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Rabbit Heart
Rachel’s parents, Linda and Marcus, have their hobbies: reading Shakespeare, crocheting blankets, and killing people who trespass near their cabin in the North Georgia woods.
Being adopted by killers with a taste for cannibalism shouldn’t be the highlight of Rachel’s life, but for her, it’s a chance to heal and find the love she’s desperately craved. No one has empathized with her more than Linda and Marcus. After losing her biological parents when she was a child and enduring neglect and abuse, Rachel has a family again, and her new parents will go to extreme measures to protect her.
When a stranger connected to one of Marcus and Linda’s victims comes into her life, Rachel must juggle secrets that may lead to her undoing, and meanwhile, she has to decide whether she should save this new person at the risk of abandoning the only family she has—or lose what humanity she has left.
Being adopted by killers with a taste for cannibalism shouldn’t be the highlight of Rachel’s life, but for her, it’s a chance to heal and find the love she’s desperately craved. No one has empathized with her more than Linda and Marcus. After losing her biological parents when she was a child and enduring neglect and abuse, Rachel has a family again, and her new parents will go to extreme measures to protect her.
When a stranger connected to one of Marcus and Linda’s victims comes into her life, Rachel must juggle secrets that may lead to her undoing, and meanwhile, she has to decide whether she should save this new person at the risk of abandoning the only family she has—or lose what humanity she has left.
270 pages, Hardcover
Published October 14, 2019
1 person is currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Morgan Dante
16 books282 followersHorror, fantasy, and romance writer. Vampire and angel enjoyer. They/Them. Read more on morgandante.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 24, 2019
"It was like asking her to decide between staying in a blood-filled house or running into a tornado. It hurt, that teetering edge between survival and oblivion. It hurt to be this alone."
3.5⭐, rounded up to 4 for GoodReads
Rabbit Heart is my introduction to Emily Deibler's work, and this was a really interesting story. It's well-written, and it goes pretty deep into how people aren't just "good" or "bad", but have a wide array of human emotions and actions.
The book begins and ends with horror vibes, but a lot of what's in between is family drama. The book has alternating timelines, and sometimes I was a little confused about when something was happening, but I got it sorted out eventually.
This book is mostly about recovery from rape. There is a lot of heavy content here, and I felt that the author handled it well. However, I felt misled by the synopsis - I really have to be in the right headspace to read a book like this, and I probably wouldn't have picked this up right now if I would have known what it was really about. This has nothing to do with having a problem with the subject matter, but I just want to be mentally prepared when it's most of the book.
I read in the author's note at the end that this story was originally a horror comedy, and then became the story about recovery from rape instead. I can definitely see how this transition happened, and it's understandable, but I wish the synopsis would have also been clearer about this.
Although I had a tough time with some of the book, it was an intriguing story, and the author weaves grief, healing, love, and horror together well.
CW - rape, suicidal ideation, abortion
3.5⭐, rounded up to 4 for GoodReads
Rabbit Heart is my introduction to Emily Deibler's work, and this was a really interesting story. It's well-written, and it goes pretty deep into how people aren't just "good" or "bad", but have a wide array of human emotions and actions.
The book begins and ends with horror vibes, but a lot of what's in between is family drama. The book has alternating timelines, and sometimes I was a little confused about when something was happening, but I got it sorted out eventually.
This book is mostly about recovery from rape. There is a lot of heavy content here, and I felt that the author handled it well. However, I felt misled by the synopsis - I really have to be in the right headspace to read a book like this, and I probably wouldn't have picked this up right now if I would have known what it was really about. This has nothing to do with having a problem with the subject matter, but I just want to be mentally prepared when it's most of the book.
I read in the author's note at the end that this story was originally a horror comedy, and then became the story about recovery from rape instead. I can definitely see how this transition happened, and it's understandable, but I wish the synopsis would have also been clearer about this.
Although I had a tough time with some of the book, it was an intriguing story, and the author weaves grief, healing, love, and horror together well.
CW - rape, suicidal ideation, abortion
November 16, 2019
A surreal grotesquerie of horror, set in the otherwise beautifully scenic North Georgia mountains, RABBIT HEART is also an emotionally visceral examination of a survivor of sexual abuse plus brutal tragedy. It is also on the surface the story of a backwoods cannibal couple and their adopted daughter.
