Tag: 6 Rating

Serena’s Review: “A River of Golden Bones”

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

Book: “A River of Golden Bones” by A.K. Mulford

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, December 2023

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

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

Book Description: From bestselling author and TikTok sensation A.K. Mulford comes the first riveting, enchanting book in the all-new Golden Court romantasy trilogy— A River of Golden Bones  begins a journey of self-discovery, romance, and adventure for a young heir as she/they comes out of hiding to save her sister from a malicious, powerful sorceress and her dangerous sleeping curse. A sleeping curse. A fallen court. A secret twin. Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom…and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow . . . the backup plan. No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court. Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to who could she be if she dared to try? Full of adventure, love, gender exploration, and self-discovery, A River of Golden Bones follows Calla’s journey through treacherous Wolf kingdoms, monster-filled realms, and the depths of their own heart in this thrilling romantic fantasy.

Review: I was initially drawn to this book due to the unique cover. It’s definitely a “second look” style, in that it is bright, colorful, and unlike any of the current trends we often see on fantasy books. That said, when I looked a bit closer and saw the golden wolf head at the top, it did drop a few points in my estimation due to the inherent “cheese” factor of it all. But still, it got the job done and I placed a request to check this one out.

Vampires are currently back in trend it seems, so it’s interesting running across a werewolf high fantasy book in our current environment. With werewolves come a whole lot of fairly routine elements and tropes, and I was fairly disappointed to see so many of them trotted out quickly here. We have the tried and true “fated mates” trope, the “werewolf protectors” trope, and, of course, a good healthy dose of fairly sexist stereotypes and society structures. And while the book does take an interesting look at the black and white nature of this aspect of werewolf society, it was very much presented through the lens of the main character’s personal identity journey. Unforunately, at times, I felt like this reinforeced other stereotypes even as it worked to deconstruct other limitations.

For example, much of Calla’s experience with her identity, particularly in the beginning of the book, is directly drawn from her sister Briar. From Briar’s figure, from the clothes Briar wears, etc., all of which is opposite of Calla’s body type and preferences. But we never hear from Briar herself. Obviously, she didn’t pick her body type. And what she wears says very little about who she is. It felt strange to have so much exploration of personal identity built around a character who was never given a voice for expressing how she felt about herself or her role.

I also struggled to connect with this story due to the competing content it seemed to offer. On one hand, most of Calla’s journey is a “coming of age” story and much of this exploration gave off very strong “YA” vibes. But then the romance was very adult, with a healthy dose of spicy scenes that are anything but young adult. The combination didn’t work well for my reading experience.

I also didn’t enjoy the romance. It felt very predictable, and I often found both characters at their most tiresome when they were together. The angst and drama was more annoying than it was enticing. Supposedly these characters had been best friends at some point, but we see nothing that would even hint at that sort of relationship on the page.

And then, to make matters worse, in the final conflict with the big bad, an individual who had committed atrocities, the climax of it all seemed to be the accusation made that Grae wasn’t going to accept Calla’s true identity. This, again, felt very YA. That somehow we have a battle going on with a murderous, horrific individual, and the real crisis is coming down to Calla’s own personal journey. Obviously, that is a crucial part of her and of her story. But one’s own individual journey and experience with others, while important, is not going to pair well when brought into a fight about life-and-death events taking place within an entire kingdom.

Overall, I struggled to really connect with anything in this story. I thought the exploration of Calla’s journey was unique and interesting, but it wasn’t enough to offset my dislike of the romance and my frustration with the strange mix of YA/adult themes throughout the book. If you’re looking for a fantasy novel that tackles gender identity, this one definitely is a creative look at the topic. But ultimately, this book didn’t work for me.

Rating 6: Fairly disappointing, with a mismatched combination of YA and adult thematic elements.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A River of Golden Bones” can be found on this Goodreads list: Best Queer Romantasy Books.

Kate’s Review: “VenCo”

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

Book: “VenCo” by Cherie Dimaline

Publishing Info: William Morrow, February 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Lucky St. James, a Métis millennial living with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella, is barely hanging on when she discovers she will be evicted from their tiny Toronto apartment. Then, one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. Burrowing through a wall, she finds a silver spoon etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM, humming with otherworldly energy.

Hundreds of miles away in Salem, Myrna Good has been looking for Lucky. Myrna works for VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money.

Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon links her to VenCo’s network of witches throughout North America. Generations of witches have been waiting for centuries for the seven spoons to come together, igniting a new era, and restoring women to their rightful power.

But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He’s Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning…or remain underground forever.

Review: Fall is winding down, with American Thanksgiving later this week and temperatures getting colder and colder here in Minnesota. But I still like clinging to the Autumnal feelings as long as I can, and that means I’m also reading books that just feel like Autumn. That was part of the reason I was drawn to “VenCo” by Cherie Dimaline, a witch story about women drawn together from all parts of North America in hopes of coming to their full strength to help change the world for the better. Witch tales always feel like Fall to me, and I liked the whispers of a feminist edge to this book. Seems like Autumnal reading to me!

I enjoyed the witch lore and world building of this story. Dimaline makes clear rules and mythos about how witches are called, what functions they serve, and how they interact with the world and with each other. I also liked the way that the coven/VenCo itself was structured, with seven witches working below three top witches that are called The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone (a clear reference to the Neopagan Triple Goddess). I also liked the way that while there have always been witches, there have also always been witch hunters, and I liked the origins of the SALEM spoons that all of the witches in the coven find to serve as totems that bring them all together. While we don’t get to see a lot of overt magical moments outside of scrying, I did like the implications that these women come together and through their companionship they will bring out their powers while also finding the power of themselves, whether it’s a woman leaving an abusive relationship, or a trans girl becoming comfortable in her own identity and truth. What can I say, I like magical stories that place emphasis on women bringing their strength out through companionship with other women.

All that said, I did think that we could have used a bit more exploration into the characters themselves. While all the members of the coven get some back stories, once their back stories are told they are pretty shallow. I also would have killed to have more backstory for The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone, as there were a LOT of questions about them that I had once the book was finished (there was a particular revelation that happened in the last two pages that I really would have loved to have more details about!). And going back to the note above about the moments of magic, I do wish that we had seen more of that instead of just the promise that once the witches come together as seven they will be able to solve the world’s problems. It was a lot of telling without a lot of showing, and I really wanted more by the time the book was finished.

“VenCo” is an entertaining witchy read. I had higher hopes than what was delivered, but it’s a cozy read for Autumn.

Rating 6: A fun and witchy tale brimming with sisterhood, “VenCo” is an entertaining fantasy, though it could have used a little more exploration of the characters and their depths.

Reader’s Advisory:

“VenCo” is included on the Goodereads lists “Coven Book Club”, and “Scary Mommy Book Club”.

Serena’s Review: “Tonight, I Burn”

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

Book: “Tonight, I Burn” by Katharine J. Adams

Publishing Info: Orbit, October 2023

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

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

Book Description: A thorn witch with the power to walk between the realms of Life and Death finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion—and a dangerous romance—that could destroy her coven and her soul in this dark and decadent debut. 

Thorns, Tides, Embers, Storms, and Ores. All five covens are bound in servitude to the tyrant High Warden of Halstett. 

Penny Albright is a daughter of the thorn coven, forced to patrol the veil between the realms of Life and Death. Each night, one thorn witch—and only one—must cross the veil by burning at the stake. Each morning, that witch draws on their magic to return. Failure to follow the rules risks the veil and risks them all.

But one morning, Penny’s favorite sister Ella doesn’t return. And that night, determined to find her, Penny breaks the rules. She burns in secret. And she discovers that all isn’t as it seems in Life or Death. 

Her journey leads her to Malin, a devastating lord with too many secrets; to Alice, a mysterious captive prophet; and to a rebellion brewing in the shadows beneath the city. And as Penny’s world splits, she’ll face a devastating choice. Because it’s not just her sister’s life that hangs in the balance. It’s the fate of all magic. 

All it takes is one witch—and one spark—to set the world ablaze.

Review: I’ve read a number of witch books this fall and mostly enjoyed them all! Of course, it is the time of year for this type of book, but it also seems that there is a current trend in YA and adult fantasy towards these types of stories recently. That being the case, I was excited to check out this book that promised an intricate new world, darker thematic content, plus a swoon-worthy romance! Unfortunately, while I think it might work well for other readers, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I had hoped.

But let’s start with the positives. Right there in the premise the book is setting up a truly dark existence, one in which a witch must be burned at the stake every night to patrol the realm. Yes, they are meant to come back to life the next day, but that does very little to combat the true horror of a death in that manner every night. This was such an interesting concept to begin with. Added on top of that you have the mystery of why one witch fails to return which propels the action of our heroine. It’s an excellent set up and I was quickly pulled into the general concept of the story.

However, as the book progressed, I began to struggle. First with the heroine herself and then with the romances as they were introduced. Fairly quickly, I began to feel frustrated with Penny and some of her decision making. It felt at times that she was simply doing things to prove that she was doing something in the first place, rather than for any true reason. Moments like this left me with the impression of her as a fairly immature character. Again and again she received praise for making decisions that were, on their face, pretty bad.

And then we get into the romance and the love interests. So, I’ll be honest, part of this is on me in that I read the book description and didn’t pick up on the fact that this was a polyamory story. In my defense, I don’t think it’s super obvious in the summary either. But either way, as a reader I often struggle to enjoy polyamory stories. That being the case, I usually avoid them simply so I don’t have a host of middling to negative reviews here on the blog of a subgenre that I know others enjoy but just aren’t for me. Know thyself and all of that.

This book does a good job (back hand compliment time!) in highlighting one of my struggles with this type of romance: it’s hard enough to write a solid, fully-fleshed out love story between two characters in the page count of a single book; thusly, it’s almost impossible to do justice to three characters and two love stories within the same number of pages. And here, like in so many other instances, I simply couldn’t become invested in these romances. Sure, they were each attracted to each other. But beyond that? I never felt like any time was given to why these characters were falling for one another, what true connections bound them together other than the fairly rote parallels between Penny’s powers and the fact that one love interest represents Death and the other Life. Beyond that, I personally just don’t enjoy polyamory romances, so this was probably never going to be a great success for me. But for readers who do enjoy these stories, this might still work, though objectively, in this case, I still think the love stories themselves were fairly watered down to simple attraction and not much else.

Overall, I really enjoyed the world-building and magic of this world, but I struggled with the main character and the romances too much to truly enjoy this book. But if you’re a fan of polyamory stories and want to check out an interesting, fresh take on witches and witch burning, this might be a good book for you!

Rating 6: Not to my taste, but it did offer some interesting fantasy concepts that I’d never come across before!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tonight, I Burn” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Vampires and Werewolves and Witches…Oh My!

Serena’s Review: “After the Forest”

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

Book: “After the Forest” by Kell Woods

Publishing Info: Tor, October 2023

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

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

Book Description: Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.

Twenty years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people starving in the aftermath of a brutal war.

Greta has a secret, the witch’s grimoire, secreted away and whispering in Greta’s ear for the past two decades, and the recipe inside that makes the best gingerbread you’ve ever tasted. As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat.

But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her mysteriously addictive gingerbread, not to mention the rumors about her childhood misadventures, is a source of gossip and suspicion.

And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta’s magic—magic she is still trying to understand—may be the only thing that can save her. If it doesn’t kill her first.

Review: Like Mothman, there seems to be a certain trend towards Germanic fairytales this fall. This is the second fantasy book I’ve read that has pulled from German fairytales or been set in Germany. While I enjoyed the focus on Russian fantasy over the last few years, this feels like a natural next step and a refreshing shift in focus. This story, less a re-telling of “Hansel and Gretel” and more an imagined sequel to that tale, was definitely high on my TBR list for this fall. Unfortunately, while it started out strong and I had high hopes, it didn’t ultimately live up my expectations.

When I started reading initially there were a few flags about the writing style that were immediately raised. But as I kept pushing forward, I became invested in Greta’s story and was particularly intrigued by the romantic interest. Unfortunately, as the story continued, Greta somehow became a worse lead and said romantic interest disappeared for long periods of time. When those things started happening, my initial skepticism about some of the writing kicked back in, and I ended up generally having a fairly bad time after that. I’ll start with the character stuff, however..

Greta starts out as an independent young woman who is dealing not only with the aftermath of her traumatic experiences while trapped by a witch with her brother as children, but also struggling to keep herself and Hansel afloat as he continues to gamble their livelihoods away. To aide with this, she uses a spellbook she stole from the witch who captured them so many years ago to create irresistible baked goods. As such, she early on discusses how careful and wary she has always been towards the spellbook, knowing its original owner’s penchant for horror. But as the book continues, somehow Greta becomes actively stupider and decides, nah, this book I’ve gone years knowing is probably dangerous and evil is probably actually totally fine. This is only one example, but it reflects a larger trend: Greta’s story is told in a disjointed and unnatural manner. There is no grand reason for her to suddenly become dumber about this other than the fact that the book needs her to. Decision after decisions is made in this way, not only be Greta, but by the other characters around her.

At one point, she becomes obviously hypocritical about a late reveal in the story, blows up at the love interest and stomps off. She then meets another character who literally walks her through the errors of her thinking. Then she WALKS BACK to the love interest and apologizes and the story progresses from there. It’s such an unnatural and unnecessary scene. It’s paint-by-numbers character development where it doesn’t seem like the author has even taken the time to fully cover over the paint numbers in the design, having one character literally handhold the other through development.

Beyond that, the book packs in so many different themes and fantasy elements that it quickly turns into a muddled mess. Are we supposed to be interested in the dangers of the spellbook? Or, now I see we have shape shifters, is that the main focus? How about witchcraft, women, and Greta’s own slowly revealed powers? Or, here’s a very late introduction of an entirely new villain and magical curse that we must solve! It all became a hot mess quite quickly.

And now working my way backwards to the writing. I will say, before some of these character problems happened and the story twisted itself into a knot of different focal points, the pacing was fast and interesting and the writing style was capable of drawing me in. That said, the very first chapter did introduce me to something that would plague much of the rest of the story. There’s an initial confrontation with a bear, and the way the story is written, the scene jumps from thing to thing so suddenly that I legitimately thought we were starting out with a dream sequence; it had that same disjointed, disconnected style with no transitions that I associate with authors trying to reproduce the ever-shifting nature of dreams. But no, I soon discovered this was meant to be a simple enough scene. However, the lack of transitions between scenes and even moments within a scene was very distracting, and this strangeness carried throughout the book. I never had a good understanding of how much time was passing, or when we were jumping to another time and location, or anything like that, because there was no attempt to naturally transition from place to place, either literally or metaphorically.

Overall, I struggled with much of this book. It was honestly surprising, because even with the confusion about the non-dream-sequence beginning, the writing was fast and compelling and I thought I would enjoy it. But then things quickly fell apart and I was left quite disappointed by the entire experience. That said, if you’re a big fan of fairytale re-tellings, there may be aspects of this story that appeal. I do think the romance was compelling, and the writing was fast and relatable. But if you’re looking for a more serious fantasy fairytale, this isn’t it.

Rating 6: What started out with a lot of promise quickly fell apart with errors in execution and character development.

Reader’s Advisory:

“After the Forest” isn’t on any good Goodreads lists, but it should be on Hansel and Gretel Stories

Serena’s Review: “Throne of the Fallen”

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

Book: “Throne of the Fallen” by Kerri Maniscalco

Publishing Info: Little, Brown and Company, October 2023

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

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

Book Description: Sinner. Villain. Ruthless.

These are wicked names the Prince of Envy welcomes. They remind him what he isn’t: a saint. And when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows he’ll be called much worse before it ends. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way. With a powerful artifact and his own future at stake, Envy is determined to win, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin—and passion—like no other…

Talented. Darling. Liar.

The trouble with scoundrels and blackguards is that they haven’t a modicum of honor, a fact Miss Camilla Antonius learns after one desperate mistake allows notorious rake—and satire sheet legend—Lord Phillip Vexley to blackmail her. And now it seems Vexley isn’t the only scoundrel interested in securing her unique talents as a painter. To avoid Vexley’s clutches and a ruinous scandal, Camilla is forced to enter a devil’s bargain with Waverly Green’s newest arrival, enigmatic Lord Ashford ‘Syn’ Synton, little expecting his game will awaken her true nature . . .

Together, Envy and Camilla must embark on a perilous journey through the Shifting Isles—from glittering demon courts to the sultry vampire realm, and encounters with exiled Fae—while trying to avoid the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love. 

Review: I’ll admit, I knew very little about this book when I picked it up. It was a book that the publisher approached me with, and, giving it a brief once over, sounded like something up my alley. I like fantasy. I like romance. I’m always on the hunt for a good combination of the two. Plus, there’s something oddly appealing about the rather old-fashioned romance book cover art on this one. Reminds me of some of the Nora Roberts stuff we were seeing in the 90s and early 2000s, in the best of ways!

It was only after I started reading that I connected several facts. One, I’ve actually read a book by this author, “Stalking Jack the Ripper,” which I very much enjoyed. And two, that this was an adult spin-off of a popular YA fantasy series, “Kingdom of the Wicked,” that was already published. Before getting into the nitty gritty, I will say that I do think this book works as a spin-off. There are clearly references to characters and plots from this first series, but I didn’t find myself overly confused or struggling to put together pieces from those books to fill out the one I was reading. So, if you haven’t read that series and are interested in this one, I do think it is approachable on that front.

And, while this book didn’t work for me, I do want to touch on a few positives first, as always. Firstly, this author has a very clear, fast-paced style of writing that I think appeals to a lot of readers. Indeed, it was this style of writing that made “Stalking Jack the Ripper” work for me as it did. Secondly, while I haven’t read the other series, I’m guessing that this spin-off will work well for all of the established fans. It’s easy enough to see the similarities and the simple changes (largely the inclusion of more graphic romance scenes) that might have been made to adjust the story for adult fantasy romance readers. So, if you like the original series, this will probably work for you. New readers, however…I think you can find better.

I struggled in a few ways, but the first and most prominent one was the way the pacing and romance of the book played out. I’m not overly prudish about my romance, but there are still a few necessary steps that make a romance work for me. Namely, you need to build up a relationship before you get to any pay-off. And this book…didn’t do that. We get a fairly graphic, if imaginary, scene in which the heroine is fantasizing about being with the hero within the first few chapters of the book, after briefly meeting him once and exchanging, at most a few sentences. To me, scenes like this fail to actually deliver what the appeal is meant to be in romance novels: I have zero investment in these characters together, and thus reading a prolonged, fantasized scene of the two them together after only just meeting them both…does nothing for me. It feels like its being graphic and sexual purely for graphic sexuality’s sake, as if the author was so desperate to make sure it was known that this was an adult fantasy romance that she hurried to squish this scene in, even if it’s completely unnecessary and unappealing in its own right.

This is a brief example, but it perfectly illustrates my ongoing struggles with the pacing of the relationship, and these two characters in general. I didn’t particularly like either of the lead characters, and I became increasingly frustrated with the passive nature of the heroine as the story continued. Envy (I won’t even get into the awkward reading nature of the names; I get that it’s the seven deadly sins, but Envy/Syn was so hard to take seriously every time I read t on the page) keeps telling us how feisty Camilla is, but then she seems very passive in any actual action. I was interested in her story when she was initially introduced, but it was hard to connect the type of woman who made a life for herself in the way that she must have with the type of character who was actually on the page.

From some brief sleuthing, I can tell that Envy must have been something of a fan favorite background character in the original series. And, yeah, I can see it. When given the correct moments, he definitely has some snark and spunk, especially of the variety that works great as a side character who pops up to dazzle in a scene. If anything, I liked him more when we saw him interacting with the other Princes of Hell. But when he was serving as the romantic lead, he didn’t connect with me, and I didn’t buy the chemistry between him and Camilla.

Overall, this one really didn’t work with me. Mostly, the pacing and the approach to the romantic elements started off on the wrong foot and the story never recovered from there. However, I’m guessing that this will be an unpopular opinion and that fans of the original series will gobble this one up!

Rating 6: A bit of a disappointment, mostly due to the rushed nature of the romance scenes and my inability to connect to either leading character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Throne of the Fallen” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2023 and Lock and Key.

Kate’s Review: “Let Him In”

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

Book: “Let Him In” by William Friend

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, October 2023

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

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

Book Description: William Friend’s haunting debut Let Him In is a creeping, gothic psychological suspense about a young, newly widowed father struggling to raise twin daughters obsessed with an imaginary friend.

“Daddy, there’s a man in our room…”

Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there’s a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare.

He isn’t surprised that they’re troubled. Grief has made its home at Hart House: nine months ago, the twins’ mother Pippa died unexpectedly, leaving Alfie to raise them alone. And now, when the girls mention a new imaginary friend, it seems like a harmless coping mechanism. But the situation quickly develops into something more insidious. The girls set an extra place for him at the table. They whisper to him. They say he’s going to take them away…

Alfie calls upon Julia—Pippa’s sister and a psychiatrist—to oust the malignant tenant from their lives. But as Alfie himself is haunted by visions and someone watches him at night, he begins to question the true character of the force that has poisoned his daughters’ minds, with dark and violent consequences.

Whatever this “friend” is, he doesn’t want to leave. Alfie will have to confront his own shameful secrets, the dark past of Hart House, and even the bounds of reality—or risk taking part in an unspeakable tragedy.

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

It’s that time of year again!! It’s finally October, my very favorite month, and being the month of Halloween that means it is time for my annual Horrorpalooza celebration here on the blog! For those unfamiliar, in honor of my favorite holiday and favorite genre I am dedicating all of my reviews to horror related books and stories. I hope we have a very creepy and macabre month ahead of us, reading wise, and we are going to start with “Let Him In” by William Friend, a book that has been on my pile for awhile and has now made its debut, just in time for the season of the witch.

It wasn’t the stellar start to the season that I was hoping for, honestly, but I will start with what I did like about “Let Him In”. Friend does know how to write in a way that is both evocative and eerie, his turns of phrase lyrical at times and his motivations of his characters really clear and well thought out. We alternate between two perspectives. The first is Alfie, a recent widower who is grieving and raising his twin daughters Sylvie and Cassia now that his wife Pippa has died in a freak accident in her childhood home, where they had all been living. The other is Julia, Pippa’s twin sister who is also grieving, but is also nursing old wounds from her childhood. When Sylvie and Cassia start talking about an imaginary friend name Black Mamba, and their behavior goes from strange to concerning, Alfie calls Julia in as she is a psychiatrist. I liked the way we got to see both Alfie’s and Julia’s perspectives on Black Mamba, and the things that they are hiding from each other and the reader until the escalating situation with the twins and their own past demons start seeping in because of this ‘imaginary friend’, who may be a sign of a serious behavioral problem, or may be a supernatural force that has been lurking and waiting. There were a number of moments in which I was left ill at ease, and I think that it had a lot to do with the descriptions of the strange house, what may lurk in the dark there, and the damaged people within.

But on the other hand, I think that for me this book almost takes a little too much time to build up the tension, and is a little more ambiguous than I would have liked. Is Black Mamba a folie à deux between the grieving Sylvie and Cassia, or is it a demonic force? I like it when there is some sense of not really knowing what’s going on to a point, as I do think that it adds to the tension and it adds to the overall unease of a novel. But the problem with “Let Him In” is that it made it hard for me to engage and invest because it was ambiguous and moving a little slower than I would have liked. And by the time we got to the end and SOME answers were revealed, there was still a bit that was left unresolved, enough so that I was left fairly unsatisfied by the time I was finished with the story as a whole. This probably shouldn’t stop others from reading this book, especially if ambiguity is your cup of tea when it comes to horror or thriller novels.

So it was a little bit of a mixed bag for me. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations and hopes, but I do see how other horror fans would probably find a lot to like in it. Regardless, I will be curious to see what Friend does in the future. Horrorpalooza is here, folks. I’m so excited to talk about so many scary stories this month!

Rating 6: There are many eerie moments and I liked the writing style, but I think that there’s a little too much ambiguity when some answers may have been more satisfying.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Let Him In” is included on the list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2023”.

Kate’s Review: “The Stranger Upstairs”

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

Book: “The Stranger Upstairs” by Lisa M. Matlin

Publishing Info: Bantam, September 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: A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut.

Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.

But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.

When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?

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

The first thing that caught by eye about Lisa M. Matlin’s “The Stranger Upstairs” was the cover. I love seeing all these neon brightly colored and somewhat surreal thriller covers as of late! I also love the foreboding silhouette in the window of the house, which makes for a fun and weird dichotomy between the colors and the unease that lays below it. Cover aside, I was interested in this book because of the ‘murder house’ angle, as well as the influencer angle, which I had hoped would combine to make for a tense and fun thriller mystery. And I’m sad to say that we didn’t really get to the levels I was hoping for.

But first, the good! I thought that Matlin really set the scene well, building suspense in a well paced way with lots of good red herrings and misdirections while ratcheting up the tension. I liked the slow burn of the escalating stalking that is aimed squarely at Sarah, our influencer therapist who has bought an infamous murder house for content and the hope of profit. Sure, she’s harboring many secrets and her marriage is falling apart, but if this house flips well she could make money AND go viral. As strange things start happening and she starts to lose a grip on her collectedness, the plot is engaging and filled with lots of intensity. I also really liked the parallels between Black Woods House and the notorious Los Feliz Murder house, from similar crime scenes and murder details to infamy that leaks into local lore. It was a neat easter egg for people who are familiar with the crime.

But there were also things that didn’t really gel with me, which ultimately brought the book down overall. The first thing (and I’m not going to go into spoilers here) was how the entire thing shakes out. There was so much good suspenseful build up that could lead to some interesting solutions, and I was really hoping that it would all pay off. But I felt that by the end, the big reveal just kind of clunked out. It led to a twist that was okay but a bit unsatisfying, and then there was one more moment that happened right at the end that made it feel like the author couldn’t quite make up her mind as to what she wanted the ultimate reveal to be, and what kind of origin she wanted that reveal to be a part of. On top of that, Sarah was a little TOO unlikable. Let me explain that, as I generally think that female protagonists (especially in thrillers) should have the ability to be unlikable. The issue I had with Sarah was that there was a LOT of effort to make her sour, manipulative, snide, and proud of her cruelty, and it felt less like an interesting if flawed protagonist and more like a character that has a lot of checked boxes to make her unpleasant, without adding in layers and complexity to even it out. Generally, I can do with a let down ending if the main character is interesting, or vice versa, but when they are both underwhelming it makes for a disappointing read.

I do think that I would read more books by Matlin, because there was a lot of potential in “The Stranger Upstairs”. I’m bummed that it was a bit unmet.

Rating 5: There were some pretty good references and a build up I liked, but then the reveal fell a bit flat. Add in a main character who is almost too unlikable and it just didn’t hit the way I hoped it would.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Stranger Upstairs” is included on the Goodreads list “Fiction Featuring Social Media Types: Bloggers, Podcasters, Etc.”.

Serena’s Review: “Witch of Wild Things”

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

Book: “Witch of Wild Things” by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Publishing Info: Berkley, September 2023

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

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

Book Description: Legend goes that long ago a Flores woman offended the old gods, and their family was cursed as a result. Now, every woman born to the family has a touch of magic.

Sage Flores has been running from her family—and their “gifts”—ever since her younger sister Sky died. Eight years later, Sage reluctantly returns to her hometown. Like slipping into an old, comforting sweater, Sage takes back her job at Cranberry Rose Company and uses her ability to communicate with plants to discover unusual heritage specimens in the surrounding lands.

What should be a simple task is complicated by her partner in botany sleuthing: Tennessee Reyes. He broke her heart in high school, and she never fully recovered. Working together is reminding her of all their past tender, genuine moments—and new feelings for this mature sexy man are starting to take root in her heart.

With rare plants to find, a dead sister who keeps bringing her coffee, and another sister whose anger fills the sky with lightning, Sage doesn’t have time for romance. But being with Tenn is like standing in the middle of a field on the cusp of a summer thunderstorm—supercharged and inevitable.

Review: Cozy fantasy is a term that I both am a bit skeptical of (it seems like another way of differentiating “serious” SFF from “that woman stuff” which I don’t think benefits anyone) and a subgenre that I’ve struggled to enjoy. But I do like romances and I do like sister drama and I do like low-level family magic, so I thought this one was definitely worth a shot. However, in the end, I don’t think this is the best example of any of these themes.

But I’ll start with what I did like. For the most part, the main character was a good lead. I enjoyed her voice, and in particular, her relationships with a few of the women in her life were very interesting and explored a level of complexity that I hadn’t expected. For example, Sage has a close friend who has a struggling marriage, and I appreciated the care that went into the balancing act that is supporting a friend in this situation where, to an outsider, the problem and solution seems easy, but to the friend whose life is in the balance, things are much more complicated. I also really appreciated the exploration of Sage’s relationship with the woman who took over the care of Sage and her sisters when they were young. There were some very nice points about grief and the burdens we can place on those around us when caught up in devastating positions. But, even here, there were moments where the depiction of this relationship took a bit of jarring turn towards the simplistic, with Sage taking on a rather “perfect victim” persona that left me wanting.

And this speaks to many of my problems with the other relationships in this books. Many of the characters, including Sage herself at times, came across as simple and without any real depth of character. The romantic hero is the most bland example of handsome perfection that I’ve come across in a long time. Pick out some romance hero tropes, and he checks them all of neatly, right in a row. And then the relationship between Sage and her angry younger sister, Teal, verged on the ridiculous at times, with Teal coming across as an unbelievable caricature of irrational anger.

Beyond this, I struggled with the overall tone of the novel. At times, Sage definitely took on a more YA sounding voice, testing my ability to believe her to be a 29 year old woman who has actually lived in the world. This isn’t helped by the inclusion of some truly cringe-worthy AOL conversations from her teenage years. And, unfortunately, these blasts from the internet-past can’t be simply skipped as they are key to understanding the unfolding relationship between Tenn and Sage in the present day.

There were bits and pieces of the story that I liked, which did help me get through it. But I often found myself struggling to really invest in any of these characters or care about the romance at the heart of it. I do think there are readers who will enjoy this, but I think the biggest failure lies with its inability to depict adult characters who…well…behave and think like adults.

Rating 6: Not for me, though I do think the depictions of the beautiful location and some of the lyrical moments had merit.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Witch of Wild Things” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Mushrooms, Toadstools, Fungus and The Witches.

Serena’s Review: “House of Marionne”

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

Book: “House of Marionne” by J. Elle

Publishing Info: Razorbill, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: 17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins.

Until someone discovers her dark secret.

To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever.

If caught, she will be killed.

But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training.

When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.

Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.

Brimming with ballgowns and betrayal, magic and mystery, decadence and darkness, House of Marionne is perfect for readers who crave morally gray characters, irresistible romance, dark academia, and a deeply intoxicating and original world.

Review: Well, I’m predictable at least. If you give me a beautiful cover and mention the words “dark academia” in your book summary, there’s a decent change I’ll check out your book. Also, “Bridgerton” season three has been taking foreeeever to come out, so the reference to ball gowns and high society is a nice little perk to my current interests. Unfortunately, this was one of those cases where a lot of excellent individual ingredients were thrown into a single pot, but the end result was a mess.

But, first, some of the good individual ingredients. I liked the writing style, overall. It did fall a bit on the younger side of YA for my own personal preferences, but everything ran smoothly and I had a clear idea of the scenes we were exploring and the characters making up this world. It seems silly to point out, but whenever a writer manages to tell a story without throwing me out of the narrative with awkward word choices or jilted or repetitive sentence structure, that’s already a great win, and Elle manages all of that here. Overall, I was pretty into the book in the first little bit. I also like a lot of the ideas that make up this world, but this is also where things began to fall apart a bit.

Once we get to the magical world of it all, we quickly discover there are several different societies with different histories and priorities of magic. Luckily for me, I always check out the end of a book, author’s note, etc. before really starting a book, so I was able to discover an appendix with the histories of all of these houses. However, unless a reader also happened to look at the back of the book like I did here, the world-building given in the actual text is very confusing and sparse. The details provided in the appendix were sometimes key to understanding some of the politics of this world, and by hiding this information at the end of the book, it presents a challenging reading experience.

There were also aspects of the world and magic that seemed fairly arbitrary. For example, the women have these tiaras that are essentially part of their heads? And the men have masks? And somehow these are connected to their magical abilities? It’s all very obscure and never explained in any way. Instead, it’s easy to see the author simply picturing this world in this way, and then plopping it down in the book without much support for the entire concept. There were other aspects of the world and magic like this that, as I went a long, became increasingly frustrating to just roll with.

