Meeting your in-laws for the first time is always a nerve-wracking event.
Toby and his son, Luca, are headed to Texas with Toby’s wife, a pediatricianMeeting your in-laws for the first time is always a nerve-wracking event.
Toby and his son, Luca, are headed to Texas with Toby’s wife, a pediatrician and heiress named Alyssa. Alyssa has given Toby every reassurance she can muster about her family, because Luca is starting to show signs of being queer and Toby doesn’t want him around bigots; and, well, Alyssa’s grandfather is a famous televangelist. Alyssa tells him her family is too rich to be bigoted. Well, you can see how well this is going to go.
I liked the idea of this book much more than I liked the book itself. I liked the individual story components more than the whole. I liked the tropes, but not how they were assembled. Does that all make sense? It was like the ingredients were all there but the measurements were wrong and it was baked wrong.
For one, it was baked too long. This book was too long by far. The third act of a thriller should be where you kick it up a notch, but I honestly thought the third act was the slowest of the entire book. I kept saying, “We’re not done yet?”
Second, the repetitiveness. By the end of the second act my eyes were starting to glaze over every time I read the term “mind palace”.
Third, the ending. I’m sorry, but I can’t vibe with the ending. It wasn’t good.
I am going to list off a few TWs for you: incest, “wilderness” camp, homophobia, internalized homophobia, transphobia, CSA, suicide. Those are the big ones.
In the end, it was a very average novel that was well-written for the most part but just didn’t vibe as a whole.
I was provided with a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Since this review is rated three stars or lower it will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.
Tropes: Queer Representation (more than one LGBTQ+ character); Historical (17th century England); Forbidden Romance (physician and patient, but they dTropes: Queer Representation (more than one LGBTQ+ character); Historical (17th century England); Forbidden Romance (physician and patient, but they don’t become familiar until he stops being her physician); Interfaith Couple (Christian and Jewish); Forced Proximity (for the time period); Yearning and Pining like Pine Trees. (Fated mates is also listed as a trope but since there’s no magical element to this story I’m leaving it off).
Sometimes you get interested in a book due to Shiny Cover Syndrome and it works out great!
The Phoenix Bride was a lyrical, engrossing, romantic, and lovely book to read on a dreary day like today (where I live, anyway). If you like your historical romances to be full of swoon-worthy moments, pining like evergreen forests, feelings of desperation and helplessness, emotional outpourings, lamentations of “we can’t!”, and that whole vibe of “we rescued each other”, then you’re going to love this book.
There is young love followed by great loss, terrible grief, desperate dealings undertaken by loved ones, tentative and surprising friendships, frightening circumstances and courage under fire, and daring maneuvers for the sake of a chance at happiness.
Does it end happily? Yes. I was happy to have read it, because it made me smile and it was easy to love.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
This novella speaks my language: queer, noir, cyberthriller. This combination of genre keywords is like magic for my mind and soul. I’m always up for This novella speaks my language: queer, noir, cyberthriller. This combination of genre keywords is like magic for my mind and soul. I’m always up for the latter two (see Harkaway’s Titanium Noir!), but add in queer and I’m soaring.
This is an engrossing and intriguing novella about a trans woman who sets out to investigate the murder of her former lover who was still living at the anarchist commune that she herself left in a fit of grief and pique some time ago. It explores themes of identity, memory, grief, belonging, nihilism, control, security, friendship, ethics versus morals, creating and maintaining safe spaces, and self-discovery.
I think reading the afterword for this novella is very important. I don’t always read the afterword in a book, but sometimes it’s nice to read where an author’s head was at when you have questions about why they might have written something a certain way (even if you have your own theories, which is fine). When some authors write, characters take on minds of their own and start to make choices the author didn’t think they’d make when they started writing. Reading the afterword for this book helped me understand where Wasserstein was coming from in her writing, even with my own theories floating inside my head.
