Month: October 2023

Kate’s Review: “A Haunting on the Hill”

Book: “A Haunting on the Hill” by Elizabeth Hand

Publishing Info: Mulholland Books, October 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC of this novel from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: From three-time Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy, and Nebula Award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first-ever authorized novel to return to the world of Shirley Jackson’s  The Haunting of Hill House:  a suspenseful, contemporary, and terrifying story of longing and isolation all its own.
 
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play, The Witch of Edmonton, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the ornate, if crumbling, gothic mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.
 
Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house out for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds,  disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, and time itself seems to shift.  All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, but with the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and it no longer intends to walk alone . . . 

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

Happy Halloween, everyone!! This is one of my favorite days of the year, and while I am always sad that the spooky season inevitably comes to an end on this wonderful day, I still look forward to it. Between taking my kid trick or treating and watching the original “Halloween” film, I like making this day special, and this year I have a special final review for Horrorpalooza 2023: “A Haunting on the Hill” by Elizabeth Hand is not only a new haunted house story, it is also an official continuation of Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House”, the formative and influential Gothic horror story about four paranormal investigators in the sinister Hill House. When I heard that there was an authorized sequel that takes place decades after the original, I was very, VERY interested to see what exactly the author was going to do with it. We’ve had some really good interpretations of the Hill House lore in the past few years, and an actual novel sounded ambitious and daunting. But I was very, very satisfied with how it all shook out.

“A Haunting on the Hill” brings new inhabitants to Hill House, set in the modern times. Holly, a playwright who is trying to re-craft an old play about a witch, discovers the empty (but still cared for) mansion while on a drive during a vacation with her girlfriend and creative partner Nisa, and is almost immediately drawn to it. After convincing other members of the play, Stevie (an actor and a close friend) and Amanda (the lead), to join, what begins as a creative endeavor slowly turns into a nightmare. So once again we have four people in Hill House who don’t know just how dangerous it is, with locals and caretakers trying to warn them as their warnings fall unto closed ears, and a house that starts to draw them in. I liked watching the slow spin out as Holly, Nisa, Stevie, and Amanda deal with little things (like things being in one place and ending up in another, or lights being on when they were sure they were off), which then turn into big things (black hares falling down chimneys, or seeing cars barreling towards trees only to have them disappear). Hand takes her time in building up the tension, and adds more tension between the actors who are already on edge for other reasons none of them really want to talk about. She makes it so that the dread is fully taut, and then will let it snap to create genuinely scary moments that feel right out of Shirley Jackson’s playbook.

In terms of how well it blends in with the source material, I think that Hand does a really good job of making this story seem original and unique while still holding some of the tone and themes of “The Haunting of Hill House”. Given that through the original and at least two adaptations (NOT the 1999 adaptation, mind you), one of the main points Jackson was making was that yes, Hill House is haunted, but the people who inhabit it are ALSO haunted by things outside of the mansion. And we get that with our characters in this story, whether it’s Holly aching for success, or singer Nisa, who is rife with her own insecurities while trying to put on a show of great confidence and allure, or actress Amanda who is trying to remake her career after an accident in a previous show that she felt blamed for, or actor Stevie who is still feeling the repercussions of horrific abuse he endured as a tween, vulnerable people come to Hill House and have a slowly building dread as strange thing start to happen. Hand never goes outside of the levels of the original book, slowly upping the ante of suspense with general unease to moments of rapt terror, and it just feels like Jackson’s Hill House is bringing in more victims to keep inside so it doesn’t walk alone. She also manages to pay homage and fit in references to the original text, without feeling like she’s leaning upon it too heavily, or just retelling the tale in a new coating. Hell, she even can explore the less obvious themes of queerness that were hinted at in the original, and bringing in the spirit of Nell and Theo and their complicated relationship through Holly and Nisa. It’s believable as a sequel and it’s worthy of it as well.

“A Haunting on the Hill” is an eerie and unsettling follow up to a beloved horror classic. I felt like it hit the right beats, caught the right tone, and ended up fitting in with the story many know and love.

And with that, on this lovely All Hallow’s Eve, Horrorpalooza 2023 has come to an end! I hope that you have all had a fun and deeply spooky Season of the Witch, and I hope that everyone out there has a fun, safe, and creepy crawly Halloween!!!

Rating 8: An eerie and suspenseful revisit to a classic haunted house story, “A Haunting on the Hill” is a worthy follow up to “The Haunting of Hill House”.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Haunting on the Hill” is included on the Goodreads lists “Horror of Halloween 2023”, and “Queer Releases October 2023”.

Not Just Books: October 2023

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Great British Bake Off”

Yes, it is that time of year again! Time to sit back and relax and enjoy some cozy baking fun watching others making master pieces you’ll never accomplish yourself and scoff ridiculously when they fail as if you could ever do better. As you can see from the poster, this year there is a new host. You never quite know how new hosts will work out, but Alison Hammond has quickly won me over, bringing a high-energy spunk to the show. Of course, my husband and I have picked our two guesses for the winner, and I’m pleased to say that one of his is already out so I’m that much closer to making a come back from my failure last year! We have exciting lives, if you haven’t noticed.

Podcast: “Talkville”

I’m currently re-watching the last few seasons of “Smallville” as I do every few years it seems. I just don’t have it in me to put myself through the 7 seasons of Lana drama, so I always start on season 8 where Lois becomes a main character. That said, I do sometimes wish there was a way of re-visiting those older episodes without having to commit to the long haul. And luckily for me, there’s a re-watch podcast currently running hosted by Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum which is the perfect fix! I don’t have to actually re-watch the series, but I do get to revisit the show in this way. I do wish the hosts remembered a bit more about their experiences on the set, however, but I think I’m now just spoiled by the super high quality that is “Office Ladies.”

Paramount+ Show: “The Stand”

Yes, I’m late to the game, but when I was looking around for something appropriately creepy for the Halloween season, I figured now was the time! Somehow I remember my mom letting me watch the 90s version of this story way back when I was fairly little. I only have a few memories of the story, but I do remember being fairly creeped out. I also haven’t read the book, so in a lot of ways, this was completely fresh for me. I definitely enjoyed it (as much as you can for a creepy show like this) and thought the acting was phenomenal, especially Alexander Skarsgard as Randall Flagg. The success of a series like this really lives and dies by the performance of this character, and Skarsgard hit it out of the park, as far as I’m concerned.

Kate’s Picks

Netflix Show: “The Fall of the House of Usher”

There of course needed to be some spooky content on my media consumption agenda for the month of October, and we horror fans were blessed with the premiere of Mike Flanagan’s newest (and probably final) Netflix series, “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Flanagan is such a genius because in his mind he basically said ‘what if I combined Edgar Allan Poe with “Succession” and “Dopesick”?’, and from that we get this incredibly dark, disturbing, and bleak series that I just tore through. Meet the Ushers, the family at the head of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, which has come under fire for producing one of the most most addictive and deadly painkillers that has fueled the opioid crisis. As the trial starts, patriarch Roderick Usher’s six unscrupulous children start dying gruesome and perplexing deaths, perhaps because of a mysterious woman Roderick and sister Madeline met on a fateful night decades earlier. All of these new versions of the Poe tales, from “Tell Tale Heart” to “Murders in the Rue Morgue” to “The Black Cat” are SO damn creative. It’s great seeing some of Flanagan’s usual suspects (Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Bruce Greenwood to name but a few), but it’s Flanagan newcomer Mark Hamill as intimidating Usher lawyer Arthur Pymm that really stood out to me. This is such a clever reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, and it ends Flanagan’s Netflix collaborations on a high note.

Max Show: “Our Flag Means Death”

It felt like it took forever for some of my favorite queer pirates to come back, and when “Our Flag Means Death” Season 2 premiered there was much rejoicing in our house. This is one of the shows that my husband and I try to watch together, so we let a few episodes build up so we could binge them once our daughter was asleep for the night. Which led to a lot of impatience on my part because I just wanted to consume any episode as soon as possible. When we left off at the end of Season 1, Captain Stede Bonnet had separated from Blackbeard, leaving the latter heartbroken and then murderous with grief and rage. Now Stede has reconnected with his crew, and finds out that Blackbeard has gone completely crazy and kidnapped Frenchie, Jim, and others to serve under him. Stede hopes for a reconciliation, but Blackbeard may be too far gone. This show is still filled with lots of humor and lots of pathos, and with new characters like Chinese Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao and Irish Pirate Anne Bonny we have new faces along with the familiar ones. Interestingly enough, the character who has REALLY stood out for me is Izzy Hands, Blackbeard’s first mate who was portrayed in Season 1 as conniving, but has since gone THROUGH IT and is on a bit of a redemptive arc (and honestly, after seeing how Blackbeard reacted after Stede left, he may have had a point….).

Web Show: “Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens”

Recently my high school bestie Blake reached out and asked me if I wanted to join an online Dungeons and Dragons game with him and some of his friends, and while I had never played D and D in my life I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend time with him. But going in with little to no experience was daunting. Luckily, my close friend David is back in town, so our Sunday night LGBTQIA+ media tradition has started up, and he suggested we watch Dimension 20’s “Dungeons and Drag Queens” series, which would give me an amusing crash course! This limited series joins drag queens Jujubee, Bob the Drag Queen, Monet X Change, and Alaska Thunderfuck as they play D and D with Dimension 20/Dropout regular Brennan, and given that they are all amateurs it makes for informative and HILARIOUS content. Brennan is a very supportive and creative dungeon master who is helping these queens go on a quest to the underworld, and it leads to many fantastic moments of triumph and joy… as well as panic and chaos when things go wrong… sometimes because of very bad decision making on the queens’ parts. I don’t know how much I’ve LEARNED, really, but I do know that I haven’t died yet! So thanks, questing queens!

Serena’s Review: “All That Consumes Us”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “All That Consumes Us” by Erica Waters

Publishing Info: HarperTeen, October 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: copy from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil.   Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.  

The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.?  Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.  And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape. 

All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition—and its inevitable price—always claims its due.  

Review: I’ve really loved this current trend in fantasy towards dark academia. It’s no surprise, but many librarians are just the sort to have fond memories of upper education, so sprinkle in a bit of magic, and you’re really onto something! I also really love this cover, as I think it perfectly conveys the overall tone of this book before you even crack open the book. Unfortunately, the story itself didn’t work for me quite as well as the artwork did.

While I ultimately was left frustrated with this read, let’s start with what I did like. As I was putting together this post, I saw one reviewer compare the overall tone of this book to an episode of “Supernatural.” As a huge “Supernatural” fan, not only do I think this is a massive compliment, I also think it’s fairly spot-on as far as the theme and plot of the book. Like the show, the story builds up a creepy, looming presence that focuses on ghosts, possession, and the main character’s slow realization that she may not be in full control of her own actions. There’s a level of psychological horror that works very well, and the writing was very successful at illustrating the spooky nature of the events going on at the school. I particularly enjoyed the growing sense of paranoia and confusion that builds towards the book’s conclusion.

Unfortunately, the book fell apart with the main character herself. I really tried to like Tara, but things didn’t start off well when she immediately threw off strong “not like other girls” vibes when she meets her roommate and with how she generally presents herself to the reader. And then, throughout the novel, she made decision after decision that I just couldn’t understand. Not only were the decisions themselves incomprehensible, but she would literally flip and flop her mind between one thing and another, sometimes within only a few pages of each other. It made for a frustrating read and left Tara a fairly unlikable character. This could be a case of me simply not being the target audience for a YA character, but I do think teenagers can be written better than this.

I didn’t love this book, but I do think that it will appeal to a lot of YA fantasy readers. The pacing is quick and the writing is solid. If you start out the book and find yourself enjoying Tara, than you’re probably through the woods on what bothered me the most. But if you’re an adult reader who is character focused, this may not be the right read for you.

Rating 7: A lot of atmosphere and a creepy build of tension and paranoia were enjoyable, but I struggled to enjoy the book due to my frustrations with the main character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“All That Consumes Us” can be found on this Goodreads list: Best books of October, 2023

Year of Sanderson: “The Emperor’s Soul”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

“Year of Sanderson” is an on-going, monthly series that will post on the last Friday of each month in which I will cover various Brandon Sanderson-related things. This will largely be comprised of book reviews (some from his back catalog and some from the books being released this year), as well as assorted other topics like reviews of the items in the swag boxes that will be coming out as part of Sanderson’s Kickstarted campaign. Frankly, we’ll just have to see what we get from this series, very much like the Kickstarter itself!

Book: “The Emperor’s Soul” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tachyon Publications, October 2012

Where Did I Get this Book: from the library!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org| Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead.

Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy delves into the essence of a living spirit.

Review: Aside from his full length novels (and “full length” includes books that are made up of a page count that would equal several books combined!), Brandon Sanderson has also written a good number of short stories and novellas. I’ve read a few of them but wanted to review one that I hadn’t read before for this series. As there is a second “Elantris” book slated to come out sometime in the next few years, I thought it was a good time to check out this novella that, while not directly connected to that book, takes place in the same world.

I guess it should no longer come as a surprise, but it’s always impressive just how much detail Sanderson can pack into his world-building and magic systems. All the more so in this small book! Further more, while close readers will spot the references to “Elantris,” this book stands fully on its own, meaning that the book can’t rely on previous knowledge and must impart everything that needs to be understood in its slim page count. I was impressed by how well all of this lore worked alongside a fairly compact story that also put in a lot of work in the arc of its main character.

I really enjoyed Shai as a main character. She’s a master thief and forger, relying on a very specific and rare power to pull off her feats. In this story, she is tasked with an impossible mission: to forge the soul of the emperor who teeters on death’s door. Not only was this an interesting exploration of what makes up us as people, but Shai’s story was surprisingly heart-touching as she works to gain the trust and understanding of the man in charge of overseeing her progress. This was a unique relationship, in that it wasn’t a romance, but instead was a sweet exploration of learning to understand those we initially perceive as our enemies, whose beliefs and actions we can’t understand ourselves.

The story also moves at a brisk pace, even if much of the action takes place in a small, confined room. However, as the tension builds, the reader is drawn closer and closer to Shai, attempting to understand just what her plan is. And when it all plays out, it’s a thrilling conclusion, more than making up for the slower action to start with. Overall, this was a very satisfying, short read. It perfectly illustrates many of Sanderson’s strengths as an author while also not requiring a commitment to a massive tome on the reader’s part. For those looking for an introduction to Sanderson’s work, this is a great place to start!

Rating 8: Short but effective, this book is a perfect primer for readers looking to get a small taste of the masterful work Sanderson produces!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Emperor’s Soul” is on this Goodreads list: Original Stories . . . a Breath of Fresh Air and Best Stand-Alone Fantasy Book.

Kate’s Review: “Green Fuse Burning”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Green Fuse Burning” by Tiffany Morris

Publishing Info: Stelliform Press, October 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a copy from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: The debut novella from the Elgin Award winning author of Elegies of Rotting Stars. After the death of her estranged father, artist Rita struggles with grief and regret. There was so much she wanted to ask him-about his childhood, their family, and the Mi’kmaq language and culture from which Rita feels disconnected. But when Rita’s girlfriend Molly forges an artist’s residency application on her behalf, winning Rita a week to paint at an isolated cabin, Rita is both furious and intrigued. The residency is located where her father grew up. On the first night at the cabin, Rita wakes to strange sounds. Was that a body being dragged through the woods?

When she questions the locals about the cabin’s history, they are suspicious and unhelpful. Ignoring her unease, Rita gives in to dark visions that emanate from the forest’s lake and the surrounding swamp. She feels its pull, channelling that energy into art like she’s never painted before. But the uncanny visions become more insistent, more intrusive, and Rita discovers that in the swamp’s decay the end of one life is sometimes the beginning of another.

Review: Thank you to Stelliform Press and Beverly Bambury for sending me a print copy of this book!

The first thing about “Green Fuse Burning” by Tiffany Morris that caught my eye was the cover. When this showed up in my inbox with the cover attached to the email, I saw the cover and was just under its spell. The vivid colors, the creepy image, it just grabbed me. I also haven’t read much eco-horror, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a go with this novella. I went in expecting one thing, but once I was done I realized that it completely upended all my expectations.

Horror wise, I thought that “Green Fuse Burning” had a lot of really well done imagery, and a lot of unique prose choices that make the macabre at times quite beautiful. This is a horror tale that anchors itself in nature and eco-horror, with references to climate change and an eerie and foreboding swamp that draws protagonist Rita into its spell while she tries to work on her art inside an isolated cabin on a lake that has ties to her now deceased Mi’kmaw father. From strange noises at night to standoffish people in town to images of a woman who seems to be made if fiery vegetation, the scares are both deeply unsettling as well as beautifully written (which isn’t TOO shocking as Morris is an award winning poet). The descriptions of the vegetation, the landscape, the gore, it is absolutely what I expect from horror while also being unexpectedly gorgeous. I also really enjoyed how each chapter opened with a description of the various art pieces that Rita creates while in the cabin, that gives the reader and idea of the escalating horror situations that are to come on her journey in the swamp.

But what I liked most about this book is the way that Morris examines grief and loss, and how that not only applies to losing loved ones, but also losing your connection to your heritage through that initial loss. Rita is an Indigenous woman who has a tenuous relationship with her Mi’kmaw heritage and culture, and when her main link, her estranged father, dies, she now feels adrift and as though a part of herself she never really knew has been taken from her with his death. Rita’s journey in the woods on the lake where he grew up has the expected ‘cabin the woods’ beats, but it goes deeper than that and dives into the horrors of this kind of grief. And I also liked how instead of grief being seen as something to be fought or overcome, as some horror stories have done, you get the sense that Rita’s grief isn’t something to be conquered, but something to be accepted and something to sit with. That, too, ties into the colonized nature of Rita’s grief, as within the Western lens (as seen through her white girlfriend Molly), Rita is sent away to process her grief and to come out more artistic and whole, to hide it away until she is done processing it. But as Rita is isolated in the woods and goes through her journey in the swamps and with the Lichen Woman, grief isn’t seen as something to hide, but to, in some ways, embrace.

“Green Fuse Burning” is a meditative and gorgeously written horror story that has moments of intensity, as well as moments of reflection. It’s one of the more unique horror stories I’ve read this year, and I quite enjoyed it.

Rating 8: An unsettling environmental horror that takes on grief and loss, “Green Fuse Burning” is both intense, but also meditative.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Green Fuse Burning” is included on the Goodreads lists “Queer Releases October 2023”, and “Horror To Look Forward To in 2023”.

Serena’s Review: “Our Divine Mischief”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Our Divine Mischief” by Hanna C. Howard

Publishing Info: Blink YA, October 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: The Goddess Trial is designed to push young people to their edge and mark their coming of age, but Áila LacInis is ready for whatever it brings. She sets sail from her small fishing village to the island of the goddess Yslet, fully expecting a divine encounter, but what she finds is … nothing at all. The goddess is completely absent, and the only thing on the island is a dirty, mangy dog. Suddenly, everything Áila has ever known and believed is upended and her future becomes shrouded in uncertainty.

Hew already completed the Goddess Trial and received the designation of Unblessed. He is an outcast in the village, until he is tasked with assisting Áila through a series of Ordeals the town elders designed to compensate for her failed Trial. For the first time, he has hope he can make something of his life.

Orail isn’t quite sure who or what she is. She remembers little before Áila’s arrival on the island, and now all she knows is that she’ll never leave Áila’s side. But as she begins to realize and remember, she discovers powers—and an identity—she never could have imagined.

Review: I was definitely interested in this book the first time I saw it. There are a lot of similar sounding books floating around in YA fantasy right now, and this one definitely came across as a breath of fresh air. I was even more intrigued when I cracked my copy open and realized that while, yes, this was a dual POV book between the heroine and hero, there was a third POV from the dog, written in a poetry style. What a creative and intriguing choice! Let’s dive in to the review.

This was one of those interesting reads where I enjoyed quite a lot of it, but I think a few style changes or refocusing in certain plot points really would have elevated it to another level. But let’s start with the unequivocal good things first. I enjoyed the world-building we were given here, with its mix of historical fiction based on Irish folklore and its fantasy elements, that of a Goddess who intercedes in her peoples’ lives and gives them their direction. Both of these elements, the historical and the fantasy, were well-balanced. There were moments that read like a fairytale, with Aila undergoing trials with magical solutions, and others that read more like straight historical fiction, with a focus on the political machinations of a foreign prince.

I also really enjoyed Aila as a main character. Her arch is fairly straight forward, but even as her faith in her Goddess waivers, she discovers new strength within herself to face a world that is much more complex that she originally believed. I also really enjoyed the dog, Orail’s, chapters. The use of poetry was very creative as it gave voice to the changing awareness that Orail goes through as she remembers her past, from the simple thoughts of a puppy to the more complex understanding of a fully realized being.

I also enjoyed Hew’s story, but this also gets into what I think held this book back from its full potential. The love story between Hew and Aila was very sweet, and while Hew did have his own storyline, I feel like his chapters ultimately took away from the development of Orail and Aila’s relationship. It’s clear that the author wanted to write a love letter to the relationship between a beloved pet and its owner, and that does come through. But this is a fairly short book, and ultimately, the balance felt off between the three perspectives. Simply removing Hew’s POV chapters, but keeping him as a character with a love story told through Aila’s perspective, would have allowed Orail and Aila’s own story to become more central, which ultimately is more important to the greater arc of the overall story. As it was, Orail’s love and attachment to Aila develops too quickly to truly hit the way it needs to in the climax of the story. By giving more page time to develop this relationship, and keeping Hew as an important character, albeit one without a POV of his own, I think the book could have reached a more successful balance in its ultimate themes and resolution.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. However, it was one of those rather frustrating reads where it had all the right pieces, but it almost feels like the author wasn’t brave enough to write the story that she really wanted. There is an unfortunate trend in YA fantasy where it’s almost expected that if you have a love story, your book must be dual POV for it to be effective. This is absolutely not the case. And beyond that, here, even if the love story is sweet, the relationship between dog and owner is the more important one. You can sense that the author felt this way too, and yet it wasn’t given the prominent position it deserved. It’s one of those cases where I almost wonder if there was publisher pressure to adjust the story. Either way, I’ll definitely check out other books by this author as she has real skill. And even if this one had potential to be stronger, it’s still an enjoyable read as it is written.

Rating 7: A sweet fantasy novel with a truly lovely look at the relationship between a beloved pet and its owner, though this theme was undercut by an unnecessary POV for the love interest.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Our Divine Mischief” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2023

Kate’s Review: “Here in the Night”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Here in the Night” by Rebecca Turkewitz

Publishing Info: Black Lawrence Press, July 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a print copy from the author.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: The thirteen stories in Rebecca Turkewitz’s debut collection, Here in the Night , are engrossing, strange, eerie, and emotionally nuanced. With psychological insight and finely crafted prose, Here in the Night investigates the joys and constraints of womanhood, of queerness, and of intimacy. Preoccupied with all manner of hauntings, these stories traverse a boarding school in the Vermont woods, the jagged coast of Maine, an attic in suburban Massachusetts, an elevator stuck between floors, and the side of an unlit highway in rural South Carolina.

At the center of almost every story is the landscape of night, with all its tantalizing and terrifying potential. After dark, the familiar becomes unfamiliar, boundaries loosen, expectations fall away, and even the greatest skeptics believe–at least fleetingly–that anything could happen.

These stories will stay with you.

Review: Thank you to Rebecca Turkewitz for sending me a copy of this book!

We are starting to wind down the Halloween Season, as the holiday is next week and the various creepy plans that I have for the month are coming to a head (“Hocus Pocus” night with ladyfriends? Check. “Practical Magic” night with more different ladyfriends? Check. “Lost Boys” party at the local Alamo? CHECK AND MATE!). And as we continue our horror lit journey for the month, we are now coming to a book that felt a little different than my usual horror fare. “Here in the Night” by Rebecca Turkewitz was sent to me by Turkewitz herself (thank you again!), and I was expecting another short stories horror collection with blatant scares, sub genre jumping, and the usual fare for the horror fan who wants smaller tales to read at their own leisure. But when I sat down and started reading, I realized that “Here in the Night” was something far different from what I was expecting, and that it was something very special because of it.

Like I always do, I will highlight my three favorite stories and then review the collection as a whole.

“Warnings”: Members of a school track team run in a desolate area, the warnings of predators and strangers at the back of their minds until something they never thought could happen, happens. This is one of the shorter stories in the collection, more like a flash fiction tale, but I loved the structure, written in a ‘we’ narration, speaking like a chorus and speaking for the track team as a whole and beyond. This story felt like an expanded take on the Calvin and Hobbes quote (which I’m probably butchering) ‘this is one of the things you figure will happen to someone else, but unfortunately we’re ALL someone else to someone else’. It’s scary and sad and sobering, and all achieved in maybe two pages.

“Here in the Night”: On June 12th 2016, Ellie and Jess are returning from a visit to Ellie’s family, and seeking out updates on the Pulse Nightclub massacre as they drive down an isolated country road in rural North Carolina. As their grief and anxiety builds, they question their differences in reactions as well as their differences in upbringings. Almost definitely the most heart wrenching story in the collection, Turkewitz captures the trauma, the grief, and fear, and the questions that were swirling in the queer community after this horrific hate crime happened, examining two women in a relationship who find themselves upset at the world as well as at each other amidst the fear and uncertainty. There’s the slow build of their relationship tension, but then a whole other tension about the potential danger they could be in in the moment, perhaps heightened due to the mass shooting on their minds, which make for some very unnerving beats as well as emotional ones.

“Crybaby Bridge”: Sam is a teenager who has just moved to small town Indiana after an incident in her old community in the big city, and has trouble fitting in with other girls on her basketball team. While at a sleepover they tell her the story of Crybaby Bridge, a haunted spot in town that is supposedly roamed by the ghost of a young woman who drowned her baby and then killed herself, and Sam finds herself drawn to the tale. I love a scary story about urban legends, and “Crybaby Bridge” does a really good job of spinning a familiar tale while subverting it in ways that I didn’t expect. I really loved Sam as a character, as she is so complex and nuanced and could read like a ‘not like other girls’ trope but is so much more. It’s also a great exploration of how urban legends can make villains out of victims and turn them into spectral monsters.

But I had a hard time picking my favorite three stories because I really enjoyed all of them. They are definitely horror stories, but they all flow so smoothly and read like literary ruminations on love, loss, grief, and trauma, and never in a way that felt like it was trying too hard (which can be a big sticking point for me when it comes to the idea of ‘literary’ horror; if you have to hammer home you’re ‘literary’, it just makes you seem like you think you’re more valid than genre horror, and I hate that). Turkewitz can peel back the layers of the human condition and find the scary things, be they real life or supernatural or perhaps ambiguous, usually framed within a female or queer experience. The stories here are effective but never feel over the top, and there were multiple times I said to myself ‘I really like this’ as I finished up one story and moved on to the next. Not a clunker in the bunch, and in my experience that is rare in a short stories collection.

I urge horror fans who are hoping to find something a bit more ruminative to seek out “Here in the Night”. These stories will unsettle you, but they will also bubble up emotions as they tug at your heartstrings. I am spreading the word on Rebecca Turkewitz. Check this book out.

Rating 9: Quite possibly the best short story collection I’ve read this year, “Here in the Night” combines uneasy supernatural horrors with the horrors of the real world, all with a literary flair that makes for an evocative read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Here in the Night” is included on the Goodreads list “Spooky/Halloween LGBTQ+ Fiction”.

Another Take: Fall 2023

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Don’t just take it from us, other readers like these books, too! And we have decided that we would like to showcase other reviewers and bloggers that have their own thoughts and feelings about books that we have loved. Here are a few of the books we’ve enjoyed recently and what other bloggers have to say about them.

Book: “The Water Outlaws” by S. L. Huang

Book Description: Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor’s soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.

Serena’s Review (8 Rating)

Dear Author (B+)

Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together (8 Rating)

Sifa Elizabeth Reads (4 Stars)

Book: “A Study in Drowning” by Ava Reid

Book Description: Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. She’s had no choice. Since childhood, she’s been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad – author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy’s tattered, dog-eared copy is all that’s keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn’t the only one who’s made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove her favorite author is a fraud.

As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author’s legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house’s foundation isn’t the only thing that can’t be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them – and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

Serena’s Review (9 Rating)

Before We Go (4 Stars)

KB Book Reviews (4.5 Stars)

Forever Young Adult

Book: “Starling House” by Alix E. Harrow

Book Description: Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland–and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.

Serena’s Review (10 Rating)

Tar Vol on (5 Stars)

Righter of Words

Reading Reality (4.5 Stars)

Book: “Delicate Condition” by Danielle Valentine

Book Description: Anna Alcott is desperate to be pregnant. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. And even when she finally manages to get pregnant, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone’s playing a twisted game with her.

When the increasingly cryptic threats drive her out of her Brooklyn brownstone and into hiding in the cold, gray ghost town that is the Hamptons in the depths of winter, Anna is almost at the end of her rope.

Then her doctor tells her she’s had a miscarriage—except Anna’s convinced she’s still pregnant, despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Could it be that her mind is playing tricks on her? Or is something more sinister at play? As her symptoms become ever more horrifying and the sense of danger ever more present, Anna can’t help but wonder what exactly she’s carrying inside of her…and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.

Kate’s Review (10 Rating)

What Jess Reads (5/5 Stars)

Lynn’s Book Blog (4.5/5 Stars)

The BiblioSanctum (5/5 Stars)

Book: “What Kind of Mother” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Book: Description: After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local farmers market.

It’s there that she connects with old high school flame Henry McCabe, now a reclusive local fisherman whose infant son, Skyler, went missing five years ago. Everyone in town is sure Skyler is dead, but when Madi reads Henry’s palm, she’s haunted by strange and disturbing visions that suggest otherwise. As she follows the thread of these visions, Madi discovers a terrifying nightmare waiting at the center of the labyrinth—and it’s coming for everyone she holds dear.

Combining supernatural horror with domestic suspense into a visceral exploration of parental grief, What Kind of Mother cements Clay McLeod Chapman’s reputation as a “star” (Vulture) and “the twenty-first century’s Richard Matheson” (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.)

Kate’s Review (Rating 9)

Books, Bones, & Buffy (4/5 Stars)

FanFiAddict

Geeks of Doom (5/5 Open Palms)

Book: “Black River Orchard” by Chuck Wendig

Book Description: It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season. Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples… and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful? And even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow’s secrets. Because it’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

Kate’s Review (9 Rating)

Tessa Talks Books (4/5 Stars)

Every Read Thing

Books, Bones, & Buffy (4.5/5 Stars)

Book Excerpt: “A Vengeful Realm”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Occasionally we are approached with the opportunity to promote books that may be of interest to our readers. And occasionally in lieu of a full review of the book, we will let it speak for itself by posting an excerpt from it. Enjoy!

177235826

Book: “A Vengeful Realm” by Tim Facciola

Publishing Info: First Torch Books LLC, October 2023

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Peace bought by blood seldom lasts, for vengeance knows no end. The same is true for mortals and Gods alike. Decades, centuries, eras may pass, but the cycle remains. As war and revolution rise again, Zephyrus finds himself at the center of it all. Chosen by the Gods, hailed as a prophet of liberation, and forged as a weapon to break the kingdom and restore balance to the realm, hope rests squarely on his shoulders.

If only he could remember…

Enslaved as a gladiator and thrust into a prince’s game of espionage, Zephyrus has only two clues to help unlock his shattered a prophecy foretelling destruction, and a letter to the enemy king, promising peace. Now Zephyrus must survive the dangers of the gladiatorial arena, the cunning fury of the Prince’s enemies, and the Gods’ torment if he is to find the truth of his identity and fulfill his fate. But to have any hope of breaking the cycle, first he must secure his freedom—and not just from his slavers.

Within this vengeful realm, a queen protecting her kingdom, a prince defending his father, and a gladiator slave haunted by a prophecy each contend for their own brand of freedom. But the Gods have an agenda of their own, and they’ll use any vessel—patrician, plebeian, or slave—to see it done.

The scales must be balanced. By peace. Or by blood.

Excerpt:

“If he wins, he is worthy of training. If he dies, then…” He shrugged. “All in favor?” The cavernous room echoed with cheers.

Zephyrus swallowed the growl forming in his throat. Laeden had given him an opportunity to prove to these people that he was worth more to them alive than dead. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Yet it was the best he was likely to receive. Again, his life hung on the whims of Gods and the balance of fate, but if he had steel in hand, he had a chance.

Laeden gave Zephyrus the slightest of nods. Another chance to stay alive. 

Fate… what a cruel jape. 

“Who will stand against him?” Cassius’s daughter, Nallia, asked. 

“I will.” Lenox stepped from his position along the wall and descended the stairs to stand before the Cassiuses and the royal family. “Let the Gods guide my blade.”

Zephyrus’s apprehension dissolved, replaced by a wave of determination.

“How fitting,” the queen said. “Let us pray.”

The queen droned on, calling for the Gods of Valencia to guide the true path of the impending match. An omenation they called it, to discern the will of the Gods. But Zephyrus saw it as fate. He was still alive for this purpose: to see Patrus’s murderer put to ground. Wielder, Harbinger, or Herald, he would kill Lenox and avenge his fallen friend.

The queen finished her prayer. The guards undid Zephyrus’s manacles while Lenox drew his sword. 

Let us see whose Gods are stronger. 

Zephyrus—wet, bloody, clad only in a loincloth—stood across from Lenox in his purple-and-gold armor. Eyeing the finely forged steel in Lenox’s hand, Zephyrus didn’t suppose this was going to be a fair fight.

Laeden drew his blade and descended the stairs. “He may wield my sword.”

Cassius stopped him with a raised hand. “He can use mine.” Cassius pulled a cheese knife from a nearby servant’s platter and tossed it into the air. 

The tranquility of the moment shattered as the cheese knife bounced down the steps with the clank of metal on marble. It toppled and spun before coming to a stop at Zephyrus’s feet.

Zephyrus eyed the rounded edge. Even the cheese was safe from such a blade.

Cassius lifted his hand. “Begin.”

Before Zephyrus could seize the dulled knife, Lenox charged. Lenox hacked down with a savage cut intending to cleave him in two. Zephyrus fell back, creating separation. He scuttled across the floor, pulling himself backwards with his hands to regain his footing. His heart throbbed in his ears. A chorus of disgruntled shouts filled the vaulted room, but Zephyrus was only focused on Lenox’s blade, chopping down at him. Sparks flew as steel met marble, narrowly missing Zephyrus’s thigh. He managed to his feet, just in time to avoid Lenox’s second attack. The blade passed mere hairs away from where Zephyrus was. 

“The perfect dodge is just beyond your opponent’s reach,” reminded a familiar voice.

Lenox continued to press, but Zephyrus’s instincts took over. He was no longer the hunted. He was the hunter.

Zephyrus stepped back, allowing the blade to cut the air before him. He moved just enough to dodge, never overextending himself or misjudging the reach of the attack. He continued to back away as Lenox pressed. 

Slash, hack, thrust! 

Zephyrus evaded each but let Lenox believe he was getting closer to finishing the fight. Lenox was not without skill. His footwork precise, his cuts intentional, he struck in an unpredictable pattern, but Zephyrus was better. Zephyrus backed away, retreating up the stairs toward the Cassiuses to keep space between Lenox and himself. 

He will tire. He will make a mistake, and when he does, I will kill him for it. 

Lenox lashed out with more frustration behind each swing. Fighting against an unarmed man, Lenox would want to end the fight quickly, but his haste would be his undoing. Stab, slice, slash, chop! Each cut had more fury behind it. Lenox’s breathing became short, ragged grunts. 

He’s losing patience. Wait for him to rush. Wait… Wait…

Lenox charged. 

Wait…

Zephyrus rolled beneath an overzealous lunge and claimed the cheese knife. Lenox launched, but Zephyrus side-stepped, slashing across Lenox’s cheek. Blood sprayed, causing a red tear to trickle down Lenox’s face. Lenox let out a cry and thrashed with his sword. Again, Zephyrus dodged, slipping his heel just behind Lenox’s. With a slight shove, the armored guard went down with a thud.

“You will die!” Lenox barked, getting to his feet. He slashed low to high, but Zephyrus pivoted out of the way and countered, nicking Lenox’s sword arm in the gap of his leather armor. Lenox followed up with a horizontal slash, attempting to part Zephyrus’s head from his shoulders. Zephyrus ducked under the blow and sliced across the inside of Lenox’s thigh, dropping him to a knee. Grabbing Lenox’s sword arm at the wrist, Zephyrus twisted, forcing the blade from his grasp. He kicked the sword aside and stood over his now-unarmed opponent. 

Blood trickled from Lenox’s wounds, but his pride suffered the greater defeat.

“You killed Patrus,” Zephyrus whispered. “And now you’ll die for it.” He reached the cheese knife back to deliver the final blow. Vengeance is mine. Patrus can rest eas—

His arm froze, suspended in mid-air. He pulled, but he couldn’t move. With all his strength, he tried to slam the cheese knife into Lenox’s neck, but to no avail. A powerful force jerked his arm backwards, spilling him onto the granite slab. 

“I said enough!” The doctore unwound his whip from around Zephyrus’s wrist. Zephyrus tried to locate the cheese knife, but he lost it in his fall. Lenox stood, reclaiming his sword, face red with fury. 

“Stand down, Lenox,” Cassius said. Lenox glared at Zephyrus, shoulders heaving with labored breaths. Zephyrus wasn’t ready for the fight to be over yet. He didn’t need a dull cheese knife to kill. For Patrus! He charged at Lenox.

Serena’s Review: “After the Forest”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “After the Forest” by Kell Woods

Publishing Info: Tor, October 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.

Twenty years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people starving in the aftermath of a brutal war.

Greta has a secret, the witch’s grimoire, secreted away and whispering in Greta’s ear for the past two decades, and the recipe inside that makes the best gingerbread you’ve ever tasted. As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat.

But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her mysteriously addictive gingerbread, not to mention the rumors about her childhood misadventures, is a source of gossip and suspicion.

And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta’s magic—magic she is still trying to understand—may be the only thing that can save her. If it doesn’t kill her first.

Review: Like Mothman, there seems to be a certain trend towards Germanic fairytales this fall. This is the second fantasy book I’ve read that has pulled from German fairytales or been set in Germany. While I enjoyed the focus on Russian fantasy over the last few years, this feels like a natural next step and a refreshing shift in focus. This story, less a re-telling of “Hansel and Gretel” and more an imagined sequel to that tale, was definitely high on my TBR list for this fall. Unfortunately, while it started out strong and I had high hopes, it didn’t ultimately live up my expectations.

When I started reading initially there were a few flags about the writing style that were immediately raised. But as I kept pushing forward, I became invested in Greta’s story and was particularly intrigued by the romantic interest. Unfortunately, as the story continued, Greta somehow became a worse lead and said romantic interest disappeared for long periods of time. When those things started happening, my initial skepticism about some of the writing kicked back in, and I ended up generally having a fairly bad time after that. I’ll start with the character stuff, however..

Greta starts out as an independent young woman who is dealing not only with the aftermath of her traumatic experiences while trapped by a witch with her brother as children, but also struggling to keep herself and Hansel afloat as he continues to gamble their livelihoods away. To aide with this, she uses a spellbook she stole from the witch who captured them so many years ago to create irresistible baked goods. As such, she early on discusses how careful and wary she has always been towards the spellbook, knowing its original owner’s penchant for horror. But as the book continues, somehow Greta becomes actively stupider and decides, nah, this book I’ve gone years knowing is probably dangerous and evil is probably actually totally fine. This is only one example, but it reflects a larger trend: Greta’s story is told in a disjointed and unnatural manner. There is no grand reason for her to suddenly become dumber about this other than the fact that the book needs her to. Decision after decisions is made in this way, not only be Greta, but by the other characters around her.

At one point, she becomes obviously hypocritical about a late reveal in the story, blows up at the love interest and stomps off. She then meets another character who literally walks her through the errors of her thinking. Then she WALKS BACK to the love interest and apologizes and the story progresses from there. It’s such an unnatural and unnecessary scene. It’s paint-by-numbers character development where it doesn’t seem like the author has even taken the time to fully cover over the paint numbers in the design, having one character literally handhold the other through development.

Beyond that, the book packs in so many different themes and fantasy elements that it quickly turns into a muddled mess. Are we supposed to be interested in the dangers of the spellbook? Or, now I see we have shape shifters, is that the main focus? How about witchcraft, women, and Greta’s own slowly revealed powers? Or, here’s a very late introduction of an entirely new villain and magical curse that we must solve! It all became a hot mess quite quickly.

And now working my way backwards to the writing. I will say, before some of these character problems happened and the story twisted itself into a knot of different focal points, the pacing was fast and interesting and the writing style was capable of drawing me in. That said, the very first chapter did introduce me to something that would plague much of the rest of the story. There’s an initial confrontation with a bear, and the way the story is written, the scene jumps from thing to thing so suddenly that I legitimately thought we were starting out with a dream sequence; it had that same disjointed, disconnected style with no transitions that I associate with authors trying to reproduce the ever-shifting nature of dreams. But no, I soon discovered this was meant to be a simple enough scene. However, the lack of transitions between scenes and even moments within a scene was very distracting, and this strangeness carried throughout the book. I never had a good understanding of how much time was passing, or when we were jumping to another time and location, or anything like that, because there was no attempt to naturally transition from place to place, either literally or metaphorically.

Overall, I struggled with much of this book. It was honestly surprising, because even with the confusion about the non-dream-sequence beginning, the writing was fast and compelling and I thought I would enjoy it. But then things quickly fell apart and I was left quite disappointed by the entire experience. That said, if you’re a big fan of fairytale re-tellings, there may be aspects of this story that appeal. I do think the romance was compelling, and the writing was fast and relatable. But if you’re looking for a more serious fantasy fairytale, this isn’t it.

Rating 6: What started out with a lot of promise quickly fell apart with errors in execution and character development.

Reader’s Advisory:

“After the Forest” isn’t on any good Goodreads lists, but it should be on Hansel and Gretel Stories