Category: Kate’s Reviews

Kate’s Review: “What Fire Brings”

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Book: “What Fire Brings” by Rachel Howzell Hall

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: A writer’s search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.

Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.

The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?

As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.

Review: Thank you to Sparkpoint Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

We’ve actually had a pretty wet Spring going into Summer here in Minnesota, which means that in my part of the state we have no drought conditions and no threats of fires spreading dangerously (for now. We’ll see what Summer brings). Wildfire season hasn’t been a big thing for my state outside of the fact smoke has been making its way here for the past few years, but I know that it’s a huge problem out west. “What Fire Brings” by Rachel Howzell Hall takes that very real threat and throws a mystery of a missing woman, an intrepid detective, and a charming author in for good measure, and that kind of combination is super intriguing to someone like me. I was pretty hopeful going in, and my hopes were pretty well met, I’d say.

The mystery here is pretty unique and has a lot of interesting layers. We have Bailey, an aspiring private detective from L.A. who has taken on a case involving a missing woman Sam, who disappeared in the Topanga Canyon wilderness near the sprawling estate of famed author Jack Beckham. Bailey has snagged an undercover position as Jack’s writer in residence, and is using that to investigate, and while investigating starts to realize that Sam isn’t the only woman who has gone missing in the area over the years. It’s a great hook, and it has a built in suspense factor of whether or not Bailey will be discovered by Jack and his staff on top of the weird things she’s finding during her investigation. It makes for all of her moves to have added weight and potential consequence, as she is playing a part, being deceptive, and starts to realize that there may be bigger problems at hand for her outside of the investigation at hand. Bailey herself is a bit unreliable, as it slowly comes out that she has been having some problems and instabilities of her own, whether it’s a mysterious wound we aren’t privy to the origin of from the get go, an implied problem with fugue states here and there, and weird phone calls that are rattling her. It really added some dread to the ongoing investigation, which has its own twists and turns that I found surprising and enjoyable.

One thing that dinged it a bit was the pacing feeling pretty lackadaisical for a lot of the story, in spite of the fact the dread was built pretty well otherwise. It didn’t exactly meander or feel like it was stalling, but I remember there was a moment in my reading that I thought to myself ‘hm, there’s a lot of book left here’. I wasn’t bored or anything like that, but when I’m reading a thriller, even thrillers that ultimately don’t work for me (this one doesn’t fall into that category, I want to emphasize), I can at least give credit for a fast paced read that feels like it flies by. This one didn’t really have that, and by the time we did eventually get to the start of the climax it felt like it had been a long wait to get there. Once it got going it was breakneck, however. I think it’s sometimes a hard balance to get a solid slow burn for suspense while also doing a good job of keeping things moving smoothly. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker.

“What Fire Brings” is a sizzling thriller perfect for the summer months. Rachel Howzell Hall is making a name in the genre to be sure.

Rating 7: I enjoyed the mystery and the way there is already built in suspense with the private eye angle, though the pacing was sometimes a little slower than I would have liked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Fire Brings” is included on the Goodreads list “2024 Books by Black Authors”.

Kate’s Review: “Horror Movie”


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Book: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Publishing Info: William Morrow, 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: A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick. The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost? 

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.

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

Hooray hooray, it’s finally time for another Paul Tremblay horror novel!! I always look forward to seeing what this master of horror literature comes up with next, as not only can I count on it being deeply deeply upsetting in a scary sense, I can also count on it being deeply deeply upsetting in a ‘I am experiencing utter despair’ sense. And in “Horror Movie” we get both of those things and then some as we are told the story of a production of a ‘cursed’ horror movie, which starts as a shoe string low budget project and ends up as a tragedy that has to be shut down… only for a reboot in the works years later, with one of the last people involved standing being tapped to participate. This alone was enough to have me on board, but with Tremblay at the helm I knew that this was going to be a ride. And man, I really adored it.

There were so many elements of this book that really, really got under my skin. One reason for this is the narrative structure, as we are kind of flipping back and forth between two. The first is that of the unreliable (as we slowly start to realize) narration of our Unnamed Protagonist who played “The Thin Kid” in the original film as he navigates the new situation of a reboot and reminisces about his time on set with friends and coworkers Valentina (the director), Cleo (the writer), and the other people involved in the production that becomes a new member of the ‘cursed films’ club when tragedy after tragedy befalls so many people connected to the project. What starts out as a pretty straight forward thread that seems like a reminiscing and a slow reveal to the first domino of an incident that closed down the film gradually starts to transform into something very, very odd, and downright unnerving. And then on the other side we get snippets from Cleo’s original script for “Horror Movie”, which starts as a pretty familiar arthouse horror film with a little bit of an inflated sense of itself, but then really, REALLY starts to shift towards something that is, indeed, a bit genius but also bizarre. There is one moment describing a long holding shot towards the end of the book that really, really creeped me out because of how Tremblay drew it out, and I genuinely began to feel anxiety and was nervously giggling to myself as it went on. Tremblay has always been SO good at creating completely nerve wracking moments and beats without spilling into ludicrous or unworkable territory, and “Horror Movie” is another masterclass in this. And it really messed with me.

