Month: July 2024

ALA Annual Convention 2024: Highlights!

While we are both currently out of the library field, one way that we like to stay in contact with the field is to attend the annual convention for the American Library Association. This year’s convention was in San Diego, CA, so we hopped on a plane and spent a long weekend immersing ourselves in all things libraries and books! Here are a few highlights from our time!

Exhibition Hall

We, of course, spent a huge amount of our time in the exhibition hall itself! It’s always overwhelming just how many booths and exhibits there are to explore, and even after several days, we always leave feeling like we must have missed something! There were opportunities to hear from and speak to many publishers about their upcoming fall and winter catalogs, so our TBR lists have grown exponentially. As you may have seen on our Instagram page, we also picked up a ton of new ARCs that we’re excited to read and review here on the blog (though this might have been an “our eyes are bigger than our…reading abilities” situation, and we likely won’t be able to review them all here fully!)

We also got to meet a lot of great authors, both some we had read before and some exciting debut authors! Serena was particularly excited to get a signed copy of “When Among Crows” by Veronica Roth as well as Mary E. Pearson for “The Courting of Bristol Keats.” For Kate the highlights included seeing Stephen Graham Jones as he signed copies of both “The Angel of Indian Lake” and “I Was A Teenage Slasher”, and meeting Hayley Dennings as she signed copies of “This Ravenous Fate” (vampires are so hot right now. Heck, even standing in line with fellow fans was a treat, as Kate had some lovely conversations with other book enthusiasts as she stood in line waiting ever so patiently for the book signing to commence.

Panels

There were also several excellent panels that we checked out! Serena was particularly interested in a mystery panel titled “Writing Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century.” Not only was the topic right up her alley, but Laurie R. King was one of the featured panelists and her “Mary Russell” series is one of the first adaptations of Holmes that Serena read and loved! Kate had three panels in particular that she found particularly fascinating. The first was a panel on Indigenous Representation in Children’s and YA Literature and how it has changed and grown over the years, and how more Native voices have started to come through.

The second was a author talk from a few horror and thriller authors that all have books coming out this fall and into the winter. And the final one was about Genre Fiction and how ir can reflect certain aspects of society, with authors who all work through indie presses talking about their inspirations and what it is like working with indie presses as opposed to larger publishing companies. There were certainly a few titles from these panels that Kate cannot wait to check out.

San Diego

We also had a lot of fun exploring San Diego! We both went down and ventured around the marina at various points (while we weren’t stuck waiting for various freight trains to move along the tracks and allow pedestrians to cross out of the convention hall!). We also ate at several nice restaurants, with live music and even belly dancing! On our last night, we ventured up to the rooftop bar at our hotel and got to hear the opening part of the Blink 182 concert that was playing at the stadium next to us! Luckily, they have a hard cutoff time of 11 pm for concerts since we’re now old ladies who need our sleep!

It’s also always nice being so close to the ocean, and while we didn’t get TOO close, we could see it from the convention center and could see various boats, as well as a view of Coronado Island. And given that it was generally sunny and bright while we were there while back home in Minnesota it was pretty rainy (as it par for the course this summer), it was nice being out and about and not having to carry around an umbrella.

Overall it was a very successful conference. We feel like we learned a lot, we got a lot of exciting new books that we can’t wait to dive into, and having a fun break in routine together was a pleasure. Next year the conference is going to be in Philadelphia, and we are hoping that we will be able to go and report back from there as well. Until then, thanks ALAAC24!! We had a great time!

Kate’s Review: “The Ones Who Come Back Hungry”


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

Book: “The Ones Who Come Back Hungry” by Amelinda Bérubé

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, July 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

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

Book Description: From the author of Here There Are Monsters comes a chilling supernatural horror that is part terrifying vampire legend and part modern exploration of toxic relationships wrapped up in a novel about hunger, yearning, and loss.

After the sudden death of her perfect, popular older sister, Jo and her family feel empty. But days after crying at Audrey’s graveside, Jo stumbles on the impossible: Audrey, standing barefoot in the snowy backyard. But Audrey isn’t breathing. She’s still marred with the evidence of an autopsy. She’s decaying. And worst of all, Audrey is hungry, and only human blood can curb her relentless appetite.

Jo knows she can put her family back together; she just has to figure out how to fix Audrey. She hides her sister and sustains her with her own blood, determined to figure out how to keep Audrey with them. When her search takes her to her sister’s grieving inner circle of friends, Jo finds herself drawn into their fold―and to Audrey’s boyfriend, Sam.

As Jo slips further into her sister’s old life, Audrey’s hunger and jealousy grow more insatiable. She’s not going to sit back and let Jo replace her or, worse, discover the secrets hidden beneath her golden girl facade. As Jo struggles to juggle everything she will be forced to decide which of her loved ones needs her the most ―and who she’s willing to sacrifice to save them.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

It’s been awhile since “Twilight” made vampires the hot paranormal love interest, which in turn made vampires so passé due to the over saturation of the sub-genre. But lo and behold, I am confident in saying that vampires have made their way back into the forefront of horror fiction, with MANY vampire stories coming out lately. But this time around we don’t see nearly as much romance as we did back when Edward Cullen was bringing in the readers, and while I am no longer as staunchly critical of “Twilight” as I was back when it was a phenomenon, I do have to say that I really love that vampires are a little bit wicked again. Mostly because authors are finding ways to explore that wickedness and make it feel fresh, while also being willing to explore the tragedy that can come along with it. And with that we come to “The Ones Who Come Back Hungry” by Amelinda Bérubé, a new YA vampire novel about a younger sister named Jo whose older, popular sister Audrey died… and then came back as something hungry for blood. Blood that Jo is willing to provide, and Audrey is more than willing to take.

Her name is even Audrey, that’s so fun (source)

It’s a great premise, and I really enjoyed the ‘vampire mother and teenage daughter’ theme in “Night’s Edge”, so why not a vampire and her sister?

Overall this one worked really well for me. I already like a vampire as manipulative predator story, and when you make the manipulator a formerly popular older sister and the manipulated an always waiting in the wings younger sister, it has SO much room to explore and devastate. Jo is our protagonist, who is absolutely floored and devastated by the sudden death of her ambitious and driven older sister Audrey. Jo is left adrift, her mother is so bereft she shuts herself away from the world, and her father is trying to keep things together in the family but doesn’t know how to verbalize his grief. I thought that the portrayals of grief and how many forms it can come in was well done and at times quite heart wrenching, and it makes all the more sense when Audrey suddenly shows up at the house in the middle of the night, much to Jo’s horror. Jo has always been in Audrey’s shadow, and hoping to piece their family back together and to bring back the golden child she, of course, wants to help Audrey and try to ‘cure her’, as she is very clearly not alive, but not quite dead (even though she very much looks and smells like she is). If this means she’s going to do some bloodletting, and Audrey is going to keep begging her, and badgering her, for more, so be it. It’s a return to the ‘vampire as a manipulative abuser’ trope, and while it doesn’t explore the intricacies of Audrey herself beyond selfishness (that may have even been apparent when she was alive), it’s an interesting character study of Jo and how far she would go to help Audrey, the sister who always outshined her. Things get all the more complicated when Jo starts spending time with Audrey’s friends, especially her boyfriend Sam, and Jo starts to relish filling a void left behind. Jo’s arc adds a very human element to a supernatural horror story, and it was pretty effective.

I also really enjoyed the vampire world building in this book. Bérubé has a really great author’s note in the back talking about the inspiration of New England ‘true’ vampire stories, and how she referenced and researched and pulled tidbits from that folk lore. She also goes a bit further and expands upon the vampire lore and makes for some creative, and actually pretty well thought out, additions to how vampires in her story work. The biggest one was the way that Audrey has kept all of her wounds and seems to be decaying before Jo’s eyes, with blood being the only thing to tenuously bring her back from a rotting brink. There’s even the fact that any kind of warm air make Audrey’s skin start to bloat and change, the way that heat would affect a rotting corpse (with some pretty nasty imagery involved). It’s a real change from how so many vampires are portrayed as beautiful and seductive antagonists, and I really appreciated the way she takes it a few steps further into grossness while still working within a wholly believable range (of COURSE a corpse would start to bloat in heat, and what are vampires but sentient and immortal corpses?). I love that vampires get to be gross as well as creepy and unsettling in this book.

“The Ones Who Come Back Hungry” is an entertaining vampire novel for a YA audience with some serious crossover potential for adult horror fans. I definitely enjoyed it.

Rating 8: A dark and at times quite sad book about loss, sibling dynamics, tricky familial relationships, and vampires.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Ones Who Come Back Hungry” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Novels of 2024”.

Serena’s Review: “The Spellshop”

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Book: “The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

Publishing Info: Bramble, July 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Review: Sarah Beth Durst is one of those strange authors for me. On one hand, I’ve really loved some of her books; I gave “The Bone Maker” a 9 rating! But on the other hand, while I started out enjoying her “Queens of Renthia” trilogy, by the end, I was incredibly frustrated by the series and gave the final book a 5 rating. But given how much I’ve enjoyed some of her books, she’s still an “auto-request” author for me. Plus, “The Spellshop” sounded like just the sort of cozy fantasy I was hankering for!

So, with that introduction out of the way, I’ll jump to the end of the review and say that this book fell solidly in the middle of things for me. It didn’t live up to the highs that I’ve enjoyed from this author, but it also was far from the worst. But let’s start with the things I unequivocally liked. And the first thing that comes to mind is the tone and “vibe” of this story. This book leans in hard to the “cozy” aspect of its subgenre, and, for the most part, does it very successfully. It’s whimsical, humorous, and full to the brim with lovable characters, including a wide cast of fantastical villagers, a beguiling leading man, and, of course, the hilarious sentient spider plant that is Kiela’s best friend. Durst’s style of writing is also well suited to this sort of light-hearted fare, and it was easy to want to sink into the lush scenes that were painted on the page.

There were two aspects of the story, however, that began to drag it down. One of them was Kiela herself. I have to say, I was honestly surprised by this turn of events since when Kiela was first introduced, she was hitting all of the right notes for me. Her devotion to her books was both compelling but also funny at times, and her general reflections on her circumstances were initially quite interesting and had me eager to follow her on her journey. However, once she really started to settle in to the run-down cottage, things took an extreme turn for the worse. What I had initially pegged as a love of solitude that was played up a bit for laughs I quickly realized was in fact Kiela being incredibly naive and, at times, fairly rude. I was shocked when I realized that she somehow thought she was going to live in this abandoned cottage and no one was even going to notice, that she’d somehow be able to sustain herself completely independently based on…what? It was honestly so silly that I was taken aback. From there, she proceeds to be “rescued” from this silliness by her kind-hearted, handsome neighbor who essentially feeds her and fixes her house. And she proceeds to berate him and be rude. I understood the first time, but then she seems to double down, and I found myself beginning to mentally root for her neighbor, thinking he could do better and should just leave her to her own foibles.

I also began to struggle with the world-building and plotting as the story continued. I simply don’t understand how this magic system operates in the way it does. It seems that all that is needed in this world to do magic is to know the correct incantation and say it. That being the case, it was incredibly hard to believe that this information had been successfully restricted in the way that it had. Beyond that, I began to question more basic things. For example, when we first visit the tiny local village, Kiela describes meeting a handful of very diverse fantasy beings. We’re talking a faun-like creature, another faun-like creature but with wings, a centaur, a being with four arms, Kiela herself (a blue humanoid being) and more. All of these on what we are repeatedly (!) told is a tiny, remote island. And, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stop wondering about how the biology of this all worked! These sure sound like different species of people, and yet they’re all on a tiny island where you have to imagine there are very few of each and…well, you understand my confusion. It was things like this that left me feeling as if the actual cohesion of the world-building was sacrificed at the alter of cozy vibes. All of these people were adorable in their own right and clearly stood in for the type of “quirky villagers” you’d find in a similar cozy mystery. But this is a fantasy world still, these things need to make sense as well.

I also struggled a bit with some of the plot and Kiela’s own motivations and priorities. She begins the story hyper-focused on protecting the secrets of the books at all costs. Again, we hear all about this repeatedly (if you haven’t caught up, being a bit repetitive was also a sticking point). But as the story continues, she quickly flips to not only selling the spells of these books but outright teaching others how to use them (again, from a practical point, would this be a believable choice for someone whose only source of income is selling these spells??).

Overall, this was just an ok book for me. There were moments that were truly enjoyable, and when I wasn’t distracted by questions about the world or Kiela’s decisions, I could find myself sinking easily into the experience of the story. But that’s just it, it felt more like an experience than a fully-realized story. If you’re a big cozy fantasy fan, this might still be a great fit for you! But if you’re a fantasy reader who needs there to be more meat on the bones of your fantasy world, this one will come up lacking.

Rating 7: Vacillating wildly between enjoyably cozy moments and frustrating pitfalls in world-building and characterization, this book was a bit all over the place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Spellshop” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Cozy Fantasy Romance reads.

Kate’s Review: “Such a Bad Influence”

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Book: “Such a Bad Influence” by Olivia Muenter

Publishing Info: Quirk Books, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: For fans of Ashley Winstead, a razor-sharp debut about what happens when one of the first child stars of the social media age grows up . . . and goes missing.

Hazel Davis is drifting: she’s stalled in her career, living in a city she hates, and less successful than her younger sister @evelyn, a lifestyle influencer. Evie came of age on the family YouTube channel after a viral video when she was five. Ten years older and spotlight-averse, Hazel managed to dodge the family business—so although she can barely afford her apartment, at least she made her own way.

Evie is eighteen now, with a multimillion-dollar career, but Hazel is still protective of her little sister and skeptical of the way everyone seems to want a piece of her: Evie’s followers, her YouTuber boyfriend and influencer frenemies, and their opportunistic mother. So when Evie disappears one day during an unsettling live stream that cuts out midsentence, Hazel is horrified to have her worst instincts proven right.

As theories about Evie’s disappearance tear through the internet, inspiring hashtags, Reddit threads, and podcast episodes, Hazel throws herself into the darkest parts of her sister’s world to untangle the truth. After all, Hazel knows Evie better than anyone else . . . doesn’t she?

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

Back at the end of last summer a particularly disturbing crime story dropped, in which Youtube Mommy Blogger Ruby Franke and her business associate Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested for six counts of aggravated child abuse against Franke’s two youngest children. Franke and her family rose to fame through her now defunct 8 Passengers YouTube channel, where she would document and monetize family life and wholesome conservative/Mormon values. So it was a shock to many when she was arrested for starving, beating, maiming, and abusing two of the kids that had once been on the channel and in so many people’s lives through a computer screen. It wasn’t a shock for me, though, having been tuned in to the whole swamp that is child influencers on social media for awhile. So it’s no surprise that “Such a Bad Influence” by Oliva Muenter caught my attention, as it’s a thriller that has that very idea as a hook. I had such high expectations for this book, and was very excited to read it. So it’s not too dramatic to say that after riding a high on it for a good three fourths of the novel, the last fourth knocked me back to Earth in a frustrating way.

Firstly though I’m going to talk about the things that I did like about this book, because for the great majority of it I was very, very pleased with what I was reading. For one, I am a huge sucker for missing person books, and “Such a Bad Influence” has a great hook of a very popular influencer named Evie Davis going radio silent mid livestream, and as her silence continues people start speculating she’s actually missing. This is already a winning aspect for me, and you add in a protagonist in the form of her older sister Hazel, who has shunned the spotlight and has worried over Evie even before this moment in time. Hazel’s motivation is totally believable, and while she’s prickly and difficult in some ways I liked her tenacity and her drive to find the younger sister she feels she has failed in many ways. I also really, really liked the themes of the ethics of children being shown online for profit, usually by their parents, and using them as money makers by exploiting their time, image, and very existence when they can’t REALLY consent. And along with that come the strangers who seek out these accounts of underage children who have disgusting ulterior motives, and how the full access to these accounts can enable predation. This is all through the role of Evie and Hazel’s mother Erin, who once posted a tragic video that went viral and rocketed Evie to fame, and with that came her ambitions to become a momager to her now incredibly popular daughter. And all the shady choices that come with a fortune from business ventures, sponsorships, and clicks constant content churning. I’ve been tapped into this ethical debate for almost two years now, when the podcast “Someplace Under Neith” did a whole series on exploitation of children on social media vis a vis influencer accounts, but it has come more to the forefront in society’s eyes due to the aforementioned Ruby Franke/Jodi Hildebrandt case and a long investigative article by the New York Times (which my husband was texting me about the day it dropped, in full horror, and I was like ‘yep, I know all this, why do you think all my social media accounts where I have images of our kid are private/highly vetted?’). There were also some good points about how true crime exploits people as well, but I won’t go into that as much because eh, that’s pretty well worn territory these days as it seems EVERYONE needs to be pointing that out in any story that involves a true crime community angle. We get it, we’re creeps. But I did like the way this story addressed it as it wasn’t as hamfisted as it could have been. All of this was fantastic, and I was really loving this book and the issues that Muenter was touching upon.

BUT. ONCE AGAIN, a really fun and engaging thriller/mystery was, for me, completely derailed by a wholly unnecessary twist ending.

THIS JUST KEEPS HAPPENING LATELY. (source)

Okay, look. I’m not so naive to believe that these kinds of rug yanked out from under you twists aren’t popular with the thriller fanbase. I would probably even be willing to concede that for a lot of people the big surprising twist is a good part of the fun of a thriller, to see how creative an author can be and how their misdirection can surprise a reader. But I am getting sick of it. Nay, I’ve BEEN sick of it. It always feels like it negates everything that came before, especially when there was an already in place solid first ending that was upended with a few paragraphs after a time jump of all things, which just felt like a yadda yadda yadda of a significant plot point. And honestly I didn’t really like that one so much either because it wasn’t super fleshed out to begin with, but at least it felt earned and like everything was building up to it. This damn twist had a couple of hints towards it too I suppose, but it still felt like a cheap final ‘gotcha’ that I really didn’t have the patience for this time around. That’s probably not the fault of the book, but man, I’m just so over this kind of device.

I was bummed that “Such a Bad Influence” had a thud of an ending after a solid and enjoyable rise before the fall. If you like shocking final act game changers by all means check it out for yourself. Far be it from me to ruin that kind of fun for those who enjoy it.

Rating 6: What started as a twisted and entertaining thriller eventually ended with a clunk and an unnecessary twist.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Such a Bad Influence” is included in the Goodreads article/list “Readers’ 54 Most Anticipated Summer Mysteries & Thrillers”.

Serena’s Review: “The Curse of Sins”

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

Book: “The Curse of Sins” by Kate Dramis

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: After discovering she’s prophesied to save the realm, Aya’s duty should be clear: return home with once-sworn enemy Will to serve their queen in the coming war against a rival kingdom…one whose pursuit of dark magic could bring the realm to its knees.

But with part of the prophecy still undiscovered, and their queen’s intentions increasingly suspect, Aya’s very purpose is quickly brought into question. With betrayal lurking around every corner, she and Will are forced to lie, manipulate, and hide what they’ve become to one another as they struggle to learn the truth before dark magic destroys them all.

And with secrets and lies trailing Aya wherever she goes, she has to wonder…do the gods truly want her to save the realm…or simply watch it burn?

Previously Review: “The Curse of Saints”

Review: So, if you go back and read my review of the first book, you’ll see that I gave it a fairly middling review. That said, I distinctly remember filing this one in the “circle back around to” category in my head. Yes, I struggled with aspects of the first book, but I also remembered enjoying the world-building and the bare bones of the characters. I also had high hopes that now that the initial work had been done to introduce these characters and this world, the second installment would be freed up to tell a more complete and satisfying story. So, I requested this sequel. Alas, in this particular case, all of this strategizing was for not, and I ended up just as (in fact, even more!) frustrated with this second outing than I was with the first.

We always try to start with positives with our reviews, even the more negative ones. But I’ve got to say, it’s a bit of a struggle with this one. Essentially, every single thing that bothered me about the first book was present again here, except somehow, now even worse. That being the case, I guess a positive would be that if you enjoyed the first one, you’ll probably like this one! They are very similar, and if you enjoyed the angstiness of the characters, the long page length, and the arbitrary feel to whether or not certain story elements were crucial to the plot, well…you’ll like this one too! Also, if you like the “misunderstanding” trope in romances, than you’ll enjoy this love story a heck of a lot more than I did. I’ll also add that I don’t think the author’s writing style is bad. She can string together some very nice turns of phrase, and, again, I do think there are a lot of interesting ideas and world-building that went into this series. That said, things are never really pulled together in a coherent manner.

One of the things that annoyed me the most in the first book was the flip/flop relationship between Aya and Will, with them trusting one another one moment, then, bizarrely, swinging the complete other direction and keeping massive secrets from one another (at best!) or trying to kill one another again (at worst!). I was hopeful going into this book that we would leave this element behind. After all, there were some large reveals at the end of the first book, and the characters had, seemingly, grown over the course of that book. So, imagine my dismay when I cracked this one open and found even more of the same! C’mon now! At points it was so bad that it felt like the author was having to manually get into the story and rewind her own characters’ growth and arcs in completely unnatural ways just to increase the “drama” and brooding of it all. When I see this in a book, I begin to question whether the author really has a steady hand on the characters at all. Is there an inability to write them in any other way? Do they have no other inner lives to speak of? I can’t emphasize enough how frustrating it was to see the character work unspun like this, all for the sake of angst, seemingly.

I also continued to be thrown out by the incompetence of these characters. As I noted in my first review, there is a direct conflict between the types of people we are told Aya and Will are and the ones we see on the page. They aren’t just average spies and fighters; no, they are each at the very top, the Queen’s closest advisors, essentially helping her run the entire country. And, like the first book, I saw none of this skill on the page. Again and again, these characters would blunder through scenarios that should have been well within their skillsets. Worse, they failed to pick up on very obvious plots swirling around them in a way that was, frankly, laughable at times.

The book was also way too long for the amount of plot it contained. Again, there were elements of this plot line that I enjoyed, but there were also numerous instances where things seemed to happen for no real reason. And then were forgotten, with a similar lack of concern to cohesion. This book could have been severely edited down, and I think it would have helped every aspect of the story. A shorter page count would have tightened up the plot and, importantly, limited the page time devoted to the characters brooding.

I think this is it for me and this series. I’m glad I gave it another go, as there have been several instances where I’ve come back to a series or an author and been pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, the author doubled down on everything that frustrated me about the first book here in the second, killing any interest I might have had in the third. However, if you did enjoy the first one, you’ll likely enjoy this one more than me!

Rating 5: Overly long and lacking in substance, this book didn’t seem to know what to do with its characters other than regress them into brooding messes.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Curse of Sins” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on SFF Spy Books.

Kate’s Review: “You Like It Darker”

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

Book: “You Like It Darker” by Stephen King

Publishing Info: Scribner, May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: “You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.

“Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “The Answer Man” asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.

King’s ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys, and mysteries; each feels iconic. You like it darker? You got it.

Review: Stephen King is a favorite of mine as we all know, and I’m just happy getting even one story out of him a year. But this year along with “Holly” (which I loved), we also get a new short story collection! “You Like It Darker” is that collection, and I absolutely pre-ordered it in high anticipation. While some of these stories have been published in other capacities before, it was my first experience with all of them, and I was very excited to read it. And no surprises here, I was very satisfied with it.

As I always do with a short story collection, I’m going to review my favorite three stories in full, and then review the collection as a whole.

“The Fifth Step”: This story was, to me, the most ‘classic King’ in tone and storytelling. A man sitting in a park is approached by a stranger who asks if he can try and complete his Fifth Step for his AA program with him, as he feels more comfortable approaching a stranger to express ‘the exact nature of his wrongs’ as opposed to someone he knows, as suggested by his sponsor. As he confesses for his program, things take a very personal turn. I loved the build of this one, as the intensity ratchets up and the story starts to twist the reader in the wind. As I said, Classic King right here, with a folksy twang and a creepy air about it.

“Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”: Sometimes the scariest things are rooted in a very dark reality, and “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream” was very much that. It was also my favorite story in the collection because of how goddamn scary it was. Danny Coughlin is an average working man who is just trying to live his life. But when he has a vivid psychic vision about finding a dead body in an abandoned lot, he is afraid to say anything due to the nature of his knowledge. but does the right thing…. only for the police to decide that HE is the perpetrator, and will stop at nothing to put him behind bars. This one really, really freaked me out because it’s a damning indictment of the corruptions and rot in law enforcement circles, and how some investigators are less interested in making a suspect fit evidence and more interested in making evidence fit a suspect. It was definitely the most suspenseful of the collection.

“Laurie”: This story is one of the more poignant and quieter tales in the book, and while it has some creepy aspects, there is such a tenderness about it. A widower living in Florida has become depressed and listless after losing his wife of decades, and is gifted a puppy that he doesn’t really want from his sister, who thinks he could use the company. While he’s reluctant at first, he starts to take a liking to Laurie the puppy. As he starts to shift his life to fit his new puppy, he starts to build a bond with her, and to find a purpose again. I loved thi story because of how it so compassionately examines grief and loss and how important reconnecting to your life can be. But don’t worry, there are still some scary and nasty King things to be found here.

But there were lots of great stories in this book. King has become such a chameleon with his stories, I wouldn’t classify any of the ones in this collection PURE horror, because even the ones that were definitely horror stories had so many moments of grounded humanity and emotion and literary exploration that it just felt like that much more. They also felt generally introspective in many ways, with lots of meditations on life and death and destiny and the human condition. It’s so frustrating that there are still people that kind of dismiss King because he is such a prolific and talented genre author (but that’s just the reflection of people looking down on genre fiction as a whole, which is another thing that grinds my gears), because man, he is so talented and shows no signs of stopping.

I thoroughly enjoyed “You Like It Darker”. There’s a story for everyone in here, with so many themes and tones and moods that they run a whole gamut. Highly recommended.

Rating 8: A solid, at times unsettling, and bittersweet collection of short stories from my favorite author, “You Like It Darker” is a King that feels introspective and melancholy, but also tentatively hopeful.

Reader’s Advisory:

“You Like It Darker” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Highlights: July 2024

Well, June was the fourth “above average” rain month we’ve had here in Minnesota. And while that’s great after last summer’s drought, there has been entirely too little reading outside in the sun for our preferences (ok, mostly Serena’s preferences). But, luckily, we did manage to escape off to sunny San Diego for the ALA annual conference! And now we have even MORE books to add to the TBR piles. Here are some we’re particularly looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I have a complicated relationship with both Sarah Beth Durst as an author and with cozy fantasy as a subgenre. With both, there are books I’ve absolutely loved! And also with both, there have been books that I very much disliked. So, this one is a pretty big mystery! That said, the premise sounds right up my alley, with a librarian absconding to a remote cottage to protect her magical books. The cover is also everything one could want from a cottage-core cozy fantasy story!

Book: “Black Tide Son” by H.M. Long

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: This is probably my most anticipated title for the month of July. I absolutely adored “Dark Water Daughter” when I read it last summer and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel! The combination of a unique fantasy world, an action-packed pirate plot, and a slow burn romance was everything I want from a book. And really, with this one, all I want is more of the same! I don’t have any particular cares about what the plot is, as long as I get to follow Mary and Samuel on their adventures and see their relationship progress. Honestly, I can’t wait for this one!

Book: “The Night Ends with Fire” by K. X. Song

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I featured this one on my list back in January of “Most Anticipated Titles of 2024” for one very simple reason: it’s an adult “Mulan” re-imagining. So it’s popping up here for the same reason! While I don’t think there have been that many re-tellings of this story, Sherry Thomas’s “The Magnolia Sword” currently holds the place as my favorite version to date. That said, I’m always on the look out for the next great take on this classic tale! I have really high hopes for this one!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “I Was A Teenage Slasher” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publication Date: July 16, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Given that Jones is one of my favorite authors writing right now, it’s no surprise that a new book of his is on this list the month it comes out. But this one is all the more special because of all the horror sub-genres, slashers are one of my all time favorite. And you just know that if Jones is going to be writing it, it’s going to be stupendous. In 1989 in a small Texas town a teenager is cursed to become a teenage slasher killer. It’s a simple premise, but I know that Jones is going to make it deeply complex and filled with nuance. I can’t wait to read it. And lucky me, I got a signed copy at ALA!

Book: “Bury Your Gays” by Chuck Tingle

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Chuck Tingle proved two things last year with his debut full length queer horror novel “Camp Damascus”; the first was that yes, love is real, and the second was that he wasn’t just a one trick pony with his monster porn parodies (and hey, look at how far monster romance has come in the past year!). So yes, of course I was looking forward to reading his next queer horror novel “Bury Your Gays”. Misha is a screenwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has been channeling some of his best work in a storyline involving a queer romance in a successful TV show. But when the higher ups tell him that he has to kill off one of the lovers in the finale, he steadfastly refuses, unwilling to give in to a bigoted trope. But then he starts being plagued by stalkers dressed as past monsters from his writing history. I am hoping that Tingle continues to be fresh and creative with horror stalwarts.

Book: “Ghost Camera” by Darcy Coates

Publication Date: July 30, 2024

Why I’m Interested: We have another horror favorite! I have been really digging Darcy Coates for the past few years, as her horror stories are so unsettling and so visceral, and now we got back to one of her first ones with a re-release of the novella “Ghost Camera”! A woman finds an old Polaroid camera and decides to take a photo just for fun. But when it develops she sees a strange apparition in the background of the photo. As she and her friends take more pictures they see more ghosts, and the ghosts seem to be getting closer. And closer. And as if that wasn’t already enough, we get some other Coates short stories on top of this one! This has been a highly anticipated read for sure.

What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!