Sign Here

My October Book of the Month selection was Sign Here by Claudia Lux (the other options were Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott, The Family Game by Catherine Steadman, Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong, Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese, Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah, and As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh). I thought that a novel set in Hell (literally) would be an appropriately scary read for October but this ended up being an incredibly poignant meditation on what it means to be human. I couldn't put it down! Peyote Trip works on the fifth floor of Hell in the deals department. His job involves convincing people to sell their souls in return for what they most want and he is pretty good at it. He is in line for a big promotion if he can get one more member of the wealthy Harrison family to sign on the dotted line. He observes the family, including Silas, his wife Lily, son Sean, daughter Mickey, and Mickey's new friend Ruth, when they arrive at their summer home in New Hampshire for their annual vacation. They all have their secrets, including the unresolved trauma caused by an incident involving Silas's brother, and Peyote hopes to exploit these secrets in order to secure a deal with one of them. However, he is distracted by a partnership with a newcomer to the fifth floor named Calamity Gamon who has her own agenda. The narrative alternates between the POVs of Peyote, Calamity, and the members of the Harrison family and I was deeply invested in each character to the point that I had to keep reading well into the night to find the connection between them all. There are many surprising twists and turns before reaching a powerful conclusion that took my breath away. The writing is beautiful, especially Peyote's philosophical musings about the need for love and connection (which all eventually inform his actions in the end), and the story is so clever. I especially loved the world-building in Hell. It is not like the fire and brimstone images that you get from Dante (although there are levels that get progressively worse) but is actually more relatable because it is filled with the little annoyances that plague us every day such as pens that don't work when we need them, a broken A/C in the office, the music that you dislike on a continual loop, and Jagermeister as the only option in the bar (this made me laugh because I actually like Jagermeister). This is not really the horror novel that I was expecting (it is really hard to classify the genre because it is so unique) but I am really glad that I picked it because it might my favorite book this year! I loved it and I highly recommend it!