Category: Kate’s Reviews

Kate’s Review: “Immortal Pleasures”

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Book: “Immortal Pleasures” by V. Castro

Publishing Info: Del Rey, April 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: An ancient Aztec vampire roams the modern world in search of vengeance and love in this seductive dark fantasy from the author of The Haunting of Alejandra.

Hundreds of years ago, she was known as La Malinche: a Nahua woman who translated for the conquistador Cortés. In the centuries since, her name has gone down in infamy as a traitor. But no one ever found out what happened to La Malinche after Cortés destroyed her people.

In the ashes of the empire, she was reborn as Malinalli, an immortal vampire. And she has become an avenger of conquered peoples, traveling the world to reclaim their stolen artifacts and return them to their homelands. But she has also been in search of something more, for this ancient vampire still has deeply human longings for pleasure and for love.

When she arrives in Dublin in search of a pair of Aztec skulls—artifacts intimately connected to her own dark history—she finds something else: two men who satisfy her cravings in very different ways.

For the first time she meets a mortal man—a horror novelist—who is not repelled by her strange condition but attracted by it. But there is also another man, an immortal like herself, who shares the darkness in her heart. Now Malinalli is on the most perilous adventure of all: a journey into her own desires.

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

V. Castro is one of my favorite horror authors, and I had been waiting patiently (maybe not so patiently) for her to take on a vampire story. So when I saw the announcement for “Immortal Pleasures” and that it not only was going to be a vampire story that centers on La Malinche, but that the cover looked like a full on “From Dusk Til Dawn” aesthetic, I rejoiced. Of all of the V. Castro books I’ve looked forward to, this was up there with “The Haunting of Alejandra” (which I also loved). So I dove into “Immortal Pleasures”, eager and filled with anticipation.

So, first thing’s first. I am absolutely going to praise the praiseworthy things about this book, and there are lots of things that I really, really liked. For starters, the concept of the woman who was La Malinche being turned into a vampire with the name Malinalli, and using her immortality to reappropriate the items and objects from the Nahua culture back from Western clutches is PHENOMENAL (especially since Cortés is ALSO a vampire now and they are on a path to run afoul each other again). I am so thrilled that there has been more discussion about the Spanish conquest/invasion in Central and South America in fiction as of late, as I’ve seen this in multiple horror novels in the past couple of years, and what a neat idea to take the figure of La Malinche, the Nahua woman who worked as a translator and advisor for Hernán Cortés during his bloodthirsty mission, and to give her a voice and to give her something of a redemption arc when as of late she has been vilified for her role in advising and enabling Cortés (if you want some background on La Malinche, take a look HERE). Castro is game to dive into the themes of the colonial violence and genocide that the Spanish committed during their invasion and conquest, and to show La Malinche, now Malinalli, as a victim who wants to atone for the role she played, even if it was a role forced upon her as an enslaved woman. So yes, I absolutely love her as a reborn vampire who is traveling the Western world to bring pre-Columbian Meso- American cultures’ artifacts back from museums, universities, and collectors. It makes her powerful, it makes her redemptive, and it makes her complex. I also really like that she is finally in charge of her own sexuality, as when she was alive she was absolutely a victim of rape and sex trafficking as an enslaved woman forced into the role of Cortés’s accomplice. As Malinalli she is able to have agency in her sexuality. And given that there are many sex scenes in this book between her and a horror writer, as well as her and another vampire (whose twist of an identity made me SCREAM with both glee and also confusion but in a good way, I assure you), she takes control of her sexual narrative repeatedly. Also, very explicitly.

But here are the roadblocks that made this book a harder read for me, and it’s mostly a narrative choice in how the story is told. This is not only a first person narrative, with Malinalli telling the reader her story both in past and in present, but it is also done in a way that makes it feel very matter of fact and conversational, which means that the flow is almost ALL telling and very little showing. It felt to me like Castro was going for an Anne Rice “Interview with the Vampire” vibe, which I absolutely appreciate because that’s iconic. But I think that the problem was that it just made for a less interesting narration because again, it was more telling and less showing. I also didn’t feel nearly as much connection to the modern story of Malinalli trying to retrieve two skulls in the United Kingdom as I did to the historical story of her as La Malinche and her start as a vampire. I almost wonder if it’s because her modern story has the meandering paths of her relationship with Colin, the aforementioned horror writer, and the many many sex scenes she has with him. Some bordering on the ludicrous. I like to think that I’m not a prude in any way shape or form, and again, I LOVE giving Malinalli the agency she has in her sex life. But man, there were a LOT of sex scenes that felt superfluous. And oddly written. And Colin himself just wasn’t super interesting to me, and I couldn’t figure out why she was interested in him to begin with. Though that said, she drops him like a hot potato REALLY fast once she meets fellow vampire Alex, but that also felt rushed and hastily resolved. It just felt like a pacing issue, or indecisiveness on what to focus on.

So, overall, “Immortal Pleasures” wasn’t what I wanted it to be. There were aspects I liked, but it felt like a rare stumble from V. Castro in a lot of ways.

Rating 6: The themes and ideas of this book worked so well for me, but the narrative voice and the choices that came with it were a bit too stilted for me.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Immortal Pleasures” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “The House on Biscayne Bay”

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Book: “The House on Biscayne Bay” by Chanel Cleeton

Publishing Info: Berkley, April 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: As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s atmospheric new novel.

With the Great War finally behind them, thousands of civilians and business moguls alike flock to South Florida with their sights set on making a fortune. When wealthy industrialist Robert Barnes and his wife, Anna, build Marbrisa, a glamorous estate on Biscayne Bay, they become the toast of the newly burgeoning society. Anna and Robert appear to have it all, but in a town like Miami, appearances can be deceiving, and one scandal can change everything.

Years later following the tragic death of her parents in Havana, Carmen Acosta journeys to Marbrisa, the grand home of her estranged older sister, Carolina, and her husband, Asher Wyatt. On the surface, the gilded estate looks like paradise, but Carmen quickly learns that nothing at Marbrisa is as it seems. The house has a treacherous legacy, and Carmen’s own life is soon in jeopardy . . . unless she can unravel the secrets buried beneath the mansion’s facade and stop history from repeating itself.

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

At the beginning of the month my family and I went to Florida so that my four year old could experience the joy and chaos that is Disney World, and the nostalgia factor for me (outside of being burnt out to hell by the end of all of it) was ample. Being back in the Sunshine State reminded me of my family trips there when I was little, specifically to, yes, Disney, but also to visit my family in Miami. While Florida is a state that I have a lot of opinions about, I do have a place in my heart for Miami thanks to the time spent there as a kid (as well as a trip in 2017 for my cousin’s wedding celebration). Because of this nostalgia, I was very interested in “The House on Biscayne Bay” by Chanel Cleeton. Not only was it touted as a Gothic mystery, it also had the setting of first half 20th Century Miami. What a combination! I went in with high expectations. And was somewhat disappointed.

First, of course, the things I did like. I absolutely adored the time and place in this book, as well as the descriptions of Marbrisa itself. I so rarely read stories set during the time period that is during or adjacent to World War I, so when it is a timeframe in a book I’m already interested because of the opportunities it opens. In spite of my family connections to Miami, my knowledge of its history is pretty limited, and I really liked the descriptions that Cleeton had about the town as it was growing and the challenges that presented the culture shock, the isolation, the alligators!). And when looking at the timeline that Carmen, Carolina, and Asher are in, I liked the way that the house had changed and transformed and had built up a reputation throughout Miami, and how that was affecting those living there. I also did enjoy our two protagonists across these two timelines we are following, Anna and Carmen. For Anna, I liked that she is a high society woman and wife of a New York businessman, Robert Barnes, and how she is expected to be grateful and thrilled about him building her this house, but instead finds herself trapped and stifled because of being plucked from her comfortable life and plunked down into a whole new community. Without any say. Seeing her have to grapple with this, as well as suspicions about her husband after a death happens at their estate, was really interesting. And for Carmen I liked the perspective of yet another woman being plucked from all she knows (this time her home in Havana after her parents die unexpectedly) and put in a whole new setting with sister Carolina, whom she has a contentious relationship with, and brother in law Asher, who is practically a stranger. And then when Carolina is murdered, she is suddenly alone with strangers in a strange house, possibly with a killer. I really enjoyed Carmen’s resilience and her verve.

But while I did like the melodrama and the way that both Anna and Carmen were maneuvering in their presents in Marbrisa, the two mysteries in both their timelines didn’t grab me the way I had hoped they would. For Anna, the death of a woman named Leonora at their first (and only) lavish party to show off the house has led her to wonder if the drowning was accidental, or something more sinister. For Carmen, there is not only the sudden death of her sister Carolina, but also the lingering question about what happened to Anna, who disappeared years prior. I wasn’t totally swept into the mysteries because, in the case of Leonora, I had a pretty good idea as to what happened from the jump, and in the case of Carolina, while the twists and surprises were well done, I just wasn’t invested in that outcome because I wasn’t as invested in Carolina. I WAS invested in Carmen and worried about her, but that would have been the case even without the mystery. I DID like the Anna Barnes mystery, but one out of three isn’t a resounding average.

“The House on Biscayne Bay” had some really well done historical beats and felt Gothic in all the right ways, but it wasn’t as thrilling as I had hoped it would be. That said, for historical fiction I will be looking into more Chanel Cleeton!

Rating 6: I liked the historical drama and I liked our two protagonists, but for whatever reason the mysteries at hand didn’t capture my attention.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The House on Biscayne Bay” is included on the Goodreads lists “Anticipated Literary Reads for Reader’s of Color 2024”, and “Mystery and Thriller 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “This Wretched Valley”


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Book: “This Wretched Valley” by Jenny Kiefer

Publishing Info: Quirk Books, January 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: Four ambitious climbers hike into the Kentucky wilderness. Seven months later, three mangled bodies are discovered. Were their deaths simple accidents or the result of something more sinister? This nail-biting, bone-chilling survival horror novel is inspired by the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident, and is perfect for fans of Alma Katsu and Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

This is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her friend Clay, a geology student, has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, she is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. 

Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one body a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed. But Dylan is still missing. Followers of her Instagram account report seeing disturbing livestreams, and some even claim to have caught glimpses of her vanishing into the thick woods, but no trace of her—dead or alive—has been discovered. 

Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force? Is Dylan still alive, and does she hold the answers? 

This page-turning debut will have you racing towards the inevitable conclusion.

Review: It’s been a bit since I’ve read a balls to the wall survival/wilderness horror story, which is a shame because I legitimately love this trope and sub-genre with every fiber of my being. “The Blair Witch Project” is my favorite horror movie of all time, and there are plenty of other movies and books and just real life moments of having to survive in a terrifying wilderness that deeply resonate with me. Because of this, I was SUPER interested in reading “This Wretched Valley” by Jenny Kiefer, a debut horror novel that has a team of researchers and climbers going into the wilds of Kentucky for a project, and then are surrounded and tormented and picked off by a mysterious force that dwells within it. Like holy SHIT this is SO MY KINDA THING!

(source)

As far as survival horror goes, this book really checks a lot of boxes for me. As stated above, I love this sub-genre, and this one has so many hints of “The Blair Witch Project” and “The Descent” throughout its DNA that I was absolutely amped. And yes, lots of harkening to the Dyatlov Pass Incident, though I do tend to fall in the ‘it was probably some kind of avalanche’ camp in that regard. Anyway, as our group of campers/researchers/climbers go deep into a mysterious valley in the Kentucky wilderness in hopes of researching the geology of this pristine rock face that has seemingly just appeared out of nowhere. Our scientists are grad student Clay and his research assistant Sylvia, and our climbers are aspiring influencer Dylan and her boyfriend Luke and their dog. So we already have a group that is going in with a greater purpose of differing degrees of fame in mind, and when weird stuff turns to dangerous stuff turns to nightmarish stuff, the paranoia, terror, and desperation starts to tear them all apart. The idea of being lost in the wilderness scares the living daylights out of me, and Kiefer captures that fear and ratchets it up as our group can’t seem to find their way out, as people get hurt, tempers flare, and they all start seeing things that shouldn’t be there, and shouldn’t be possible. Were this a slow burn lost in the wilderness without supernatural elements it would be terrifying on its own, but then the supernatural stuff does enter into it and it is SO well described and SO damn scary. This is one of the gorier horror novels I’ve read as of late, and Kiefer doesn’t hold back so much when it comes to the violence and the visceral imagery. I was both tearing through the pages to find out what happened, but also having to set it down occasionally because of a particularly gross or super messed up moment.

I did have a couple of issues with the book, however. The first is that while I absolutely appreciate Kiefer wanting to keep things a but unknown in terms of what exactly is going on, I think that, interestingly enough, we get into the same pitfall that “Blair Witch” (the requel from a few years ago) fell into. That is, there is SO MUCH WEIRD STUFF going on, but none of it gets even a hint at an explanation. I don’t need full explanations as to everything that is going on in a story like this, on the contrary I generally LIKE ambiguity because sometimes that makes a scary story that much scarier. But this ambiguity didn’t feel focused, and just brushes upon multiple different potential culprits. Nothing is really explained or even hinted at as to what is causing this, and it feels less narratively satisfying and more haphazard and indecisive. The other issue is more to do with the marketing of this book and not with the story itself. The description of the novel mentions that Dylan’s body wasn’t found, and her followers are reporting weird lives from her social media and weird sightings from people in the area, making it sound like this plays a large(ish?) role in the story at hand. In reality, it doesn’t really. I went in thinking there would be some really fun found media themes, but there wasn’t a lot, and that was disappointing. Again, that’s less to do with Kiefer’s story itself and a marketing issue.

So some good things, some not as good things, but overall I did find “This Wretched Valley” to be very disturbing and to be very engrossing. Survival and wilderness horror fans will find a lot to love, and maybe people who are more comfortable with not knowing much about cause in a horror tale will be able to look past the things I had a more difficult time with. I will definitely be looking into more books from Jenny Kiefer in the future!

Rating 7: A gory and deeply disturbing survival horror story that was a page turner, but sometimes a bit too ambiguous for my tastes in some ways, and didn’t really deliver what the description was promising.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Wretched Valley” isn’t on many Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Wilderness Horror Stories”.

Kate’s Review: “The Darkness Rises”

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Book: “The Darkness Rises” by Stacy Stokes

Publishing Info: Viking Books for Young Readers, April 2024

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

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

Book Description: A gripping speculative thriller perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and Ginny Myers Sain, about one girl with the power to see death before it happens–and the terrible consequences she faces when saving someone goes wrong.

SOMEONE WANTS REVENGE…

Whitney knows what death looks like. Since she was seven, she’s seen it hover over strangers’ heads in dark, rippling clouds. Sometimes she can save people from the darkness. Sometimes she can’t. But she’s never questioned if she should try. Until the unthinkable happens—and a person she saves becomes the perpetrator of a horrific school shooting.

Now Whitney will do anything to escape the memory of last year’s tragedy and the guilt that gnaws at her for her role in it. Even if that means quitting dance—the thing she loves most—and hiding her ability from her family and friends. But most importantly, no one can know what really happened last year.

Then Whitney finds an ominous message in her locker and realizes someone knows her secret. As the threats pile up, one thing becomes clear—someone wants payback for what she did. And if she’s going to survive the year, she must track down whoever is after her before it’s too late.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity Inc. for sending me an eARC of this book!

I will forever and always be a complete sucker for a supernatural tale that involves a psychic character who is trying to cope with their powers. That has been my absolute jam for a VERY long time, and therefore if any book has a hint of that and ends up in my radar, I’m going to be on board. So it’s no surprise that I was totally in when “The Darkness Rises” by Stacy Stokes ended up in my mailbox. A teenage girl dealing with a psychic gift which has led to uncertainty and guilt, and has led to a mysterious stalker going after her for the perceived part she played in a tragedy. OH, YES PLEASE.

As a supernatural thriller, this very much falls into the category of Young Adult in a number of ways. Our main character, Whitney, is a teenager, and she has pretty expected teenage problems (a scummy ex boyfriend, an ex friend who has become an antagonistic rival, a strained relationship with her mother, the list goes on), but is also someone who can predict a person’s death due to being able to see a dark cloud over their heads that no one else is privy to. She struggles to keep this to herself, as she wants to help people, but it has bitten her in the ass a number of times. In more mundane ways it has made her seem weird and creepy when she tells someone to go to the doctor or not to drive a certain way, only to find an illness or to narrowly miss a car accident. But in the biggest way, she once stopped the school weirdo from jumping off a building… and a few days later he brought a gun to the school football game and opened fire, killing eight and wounding many others. When someone starts hinting that they know her secret, and that they are going to expose her, or worse. The mystery was pretty easy to figure out from the get go, and while I liked Whitney and liked how complex she was, her detective work, as well as some side plots involving her nemesis and a new boy at school that she has feelings for, were in a lot of ways pretty well worn territory for the young adult age group. This isn’t a bad thing by any means, and it works for the audience at hand. It just means that it wasn’t doing much outside of the box in the thrills department.

But there is absolutely something that elevated “The Darkness Rises” from what could have been a run of the mill YA thriller, and that was the frank and realistic way that Stokes tackled the topic of gun violence in schools and how the trauma reverberates through everyone who is touched by it. While we have a clear conflict of Whitney feeling guilty for saving the shooter from suicide in the days before his rampage, we also have the conflict of how Whitney feels like she should have done more in the moment once it was clear what was happening, and her survivor guilt is couched in with the guilt of saving him as if doing so made the shooting and all the deaths her fault. At first I was thinking ‘oh come on, Whitney, he’s the one who pulled the trigger, he’s the one who killed these people’, but thinking about it, I imagine that trauma, survivor’s guilt, and grief would probably twist one’s perceptions in this way, even if you take the supernatural elements out. I liked that Stokes was able to address these themes without sounded like she was checking boxes of necessary things to say, and that it felt natural and flowed well, and grounded in the harsh realities of gun violence in this country. And as an author’s note she had a good section about resources, statistics, and facts about school shootings and gun control measures. I really appreciated the way she approached it as a plot point.

“The Darkness Rises” is a speculative thriller that makes darker subject matter easy to parse through without diluting it. Fans of YA Thrillers absolutely should check it out.

Rating 7: A pretty typical YA thriller is elevated with a stark and intense take on gun violence.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Darkness Rises” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Psychic Heroes in Mysteries and Thrillers”.

Kate’s Review: “The Reappearance of Rachel Price”

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Book: “The Reappearance of Rachel Price” by Holly Jackson

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, April 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: Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

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

Holly Jackson is one of my must read authors, as I absolutely adored her “Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” series (note to self, pick up the novella based in that universe, it’s been on your shelf for far too long!). I also enjoyed her other standalone novel “Five Survive”. So I was, of course, super eager to get my mitts on her newest YA thriller “The Reappearance of Rachel Price”. NetGalley came through, and it’s no surprise that I read the book in about two sittings. Yep, we have another addictive thriller from Jackson on our hands!

Our cast of characters has a few to chew on, led by Bel, teenager whose mother Rachel Price disappeared sixteen years ago, and who has lived with her father Charlie and tried to cope with the feeling of loss and, in some ways, abandonment. Bel is not a likable character, but I imagine that it absolutely reflects the trauma and loss she has been dealing with ever since Rachel disappeared. And not only that, but being defined as the daughter of a notorious missing woman, and all the baggage that comes with it. So while she wasn’t exactly likable, I really did like her, and thought that she was a totally different voice from some of Jackson’s previous characters, and a convincing one at that. I liked how she interacted with those around her, whether it’s her fierce devotion to her family (especially her cousin Carter), or her flirtatious and snarky relationship with Ash, a young man on the camera crew of the documentary, or even her relationship with the newly re-appeared Rachel, as Bel refuses to accept that Rachel is just back and that is that. Her hostility towards her mother is very in character, but it also makes for a compelling reliability issue; after all, Bel feels a HUGE sense of abandonment and resentment towards Rachel (as until she reappeared it was unclear as to if she had just left or met with foul play), so it’s hard to know if her observations of potentially odd behavior are clouded by this. Rachel is also a fascinating character, as you are only seeing her through Bel’s perspective, and it’s hard to gauge what her deal is. Is it really Rachel Price who has returned? If it is her, is she telling the truth about her whereabouts, and if she is, why are there things that it seems like she’s hiding? I liked the weird cat and mouse dynamic that Bel and Rachel have in this book, as it makes the suspense that much higher. And I also have to shout out Ash, the quirky camera assistant whom Bel takes a shine to. He’s a goofy and kind ray of sunshine when she is an abrasive ball of resentment, and their dynamic is pretty cute.

