Review: The New Girls Patient by Ruthann Jagge

I fell in love with Ruthanne Jagge’s writing after reading her a short story she wrote in the Good Southern Witches anthology. When the opportunity came up to review The New Girls’ Patient, I jumped on it. I knew she could write the hell out of female characters in the short story format, I wanted what she would create in a longer format. This tiny tome did not disappoint. In 41 pages, Jagge packs a whole lot of bang in this little book!

Jaimie Carver, our titular New Girl is an empathetic young woman working as a new nurse in a care facility for the elderly in the dead-end town of Crees Corner. When one of her patients dies, she leaves Jaimie a tattered notebook labeled “My Recipes”—but this notebook has more than grandma’s coconut cake recipe in it.  A lot of nasty people, some of them who call themselves friends of Jaimie’s, want this book for nefarious reasons and will do whatever it takes to get it.

I can’t say any more about this story without giving it away, and oh boy, do I want to say more! I loved this story—it is grungy, dirty, witchy, gory, atmospheric, and scary as heck. There are characters you hate and want to be punished and characters that will break your heart. Jagge packs a whole second story within this one that I want to read a whole book of. This novella is small, but it is mighty, and I cannot recommend it enough.

 

5/5 Stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions of this book are my own.