December 1, 2019
*I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*
A story of abuse, loss, and eventually, love with many twists and turns along the way.
After being abused by her foster brothers, Rachel is found by Linda and Marcus (married cannibals who eat anyone unfortunate enough to wander too close to their property). They take her to their cabin and give her the choice to stay with them, or return to the world that damaged her. Rachel goes through many different cycles: suicidal, acceptance, guilt, blame. She has hallucinations. She comes to love, in her own way, these two people who saved her.
I love the story. I feel so strongly for Rachel. Ms. Deibler broaches the subject of abuse within foster families. The emotional chaos that it brings for the abused child. This book also shows that children will do most anything to be accepted and loved.
I gave "Rabbit Heart" 4/5 stars because, at times, it can be a bit wordy. I also didn't understand exactly how the hallucinations fit into the story. It felt to me as if they were put in to take up space as they were never explained. I wasn't sure how this thing that she would see fit into the story. Other than that, it was a great book.
A story of abuse, loss, and eventually, love with many twists and turns along the way.
After being abused by her foster brothers, Rachel is found by Linda and Marcus (married cannibals who eat anyone unfortunate enough to wander too close to their property). They take her to their cabin and give her the choice to stay with them, or return to the world that damaged her. Rachel goes through many different cycles: suicidal, acceptance, guilt, blame. She has hallucinations. She comes to love, in her own way, these two people who saved her.
I love the story. I feel so strongly for Rachel. Ms. Deibler broaches the subject of abuse within foster families. The emotional chaos that it brings for the abused child. This book also shows that children will do most anything to be accepted and loved.
I gave "Rabbit Heart" 4/5 stars because, at times, it can be a bit wordy. I also didn't understand exactly how the hallucinations fit into the story. It felt to me as if they were put in to take up space as they were never explained. I wasn't sure how this thing that she would see fit into the story. Other than that, it was a great book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2019
I found this to be an interesting story, and it certainly had all the elements of a thriller. Yet, the style of writing was often a steam of consciousness rant, and the narrative shifted time often, without warning. Rachel, the main character, was difficult to relate to. She entered the story as a victim, and the entire book covered her journey to becoming a proud survivor. The book is not so much to be read, as to be experienced. It certainly is a very different take on the cannibal family living in the hills.
November 8, 2019
I mean, don't get me wrong: I love cannibals, and I love families, so this book is right up my alley. Which is a big deal, since I wrote it.
But why aren't there that many rabbits? It's called RABBIT Heart, and did a rabbit heart, in fact, play a big role in the plot? I don't think so!
On a serious note, please be sure to read the content warning for this book here: https://www.emilydeibler.com/books-an...
But why aren't there that many rabbits? It's called RABBIT Heart, and did a rabbit heart, in fact, play a big role in the plot? I don't think so!
On a serious note, please be sure to read the content warning for this book here: https://www.emilydeibler.com/books-an...
March 10, 2020
his book was a good read. I liked the story and the characters. I was able to get invested in what was happening, and mostly, I was able to understand the motives of the characters. The book was suspenseful and deep. My one critique is this particular writing style wasn't for me. The changes between past and present and reality vs. perception were a little too abrupt at times. There were sections where the world was described as Rachel saw it, instead of reality, that seemed to come out of nowhere. These sections lost my interest and would pull me out of the story. But other than that, it was an enjoyable read!
March 6, 2022
If you're a fan of NBC's Hannibal and stories with endearing found families, you should absolutely read Rabbit Heart. You will be ravenous for more scenes with Marcus, Linda, and Rachel, a tight-knit, unforgettable family bound by tragedy and their love for one another. Brief moments of happiness are juxtaposed against an eerie southern gothic setting and the acts of cannibalism that the family commits. It's not an easy book to read because the topics are so heavy—definitely not for the faint of heart—but if you can stomach a darker story that handles sensitive topics, you're in for a treat.
Absolutely adorable, very dark, gothic vibes, you will get emotional damage.
Absolutely adorable, very dark, gothic vibes, you will get emotional damage.
Read
November 29, 2020Wow, this is my first 5 star of 2020, I think. It got me in my chest and stomach and I cried. It just got me.
April 6, 2020
I picked this up because I was hoping for something along the lines of Ania Ahlborn's amazing "Brother", I was hoping to discover a lesser known gem, but no, this is a very different kind of bunny.
