Tag: 8 Rating

Kate’s Review: “The Ground That Devours Us”

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Book: “The Ground That Devours Us” by Kalla Harris

Publishing Info: Entangled Teen, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: The world ended ten years ago. Vampires showed up, took over, and turned the whole planet into their personal all-you-can-drink buffet. The president? Bloodsucker. The government? Bloodsuckers. My social life? Absolutely nonexistent.

But hey, at least I had one thing going for me—slayer training. My twin sister, Ripley, and I were about to go pro, officially joining the ranks of the last people on earth who actually do something about the whole “undead overlords” situation.

And then X had to show up. The vampire boogeyman. The worst of the worst. And instead of killing Ripley, like any decent monster would, he turned her. Now she’s technically a vamp, but something tells me my sister is still in there. Which means I can’t slay her.

What can I do? Break every rule. Lie to my friends. Strike a deal with the most dangerous vampire on the planet: X will protect Ripley from everyone else who wants her dead—like, really dead—until I can snag the cure for vampirism. The catch? Risking my own head to help him free his good-for-nothing BFF from the very slayers who taught me everything.

If I want Ripley back, I’m going to have to play nice with the thing that ruined my life. And the worst part? I think he’s enjoying this.

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

Anyone who has followed my reviews of vampire fiction on this blog can probably tell you that I am VERY particular about the genre, and that in many cases I have a really hard time getting into straight up human/vampire romance. THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS (love Spike and Buffy, I’ve really enjoyed the “My Roommate Is A Vampire” series by Jenna Levine), but overall it’s just not something I like. But when I was sent the description of “The Ground That Devours Us” by Kalla Harris, even though I knew it had romantic elements, I ALSO saw that it was a dystopia. And man I love dystopia. So I threw caution to the wind, hoping that the dystopic angles would outweigh the romantic ones.

This book gave me a mix of general dystopia, the book “The Coldest Girl in Cold Town” by Holly Black, the book/movie “Warm Bodies”, and some sprinkles of various CW vampire shows whether it’s “Buffy” or “The Vampire Diaries” (which was a direct influence according to Harris), and as a whole I found it very enjoyable and to be a well done mish mash. I liked the world that Harris built, with non-vampire survivors training and preparing to try and overtake the bloodsucker threat, while vampires are getting their own stuff in order, bringing more humans into the fold and turning them into vampires. And like with any dystopian stories worth their weight, we have a well established societal system, with our humans in one well guarded sanctuary compound, and our vampires (some sentient, some almost like zombies called ‘bloodwalkers’) outside the walls and living in their own society. I really enjoyed the vampires mythos, with there being more traditional vampires and the zombie-esque ones, and I liked the way that Harris slowly unveils the way that Vaille works, for better or for worse.

I also was a pretty big fan of our cast of characters, finding them all pretty well rounded and fleshed out. Our protagonist is Ruby, and she and her sister Ripley live in the compound Vaille and are training to be vampire slayers under the eye of Barnett, the head of their community. So when Ripley is turned into a vampire by notorious vampire X, Ruby wants to get her sister back because Vaille may be on the verge of a cure. It’s good hook, and Ruby is both an interesting and confounding protagonist, but confounding in a good way. She’s stubborn, bitter, and always on guard and ready to lash out at X, but when she teams up with him in hopes of getting Ripley back on her side, we really start to see her character growth. Especially as her worldview starts to be challenged the community she has put so much faith and devotion into starts to be revealed as not what she thinks. I was surprised by how well done this exploration of clannishness and blind devotion after being flooded with propaganda, and how Ripley has to start deconstructing what she thinks is true about her life in Vaille and being so tied to Barnett. It’s a pretty heavy theme, and Harris clearly trusts her reader to be able to parse out the nuance.

And okay, I probably have to talk about the romance, which was the element that I was the most nervous about. As mentioned above, I am really picky about my vampire romance. But I ended up really enjoying the relationship between Ruby and X. It wasn’t instalove, which is always a plus (and how could it be? He turned her sister into a vampire!), but it was done in a way that actually felt believable, going slowly enough that she could work through her anger, so he could help her understand his position, and so they could connect at a steady and acceptable pace (and there are some mitigating factors, too, but I won’t go into it here). X is a fun foil to Ruby, and I was definitely harkening back to some of the snide banter between Buffy and Spike in earlier seasons of “BTVS”.

I am such a predictable sucker for that kind of thing, take me back to swooning on the phone with my cousin after an episode of especially good Spike and Buffy banter! (source)

So overall, “The Ground That Devours Us” is a unique vampire dystopia tale that I found to be incredibly engaging. If Harris wanted to write more stories in this universe, I would read them for sure.

Rating 8: A unique and entertaining vampire dystopia that goes into some existential meditations on clannishness, blind allegiances, and propaganda. Oh, and vampire romance, too, and it didn’t make me want to pull my hair out.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Ground That Devours Us” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Novels of 2025”.

Serena’s Review: “The Palace of Illusions”

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Book: “The Palace of Illusions” by Rowenna Miller

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: In the run up to the 1900s World’s Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers’ moving pictures and Loie Fuller’s serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather’s mechanical creations, and she’d rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world’s fair.
 
When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather’s toys was real. 
 
As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There’s no ignoring the danger she’s in, but Clara doesn’t know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.

Review: Not only have I enjoyed many of Rowenna Miller’s books in the past, but I’ve long been on the look out for a good re-imagining of “The Nutcrakcer.” And while this one wasn’t perfect, it is by far the best version of this story I’ve read so far!

As always, Miller’s style of writing is excellent. In this book in particular, her prose stood out most in the descriptions of not only the magical version of Paris, but also the real world itself. For the latter, she does incredible work of grounding the story in the specifics of the time and place, noting architectural details of Paris and many of the unique aspects of the city at this time. On the other hand, she does an incredible job with the creation of the fantasy world that mirrors this Paris. It’s easy to understand Clara’s almost inescapable draw to this place, especially given her focus on creation and invention, two themes that are heavily explored in this book.

I also really enjoyed the complicated nature of Clara’s relationship with her godfather. It wasn’t the primary focus of the story, but I think there were some really nice subtle points made about the strength of adult/child relationships and the ways they can be strained as life progresses. The other main relationship in the book was the romance, which, again, wasn’t a huge part of the story but was still quite sweet. It had a nice slow burn arc and it wrapped up nicely in the end.

I did struggle with Clara at times. She’s clearly presented as a very intelligent character, and while it’s understandable that she would be drawn into this magical world, there were several moments where she made incredibly silly decisions. In these moments, she read more like a teen character than the adult woman she was meant to be.

I also think the pacing was a bit hit and miss. The story starts out fast enough, with the introduction of the fairytale elements being introduced quite early on. But as the story continues, the pacing really started to drag towards the middle. Readers’ enjoyment of this section will really come down to how much they enjoy the lyrical style of writing and the many scenes that are more focused on the whimsical parts of this world.

I definitely think this is one to check out if you’re especially interested in “The Nutcracker,” and it will also likely appeal to fantasy fans who also enjoy historical fiction. As I am both of these, I largely enjoyed this read! It is on the slower side, however, so readers focused on fast-paced reads may struggle with it.

Rating 8: A lovely re-imagining of the classic “Nutcracker” tale!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Palace of Illusions” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Nutcracker Retellings and Edwardian Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Never Flinch”

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Book: “Never Flinch” by Stephen King

Publishing Info: Scribner, May 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.

Review: I am always so happy whenever Stephen King has a new book coming out. I’m happy he’s still writing, I’m happy he’s still consistent with his novel release timelines (usually about once a year), and I’m happy that he is still giving attention and voice to Holly Gibney, his somewhat quirky but incredibly competent private detective. I pre-ordered “Never Flinch”, his newest Holly thriller, and devoured it pretty quickly. Little did I know as I was reading it how tragically relevant some parts of it would feel her in Minnesota.

I’m always happy to see Holly Gibney at the forefront of one of King’s books, and I know that can be a polarizing stance to take. But she has grown and changed so much as a character while also retaining the things that make her what I would expect from her as a character, and in “Never Flinch” we see her back in action. This time she is in a dual role of unofficial consultant to her detective friend Izzy as a serial killer terrorizes Buckeye City, but also as a bodyguard for a polarizing feminist speaker/activist named Kate McKay as she goes on a tour with a violent stalker hot on her trail. It’s quite the caseload for Holly, but it never feels like it’s too much, and King devotes a solid amount of time to both stories, as well as a few seemingly side stories and perspectives that he weaves together with ease. I was a bit shocked at how much he was taking on in this book, because it is a LOT, but he manages, and barely skips a beat.

Holly remains a delight, her ‘quirks’ (aka neurodivergence) still feeling highly relatable and not cartoonish, and he has really fine tuned her personality and thought process. She’s a detective I love following, and I love seeing her interact with her friends, as well as with more adversarial people, whether it’s potential suspects, or even Kate, who is pretty aggravating but also pretty admirable (I really liked the King wanted to make her as complicated as she was; she is absolutely correct and I totally agree with her on so many things, but she is also SO condescending and kind of an asshole, which also makes sense for how she has to steel herself against constant threats and danger). Honestly, most of the characters felt realized. I especially enjoyed the dynamic between Izzy and Holly, as well as the reappearances of Jerome and Barbara Robinson.

That segues well into a couple of stumbles, which I will need to spoil a bit to talk about it, but hopefully not too much. The first is that we got a bit of a repetitive streak with Barbara, in two different ways. The first is that she has once again started to form a friendship with an influential older woman who connects with her on an artistic level, and the other is that she is once again put into danger that Holly has to foil. I didn’t really mind it, really, but I did think that this poor girl has just terrible luck, just awful. The other thing I had, which I will also have to be vague about, was the way one of the antagonists was portrayed when it comes to their motivations. I think that it was treading a little close to some ablism when portraying mental illness, but I don’t think it actually crossed the line. It just got close.

But I do love that King has no qualms wading into political discourse again. Last time he was definitely tearing down the way that COVID was politicized and downplayed in this country when people were dying, and this time he is addressing domestic far right terrorism associated with supposed ‘pro-life’ extremists and the organizations that fund them. With the Kate McKay storyline we also follow a religious zealot who is stalking her and hoping to kill her because of her stance on abortion, and King not only calls out the fanaticism of far right Evangelicals, but also that of the organizations that encourage such violence from their followers whilst shielding themselves and their money from any kind of responsibility. This is an especially sore spot for me right now, as here in Minnesota we just experienced the assassination of State Rep Melissa Hortman (as well as her husband Mark and her dog Gilbert) and the attempted assassination of State Senator John Hoffman (he was shot nine times, his wife Yvette was shot eight, though they are both expected to make a full recovery), who were on a target list that also had the names of abortion providers and activists as well as other lawmakers who had pro-choice stances. These murders happened not too far from where I live, and it has shaken me and filled with with grief and anger. King clearly wanted to make the point that this kind of violent ideology is still a threat, even devoting part of his author’s note to it, and that horrific fact was made all the more clear just this past weekend in my home state, a couple weeks after I had finished the book.

So sure, “Never Flinch” had some plot points we’ve seen before, and sometimes repetitive scenarios, and maybe a bit of a clunky depiction in one of the antagonists. But an underlying point King wanted to make was emphasized in my home state this weekend, which goes to show the man is on to something, and knows how to harness it in a way that makes for a gripping thriller that is also deeply unnerving. And I can’t ever be mad at Holly Gibney.

Rating 8: What can I say? I just love Holly Gibney and I love Stephen King, and “Never Flinch” was entertaining, even with some repetitive plot points we’ve seen before. But it is also far too relevant sadly.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Never Flinch” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2025“.

Kate’s Review: “Lady Or The Tiger”

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Book: “Lady Or The Tiger” by Heather M. Hermann

Publishing Info: Nancy Paulson Books, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: A twisty, darkly seductive murder mystery, starring a teenage killer whose trial in the Wild West is upended when her first victim, her husband, arrives alive with a story to tell.

When nineteen-year-old Belle King turns herself in for murder, the last thing she expects to see is her abusive husband standing outside her Dodge City jail cell. He was the first man she ever meant to kill (but certainly not the last!). Somehow, though, her husband is there, hale and hearty, and very much not dead. With his arrival her plans in jail are jeopardized, and she’ll be forced to resort to all the tricks in her arsenal to prevent him from ever being in control of her again. But as a girl in the 1880s Wild West, the last thing anyone will believe is a woman—even when she confesses to her own crimes.

This story—of how Alice Springer, a mountain girl from Kentucky, became the infamous Belle King, of how she found the tiger in her heart, becoming the wickedest woman in the Wild West—is a love story that cuts through time and patriarchal ties.

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

As a rule, I don’t usually like the Western genre. I have a few exceptions, of course, but that is usually when the conventions of the genre are flipped on their head. I’ve encountered this in books like “Lone Women” by Victor LaValle and “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones, and it has happend once again with the new YA Western “Lady Or The Tiger” by Heather M. Hermann. When I read the description of this book I knew that I really needed to check it out, and I am so glad I did.

We are following the story of Belle King, previously known as Alice Springer, as she becomes a sought out desperado in the Wild West, murdering men and living life on her own terms. We meet her as she has been arrested, and learn about how she became the fearsome villainess through flashbacks and jumping around timelines, showing how she became the hardened woman we meet at the start. Hermann takes her time unwinding this complicated, bleak, and at times absolutely maddening story, revealing the cost of being a woman during this time in a place that was almost wholly lawless, while also contrasting how it was STILL dangerous for women even if they were doing everything ‘right’. We follow Belle go from being orphaned, to being institutionalized, to being forced into the role of child bride, and then get to see her find her freedom, even if maintaining it means committing murder. This is not a romanticized Western by any means, and I loved how frank and brutal it was, with so many moments of tension just twisting up as I was reading it. We see violent misogyny, we see racism, we see classism and colonialism, and the realities of this time and place is on display in all of its nastiness. I was a bit shocked that this book is YA, but I like that Hermann trusts her readers to be able to understand it and take it on.

I also really liked our main character, Alice/Belle, because I absolutely LOVE seeing a morally grey female protagonist. It isn’t too often that women in fiction are afforded the opportunity to be unlikable, difficult, and sometimes unapologetically cruel, but Alice/Belle does a lot of really morally questionable things and I still found myself rooting for her. Hermann takes great care to give her a backstory without making her sappy or cloying, while also making her choices, both gook and bad, completely believable and in general easy to understand. Even in the times that I was taken aback by some of the things she did, her actions always fell in line with what I expected, and her circumstances were such that I never really questioned it. It’s so often in the Western genre that we get morally grey men to follow, so seeing a woman, when women are mostly sidelined or made passive in Westerns, take on the role of the desperado while also making it unapologetically feminist, was deeply, deeply satisfying.

“Lady Or The Tiger” is a relentless and angry battle cry of feminine rage. I am absolutely going to check out whatever Heather M. Hermann takes on next, because this was a stellar take on a genre I don’t usually enjoy.

Rating 8: Gritty, unapologetic, and brutal in all the right way, “Lady Or The Tiger” is a Western filled with feminine rage and proud defiance.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lady Or The Tiger” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 YA Historical Fiction”.

Serena’s Review: “The God and the Gwisin”

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

Book: “The God and the Gwisin” by Sophie Kim

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen is looking for his love. Since he lost Hani and was reinstated as a god, nothing has felt right – and he’s been desperately searching for her reincarnated form ever since.

But when the red thread of fate leads Seokga to a cruise down the river of the dead, the woman he finds isn’t Hani . . . she’s Yoo Kisa, and she has no memory of him whatsoever – with seemingly no interest in regaining it either.

But when the Heavenly Emperor of Okhwang is murdered, Seokga and Kisa must solve the crime before the cruise ends. And as the mystery draws them closer, they will have to decide what they truly mean to each other.

There’s something bigger at play aboard the ship, something that holds the key to their fated connection – and the very fate of the world.

Previously Reviewed: “The God and the Gumiho”

Review: I mostly enjoyed “The God and the Gumiho” when I read it last year. Yes, I felt it was aggressively quirky at times, but even without connecting fully to the characters, the story was fast and engaging. It also ended in a unique way, with the author making a rather brave choice with her couple. That being the case, I wanted to see where she’d take the story from there! And I’m glad I checked it out, as I enjoyed this one more than the first.

As I mentioned in my review of the first books, one of my major struggling points came down to connecting to the the main characters. Here, however, both characters have changed in big ways. In the case of our FMC, she’s literally a different person now, having died and been reincarnated (then died again and is now a ghost in this book). This was all for the better for me, as I much preferred this more reserved, scholarly style character that we follow here. Kisa finds herself in a truly bizarre situation, learning she is the reincarnation of a woman that was the soulmate of a fallen god. I also enjoyed Seokga more in this book. His is a quieter but more determined journey in this story, with less of what I felt was fairly stilted “grumpiness” from the first book.

I also enjoyed the cast of characters for the most part. Yes, there were times where some of the humor still didn’t quite land for me. But at this point, I think that’s purely a “me thing” where this just isn’t quite my style of comedy, as I know it works for a lot of other readers. Granted, I know that in general I’m fairly picky about what comedy I enjoy.

I struggled the most with the mystery element of the story. I read a lot of mysteries, however, so to me, the culprit was incredibly obvious from the very start of this portion of the story. That said, it wasn’t poorly paced or anything, and even guessing the ultimate reveal early, I still was able to enjoy the story being told.

I also enjoyed the love story itself. I feel like there were a lot of potential pitfalls in trying to write a romance between characters in this situation (Is Kisa the same person as Hani? Is she “obligated” to feel the same way about Seokga? How much of her feelings are then her own?). But the book does a good job exploring the philosophy behind it all (again, this is an aspect of the story where the change in personality from Hani to Kisa really improved things for me!). There was also a refreshingly restrained hand at the “angst wheel” which prevented the book from falling into any pits of melodrama.

Overall, I thought this was a very fun sequel. In many ways, it surpassed my expectations and I definitely enjoyed it more than the first. That said, fans of the first book I’m sure will gobble this one up too!

Rating 8: With a new take on its main characters, this sequel improved on the first and was a fun read all around!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The God and the Gwisin” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy/Sci-fi/Speculative Releases by BIPOC Authors

Kate’s Review: “Bald-Faced Liar”

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

Book: “Bald-Faced Liar” by Victoria Helen Stone

Publishing Info: Lake Union Publishing, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Living a lie becomes a matter of life and death for a woman hiding from her past in a novel of mounting psychological suspense by the bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.

Traveling nurse Elizabeth May has a promising new home in Santa Cruz. And another new identity. It’s a pattern of reinvention for a woman escaping her traumatic childhood—and hiding from the decades of notoriety and destruction that followed. Invisibility has kept Elizabeth safe. Until now. After all these years, someone sees her for who she is.

Threat by threat, a vengeful stalker is dismantling Elizabeth’s carefully constructed lifetime of lies. And no one in her temporary circle can be trusted—not her fleeting new love interest, not the supportive friend she knows only from online forums, and certainly not the police. They’ve never been there for her.

As fear sharpens to terror, Elizabeth soon discovers something about her past that even she didn’t know. The revelation could finally set her on a path of healing and redemption. Or, now alone in the dark, it could be Elizabeth’s worst nightmare.

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

Perhaps, if you have been following our blog for awhile now, you will see that I have picked up a thriller with a pretty significant Satanic Panic theme, and are now asking yourself ‘hey, doesn’t Kate get absolutely incandescent with rage when it comes to this topic?’ And you would be correct. The Satanic Panic really gets me steamed, so much so that I have been known to skip episodes of favorite podcasts if they are focusing on it. FAVORITE PODCASTS, GUYS. But when I was sent information about “Bald-Faced Liar” by Victoria Helen Stone, even though it was Satanic Panic themed, I had a feeling that I really wanted to give it a chance. The description of a traveling nurse named Elizabeth being stalked, possibly due to her long ago involvement in a false accusation of Satanism at her daycare, just tantalized me. I had to give it a go, even if it was going to set me off. And I’m happy to say that not only did it NOT set me off, I also really liked this book!

The mystery at hand about who is stalking Elizabeth is well crafted and well executed. Triggering for me or not, using The Satanic Panic as a backdrop means that there could be PLENTY of people with motives to get revenge on Elizabeth, and Stone has so many threads here that she pulls together. The clues are there but not too easily deciphered, and Stone takes her time to lay them out and build the suspense of Elizabeth’s past as well as the stalking incidents that start to plague her. I also liked the slow burn mystery of Elizabeth’s history of being a five year old ‘witness’ to Satanic Panic charges that she was coached to say, with a timeline being put forth in a measured way that filled me with frustration but NOT with blinding rage as I have experienced with other Satanic Panic themed thrillers. Some reveals I kind of predicted, but for the most part I was pretty well surprised, and was VERY surprised by an element of the climax that I don’t want to spoil here. But I will say that it went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting, and it added a new level of stakes, AND some genuine humor that didn’t feel out of place even though things were a bit, shall we say, hectic.

I also really liked our protagonist Elizabeth. I am always cagey when I read thrillers with hot mess female protagonists, but Elizabeth doesn’t really fall into any well worn traps or tropes of the genre. She has her problems, but her background with the Satanic Panic and the trauma involved with being a false whistleblower was unique enough made her very sympathetic and her actions completely believable. I also really appreciated the grace that was given to Elizabeth by other characters in spite of her notoriety, because at the end of the day she was a child when she did those monumental and damaging things. I’ve seen other Satanic Panic based stories that try to demonize this kind of character, but Stone makes it VERY clear that no, a five year old being manipulated and coerced by adults around her for their OWN motives should not be held accountable for her actions. I was rooting for her basically from the jump. Honestly, I thought that all of the characters were fun! Be it librarian Violet, who wants to help Elizabeth in any way she can, to landlord Grigore, who is a bit shady but who has a soft spot for Elizabeth, I thought that our cast was stellar.

I really enjoyed “Bald-Faced Liar”. The twists were good, the characters were enjoyable, and I think it will make a great read for thriller fans this summer!

Rating 8: A taut and suspenseful thriller about lies, trauma, and running from all of it, “Bald-Faced Liar” kept me on the edge of my seat.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bald-Faced Liar” isn’t included on any super specific Goodreads lists as of yet, but similar titles include Clay McLeod Chapman’s “Whisper Down the Lane” and Gillian Flynn’s “Dark Places”.

Kate’s Review: “Now She’s Dead”

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

Book: “Now She’s Dead” by Roselyn Clarke

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, June 2025

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: Last summer, Sara Ellis was found dead by the lake, and only Mandy knows what really happened. This summer, she’s desperate to keep it a secret.

For a few weeks every summer, Sara was Mandy’s best friend. At Highmark, the lake resort where their families vacationed, the two were in a world of their own. Or at least Mandy got to be part of Sara’s world.

But now Sara’s dead. The police ruled her death an accident; a tragic mistake after a night of impaired judgment. For the past year, Mandy’s coped by escaping: leaving home and barely keeping it together at school. The last thing she wants to do is return to Highmark this summer—even if she does need “closure.” As soon as she’s back, though, she hears the whispers: someone killed Sara Ellis. And if she’s not careful, they’ll figure out it’s all her fault.

As evidence resurfaces and anonymous accusations are scrawled in angry red spray paint, Mandy must confront the truths she’s been avoiding about last summer. Because someone wants to make her pay for what happened to Sara that night.

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

Summer is basically here, and while it’s probably my least favorite of the seasons (it’s just so hot), I do really enjoy the vibes and ambiance of sitting by the pool with my book. It’s especially fun if the book is engaging, a little soapy, and filled with lots of drama, shocks, and surprises. Admittedly, I have a pretty picky standard when it comes to books like these, and if it even so much as VAGUELY drifts into no no territory (like last minute twists that don’t feel earned), I will feel sour about it, poolside or not. But I have great news! “Now She’s Dead” by Roselyn Clark is the kind of book that not only would make great poolside reading for the season, it also managed, for me, to not fall into any pitfalls I associate with the genre!

The structure of this thriller mystery is fairly straight forward. Our protagonist is Mandy, a teenage girl who is returning to the lakeside resort where her summer best friend Sara died in an assumed accident the previous year. Mandy off the bat has a lot of guilt, and since it’s first person POV she tells the reader that it is her fault that Sara is dead, and we get a story told through the present summer as a true crime content creator has started sniffing around the resort, and through flashbacks to the days leading up to Sara’s death. It’s a great device, and it’s the perfect kind to have an unreliable narrator drive the story as the audience has to piece together what really happened. When done well this is quite possibly a favorite structure of mine when it comes to thrillers, and Clarke manages to make it flow easily. It has a nice slight of hand, and while I was pretty convinced that Mandy didn’t have all the information and was probably missing something (and side note, her dialog DID sometimes veer to bashing the reader of the head with all the ‘BUT I KILLED HER’ quips), I was still curious to see how it was all going to unravel to what actually happened, and I was surprised a good deal of the time! The clues are there, but the sleight of hand keeps them hidden until Clarke is ready to reveal them for the most part.

And what really kept me going in this book was how it portrays a very complicated, close, but somewhat unbalanced friendship between two teenage girls. You can tell that Mandy and Sara see themselves as incredibly close, but that their closeness and their friendship is in many ways unhealthy, with resentment, jealousy, and insecurities nagging at them both during the lead up to Sara’s death. It’s a bit soapy as Mandy and Sara keep aggravating and baiting each other as disaster looms on the horizon, but what I really appreciated is that while it could solely have been a motive, it’s actually a rather emotional examination of this kind of toxic friendship between teenage girls that may hit close to home for some readers, be they the intended YA audience or not. I know that I can think of at least one close, but at times unhealthy, friendship I had when I was in high school, with my role being VERY similar to Mandy’s in the friendship of the sidekick who is overshadowed and resentful, but also unable to process my own contributions to the toxicity. It felt real and honest, even if most of us in these shoes weren’t dealing with a murder mystery we may or may not have been involved with. Minor details!

“Now She’s Dead” is a sudsy and twisty thriller that should definitely join you on your summer adventures. It’s a fun ride and I really enjoyed it.

Rating 8: A fast paced and well crafted thriller, absolutely perfect for summer reading season!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Now She’s Dead” is included on the Goodreads lists “2025 YA Thrillers and Mysteries”, and “Bisexual Books of 2025”.

Serena’s Review: “A Letter from the Lonesome Shore”

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Book: “A Letter from the Lonesome Shore” by Sylvie Cathrall

Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: Former correspondents E. and Henerey, accustomed to loving each other from afar, did not anticipate continuing their courtship in an enigmatic underwater city. When their journey through the Structure in E.’s garden strands them in a peculiar society preoccupied with the pleasures and perils of knowledge, E. and Henerey come to accept – and, more surprisingly still, embrace – the fact that they may never return home.

A year and a half later, Sophy and Vyerin finally discover one of the elusive Entries that will help them seek their siblings. As the group’s efforts bring them closer to E. and Henerey, an ancient, cosmic threat also draws near. . .

Previously Reviewed: “A Letter to the Luminous Deep”

Review: While I didn’t end up enjoying this one quite as much as the first, I’ll say at the start that, all things considered, this is a wildly creative and beautiful duology! It’s especially successful in its depictions of anxiety and mental health, as well as its use of “historical” or “academic” language.

This book picks up pretty much right where the previous one left off. But unlike the first one, which slowly built to its action, this one came in hot right from the start! Immediately, we begin uncovering so many new layers of history and magic that make up this world. Like E. and Henerey, the reader is left trying to piece together what exactly is going on, always just on the cusp of understanding, without being able to put the entire puzzle together until the end of the book. I had a few theories here and there, but not only was I wildly off base most of the time, but I never even got close to guessing how things would finally wrap up!

I also continued to greatly enjoy all four of the main characters. As I referenced above, this book stands out for its incredible representation of mental health and struggles with anxiety. E.’s journey is one of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and coming into her own, compete with her unique strengths! Her struggles were never hand-waved away, but they also didn’t define her. And E. herself had much to say when others began seeing her only through this lens. It was honestly refreshing. I feel like I’ve read a number of books that have attempted to tackle mental health, chronic pain, or similar struggles. But too often authors seem to create characters whose only personality or sense of self is completely wrapped up in this one aspect of themselves. E. acknowledges and explains her own limitations, but we also see her continue to push her own boundaries, always trying to find new ways to follow her passions and dreams.

I also really enjoyed the continued romance between E. and Henerey. This is the kind of cozy fantasy that I enjoy. It’s soft, quiet, and respectful. But it also wasn’t dull, without exhaustive details about mundane everyday events. Theirs is an untraditional love story, but it was all the more beautiful for it!

I also continued to love the writing style of this book! As a lover of historical fiction, I’m always drawn to this sort of verbose style, full of long, complicated sentences and large vocabularies. I also think the use of the epistolary style works really well. The action is definitely on the slow side, but by telling the story in this format, the author was able to set out little clues that the reader would have to then wait to put together as more information was slowly doled out via various other letters or journal entries.

I will say, however, that this book didn’t quite reach the highs of the first book. I enjoyed all the reveals about the greater reality of these characters’ world and histories, but because this information didn’t come until the very end, the reader has to live with a lot of questions for the majority of the story. The pacing was also a bit too slow towards the middle of the book. I was invested enough in the characters and the writing itself to be carried through this lull fairly easily, but it was a notable difference between this one and the first, which was so tightly paced.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel! So many mysteries were explored and revealed, and the duology concluded in a way that I truly could never have predicted. If you enjoyed the first book, definitely give this one a go! And if you’re a fan of cozy fantasy and enjoy a historical-feeling writing style, this is definitely the duology for you!

Rating 8: Pure whimsy and lyricism, with a lovely understated love story at its heart!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Letter from a Lonesome Shore” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and Regency Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “The Manor of Dreams”

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Book: “The Manor of Dreams” by Christina Li

Publishing Info: Avid Reader Press, May 2025

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

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

Book Description: Mexican Gothic meets Everything I Never Told You in Christina Li’s haunting novel about the secrets that lie in wait in the crumbling mansion of a former Hollywood starlet, and the intertwined fates of the two Chinese American families fighting to inherit it.

They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But silence can be deadly.

Vivian Yin is dead. The first Chinese actress to win an Oscar, the trailblazing ingénue rose to fame in the eighties, only to disappear from the spotlight at the height of her career and live out the rest of her life as a recluse.

Now her remaining family members are gathered for the reading of her will and her daughters expect to inherit their childhood Vivian’s grand, sprawling Southern California garden estate. But due to a last-minute change to the will, the house is passed on to another family instead—one that has suddenly returned after decades of estrangement.

In hopes of staking their claim, both families move into the mansion. Amidst the grief and paranoia of the families’ unhappy reunion, Vivian’s daughters race to piece together what happened in the last weeks of their mother’s life, only to realize they are being haunted by something much more sinister and vengeful than their regrets. After so many years of silence, will the families finally confront the painful truth about the last fateful summer they spent in the house, or will they cling to their secrets until it’s too late?

Told in dual timelines, spanning three generations, and brimming with romance, betrayal, ambition and sacrifice, The Manor of Dreams is a thrilling family gothic that examines the true cost of the American dream—and what happens when the roots we set down in this country turn to rot.

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

Haunted house stories are one of my favorite sub-genres of horror fiction, and I don’t think that I will ever get sick of the trope of a family moving into a new home, unaware of the horrors that await. And we’ve been getting a few books like this as of late, with “The Manor of Dreams” by Christina Li being one of the more recent ones. And when I was reading about this one, it was pretty clear to me that not only were we going to get a haunted house story, but also a family saga with some shades of dysfunction and the racist undertones of American society. Which meant that I was even more on board to read it.

As a haunted house story, “The Manor of Dreams” is solid and effective. There is a slow build of dread as two families, Elaine and her daughter Nora, and Lucille, her sister Rennie, and daughter Madeline, start a legal fight over the inheritance of an estate that had been in Lucille’s family for years, but ended up being left for Elaine by the owner, actress Vivian Yin. Elaine’s parents had worked for Vivian and her husband Richard, and Elaine harbors enough resentment that she wants to keep the house, while Lucille is furious. But as both families decide to camp there while it all gets sorted, Nora and Madeline, and Rennie too, start seeing things, and realizing something is VERY wrong in the house. From weird images, to shadowy figures, to a very, shall we say, ACTIVE garden, the haunted house trope is alive and well in this book, with a rot seeping not only into the house, but into the women who are fighting over it. We start to learn the various tragedies and moments that may be contributing to the haunting, with a sad and devastating history of the house playing a role, but also with reveals that are well hidden and pulled off as the story goes on.

I also really connected with the ways that Li weaves in themes of racism, identity, and generational trauma into this haunted house story, making it about so many different things that can haunt a person. In the past storyline, we have Vivian, whose fame is growing as she establishes herself as a serious actress on the arm of her actor/producer husband Richard, making a splash as the first Chinese American actress to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but then finding the roles drying up due to a lack of interest in non-white actresses (amongst other things). We also have tensions relating to Vivian’s identity in regards to the history of the house itself, with Richard’s family estate having ties to the Chinese Railroad workers, as his ancestor was a magnate who had no qualms taking advantage of workers who were being exploited in dangerous conditions and cast aside. Add in the tension as Vivian’s marriage starts to deteriorate, and the complexity of Vivian oozes off the page. And in the present day we have Lucille and Rennie, who have darker memories of their childhood in the home and the terrible losses they endured, and the complicated relationship they both had with their mother, and how that informs both of them and their motivations. Which in turn passes down to Lucille’s relationship with her own daughter Madeline. And THEN we have Nora and her mother Elaine, with Elaine having her OWN motivations as the daughter of former staff to Vivian and Richard, and bitterness towards the family that lived there throughout the years. It adds layers to the supernatural haunting angle, and I truly enjoyed how well Li pulled out the family dysfunction along with the haunting itself.

Overall, “The Manor of Dreams” is a creepy and poignant horror story that touches upon family dysfunction and identity with a deft hand. If you like haunted house novels, definitely check this one out.

Rating 8: A suspenseful, creepy, and very poignant story about family secrets, generational trauma, and how bitterness can wreak havoc on the living and the dead.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Manor of Dreams” is included on the Goodreads lists “Horror To Look Forward To in 2025”, and “Queer Releases May 2025”.

Kate’s Review: “Julie Chan Is Dead”

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Book: “Julie Chan Is Dead” by Liann Zhang

Publishing Info: Atria Books, April 2025

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

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

Book Description: In this razor-sharp, diabolical debut thriller, a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.

Review: Thank you to Atria for sending me an eARC of this book via NetGalley.

Summer is right around the corner, and that means that lots of readers are probably looking for some perfect books for vacations, for poolside, for early evenings on the deck. I love having sudsy and fast paced thrillers for times like those, and I have a recommendation (though Serena and I will have more in June with our annual Beach Reads post!). “Julie Chan Is Dead” has a catchy title, an intriguing premise, and sounds like a “Parent Trap” story from Hell, with a woman named Julie being reunited with her long lost twin Chloe, who is a famous influencer… and then ends up usurping Chloe’s identity down the line after she finds her dead. Sounds sudsy! But it’s also whip smart and a sharp social satire as well as a crazy twisty thriller.

So there are two mysteries at play in this thriller: the first is whether Julie is going to pull off her identity switch after taking over Chloe’s life, and if she can seamlessly transition her behaviors, mannerisms, and full self into that of her beloved and powerful twin sister. The second is the mystery of what actually happened to Chloe. The latter takes a bit of a back seat, at least until later in the story, and it’s more about Julie trying to keep her identity swap secret so she can indulge in the life that Chloe had without being caught as a fraud. Julie isn’t exactly a GOOD person, but as a reader I fully understood why she made the decisions she did, having grown up in rotten circumstances after her parents horrible deaths while also being separated from her twin, who was adopted into a new wealthy family and leading a seemingly charmed life. I held my breath when Julie would be faced with the threat of her cover being blown, and I was very curious to see how far she would go to maintain her new life. To make matters more suspenseful, we get some hints that Chloe’s circle of influencer friends, whom have invited Julie on an exclusive retreat with them, may be hiding things as well, and the weird sinister vibes slowly build up as the story goes on.

But the most effective theme of this book was how Zhang takes on and satirizes influencer culture and the privilege/conspicuous leisure that comes with it, as well as pointing out the racism that can also come with it. I don’t really follow any influencers of this kind in real life (mostly political ones, as well as a guy who cleans and repairs/treats cow hooves?), but the idea of being a picture perfect vision of aspiration for an audience of millions (and to encourage them to consume consume consume!) is SO fascinating, and I always love a deconstruction and satire of the harmful aspects of the whole concept. Julie finds herself one of the only non-white women in a tight and popular circle of influencer friends, not only trying to perform as Chloe to keep up her ruse, but also to perform in a way that would be appealing to white audiences, and to perform for her new ‘friends’ and colleagues, especially when she finds herself on a retreat on a private island surrounded by them with no exit.

And here is the thing that really shocked me about this book: we got a bit of a CRAZY swerve in terms of plot and reveals… and I didn’t hate it! Normally when a thriller has a huge game changing moment that feels totally out of the blue I will be a bit put off. It really takes a talent and an engaging storyteller to pull it off, and Zhang really pulls it off here. I think what also helped was that a big part of this twist (I am not going to spoil it here) was left somewhat ambiguous, with room for the reader to question what exactly HAD happened, as opposed to completely shifting things definitively and too abruptly.

“Julie Chan Is Dead” is a well done thriller that kept me hooked. PERFECT poolside reading for the summer!

Rating 8: A wild thriller that has a crazy swerve that actually worked for me, “Julie Chan Is Dead” is about privilege, race, influencer culture, and getting a luxurious life at any cost.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Julie Chan Is Dead” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 Mystery Thrillers True Crime”.