Category: Kate’s Reviews

Kate’s Review: “The Nigerwife”

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

Book: “The Nigerwife” by Vanessa Walters

Publishing Info: Atria Books, May 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: This twisty and electrifying debut novel about a young woman who goes missing in Lagos, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie who will stop at nothing to find the truth is perfect for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer and The Last Thing He Told Me.

Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a handsome husband, a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria, and a glamorous group of friends. She left gloomy London and a dark family past behind for sunny, moneyed Lagos, becoming part of the Nigerwives—a community of foreign women married to wealthy Nigerian men.

But when Nicole disappears without a trace after a boat trip, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. As the investigation turns up nothing but dead ends, her Auntie Claudine decides to take matters into her own hands. Armed with only a cell phone and a plane ticket to Nigeria, she digs into her niece’s life and uncovers a hidden side filled with dark secrets, isolation, and even violence. But the more she discovers about her niece, the more Claudine’s own buried history threatens to come to light.

An inventively told and keenly observant thriller where nothing is as it seems, The Nigerwife is a razor-sharp look at the bonds of family, the echoing consequences of secrets, and whether we can ever truly outrun our past.

Review: “The Nigerwife” by Jessica Walters is a thriller that had been on my list for awhile, but the wait at the library was long. Then when it finally did come in, my stack was so high that I had to send it back and re-request it as there was no way I could get to it. But once it did come back, I was pretty eager to check it out, as the cover and the description definitely made it sound like my kind of thriller, as well as one that had a setting I am not as familiar with. And overall, it was a pretty good reading experience.

There are a lot of things that I really enjoyed about this book. The narrative structure is one of those things, as we follow two perspectives, in two different moments in time. The first of the perspectives is that of Claudine, an English woman who has come to Lagos to search for her missing niece Nicole, who married into a wealthy Nigerian family and seemed to have it all. The other is of Rachel, in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, and seeing what her life was ACTUALLY like behind the veneer of perfection and wealth. Through both of these women we see the social structures, both of England AND Nigeria, and how they, in their own ways, keep women under the thumbs of violent patriarchy and misogyny. The mystery of what happened to Nicole slowly unfolds in her timeline, with a building suspense and dread as she finds herself more and more trapped due to her complicated marriage and some of the choices she makes when trying to push back against it, while in Claudine’s timeline we see just how precarious Nicole’s situation was from the outside. I liked seeing the perspectives of them both and how they had different clues to give the reader.

But unfortunately, after a really interesting dual perspective mystery with slowly peeled back layers and a nice bit of ambiguity along with closure, we had one of those ever-loathed moments where a last final reveal completely derailed my experience of reading this book. I’m not going to spoil anything here, but it’s one of those things that maybe works for some people, but REALLY didn’t work for me, as I didn’t understand what the point of it was. Why did this need to be tacked on in the last two pages? And it also left little explanation as to how we got from point A to point B, and since it was a literal ‘last pages’ twist there was no room to explore and expand upon it. I really hate it when stories do this unless you have REALLY set something up and earned this kind of narrative choice. Unfortunately I didn’t feel like “The Nigerwife did that.

So once again we get a thriller that goes off course due to a strange last moment choice, but up until then I really enjoyed the layers and ruminations of “The Nigerwife”. I will definitely be seeing what other mysteries and thrillers Vanessa Walters brings us in the future.

Rating 7: A complex and layered thriller that has a lot of interesting beats and details, though a strange and abrupt ending left a weird taste in my mouth.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Nigerwife” is included on the Goodreads list “Good Morning America Book Club List”.

Kate’s Review: “Northranger”

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

Book: “Northranger” by Rey Teciero and Bre Indigo (Ill.)

Publishing Info: HarperAlley, June 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: In this swoony and spooky teen summer romance graphic novel set on a Texas ranch, sixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz finds himself falling for the ranch owner’s mysterious and handsome son, only to discover that he may be harboring a dangerous secret.

Cade has always loved to escape into the world of a good horror movie. After all, horror movies are scary–but to Cade, a closeted queer Latino teen growing up in rural Texas–real life can be way scarier.

When Cade is sent to spend the summer working as a ranch hand to help earn extra money for his family, he is horrified. Cade hates everything about the ranch, from the early mornings to the mountains of horse poop he has to clean up. The only silver lining is the company of the two teens who live there–in particular, the ruggedly handsome and enigmatic Henry.

But as unexpected sparks begin to fly between Cade and Henry, things get… complicated. Henry is reluctant to share the details of his mother’s death, and Cade begins to wonder what else he might be hiding. Inspired by the gothic romance of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Bloom comes a modern love story so romantic it’s scary.

Review: A few years ago our book club read “Northanger Abbey”, making it the third Jane Austen book I’ve read and making me feel that much more cultured. It was fine, I enjoyed the discussion, but outside of “Emma” which I genuinely loved it was just adding an Austen notch to the belt. But when I saw “Northranger”, a graphic novel by Rey Teciero and illustrated by Bre Indigo, cross my feed, and that it was a modern retelling of “Northanger Abbey” with a queer romance, I knew that I HAD to read it.