As for the mystery elements, Jackson really knows how to keep her readers guessing. I have a terrible habit of trying to figure out the twists in any book that I’m reading instead of just going along for the ride, but in “The Reappearance of Rachel Price”, I found myself trying to guess and never quite getting it right. At first, when the documentary crew starts to film and we are learning about Bel and Rachel and the rest of the family, we find out that Bel thinks Rachel just ditched her, while the community thinks that Charlie had something to do with her disappearance (even though he was exonerated by a jury), so when Rachel reappears, and seems to be hiding things, we get a whole new level of mystery. She lays the puzzle pieces throughout the narrative and has enough misdirection throughout that for me the answer was just out of reach, and I while I was somewhat on the right track I was still surprised by elements of it. She also builds up the suspense in a very well paced way, and I found myself questioning and getting nervous in the same ways that Bel was as the story progressed. And while one of the final pieces and explanations/solutions didn’t QUITE fall into place for me and felt a little too easy (I won’t be spoiling it however), one small stumble is easily forgiven because everything else was so earned and meticulously planned for. I love a tightened up thriller that seems to cover everything, it makes it all the more satisfying once you reach the end.

“The Reappearance of Rachel Price” is another triumph from Holly Jackson! She is a powerhouse in Young Adult Thrillers, and I am already very much looking forward to whatever she comes up with next. I can hardly wait.

Rating 8: A suspenseful mystery with some really well done twists, “The Reappearance of Rachel Price” is another great thriller from Holly Jackson!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Reappearance of Rachel Price” is included on the Goodreads list “2024’s Most Awaited Books”.

Kate’s Review: “The Monstrous Misses Mai”

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Book: “The Monstrous Misses Mai” by Van Hoang

Publishing Info: 47North, April 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: A determined young woman in 1950s Los Angeles walks a darker city than she ever imagined in a spellbinding novel about the power to make dreams come true―whatever the sacrifice.

Los Angeles brims with opportunity in 1959―though not for aspiring fashion designer Cordelia Mai Yin, the first-generation child of Vietnamese immigrants, who finds the city unkind to outsiders and as dispirited as her own family. When Cordi rents a cheap loft in an old apartment building, she quickly warms to kindred souls Tessa, Audrey, and Silly. They also want better things and have pasts they’d rather forget. That they all share the same middle name makes their friendship seem like destiny.

As supportive as they are of each other, it’s a struggle just to eke out a living, let alone hope to see their wishes for success come true. Until an ever-present and uncannily charming acquaintance of the landlord’s offers a solution to their problems. He promises to fulfill their every dream. All it takes is a little magic. And a small sacrifice.

As one surprisingly effective spell leads to another, their wishes get bigger. But so does the price they must pay. Amid the damaged seams of her life so far, Cordi must realize her own power in order to rip free, without losing everything she’s worked so hard to achieve.

Review: Thank you to 47North for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I love it when I am surprised by book mail in any form, but love it even more when I am surprised by book mail that I already had my eye on. This happened to me with “The Monstrous Misses Mai” by Van Hoang, as I had seen it on my various social media feeds as well as NetGalley, but hadn’t yet taken the plunge to try and get my hands on it. So when it arrived in my mailbox unprompted, I was pretty excited to see it! Between the cover and the idea of women making a magical bargain that they perhaps won’t be able to cash, the entire concept really intrigued me.

The strongest point of this book was our protagonist Cordi Mai Yin, a young Vietnamese American woman who has found herself on her own and estranged from her strict family in 1959 Los Angeles. She moves into an apartment with three other Asian American women, Tessa, Audrey, and Silly, who all also have the middle name of Mai, which feels like fate. As they all struggle due to their class, race, and gender, they meet a mysterious man who claims he can help them make their wishes come true with magic and a sacrifice. We see the story and trajectory of this decision through Cordi’s eyes, who is so desperate to succeed away from her family and as a fashion designer, and whose meek nature is bolstered through the success after the ritual. I liked Cordi a lot, as I found her complexity believable and sympathetic, and she was explored and fleshed out enough that I was invested in what happened to her as well as totally convinced of her choices and storyline beats. Her anxiety about making it on her own after being so dependent on a less than supportive family, mixed with the constant racism and misogyny she has to face in her day to day life, are also laid out in a convincing and realistic way.

The magical system in this book, known as lura, is a well thought out idea that was vague enough to be flexible but felt unique in enough ways that it didn’t feel run of the mill. I felt like there was a lot of “The Craft” in it, with four powerless women coming together to find their power, only to realize that it may have more consequences than they can actually fathom. While this is probably a solidly dark fantasy story, there are also some pretty nasty body horror elements that come from the lura spells taking their toll, with fingernails falling out, or hair shedding in clumps, or even just some gross transformational stuff that made the story have some definite horror elements. I also quite enjoyed the metaphors at hand with various luraists who have accrued power through indirect means, but still feel entitled to the lavish (if not hard to keep up) lifestyles that they have in front of them, and how that doesn’t necessarily apply to four Asian American women who have societal roadblocks due to racism and misogyny.

Overall, I enjoyed “The Monstrous Misses Mai”! It scratched all my dark fantasy and historical fiction itches, and I will certainly be seeing what Van Hoang brings next!

Rating 8: An engrossing dark fantasy with elements of body horror, “The Monstrous Misses Mai” has a bite, both in mythos and in metaphor.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Monstrous Misses Mai” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Coven Book Club”.

Kate’s Review: “The Black Girl Survives In This One”

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Book: “The Black Girl Survives in This One” by Desiree S. Evans (Ed.) & Saraciea J. Fennell (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Flatiron Books, April 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: Be warned, dear reader: The Black girls survive in this one.

Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.

The bestselling and acclaimed authors include Erin E. Adams, Monica Brashears, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Desiree S. Evans, Saraciea J. Fennell, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Daka Hermon, Justina Ireland, L. L. McKinney, Brittney Morris, Maritza & Maika Moulite, Eden Royce, and Vincent Tirado, with a foreword by Tananarive Due.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this short stories collection!

2023 was the year of the Short Stories collection for me, as I tackled so many anthologies and had a pretty good time doing so. I think I can safely retire my previous disclaimers about me not being super into short story collections, as lately they have been working pretty well for me. Because of this, I had no hesitation when requesting “The Black Girl Survives in This One”, a YA horror anthology edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell. I’m always looking for more diverse voices in my genres, and seeing a collection that showcases some well known Black YA horror authors was pretty neat. I was lucky enough to have my request granted, and once I dove in I found a pretty fun horror anthology.

As I am wont to do for short stories collections, I will pick my favorite three stories to spotlight, and then I will talk about the collection as a whole.

“Ghost Light” by Erin E. Adams: As a former theater kid who did both acting AND tech work (Saturday mornings were usually spent at the auditorium building and painting sets in high school), I knew that “Ghost Light” was going to be a favorite from the jump. Janine, a stage manager with ambitions and drive is running a show of “Macbeth”, and after a performance she is left behind to tend to the theater. While working, she meets up with the resident ghost. And that ghost is up to no good. This one was probably one of the less traditionally scary stories in the collection, as Janine is dealing more with a poltergeist and having to duke it out with her, but I really loved the action, and I really loved the way that Adams worked theater superstitions regarding ghost lights and The Scottish Play into this story. It made me all nostalgic for my theater days as a teenager.

“The Brides of Devil’s Bayou” by Desiree S. Evans: This was one of the stories that wove in dark historical themes with the horror elements, and it was my favorite to do so. Aja is a college freshman who has returned to her childhood home in the Louisiana Bayous, who has been haunted by a supposed family curse that takes the eldest daughters down the family line on their nineteenth birthdays. With her birthday approaching, Aja wants to confront her fears and prove to herself once and for all that it’s not real. But then she starts seeing visions of the ancestors who were lost, and wonders if the demon is coming for her after all. I am always a huge sucker for family curse and prophecy stories, but what I really enjoyed about this one is that Evans creates the lore around a female ancestor who was so desperate to escape slavery she makes a pact to sacrifice people down the family line. It makes for an added layer of tragedy and injustice, as well as a really solid metaphor for the familial and generational trauma Aja’s family has suffered because of slavery in America. It’s powerful (and scary) stuff.

“The Skittering Thing” by Monica Brashears: I think this was my favorite story in the collection, and for me it was definitely the scariest. Friends Sunny and Charlotte accept the invitation of their new classmate Ray to sleepover at her house. When the family brings up playing a game they call “Skitter”, which is a blackout version of hide and seek, Sunny and Charlotte find themselves in a dark house playing a weird game. And it may not be one of the new family members that is on the hunt in the dark. This was was so uneasy and so unsettling, the tension building higher and higher until it reaches a weird and disturbing conclusion. I really loved this one.

As a full collection, it was a bit more of a hit or miss endeavor for me. I think that part of this is that this is, at its heart, a YA collection, and while the authors are all talented story tellers and are really hitting the nail on the head when it comes to audience and message, young adult horror and I have a complicated relationship due to the fact I’m not the target audience. What I mean by that is that it always feels like YA has a tendency to feel a need to really spell things out for their readers, and it can sometimes feel hamfisted for me. But as noted, I’m not the target audience, and this kind of writing choice could very well go over better with a teenage reader than it does me.

“The Black Girl Lives in This One” is a fun collection that showcases some great authors. If you have teenage horror fans in your life, especially Black girls who may be sick of a lack of representation in the genre, this is the book to check out!

Rating 7: A solid horror collection written by and about Black women who will not be stopped, “The Black Girls Survives in This One” is scary and empowering.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Black Girl Survives in This One” is included on the Goodreads lists “2024 Books by Black Authors”, and “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Kate’s Review: “Dead Girls Walking”

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Book: “Dead Girls Walking” by Sami Ellis

Publishing Info: Amulet Books, March 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 shocking, spine-chilling YA horror slasher about a girl searching for her dead mother’s body at the summer camp that was once her serial killer father’s home—perfect for fans of Friday the 13th and White Smoke.

Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.

Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.

But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.

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

There are a number of known truths in my world, and one of those truths is that if you make a reference to “Friday the 13th” in relation to another movie plot or story, I’m going to be automatically interested. I have a special place in my heart for Jason Voorhees and those pretty not great but super campy and gory slasher movies, so much so that my Terror Tuesday friend group is slowly working our way through the movie series as group member Michael had never seen any of them. Because of my love, when I was browsing NetGalley for upcoming horror novels, I was immediately intrigued by “Dead Girls Walking” by Sami Ellis. It not only dropped “Friday the 13th” in its description, but also “White Smoke” by Tiffany D. Jackson, one of my favorite horror authors. These two things and a very eye catching cover made me pretty excited to read this book. Which means I was a bit bummed when it didn’t quite rise to the occasion.

But as always I will start with the good! I will say right off that this harkens less to “Friday the 13th” (outside of the summer camp setting) and more to the original “Evil Dead” when it comes to the scares. Which is a-okay with me, because I love both of those franchises but “Evil Dead” isn’t seen nearly as much when it comes to general cultural references to gory slasher and horror films, whereas I feel like even those who don’t know horror are familiar with Jason Voorhees at least in passing. Ellis knows how to craft a horror casualty that feels like it’s coming from a gory slasher movie, and I could definitely visualize those moments in all their bloody glory.