First disclaimer, I did not know this was YA until I requested it from the library and it came home with a YA sticker. YA is not my favorite thing to read, of the about 100 books I chow down every year only about 2 are YA, I am very cautious going down that road because it is often not a road for me. So being accidentally thrown into YA waters was not the best start. And yes, some things I will count against this novel are YA typical, so take that how you want.
I did not like the writing, it reads very juvenile not just in style but also in how it approaches its themes and plot elements. The dialogue is often stilted, agenda driven and not very life like. The Horror elements are toned down or glossed over, and frankly for the majority of this book it isn't even a Horror novel but a drama dealing with an abundance of heavy topics such as sexual assualt, neglect, trauma, abortion, loss of family, racism, and a few other things that are less on center stage. There is a lot going (I would say too much, it is only 261 pages after all) that Deibler tries to juxtapose with a serial killer/ cannibal story line, and it did not work for me. Don't get me wrong, I love and often recommend Horror that deals with real subject matters, I praise Horror for being a perfect sand box to explore dark topics in. But not like this, you cannot just pour cannibalism over things and say "Well, our main character was healing from trauma, so...", dang girl, that needs to be explored, that should be its own trauma. The ending was nothing but ridiculous and shows how little effort and logic was put into the cannibal story line in "Rabbit Heart", and if you build your novel's hook around cannibalism it shouldn't be the afterthought you as a writer appear almost annoyed with that you have to deal with it. And if you cannot go into details (I don't just mean the gore, but the dynamics and ripple effects) about cannibalism in a YA novel, well, maybe it shouldn't be a YA novel? Also, a discussion on how being a brown skin colored cannibal somehow condemns all brown people to being cannibals and how racist that makes white people is really missing the point, don't care how white that makes me sound....
What gets most of the attention are the different kind of traumas the characters, specifically the main girl Rachel, are dealing with. Boy, does that get attention and detail, text book detail. This did not read life like to me but what the text books say how victims of assault, of neglect, of racism feel and think like. Some sentences get word for word repetitions during the novel to hammer the points home. I'm not saying all the expressed sentiments are wrong but that they are presented stereotypically and without the personal nuance that these matters deserve, among other things that is how to create the emotion behind the text book case and I did not feel anything but frustration reading this. Again, the conversations (and there are a lot) and thought processes read as if taken straight out of a psychology journal. Even if you are fine with this kind of presentation, to me Deibler fails in creating a believable bond between Rachel and her cannibal foster parents. There is only one single scene between her and her "Dad" that lets them just talk (about Shakespeare), every other interaction is dominated by trauma and healing conversations: that is therapy not the creation of a family. With the "family" not being believable to me, I couldn't get behind Rachel's consecutive actions and the dilemma she is supposedly in. No.
This is what happens when books have the heart in the right spot and want to spread certain messages but fail to create life on the page. This story was devoid of realistic moments for me, message driven and wrapped in simplified writing and dialogue. I know Deibler had good intentions and an interesting hook to build it around but I think she failed on making a good or even a realistic story out of it.
First disclaimer, I did not know this was YA until I requested it from the library and it came home with a YA sticker. YA is not my favorite thing to read, of the about 100 books I chow down every year only about 2 are YA, I am very cautious going down that road because it is often not a road for me. So being accidentally thrown into YA waters was not the best start. And yes, some things I will count against this novel are YA typical, so take that how you want.
I did not like the writing, it reads very juvenile not just in style but also in how it approaches its themes and plot elements. The dialogue is often stilted, agenda driven and not very life like. The Horror elements are toned down or glossed over, and frankly for the majority of this book it isn't even a Horror novel but a drama dealing with an abundance of heavy topics such as sexual assualt, neglect, trauma, abortion, loss of family, racism, and a few other things that are less on center stage. There is a lot going (I would say too much, it is only 261 pages after all) that Deibler tries to juxtapose with a serial killer/ cannibal story line, and it did not work for me. Don't get me wrong, I love and often recommend Horror that deals with real subject matters, I praise Horror for being a perfect sand box to explore dark topics in. But not like this, you cannot just pour cannibalism over things and say "Well, our main character was healing from trauma, so...", dang girl, that needs to be explored, that should be its own trauma. The ending was nothing but ridiculous and shows how little effort and logic was put into the cannibal story line in "Rabbit Heart", and if you build your novel's hook around cannibalism it shouldn't be the afterthought you as a writer appear almost annoyed with that you have to deal with it. And if you cannot go into details (I don't just mean the gore, but the dynamics and ripple effects) about cannibalism in a YA novel, well, maybe it shouldn't be a YA novel? Also, a discussion on how being a brown skin colored cannibal somehow condemns all brown people to being cannibals and how racist that makes white people is really missing the point, don't care how white that makes me sound....
