiny and deliver her to the hands of Father Dante Amorth, the exorcist of Grimm.
Dante is the embodiment of a raging storm, two forces collide within him and rage for dominance. The exorcist of Grimm who seek to protect his community and school and the beast within him who seeks the warmth of flame and familiarity of chaos.
Dante believes he’s being sent yet another person that that the clergy believed to be possessed only because they refuse to obey or show the ability to think for themselves but never expected to be enamored by Selah.
Selah is his redemption and his damnation and the conflicting feelings between them leave them both suspended between two worlds as this deliciously dark story unfolds.
As Dante struggles to control his feelings and worries about his role at Grimm and the potential of all hell breaking loose, Selah realizes the gilded cage she lived in hid more of the world then she could imagine and the secrets hidden about her life and past were more then she could have thought possible.
Kat’s ability to bring a dark atmospheric ambiance, horror and romance together was stunning. I absolutely enjoyed her unique writing style and it was such a fun and chilling read, I will absolutely be reading more from her! Kat is an extremely talented author who has a unique gift to bring a complex story to life, while the story itself is decadent and sinfully delicious the message behind it is a larger one that speaks of a restrictive culture and societal norms that seeks to diminish and shame while the journey of self transformation Selah goes through is one of self love, acceptance and healing as well as unlearning harmful rhetoric. Kat, you are incredible! Thank you for your stories and for your ability to convey such emotion, beautifully. -
CHECK TW'S!!! Especially if you have religious trauma.
My name is mine. I am Selah Gothic. You are forgiven.
This book. GOD this book. I have severe religious trauma and this book helped me in ways I cannot even begin to explain.
Finally, I no longer cared about being their nameless Proverbs 31 virtuous woman.
This book follows the "Holy Daughter", Selah, and her exorcist priest, Father Dante Amorth. Father Amorth is immediately mysterious, as he hides his face along with his sins. Selah is meant to not speak, to not have a voice, and just be another nameless woman who must bear children as it is "God's will". However, Selah rebels, committing "sins", or what the men consider to be sins. Her dark side calls to her often. Selah is sent to have an exorcism at the hands of Father Dante Amorth.
I’d spent all but twenty minutes in this wooden box with the holy daughter, and she was bringing out my demon when I was supposed to be bringing out hers, wasn’t I? Perhaps I was. Perhaps we both were.
Selah brings out Father Amorth's demons, whilst Father Amorth brings out Selah's demons. Father Amorth's mouth is FILTHY. He becomes quite obsessed with Selah. However, Selah begins to fall for Father Amorth.
God, how I would take every lashing, every punishment in the world for Father Amorth to be my first… to be my first everything.
Beautiful long story very short, exorcist priest and "nameless Holy Daughter", aka Selah, become involved. Selah is shown an entire world of beauty and sex and love and life. She is given her sight, her voice. She grows strong and steadfast. HEA guaranteed, with cute goats.
A Few Favorite Quotes:
-“Your body is yours. Not your future husband, not your father’s, not god’s, it is yours.”
- “You are very much possessed, my dear, and I will never free the demons within you, for I am far too fond of them.”
- “You are sacred, you are worthy, you are beautiful, you are whole. You are not changed because you’ve had a man inside you. Men’s cocks have no power over you. They do not change your virtue in the least. You don’t deserve pain. You were not born wicked. You are and always have been whole. Understood?”
