I loved the idea of this liminal, in-between space of summer where the kids rule the roost and the adults kind of fade into the background. I grew up going to a horseback-riding-focused all girls camp for years as a kid, and it definitely had a massive impact on my development (and my eventual realization that I was queer). Originally, I wanted to write a thriller about a freshman entering college and joining a sorority with terrifying secrets, but my publisher requested to age down the characters, so I settled on a pre-college summer camp. What inspired you to write Primal Animals? When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in…until her new “sisters” ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.Ĭontent Warning: Blood, gore, mentions of Sexual harassment/assault Keep on reading for more about this book and my interview.Īrlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway-the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways.Įven though the girls in her cabin are awesome-and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her-the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. I do hope to read Primal Animals this summer. Besides boarding schools I love the setting of summer camps for books, so for now you get my interview with the author. That’s why I was excited when I found out I got to interview the author of this book for the book tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours.

So horror isn’t my normal go to genre, but Primal Animals sounds really good.

Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin