Kate’s Review: “The Ravenous Dead”

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Book: “The Ravenous Dead (Gravekeeper #2)” by Darcy Coates

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, March 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a print copy of this book from the publisher.

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

Book Description: He’ll never let go…

Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard’s new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They’ve been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.

Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.

As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard’s oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He’s furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a print copy of this book!

Another week, another “Gravekeeper” book! While I do love the really scary stuff that Darcy Coates has concocted in the past, it’s also kind of nice to have a comparatively lighter horror story to tackle. The second book in the series, “The Ravenous Dead”, ended up being a pretty fun beach read for me on my vacation at the beginning of March, as while it’s eerie and admittedly scarier than “The Whispering Dead”, it’s also light hearted enough that it just fit in with the relaxation I was going for.

“The Ravenous Dead” is the second book into the “Gravekeeper” series, and we pretty much jump right back in where we left off. Keira is still living in the groundskeeper cottage at the Blighty cemetery, still able to see the lingering ghosts in the graveyard that she can potentially help cross over, and still doesn’t remember much of her past before waking up here. She’s still chummy with Zoe and Mason, and is trying to help ghosts, maintain friendships, and stay under the radar lest the mysterious group chasing her previously pops back up. I find it awesome that Coates can write some pretty zippy and humorous dark fantasy as well as the horror that she is so good at, and “The Ravenous Dead”, while having darker horror bits, is still very accessible and, dare I say, cozy. I love that Coates does this as easily as she does her very scary stuff.

But, cozy or not, I also liked that this one was a bit darker than “The Whispering Dead”. I totally get that the first book in a series has a lot of groundwork to lay, and I also understand that the Gravekeeper books are a bit more on the dark fantasy and light hearted side. And that works just fine overall. But I was pretty pumped when Keira first encountered the ‘shade’, aka the spirit of the potential serial killer that is not only still fully invested in causing death and destruction, it can also attack and ‘kill’ ghosts that are in the cemetery. It reminded me a bit of the Peter Jackson horror film “The Frighteners”, and it upped the ante for stakes in this book as Keira not only has to worry about a mysterious group coming after her, she now has to worry about being hurt or killed by one of the things that she is sticking around Blighty to help. It also made her inner conflicts about confiding in Mason and Zoe about her ghostly abilities all the more pressing, as she doesn’t want to put them in danger, but could really use their support. It just made the horror elements all the darker, and given that when Coates REALLY goes to town on the horror like in some of her other books, it’s VERY satisfying for the reader. So it was nice seeing shades of that in this one.

And the cast of characters and overall setting is still pretty fun. I’m warming up to conspiracy theorist Zoe, I still like Mason’s earnest personality (and I like that while there is kind of something going on between him and Keira, it isn’t obsessed over), and I still like Keira’s spunky and sometimes exasperated attitude. And there are also more fun interactions with the townsfolk of Blighty, like perky florist Polly and her morose goth son, or kindly pastor Adage who is still letting Keira stay in the groundskeeper cottage. Coates just knows how to make Blighty seem like a quirky little community that has a lot of charm to go around.

“The Ravenous Dead” was a fun follow up to the first book in the series, and next week I am moving onto the most recent “Gravekeeper” book “The Twisted Dead”. And on top of that, I’m going to run a giveaway of all three “Gravekeeper” books, so definitely check back in soon! Darcy Coates is still keeping me entertained and intrigued, and I can’t wait to see where Keira goes next!

Rating 8: A well done and darker sequel that explores more of the downsides of being able to see ghosts, “The Ravenous Dead” keeps with the quippy atmosphere while still finding grim scares.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Ravenous Dead” is included on the Goodreads lists “Psychic/Paranormal”, and “2022 Horror Novels Written by Women and Non-Binary Femmes”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “One for My Enemy”

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Book: “One for My Enemy” by Olivie Blake

Publishing Info: Tor, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: In New York City where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal ventures. On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters, each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless, and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants known only as Baba Yaga. On the other side, the influential Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless, whose community extortion ventures dominate the shadows of magical Manhattan.

After twelve years of tenuous coexistence, a change in one family’s interests causes a rift in the existing stalemate. When bad blood brings both families to the precipice of disaster, fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side. As each of the siblings struggles to stake their claim, fraying loyalties threaten to rot each side from the inside out.

If, that is, the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy them first.

Review : Do you want to hear a first world reader problem with today’s booming SFF publishing industry? Way too often I find myself late to pick up a book by an author who is clearly widely popular and has been for a few years. Such is the case with Olivie Blake. Have I heard of “The Atlas Six” series? Yes. Do I even have a few eARCs of the books in that series on my Kindle now? Also, yes. Have I yet read and reviewed any of those books on the blog? Nope! Alas, there are just too many great books and great authors out there to stay on top of it all! So, instead of committing myself to a series, I thought I’d dip my toes into this author’s work by jumping on the re-release of one of her previously published books, “One for My Enemy,” a Romeo and Juliet retelling.

In the borroughs of New York City, witches and magic are closely monitored by the Council. That is, all except two shadowy and powerful witches: Baba Yaga, who creates powerful, hallucinogenic drugs, and Koschei the Deathless, who operates a shadow organization of favor-doing and debt-calling. Years ago, these two families fell into a dispute, and years later, it continues to play out on the street between the dueling families, each vying for power and control over the underground magical industry. Caught in these ebbs and flows of vengeance and retribution, the children of Baba Yaga and Koschei must decide where their loyalties truly lie and just how much they are willing to sacrifice to this ongoing war.

So, I’ll admit, I was a bit wary when I went into this book purely based on the “Romeo and Juliet” re-telling part. For one thing, I’ve read Chloe Gong’s “Romeo and Juliet”/modern gangster family duology and didn’t really love it. I’m not a “everything has to be rainbows and flowers” reader, but I also struggle to read a story where I’m being asked to become invested in two characters and their love story when I know it’s going to end in tragedy. There has to be more going on to make that feel worth my time, and in Gong’s case, there wasn’t. BUT! I’m happy to say that Blake has somehow caught magic in a bottle here and written a “Romeo and Juliet” story that both feels in-line with the original, but is also totally unique and not a total bummer of a read.

For one thing, there are no exact equivalents to Romeo and Juliet themselves. Indeed, there are two main couples in this book, and at various points throughout the story (some of it even taking place in references to past events), they all swap in and out of the roles of these two characters. There would be scenes and even lines that would directly reference the original play, but then a few pages later, a different character/couple would take on these roles. It was an interesting method that not only felt like a breath of fresh air to a classic story that has been retold countless times, but it also left me guessing as to what was going to come next. Very quickly, I came to understand that my knowledge of how “Romeo and Juliet” plays out in the actual play would give me next to zero hints as to how this story was going to go.

I also really liked the romance itself in this book. All told, there was actually a lot more romance than I has been expecting. It’s clearly an urban fantasy novel, but there were bits of it that read in a very similar manner to a romance novel. Nothing is overly explicit, but the author devotes a decent amount of page time and dialogue to the romantic dynamics and emotional aspects. This is in no way a dig, but it definitely had the rather flowery, dramatic proclamations and inner monologues that one comes to expect from romance novels. I also have to admit that one of the romances was a bit insta-lovey, but honestly, it didn’t bother me here. I think that’s because while the romance plays a big role, the story is equally (if not more!) concerned with the relationships between siblings, and most importantly, between parents and their children. Who would have expected any of that from “Romeo and Juliet??” Definitely not me!

Furthermore, I really liked the way Russian mythology and New York ganger fiction played into this. I’m honestly a bit bewildered by how Blake managed to juggle three very different types of books/genres and still come out with something that feels polished and organic. Baba Yaga and Koschei are both huge characters in Russian folklore with tons of background and fables existing to support them. Beyond that, we also had references to Ivan and other Russian fairytale characters. There were a lot of sly little Easter Eggs dropped here and there for readers who are familiar with those stories.

Overall, “One for My Enemy” was nothing like what I was expecting, and I loved it all the more for that fact. The writing could be a bit flowery and overwrought at times, but other than that quibble, I think this is a superb urban fantasy, especially those looking for a healthy dose of romance and family drama.

Rating 9: Heart-wrenching and sly, this “Romeo and Juliet” re-telling takes the original story and turns it on its head, adding in a healthy dose of Russian folklore and New York gangster fiction. A supreme work of modern fantasy fiction!

Reader’s Advisory:

“One for My Enemy” somehow seems to be on no Goodreads lists currently (how?!) but it should be on Romeo and Juliet Re-Tellings.

Kate’s Review: “Linghun”

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Book: “Linghun” by Ai Jiang

Publishing Info: Dark Matter INK, April 2023

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

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Dark Matter INK

Book Description: WELCOME HOME.

Follow Wenqi, Liam, and Mrs. in this modern gothic ghost story by Chinese-Canadian writer and immigrant, Ai Jiang. LINGHUN is set in the mysterious town of HOME, a place where the dead live again as spirits, conjured by the grief-sick population that refuses to let go.

Review: Thank you to Ai Jiang for sending me an eARC of this novella!

I had been seeing “Linghun” on my social media feeds on and off before it ended up in my inbox, and there was a lot about it that caught my eye. The cover design was one aspect, as was the promise of a Gothic horror story. But it wasn’t until I really dug into the first few pages that I realized that “Linghun” was not only going to be a creepy Gothic horror story, but also a very emotional exploration of grief. I love a story like that, but I also have to steel myself for a story like that. And boy oh boy was it not pulling any punches. I love a ghost story that can take on deeper layers, and this one is less about the ghosts and more about the people who are aching to see those ghosts again.

Man did this one really get to me. It’s not a particularly long book, definitely novella status not even clocking it at one hundred pages, but in those pages Jiang has crafted such a bleak, disturbing, and haunting tale about how grief can drive people to completely upend their lives if there is just ONE chance of getting to reconnect with a dead loved one. This is mostly through the eyes of Wenqi, a Chinese Canadian teenage girl whose family left China after the death of her older brother when he was six and she was three. Her mother, so consumed by her grief, convinces her family to move to HOME, a weird small town where people’s dead loved ones can manifest in one of the much sought out houses (so sought out that other people, called lingerers, camp out in hopes of securing an open home). Wenqi never knew her brother, but at the same time he is all she’s known because her mother has been so unable to process her grief and move on, that Wenqi is just an afterthought. Watching Wenqi have to become even more and more of an afterthought as her brother’s presence appears, and her mother is only interested in trying to keep his presence around, is heartbreaking for Wenqi, and very, very distressing to watch unfold as her mother becomes more and more obsessive and overcome.

And then on the flip side is Liam, a teenage boy in Wenqi’s neighborhood whose family has been a group of lingerers, desperate to get a house in HOME and who have stopped their lives and have resorted to camping out and hoping for a stroke of luck. Liam and Wenqi have similar frustrations of being the ones emotionally left behind while their parents are in deep grief, but it’s interesting seeing Liam on the other side of the coin, as his family is desperate to even have the opportunity, when it is not even a guarantee that they will have success. It was the portrayals of the lingerers that really messed with my head, as Jiang has one scene in particular that shows the lengths that the lingerers will go to try and have the chance to see those they loved again, even when it has all but ruined their lives and the lives of those that they brought with them. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, part of me wonders what I would do should I lose someone I love so fiercely and maybe have that opportunity. How far would I go? It’s a path I don’t want to think about too much. Which means it is SO PERFECT for a horror story.

“Linghun” is an effective and very eerie novella that is up there with other meditations on grief with a horror backdrop. If that kind of not so cheerful premise is your jam, this is a story you definitely need to check out.

Rating 8: A strange and melancholy story about grief and loss and how it can cling to a person until obsession has taken over.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Linghun” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists yet, but I think that similar horror stories about grief like “Pet Sematary”, “Ghost Eaters”, and “Horns” would be good fits.

Highlights: April 2023

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As predicted, March was a big dud on the whole “spring” front. Instead, we had several dumps of snow and had to shovel quite a lot. But we’re all really crossing our fingers that April will come through for us! At least the temperatures are begrudgingly climbing out of the below thirties and it’s getting lighter and lighter later in the evenings. Of course, more light just means more time to read before feeling guilty about not getting the sleep we guess we need. Here are some books we’re looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “One for My Enemy” by Olivie Blake

Publication Date: April 4, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I feel like Olivie Blake is kind of taking the “Silvia Moreno-Garcia” route to book popularity. She had published several books already before she became a big hit. And now publishers are digging into her back catalog and breathing new life into some of these titles that didn’t get major releases the first go around. So, too, “One for My Enemy,” a “Romeo and Juliet” retelling that places the classic love story in modern NYC and also adds in a healthy dose of Russian folklore, like Baba Yaga and Koschei the Deathless. Every single aspect of that sounds great to me, so I can’t wait to see what this has to offer! I’ve also never read a book by Blake before, so this should be a great first introduction!

Book: “Untethered Sky” by Fonda Lee

Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I really loved Fonda Lee’s “Jade City” trilogy. But it can’t be denied that all three were fairly massive tomes. So I was excited to see that she was releasing a novella next, something where I could again experience the thrill of her action-packed writing style and creative world build while also…not having to commit tons of time to the endeavor. I also love the general premise of this book, a young woman who makes it her life’s mission to join a group who trains and flies massive birds, using them to protect the realm from dangerous manticores. Plus, the cover on this one is super cool; who could pass on that??

Book: “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross

Publication Date: April 4, 2023

Why I’m Interested: Here’s another author whose work I’ve already really enjoyed! Plus, this one is ticking a lot of my own particular boxes. As the name suggests, it’s an “enemies to lovers” romance that focuses on a pair of journalists who are vying for the same promotion at the newspaper where they work. But Iris, the young woman of the pair, soon takes a job that brings her to the front lines in a war between gods. As a big fan of Lois Lane, I’m always down for a story about intrepid reporters in my fantasy stories. I can’t wait to check this one out!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “The Haunting of Alejandra” by V. Castro

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

Why I’m Interested: There are two big blaring elements of this book that makes me super, super excited for it. The first is that I really love V. Castro’s horror style, as she has lyrical prose, a lot of feminist perspectives, and a Chicana voice that comes to all of her stories. The other is that I have been full on obsessed with the La Llorona folktale ever since I was in grade school. The idea of a weeping woman snatching up children scared the piss out of me, and I’ve loved it ever since. So V. Castro taking on La Llorona is PERFECTION! Alejandra is a frazzled mother of three in a crumbling marriage. She has been uprooted from Texas to Pennsylvania due to her husband’s job, and staying at home with the kids is stressful. On top of that she’s started seeing visions of a sinister, sobbing woman in white, and her hatred towards herself is spilling over. When she starts to look into her family history and the women before her, their unspoken traumas also led to the woman in white. Alejandra needs to solve the mystery of this family curse before she falls to it as well. GIVE IT TO ME!

Book: “Sisters of the Lost Nation” by Nick Medina

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

Why I’m Interested: This is an example of one that has been popping up on my various social media feeds from book influencers and lovers that I know and love. Given that this is a debut I am unfamiliar with Nick Medina, but this one has enough buzz that I have high hopes to be adding a new must read author to my list! Anna is an Indigenous girl living on a reservation just trying to get through each day, between the cruelties of her peers and the outside visitors to the casino she is always on alert. Then girls in the community start to disappear, with members of the tribe looking for answers but finding little, and Anna begins to try and do her own investigation into the missing girls as well as the history of the reservation and the casino. And when her own sister disappears, Anna’s investigation becomes personal. But she starts to wonder if otherworldly forces are coming into play. It sounds like a mix of a hardboiled mystery and some kind of horror story, so obviously I’m in.

Book: “For You and Only You” by Caroline Kepnes

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Why I’m Interested: Can I just say ‘it’s the new Joe Goldberg book’ and call it a day? No? Okay, well, fine, I can expand on that. It’s the new Joe Goldberg book, and I love the “You” series so I am always going to be amped when a new one comes out. But I am also always interested in seeing what Joe is going to do next, and how author Caroline Kepnes is going to keep the very clear formula of these books (aka Joe obsesses over a new one, stalks her, and fucks her life totally up) fresh, interesting, and suspenseful. After the death of Mary Kay and a short stint in Florida, Joe is now living in Boston and has written a book! Not only that, he has entered an fellowship program at Harvard in hopes of getting his book out there and promoted by some of the best academic minds in literature. But Joe is predictably Joe, and when he meets fellow aspiring author Wonder he is completely obsessed. But Joe’s past is filled with skeletons, they are starting to crop up. Welcome back, Joe!

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

Year of Sanderson: “Mistborn: The Final Empire”

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

Book: “Mistborn: The Final Empire” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor Fantasy, 2006

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

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

Book Description: For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Review: While “Elantris” was the first book that Sanderson published, he really took off with the release of his “Mistborn” trilogy. One funny note now looking back, when the books were first released, this first book was very prominently labeled “Mistborn” as its title. I can’t remember if the subtitle “The Final Empire” was even on the cover? But in later years, the trilogy itself is labeled the “Mistborn” trilogy and this first book has been re-released with various covers and “The Final Empire” made more prominent. Indeed, Goodreads lists “The Final Empire” as the title outright, which I always find immediately confusing until I do a double-take. Anyways, on with the review!

Vin, a young woman who has grown up on the streets, has no expectations from life. Indeed, if she must expect something, it’s that everyone is using one another and will betray you for the barest scrap of advantage. So when she is approached by Kel, a man with powerful abilities, a gang of misfits, and a dream of revolution, she is wary to the say the least. But Kel has abilities that haven’t been seen in this world for years, so much so that he has hopes of challenging the tyrannical Lord Ruler himself. As Vin begins to trust Kel’s vision of the future, she discovers that she, too, is much more powerful than she had every imagined.

This book is the worst! Ha, no! I’m just very aware that I’m writing a review for a book that is almost twenty years old and is massively popular within the fantasy genre. Many reviews have come before mine, and there’s probably nothing original under the sun to be said of this book, so if anyone is looking for a novel take from me, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Instead, I’m here to parrot the same old lines that fantasy fans have been saying for years now: this book is an astonishing work of fantasy craftmanship on its own and an almost unbelievable precursor for the books that would follow, not only in this trilogy but in the larger Cosmere universe itself. It’s honestly kind of astonishing. Not only does this book stand on its own, but reading it now, after years and multitudes of additional books have been added to this universe, there’s no evidence of it buckling under that weight or feeling like a lesser entity that was still an author growing into what he was to become. No, this book feels fully realized and polished on its own.

It’s also just a super fun story. For one thing, all of the characters are so incredibly likable. This, perhaps, does make it feel the most like a relic of the past, but I think that says something more negative about our current fantasy climate than anything else. Nowadays, so many fantasy books that come out are clearly suffering from the “G.R.R. Martin” effect: they must be overbearingly grim and all characters must be tormented, brooding, and generally pessimistic. Somehow it’s come to be thought that any fantasy novel that is optimistic or features characters who laugh and can enjoy life at all must mean that the world is “unbelievable” and “unrealistic.” What does that even mean?? Looking around at the actual “real world,” I’d say any person trying to recreate it using only paint brushes loaded with the most grim parts of the human experience are failing pretty badly at depicting “reality.”

All of this to say, Sanderson highlights how you can write epic fantasies that can have stakes, can have grim, dark aspects, but can also have characters who are fun to read about, who experience joy and wonder at the fantastical parts of their lives, who are generally people that one enjoys reading about. Kel and Vin are incredible characters. Vin, in particular, is probably one of my all-time favorite fantasy leading ladies. Her journey throughout this trilogy is impressive, and in this book, she highlights how the whole “mentor trains newbie in the ways of magic” storyline can still feel fresh and new.

Beyond the characters, this story also highlights Sanderson’s skills at action. It’s well-known that he creates incredible magic systems, but I don’t think that alone would stand-out as much as it does if it wasn’t for how he leverages those magic systems into incredible action sequences. Reading descriptions of how Kel and Vin use their ability to “burn” metals to fling themselves through the air and whip weapons to and fro across a room is simply breathtaking.

Honestly, how this hasn’t already been adapted into a TV show is beyond me. This book has all the elements of a stand-out hit: a large cast of interesting characters, fast-paced action, political maneuvering, disguises, romance, tragedy! It’s all there. I know the entire “Cosmere” universe has had its rights sold, but still, where’s the active development already?? Honestly, I could probably rave about this book all day long, but at a certain point it would simply boil down to me just saying “wow” over and over again. Reading this again, it’s no wonder that Sanderson went on to be the fantasy powerhouse that he now is. It was all there right from the beginning, and “Mistborn” is the perfect example of fantasy at its best.

Rating 10: Perhaps the rare example of how a book that was once fantastic on its own has grown to represent the true might of its author from the very beginning.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Mistborn: The Final Empire” is on these Goodreads lists: Most Interesting Magic System and Best “Strong Female” Fantasy Novels.

Kate’s Review: “The Whispering Dead”

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Book: “The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper #1)” by Darcy Coates

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, May 2021

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

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

Book Description: Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper’s cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded on all sides by gravestones: some recent, some hundreds of years old, all suffering from neglect.

And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering.

The cemetery is alive with faint, spectral shapes, led by a woman who died before her time… and Keira, the only person who can see her, has become her new target. Determined to help put the ghost to rest, Keira digs into the spirit’s past life with the help of unlikely new friends, and discovers a history of deception, ill-fated love, and murder.

But the past is not as simple as it seems, and Keira’s time is running out. Tangled in a dangerous web, she has to find a way to free the spirit… even if it means offering her own life in return.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a copy of this novel!

Up until this point I had read two Darcy Coates novels, both of which were SUPER scary and unrelenting in their horror themes. So when Poisoned Pen Press approached me asking if I was interested in reading more of her work, I leaped at the chance to do so. So for the next few weeks I am going to read and review her “Gravekeeper” Series, which involve a young woman named Keira, who wakes up in a strange cemetery with no memory of who she is, and realizes that she can see ghosts. The first in the series is “The Whispering Dead”, and while I thought I knew what to expect from Coates, it caught me off guard with a difference in tone and imagery. And this is overall a good thing.

Being the first in the series, “The Whispering Dead” has to set the stage, and I thought that it did, for the most part. I did enjoy the ghostly heart of the story, as well as the mystery of why Keira is seeing the ghost of a forlorn woman that wanders the cemetery grounds she is now calling home, AND the mystery of who she is given her lack of memories before waking up in said cemetery. I’m so used to Coates having really scary moments in her books, so the more dark fantasy vibe of this one was a surprise, though it was definitely a welcome one. While there are certainly creepy and spooky moments, be it ghosts wandering a cemetery and looking through windows, or building suspense in seemingly abandoned buildings and landscapes, Coates has some horror-esque elements that are pretty accessible to not just die hard horror fans, but also those who may like ghost stories but perhaps not the really scary stuff that can come with it. I was pretty invested in the reasons as to why Keira can see ghosts, and why there is a specific ghost that keeps popping up and how that ties to the town’s history. I am also interested in just what the deal is with Keira’s memory loss, and who she was before she suddenly woke up with no recollections of who she is. This book lays a lot of groundwork, and my guess is that it’s going to be a multi-book arc.

And I also mostly liked the characters at hand. I’ve seen this series compared to the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Scooby Gang as well as other horror/dark fantasy friend groups, and I think it’s pretty accurate. Keira is a good leader/protagonist, and I also like seeing her growing friendships with med student Mason (who may also be a romantic interest? I’m on board!), and with Pastor Adage, who has let her take up residence in the abandoned cemetery groundskeeper cottage. There is also weirdo Goth girl Zoe, who I am warming up to for the most part, but the problem is that she is VERY much a conspiracy theorist and while I know it’s supposed to be kooky and charming, these days conspiracy theorists generally leave a bad taste in my mouth due to the Q stuff and a lot of the racist and anti-Semitic building blocks that create a lot of conspiracies. I don’t think Zoe is that at all! But it just feels a bit uncomfortable. OH, and there is also a cat named Daisy, and we all know how much I love a feline companion. Overall it’s a well rounded cast that complements the tone of the story, and I think it’s charming.

I will be going forth in the series, with “The Ravenous Dead” up next week. I am eager to see what more Keira finds out about her mysterious past, and what ghosts are in store for her visions and second sight. “The Whispering Dead” is a good start to a series I look forward to continuing!

Rating 7: A spooky set up to a series with a quirky cast of characters, “The Whispering Dead” is some horror lite and perfect for people who want to explore Darcy Coates without being scared out of their minds!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Whispering Dead” is included on the Goodreads lists “2021 Horror Novels Written by Women and Non-Binary Femmes”, and “Bring On the Creepy!”.

Serena’s Review: “She Who Rides the Storm”

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Book: “She Who Rides the Storm” by Caitlin Sangster

Publishing Info: Margaret K. McElderry Books, September 2021

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+!

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

Book Description: Long ago, shapeshifting monsters ruled the Commonwealth using blasphemous magic that fed on the souls of their subjects. Now, hundreds of years later, a new tomb has been uncovered, and despite the legends that disturbing a shapeshifter’s final resting place will wake them once again, the Warlord is determined to dig it up.

But it isn’t just the Warlord who means to brave the traps and pitfalls guarding the crypt.

A healer obsessed with tracking down the man who murdered her twin brother.

A runaway member of the Warlord’s Devoted order, haunted by his sister’s ghost.

A snotty archaeologist bent on finding the cure to his magical wasting disease.

A girl desperate to escape the cloistered life she didn’t choose.

All four are out to steal the same cursed sword rumored to be at the very bottom of the tomb. But of course, some treasures should never see the light of day, and some secrets are best left buried…

Review: Honesty time: this book has been languishing on my Edelweiss+ TBR pile for quite some time. Mostly it’s just because I’ve been intimidated by the length and never felt confident that I really had the time to slot this one in. But then I strayed across the sequel that is coming out next month, and I knew that if there was ever a time to make this one happen, now what that time! So let’s dive in to this beast of a book!

History does and will repeat, even in the most diligent of societies. So it is in the Commonwealth where once terrible shapeshifters plagued the land with their disturbing magic that fed on souls. And now when a tomb of one of the most powerful of these shapeshifters is discovered, one would think it would be wise to leave it alone. But the Warlord is determined to dig up the past, and so an unwise venture begins. However, four others are determined to gain the treasure rumored to be hidden in the tomb for themselves, each with their own motives and means.

So, as I mentioned above, this book is definitely living up to the “epic fantasy” standard, coming in at a whopping 608 pages. Now, this can often go two ways. Either that page count is necessary and utilized to its full extent to create a vivid, complicated, lived-in world. Or…it can be squandered and leave the reader slogging through pages of exposition. I’m please to say that this is definitely the former. It is slow moving, however, and takes its time showing its hand. This isn’t a criticism, per se, but a warning to readers who make like a faster plot. The book simply begins, plopping readers down in the midst of this world and only revealing facts about it as they come up naturally in this story. As we have four characters’ POVs to get through, the reader really has to be ready to sit back and let these details slip through slowly.

I also liked all four of our main characters. They all had distinct-sounding voices and very different ways of looking at the world. I particularly enjoyed when we jumped from one character’s perspective directly to another’s and seeing how they interpreted the same event in completely different ways. They weren’t all likeable all the time either, making each feel like fully developed individuals. That being the case, however, I also felt a bit detached from them all at times, as well as frustrated. As a reader, we are primed to expect certain things and to look for certain narrative cues. That being the case, it’s hard to not want to shout at characters when they make decisions that we, the reader, know are going to end up going badly! But I will say, to this book’s credit, at least these bad choices made sense based on each character’s priorities and approach to life and were generally coming from a place of wanting to do good, as frustrating as it was to read at times.

This book also ends with a bang. For all that it can be a bit of a slower read (and those 600 pages are no joke), it did manage to keep up a pretty steady pace throughout and then ratchet up right at the end. Indeed, there were several twists and turns that came right at the end that I definitely wasn’t expecting. And this is one of those situations where my delay in reading this has paid off as I now get to go straight into the second one. I’d say this book is probably a good choice for those fantasy fans who enjoy large amounts of world-building, but the heist plot itself was definitely more of a back-burner element than the description implied.

Rating 7: A solid fantasy novel that manages to balance its four characters and sprawling world deftly, though it’s long page count and slower plot could prove challenging for some readers.

Reader’s Advisory:

“She Who Rides the Storm” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Archeology in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Lone Women”

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Book: “Lone Women” by Victor LaValle

Publishing Info: One World, March 2023

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

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

Book Description: Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear…

The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can cultivate it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing keeping her alive.

Told in Victor LaValle’s signature style, blending historical fiction, shimmering prose, and inventive horror, Lone Women is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—and a portrait of early twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen.

Review: Thank you to One World for sending me a link to an eARC of this novel on NetGalley!

Rejoice, horror fans, for we are once again blessed with a stunning new horror story by Victor LaValle. It has been awhile since I’ve dived into a LaValle book, and I was very, very stoked when “Lone Women” ended up in my inbox. And I was even MORE thrilled when Book of the Month had it as a choice for March, because I DO LOVE A PRINT COPY OF A GREAT HORROR NOVEL! I had high expectations for this novel, following a Black woman named Adelaide who decides to try and homestead in Montana in the early 20th Century, and who has a mysterious steamer trunk she just needs to keep an eye on and keep closed. Because that premise alone is VERY enticing, and when you throw in LaValle, you know it’s going to be even moreso. This man knows how to craft a well done horror tale with lots of subversions, after all.

I can’t really talk too much about the horror aspects of this novel, as I really don’t want to spoil too much because I do think that part of the appeal is the slow reveal and the surprises that come with it. What I will say is that LaValle has once again taken something that we’ve seen before, but turned it on its head and made it feel fresh, unique, and tragic on top of the scary. Adelaide is running from a violent moment that has changed the course of her life, and she is bringing with her the literal baggage that comes with that violent moment, and we have no clue as to what it is. But what we do know is that she is desperate to keep that baggage contained, whether it is the actual bag that she has brought with her, or the trauma that has been inflicted upon her and her family due to the circumstances that fell upon them all. I loved the slow tension of the trunk with the lock, and I also loved the slow burn horror elements that were more steeped in realism. I was just as nervous of Adelaide when she was surrounded by suspicious people whose motives we had no clue about as I was worried about just what it was that she was lugging around in the trunk. And I REALLY loved what exactly it was what was in said trunk, as it reminded me of a specific story that I had enjoyed at one point, but have turned my back on as of late due to questions of ethical consumption of it. And that’s all I will say.

And I won’t tell so as not to ruin it. (source)

But it is also the very gritty and realistically bleak historical fiction aspects of this book that jump off the page. LaValle weaves together a tapestry of not only the American imperialist ideals of Manifest Destiny, but also the way that the American Government would use this to its own advantage, and how it could appeal to a group of Othered women. Whether it is Adelaide due to her race as well as her horrific burden, or neighbor Grace and her son Sam who are functioning as a single mother and child trying to make it together, or Miss Bertie and Fiona Wong who are not only women of color but also two lesbians who have to hide who they are, the idea of being ‘lone women’ and trying to make a life in isolation, as well as while carrying various secrets that may keep them emotionally isolated, was profound as hell. The grim realities of trying to make it in an unfamiliar place with harsh winters, the danger of being a woman alone with strangers passing through, the way that the haves will try and take advantage of the have nots, all of it feels very real and unromantic takes on the idea of the West. This book absolutely feels like a Western, but it doesn’t make it seem like a charming simpler time you may find in a John Wayne movie. It highlights the misogyny, colonialism, and racism of that ideal. And I loved that.

“Lone Women” is another fantastic novel by Victor LaValle that takes on horror themes and tweaks them to feel more resonant and poignant than one may expect. I always love LaValle’s horror works, and this one is, I think, my favorite of the lot.

Rating 9: Breathtaking horror and gritty historical fiction rolled into one, “Lone Women” shows the tenacity of outsider women with secrets, some of which are otherworldly.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lone Women” is included on the Goodreads lists “The Best Historical Horror Novels”, and “Horror to Look Forward To in 2023”.

Not Just Books: March 2023

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

Serena’s Picks

Movie: “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania”

I have mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand, I went to it the third weekend it was out, so I was well aware that it wasn’t being reviewed well and was generally underperforming. And, yeah, I can see why. But it’s also not as bad as I was expecting. There’s just no denying the strength Paul Rudd as an actor who you just like to watch. But even more impressive was Jonathan Majors’ villain, Kang the Conqueror. I had already seen Majors portray a variation on this character in the show “Loki” but we really got to see his strengths here. However, I was a bit disappointed with how his character was dealt with in the final bit of the movie. I also have to say that I’m getting a bit tired of the “brilliant teenage girl” character who, what do you know, also becomes a super hero. Look, I know that the typical hero characters are also very often similar men with similar histories. But the very fact that we want to add more diversity (of all sorts of the word) to the hero line up doesn’t mean we should just add another single note character, even if it’s different than the usual 20-something cocky man. Young women can come in all sorts, too, with different strengths! They don’t all have to be quippy science girls. It’s verging on the Marvel universe answering trope to the “manic pixie dream girl.” But anyway, that’s a super subjective recent pet peeve of mine, and not really a testament to the movie as a whole.

Netflix Movie: “Your Place or Mine”

I had just been noting (whining) to my husband the other day that I felt there was a distinct lack in the romantic comedy business. I grew up in the 80s/90s/ early 2000s when there was a real boom in this genre and I think I got kind of spoiled that that’s how it just always was. But honestly, before watching this movie, I can’t tell you the last new romcom movie I’ve seen! And this one really hit the spot. It hit a lot of the same notes I get when I read Emily Henry, particularly in this movie’s case, her book “People You Meet on Vacation.” I also have to say that I haven’t seen Aston Kutcher in anything for quite some time and I think he’s definitely one of those cases where he’s gotten better looking with age. Damn those men and their aging into even better looks!

Movie: “Titanic”

Technically, I saw this back in February but I wasn’t able to slot it into our post for that month. I love this movie and I will fight you over it. Especially all of the people my age who seem to have forgotten (willfully so) that they probably saw it in the theater three times when it originally came out. So for me it was a no brainer that I was going to take advantage of the one week that it was being re-released to the big screen for its 25th anniversary (one year late, technically, due to, what else, Covid). I also dragged my husband with me who had never seen the movie before and who was one of those individuals who was making it a point of pride never to see it at all. Well, I remember warning him early when we were dating that he probably wasn’t going to make it on that goal if we stayed together. And low and behold, I pulled the “Valentine’s Day” card and he ended up with his butt in a seat, not only watching the movie but paying for the privilege. Really not much else to say about this movie that hasn’t already been said a million times!

Kate’s Picks

Netflix Show: “You”

While the TV show version of my beloved “You” books has REALLY diverted from the literary threads and storylines, I’m not that mad about it. For one reason, it means that I get to be in suspense and on pins and needles regarding the mysteries and thrills that the show unravels. For another, Penn Badgley is such a good Joe, as he gets the darkness, intensity, and the black humor that comes with the character. We are at Season 4, split into two parts, and I’m still hooked. After killing his psychopath wife Love and trying to follow Marienne, who fled to Paris, Joe has found himself in London, with a new identity and a new job working as an English professor at a prestigious University. He finds himself drawn to Kate, a cold art gallery owner who runs with a posh, upper class circle of friends. After attending a party at a social club with Kate’s lover, Joe gets trashed, and when he wakes up in his apartment he finds Kate’s lover, dead, with no memory of what happened. Now he has to figure out if he killed the man. And if not, who did. Oh Joe. Still getting up to nonsense.

Film: “We Have A Ghost”

I really love Christopher Landon’s comedic and heartfelt horror movies. Whether it’s the “Happy Death Day” films or “Freaky”, I like the humor and heart that he brings to very well done slasher films. Enter “We Have A Ghost”, Landon’s newest film that is his usual quirky and emotional takes to a haunted house story. And David Harbour is in it as the ghost! When a family moves into a dilapidated old house, angsty teenager Kevin goes up to the attic to investigate a strange sound, and finds “Ernest”, a ghost in a bowling shirt who can’t speak and can’t remember who he is. Kevin wants to help Ernest, while his father sees dollar signs after a video of Ernest goes viral. But when more and more attention comes upon Ernest, a top secret government group takes notice, and wants to take Ernest back to a lab. David Harbour always delights, but I’ve loved Jahi Winston ever since he was on the criminally underrated (and cruelly cancelled) “Everything Sucks”, and their chemistry is fantastic. And yes, like with the “Happy Death Day” films, I totally cried.

Film: “Scream VI”

We slasher fans are so blessed in that the “Scream” franchise has basically been consistently pretty okay to great (yes, I would put “Scream 3” as pretty okay, sue me), and my Terror Tuesday friends and I were hoping that “Scream VI” would continue that trend. I’m very happy to report that it did, and our field trip excursion to the Alamo Drafthouse to see it on the big screen was the best way to experience it. A year after the events in “Scream 5”, Sam and Tara Carpenter have moved to New York City with the Meeks Martin twins, Tara wanting to move on to college and Sam wanting to protect her sister. But then a new Ghostface has started killing people, and is planting masks with the DNA of former Ghostface killers at the scene. Sam is the number one suspect thanks to Internet rumor, and the sisters and the twins team up with Gale Weathers and Kirby “Scream 4” Reed to figure out who is behind it this time. And while I’m sad that Neve Campbell wasn’t going to be compensated at the amount she should have been and declined to come back because of it, I’m also happy that poor Sidney Prescott just got to take a goddamn breather this time around. LEAVE SIDNEY ALONE! SHE’S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH!!

Serena’s Review: “Paladin’s Grace”

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Book: “Paladin’s Grace” by T. Kingfisher

Publishing Info:  Argyll Production, February 2020

Where Did I Get this Book: from the library

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

Book Description: Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…

Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…

Review: That’s right, it’s time for another T. Kingfisher book review! I felt that enough time had passed since the last one that I could allow myself to read another. I’m reaaaaally trying to spread out her back catalog and not just binge read them all at once. But I have to tell you, it’s a tough ask. This is the first book in a trilogy, none the less, which will make it all the harder to try out the time between finishing this one and picking up the next. We’ll see how long I can make it, I guess.

After his god died a few years ago, Stephen lost the central core of his existence. His entire life had been built around serving the god as a holy berserker, trusting in his god’s power to keep him from harming innocents while caught up in one of his brutal rages. Without this fail safe, he and his fellow paladins have been eking out a quiet existence serving the White Rat and trying to avoid any trigger that may send them back into a berserking rage. So when he meets a perfumer who starts to stir deeper emotions within him, Stephen is fearful that allowing himself to feel anything for this woman will only lead to more tragedy. For her part, Grace is running from her own past and has only now felt as if she’s re-created a life for herself. But when she’s accused of murder, she can see it all crashing around her once again.

It will come as no surprise that I really enjoyed this book. It has all of the components I’ve come to expect from T. Kingfisher: witty writing, sympathetic main characters, a lovely romance, and, of course, funny animal companions. For the latter, this time we get an adorable weasel/cat hybrid that sounds perfectly cuddly, and I want one now, please and thank you. For the rest, this book is set in the same world as a few of Kingfisher’s previous books, so certain elements of the world will be more familiar to fans who have read those. I don’t think any of them are necessary to read before picking this one up, but there are definitely references to things that took place in other books that are nice to stumble upon as a reader in the know. There’s even the return of a favorite character of mine who we spent a lot of time with in “Swordheart.”

Also per the usual, I really liked both Stephen and Grace. T. Kingfisher does this great thing where she routinely writes characters and romances featuring adults in their 30s and 40s. Now that I am in that age group, I can’t say how refreshing it is to read a romance that features characters who have lived a life up to that point and all that comes with it. Here, Grace has already experienced an ugly romance in her first marriage and is going through the tedious process of starting up her life again later in life. Stephen, too, is grappling with the fact that the life he had drawn out for himself originally is not the one he is currently living. And yet, they find new love and new pathways before them in one another. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the typical 20-something romances I read as well, but it’s nice counterbalance to find romances like this that grapple with second loves and the lives and joys that can be found after initial disappointments. In particular, a weird little thing, I liked how this book briefly discussed how people are very different in what they enjoy or feel is romantic. It was just a small thing, but I think it touched on a greater theme to be found across love stories where all individuals are depicted as enjoying such and such thing, while that may not be the case for many people.

I do think the stakes in this book were a bit lower than they were in other stories by this author. I never felt much concern for Grace as she dealt with her murder accusation. And, rightfully, Kingfisher didn’t prioritize this aspect of the story overly much. Instead, the novel focused much more heavily on Grace and Stephen confronting their pasts and then grappling with how they chose to move forward with their lives. There was also a creepy background story that dealt with a “Ripper-esque” murderer going on a decapitation rampage. This subplot took some really surprising turns, and it’s clear by the way this book ended that Kingfisher is setting this plotline up as one that will carry over through this “Paladin” trilogy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There are books by this author I liked more, but I have yet to hit upon one by her that I didn’t like at all. Indeed, other than being able to list one or two absolute favorites, I’m not sure I could rank the rest at all: I simply enjoyed the heck out of them! This book will definitely appeal to fans of this author or for those looking for a solid fantasy romance that isn’t explicit.

Rating 8: Sweet and sympathetic, a fantasy romance that speak to the lives we can rebuild from the ashes of hopes and dreams that may have faltered originally.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Paladin’s Grace” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Fantasy Romance.