This was a great read and I highly recommend it. Since this is a trans sci-fi and does involve trauma and some hate speech I suggest you look up CW/TWs online if you need them.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances (to be referred to as TSWOM from here on out in this review) is a set of four short stories centered arThis Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances (to be referred to as TSWOM from here on out in this review) is a set of four short stories centered around toxic and/or abusive relationships of different types, the ways in which such humans can harm one another, and the ways people develop coping mechanisms and/or certain obsessions in order to deal with the trauma and pain they’ve gone through.
LaRocca gives a clear warning that there are a couple of significant triggers in a letter at the beginning of the book, but if you’re the sensitive sort I suggest maybe trying to find a more comprehensive list of triggers and content online before you read.
This is a great short story collection, with imaginative and truly creepy tales. LaRocca manages to write truly beautiful horror prose, making things vile and wretched somehow sound almost poetic in their horrid tragedy.
I give kudos to the titular short story, “This Skin Was Once Mine”, for being one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read. It’s not about the story’s topic or content, either. It’s all about the protagonist’s obsession and coping mechanisms. And the snakes. Yeah, there’s a warning for you: danger noodles all up in this story.
I’d also like to point right to “Seedling” for being one of the most touching, emotional, and beautiful horror stories I’ve ever read while still managing to be gross and freaky.
The last story in the collection, “Prickle”, is just plain creepy-weird and all I could keep thinking about is the word “cruelty”.
The low point in the book for me was the story “All the Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn”, which was a great story, but I didn’t totally understand the dynamic or the motivations in it.
I truly do recommend reading it if you’re a horror fan. It’s great and the stories are so lovely.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Thirst is a lovely vampire (though the term is never used) origin story, following one woman from old Europe (the text is open to interpretation, but Thirst is a lovely vampire (though the term is never used) origin story, following one woman from old Europe (the text is open to interpretation, but the timing and the general narration suggests vampires originated from Vlad Dracul) to the newly opened port at Buenos Aires in the late 18th century where she spends near a century contemplating her never-ending thirst, the pain but necessity of loneliness, her monstrous existence, and the heavy knowledge of her immortality as she chooses to live eternally, locked inside of a lovely mausoleum inside of the labyrinthine La Recoleta Cemetery.
The first 50% of the book is this lovely, sweeping historical fiction that I just described to you. The prose is heavy, gothic, violent, and full of anger aimed both internally and externally.
Then the book switches gears and protagonists for the second half and the story is being told by a human woman with a five year-old child, a mother dying from a disease that is briskly paralyzing every part of her body, and living with the knowledge that disease will come for her someday too. Everyday is another crisis and it’s all blending together until her mother gives her an envelope with the ownership papers and keys to a crypt in the La Recoleta Cemetery. Her mother can’t talk anymore or write more than short words, but there’s something about this crypt that just speaks to her.
Both of these women were just trapped: One by thirst and loneliness, one by family obligation and fear of her own impending demise. This book turns the historical (and still relevant) lack of female agency and the fragility of human life into a sapphic romance about escaping the trappings of men and embracing the arms of monsters.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
We Used To Live Here is very hard to describe because it’s a patchwork of influences and genres that ends up making a fast-paced and completely intrigWe Used To Live Here is very hard to describe because it’s a patchwork of influences and genres that ends up making a fast-paced and completely intriguing quilt of vibes that ends up being a terrifying and entertaining read. It’s part House of Leaves (but not quite as gonzo), part Backrooms (but not as desolate), part “Parasite” (like the blurb says, but make it even creepier), and add some gothic sprinkles on top for extra atmosphere.
(If you don’t know what Backrooms are, just look it up on Wiki. Seriously intriguing Creepypasta stuff).
What do you end up with? A book that managed to freak me all the way out (few books do that) and kept me completely engaged all the way from start to finish. I can completely see why this is being made into a film because it’ll make a great one.