Teciero easily reinterprets the themes and story of “Northanger Abbey” and remixes them into a modern American setting with queer themes. I loved the new location of rural Texas, and I REALLY loved how Catherine Morland, naive clergyman’s daughter who loves Gothic novels, changes into Cade Muñoz, a closeted queer Latino teen who loves horror movies. Instead of going into social society as a potential bride for suitors in Bath, Cade and his stepfather go to work on a ranch for the summer to help ends meet, and meets the Tyler family. There’s the harsh General, who owns the ranch, and his twin children, Henrietta (who prefers to go by Henri), and Henry. There is, of course, some mysteriousness surrounding Henry and his father, and Cade, being a horror movie buff, lets his mind wander to think the very worst of them, especially once they get to the family vacation home Northranger and tensions run high. In terms of adaptations, “Northranger” is pretty clever with how it brings the other characters into the story, while mining a bit more complexity from them. Antagonists John and Isabella Thorpe are no longer scheming siblings, but a bitter ranch hand named John who struggles with resentment and substance abuse, and his flirty and carefree daughter Bella. Eleanor is now Henri, who is jovial and supportive of both her brother and Cade, and Mr. Allen is now Cade’s stepfather Dale, who served with The General in the military. While they are different from their Austen counterparts, they all feel pretty in line with the base personalities and inspirations, just better fitting in with modern sensibilities.

But what was a bit of a parody of Gothic sensibilities in the source material turns into a far more melancholy (but also very sweet) story about identity, anxieties, and how sometimes people who are always scared due to things they can’t control turn to horror as an escape. Catherine is seen as a naive for this in “Northanger Abbey”, but in “Northranger” Cade has a LOT he is carrying. He’s a closeted queer teen living in rural Texas, where his sexuality could very easily put a target on his back, and his love of horror isn’t so much as fanciful or used as humorous, but is more an exploration of his inner fears. Henry, too, has a lot of things that he is carrying, and his character COULD be seen as suspicious and strange because of how HE is coping with his own inner struggles. Sometimes this could make for moments where I wasn’t completely certain that Cade and Henry were in a healthy burgeoning relationship, or led to moments where I thought that Henry was REALLY in need of some introspection (not to mention thinking this was a bit repetitive at times), but apart from these uneasy moments I did like the romance between the two characters as they explored their feelings and unpacked their personal baggage. The core themes from the Austen story are still here, but Teciero brings new life to it with more complex issues.

And finally, I liked the artwork by Bre Indigo quite a bit. It feels easy going and easy to digest, while having moments of more realistic designs that popped off the page.

Pardon the quality of my picture. (source: HarperAlley)

“Northranger” is a charming and emotional remix of a Jane Austen classic! I would definitely be interested in seeing what else Rey Teciero writes in the future, reimagined classics or not!

Rating 8: A creative and sweet retelling of a classic Gothic romance, “Northranger” is a lovely graphic novel about seeing horrors everywhere and finding peace within yourself.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Northranger” is included on the Goodreads lists “YA Modern Austen Retellings”, and “Queer Books Set in Texas”.

Kate’s Review: “Gorgeous Gruesome Faces”


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

Book: “Gorgeous Gruesome Faces” by Linda Cheng

Publishing Info: Roaring Book Press, November 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: After a shocking scandal that abruptly ended her teen popstar career, eighteen-year-old Sunny Lee spends her days longing for her former life and cyberstalking her ex-BFF and groupmate, Candie. The two were once inseparable, but that was then—before the tragedy and heartache they left in their wake.

In the here and now, Sunny is surprised to discover that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop in her hometown. Candie might be there chasing stardom, but Sunny can’t resist the chance to join her and finally confront their traumatic history. Because she still can’t figure out what happened that horrible night when Mina, the third in their tight-knit trio, jumped to her death. Or if the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping had something to do with it . . .

But the workshop doesn’t bring the answers Sunny had hoped for, nor a happy reunion with Candie. Instead, Sunny finds herself haunted by ghostly visions while strange injuries start happening to her competitors—followed by even stranger mutilations to their bodies. In her race to survive, Sunny will have to expose just who is behind the carnage—and if Candie is out for blood once more—in Linda Cheng’s spellbinding sapphic thriller that will have readers screaming and swooning for more.

Review: Happy 2024! I hope that you all had a good New Year Celebration, and that you are not as anxious about the coming year as I am. As the social hangover of the holidays wears off, I’m eager to get into the reviews of 2024, and we are starting off with something a little bit sapphic, a little bit fandom-y, and all kinds of odd in a good way. I saw “Gorgeous Gruesome Faces” by Linda Cheng as a Goodreads ad, and the title alone caught my attention. When I read that it was a horror thriller involving a K-pop competition and a former teen idol trying to start anew, I knew it was absolutely a must read for me. And then you throw in a twist involving some folklore from the Asian Diaspora? What a combination!

I do really like the set up for this book. We have our protagonist Sunny Lee, who used to be a part of a teen TV show that rocketed her and her two cast mates turned friends Candie and Mina into stardom, but whose career has crashed and burned after a massive scandal and the death of Mina. Her friendship (and potentially something more) with Candie crumbled, and she hasn’t seen her since their show ended. Now Sunny has joined a K-Pop competition that Candie has also joined, in hopes of getting back on her feet, and perhaps hashing things out with Candie. It has the set up for a soapy and cutthroat thriller, with past relationships, traumas, and baggage making things that much more tense. I loved the slow building of Sunny trying to connect with Candie again, as well as the way that other contestants start dropping like flies due to supposed accidents and breakdowns. Sunny was an interesting enough character, though I think that I wanted a bit more connection between her and Candie, as their past romance should make the mystery about Candie’s potential culpability and Sunny’s suspicions feel that much more high stakes, but as it was I wasn’t TOTALLY buying it (that said, there is the potential for another book, which could flesh it out a bit more).

When it comes to the dark fantasy and horror elements of this book, it was pretty creative and at times pretty brutal. I really enjoyed some of the descriptions of the way that characters faces would ‘change’, and become uncanny and unsettling, all while sending that person into a full blown panic, to the point of self mutilation and self harm. Body horror can really get under my skin, and in this book I definitely found myself squirming a bit. There is also some solid ‘ghost girl’ imagery, as Sunny starts to see visions of a washed out spectre of a broken girl who looks a lot like her dead friend and former cast mate Mina, whose death has haunted Sunny. I LOVED the descriptions of the stalking ghost, they really set my teeth on edge while feeling like a vengeful spirit from an A-Horror film. But there is also a bit of dark fantasy in here as well, as it draws upon the folktale of The Celestial Maiden and the Woodcutter, in which a goddess is basically held captive by a peasant after he stumbles upon her without her clothing, and hides them from her, rendering her unable to leave the Earth. Cheng really runs with the idea of the ‘held captive’ angle, and uses the concept of her supposed worshipers being given special abilities, but how darkness is always attached to those who use it. It was pretty unique in this regard, and I hope that we just see more and more nods to mythologies that we don’t see as often in modern literature.

I found “Gorgeous Gruesome Faces” to be entertaining and sufficiently creepy. I am absolutely going to check out where it goes from here when the next book in the series comes out.

Rating 7: A creative and at times nasty horror thriller about deities and K-Pop, “Gorgeous Gruesome Faces” is a solid YA thrill ride.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Gorgeous Gruesome Faces” is included on the Goodreads list “Queer Releases November 2023”.

Kate’s Favorite Reads of 2023: Picks 5-1

Another a year, another almost impossible task trying to each choose our Top 10 Reads of the year! Like past years I won’t be including re-reads, sometimes my opinion of a book could change and evolve after I had read it, so some surprises may be up near the top, as well as perhaps a book or two that didn’t make my reviews on here initially due to genre limitations. But here they are, ready for a countdown! And since it’s the end of the reading year, don’t forget to enter our “Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway”! Today I’m going to countdown my favorite reads, five to one.

5. “For You and Only You” by Caroline Kepnes

“For You and Only You” Review

I can almost guarantee that any entry to Caroline Kepnes’s “You” series will always be a favorite of the year for me, just because I love Joe and all of his horribleness so much that any adventure he has I will accompany him on. And “For You and Only You” is just a new setting with a new cast of similarly awful characters to accompany him on, this time going after the snobs and Massholes of Boston and Harvard. Joe is once again obsessed with a new woman, and in the name of love does terrible things to terrible people. Is it a familiar story for him? Sure! But Kepnes still has the darkly humorous and satirical voice for Joe that makes the read a lot of wicked fun.

4. “Night’s Edge” by Liz Kerin

“Nights Edge” Review

This mother-daughter vampire story really put my emotions THROUGH IT this year. As a mother to my own daughter who I absolutely adore (and am constantly in worry of failing as a mom), the story of young adult Mia having to care for her vampiric mother Izzy, and all the toxic codependence that comes with having to care for a manipulative parent who has to hide from the world during the day, was a breathtaking and heartbreaking horror novel. I love vampire stories when they are done to cater to my standards, and this one had moments of terror, moments of heartache, and moments of coming of age that all came together to be a devastating horror story about mothers and daughters. I cannot wait for the sequel, which comes out in a few months.

3. “Delicate Condition” by Danielle Valentine

“Delicate Condition” Review

I’m done having kids, and if there was ever going to be a book that would scare me to death about potential impending pregnancies, “Delicate Condition” would be it, so it’s good I read it when I was through. Danielle Valentine’s pregnancy based horror novel about a woman with a stressful and very strange pregnancy, feelings of being watched, and the all too real horrors of being pregnant when surrounded by people who don’t understand or take you seriously. The tension of Anna Alcott’s pregnancy journey is a feminist telling of “Rosemary’s Baby” in a lot of ways, while being a critique of misogyny and toxic positivity that mothers are supposed to have about having children, no matter how terrifying it can be. Even when it’s not a potentially demonic one! I loved this book, absolutely tearing through it and being very, very freaked out.

2. “Here In The Night” by Rebecca Turkewitz

“Here In The Night” Review

This book is probably the most surprising read of 2023 for me, if only because I had no idea what to expect when I picked “Here In The Night” up, and completely adored it. This short horror stories collection by Rebecca Turkewitz is a horror story collection, yes, but it has a tone and feeling about it that feels more realistic, more muted, and incredibly bittersweet, anchoring the horror tales with women characters, queer characters, and characters who may be dealing with something supernatural, or crime thriller, but always has underpinings of real life scares that these demographics face every day existing in modern life. Not only did the stories creep me out and get under my skin, they also brought out a lot of emotions that I hadn’t been expecting. I just loved this collection.

1. “Lore Olympus” by Rachel Smythe

“Lore Olympus” Review (Vol. 1)

Of all the books that I read in 2023, there is one that really stands out and one that I have been gushing about to anyone who will listen, and that is “Lore Olympus” (for the purposes of the list I’m just clumping all volumes into one grouping). I have been adoring the story of Persephone and Hades and the Greek Gods and Goddesses around them, as it takes one of my favorite myths and puts it through a modern lens that makes ALL of the characters compelling and interesting. I love the love story. I love the way Smythe has written Hera. I love the humor and the heart and the artwork. I love how it tackles deep topics that tug at the heart strings while also making me laugh out loud. There was no way this wasn’t going to be my number one read of 2023. Just phenomenal.

Kate’s Favorite Reads of 2023: Picks 10-6

Another a year, another almost impossible task trying to each choose our Top 10 Reads of the year! Like past years I won’t be including re-reads, sometimes my opinion of a book could change and evolve after I had read it, so some surprises may be up near the top, as well as perhaps a book or two that didn’t make my reviews on here initially due to genre limitations. But here they are, ready for a countdown! And since it’s the end of the reading year, don’t forget to enter our “Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway”! Today I’m going to countdown my favorite reads, ten to six. 

10. “One Girl in All the World” by Kendare Blake

“One Girl in All the World” Review

I’ve been having something of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” nostalgia trip the past couple of years, and part of that is due to Kendare Blake’s “In Every Generation” Series, which follows Willow Rosenberg’s daughter Frankie as she trains to become a slayer. “One Girl in All the World” is the second book in the series, and I thoroughly enjoyed continuing the adventure as Frankie and her friends (as well as Mom Willow and Watcher Spike) contend with a growing number of monsters, and a still missing in action Buffy and what that means for all of them. Blake still captures the tone and heart of the original series, and I am still quite enamored not only with her new characters, but her interpretations of the old ones as well (this Spike fan is still swooning). The final book comes out in 2024, and I’m both amped and very nervous.

9. “Lone Women” by Victor LaValle

“Lone Women” Review

It was a bit of time to wait for Victor LaValle’s next horror novel, but man, was it worth it. I will say that I was a bit nervous when I saw that “Lone Women” was going to not only be horror, but also a Western, as that isn’t a genre that I really connect with, but I should never have doubted LaValle’s prowess, because I ended up loving this book. I was completely enthralled by the story of Adelaide as she leaves her life behind (dead parents and a burning down homestead to be exact) with a mysterious trunk and hopes to make it on her own as a solo homesteader, and the community of other women, as well as other dangers, as she tries to start again. And once the question of what was in the trunk was addressed, well…. I loved it even more. This book is tense, hopeful, and beautifully written. Glad to have you back, Mr. LaValle!

8. “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Stephen Graham Jones

“Don’t Fear the Reaper” Review

Given that I try not to have repeats of authors on my end of year list, I had to make some tough decisions in regards to whether I chose Stephen Graham Jones’s graphic novel “Earthdivers: Kill Columbus”, or “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, the sequel to his meta horror novel “My Heart is a Chainsaw”. But Jade eeked this one out, as I was once again tickled and moved by her story as she returns to Proofrock after a jail sentence, only to stumble in the night of a serial killer terrorizing the town. Jones is still showing off his knowledge and love for horror movies, all while giving an homage to the art form as well as bringing up social issues that Indigenous people have to face in a racist society, and he continues to do it was aplomb, flair, and genuine frights. The final entry in the trilogy comes out in 2024 and I’m excited but also not ready to say goodbye.

7. “Midnight is the Darkest Hour” by Ashley Winstead

“Midnight is the Darkest Hour” Review

This was a bit of a wild card for me, as I went into it with little knowledge and not really any expectations, and then I ended up absolutely adoring it! “Midnight is the Darkest Hour” is a thriller by way of “Thelma and Louise” if that story had religious trauma, a callout of small town bigotry, and a little bit if vampire lore with a heavy dose of “Twilight” adoration, and man oh man did it work for me. This was my first Ashley Winstead book and I am absolutely going to go back and read more of her work. I love the mysteries of Bottom Springs as two outcasts, Ruth and Everett, hold tight to each other and try to survive in a town that doesn’t understand and flat out hates them, and as they try to hide their own secrets, they discover more. It kept me guessing, it kept my heart racing, and it kept my romantic side just ACHING. What a combination!

6. “Graveyard of Lost Children” by Katrina Monroe

“Graveyard of Lost Children” Review

Stories that involve danger posed towards kids always send an extra chill up my spine, given that I am always anxious about the safety and wellbeing of my child, but in the case of “Graveyard of Lost Children” by Katrina Monroe, a horror tale about new motherhood, postpartum depression and perhaps psychosis, and maybe also a supernatural threat of a black haired woman spectre, I was so enthuse with the story I wasn’t as on edge. At least not in a negative way. I thought that this book about a new mother seeing visions of a malevolent woman perhaps threatening her and her baby’s safety was unnerving, poignant, deeply scary and also at times very emotional. It definitely got under my skin but never in a bad way, and I was hooked and horrified as I read. We’re seeing lots of pregnancy and postpartum horror these days, and “Graveyard of Lost Children” really stood out to me this year.

That’s 10 through 6! On Thursday I will reveal my Top 5 Books of 2023! What books were your favorites this year? Let us know in the comments!

Kate’s Review: “Christmas and Other Horrors”

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

Book: “Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror” by Ellen Datlow (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Titan Books, October 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Hugo Award winning editor, and horror legend, Ellen Datlow presents a terrifying and chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and many more.

The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.

From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry…

Review: We are approaching the end of 2023, and with Hanukkah behind me, Christmas next week, and today being the Winter Solstice, my celebrations are in full swing and about halfway through. I honestly love the Solstice, as I love the darkness that comes with it and the promises of slowly unveiling light as Winter moves through. And given that it’s the holiday season of MANY holidays, I thought that showcasing “Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror”, Ellen Datlow’s newest edited collection, would be the perfect flair for this festive time. So no matter what you are celebrating this time of year, there is probably a horror tale in here for you to be a sinister holiday treat!

Consider it a Solstice season literary tip! (source)

As usual, I will focus on my three favorite stories, and then I will review the entire collection as a whole.

“His Castle” by Alma Katsu: I have always loved seeing videos of the Welsh tradition of the Mari Lwyd, where wassailers go door to door with a ghostly set up of a horse skull, sheet, and hobby horse to see if they will be invited in for drinks and food in exchange for good luck on whom they visit. Therefore I loved that we got a story centered around that tradition, and that it was written by Alma Katsu, who knows how to bring the creepiness factor up to eleven to whatever she thinks up. Trevor an Cate are spending their holiday in an Air BnB in a small town in Wales, when they get locals at their door doing the Mari Lwyd tradition. They invite the men inside, but tensions start to rise as they converse, as Cate believes they may be targets of the men. But Trevor and Cate have secrets of their own. I loved the building suspense of this story, as you get the sense that Katsu is hiding something from the reader, but I also loved the commentary about the way that land has always been used by the wealthy to their own ends, even if it hurts more working class folk, whether it’s through old aristocratic systems, or properties being bought up by corporations to be turned into luxury vacation homes while locals lose out of owning their own land. I also liked the historical twist in this, but that’s all I will say about it.

“Return to Bear Creek Lodge” by Tananarive Due: I have a note to myself that I need to read more Tananarive Due (side note: I have her newest novel “The Reformatory” on my stack, so look for a review for that in January!), and “Return to Bear Creek Lodge” just continues to emphasize that goal while helping meet it. Her writing style is so evocative and really brings out all the emotional punches as you read. Johnny and his Mom are going to Bear Creek Lodge to see his dying Grandmother for one last Christmas, though Johnny’s last interaction with his Grandmother left him scarred and traumatized. As Johnny comes to terms with the impending loss and what it means, he also starts seeing a creature that seems otherworldly and dangerous, and finds out that he’s not the only one who has encountered this weird beast. This story is weird and alarming, while also having a lot of pathos and insight into generational trauma, the complexities of family dynamics, and the way that racism can damage a person and how that damage transfers down the line. Due mentioned in her author’s note that this story may be expanded upon by her later, and I would absolutely love to read more about Bear Creek Lodge and the monster that seems to live nearby.

“Gravé of Small Bird” by Kaaron Warren: I think this was my favorite story in the collection, as it was so strange and so eerie and felt like “The Wicker Man” meets “The Menu”. Because what a combination! Jackie is a former reality TV cooking show competitor, who made the final two but lost the competition, which led to an outburst that solidified her reputation for being an asshole. When she’s invited to cook for a Twelve Feast Days of Christmas Festival on a remote island steeped in old Christmas and Pagan traditions, she accepts. There she finds out about an ancient tomb that lines up with the solstice sunrise, a tradition involving birds and bones, and a contest in which a woman is chosen to be the Beauty who is supposed to lead the island to a light filled future. Jackie wants to be the Beauty, no matter what, and will do anything to win. This story is so creepy and strange, but I loved the use of vague Pagan rituals, appropriated rites taken by Christians, and all of the descriptions of the amazing and decadent foods, with a menu tradition that possibly inspired “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.

As a whole, this collection was a mixed bag, at least in terms of my thoughts about it. Beyond the three I highlighted there were a couple other strong stories (“Our Recent Unpleasantness” by Stephen Graham Jones and “The Lord of Misrule” by M. Rickert were also very well done), a few that were pretty okay, and a few that just didn’t work for me. I really enjoyed how this collection does touch on SO MANY holidays that occur around the end of the year, or focused on some of the Pagan origins and folklore behind modern traditions, but there were also some stories that felt like they had greater themes in mind and just tacked on the Solstice and holiday aspects in ways that didn’t quite fit. The good news is that it is varied enough as a collection and a fun enough hook that it’s going to be a timely seasonal read regardless.

“Christmas and Other Horrors” is a fun horror anthology to read during this Solstice and holiday season. Cuddle up after your holiday gatherings with this book, horror fans. It’s bound to be a seasonal classic.

Rating 7: There were some that really stood out, some that were fine, and others that didn’t quite click for me, but “Christmas and Other Horrors” is a great seasonal read for the Winter Solstice and all the holidays that occur in its periphery.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Christmas and Other Horrors” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would certainly fit in on “Holiday Horror Books”.

Kate’s Review: “Out There Screaming”

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

Book: “Out There Screaming: A New Anthology of Black Horror” by Jordan Peele (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Random House, October 2023

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

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

Book Description: The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.

Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull.

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

There is no disputing that Jordan Peele is a super important and super talented voice in horror as a whole right now. Whether it’s his films that are making waves, or his dabbling in TV, or his work in podcasts, Peele is very much a huge influence, and rightfully so. And now horror literature is being brought into that, as Peele is the editor for “Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror”, in which he picked authors and stories to bring together for a short stories collection. I was pretty thrilled to see that this was available on NetGalley, and I added it to the slew of short stories collections I read for th past year (it really was a short story collection heavy year for me!). And once I started, it was hard to stop.

“Eye & Tooth” by Rebecca Roanhorse: Serena has reveiwed some of Rebecca Roanhorse’s fantasy titles on here (though we both did “Black Sun” for Book Club), but hey look she does horror too! I actually knew this because she also had a story in “Never Whistle At Night”, but “Eye & Tooth” really stood out to me. Atticus and Zelda are siblings who work as ghost hunters/busters/cleaners of bad energies, and are called to a remote house in Texas by an elderly woman. She says she has a monster problem in her fields. Zelda and Atticus think they can help, but the woman is keeping something from them. I really liked this creature feature story, whether it was the creepiness of the cornfields, the sibling relationship between a psychic brother and a not as clearly gifted sister, or the big twist that was surprising but also a little heartfelt in a way? It was just a really fun tale.

“The Rider” by Tananarive Due: I am ashamed to say that I hadn’t read anything by Tananarive Due until I read this short story, and boy oh boy am I going to rectify that post haste because I think this was my favorite in the collection. During Freedom Summer two sisters are traveling as Freedom Riders to help fight for voting rights and against the Jim Crow South. While traveling on a bus in a remote area, they and the driver are waylaid by a mysterious entity in the middle of the road. Due builds the tension in this perfectly, not just of the thing in the road that upturns the bus ride, but also the tension of being two Black Freedom Riders in the Deep South, as it was a very dangerous position to be in. I was on the edge of my seat until I turned the last page. Just fantastic.

“Dark Home” by Nnedi Okorafor: I’ve read some Okorafor in the past and enjoyed her work immensely, so I was very excited to see what she was going to bring to this anthology and was not disappointed. A Nigerian-American woman returns to her hometown after her father, a beloved member of the community, passes away. During a traditional ritual, she decides to pocket an item to remember him by, which is against tradition. When she returns home, strange things start happening. I really loved this one as it combines dark fantasy and horror elements with aspects of Igbo culture, and creates an unsettling story about traditions, grief, and things that haunt us.

And honestly, the collection as a whole was pretty good! I really loved these three stories, and there were a few that very well could have been in my top three as well (special shout out to “Lasirèn”; I love a scary siren story) because they were so good. There were a few that didn’t work for me as well, whether because of pacing issues or the fact that they veered more towards Science Fiction themes, which only works for me in VERY specific settings. But there are so many voices here with so many perspectives, and so many sub genres to choose from, that any horror fan will probably be right at home while also exploring voices they haven’t had as much experience with. And as mentioned above, the scary things in this collection are not limited to the supernatural; there are lots of real life horrors like racism, classism, misogyny, and the realities of living in the United States as a Black person, both past and present.

It’s really been a year of short stories collections for me, and “Out There Screaming” is one of the last ones of 2023 and it was a great one to almost end on! I hope that Jordan Peele keeps curating anthologies like this, because he has a knack for it. And I hope that we get to see more from some of these authors very soon.

Rating 8: A varied and well rounded collection of horror stories from Black voices and perspectives, “Out There Screaming” is a must read for horror fans.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Out There Screaming” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2023”.

Kate’s Review: “Their Vicious Games”

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

Book: “Their Vicious Games” by Joelle Wellington

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Adults, July 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC2023.

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

Book Description: A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this searing thriller that’s Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor.

You must work twice as hard to get half as much. Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for the rich (and mostly white) upper class of New England. It’s why she works so hard to be perfect and above reproach, no matter what she must force beneath the surface. Even one slip can cost you everything.

And it does. One fight, one moment of lost control, leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice Ivy League college and any other. Her only chance to regain the future she’s sacrificed everything for is the Finish, a high-stakes contest sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family in which twelve young, ambitious women with exceptional promise are selected to compete in three mysterious events: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The winner will be granted entry into the fold of the Remington family, whose wealth and power can open any door.

But when she arrives at the Finish, Adina quickly gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right with both the Remingtons and her competition, and soon it becomes clear that this larger-than-life prize can only come at an even greater cost. Because the Finish’s stakes aren’t just make or break… they’re life and death. Adina knows the deck is stacked against her—it always has been—so maybe the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.

Review: Thank you to Simon & Schuster for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC at ALAAC23!

One of the most stressful aspects of my old job as an interpreter at a Gilded Age/Victorian Era historic house was when a coworker and I would have to run the Finishing School Summer Camp for a week. Picture it: Me and my coworker, decked in Victorian garb, leading about a dozen young girls on a history based summer camp where they would learn about Finishing Schools of the era and all the culture, etiquette, art, and history that came with it. I would lead various activities, involving tea parties, dress up, and putting together a LITERAL CONCERT involving dancing, singing and poetry, all to be performed at the end of the week, and when it was all over I would surely pass out at 8pm on Friday night and sleep for about twelve hours. Finishing School was high stakes for me, it was high stakes for the women back in the day, but it could NOT compare to the Finishing School-esque competition of Joelle Wellington’s thriller “Their Vicious Games”, in which a number of ambitious young women are plucked to participate in a wealthy family run competition that will place them into a prestigious societal position…. Except on the years when it’s a death match for the hand of the heir apparent. Does this sound like a fun book? Because IT IS.

But really, the premise of this is super fun and it definitely made for an entertaining read. While I haven’t watched any of “The Bachelor”, I am familiar enough with its ins and outs due to pop culture osmosis to just love a bit of a satirical death match dating competition (with some sprinkles of “Ready Or Not” as toxic wealthy family dynamics play into it as well). We follow Adina, a recent high school graduate whose future plans were shattered when a fight between her and a classmate went viral, and she lost her scholarship and acceptance to Yale. It’s already difficult for Adina, as she is one of the only Black students in her graduating class and has to deal with classism and racism alike. So when she is selected to participate in The Finish, a competition for college age teenage girls run by the school’s founding family the Remingtons, she thinks that perhaps winning will get her life back on track… Except, as mentioned above, the Finish this year isn’t the Finishing School set up she expects. I liked the set up of the Finish, as Adina has to maneuver through a cut throat competition based on background, privilege, and entitlement, as not only an outsider, but also as someone with perhaps even more to lose than the other competitors at first glance (you know, until it’s clear that most of these teenage girls are going to die). Seeing her go through this competition and learning how to function with strategy, manipulation, and cunning is definitely a story that has high stakes, and I liked the action sequences and the altercations as the contestants try and do ANYTHING to win Pierce Remington the Fourth’s hand, and to win their life. I also liked the soapy moments between Adina and the contestants (especially between her and Esme, the girl who she fought with initially, and Pen, Pierce’s high school girlfriend who is a surprise competitor), as well as Adina and Pierce Remington as she tries to gain his favor as protection, as well as the relationship between Adina and Pierce’s older brother Graham, the black sheep who is training her for the fight of her life behind closed doors. It’s a fast read as the action and conflict keeps it going at a clipped pace.

That said, it isn’t really anything new when it comes to the satire of the evils of the Haves and their exploitation of the Have Nots. This kind of satire of a privileged and uber wealthy family bringing harm to those below them is seen a lot lately, for pretty understandable reasons, but while it’s understandable and evergreen, I also want there to be something more to it to make it stand out against other tales that have come before it. I also think that we could have used a bit more background and context for The Finish and the Remington Family as a whole, as some of them came off as more cardboard cut out villains who could have benefited from a little more exploration. But I did like the metaphors of women tearing down other women as they try to get the spoils of patriarchy, even more so when white women target Black women within these systems, however, so that did give it a bit of an original edge in spite of well worn territory in other ways.

“Their Vicious Games” is fun and engaging, a young adult thriller that kept me interested and had some wicked fun moments of drama and gore, as well as social commentary that will connect with its readers. If you have some travel coming up with the holidays and anticipate down time, this will be a fun popcorn-y read.

Rating 7: An entertaining young adult thriller that feels like a blend of “Ready Or Not”, “The Bachelor”, and “Squid Game”, though it doesn’t really break new ground to stand on its own.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Their Vicious Games” is included on the Goodreads lists “YA Thriller Games”, and “2023 Dark Academia Releases”.

Kate’s Review: “My Roommate Is a Vampire”


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

Book: “My Roommate Is a Vampire” by Jenna Levine

Publishing Info: Berkley, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean…

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

Review: I have made something of a tradition on this blog in that the past few Decembers I have reviewed a book that isn’t really within my genres. Namely, I have read and reviewed a romance novel every December, sometimes attempting to make it peripheral to my genres that I usually take on on the blog (actually, three out of four have achieved that, with “The Love Hypothesis” being the exception because I basically said FUCK IT I LOVE IT TOO MUCH TO NOT REVIEW IT!). And this year I decided that it was going to be annual, because I stumbled upon “My Roommate Is a Vampire” by Jenna Levine. Like, come on! I really like vampires, and I like fluffy slow burn romance books. I am admittedly very picky about vampire fiction, especially when romance in involved, but I decided to throw caution to the wind because this one looked like it didn’t REALLY take itself super seriously. So I dove in, hoping for the best, and hoping my pickiness wouldn’t be out in full force. And right away, I realized two things. One, it was definitely going to be fun. And two, like my blogging partner and dear friend Serena before me, I had stumbled into a repurposed Reylo fanfiction.

Like “The Hurricane Wars” and “The Love Hypothesis” before it. Though given that I sought out “The Love Hypothesis” knowing full well its origins, perhaps I’m….. not that innocent. (source)

But given that I loved “The Love Hypothesis” and Serena enjoyed “The Hurricane Wars”, it’s probably not so shocking that I did enjoy “My Roommate Is a Vampire”. What can I say, Reylo fanfic writers haven’t let me down yet!

In terms of a story overall, “My Roommate Is a Vampire” is exactly what you think it’s going to be based on the cheeky title and the adorable cover. Cassie is a struggling artist desperate for a new apartment after being served an eviction notice, and stumbles upon a Craigslist ad that offers a room in a nice place for two hundred a month. She meets her new roommate, Frederick J Fitzwilliam, and while he seems a bit… odd, he’s nice enough and just a titch awkward. Soon she finds out that he’s a vampire (a benign one, however), and their odd couple roommate situation starts to evolve into something more as they become close. It’s fluffy, it’s straightforward, and it’s a breezy read because of that, as well as the enjoyable main characters. It’s mostly from Cassie’s POV, though we do get to see some insight into Frederick through both his endearing letters to Cassie (as that is how they communicate when they first start out due to their opposing schedules), as well as snarky texts between him and his fellow vampire/friend Reggie. I really liked both of them, and thought that the plot had enough conflict to give it some suspense without diving into REALLY ridiculous territory (I mean, we do have a very dramatic plot point involving betrothed vampire customs and an overbearing family, but it was light hearted enough that it never became tiresome). The writing is fun, the story is sweet, it’s basically everything I hope for in a rom com romance novel. And the vampire angle doesn’t take itself so seriously that I find the romance off putting or troublesome, as I sometimes do find vampire romance due to the way the inherent and played up danger is portrayed more as ‘I can fix him with my love’ than ‘no, the potential for him killing you in passion isn’t sexy, guys’. In this, Frederick isn’t weighed down by his impulses, he isn’t tortured by them, and you never get the sense that Cassie could be in any danger (hell, we even get some informed consent moments about the possibility for blood play in the bedroom due to his nature, and it is solely Cassie’s choice on whether to proceed SPECIFICALLY so she feels comfortable and not in danger. Refreshing!). I found that all very satisfying.

And we have to address the more tender and salacious parts of the romance, of course. I love a slow burn story where two characters get to know each other and then it all comes to a head after a long wait, and this book definitely has that. I really liked the forced proximity trope in this, as while it wasn’t hostile by any means it still had two strangers, one of whom is hiding a pretty significant secret, learning about each other and getting closer, first through notes exchanged each morning, and then through a partnership in which Cassie agrees to teach Frederick about the modern world after he took a nearly century long sleep. First of all, I LOVED the letter writing and how it goes from kind of formality to banter to genuine affection. And I loved the chemistry between the two of them as well when they interact in person, the tentative friendship they form is very sweet. Seeing it grow and evolve and seeing their feelings grow and evolve is not only my complete jam in romance novels, but it helped lay the groundwork for a huge pay off when they finally do let their growing passions take over. I know a slow burn doesn’t work for everyone, but it REALLY works for me, and in this? BOY DID IT WORK.

Bless you, Reylos! Keep up the good work! (source)

I quite enjoyed “My Roommate Is a Vampire”! Hooray for a vampire romance that I found more fun than cloying, and for a cute couple that made it easy to root for them!

Rating 8: A cute as hell and sometimes really steamy read, “My Roommate Is a Vampire” is a fun rom com that charmed this very picky vampire aficionado!

Reader’s Advisory:

“My Roommate Is a Vampire” is included on the Goodreads lists “Reylo Fanfics Turned Into Published Books”, and “Hey, Vampire!”.

Kate’s Review: “Where the Dead Wait”

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

Book: “Where the Dead Wait” by Ally Wilkes

Publishing Info: Atria/Emily Bestler Books, December 2023

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

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

Book Description: William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace.

Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens­­—the man who’s haunted his whole life—back home. But when the rescue mission becomes an uncanny journey into his past, Day must face up to the things he’s done. Abandonment. Betrayal. Cannibalism.

Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, as well as Stevens’s wife, a spirit-medium whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that the restless dead are never far behind. Something is coming through.

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

It’s now December, and the temperatures here in Minnesota are starting to drop and there are higher and higher changes that snow is going to be in the forecast. I don’t mind winter THAT much, especially around Hanukkah and Christmas, but I will say that by the time we get to the time of year with the holiday season behind us I do start to think that maybe, just maybe, less cold, ice, and snow could be a fun shake up from the norm (though maybe that invites a monkey’s paw situation with climate change, arg, I can’t win). But we aren’t there yet, and cold weather means cold stories are all the more powerful. So I start off the encroaching winter with “Where the Dead Wait” by Ally Wilkes. Because it’s good to remind myself that while a Minnesota winter can be arduous, at least I’m not on a failed polar expedition in the 1800s where starvation, disease, and cannibalism are the outcomes.

I truly believe that Wilkes has a gift for how she writes a story, bringing out evocative and vibrant imager and moments of beauty as well as horror. There were so many moments where a certain turn of phrase or descriptor flowed with a flowery ease that I don’t usually expect from a horror novel. I noticed this while reading Wilkes’s previous novel as well, and it feels like a unique writing style choice for a historical ice horror tale. I also really enjoyed a few of the characters in this book, namely Charles Day, the disgraced captain of a previous polar expedition who is haunted by the things he did to survive (as well as his sexual desires and same sex attractions), and Mrs. Stevens, a self proclaimed medium who brings spiritualist tendencies to the expedition seeking out her husband, who is now lost again on on the previous expedition with Day (and whom Day was very fixated upon). These characters worked for me, as did the themes of the spiritualist movement and the questions of validity that go with it.

But here is where I got a little hung up when it comes to this book. I felt like “Where the Dead Wait” has a LOT of similarities to Wilkes’s previous book., “All The White Spaces”. They are both historical horror books that take place during a doomed polar expedition (one arctic, one antarctic), they involve weird supernatural things in the snow, a conflicted protagonist, and a slow burn of descent into madness and desperation. I think that it’s a well done book in terms of these aspects, but it’s already something we’ve seen from Wilkes, and it was something we JUST saw in terms of the chronology of her novels. I wholly understand having an interest in a specific theme, and I absolutely think that an author has every right to write about what they wish to write about when it comes to that interest. But I did think that coming up so close upon the previous one it felt like more of the same. I think that what adds to this is the double edged sword of Wilke’s writing style. It’s very deliberate and at times flowery with some awesome prose and descriptors, but it can also be slow going because of those things. So yes, I praise it for being an interesting way to write and approach a story like this above, but combining it with other aspects that can weigh the story down makes it not as easy to get through, at least in my experience.

I’m not writing Ally Wilkes off as of now, as “Where the Dead Wait” had some great moments and some meat to it (maybe not the best descriptor, but so it goes). I do hope that perhaps on the next adventure out we’ll go beyond what we’ve seen before.

Rating 6: Definitely compelling with some great imagery and prose, but at the same time it feels a LOT like the author’s previous novel.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Where the Dead Wait” is included on the Goodreads lists “Horror to Look Forward To in 2023”, and “Queer SFF of 2023” (though this is definitely less fantasy and more horror, but still).