This is perfect spooky season reading. Complete with seances, mediums, weird sounds coming from an empty locked basement, a creepy house with a room fThis is perfect spooky season reading. Complete with seances, mediums, weird sounds coming from an empty locked basement, a creepy house with a room full of dolls. The first half of the book consists mainly of strange paranormal occurrences in an old lake house, just typical horror movie stuff. And in classic horror movie fashion, the characters are mad dumb. You know how in horror movies, they make the absolute dumbest decisions and it makes you roll your eyes and it’s absolutely no surprise to anyone when things start going badly because of their dumb decisions? This book is just like this lol. Weird stuff is happening but sure let’s definitely keep staying in the house and having seances!
I enjoyed this, in the same way you’d enjoy an unserious horror movie. It has everything you’d expect from a horror movie, just in book form, down to the characters making the worst decisions like knowingly putting themselves in danger because they were so desperate to find proof of spiritual activity. By the time you’re 70% in, you know enough about Nic’s past (possibly paranormal?) trauma and how it ties in to the present which makes you even more invested and ready for answers. It’s a pretty quick and easy read if you want something to get you in the mood for spooky season.
I gave this 3 stars because this story just didn’t have much depth to it. Aside from weird paranormal occurrences and flashbacks that slowly reveal parts of Nic’s past, there’s not much else that happens until the end. It’s just one giant linear story, no subplots or anything happening that adds to the story aside from, oh we heard creaking coming from upstairs again. Also, the ending didn’t really feel satisfactory enough for me. All in all, this was just an ok read. I thought that this was my first Kelley Armstrong book but turns out I read Hemlock Island last year, which I preferred over this. I would be open to reading something by her again!
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
I’ve been a fan of Victoria Mccombs since The Storyteller series, because fairytales are my favorite genre and those books were the exact kind of fairI’ve been a fan of Victoria Mccombs since The Storyteller series, because fairytales are my favorite genre and those books were the exact kind of fairytales that I enjoy. Though she doesn’t write fairytales anymore, those books are what won my loyalty as a reader and I’ve read every other book she’s written since. I’m not typically a fantasy reader, but since I read everything she writes, I did purchase Mortal Queens last year. I really like her brand of fantasy because it is so different than the other ones I’ve tried (in a good way!) as most fantasy I don’t find engaging and too boggled with details, too long and confusing, or love interests where the author is trying to hard to make them dark in a trying too hard kind of way (because purposely evil characters equals hot in most fantasy apparently. I can’t remember which fantasy novel this was but I recall one where the mc killed the love interest’s innocent father brutally and she forgives him in like 2 seconds and they proceed to hook up. Ok lol). I very much found Mortal Queens as a fantasy book perfect for readers who don’t typically enjoy fantasy. The concept was just too good and the stakes are actually high, which I find rare in most fantasy. It had all the elements of fantasy but also had single hints of dystopia, and even a slight horror feel.
Mortal women being taken to the fae world each year to live in the lapse of luxury as their queens, only to fall to the fate of the queens and die in different weird ways at the end of two years is such a good concept. I just had to pick up book two because I needed to see if Thea found a way to survive her fate. This time, a Gamemaster shows up, leaving a series of clues, and in the end, the winner will receive the power of the missing seventh king of the realm. Power like that would be enough to save Thea from her fate of death as a Mortal Queen, and maybe even save other women from falling to the same fate. Finally, we get all of the answers in the conclusion to this duology, and even more twists are thrown in. I really enjoyed this book as I do with all of Victoria’s books, and read it all in one afternoon. My only critique would be that I can think of two instances where Thea was a bit slow to figure out a big twist, when it becomes glaringly obvious to the reader a few paragraphs prior to her realizing it. Or maybe, a better way to put it would be that that the hints dropped right before the big reveal are too obvious so that the twists are too easy to guess before the heroine does? Only by a few paragraphs though so it’s not like we know the info much more before she finally puts it together! But, by the time she realizes and states it aloud, it doesn’t feel like a shocking twist because the reader has already figured it out like, 5 paragraphs before she did. It just takes her too long to figure it out and makes Thea seem a bit slow. Not a huge deal; I still enjoyed this book a lot!
As always, really good world building and interesting characterization with a satisfying ending. I’ll read anything Victoria writes! ...more
It’s not easy to scare me with horror novels, but this was genuinely scary. Like, enough to make me uncomfortable lol. The Midsommar and Haunting of HIt’s not easy to scare me with horror novels, but this was genuinely scary. Like, enough to make me uncomfortable lol. The Midsommar and Haunting of Hill House comparisons were what drew me in, plus a plot line about a young girl in a remote village with disturbing symptoms who claims to be haunted by a witch. And with me starting this at the beginning of (almost) spooky season, this is the first weekend all year that *kinda* feels like it’s about to be the start of fall. I needed something spooky to get me in the mood for fall so this arc could not have come at a more perfect time.