Me suppressing a panic attack until I can be alone after putting down the book after one specific scene. (source)

But this is also a really interesting take on the idea of art creation and how it can consume the creator, but also how art can come to life due to the belief in it, whether or not it’s from the creator itself or from the audience that it finds. There are some obvious explorations of this, mostly as “The Thin Kid” has to basically be method during the production and is isolated from everyone else and even goes to extreme lengths to get into character. But we also kind of see this through Valentina and Cleo’s methods as they are filming, as they have such grand ideas and lofty heights for their creation and how they want it to turn out. And even the way that the movie garners a following in spite of the fact it was never completed and never officially released, but through a few scenes being posted to YouTube which somehow brings not only the fanbase to life, but also other things that perhaps didn’t have the power they wield until a love of the art itself spread far and wide. It’s such an interesting examination of the power of art, for better or for worse. You get the sense that our protagonist probably wouldn’t be on the path he ends up on were it not for the film he was a part of, and not just because of what happened on the set.

Another fantastic novel from Paul Tremblay. I really loved “Horror Movie” in all its weird, nerve-wracking glory. I always look forward to Tremblay’s twisted horror tales, and highly recommend that horror fans check him out if you haven’t already!

Rating 9: A strange, deeply disturbing meditation on the creation of art, the way a myth can build, and how creation can influence destiny.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Horror Movie” is included on the Goodreads lists “Lost Films & Cursed Movies”, and “Found Footage”.

Kate’s Review: “Anna Bright Is Hiding Something”

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Book: “Anna Bright Is Hiding Something” by Susie Orman Schnall

Publishing Info: SparkPress, June 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: What some women will do for success…

A fast-paced and ripped-from-the-headlines story set in the glossy offices of Silicon Valley startups and New York City new media, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something explores our culture’s fascination with businesswomen who are breaking barriers—and sometimes behaving badly in the process.

Anna Bright is committing fraud. But nobody knows it yet. Not the board of her multibillion-dollar company, BrightLife; not her investors; not the media; not the public breathlessly anticipating the imminent launch of BrightSpot.

Jamie Roman, a hardworking journalist for BusinessBerry, is, no surprise, in awe of her company’s billion-dollar valuation, her polished confidence, and her hustle. But when Jamie learns about Anna’s misconduct, she embarks on a bicoastal journey to expose the crimes in the hope of making a name for herself as a journalist. It’s not long before Anna learns what the young reporter is up to, however—and she’ll do anything to stop Jamie, especially now that BrightLife’s IPO is days away.

With news of the deceit about to break, each woman will risk everything for her version of the truth . . . and only one will emerge unscathed.

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

Back in 2019 I read the book “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyou, which was about the rise and fall of Theranos and it’s lying founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who defrauded many many people for a lot of money by promising her tech could do something it absolutely could not do. Then a few years later the Hulu miniseries “The Dropout” came out, which is about the same thing with Amanda Seyfried as Holmes, and my husband (who had been following the Theranos scandal in real time) watched it and really enjoyed it. So when I found an offer to read “Anna Bright Is Hiding Something” by Susie Orman Schnall in my inbox, the story alone caught my attention, as it definitely sounded inspired by Elizabeth Holmes and her shenanigans. And given that I love a scandal and a mess, I obviously had to read it.

For people familiar with the Theranos/Elizabeth Holmes scandal, this will follow some similar beats, but that isn’t to say that it just lifts that story completely and makes it fiction. In part we follow Jamie, an intrepid and ambitious reporter who starts to investigate Anna Bright, the CEO of BrightLife whose upcoming ocular implant is boasted to change the way we see and gather information. Jamie starts to hear rumors of unrest at BrightLife after initially being in awe of the CEO, and when she smells a story that could define her career, she jumps on it. I liked Jamie’s character, as it’s always refreshing to see a flawed but easy to root for character take the reins in a story like this, and Jamie is all that and more. She has every reason to strive to prove herself, whether it’s because she’s a woman in an environment that can be sexist in a lot of ways, or because of being worried about being the shadow of her journalism giant father (and with whom she has.a tricky relationship). And I liked seeing her get the scoop, and enjoyed the suspense of wondering just what she was going to find, and what consequences there could be should she REALLY cross Anna and her own ambitions.

And then there is the choice to follow Anna, a choice that could have been a bit dicey as having our primary antagonist a perspective is a risk that can, in general, go really well, or really poorly. In this instance I thought that it was effective, as we not only get to see what kind of manipulative sociopath that Anna is, and not only do we get to see how she’s buying time and shutting all naysayers down, but we also get to see her start to realize that Jamie is on to her, and what lengths she will go to to stop the story, and the truth, from coming out. Schnall walks a really fine line, as she never makes excuses nor sympathizes for Anna’s unethical and downright dangerous lies and fraudulence, but she also isn’t painted as a cartoony villain. It’s very fun to watch these two women play a game of cat and mouse, while also watching the narrative critique some of the aspects of the scandal as it unfolds that could apply to real life (misogyny towards women in tech, the way that BIPOC women are especially targeted, the way that men who do similar things don’t receive the same level of scrutiny, and so forth). I also appreciated that while this is more of a contemporary novel, the suspense and thriller elements are still well done with the intrigue and as these two women set out to take each other down.

If you are looking for a page turner this summer and enjoy a good tech company scandal, “Anna Bright Is Hiding Something” ought to be put on your book pile. It’s very enjoyable.

