Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recently, life hasn’t been easy on Ana and Reid. A complicated birth with their first child, a daughter, Charlie, left Ana paralyzed, bitter and struggling to adjust.
When their number gets pulled in a housing lottery, and they have the opportunity to move into the Deptford, a prestigious, historic NYC-apartment building, they can hardly believe their luck. This could be their fresh start.
A chance to start anew, and with a fabulous address to boot.
Despite some reservations, they decide to accept the apartment and put their best efforts into their new beginning. Soon after they move in though, we all know where this is going, strange things start happening.
They notice peculiar behavior with some residents and staff, as well as some mysterious little bite marks on Charlie. Well, I say they, but it truth, it’s mostly Ana picking up on all the oddities. She’s housebound after all, while Reid still gets to go to work and leave the building regularly.
Ana’s unease grows as the days go by, and the tension in their marriage increases. Is Ana just being paranoid, or is something really go on there?
Reid has his own relationship with the building and its residents, and he’s not sure he’s buying what Ana is selling. Will the building be the downfall of their relationship? And who is paying attention to Charlie?
Though I didn’t connect with this one quite in the same way that I did When the Wolf Comes Home, I was still invested and curious to see how far Cassidy was going to take the unsettling apartment building trope.
Spoiler Alert: All the way!
I loved that part of the story. The creepy atmosphere was on point. I also like the claustrophobic feel of being in Ana’s perspective, though that was the only thing I enjoyed about her perspective. Sorry.
Personally, for almost the entire story, I wished we were just getting Reid’s perspective, along with the various Interludes, because I found Ana to be so incredibly grating. Every time I was in her perspective, I just wanted to be out of it.
With this being said, in the Author’s Note at the end, Cassidy did provide an explanation for the purpose behind some personality choices. I’m glad he covered that, and I respect his decision to write it that way, though not gonna lie, it did sort of deplete my enjoyment level a bit.
Overall, small nit-picks aside, this is another GREAT story from Cassidy. The Publisher’s comp to Rosemary’s Baby meets Salem’s Lot is apt, though the Rosemary’s Baby inspiration felt the heavier of the two for me. Highly recommend for fans of that story, or stories like that.
Also, I definitely recommend the audiobook, which was fabulously narrated and succeeded in pulling me in and engaging me with the story from the start.
Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.
Even though it’s taken me years to get to it, it was worth the wait. I’m excited to continue reading Cassidy’s work. He’s incredibly-talented, never failing to create well-developed characters, unsettling atmosphere and a compelling, fast-moving plot.
This novel is a great example of all of those things!