• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Connect With Me
    • Request An Honest Review
    • Beta Reading Requests
    • Testimonials
  • Review Archive
    • Review Archive
    • Audiobook Review Archive
    • Spooky Children’s Book Review Archive
  • Referral Links
  • Podcast Recs
  • Policies
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

[Book Review] Severed by Joshua Marsella

March 29, 2021      Erica Robyn      3 Comments

Severed by Joshua Marsella is a brutal and terrifying tale of bravery in the face of darkness.

This is the prequel to his debut novella, Scratches. If you haven’t read that one yet, I highly recommend doing so before diving into this one.

TW: child in danger, sexual assault.
(The assault was handed “off screen” if you will, and I thought it was handled very well, but it still made my blood boil as it was very clear what happened. So just a heads up there!)

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on Severed by Joshua Marsella

In this tale, we follow a platoon of Marines in Vietnam. They are making their way through the forest, trying to get to a village that is said to be troop friendly. When they arrive, they are welcomed by a village elder and their translator jumps in to help facilitate the conversation.

The platoon is thrilled to learn that the rumors were true as the village treats them to a meal of fresh fish and rice and then gives them space to set up for the night.

Unfortunately, that night, disaster strikes. In the morning, the troops head out on an unplanned mission to do what they believe is right. But little do they know, their strength, bravery, and bullets are no match for what hides in the darkness…

My goodness, there are so many scenes in here that I would love to comment on because they were so vivid and terrifying! These scenes are certainly going to stick in my head. There’s one in particular that occurs at a clearing that I won’t be able to forget any time soon. But I don’t want to spoil the terror, so I will leave the discovery of all of these up to you.

Paired with the terror, there was also a lot of brotherly love amongst the Marines, complete with all of the heckling and banter. I really enjoyed seeing them engage with one another. Selfishly, I wish it had been a little more heartfelt knowing what was in store for them later on.

Severed is such a page-turner! I stupidly kept picking it up with only small chunks of time to read, and I never wanted to put it back down.

When you pick up this novel… prepare yourself before diving in. There are so many elements here that will chill you to the bone or make you want to jump through the pages of the book to fight. Joshua is a master at scattering seriously creepy jump scares and stomach-dropping scenes of terror into his work.

My Favorite Passages from Severed

I had so many more passages noted… but they were major spoilers, so I’ll leave you all with just this one:

They were rapidly losing daylight. The late spring sky was a tapestry of amber and gold. They didn’t have a moment to waste before darkness would envelop the jungle. This was the last place any of them wanted to be at night.

My Final Thoughts on Severed

This story was absolutely terrifying and brutal! Of course, I loved it! I picked Severed up before bed one night, and the nightmares that I had were insane! Well done, Joshua!

I cannot wait to jump back into Scratches now that I have more background information.

Bring on book three!

Thanks for reading!
Shout out to Joshua Marsella for putting out a call to see who would be interested in buying a signed copy! I’m so pumped I was able to snag one!

Severed by Joshua Marsella autograph

Snag a copy through Bookshop to help support local indie bookshops:


Related Reading:

  • Scratches by Joshua Marsella

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello there!

Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
I run on hot tea, good books, and loud music. She/Her.
 

Search This Blog

Sign Up For Post Notifications


Loading

Recent Popular Posts

  • [Book Review] The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge
  • [Book Review] Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror
  • [Book Review] To the Devil, a Cryptid by Hunter Shea
  • [Feature] Little Free Library Visit – #2
  • [Book Review] Horrors Untold: Volume 5 by Matt Wildasin

An Easy Guide to Locating Horror Reviews Without Losing Your Mind created by Lori of Barks At The Ghouls
Shirley's Book Blogger List

Categories

ericarobynreads

Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everyt Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everything a horror fan craves! From light and spooky, to full-blown spine-chilling terror, this collection of short stories is a killer mix.

No matter what your personal favorite sub-genre of horror is, you’ll be sure to find something that sinks its teeth into you within this collection!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #sicknessisinseason #aidenmerchant #crossroadspresss #horrorbookrecs #horrorshortstories #horrorbookstagram
My April book haul 😍🖤🙌 My April book haul 😍🖤🙌
NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @greg NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @gregorybastianelli.author tonight in Exeter at @waterstreetbooks! 

I’m SO peeved my back pain flared up and I can’t drive out… but I am so excited that Waterstreet Books sent a signed copy my way! 😍

I can’t wait to see photos from the event!!
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally captivating but nerve-wracking tale that is certainly not for those that fear tight spaces… While reading this tale, I felt so horribly claustrophobic. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find out what happened next!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #ladiesofhorrorfiction #horrorbookstagram #horrorbookrecs #theluminousdead #caitlinstarling
The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is a chilling gothic horror story about what it means to be human. In these pages, you will see plenty of the darkness that humanity can create, but you will also see the light!

Ready to dive into a dark and dreary tale about gruesome medical practices set in Victorian London? Go pick up The Workshop of Filthy Creation today! I can’t wait for you all to meet Maria!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #gothichorrorreads #horrorbookrecs #theworkshopoffilthycreation #richardgadz #horrorbookstagram
Max is one of the most hilarious people that I fol Max is one of the most hilarious people that I follow on Twitter! I originally learned who he was after seeing him participate in the KillerCon 2020 Virtual Event. I went to follow him and his publishing house, Perpetual Motion Machine (that he runs with Lori Michelle), immediately after his reading.

Within the PMM publishing house, they also have the imprint, Ghoulish Books, which launched in January of 2022. Max’s latest book, Maggots Screaming!, launched today April 12th, 2022 from that imprint. In celebration, I’m so excited to be sharing this interview with Max!

Check out the full interview on my blog today! 

#horrorauthor #horrorauthorinterview #maxboothiii #supporthorror #promotehorror
Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collectio Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collection of tales that span numerous dark fears. But as always, even in the darkness, there’s a bit of light.

In the foreword, the author warns that this is a book of fears, and boy does he play on fears wonderfully! Each tale is presented to readers in the first person to really get readers in the characters shoes. Please use caution here when you dive in. The author does not shy away from the darkness.

Phew, this read will take readers on quite the journey! It was the perfect read for a dark and rainy spring weekend.

#bookreview #horrorbookreview #horrorbookstagram #diariesofthedamned #IvanRadev #horrorbooks
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Erica Robyn Reads