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Allison Rushby

@allisonrushbyauthor

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ALL HER BEAUTIFUL DEATHS and SLASHED BEAUTIES (Berkley/Verve/HQ). Assisted (poorly) by @the_harry_and_titus_show. Repped (fabulously) by @magh.writes.

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Hi everyone

For my third post in my book recs series I am recommending two very gothic fantasy books by @allisonrushbyauthor, which are perfect for the spooky season. A. Rushby is an Australian author.

Slashed Beauties
This book follows Alys and Elizabeth and their connection to the mysterious anatomical venuses. This is a dual timeline gothic fantasy.

All Her Beautiful Deaths
This book follows Hadley who is trying to solve the mystery behind an album of Victorian death photographs while in the past Minnie starts working in Culpepper House. This is a dual time gothic fantasy.

#slashedbeauties #allherbeautifuldeaths #arushby #gothicfantasy #aussieauthor

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Escaped Salem to spend a few hours in Ipswich on a blustery autumn Saturday with @dakota.is.reading 🖤 I’m loving sinking into the two worlds of ALL HER BEAUTIFUL DEATHS by @allisonrushbyauthor, a dual timeline, queer, historical horror. (Fabulous book sleeve by @thimbleandclaw!) And always a treat to stop by @lilwolfcoffee and @tidalpagesbookshop, with a bonus of seasonal @inciardi prints!

#booksbooksbooks #horrorbookstagram #bookstagram #indiebookstore #inciardiprints

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Honestly Gabourey Sidibe is too iconic

#BookstagramUK #booksbooksbooks #readingcommunity #bookreels

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🖤🩸Freaky Friday🩸🖤

Thank you soooooooo much @berkleypub @allisonrushbyauthor @prhaudio for the free copies! #berkley #berkleypartner #prhpartner

Title: All Her Beautiful Deaths
Author: A. Rushby
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Everywhere - Michelle Branch (I don’t know why logically but this book just felt like an angsty Michelle Branch song)

💭Thoughts Before I Jump In:

Going to say it once more because this book doesn’t get enough rec - SLASHED BEAUTIES IS WONDERFUL! PLEASE READ IT! I am really looking forward to this one 🩸❤️

📖What actually happens:

📖Gothic lit
🤏🏻Bit macabre
🎨Artist fmc
2️⃣POVs/timelines
🪦Grief/loss
😑Abuse/manipulation

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

A. aka Allison does it again! I loved how it was just same vibes/feelings as Slashed Beauties in a way I can’t even describe - you know that joy you feel when it’s a perfect fall day and there’s no fly in your Chardonnay? That’s the vibe 🔥

(Apparently I can describe it😂)

I think if you’re looking for almost like a gothic lit but isn’t scary, if you’re someone who loves justice for women & flawed characters this is soooo the book for you!

Plus there’s the added bonus of a wee bit of romance with miscommunication but done with an NDA so at least if they can’t say the things it’s legal stipulations and not just plain ol pride (looking at you Mr Darcy)

Go grab this! 🫶🏼

✨QOTD: What are your weekend plans!!?

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There’s something quite surreal about holding this in my hands.

Earlier this year, author A. Rushby selected one of my photographs for the cover of her new gothic novel, All Her Beautiful Deaths- and today my copy arrived in the post.

Seeing an artwork that began in my studio take on another life as the cover of a novel is incredibly special.

And it feels particularly fitting that it should find a home on a story concerned with art, photography, beauty, death and the uncanny.

Thank you Allison for choosing my work, and for sending me a copy. I can’t wait to read it. 🖤

All Her Beautiful Deaths by A. Rushby.

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Books In The Wild … Waterstones Edition!

Oh my … I could have spent a fortune … 💰
@waterstonesbath

•••••

My pick:

• Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus •

I’m not gunna lie … I’m so nervous to read this one. I ADORED Lessons In Chemistry and I think this book has big boots to fill, but I have seen some fab reviews already. And look at this edition … STUNNING!

Pete’s pick:

• Redwood by Ben Macintyre •

My other half has really enjoyed all of this authors books. So I’m sure he’ll like this one.
I was just happy he wanted to buy a book because it meant he would have to let me get one too hahahaha!

Both are signed copies, which is a bonus 🥳.

💬 Are there any other books here that I should have brought home?

#booksinthewild #bookretailtherapy #waterstones #waterstonesbath

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All Her Beautiful Deaths by A. Rushby

Thank you to @BerkleyPub for this gothic beauty. #BerkleyPartner #BerkleyBookstagram

This dual timeline gothic tale between two women and an album of Victorian death photographs was simply entrancing. I found both the concept and staging of death photography fascinating as a premise. As always, I tend to enjoy novels that include art and its connection to larger stories, which was uniquely portrayed here.

In 1865, Minnie has joined the wealthy Culpepper household as a maid. The pharmaceutical family known for Culpepper’s cure and their own peculiarities hides many secrets, including a young lady who takes some very strange photographs. As Minnie attempts to determine the truth, she will be inexplicably intertwined with the family and its well guarded secrets.

In the present day, grieving artist Hadley inherits an album of four beautiful photographs that the Culpepper Trust is intent on acquiring. Determined to hold on to Else’s last gift and find the truth behind the photographs, Hadley balances a second chance at a successful art career with honouring the photographer and her work.

There is a mystery within both timelines that keeps things interesting. Minnie is trying to figure out if the Culpeppers are killing women and there is subterfuge within the family in order to gain control over the vast family fortune. Meanwhile, the Culpeppers in the present are obscuring the truth from Hadley. As she is trying to solve one historical mystery, she is also trying to deal with the fallout of poor choices in her own past and cruel stalker that is dogging her possible future.

There was also love in both timelines. It was interesting to have queer romances in the Victorian timeline where being caught would have dire consequences. Using photography as a method to connect both artistry and the more despicable elements of human nature was also cleverly crafted to really paint a picture of the times. In the current timeline, there is an electric pulse between Hadley and Kit Culpepper. I am not sure the supernatural element was needed, but a little foresight certainly sweetened the endings.

4.25 ⭐️

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This Halloween season, we’re centering stories of female rage, women-led horror, + satisfyingly sweet revenge 🩸What are you reading next?

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We are so excited to expand the Your Next Read series with the Gold Series! Made for emerging independent readers, these books are 144 pages long, divided into eight to ten chapters with three illustrations in each chapter, and featuring more complex narratives.

These are the perfect books to help kids fall in love with reading and reach for the next book – and the next, and the next! 📖

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Spooky reads that we think are not talked about nearly enough on Booksta! 👻🩶

QOTD: see any you’ll be adding to your TBR?

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We sent @allisontaitwriter to @gleebooks to experience their wonderful Your Next Read interactive display for Love Your Bookshop day!

Not only did she have a brilliant time meeting young readers and hanging out with the @gleebooks_kids team, but she ran into @saraacton_illustration and they whipped up a new YNR collaboration on the spot!

Stand by for that pitch @tash_besliev 😆🍊

Thanks for having us Rachel and team - and for all your hard work in keeping kids reading!

#yournextread #raisingreaders #lybd2026 #loveyourbookshopday

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There is not much I love more than a historical gothic read, so I was thrilled to receive this book from @berkleypub . Told in dual timelines, this is a haunting tale of two women whose lives converge through a mysterious album of haunting photographs of the dead.

In 1865 London Minnie is sent to Culpepper House to work as a maid for the strange Culpepper twins, Edmund and Edith. Edmund speeds his time working in his laboratory and Edith spends hers using glass plates to create photographs. But then Minnie happens upon her subject matter- a young woman and swan who both appear to be dead. Worried that she could be the next victim, Minnie sets out to solve the secret of the mysterious goings on.

In present day London, artist Hadley is caught in a scandal while investigating a Victorian album of photographs of the dead. When word gets out about the photos she is contacted by Kit Culpepper offering her a huge sum of mine to sell him the photographs. Wondering why he wants them so basket, Hadley sets out to solve the mystery of the dead woman and the swan.

The timeline set in the past had a wonderful eerie quality and I was completely immersed in Minnie’s perilous situation. Unlike many dual timeline books, I found both stories equally compelling. Hadley’s timeline worked more as a mystery and I was filled with anticipation as she tried to find the answers about the photographs. Each character was well drawn and easy to connect with and I found myself rooting for both of them throughout.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Not really horror, but more a gothic mystery, it played nicely with the tropes of the genre. A home with mysterious goings on, family secrets, cemeteries and even visions, this combination of gothic suspense, intrigue and mild horror elements captivated me. I look forward to reading whatever Rushby writes next. #bookstagram #horrorbookstagram #gothicliterature #berkleypartner #bookworm

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