It’s not perfect. I felt there were a couple of plot holes and I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but I could live with the ending as it is. I loved the LGBTQ couple versus the traditional couple aspect and I wish that theme had been explored more, but not exploring it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
It’s a freaky fun time and I think if you want your brain bent for about 320 pages, this is the book you want right now.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I knew within the first few chapters that The Stars Too Fondly was going to be a five star read. By the end of the book I knew it was going to be a boI knew within the first few chapters that The Stars Too Fondly was going to be a five star read. By the end of the book I knew it was going to be a book I needed on my shelf, a book I was going to scream about, and is 100% going to be on my top ten list at the end of the year. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, and as of the-book-before-this-one, I’ve read 315 books so far this year.
There’s a line in the blurb: “So, here’s the thing: Cleo and her friends really, truly didn’t mean to steal this spaceship.”
SAY LESS. PLEASE.
Sapphic space adventure rom-com with a strong found family component, a swoony star-crossed love story, and a diverse cast? Are you kidding me right now with some of my all-time favorites vibes all vibing in the same book?
Debut author Emily Hamilton seriously sat down and wrote a book that does what few books do to me more and more: Make me long for extra stars, because if I could rate this book six stars I totally would.
The book pulls you in from the start, with Hamilton’s ragtag group of queer twenty-somethings who just want to peek inside an abandoned spaceship and see what they can glean about the mystery of what happened to the entire crew, who disappeared with a flash of light on launch day. You know what they say: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. They messed around and now they get to find out why it may not be such a good idea to go poking around in strange, abandoned spaceships. Or maybe it’s the stars aligning just right and this was meant to happen.
The story is engaging, propulsive, emotional, romantic, poetic, and so well-crafted I wish I could shake Emily Hamilton’s hand and thank her in person. I cried more than once and I couldn’t tell you how much I love these characters. I just vibed with this book on every level. Can’t recommend it enough.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Q: What was your favorite television show as a kid?
If you’re one of those people who’s ever been completely incensed when a television show has been wQ: What was your favorite television show as a kid?
If you’re one of those people who’s ever been completely incensed when a television show has been working for seasons towards putting a queer couple together only to have one (or both!) of those characters killed off or suddenly being magically straight as a plank, then you might completely identify with Misha, the protagonist of Chuck Tingle’s speculative fiction novel Bury Your Gays.
Yes, you read that correctly: speculative fiction novel. This novel is marketed as both horror and science fiction, but that’s a spectacular indicator a book is likely to end up in that nebulous category called speculative fiction. When you throw genre fiction into a blender and add a dash of, “What if we add in this variable here?”, then I consider that to be speculative fiction. I hate pigeonholing books like this further because I believe it lessens their appeal and reach. If you like body horror, over-the-top violence, poorly-veiled Hollywood references that were likely written that way on purpose, a protagonist who starts out the book righteously angry and just keeps on getting more justifiably angry, mysterious Hollywood execs who are only worried about money to an inhuman degree, Hollywood caricatures and stereotypes, coming out stories, award show shenanigans, horror villain origin stories, seeing the true damage of AI on the environment and on Hollywood manifested, and love an easter egg, then you’ll dig this.
Did I like it as much as Camp Damascus? No. I find Camp Damascus to be the better of the two novels, but that’s not down to Tingle’s talent as a writer. That’s all about my tastes as a reader. I have a harder time with books that have male protagonists just in general, and I also had expectations this book would lean further into body horror than it did. Combine that with me correctly guessing a good chunk of what happens in the back half early on and it just affected my overall enjoyment. Tingle is a really effective story plotter and has a great sense of energy, imagery, and atmosphere.
It’s a great novel and a lot of fun. You’ll enjoy getting to be as mad at Hollywood as Misha is and cheer him on as he fights to write what he wants.
TWs for: Child abuse/neglect, homophobia, hate speech, gore, very violent deaths, blood
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Body Horror/Horror/LGBTQ Horror/LGBTQ Fiction/Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction
Someone joked online somewhere that this book could be summarized with two words: “Florida Man”. I really don’t think they were too far off the mark, Someone joked online somewhere that this book could be summarized with two words: “Florida Man”. I really don’t think they were too far off the mark, because this book felt like a Florida Man meme in long fiction format.
I’d love to say I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t. It was too long, had poor pacing, and didn’t have a compelling story (in my opinion). I never connected with the story or felt engaged with it. It felt ridiculous but not in the way I felt was okay to make fun of; simultaneously it also felt too heavy to take seriously. It felt weighed down by its own perceived cleverness.
I respect that a lot of people loved this book, but I just couldn’t get on board with it.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Due to this review’s three star or lower rating it will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.
If there’s one topic that simultaneously scares me to death and enrages me, it’s eugenics. Combine eugenics with the additional evils of capitalism, aIf there’s one topic that simultaneously scares me to death and enrages me, it’s eugenics. Combine eugenics with the additional evils of capitalism, and I’ll get sick with anxiety. So, mix eugenics, capitalism, and the type of feminism practiced by the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (you know, the kind where only cisgendered, rich, smart, childbearing, white women are the ones truly deserving of equality) up together in a part and that’s what terrifies me about Yours for the Taking.
This book is largely a conspiracy thriller set in a dystopian future that deals mainly with LGBTQ and women’s issues within a psychological context. That’s more or less the construct we’ve got going on here. You can read about the plot of the book in the blurb, but know that the blurb isn’t quite as clear as it seems. The narrative structure for the book is from multiple POV’s played out in third person: Ava, Jacqueline, Shelby, Olympia, and more all have chapters told from their perspective. It is a linear timeline structure, which is very nice because between the plot and the multiple narrators it would definitely feel unnecessarily complicated to manipulate the timeline.
While the book is very well-written, I did feel at times that the book did veer from its seeming mission to aim for scathing social commentary on non-intersectional feminism, transphobia, and queer erasure into the territory of being almost satirical or too on the nose. If you’re going to write satire then you need to lean all the way into it for the whole book. However, the terrors of eugenics were portrayed all too well, as were the horrors of mind control.
My most common complaint that resounded in my mind again and again as I read this book came from my geography degree: The premise that anyone would build a shelter to house the chosen ones of North America for the unforeseeable future–possibly forever–on the island of Manhattan in a world after global climate change has melted the ice caps makes absolutely no sense. The island of Manhattan is unstable. It’s mostly made up of infill dirt. It’s largely an artificial island. It was a swamp before it was colonized. If a shelter like the one in the book were to be built, it would have been built on the mainland, not on Manhattan Island.
Other than that, it’s an excellent book that asks great questions about nature versus nurture, the patriarchy, feminism, parenthood, sisterhood, and where will humans go when the tide finally rises.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review was written without compensation. Thank you.
I’ve been looking forward to this book ever since it was announced because I just knew it was going to be good. It was so much more than good: it was I’ve been looking forward to this book ever since it was announced because I just knew it was going to be good. It was so much more than good: it was excellent! I enjoyed Icon and Inferno even more than I did Stars and Smoke. Marie Lu took the magic of Stars and Smoke and turned everything that made that novel work up to 11. What came out is an amazing sequel to a fantastically fun book.
We’re exchanging organized crime for an international special agent extraction and a murky conspiracy against a head of state. We’re exchanging a nascent romance for pining like a forest, opportunist exes, and vulnerable hearts. We’re going from narrow focus to wide. The cast is bigger, the stakes are larger, the action is more intense, and the fall is long and hard.
It’s like a romantic Bourne Identity, but without the mind erasure.
I love these books because it’s just like watching a movie like The Bourne Identity: I don’t care if every little bit makes sense or if it’s a little predictable. I just care about how much fun I have reading these books, and these books are an absolute treat to read. They make me happy in the part of my heart that loves fun, fast, action-packed, romantic, improbable-situation books. I loved every page. If Lu wanted to write another one I’d read that one too.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romI’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romance? Oh yes, please and thank you to all of it!
This novella was a bit of a fun project for Dana Isaly, sprung forth from her brain when she saw the cover (Can you blame her? It’s a great cover!). Clara is a camgirl, just trying to get by on her own in Boston. She works in a coffee shop during the day and cams by night.
Io is a private investigator, of sorts. They’ve been hired by Clara’s father to find her. The guy’s sketchy though, so Io’s been taking their time to study Clara thoroughly to really make sure they’ve got the right girl. Yeah. That’s totally why they’ve been taking their sweet time and fobbing off the client with excuses as to why there are no answers yet. It’s not because Io’s obsessed.
As Io works to gain Clara’s trust online, her obsession grows into a sense of possession and a hard protective streak. Clara needs to learn some lessons.
This book isn’t meant to be anything but what’s advertised: an erotic thriller novella with low plot, high spice, gender fluid and pansexual representation, a camgirl, and a masked stalker. The spice is very nice, though it’s mostly solo until the back end of the story. When those couples scenes hit, though, BOY HOWDY was I here for it. Io and Clara were smokin’ hot together. Steam up the windows and burn up the sheets.
Terrific novella just in time for Halloween. Loved it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
My Darling, Dreadful Thing (hereafter referred to as MDDT in this review) is an absolutely lovely, dark, and haunting piece of gothic fiction with delMy Darling, Dreadful Thing (hereafter referred to as MDDT in this review) is an absolutely lovely, dark, and haunting piece of gothic fiction with delicious hidden pockets of horrid secrets tucked away like terrible treats right up until the end.
We’re in the Netherlands and it’s the 1950s (probably early 1950s). Our protagonist is Roos, who is being examined by a psychiatrist (sadly, a Freudian) to ascertain whether or not she’s mentally responsible for the death of her employer, a Mrs. Agnes Knoop.
Roos is of the opinion that she both is and isn’t. It’s a long story, and it starts when she’s only about five years old and her mother traps her for interminable hours underneath the floorboards of the house in order to better play a fake spirit medium.
MDDT is told in two timelines, with two formats: One is the main story, told from Roos’ first-person POV, and the other is in the format of interviews the psychiatrist has with Roos in order to evaluate her mental state. This format can be hard to nail, but I thought van Veen did an absolutely fantastic job showing both sides of the coin. The psychiatrist comes across as understandably and realistically skeptical, and even though he’s a Freudian thinker (yuck), he never comes across as vulgar. He also does also seem to be truly interested in understanding Roos instead of exploiting her.
The main story, Roos’ story, is the stuff gothic fiction dreams are made of. A cruel mother, a childhood full of suffering, and a rescue from that wretched existence by a rich and lovely widow who brings Roos to her estate ostensibly just because she they are so similar and she couldn’t stand to see Roos suffer in those conditions. However, in every gothic novel there must be a Manderley or Thornfield, and Rozentuin is the setting for where everything goes wrong in this book, because Rozentuin is where all those horrid secrets have been tucked away and left to fester. With Roos, Agnes, their respective spirit companions, and Agnes’ slowly-dying sister-in-law all inside this old house with all their combined secrets and personal ghosts it’s not too long until things start to go terribly wrong.
It was really a terrific book and satisfied every need I have when it comes to gothic fiction. I definitely recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Dude, I’m an atheist, but all the main characters in this book totally could learn some lessons from Proverbs: Pride goeth before destruction, And an Dude, I’m an atheist, but all the main characters in this book totally could learn some lessons from Proverbs: Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
These people are greedy to the point of avarice: filled with envy, lust, pride, privilege, and ambition. They won’t listen to warnings. They won’t listen to each other. They won’t even listen to their own instincts. They trod over grounds not their own and are surprised when things go wrong. Even when they are told to go, they stay. When things go awry and it’s clear they might be in danger, bruised egos refuse to give in.