I also really struggled with Quell. Fairly early on, she comes across as a very unserious person who isn’t appreciating the reality of her situation. We’re told that her mom has had them on the run her entire life to protect Quell from those who would harm her for her strange magic. But then the second they are separated, Quell chooses to run straight to the very people her mother has been running from. It’s a bizarre choice, and one that isn’t well supported unless Quell is just a dunderhead. From there, she proceeds to become a Mary Sue, quickly conquering magical tasks that others have been struggling with for years at the school. The were some legitimate twists and interesting choices that Quell makes towards the end of the book, but these were too few, too late.

As is often the case, if I struggle with the main character, I also struggle with the romance. For what it’s worth, I didn’t actively dislike the romantic interest. He was perfectly fine for the type of character he was supposed to be. But my increasing frustration with Quell made my interest in the progression of this romance to wane fairly quickly. Again, there were some interesting turns towards the end in this regard as well. But also again, it wasn’t enough to save my overall reading experience.

Rating 6: A frustrating main character and confusing world left me feeling fairly turned off on this YA fantasy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“House of Marionne” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Releases September 2023 and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2023

Serena’s Review: “Bring Me Your Midnight”

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

Book: “Bring Me Your Midnight” by Rachel Griffin

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: Tana Fairchild’s fate has never been in question. Her life has been planned out since the moment she was born: she is to marry the governor’s son, Landon, and secure an unprecedented alliance between the witches of her island home and the mainlanders who see her very existence as a threat.

Tana’s coven has appeased those who fear their power for years by releasing most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. But when Tana misses the midnight ritual—a fatal mistake—there is no one she can turn to for help…until she meets Wolfe.

Wolfe claims he is from a coven that practices dark magic, making him one of the only people who can help her. But he refuses to let Tana’s power rush into the sea, and instead teaches her his forbidden magic. A magic that makes her feel powerful. Alive.

As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance as well as her island. Tana will have to choose between love and duty, between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart. Marrying Landon would secure peace for her coven but losing Wolfe and his wild magic could cost her everything else.

Review: I haven’t read anything by this author yet, but I’m very familiar with the cool, witchy titles and covers of her books. I always eye them in the bookstore with appreciation. But as I don’t always gravitate towards contemporary fantasy, I haven’t actually gotten around to reading either of them. However, reading the description for this one, it sounded a lot like Adrienne Young’s “Spells for Forgetting” which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, however, this one didn’t reach those same highs.

Before getting into the parts of this book that ultimately left it as a bit of a disappointing read, I do want to focus on a few positive. For one thing, the cover art for this book is beautiful. Like the other books by this author, this one would definitely stand out on bookstore shelves. I also liked the overall concept of the book, with an island made up of witches who must expel their excess magic into the ocean to continue to exist peacefully with those around them. This idea is very interesting, and while the climate change points are not exactly subtle, that doesn’t take away from the overall impact of the set-up.

Unfortunately, as we saw so often in this book, things that should have been interesting would either not be fully explored or would peter out before the reader got to actually experience any conflict. We are told that the ocean currents around the island have become increasingly dangerous. However, other than a second-hand story from Tana’s childhood, we never actually see any dangers on the page. We’re simply told that it is so. Further, when this conflict is ultimately resolved, again, we don’t see anything of it. We are told it happens, and that is the end.

Again and again this sort of thing happened throughout the story. It was very much “telling” the reader how they should feel and what exactly was happening, but there was very little showing. Conflicts would show up throughout the story, but then, often in the same chapter, they were quickly wrapped up. Any attempts by the reader to build on stakes or feel any tension about what is coming next was almost immediately stamped down by a quick resolution.

I also struggled to picture exactly where and when this book took place. There were references to dresses and balls, but then the next moment would refer to a car driving by. It was very unclear what sort of society or world I was meant to be picturing. Is this a modern day story? Some point in the fairly recent past? For a story that is so centered around this unique community and rare, magical island, there was a distinct lack of descriptive prose. Yes, I would have enjoyed some more lyrical descriptions of this quaint town, but I also would have taken a basic description of what exactly I was supposed to be picturing at all.

Beyond this, Tana was a difficult character for me to connect to. She’s meant to be a twenty year old woman, but if I hadn’t been told this, I would very much have pegged her as a fifteen year old. Her voice is very juvenile, and her understanding of her place in the world and her choices was very passive to the point of fairly extreme naivety. At the same time, as her views were challenged, she quickly switched tack, seemingly with very little inner conflict at leaving behind lifetime-held beliefs. I also did not enjoy the romance in this story. It felt very insta-love like, and, again, I failed to connect to the characters or feel real stakes in their relationship.

This book didn’t work for me, which was too bad. I know the author is really popular, however, so if you enjoy more contemporary witchy stories, this may be for you. But if you’re looking for something with much depth, sadly I don’t think this is it.

Rating 6: Unlike the ocean with all of its mysterious depths, this one felt shallow and floundering.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bring Me Your Midnight” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Flower Faces and YA Releases August 2023.