I do love a gorefest at times. (source)

I also really liked how Ellis has paid something of an homage to a sub-genre that is, very often and certainly during its heydey, a very white, cis, and straight playing field, and has subverted it by featuring queer Black girls. At the center of that is Temple, our protagonist whose father has been convicted of being a serial killer, and whose hunting ground was her family property which has now been transformed into a summer camp. Temple gets the job of a counselor in hopes of finally finding her mother’s body, and her prickliness and hidden identity is a clashing point for the campers. Temple herself is a character I liked a lot, because even though she is probably seen as pretty unlikable, her trauma, family history, and inability to process makes that prickly personality completely understandable. And while a lot of the other campers weren’t super well fleshed out, there were a few that I thought had a lot of good character development and background foundation (the one that really comes to mind is Yaya, a queer teenager who is also a devout Christian and knows that the two things can be reconciled). It’s just refreshing seeing a cast of characters that buck the narrow trends of the genre.

But there were a few hiccups that didn’t work for me. The first is that there were some aspects of the plot that felt a little undercooked, and at times confusing. I felt like I really understood Temple and her motivations, but when it came to the lore of her family history, the land that the murders/camp was on, and her parents and their own motivators and even their trains of thought, these things felt brushed over, or in some ways a bit unclear. I know that slasher movies don’t really need that much motivation beyond ‘slasher A has motivation B and kills horny teenagers’, but even in those that have stood the test of time we have a very clear motivation set. Even the aforementioned closer analog “The Evil Dead” compensates for a very loosey goosey motivation by leaning into slapstick humor in the second two of the trilogy (and doesn’t make Ash Williams much more than a poor sap with quippy lines and a constitution that can endure buckets of blood and a chainsaw hand). With Temple being so well rounded, I had hoped that her adversary would be well rounded too, but it felt lacking. Add in a bit of a pacing issue and it knocked points off from the overall read. All of this said, I am not the target audience for this book, and while these things didn’t work for me, I know that I would ABSOLUTELY be recommending this book to my teenage patrons who like their horror on the gory side.

I will be interested in seeing what Sami Ellis does with her next novel. “Dead Girls Walking” was brimming with lots of horror goodness in spite of some missteps here and there, and I hope she keeps bring her perspective to the genre.

Rating 6: I liked the cast of characters and some of the gory bits, but the plot was a little confusing and the background felt a bit off at times.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Dead Girls Walking” is included on the Goodreads lists “Queer Horror”, and “Summer Camp Horror”.

Kate’s Review: “The Angel of Indian Lake”

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Book: “The Angel of Indian Lake” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publishing Info: S&S/ Saga Press, March 2024

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

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

Book Description: The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t Fear the Reaper as Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her in New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’s finale.

It’s been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there’s one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront…until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand.

New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones has crafted an epic horror trilogy of generational trauma from the Indigenous to the townies rooted in the mountains of Idaho. It is a story of the American west written in blood.

Review: Thank you to Saga Press for sending me an eARC of this via NetGalley!

When I first picked up “My Heart Is a Chainsaw” by Stephen Graham Jones, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I thought that it would at the very least be a fun meta horror story with an abundance of references to the genre I love most. And it was. BUT, it was also the start of a trilogy that would expand upon and defy conventions of the slasher genre while still showing complete adoration for it. And we have now come to the end of Proofrock, and the end of Jade Daniels, final girl for the ages, with “The Angel of Indian Lake”. By the time I had it in my hands on my Kindle, I was very, VERY excited to start it, but also nervous. Was Stephen Graham Jones going to stick the landing of this series? What a fool I was for questioning him. Because “The Angel of Indian Lake” is a worthy end to a love letter to slashers and their final girls everywhere.

Jade can officially join the exalted ranks of Laurie, Sidney, Nancy, and Sally when all is said and done. (source)

Jade Daniels remains the MVP of not only this trilogy, but one of Jones’s best characters of all, and it was so great seeing her character arc from the beginning of the trilogy up until and through this book. I love how she has persevered, how she is still a HUGE weirdo in her own way, how she is still scrappy but vulnerable and goes beyond the expected qualities of a heroine in a slasher film. In “The Angel of Indian Lake” she is trying to live a normal life as a teacher, she is going to therapy, she is acting as a godmother to her best friend Letha’s daughter Adie. But Proofrock’s demons keep pulling her back in, and as a whole new cycle of horrific murders, as well as a new gentrification cycle, AS WELL AS A FOREST FIRE, threatens the town, Jade, once again, has to step up. And this time you can tell how weary she is, even if she is always going to go forth and fight.

In terms of the horror action, there is a LOT in this book, almost like there are just so many slasher beats and meta themes that are all fighting to come through. There are cursed objects, decapitations, the return of previous killers, things rising from the lake that are long thought dead. Like I said, it’s a LOT, and it can skew towards chaotic, but it’s done in a way that feels like a wink and nudge to the way that the end of a trilogy (before the reboot or requel, of course) needs to pull out all the stops to keep a fan on their toes. My head was spinning a bit, partly because of all the curves and twists, partly because Jones’s writing style can be steeped in more literary styles that I like but have a harder time parsing through for whatever reason. But it’s also very enjoyable and worth the parsing out.

And, of course, the horror references. I’m repeating myself a bit here as in each and every “Indian Lake” book there are so many references to slasher films and horror tales in general, and “The Angel of Indian Lake” keeps that tradition going. I like to think that I am more versed than the average horror fan in the genre, but man, Jones always puts me to shame while also filling me with awe, not only with the flat out reference points that Jade alludes to, but also with the story devices and character choices and moments that ALSO made references. But in this final entry to the trilogy, many of the references feel almost bittersweet as Jade has to face so many demons, be they supernatural beasties wreaking havoc in the town, or the trauma and despair that she has had to face over and over again, only to keep on fighting while not quite accepting that she, too, is worthy of the final girl title. Jones knows what he is doing with his genre choices, and Jade is a final girl inside and out, and even beyond what that generally means in the broader trope. It’s just so meaningful, how he ties it all together.

“The Angel of Indian Lake” is a gory and emotional final tale for Jade and the town of Proofrock. I don’t generally get choked up during slasher stories, but Stephen Graham Jones has put so much heart into this I was absolutely crying by the end. What an accomplishment this trilogy is.

Rating 9: A complex and multilayered end to a trilogy that is a Valentine to a sub-genre that isn’t known for complexity, “The Angel of Indian Lake” brings Jade Daniels full circle, and redefines what it means to be a ‘Final Girl’.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Angel of Indian Lake” isn’t included on many Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Slasher Fiction”.

Kate’s Review: “Bury the Lead”

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Book: “Bury the Lead” by Kate Hilton & Elizabeth Renzetti

Publishing Info: Spiderline, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from Zg Stories

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

Book Description: A big-city journalist joins the staff of a small-town paper in cottage country and finds a community full of secrets … and murder. Cat Conway has recently returned to Port Ellis to work as a reporter at the Quill & Packet . She’s fled the tattered remains of her high-profile career and bad divorce for the holiday town of her childhood, famous for its butter tarts, theatre, and a century-old feud. One of Cat’s first assignments is to interview legendary actor Eliot Fraser, the lead in the theatre’s season opener of Inherit the Wind . When Eliot ends up dead onstage on opening night, the curtain rises on the sleepy town’s secrets. The suspects include the actor whose career Eliot ruined, the ex-wife he betrayed, the women he abused, and even the baker he wronged. With the attention of the world on Port Ellis, this story could be Cat’s chance to restore her reputation. But the police think she’s a suspect, and the murderer wants to kill the story―and her too. Can Cat solve the mystery before she loses her job or becomes the next victim of a killer with a theatrical bent for vengeance?

Review: Thank you Zg Stories for sending me an eARC and an ARC of this novel!

Well, I think that it’s time that I just admit to myself that I am going to be the resident cozy mystery reviewer on this blog, because at this point I have three or four series that I am actively seeking out and following and reviewing on here. Perhaps it’s a bit of a contrast given my usual focus on the darker elements of genres, but you know what, I’m going to own it. I contain multitudes!! After all, when “Bury the Lead” by Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti ended up in my inbox, I was drawn to it. A cozy mystery that has a reporter of small town newspaper as the lead, who has to investigate the on stage death of a famous but ultimately abusive leading man, well that just catches my eye. I am wholly on board with becoming the resident cozy mystery reviewer, and “Bury the Lead” is the start of what will hopefully be another series I can follow. Because I enjoyed it!

At the heart of any good cozy mystery is a relatable and enjoyable protagonist, and in “Bury the Lead” we have Cat Conway, a reporter for a small town newspaper who is trying to pick up the pieces of multiple fallouts from her life. If it’s not the divorce she has had to endure from her nasty ex husband, it’s the recent loss of an illustrious journalism job, and she is now rebuilding as best she can in a small town. Cat is a great main character to follow, because she has a lot of baggage that she is carrying with her, and being able to break the story on what happened to Eliot Fraser would certainly get her reputation (and self perception) back on track. I liked her rough edges, I liked she snark and her glimmers of pain and resentment, and I liked that her complications never bogged her down. I also liked that she was an ‘older’ protagonist, as while that’s not exactly a novel thing when it comes to cozy mysteries, as someone who is approaching 40 herself, seeing women in books be able to be in an older age bracket and still have the spotlight is always a treat. I was very invested in Cat and would definitely read more books about her should this series continue.

The mystery itself is well done, and crafted in a way that laid out clues at a good pace and had plenty of means, motives, and opportunities for a large swath of suspects. Like many cozy mysteries, Hilton and Renzetti have a charming community that serves as a setting, and a charming cast of characters, some of whom will probably be seen as the series continues, and others who make for solid villains. As Cat investigates for her story we meet the people at the newspaper, as well as plenty of people who may have wanted Fraser dead for some pretty legitimate (and in some cases upsetting) reasons. I found myself guessing for awhile as to what the solution was going to be, and even though I solved it a bit before I was supposed to, I still greatly enjoyed the ride and found the plot well thought out and presented. And hey, I love the idea of the main ‘hook’ (as so many cozy mysteries have hooks) being a small town newspaper with a sometimes quirky but always intrepid set of reporters, with Cat leading the way.

“Bury the Lead” is an enjoyable cozy mystery to add to my ever growing series list that I intend to follow forward. I’m still very amused that cozy mysteries ended up in my lap on the blog, but with books like this they are an enjoyable beat to have.

Rating 8: A well conceived plot with a comfy setting and a charming cast of characters makes “Bury the Lead” another cozy mystery series I intend to keep my eyes on.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bury the Lead” isn’t on many specific Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Cozy Crimes”.