Rating 8: Gripping, timely, and a little bit soapy (in a good way), “Anna Bright Is Hiding Something” is an entertaining page turner and a grand cat and mouse story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Anna Bright Is Hiding Something” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but if you want the real life parallels I would recommend “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyou.

Kate’s Review: “Follow Her Down”

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Book: “Follow Her Down” by Victoria Helen Stone

Publishing Info: Lake Union Publishing, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: Decades of doubt, fear, and suspicion won’t let a woman overcome her trauma in a riveting novel of suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.

The murder of Elise Rockwood’s sister shattered her family. Their mother’s anxiety kept her housebound. Elise’s paranoid brother, Kyle, saw conspiracies everywhere. Elise numbed her grief in an aimless lifestyle that left her emotionally broken. All of them victims. A local boy eventually confessed, but the damage was already done.

Years later, Elise is reinventing herself. She’s bought a mountain lodge to be close to home again and to find stability. Not even an email from her ex tempts her into revisiting the past. But Kyle won’t let it go. He still believes there’s more to their sister’s murder—and the confession—than meets the eye. When Elise’s ex is found dead in the same forest where her sister went missing decades before, Elise is finally willing to listen.

The traumas of the past are reemerging. So is the truth. Elise’s greatest fear now is who will survive it.

Review: Thank you to Lake Union Press and Kaye Publicity for sending me an print copy of this novel!

I feel like after having a fair amount of focus on horror for awhile I’m finally getting back into throwing in thrillers to balance it out. And there have been some pretty good ones that have come my way without me seeking them out. One of which is “Follow Her Down” by Victoria Helen Stone. I hadn’t read anything by Stone before, but the premise of a woman still reeling from her sister’s unsolved murder years before caught my attention pretty handily. I had no idea what to expect, but I was very pleased with this one.

The mystery is solid and entertaining. We follow our protagonist Elise, a standoffish woman who owns a campground whose older sister Robin disappeared decades ago, and whose death basically destroyed her family. When her ex-lover Christian reaches out after radio silence, and Elise rejects seeing him again, his body is found in the wilderness near her campground, which also happens to be in the same area Robin disappeared years earlier. It’s a good set up, and it was interesting seeing how Christian’s murder may or may nto be connected to Robin’s, especially as Elise’s obsessive brother Kyle starts to hyper-focus on the possibility. I liked Elise as a protagonist as she tries to steer focus away from herself by law enforcement, while also trying to convince herself that Kyle is just doing his usual conspiracy theory nonsense, even as more and more strange clues pop up that could be convincing. Elise is flawed and damaged, which always has the potential to be a little cloying in the genre, but Stone does her justice, mostly because she herself is the skeptic as opposed to the loose cannon.

But what I liked the most about this book was that there was such a focus on the way that the trauma of a missing person can have shattering effects on the people in their lives. For Elise it’s the way that she has shut herself off from most people in her life, focusing on her campground and trying to not think about what happened to Robin all those years ago, unable to connect with many people. For Kyle, he dives into conspiracies and dodgy theories of cover ups, hyperfixating on improbable things because at least with the improbable things there is some kind of explanation. For their mother, she rarely leaves the house, her anxiety too much to bear. While there are plenty of thrillers with the theme of a lost family member that touch on the fallout, I thought that this one really nailed the way that a family can be torn apart due to unresolved trauma, resentment, and survivor guilt. The relationship between Elise and Kyle in particular could turn on a dime, so much so that it would be deeply uncomfortable and at times completely heart wrenching. I do wish that the book had kept this theme the focal point more, and hadn’t succumbed to more well worn tropes to the genre.

At the end of the day, “Follow Her Down” is a suspenseful and at times deeply upsetting thriller that doesn’t hold back in a lot of ways. I had hoped it stuck more to the more unique aspects to the story, but it was an enjoyable read overall.

Rating 7: An emotional mystery that examines unresolved trauma and the havoc it can cause, “Follow Her Down” is raw and at times devastating.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Follow Her Down” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads Shelf “Missing Women Books”.

Kate’s Review: “youthjuice”

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Book: “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue

Publishing Info: Soho Press, June 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: American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada: outrageous body horror for the goop generation.

A 29-year-old copywriter realizes that beauty is possible—at a terrible cost—in this surreal, satirical send-up of NYC It-girl culture.

From Sophia Bannion’s first day on the Storytelling team at HEBE, a luxury skincare/wellness company based in New York’s trendy SoHo neighborhood, it’s clear something is deeply amiss. But Sophia, pushing thirty, has plenty of skeletons in her closet next to the designer knockoffs and doesn’t care. Though she leads an outwardly charmed life, she aches for a deeper meaning to her flat existence—and a cure for her brutal nail-biting habit. She finds it all and more at HEBE, and with Tree Whitestone, HEBE’s charismatic founder and CEO.

Soon, Sophia is addicted to her HEBE lifestyle—especially youthjuice, the fatty, soothing moisturizer Tree has asked Sophia to test. But when cracks in HEBE’s infrastructure start to worsen—and Sophia learns the gruesome secret ingredient at the heart of youthjuice—she has to decide how far she’s willing to go to stay beautiful forever.

Glittering with ominous flashes of Sophia’s coming-of-rage story, former beauty editor E.K. Sathue’s horror debut is as incisive as it is stomach-churning in its portrayal of all-consuming female friendship and the beauty industry’s short attention span. youthjuice does to skincare influencers what Bret Easton Ellis did to yuppies. You’ll never moisturize the same way again.

Review: Thank you to Soho Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I am someone who has very little knowledge about skin care and beauty routines outside of knowing that I need to hide my pale pale body from the sun at all times. It probably doesn’t help that I absolutely cannot abide the feeling of any kinds of lotion on my skin, which makes skin care a little trickier. But even though I know very little about the beauty industry and anti-aging fads and techniques, I was still interested in giving “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue a whirl. The cover itself is eye catching, with a pale pink background and a simple beauty jar with a bit of blood dripping from it. What’s not to love, really? After all, in a time when skincare and anti-aging beauty products have delved into the likes of bloodletting strategies like vampire facials (with some sometimes horrendous results), this kind of thing seems ripe for the picking in body horror, and Sathue rises to the occasion.

(source)

First let’s talk horror elements, because “youthjuice” has them in spades. Firstly, we have the obvious body horror stuff, as we follow Sophia Bannion as she begins a new job at the beauty company HEBE, and finds out that the new product she is testing ‘youthjuice’, may have some pretty macabre origins and ingredients. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but I’m sure that one can guess based on the book cover alone, that this new product contains some human derived ingredients, with some horrifying means to procure them. It’s still a pretty jarring trope, though it has a long and storied run not only in fiction (vampires living off of blood in their immortality), but also world history (Elizabeth Báthory, anyone?), and Sathue revives it here for a new generation, with a bit of an influencer and capitalistic twist. And it makes for some pretty gory and downright disgusting beats, with descriptions of blood of all types and conditions being thrown on the page. There were some bits that could have been expanded upon more in terms of cause and effect, though perhaps the ambiguity will work better for others reading it. The other horror aspect that I mostly enjoyed was Sophia herself, and how we come to find out she is an unreliable narrator of sorts, and why that is. We blend the modern day with a flashback to a time during her youth where she is learning about desire, power, and attraction, and how she comes to value these things in a way that turns her into the ambitious young woman in a new job that has some pretty dark secrets. It didn’t reinvent the wheel per se, but it worked for the story and I found it believable to the character and her arc.

And there are, of course, the satirical elements of this book that lampoon not only the beauty industry as a whole, but also the framing of a ‘mysterious girl boss’ leader who has captured the imaginations of her acolytes, her fans, and the industry as a whole. The CEO of HEBE is Tree Whitestone, an almost ethereal being of a woman whose is poised, articulate, charismatic, and ageless, who promises beauty and youth to her followers and consumers while exuding power and grace. Sathue paints the perfect picture of a dynamic engaging leader of a brand that feeds on a cult like devotion as well as a social media induced sense of FOMO, and how devotees with do just about anything, including getting into bathtubs full of actual blood, to have a chance to experience the newest miracle product that will surely solve their problems by restoring their youth. I couldn’t help but think about more recent online discourses about aging and beauty products/surgical options being used by younger and younger people because of this fear. Bathing in blood is pretty farfetched, but remember the vampire facials thing I mentioned above? It’s in the same general vicinity, I’d say.

“youthjuice” is an intriguing horror tale that parodies the beauty industry with some gross bits of body horror. It will be a fun pool read for the summer I would say.

Rating 7: An entertaining satire with some gnarly body horror moments, “youthjuice” is as enjoyable as it is, at times, disgusting.

Reader’s Advisory:

“youthjuice” is included in the Goodreads article/book list “From Time Travel to Tech Startups: Five Cross Genre Trends We’re Noticing”.

Kate’s Review: “Miracle in the Andes”

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

Book: “Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and my Long Trek Home” by Nando Parrado

Publishing Info: Broadway Books, May 2007

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help. They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches, and then the devastating news that the search for them had been called off.

As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to his father, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolved that he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes, even though he was certain the effort would kill him, telling himself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to his father. It was a desperate decision, but it was also his only chance. So Nando, an ordinary young man with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.

Thirty years after the disaster Nando tells his story with remarkable candor and depth of feeling. Miracle in the Andes—a first person account of the crash and its aftermath—is more than a riveting tale of true-life adventure: it is a revealing look at life at the edge of death and a meditation on the limitless redemptive power of love.

Review: This past winter a friend and I kind of became momentarily obsessed with the story of the Old Christians Rugby Team from Uruguay whose plane crashed in the Andes. It started when “Last Podcast on the Left” covered it and we were texting back and forth, then we both watched “Society of the Snow” separately, and THEN we got together to watch the 1992 film “Alive”, the first movie adaptation about the amazing survival story, which stars Ethan Hawke. Hawke plays Nando Parrado, one of the rugby players who eventually trekked down the mountain to find help. Mind you he did this with his companion Roberto Canessa after being on this mountain for two months, in the cold, and becoming weaker and weaker and more and more malnourished (yes yes we will talk about that in a bit). I decided that the next obvious step in my hyperfixation was to read about it, and I got Parrado’s memoir “Miracle in the Andes:72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home”. Because Nando Parrado is such a badass, and I wanted to read it from his perspective. So this Spring I finally got around to reading it, and yep. Badass.

Nando Parrado tells an immersive and intense story, jumping right in from when he awakens for a multi-day coma and finds that the airplane that was carrying his rugby team, as well as some fans and family members, has crashed in the peaks of the Andes during a flight from Uruguay to Chile. If you’ve seen “Alive” or “Society of the Snow” or have ready any of the other books about this crash, you know that for those who didn’t die on impact it was a grueling ordeal to survive, and in order to do so the remaining survivors had to resort to anthropophagy, or the consumption of the dead (it’s not cannibalism; that implies killing specifically for the food or with some ritualistic purpose). Parrado talks about the time on the mountain, his memories of his experience being brought to vivid life through his descriptions and his ruminations, reading like a Krakauer book (and I mean, the new edition has a cover that looks a LOT like the style you see on Krakauer’s books, AND it quotes him, so I’m not far off at all). I felt like I was seeing everything he was talking about, and while I was familiar with the story due to my hyperfocus on it this past winter I still found him recalling details that I wasn’t aware of, and having his insight added a whole other layer to it. Especially since he was so insistent on going by foot to find rescue almost from the jump, and was almost always one of the ones to be honest and pragmatic even in the most horrifying of situations. Parrado doesn’t mince words when it comes to how he lobbied to eat the flesh of the dead passengers because he knew that it was the only way to survive in the long term while developing a plan, and I really enjoyed how matter of fact he was about his experiences and the huge role that he played without seeming like a blowhard. Because if anything he has earned the right to be a blow hard, as their ultimate rescue was due in large part to him and his tenacity and bravery, marching down that mountain with Roberto Canessa after two months of being stranded in the middle of nowhere while their environment did everything it could to kill them. It is such an amazing story, and from his POV it’s all the more amazing.

But what struck me most about this memoir was Parrado’s candor about the way his survival experience reshaped the way that he thought about faith and God, and how he redefined (or the very least reexamined) his own faith and views of fate, destiny, and what a miracle is. While many of his teammates seemed to lean more into their faith after they were rescued, Parrado had a different circumstance than many of the people on the plane, in that he was traveling with his mother and sister, and they both died. So while many of those survivors were thinking that their survival was an act of God, Paraddo felt differently. To him, he couldn’t wrap his head around a miracle of survival not including everyone on the plane, and decided that it wasn’t going to be God to save everyone, and it had to be themselves. Parrado had the inner strength and drive to get off that mountain, and he and Canessa surely achieved a miraculous feat by traveling for MILES in the state their bodies were in, with no climbing experience, in treacherous environmental conditions, and getting a rescue mission started with their journey down, but he is very honest with being basically unable to credit a higher power with the survival. That isn’t to say that he’s a full on cynic; on the contrary, he does believe in the miracle of a human’s ability to love and how that can drive a person to do amazing things, and finding the miraculous within that. His love for his father and other sister really kept him going, as he wanted to be able to come back so that their grief, while still monumental, wouldn’t have included grieving over him along with his mother and sister. It struck me as a different conclusion than so many survival stories come with, and while those experiences aren’t bad by any means (experience is, after all, subjective), it was just fascinating seeing a different perspective that felt almost humanist at its heart, especially when so many of his compatriots feel like something divine was at work. All of this being presented in his own words makes it all the more fascinating, and his writing style is so easy to follow that I felt like I had no problem getting into his head as I was reading.

“Miracle in the Andes” is a nail biting and inspirational memoir about survival in a nearly hopeless situation, told by a man who not only lived it, but also led the way to salvation. I cannot recommend it enough to people who love survival tales.

Rating 8: An immersive and awe-inspiring (and at times devastating) tale of survival against the odds and the triumph of the human spirit, “Miracle in the Andes” is a heart pulsing memoir with lots of honestly, introspection, and hope.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Miracle in the Andes” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best True Survival Stories”, and “Non-Fiction Disaster Books”.

Kate’s Review: “Together in a Broken World”

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Book: “Together in a Broken World” by Paul Michael Winters

Publishing Info: Ninestar Press, L.L.C., May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher vis a vis Pacific and Court.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Two boys fall in love in a deadly world, but it’s the secrets they keep that might kill them.

Seventeen-year-old Zach was visiting his uncle in a small Montana town when a mysterious illness ripped through the world. Most died, but those who survived the Infection became mindless killers, spreading the disease with a single scratch. Now, a year later, civilization lies in ruins, and Zach is the town’s sole survivor. Desperately lonely, he longs to return to his family in Seattle, but his fears hold him captive.

Eighteen-year-old Aiden is on a critical mission for the covert Scientific Collective, delivering vials whose contents could cure the Infection. Tortured by his boyfriend’s death, he welcomes the risks of the perilous journey. When a militia attacks Aiden, he flees to Zach’s town.

The boys escape together and soon form a bond as they comfort each other in this desolate and broken world. The farther they travel, the more their affection grows, as do the forces pulling them apart. But their greatest threats are the secrets they keep. Zach hides details of his uncle’s death, and Aiden conceals the vials’ sinister origins. In order to survive, they’ll have to confront the truths that could tear their love apart.

Review: Thank you to Pacific & Court for sending me an ARC of this novel!

It’s been a bit since I’ve covered a straight up post-apocalyptic story here on the blog, and now that we are finally past the more acute stages of the waning pandemic I’m feeling less of an anxiety spike when I read these kinds of stories as of late. So when “Together in a Broken World” by Paul Michael Winters ended up in my hands, I was eager to give it a go! You already had me at a post-apocalyptic setting, but then you add in a romance between two flawed but good hearted characters struggling to survive, and I am even more on board! And “Together in a Broken World” really met my expectations!