One could say they were doomed from the start.
This is my huge problem with A Haunting on the Hill, and the sole reason I can’t rate this book five stars: I hate them all. I don’t hate them in that, “I love to hate you,” way. No. I just find them all either plain annoying or they just plain disgust me and I want to throw my Kindle at them. It’s hard to fully enjoy a horror novel when you can’t really find anything redeemable about your so-called protagonists.
Other than the characters, I found everything else about this novel to be spectacular: the ambience, the plot, the pacing, the world building, and the supporting characters. The fact the book seems like it was almost written like it hopes to be adapted for the big screen someday was a touch annoying, but I’ve seen that before and it wasn’t that huge of an issue.
One of the things I enjoyed the most in this book were the murder ballad excerpts. Can we talk about these? These lovely murder ballads? I was here for every single time a ballad came up in this book. They were my favorite part of the book. Not only did they add color and character to the plot of the book, but they added so much nuance to the book as a whole. An absolutely brilliant touch!
I’d say that if you can stand the characters, you’ll adore it. If you can’t stand the characters it’s still a totally worthwhile read.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review has been written freely, without any recompense. Thank you.
By the time I was 10% into this book I was seriously feeling sorry for Anna, the protagonist of this story, because if I had a family like hers I woulBy the time I was 10% into this book I was seriously feeling sorry for Anna, the protagonist of this story, because if I had a family like hers I would never voluntarily go on a trip to Italy with them (even if they were paying for the whole thing). I love my family and we’re very close, but we would be tested to travel to Europe together and even pretend to try and stay civil. The family in this book? Let’s say they’ve got denial down to an art. Wow.
By 45% I remembered a secret only stays a secret if you never tell anyone…and I wished Anna had a family with a scintilla of tact. I also realized Anna and I had a lot of things in common: Being used to taking the blame for the bad things that happen to our family, apologizing constantly to our family members for things that aren’t our fault, keeping our mouths shut when we want to say something because we know it’s either going to upset someone or no one’s going to believe us, and making sure to dumb ourselves down around our loved ones lest they accuse us of “acting smarter” than everyone else (or “showing off”).
AKA: Both Anna and I are the black sheep of our families.
This book is an absolute blast to read: Engaging, compelling, intriguing, intelligent, fierce, creepy, insightful, sometimes funny, and sometimes sad. It has lovely (in that haunting, bloody way) nightmare sequences, creepy daytime scenes inside the house that might be hard for those with squeamish stomachs, truly scary calls involving Anna’s family, and lots of fascinating Italian art history information that not only worked well into the story of the book but was also just plain cool to read. This book shines its brightest when it focuses on Anna, especially in the last 20% of the book, but also anywhere else in the book. All in all, it’s just a fantastic read.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I’m among the few that didn’t really enjoy What Moves the Dead that much when it was released. I found it to be underwhelming when I reviewed it, but I’m among the few that didn’t really enjoy What Moves the Dead that much when it was released. I found it to be underwhelming when I reviewed it, but I like Kingfisher so much I decided to read the sequel anyway and I’m glad I did because I loved What Feasts at Night so much better than What Moves the Dead.
I think what threw me off with What Moves the Dead was the inevitable comparison with Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. I just couldn’t let it go and I think that may have compromised my ability to enjoy that story. With What Feasts at Night, we’re removed from the Usher household and on a new journey with Alex Easton. There’s no prior story association for me to be hung up on and so I got to enjoy this story just as it’s presented.
What I loved the most about this book was the dry witticism of Alex Easton. Alex’s voice is strong and clear and so funny to me. I laughed so many times reading this book because my sense of humor is skewed much the same way. Alex is a genuine character and one I loved reading. I could read an entire novel in Alex’s voice, but if Kingfisher wants to keep writing novellas featuring Alex Easton in creepy gothic occult horrors then I’ll totally keep reading them just to laugh the way this book made me laugh.
It was lovely to see the esteemed Miss Potter and the besotted Angus again, as well as meeting new supporting characters that made for a colorful and entertaining cast.
The world building and story in this installment were so much more my speed this time around. Some nice moth core (it’s a thing) aesthetics, nightmare lore, superstitions, folk treatments, and musings on PTSD. It’s well-constructed, even if I felt the writing could’ve been better in a few places. The imagery was top-tier though.
It’s a great sequel to What Moves the Dead. I totally recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
If you’re looking for a literary epiphany you won’t find it in this book, but you will still find a very solid first entry into a fantasy series with If you’re looking for a literary epiphany you won’t find it in this book, but you will still find a very solid first entry into a fantasy series with great world building and atmosphere.
To Kill a Shadow is the first book in (from what I can find) author Katherine Quinn’s Mistlands series, which reminds me of such series as Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer and a touch of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. The blurb makes this book seem a lot darker than it actually is with all of its horror references, since the allusions to both The Mist and The Evil Dead are both mostly glancing askance instead of embracing the horror wholly.
I found this book a touch confusing at first because I thought it might be an age-gap romantasy and I just missed the memo, but it’s not. (Though that would’ve been a cool surprise had it not taken the book entirely out of the YA genre). I did love our two MCs, Jude and Kiara. They have a natural chemistry on page, with terrific dialogue that snaps and crackles with emotion. While their relationship evolves rather fast compared to other romantasy series of the same genre, I didn’t mind it because I’m not a lover of slow-burn. This series makes a huge point of Kiara being a woman who knows her own mind and that both she and Jude know how fleeting life can be in their world, so maybe it’s not too hard to imagine when someone reaches a hand out you take it.
The plot? Well, it’s rather transparent. That’s the thin point here. The plot is rather derivative of several other YA romantasy series and is very predictable (at least it is to me). The saving grace to this book is the comfort feel of a solid fantasy read, the characters, the dialogue, and the world building.
A good first entry into a new series, so I recommend reading this if you’re looking to get into a new series.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review was written without compensation. Thank you.
File Under: Book Series/Dark Fantasy/Fantasy Series/LGBTQ Fiction/Supernatural Fantasy/YA Fantasy/YA Romantasy...more
Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein is a dual timeline reimagining of Mary Shelley’s life before she completed her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern PMary and the Birth of Frankenstein is a dual timeline reimagining of Mary Shelley’s life before she completed her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. In one timeline, we are with Mary in Dundee, Scotland, in 1812 as she fostered long-term with the radical Baxter family. In the other, we are with Mary in 1816, “the year without a summer”, on Lake Geneva in Switzerland with her husband Percy, their son William, and her stepsister, Claire. They’re splitting their time between their smaller cottage where they stay with William and his nanny and Villa Diodati, where Lord Byron and John Polidori are staying.
I absolutely loved this book. Adored it, even. Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of my favorite poets, and the mythology of the events surrounding what happened during the “year without a summer” at Villa Diodati is a fascinating subject to me. Mention Villa Diodati within my hearing range and I immediately will swivel my head in fascination. Not to mention the fact Mary Shelley is one of my heroes.
This book was originally written in Dutch, but as far as I can tell, the translation was exceptional. The prose was smooth as silk and never felt awkward to read. I don’t know if this is what translators want to hear, but it didn’t feel like a translation–it felt natural.
The book itself does take some liberties with history when it comes to Mary’s time with the Baxters, but since the book’s most fanciful, whimsical, and even mystical moments take place during this timeline it would make sense for Eekhout to shuffle some things around to make room for her narrative. Mary is only 14 when she arrives in Dundee, happy to be away from crowded London, her indifferent father, the stepmother she doesn’t get along with, and her overdramatic stepsister. She is immediately transfixed by Isabella Baxter, who is a year older than her, and they form an incredibly close bond. It’s here that Mary hears the most stories and begins telling her own. It’s here that Mary discovers the first villain in her life that takes something from her.
No one knows quite for sure what all happened in 1816 at Villa Diodati. We know this is where Claire Claremont fell pregnant with the child that Lord Byron would own up to fathering. This is where Mary Shelley started to pen her infamous novel. Some say this is where Percy Bysshe Shelley became convinced he saw his doppelganger one night. In Eekout’s book, however, this is the place where Mary Shelley remembers the villain she met in Dundee and the stories she heard there. This is where her anger at men and marriage grows. This is where her grief simmers and her depression deepens. This is where she takes up the effort to write a ghost story and decides to write about a monster, instead.
I will tell you that this book is all vibes, imagery, and emotion. While Eekhout is careful not to neglect her supporting characters, you can be sure the focus of her energy is definitely on the complexity that is Mary. You can tell she’s studied Mary Shelley extensively and has her vision of Mary down to a science because her characterization is utterly consistent.
The worldbuilding is lush and atmospheric and the prose is languid, even dreamy in places. It’s a well-crafted and beautiful novel and a lovely fall read.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
The Haunting of Velkwood is a stunningly beautiful and truly eerie novel not only about confronting the ghosts of your past (quite literally, in this The Haunting of Velkwood is a stunningly beautiful and truly eerie novel not only about confronting the ghosts of your past (quite literally, in this case), but also about the isolation and empty promises of America’s suburban neighborhoods and the manner in which such a way of living encourages neighbors to pay no attention to what happens behind other’s closed doors lest your closed door be the one that comes under scrutiny.
I haven’t enjoyed a horror novel this much in months, and I truly think it’s because I really got to sink my analytical claws into it. In university I studied human geography and urban planning, and one of my great areas of interest was the dangers and perils of suburban living to the human psyche and familial relationships (especially between parent and child). The Haunting of Velkwood really allowed me to stretch the parts of my brain that are absolutely fascinated with how dangerous it is for humans to live in isolated and homogenous groups like the titular one in this book.
People fear what they don’t understand, and that is true of Velkwood Street both before the main narrative of this book and during the main events. What happened? Why? Who was involved? Who’s still in there? Are they alive? Dead? Something else? Can it be fixed? What will happen if they just let it be? Should they poke the bear?
The story and Kiste’s lovely writing are as haunting as the shadows in the depths of the main character’s eyes. A evocative and sad tale of how you can never truly go home again, especially if home was never truly safe to begin with.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I thank the universe for sending the romance world Cora Rose. I honestly don’t remember what reading romances was like before her and I don’t think I I thank the universe for sending the romance world Cora Rose. I honestly don’t remember what reading romances was like before her and I don’t think I want to remember. What I do remember is that I wasn’t a huge rom com fan before her, but with one book she made me fall into instalove with her style, her characters, her charm, and the hilarious situations her characters somehow seem to end up in without it seeming completely cheesy. Let’s not forget her impeccable ability to embed her characters with dimension, depth, and a wealth of personality.
Exception is shorter than most Cora Rose novels simply because it’s part of a series in which all the novels are on the shorter side. They’re meant to be fast-burn and low-angst. But Cora wouldn’t be Cora if she didn’t do the book her way. It turned out magnificent.
Exception is hot, hot, hot! The spice is nice and plentiful, but not so plentiful that we don’t get plenty of plot and character development. The book is hilarious, full of marijuana-induced hijinks and a perverted kleptomaniac of a monkey. It’s also emotionally touching, with our opposites-attract main characters maybe not being as opposite as they think and coming together in the most auspicious of places.
It’s an excellent entry into the Unlucky 13 series and just a stellar rom com all on its own. I’m here for it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, ideas, and views expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
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