What gets most of the attention are the different kind of traumas the characters, specifically the main girl Rachel, are dealing with. Boy, does that get attention and detail, text book detail. This did not read life like to me but what the text books say how victims of assault, of neglect, of racism feel and think like. Some sentences get word for word repetitions during the novel to hammer the points home. I'm not saying all the expressed sentiments are wrong but that they are presented stereotypically and without the personal nuance that these matters deserve, among other things that is how to create the emotion behind the text book case and I did not feel anything but frustration reading this. Again, the conversations (and there are a lot) and thought processes read as if taken straight out of a psychology journal. Even if you are fine with this kind of presentation, to me Deibler fails in creating a believable bond between Rachel and her cannibal foster parents. There is only one single scene between her and her "Dad" that lets them just talk (about Shakespeare), every other interaction is dominated by trauma and healing conversations: that is therapy not the creation of a family. With the "family" not being believable to me, I couldn't get behind Rachel's consecutive actions and the dilemma she is supposedly in. No.
This is what happens when books have the heart in the right spot and want to spread certain messages but fail to create life on the page. This story was devoid of realistic moments for me, message driven and wrapped in simplified writing and dialogue. I know Deibler had good intentions and an interesting hook to build it around but I think she failed on making a good or even a realistic story out of it.
January 15, 2024
2.5 stars rounded up
message lost to the mess
After reading another book by this author and loving it, I was pretty disappointed with Rabbit Heart. The pacing felt extremely off, and the characters felt boiled down to just their traumas, which was especially frustrating since this was supposed to be a story about how trauma can impact who you aren’t but isn’t all you are. Not a fave of mine for sure.
Representation Notes:
MC: Afro-Cuban bisexual female with PTSD
SC: Black woman, Black Man, bisexual (?) female love interest
message lost to the mess
After reading another book by this author and loving it, I was pretty disappointed with Rabbit Heart. The pacing felt extremely off, and the characters felt boiled down to just their traumas, which was especially frustrating since this was supposed to be a story about how trauma can impact who you aren’t but isn’t all you are. Not a fave of mine for sure.
Representation Notes:
MC: Afro-Cuban bisexual female with PTSD
SC: Black woman, Black Man, bisexual (?) female love interest
November 15, 2019
Thank you to Hidden Gems for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I seem to be in the minority on my rating. Rabbit Heart was not a bad book by any means. I really wanted to love the book. It had a great premise, but for me, fell through. I was hoping for more horror and got a girl trying to heal. I also could not connect with any of the characters. I felt Rachel was a brat, and at points had to stop reading because it was annoying me. Yes, yes, I know she suffered hardships etc., in her young life, but so have millions of others and they don't act as she did.
A solid 3 stars as long as you're not looking for a story wholly based on 2 cannibals taking in a young scared girl.
I seem to be in the minority on my rating. Rabbit Heart was not a bad book by any means. I really wanted to love the book. It had a great premise, but for me, fell through. I was hoping for more horror and got a girl trying to heal. I also could not connect with any of the characters. I felt Rachel was a brat, and at points had to stop reading because it was annoying me. Yes, yes, I know she suffered hardships etc., in her young life, but so have millions of others and they don't act as she did.
A solid 3 stars as long as you're not looking for a story wholly based on 2 cannibals taking in a young scared girl.
November 20, 2022
Rabbit Heart manages to take horror and gothic themes and give them a cozy vibe somehow amidst the darkness and heaviness. This cannibal family is not what you would expect. Rachel's journey is a dark one, but she manages to find friendship and love along the way. Marcus is one of my favorite characters. Fans of Hannibal and Criminal Minds will love this book. It takes you on turns you didn't see coming with a cast of characters that are unique.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews