Book Review: “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” by Samantha Allen
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Ebook borrowed from Libby, read on Kindle Paperwhite
Are you a skeptic like Skully? Or an “I want to believe” Mulder? Either way, this horror-comedy novel is sure to give you a laugh while also satisfying your need for supernatural creatures and witchy lesbians that roam the woods at night. Here’s my book review of “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” by Samantha Allen*.
What to Know About "Patricia Wants to Cuddle" by Samantha Allen
The Quick & Dirty Reading Details
Horror Comedy
Sapphic, Queer
Satire
Multiple Narrators
Sasquatch Lore
Campy, Fun
Fast Paced
Easy, Quick Read
Weird AF
POTENTIAL TRIGGERS: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Gore, Body Horror, Violence
The Plot of Samantha Allen’s “Patricia Wants to Cuddle”
The horror-novel follows as the final four women on a reality show compete to be chosen by the male lead. For their penultimate episode, the cast travels to an isolated island in the Pacific Northwest to film. While the location appears cottagecore on the surface, there’s a lurky eariness as the local bigfoot lore transitions from legend to reality, putting the crew and stars in danger.
“Patricia Wants to Cuddle" Book Review
My Thoughts
A comedic approach to horror doesn’t always land, especially when it relies heavily on satire. However, I think Samantha Allen was able to find a good balance with “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” by adding enough campy fun to break up the criticism. She’s particularly good at incorporating dark humor into her descriptions that made me laugh out loud.
The sapphic horror story is challenged when it comes to character development. However, 2D characters are standard in satire, so I don’t think the novel should be down-voted because of it. In fact, I think keeping the reality show characters flat serves to emphasize the key points of the book: critiquing our capitalism culture’s obsession with inauthenticity.
In particular, it fires shots at social media platforms, like Instagram, and reality television, such as The Bachelor. These channels tend to produce and elevate 2D, unrealistic characters that essentially play a fictionalized role with the end goal of profits – either for the individual or the corporation behind it. “ Patricia Wants to Cuddle” places focus on these problematic narratives by highlighting just how vapid it all is, and I say this as someone whose work heavily involves social media marketing and enjoys watching trash TV in my downtime.
There’s also an additional element of the horror novel that involves love letters between two sapphic teens in a past time period. I enjoyed the flashbacks and think they helped emphasize the need for queer people to have a safe place to escape. Yet, the value of this background narrative is lost amongst the more surface-level satire of the present-day elements.
For me, “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” is a weird, oddball masterpiece that now holds a special place on my virtual bookshelf. It’s fast paced and easy to read, making it a great choice to get back in a reading kick after a TikTok spiral (speaking from experience.) While it’s definitely targeted at a niche group of readers, I think all my fellow X-file-loving, dark-humored horror fans are sure to love it.
Would I Recommend: Absolutely
Would I Re-Read: 100%
Buy “Patricia Wants to Cuddle” by Samantha Allen
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