TINY THREADS by Lilliam Rivera – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Tiny Threads by Lilliam Rivera
Published by Del Rey on September 24 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 256
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Dark and weird, Tiny Threads explores racism and trauma in a glitzy fashion setting.

I loved the idea of “fashion meets horror,” but I have to confess Tiny Threads wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. There are plenty of positives for me, but I also had some issues that I’ll explain below. Still, as far as original ideas go, I have to give props to Lilliam Rivera for coming up with something different. The setting and the themes worked well together, and Rivera knows how to set up a creepy, chilling story.

Samara is a journalist who caught the attention of superstar fashion designer Antonio Mota when she wrote an article about his hometown of Vernon, California, an industrial neighborhood in Los Angeles where he runs his design business. He offers her a job working as his global brand executive director, an opportunity she just can’t pass up. Despite her close-knit Cuban family’s protestations, Samara leaves her familiar East Coast life behind and heads for Vernon, eager to prove her worth to Antonio. The timing is perfect: she’s been struggling with the death of her beloved Abuela Lola and needs the distraction of a new job to get out of her rut.

Right away, Samara seems to get off on the wrong foot. Antonio turns out to have a terrible temper and is hard to work with. Samara tries to befriend the seamstresses, who remind her of her Abuela, but they give her the cold shoulder. Everything at Mota’s is based on a hierarchy. Even though Antonio proclaims that they are “all one big happy family,” there’s clearly a divide between the creatives and the lower seamstresses and plant workers. 

Samara has two months until Antonio’s big comeback fashion show to prove herself, but then she starts hearing and seeing strange things. Every night at 2:00 a.m., she’s woken up by odd grunts and other animal noises. One night she sees a bleeding woman outside her window, who soon after disappears. Then there’s the horrible smell coming from the neighborhood slaughterhouse, a blight on Antonio’s efforts to rejuvenate the town of Vernon. As the day of the show gets closer, Samara’s grip on reality starts to crack. Long buried secrets, generational trauma and an unknown supernatural entity all threaten to derail Samara’s plans of success. 

My favorite thing about Tiny Threads was the atmospheric dread the reader feels from the very beginning. This is a very creepy, unsettling story, and because Samara is such an unreliable narrator, you’re never sure what’s real and what isn’t. Her apartment is within walking distance of work, and since she’s used to walking everywhere back home in New Jersey, she continues to do that in Los Angeles (not a good idea, actually!) On her walks she encounters weird things, like an artist who paints disemboweled women. I also loved the way the slaughterhouse is incorporated into the story (and don’t worry, no animals are slaughtered in this story!). Samara has dreams about pigs and hears pigs grunting every night in her apartment, and these unsettling events gave the story a sinister quality.

Rivera has some pointed commentary on crimes against women, especially rape, which is a theme that runs throughout the story. She also addresses racism in a big way, although it could have been done with a subtler touch. Samara is one of those characters who calls out the skin color of everyone she meets, which got old very quickly. I get it, she’s a woman of color who just scored an important job, but she’s also annoyed that there aren’t any other Latinas in positions like hers. She’s very aware of how her Abuela slaved away as a lowly seamstress, which is one reason she tries to befriend the seamstresses. She wants to raise up her fellow women of color, but she doesn’t go about it in the right way, unfortunately.

Which leads me to the characters. I can’t say I really liked any of them, especially Samara. And it’s a shame because I wanted to cheer her on. I don’t know about you, but when I start a new job I observe the work culture and try to fit in. Not Samara. She causes trouble by trying to upset the hierarchy, even after someone tells her to stop. She doesn’t follow rules. Worst of all, she starts drinking heavily and even starts taking her morning coffee with a dollop of whisky. It’s not long before you realize she’s ruining her chances of success and getting on everyone’s bad side, even Antonio’s. This is one of those stories, though, where the unlikable characters fit right in with the vibe. Each one is questionable in some way, which added to the overall feeling of dread. 

When Samara starts doing drugs in addition to heavy drinking, things really start to go off the rails. Is she actually seeing and hearing ghosts, or is her addiction to blame? The ending doesn’t really give readers all the answers they might want, but I did love the final bloody showdown. Tiny Threads might be the strangest book I’ve read this year, but it worked enough that’ll I’d love to check out more of Lilliam Rivera’s work.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.