Given that Pride month starts in a few days, I will first talk about what a lovely queer romance it is as the beating heart of this story. Zach and Aiden are two strangers trying to survive in a world that has been ravaged by an infection that turns people into, essentially, zombies, and have been left adrift in different ways. For Zach it’s being the last person left in the small town he had been visiting right before things went to hell. For Aiden it’s working as a courier for a group that is trying to find a cure, which has made him a target of those who are in direct conflict with that for whatever reason that may be. It makes their lives very lonely, so seeing them meet and forge a connection with each other makes for a great set up for a really sweet romance. I love a slow burn, and this one is definitely that given that they are both understandably standoffish at first. But I really enjoyed watching them get to know each other, and to connect after they have been so alone and so haunted by their loneliness and regrets and fears. It feels like “Heartstopper” meets the episode “Long, Long Time” from “The Last of Us”, and Winters really captures the soaring love as well as the deep heartache and sadness of their circumstances, and the traumas they have faced which can lead to some bad decision making. I was rooting for them from the jump.

And since this is a post-apocalyptic tale, it’s only natural to talk about the world building on how the world has gotten to this point of the collapse of civilization. Winters has a pretty well thought out end of the world scenario, that combines natural disaster with fast spreading novel pathogen to create a wasteland of infected people and those who are uninfected, but left to total chaos and a “Mad Max” like reality of nomadic and isolated lives trying to hide from violent opportunists. Any good zombie story will make it clear that it’s actually the humans who are the true threat, and I thought that “Together in a Broken World” achieved that with a unique and suspenseful premise, particularly as Aiden is trying to bring a potential cure through hundreds of miles of dangerous wasteland with threats from all sides. I especially enjoyed the tidbits about Aiden running from an extremist militia that doesn’t trust the Scientific Collective, the group that is trying to find a cure, and wants to hinder him at all costs because of their conspiracy theorist nonsense and delusions, as it adds a whole other layer to an already fraught survival tale. It fits right in with other end of the world thrillers, and as an aficionado of the genre I was a fan.

I definitely recommend “Together in a Broken World” for not only young adults who enjoy end of days thrillers, but anyone who likes the sub genre. And hey, as I said, Pride Month is right around the corner, so if you are looking for LGBTQIA+ rep in your reading, add it to the list!

Rating 8: A suspenseful thriller and also a lovely romance, “Together in a Broken World” is about queer joy in the face of great adversity, as well as some pretty cool end of the world mythos.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Together in a Broken World” is included on the Goodreads list “2024 Queer YA Books”.

Kate’s Review: “Under the Palms”

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Book: “Under the Palms” by Kaira Rouda

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from Sparkpoint Studio.

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

Book Description: During a weekend retreat, a powerful family plays a dangerous game of dark secrets and cold-blooded ambition in a novel by Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Beneath the Surface.

Under the direction of the Kingsleys’ new president, Paige, the family has gathered for a weekend retreat at a luxurious Laguna Beach resort. Still clinging to the hope of succession are the sons of Richard Kingsley, the family patriarch and John, the oldest, who’s clawed his way back from a dark tragedy, and Paige’s estranged husband, Ted, the golden boy. When Richard’s ex and his wayward daughter join the fray, Paige finds herself with two fast allies. They know a secret that could shatter the family legacy. Call it leverage, call it revenge, the Kingsley women believe they have the upper hand.

But as the power games begin, greater threats than the howling Santa Ana winds are coming. Because this weekend, amid so much greed and betrayal, no Kingsley is safe. It’s family. Watch your back.

Review: Thank you to Sparkpoint Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Well “Succession” has been gone a long while, and now that I’ve finished it up fully (and hooray, the person I was predicting to come out on top did so!) I can better see the overall arc of the tragic tale of a terrible family fighting for control of their dynasty. Ultimately it was a tragic show filled with garbage people, but who all had a lot of interesting depth and nuance even through their terribleness. I think that The Kingsley Family in “Under the Palms”, the next book in the series after “Beneath the Surface” haven’t QUITE risen to the levels of wretchedness or complexity as the Roys, but hey, there’s still backstabbing, infighting, and heirs fighting for power. But at least in Kaira Rouda’s new story is also another murder. That just adds to the salaciousness, and I oh so enjoy that.

I do love a guilty pleasure read, and the Kingsley Family’s shenanigans are so nasty, catty, and over the top that this I found “Under the Palms” to be a lot of fun. Much like “Beneath the Surface”, it is split into different perspective chapters involving some of our main players, some familiar, others new. The Kingsleys are still mostly miserable and totally unlikable, but if you like a story about terrible rich people doing terrible things and having terrible things happen to them you have come to the right place. We do have a new salacious mystery at hand, as well as a new out of their control weather threat (this time instead of a stormy sea we have a fast burning wildfire, and given that I’m writing this as I can smell Canadian fires at my home I’m finding that a bit situationally appropriate), and we have basically the same set of suspects. I kind of figured out the solution to the mystery pretty early, but I was having a fun enough time with the backstabbing and snideness that it didn’t really matter. Soapiness is always a plus.