I wasn’t too sure if this was going to be a mystery thriller or a paranormal horror story, though I was hoping it would be the latter. I’m not going to spoil what it ends up being because that’s part of the mystery, but from the get go, it does feel very much like it’s going to go the paranormal direction. Or at least, that’s what the book wants the reader to think. Paranormal or not, this very much feels like a horror novel, not a thriller, which is exactly what I was expecting and wanted. Alice Webber, the child who claims to be haunted by a witch who watches her from beneath the chimney, has things going on with her that can’t be explained. You even find out the event that caused it all, the event that caused her to be supposedly haunted by a witch. The doctors deem her fine physically, so Mina is sent to the village of Banathel as a child psychologist to investigate this possible haunting.
Despite the ambiguity over whether or not this will end up being paranormal, this very much is a horror novel, with the investigating haunted places and even a seance. There’s a lot of mystery where you don’t know where the story is going but you are being directed a certain way the entire time, which is the paranormal route. Is that what’s actually going on or is the book trying to throw you off? You’ll just have to read it and see! Mostly, this book genuinely is just very scary. It takes a certain kind of skill to make a horror novel actually scary, and Daisy Pearce has that skill. I hope she sticks to this genre because she’s great at it. My main complaint is I feel like too many things didn’t get a proper explanation. I was left feeling a bit confused over what certain character’s motivations even were and this lacked explanations for some of the strange occurrences. The conclusion wasn’t conclusive enough for me and lacked a full explanation. But this actually was very scary!
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review....more
So I’m not really a contemporary romance reader at all so I am not the target audience for this, but the concept of two authors cowriting a novel togeSo I’m not really a contemporary romance reader at all so I am not the target audience for this, but the concept of two authors cowriting a novel together appealed to the bookworm in me so I decided to request this arc and give it a try. And it really surprised me how much I enjoyed this! This was a REALLY good read. Even though I don’t generally read contemporary often, this book was actually so witty and funny! If I could describe this book in two words, it would be playful and cute. Just a feel good book, perfect for a beach read. This is just the kind of book I’d love to read while relaxing on vacation! The back and forth banter is hilarious, the college student setting is cozy, and the dialogue was just effortlessly funny. Not to mention, it couldn’t have been easy, writing two books in one, which is what this basically was. Not only do we have the story, we also have excerpts of the story the characters are writing, and the two tie together perfectly.
Aiden starts out so unlikeable lmao. At the beginning he’s just so…..irritating. He’s snarky, rude, and harsh. And the worst part is he has this effortless ability to come off across as better than everyone else, and he knows it too. Honestly, 100% team Rosie at the beginning, and this is coming from someone who shares the same opinion as Aiden when it comes to romance novels and is also a bit of an elitist sometimes with the romance genre (yes I realize I am being a total hypocrite saying this while literally reviewing an arc in said romance genre). He was just overly stuck up about it, like GEEZ. This is an actual line he says: “I don’t think I’m a better writer. I know I am.” Doesn’t that just make you wanna ...more
I loved this thriller from the very first page. This was so compulsively readable! I vibed with the author’s writing style immediately, and I started I loved this thriller from the very first page. This was so compulsively readable! I vibed with the author’s writing style immediately, and I started this pretty late at night, only intended to read just a few pages, but ended up not being able to put it down because it grabbed my instantly.
Two teenagers have their lives tied back to Camp Lost Lake, a camp that closed down back in 2008 after some mysterious murders committed by the Witch of Lost Lake. Olivia finds out from an ancestry test that her dad isn’t her biological dad, and suspects that her real dad is the husband murdered by Lori, the supposed Witch of Lost Lake. Regan, on the other hand, is none other than the daughter of the Lori Knight, the alleged killer. Regan sneaks off to go to the reopening of Camp Lost Lake, determined to find the true killer so her and her mom can stop living on the run. Both of these girls have reasons to go back to Camp Lost Lake and both of them seek answers.
This book was so gripping, and I just wanted to get to the end because I had no clue how this was going to end. It was expertly plotted, a Frieda McFadden level of well planned. This is a super quick read, perfect for a summer read you could finish in one sitting on the beach. This was SO much fun! Any thriller and murder mystery fan will love this one! Danielle Valentine is definitely on my radar now. I’m a fan!
Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
This is the first horror novel I’ve ever encountered with a Chinese female mc! Love seeing some Chinese representation in this genre! Returning to youThis is the first horror novel I’ve ever encountered with a Chinese female mc! Love seeing some Chinese representation in this genre! Returning to your hometown to find that all your childhood friends have been murdered by a supernatural entity the local medium begs for your help to stop the evil? I mean come on. That sounds like a peak fun horror reading experience.
“There’s a tangible shift in the world between Slater and everywhere else, something you don’t feel until you’ve been out and back again. A degree darker, a degree colder, the air a fraction thicker.”
I love small town horror settings but something about Slater just makes me even more uncomfortable. It’s a mining town and just the way it’s presented and described makes me feel like the whole place is off. The town has a lot of local history involving plague experiments and more recently, lots of disappearances. The setting is great. The creepy vibe is there from the start. But for some reason, I just couldn’t really get into this book and I don’t know why. For some reason, I just couldn’t get myself interested and invested and usually with horror that isn’t the case. There was nothing wrong with the book….I just couldn’t get into it. Nonetheless, this was very well written. Mason was SO unlikable, though I don’t think he was intended to be written as an unlikeable character. Nonetheless, could not stand him. Horrible attitude and super snarky and aggravating.
Also, I personally didn’t find this scary enough. But I’m also a pretty seasoned horror reader, and I’ve read a lot of haunted house and small town horror in my day. It does take more for a book to scare me, so this may not be the case for someone else who gives this a try. This just didn’t have the urgency I was seeking, at least not for me. This was just a little too….weird for me. And not scary enough. But, this wasn’t at all a bad read, and just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean that others might not enjoy this more than I did!
Thank you to Netgalley and Gillian Flynn Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
Not gonna lie, the title made me giggle. So of course I had to read this. And this was a really good book. A fast read and the ending was insanely gooNot gonna lie, the title made me giggle. So of course I had to read this. And this was a really good book. A fast read and the ending was insanely good. I can’t imagine most readers not enjoying this because it’s a lot of fun. But, I was super confused for the first 40% though, because I could not for the life of me figure out if this girl was dead or not. The synopsis straight up says that the concept is murdered girl comes back from dead to figure out who killed her and make them pay. But when Annie crawls out of the river confused and disoriented, a couple of fellow teens brings her to the mysterious and very haunted Chapel House they’re all staying at. I of course considered the other kids were maybe dead too, yet everyone could still eat, drink, get drunk, take showers, and ride in a car. What solidified it for me that she was still alive was as when other humans could still see and interact with her and she gets pulled into the principal’s office when she goes to school. Just when I had come to the conclusion that the synopsis was misleading and wrong and Annie was not dead but survived a murder attempt, you find out at almost the halfway mark she actually IS dead?
It may be too late since this synopsis has been up for a while and other reviews (mine included) have confirmed Annie is indeed dead. But, my biggest recommendation would have been to tweak that synopsis; don’t make it clear whether or not she’s dead. I spent like, half this book being confused as heck over, is she or isn’t she and it kind of took me out of the whole point of the story because all I was focused on was getting confirmation. Also, it would’ve made an epic plot twist if the synopsis didn’t already reveal she’s dead, so you think the whole time she’s survived a murder attempt then bam 40% in you find out she’s actually dead. No one would have guessed that, seeing as she’s eating, driving cars, other people can touch and see her and she has a physical body that works the same as any person who’s alive. The synopsis should have never made it clear that she’s dead, not only for the missed chance of a plot twist but also because of the unnecessary confusion it caused for like half the book, but too late now I guess.
Despite that, I liked this book a lot, and after the first half (where I no longer had to be in a constant state of confusion over whether Annie is dead or not) this book really revved up. It was a quick and easy read and I was really entertained by this. The ending is actually insane and this was so well written.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hyperion for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
**spoiler alert** Initially I had thought this was a horror novel about the Paris catacombs, possibly even paranormal horror, which had me excited. Wh**spoiler alert** Initially I had thought this was a horror novel about the Paris catacombs, possibly even paranormal horror, which had me excited. When I looked deeper after I got an arc, not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed when I found out it’s actually just a thriller. But a book doesn’t have to be supernatural to be gripping and scary and I do enjoy a good thriller, so I still had high hopes!
The synopsis is pretty to the point; a group of teens visiting Paris go into the catacombs for the promise of a secret party and end up getting lost. While trying to find their way out, they are being stalked by a group of people in masks, a possible underground cult. I was expecting something similar to The Descent or somewhere in that realm, and this actually was somewhat like that, but a YA version and much, much lighter. I think what kept this from being scarier was that the villains just weren’t convincing to me. The people in masks never feel very threatening because aside from the fact that there’s strangers wearing a mask that’s, they don’t say or do anything else. There was so much potential to make them scarier, even down to better describing scary features they have and what they wear. Aside from just, they’re wearing a skeleton mask and carry knives. There was so much potential to make these villains feel more scary and threatening but you aren’t told anything more about them. There was a chance to be more descriptive about them, what’s their expression like, their stance; there’s just ways to make them feel like more than a cartoon villain. Masked assailants on film may be enough to come off as scary but in book form, they have to have somewhat of more than a description of knife wielding mask assailant to be convincing. This just felt distant and cartoony. You learn more near the end but by then it’s too late to make it gripping if the villains feel cartoonish for all of it until the end.
I was expecting this to be a gripping and claustrophobic read, but I just found most of it felt anticlimactic. But, I really did enjoy the ending though, enough to consider giving this 4 stars! Mehhh first 80% percent but solid last 20%.
Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review....more
I enjoyed this book way more than I was expecting to, and this was my first ever Jen DeLuca book! While romance is rarely my genre of choice, I requesI enjoyed this book way more than I was expecting to, and this was my first ever Jen DeLuca book! While romance is rarely my genre of choice, I requested this arc because the concept of a haunted small town that leans into its spookiness for tourism was just so captivating to me. Like a hallmark movie, but Halloween movie edition. On top of that, our MC Cassie buys a historic cottage that just happens to be haunted (of course) but what really solidified me requesting the arc was the mention of a coffee shop owner who sneaks her free treats. Haunted small town with ghosts with a cute coffee shop is giving a mix of cozy mystery vibes in the best way. The perfect mix of creepy and cute.
As soon as I read that Cassie had just moved into “the most haunted small town in Florida” I knew that I was going to like this book. It gives all the cozy small town hallmark feels but with a more interesting plot and a much more interesting town. I immediately loved this little small town, that decorates their streets like it’s Halloween everyday, even in April. Why has no one else written a contemporary romance set in a spooky small town known for their haunts? I love that this is going to be a series with continued adventures in Boneyard Key because this town makes the setting of any other contemporary romance feel lackluster in comparison (at least to me, someone who gets bored easily by contemporary romance unless it has something special going for it, like this book does with its marvelous setting).
Things get interesting immediately when you find out that Cassie’s new house is the infamous Hawkins House, one that makes locals raise their eyebrows. None of the tourists really take the ghost-y stuff seriously, but the locals know better. Most of them experience weird occurrences on the daily and they’ve learned to just roll with it. See why I love the setting so much? This book gave off the same energy as those cozy mysteries with its small town setting and many mentions of coffee, and even reminded me a bit of Legends and Lattes (but without the fantasy).
I would recommend this to readers like me that don’t typically enjoy reading contemporary romance but enjoy cozy mysteries because this felt even more like a cozy mystery than a romance. It’s cozy and comforting, while having more going for it than just a standard romance plot. This book is so quirky and cute and kind of reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, with ghosties and paranormal things occurring being normal and part of everyday life in Boneyard Key with no one batting an eye, and Nick himself even has a ghost friend as a roommate. Their friendship was so wholesome too!
I started this book at like 1 AM at night and woke up the next morning excited to read this with copious amounts of iced coffee, and those are the best kinds of books, the ones you wake up excited to read! I’m already looking forward to revisiting Boneyard Key in book 2. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkeley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
Haunted house books are some of my absolute favorites, so I loved the premise of house sitting a creepy mansion from the 1920s! Abandoned short after Haunted house books are some of my absolute favorites, so I loved the premise of house sitting a creepy mansion from the 1920s! Abandoned short after it was built and chock full of a history of mysterious deaths, Morning House has been burying a secret for decades. The synopsis almost made this seem like horror so I went into this thinking it would be a horror, in the same vein as a haunted house book, but it actually is a mystery thriller, not unlike the Truly Devious books that Maureen Johnson is known for. It’s actually super similar in feel to Truly Devious. I personally prefer horror, but I love a good murder mystery too! If done right, a thriller can be just as creepy and gripping as horror, and this one was well executed!
The Morning House itself is fascinating and a place that I’d want to visit if it were real. It’s technically a two story playhouse, the same size as a large family home, built for the children of a wealthy doctor with a weird obsession with swimming. Two of the children mysteriously die not long after the Morning House is built, which is the core of the mystery. The rest of the family members start to die one by one, by seemingly natural circumstances, but the fact that it was practically everyone in the immediate family one after another was just….odd. The situation behind the deaths of the first 2 were suspicious and you sense from the get go that someone was probably behind them, but everyone else’s were just strokes of bad luck that I couldn’t see how a person could be behind. Things like drunk driving or heart attacks or not knowing they were walking on a frozen pond and accidentally falling through the ice. If I didn’t know Maureen’s style, I would’ve considered the explanation being supernatural and some kind of family curse, but I’ve read enough of Maureen’s books to know that the evil in her books are strictly human. So I really couldn’t come up with a rational explanation for something so odd. The whole time I was like, with the rest of the family, if this all ends up just being a coincidence, it’s a hell of a coincidence. You do find out all the answers in the end, though.
The book has flashbacks to the 1930’s, to the POVs of the children before their deaths and what their lives were like, which I thought was a great touch. It just makes it even creepier reading the flashbacks, knowing that you’re in the heads of characters that will die young. It switches back and forth to the present time, it turns out the house is open to the public for one summer, and there’s a whole group of teens who are living there for the summer, acting as guides.
There’s also something comforting about reading YA as an adult, almost like it’s nostalgic of when times were simpler. Diving into a YA book and getting into the head of a younger character is always fun because it reminds me of my youth lol. This is super similar in tone to Truly Devious, with mysterious family conspiracies surrounding a seemingly cursed family. If you liked Truly Devious, you’ll like this one.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
If you’re looking to get out of a reading slump, this might just be the book to do it! I love to read but lately have been suffering from a wandering If you’re looking to get out of a reading slump, this might just be the book to do it! I love to read but lately have been suffering from a wandering mind and easy boredom when reading, especially at the beginning of books (which also means that books that are slow to start, take 400 pages just to set up the novel, and have nothing substantial happening until the last 80% are not my friend). Yet, this book captured me from the very beginning. I was never once bored nor did I feel like I wanted to skim. This was compulsively readable.
I love books with unreliable narrators because I love to get in the head of someone who’s sorta psychotic. It takes a talented author to pull off a book in the POV of someone who’s kind of mentally disturbed, for the reader to really get into her head and see how she processes and reacts to things. The amount of joy Hannah gets from a serial killer paying attention to her and writing her back is….odd. But also, since you get a peek into her life, you can see how lonely she is, tired of not being chosen, put on the back burner by her only friend, and now only having a serial killer to reach out to for comfort. As starved for affection as she is, you kind of can see why she made the choices she did and continued to write William, and how her desperation gave her delusions of what she thinks is love. But still…even after getting in her head throughout the whole beginning of the book, it’s still really hard to understand her because she’s so mentally disturbed. The amount of joy she found from it all was very….strange. She essentially became obsessed with him, living for when his letters arrive. Like, girl. Come on. He’s a serial killer.
This was such an interesting read, and at some parts I wanted to laugh at how insane Hannah acted sometimes. Getting into the head of a fangirl of a serial killer was something I’ve never read in a book before. You kind of spend most of the book feeling sorry for her. She really was starved for affection and validation and I think that fed into her delusion.
I saw the ending coming from a mile away and it was pretty predictable to me tbh, but I still enjoyed this!
Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
This book was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever read. Which was probably the author’s intention, so goal achieved. I’m effectively horrifiedThis book was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever read. Which was probably the author’s intention, so goal achieved. I’m effectively horrified. This concept is basically Hunger Games but prison reform camp version. Though this wasn’t exactly much of a futuristic dystopia so much as social commentary, it definitely had high stakes.
I was expecting this to be very Hunger Games-y but it turns out this was much more like Black Mirror. A big chunk of this is a social commentary about how modern society has become dependent on likes and follows on social media. Yet, this concept has been twisted into a life or death situation, where it’s basically, get followers or get voted off this twisted reality show and die. Contestants with more followers get easier challenges and are more likely to survive their challenges than ones with fewer followers, who get harder tasks. Your life quite literally becomes dependent on your follower count and views, so it feels very much like a Black Mirror episode. Then you have teens who are so brainwashed that they think the reality show is a good thing, despite all the death that they themselves are at risk of, because they can gain followers and brand deals and sponsorships from the press of being on the show. Some of the teens on the top of the leaderboard genuinely twist it into, this evil producer killing teenagers is trying to “help them” since they are all felons with “broken brains” and he is trying to “save them”. After witnessing all of the horrors from their first challenge, some of them genuinely have this mindset.
This book does a good job at the social commentary aspect. We all know social media is fake and tons of things we see online, especially on tikok, are staged for views. But it’s even crazier to see it in this setting where views and followers are the difference between life or death. You see teenagers staging fake stuff, staging pranks, a discussion of faking a love triangle for the cameras, even going as far as harming themselves, anything to get followers to be likable enough to not end up at the bottom of the leaderboard. Seeing all this going on in a life or death kind of situation just makes the whole, society as a whole being obsessed with getting attention on social media, thing feel even more superficial and ridiculous. The perfect analogy of young teens putting too much stock into online validation is the scene where one of the teens quite literally starts hurting himself in desperation on camera in hopes of getting followers because he does not have the charisma or skill to be popular online, and followers are the difference between life or death on this reality show, so he thinks he has no other choice. It’s horrific. And the scene where two teens at risk of being voted off the show have to follow a series of dance moves, like something similar to TikTok dances I guess? And viewers vote and evaluate the dances and the best dancer who gets more votes gets to stay on the show. These kids who are being killed for entertainment are forced to literally dance for their lives. It’s completely insane. I think it makes for an effective social commentary, especially for young teens. The more you read on the more and more shocking it gets.
I genuinely wondered how they were going to get out of this one, because stakes were not only high but impossible. I really had no clue how these characters were going to get out of this. It’s also a super quick read; I felt like I’d barely started and I looked up and was already 40% in. I started this book at around 11 pm and ended up staying up late to finish it because I just couldn’t stop reading. It just got more and more horrific and terrible as it went on and I just had to know how this book ended. Which, that ending, I can’t believe it ended like that! We gotta get a sequel now, surely? This was one of the most horrifying books I’ve ever read and it’s literally YA so if it’s meant to be a social commentary for teens to not place too much stock into online popularity because it’s not actually life or death like it is in this book, message achieved lol.
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review....more
Fairytale lovers and classic Barbie movie lovers were SPOILED with this book! *cue I Am a Girl Like You playing in the distance* we finally get a fairFairytale lovers and classic Barbie movie lovers were SPOILED with this book! *cue I Am a Girl Like You playing in the distance* we finally get a fairytale retelling of the Prince and the Pauper story, where the princess switches places with her commoner friend! Just the fact that this fairytale retelling is based on the same fairytale as my favorite classic Barbie movie made this book feel even more magical. Though different from the movie obviously, this felt a love letter to the original Barbie movie (Keira is an anagram for Erika and the princess’s name is even Princess Anna!)
Oliver being instantly protective at hearing about Lord Roth trying to marry Keira after she refers to him as a cruel and wicked man was just so swoony! Him instantly being violently protective and insisting on finding this Lord Roth was my favorite part! Plus the part about Lord Roth having a pointy nose because that gave me instant Preminger vibes ...more
A beautiful, magical dose of escapism that all fairytale lovers need to read! The book starts at a royal ball at the kingdom of Lune, so I instantly kA beautiful, magical dose of escapism that all fairytale lovers need to read! The book starts at a royal ball at the kingdom of Lune, so I instantly knew I would like it. Princesses and princes, balls, castles, kingdoms, and magic! This has all the fairytale vibes of a Disney movie and I felt so at home!
Prince Henry, the Prince of the moonflower kingdom of Lune, is very likable and relatable! He’s one of those, handsome but doesn’t know he’s handsome, type of characters. He struggles with not fitting in and not feeling stereotypically “princely” enough. He’s rather invisible for being a second, not crown prince, yet loves the fact that he doesn’t have the pressure or responsibility, and doesn’t mind being second fiddle to his older brother. His humble nature is such a nice contrast! I think he may be my favorite prince in all of these books because he is just so patient and overwhelmingly good. It’s a bit sad how he is so overlooked and overshadowed by his brother that he is taken by how kind Raina was to him, because he doesn’t receive attention or kindness from others often. All Raina had to do to win over the invisible second prince was to simply see him. It only took one magical moment, and a dance amongst the moonflowers, for them to fall in love. It truly is a fairytale, with a prince and a mysterious maiden falling in love as they dance at midnight amongst a sea of glowing flowers at the Midnight Moon Ball. And what a pretty visual that scene makes!
Each book just gets better than the last. It ties together perfectly with the other books that take place on Terra, perfectly setting the stage for the first book in the series (since this is a prequel). The worldbuilding is so well planned that each book can easily build upon the setting and make it even more interesting. The ancients and the curses and the history of Terra all are woven together perfectly. For those of you who’ve read the other books, a fan favorite makes a cameo in this one too!
This sweet little book is also heart melting! Admittedly I am not a romantic and romance is not my preferred genre, unless it is a fairytale of course. Typically, fairytales tend to be romances though, and though fairytales are the bulk of what I read, I read them for the fairytale setting and not for the romance. But this little book made my ice cold heart of stone melt! Kayla writes the most sweetest, heart melting romances that makes me wish I were more of a romantic! Sure, some suspension of disbelief is required for Raina to not even remotely suspect why the pig farmer looks exactly like the prince, but maybe we can just say the ancients magic was involved in that ...more
This book was just so wholesome. It makes you feel the same way that a Jane Austen story does. If I could associate any music with this book, it wouldThis book was just so wholesome. It makes you feel the same way that a Jane Austen story does. If I could associate any music with this book, it would be the Emma or Little Women soundtrack. There’s also something special about a fairytale world that’s devoid of magic, simply because it’s rarely ever done. People seem to think that fairytales = magic and that’s not always true! As long as there are princesses, princes, castles, kingdoms, and a happily ever after, the magic of fairytales will still be there. In fact, it almost makes it feel more real, like it makes living in a fairytale world feel more attainable for people who yearn for that (by people I mean me).
This is advertised as a fantasy world devoid of magic, but as someone who is biased towards fairytales and doesn’t generally care for fantasy, this very much feels like a fairytale world over a fantasy. No sword and knight action, violence or any intense stakes like you so often seen in fantasy novels, but instead, soft romance, autumn balls, high society, and happily ever afters. Very much a fairytale in my opinion! Since the regency feel is especially high in this installment, regency lovers would also like this one.
Like in the previous book, the writing is very good. It’s very professional for a self published author, and I rarely even see writing this good even with authors who have released books with big name publishers. The majority of what I read are self published books, and the writing in this is far better than most self published books I’ve read. It’s honestly pretty impressive.
I did enjoy the previous installment more, because I personally prefer books centered around a princess, taking place in a castle. I just had a bit of trouble with the fairytale escapism aspect of this one. In the previous book, it didn’t bother me that there wasn’t much of an eventful plot, because I got to vicariously live the day to day life of a princess in a castle. But since this book didn’t have that princess escapism, it felt a bit dry without anything really happening for most of this book. Also, I just tend to hyper fixate on princesses and royalty in fairytales, which is why this personally was less enjoyable to me. But, this book was just so sweet and heartwarming. Regency romance readers will love this one. With minimal conflict and stakes, it’s just a peaceful, wholesome read. Even though I did enjoy the previous installment more, this was just as well written. Very sweet book that low stakes romance readers will like! ...more
I was a bit hesitant about this one because my only other experience reading Paul Tremblay was a short story that I did not like, but the premise of tI was a bit hesitant about this one because my only other experience reading Paul Tremblay was a short story that I did not like, but the premise of this was interesting enough for me to want to pick this up. This isn’t one that hits the ground running because it took me a while to get into it, and I found myself having trouble picking it back up. It takes a while for it to get scary, and I wasn’t sure where this was going. I kind of was just….waiting for it to get scary lol.
I prefer my horror novels to be scary from the start, and this wasn’t one of those. I guess I’m just not a fan of a slow burn type book because I’m too impatient. A good chunk of the beginning is just showing him on the set of the film and the day to day of that, and what it’s like being on the set of a reboot of Horror Movie. Aside from the flashbacks, not much else happens aside from that. The only remotely interesting parts are the parts with the thin man in the screenplays. Things did start picking up around the 40% mark though, but it was a struggle getting through it before that.
Its not badly written at all. It’s just….not much happens. It’s one of those books where pretty much the main plot and details can be summed up in a paragraph. I also feel like most of this book was just the screenplay and flashbacks and hardly any took place in present day, and the parts that did take place in present day, nothing really happened until the end.
Overall, this book was just ok. Slow burn just wasn’t my thing I guess. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
I was so excited when Netgalley accepted my arc request because I love this specific niche type of fantasy, that is similar to Narnia, Wonderland, or I was so excited when Netgalley accepted my arc request because I love this specific niche type of fantasy, that is similar to Narnia, Wonderland, or Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. I don’t think there is a specific term for this specific whimsical type of fantasy but we need to make one a term for it. It’s this specific fantasy that feels almost childlike in a way, usually involving a magical adventure full of whimsy. This type of book is most commonly seen in middle grade books, so I love when I see books with this specific niche type of feel in adult fiction. I feel like it is a rarity because I don’t see it often. This book also felt weirdly British (lol) like Harry Potter, even though it takes place in America.
Quick breakdown: a bookseller named Cassie is given a gift by her favorite customer, an unusual book that gives her the power to travel anywhere in the world that she wants. Yet, possessing this book puts her in danger, as the book of doors isn’t the only magical book in existence and people with nefarious intentions are seeking them all. This book had the whimsy of Wonderland and the magical adventure of Harry Potter, and it fed my inner child. You know when you’re in the mood for a fun adventure movie? This is like the book equivalent of that and it really hits the spot. You get to go on this magical fantasy adventure without even leaving your couch, and what could be better than that?
Cassie, like me, is a book lover who takes comfort in bookstores and libraries and she’s extremely relatable. Not to mention, the bookstore where Cassie works sounds sooooo cozy and perfect. Comfortable, with books, coffee, comfy chairs and soft music. This book was so nostalgic and extremely well written. It had me feeling sad and nostalgic for a time that Cassie spent in Europe, something that I myself had never even experienced. It was as if I were the one who had met the handsome German boy in Paris or the kind middle aged couple in Venice who treated Cassie like a daughter, people who she had promised to keep in touch with but never had. This book had me sad and missing fictional people from all walks of life that I had never even met.
This book’s strongest suit is how visual it is, all the surroundings and people described very well so that everything is easy to visualize. I had to check because it’s very impressive that this is a debut author, since the writing was honestly better than most of the established author’s books that I’ve read, and better than I generally expect from a book. Beautiful descriptions and scenery, wonderful characterization, and all the magical fun of an adventure story.
The second strongest suit is that there is no boring filler, none of the whole, nothing happens until 60% of the book. This book jumps right into it, and you feel like you’re in the middle before even 15% in because it jumps right into the action. My undiagnosed ADHD appreciates this. Wish more books were like this and didn’t waste my time with too much filler.
The book is also excellently plotted. The way that things come together in different timelines is genius. And the evil characters in this are truly evil, some of the most evil, horribly terrible people I have ever read in literature. The plot is so imaginative, and such a wild adventure. I can tell so much thought and effort was put into plotting this story. Fantastic worldbuilding and very imaginative story. I thought the ending could’ve used a more brighter conclusion rather than ending on that note but I liked how everything tied together and all the questions were answered.
This author is definitely on my radar now and I am eager to see what he comes up with next. Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review....more
I saw this book on a Goodreads list for upcoming thrillers in 2024, and when I went to request it on Netgalley, saw that it was already available for I saw this book on a Goodreads list for upcoming thrillers in 2024, and when I went to request it on Netgalley, saw that it was already available for any Netgalley member to read early and review, so I jumped at the chance. I love the concept of family mysteries, and a twin sister getting wrapped up in one, leading to her disappearance occurring on the exact same date as the disappearance of their mother. Such a unique concept in a sea of thrillers that all usually have the same plot, more or less.
I don’t know why but I really struggled to get into this one. Not sure why, because the synopsis is so interesting. But while I generally will finish a book in one or two sittings, this one took me FOREVER. I just couldn’t get into it. Nothing about it was particularly bad, the writing was good, plotting was good, I had no complaints. I guess as I continued on, I just simply couldn’t have the motivation or desire to read this. I just didn’t find it particularly gripping, at least not gripping enough for me to be motivated to keep picking it up.
The book got better by the 60% mark and I was able to slog through the rest, but it was mainly a sense of obligation to finish it. The ending was just ok, and I didn’t personally think this thriller was gripping enough for me. The writing was pretty good though, I think with a better story and more gripping plot, this author could write some pretty solid thrillers in the future. This one just wasn’t interesting enough for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
This is the exact kind of genre of book you’d want to read in a rainy day or night with a steaming cup of earl grey and a candle lit. The authors noteThis is the exact kind of genre of book you’d want to read in a rainy day or night with a steaming cup of earl grey and a candle lit. The authors note at the beginning sets the tone, stating that she was inspired by the Irish legend of a harbinger of death and her association with water, which inspired her to create Wren Lake. With comparisons to Poe and Bly Manor, you know before even starting what kind of vibes you’re going to get.
This book started out strong. The bleak setting starts from the first page, down to the weather. I never thought of Ireland as a dark or foreboding place, but the gray skies, constant rain, and “sullen black clouds” make it feel like you’re in a Poe story. The book even takes place during Halloween. Picture twisted elms creating a tunnel leading to a bleak manor covered in moss and ivy, being hit by unrelenting rain and permanent gray skies. For anyone looking for a gothic setting for this next read, this is exactly what you’re looking for. A+ for atmosphere at the beginning because this book starts out very foreboding.
After a strong start, as it continues, it starts to feel more inauthentic. In the sense that, it is trying too hard to be creepy when it really is not creepy at all. The beginning plays up the gothic aspect, building anticipation, but then the bulk of the book becomes just high school teen drama. I found myself getting less and less interested in it all. It kind of gave, trying to feel like Crimson Peak/Bly Manor/Poe but not successfully achieving that. In the end it just ended up being….just okay. If anything it just made me feel like rereading Erin Craig’s sisters of the salt series because those genuinely are fully gothic fiction to the core.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review! ...more
This premise of this book is probably one of the coolest I’ve ever heard. An entire suburban town disappearing behind an impenetrable veil, a supernatThis premise of this book is probably one of the coolest I’ve ever heard. An entire suburban town disappearing behind an impenetrable veil, a supernatural tragedy called the Velkwood Vicinity. Everyone’s got their elaborate theories but ultimately this is something that no scientist or occult theorist can explain. Going further than a standard haunted house book, imagine an entire street of 8 houses affected by this cosmic supernatural event and all the people in it turned to ghosts. There are only three survivors, the three exceptions to the impassable veil. Talithia, one of the three, always had the option that there was no one behind the veil and everyone is dead and gone. But, after seeing what she thinks is her sister’s face through the window in a photograph of her house, agrees to go back for answers.
I had so many questions going into this. Is it a science experiment gone wrong, or is it paranormal? Are the people behind the veil ghosts or still alive? What caused the event and why were those three girls allowed to leave? At only 250 pages, this book doesn’t waste any time and jumps right to it. It’s also so compulsively readable and the mystery so enticing that you can’t put it down, not even at the beginning of the book (and books don’t usually get to the, I can’t put it down, level until you’re at the end when the action finally happens). This book is the opposite of a slow burn which is just how I like it. I don’t have the attention span for a slow burn. I had to resist skipping to the end to find out the explanation behind it all, and that’s the sign of a good book.
After so many horror and thriller novels with the same overdone tropes, this was so refreshing. We are at the point where everything has been done so it is hard to come up with a new concept, but Gwendolyn Kist managed to pull together something original. I started this at like 10 at night and was too tired to finish this all in one sitting like I wanted to, so I woke up the next morning thinking about how I couldn’t wait to finish it. You know it’s a good concept when that happens, because the mystery is just too good and you can’t wait for answers!
This book went by soooo fast and didn’t drag at all. Little bits of information get dropped pretty early on and you quickly learn that Talithia is a not so reliable narrator and knows more than she’s letting up. The best part was definitely the ending; I loved it!
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review. ...more
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