In my review for the previous book, I did note that I wasn’t as impressed with most of the characters, as they mostly seemed like two dimensional tropes and archetypes, and that doesn’t really change here. But I think that this time around I was more expecting it, and therefore it didn’t really turn me off as much as I anticipated it would. Though I will say that one of our new characters, John’s new lady friend Krystle, was a bit of a fun addition because she does have some layers, as she is trying to present herself in a certain way to get into the good graces of the total dud John, as she has ambitions that only connections to the Kingsley fortune can provide. And I still like Paige, who is now in charge of the company but finding her place in question as she hasn’t been performing to the levels that patriarch Richard expects of her. Which leads back to questions of succession in the company. It’s a little more of the same, but again, it’s so soapy I can’t even be mad about it. OLD SCHOOL SOAP, PEOPLE.

Alexis Carrington Colby would be proud (source).

If you can embrace that this series has gone less in the direction of
“Succession” and more in the direction of 80s prime time soap operas, “Under the Palms” will surely be an entertaining little treat in our ongoing story of the wretched Kingsley Family. I will be curious to see where things go from here.

Rating 7: Another soapy and over the top family drama with a twist of murder, “Under the Palms” continues the most unfortunate vacation streak for the Kingsley Family.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Under the Palms” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads Shelf “If You Liked Succession”.

Previously Reviewed:

Blog Tour: “When We Were Silent”

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Staff Portraits

Book: “When We Were Silent” by Fiona McPhillips

Publishing Info: Flatiron Books, May 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: An outsider threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school in this suspenseful debut novel

Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Behind its granite walls are high-arched alcoves, an oak-lined library…and the dark secret Lou has come to expose.

Lou’s working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, until she is befriended by some of her beautiful and wealthy classmates. But after Lou attempts to bring the school’s secret to light, her time at Highfield ends with a lifeless body sprawled at her feet.

Thirty years later, Lou gets a shocking phone call. A high-profile lawyer is bringing a lawsuit against the school—and he needs Lou to testify. Lou will have to confront her past and discover, once and for all, what really happened at Highfield. Powerful and compelling, When We Were Silent is a thrilling story of exploitation, privilege, and retribution.

Review: Thank you to much to Flatiron Books for sending me an invitation to participate in this blog tour!

When Flatiron Books approached me to be a part of the Blog Tour for Fiona McPhillips’s debut novel “When We Were Silent”, I was definitely interested, but also a little nervous judging by the plot. I knew that it sounded very interesting and that I wanted to check it out, but I also knew that the themes present, specifically that of a prestigious Catholic high school in Dublin covering up sexual abuses of teenage girls to protect a predatory teacher, would almost certainly set off a rage trigger as I was reading. But it intrigued me, and I went in, steeling myself to the themes, and I am glad that I did, because “When We Were Silent” is absolutely harrowing.

McPhillips is a journalist, and this is her debut novel, but reads like she’s been writing literary fiction for years. We have two timelines at hand, and she blends them together seemlessly. In the present we meed Louise “Lou” Manson, a professor living in Dublin who is approached by a lawyer about testifying in a lawsuit against Highfield Manor, as she herself had been a whistleblower of sexual abuse that, at the time, went unheard. At least until someone ended up dead. In the past we see Lou as a lower class student trying to fit in, while also trying to get revenge and retribution for a friend who had been raped by a popular swim coach, and who Lou is trying to expose in a time where the abuses of girls within a Catholic institution were almost assuredly covered up. And how she herself becomes one of his victims in her pursuit, and how she isn’t believed and villified. As we jump through the two times we see who Lou was before, and who she is now, and how the trauma, rage, regret, and lack of closure has defined her life, as well as the loves of other girls who were victimized. It is an unflinching look at predation and child sexual abuse within a religious institution, and it does not hold back (and this, of course, comes with many many content warnings of rape, abuse, suicide, gaslighting, and many other things). I found this to be a very difficult read at times, but McPhillips handles these very heavy themes with respect and care, and it never felt exploitative or like it was crossing a line, at least for this reader. It also makes the stakes of the mystery at the heart of this novel all the higher, and it makes the two comparisons of Lou then and Lou now very complex. It’s also a good comparison about how there has definitely been progress made when it comes to sexual abuse of minors and taking it seriously, though it also shows that some things haven’t changed much. It’s honest and raw and very emotional.

And back to the mysteries of this book, there are two at play. The first is the question of who actually died in the past narrative of they story. The second is the question of who is trying to intimidate Lou into not cooperating with the lawyer/testifying in the present, as she starts receiving mysterious anonymous messages trying to silence her. But while these mysteries are certainly compelling and kept me reading and interested, they are a bit of a footnote in this novel, never overhyped and never used as twists or gotchas. This is a mystery to be sure, but it’s moreso a literary work about trauma, abuse, privilege, corruption, and justice. It’s more about a woman who never got justice and was unfairly maligned because she spoke her truth, and how that has haunted her in the years since. It’s at times devastating, but it also a searing indictment of institutions that enable and cover up abuses to keep a hold on their own power, as well as an indictment of a greater culture that normalizes all of this. It’s rightfully angry and it’s powerful.

“When We Were Silent” is a difficult read, but it’s an important one. I will absolutely be checking out what Fiona McPhillips brings us next, because this was a great debut.

Rating 8: Harrowing, heartbreaking, and a rallying cry. “When We Were Silent” is a great debut from an author I am going to definitely follow going forward.

Reader’s Advisory:

“When We Were Silent” is included on the Goodreads list “52 Book Club 2024: #13 An Academic Thriller”.

Kate’s Review: “Against the Darkness”

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

Book: “Against the Darkness” by Kendare Blake

Publishing Info: Disney Hyperion, April 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: This epic finale to the The Next Generation trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake ( Three Dark Crowns ) features the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.

For generations, the Slayer was supposed to be the chosen, the one girl in all the world with the power to stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. When Willow used the scythe to call up all the potential slayers at once, it changed everything. For years, the slayers have been working and fighting together as a team. Then the Darkness came, killing many slayers and trapping the rest in an alternate dimension. And Frankie Rosenberg, the world’s first Slayer-Witch, found herself fighting evil alone. Sort of.

Sure, she has her new Scooby Gang, plus the help of her mom, Willow; Watcher, Spike; and even the brooding-but-hot Hunter of Thrace. But even though they have a master plan (obviously), the gang is more fragmented than ever.

So maybe it really is up to Frankie—and Frankie alone—to stand against the darkness. With Jake’s wild werewolf brother back in town, Dark Willow threatening to return, and the Darkness preparing for the final stage of their attack, now is not a great time to wallow in teen angst. After all, she’s the Slayer. It’s time to slay.

Review: Well, I knew that this moment was eventually going to come, and I honestly held off a bit because I was reticent to approach it. But Kendare Blake’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot series is coming to an end, and it closes out with “Against the Darkness”, in which Frankie Rosenberg, Slayer-Witch of Sunnydale, and her new set of Scoobies have to fight against the Big Bad for one final showdown, with supportive former Scoobies Willow, Oz, and Spike in tow as Buffy remains trapped in a hell dimension. I have absolutely adored this interpretation of the “Buffy” characters since the first book, and I was VERY nervous approaching the end. Partially because I am always nervous about the end of a series I am enjoying, but also because so many of these characters are near and dear to my heart, and I wanted them to be okay. I should have trusted Blake, because “Against the Darkness”, for lack of a better word, slays.

As we are closing in on the end of this trilogy, Frankie, Hailey, Jake, Sigmund, and the original Scoobies left behind in Sunnydale are trying to stop rogue slayer Aspen and her group of traitors known as The Darkness, and free Buffy and the other slayers from the hell dimension Aspen trapped them within. Frankie continues to be an utterly charming main character who has the weight of the world on her shoulders, who feels like a fantastic predecessor to Buffy Summers because she has similar challenges, but is her own person without feeling like a clone. Her biggest obstacles this time around are 1) she knows time is running out for Buffy and the slayers all trapped in a hell dimension, especially with Aspen making moves against her, 2) her mother Willow is going to more and more dangerous lengths to try and harness her magic to help Buffy, and 3) her good friend and fellow Scooby Hailey has imbedded herself as a spy by trying to get into Aspen’s good graces… and Aspen is having more of an effect on her than the Scoobies would like. It all feels like an old school “Buffy” end of season arc, and Blake captures the wit, the suspense, the pathos, and the heart that the show had throughout its run. Frankie is so easy to love and so easy to root for, and she is a such a well rounded character that she blends in with familiar faces from the source material swimmingly. I love her relationship with Willow, I LOVE her slayer/watcher relationship with Spike, but I also love her relationships with her friends because it feels so nostalgic.

But once again it’s my OG original favorites who captured my entire heart in this book. Blake really gives me everything I need from the “Buffy” characters from the show. I loved seeing Willow struggle with trying to use her magic to help her daughter as well as Buffy and the other imprisoned slayers, and how it treads her towards her Dark Willow tendencies. I loved how Oz has so effortlessly fit into this story even though he left the show in season four, as Blake makes him a perfect addition to the team not only for his cousin Jake, but also for Willow, his ex and now close friend. I loved seeing Giles show up (yes it’s a spoiler but it’s GILES, I HAD TO!) and take his place as a wise but still a bit snarky Watcher to help pull the group back together when it’s most needed. And, of course, Spike. My beloved Spike has stayed true to his kind of reckless and impulsive sarcastic self, emotions constantly on his sleeve, but his paternal relationship to Frankie is so touching, and brings out so much more in him that shows his caring and loving side that always comes out when most needed. And I don’t want to spoil much here, but Spuffy shippers? THE PAY OFF IS PHENOMENAL. I tried to not be a Spuffy shipper for awhile even though I was hardcore into them in high school, but Kendare Blake has brought me fully back into it because my GOD. THESE TWO.

I just love them so much. (source)

And once again, so many wonderful Easter eggs and references to the source material. Is it fan service? Probably yes. But Blake does do this in a way that flows well within this story so that even if you don’t know that it’s a knowing nod to something from the show it just feels organic and doesn’t stick out awkwardly or like a sore thumb.

What a fantastic end to a very enjoyable series. “Against the Darkness” sticks the landing, does justice for all the Scoobies, old and new, and gave this “Buffy” fan an ending that I will happily revisit over and over again. That’ll put the marzipan back in your pie plates, bingo, indeed. If you know, you know.

Rating 10: A fantastic and super satisfying ending to a “Buffy” follow up I have adored from the start.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Against the Darkness” is included on the Goodreads lists “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and “YA hunting ghosts/monsters/zombies”.

Previously Reviewed: