Tag: 9 Rating

Kate’s Review: “Vanishing Daughters”

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Book: “Vanishing Daughters” by Cynthia Pelayo

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, March 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 haunted woman stalked by a serial killer confronts the horrors of fairy tales and the nightmares of real life in a breathtaking novel of psychological suspense by a Bram Stoker Award–winning author.

It started the night journalist Briar Thorne’s mother died in their rambling old mansion on Chicago’s South Side.

The nightmares of a woman in white pleading to come home, music switched on in locked rooms, and the panicked fear of being swallowed by the dark…Bri has almost convinced herself that these stirrings of dread are simply manifestations of grief and not the beyond-world of ghostly impossibilities her mother believed in. And more tangible terrors still lurk outside the decaying Victorian greystone.

A serial killer has claimed the lives of fifty-one women in the Chicago area. When Bri starts researching the murders, she meets a stranger who tells her there’s more to her sleepless nights than bad dreams—they hold the key to putting ghosts to rest and stopping a killer. But the killer has caught on and is closing in, and if Bri doesn’t answer the call of the dead soon, she’ll be walking among them.

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

I have a very special place in my heart for the story of “Sleeping Beauty”. It was my favorite Disney movie as a toddler, and my parents say that I basically wore our VHS of the film out due to watching it over and over again. I also generally enjoy the fairy tale in so many of its forms, even if those forms can be pretty dark and disturbing (no surprise given fairy tales). With all of this in mind I was so, so very excited to read Cynthia Pelayo’s new horror/thriller book “Vanishing Daughters”, as she decided to approach the story of Sleeping Beauty through the lenses of local folklore, grief, the things that haunt a person and a community, and violent misogyny. Pelayo is one of my favorite authors and I was very curious to see what she was going to do with a fairy tale so near and dear to my heart.

Pelayo once again creates a dreamy and strange world that lives within Chicago, but treads into fantastical places while still feeling very much steeped in the Midwestern metropolis through history, folklore, urban legend, and real life terrors. We follow Briar Rose, a journalist who lives in her family home in the woods, located on the Southside of Chicago, who is mourning her mother’s recent death. Briar Rose has been dreaming strange and terrifying things, and the house she lives within feels haunted, both by something otherworldly, but also by the crushing grief of the loss of her mother. Meanwhile a serial killer has been murdering women in Chicago, leaving devastation behind but capturing their spirits to holding them within a trapped other world, and his connection to Briar Rose reflects a destiny that the journalist was unaware of, even though her free spirited mother was hinting at it in life. This dark fantasy retelling is so rich and layered, with creative analogs to the original fairy tale while also connecting folklore of Chicago and its darker histories that still linger in the minds of its citizens. I loved how ethereal and odd this felt, really bringing out the idea of sleep and dreaming and all the themes that come with a Sleeping Beauty story.

The horror and thriller elements of the serial killer mystery are also on point, not only tapping into very real themes like violent misogyny and victims memories being exploited, but also the tales of cruel fairies that curse bloodlines and steal people for their own devices. For our evil fairy analog we have someone/something that is part fantastical in how it functions in this story, but also just feels like a very real threat, as women in real life can go missing and be left without a voice or justice, becoming ideas and warnings instead of being seeing as living breathing humans. It’s both a critique of the way women victims are exploited by true crime narratives, but also an interesting exploration of how real life folk lore and cautionary tales are created from tragedies and how we forget that. I enjoyed the POV of the serial killer, as it was such a jolting distinction from Briar Rose’s chapters, and it made me uneasy and on edge. You throw in the dark past of Chicago and so many cultural references to this city and its history (another thing I love about Pelayo’s books: Chicago itself is a character, and given that I really enjoy Chicago it’s so fun to see how she represents it) and you have a strong time and place with a lot of well explored history lessons.

“Vanishing Daughters” is my favorite of Pelayo’s works. This book is compelling and beautiful and raw and emotional, and I highly recommend it. If you haven’t ready anything by Cynthia Pelayo, now is the time and this is the title.

Rating 9: Probably my favorite Pelayo story to date, “Vanishing Daughters” is strange and dreamlike, while also exploring themes of grief, folklore, and the very real people who turn into myth, for better or worse.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Vanishing Daughters” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror To Look Forward To in 2025”.

Book Club Review: “The Princess Bride”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again reading books that have had film/TV adaptations and then comparing the two mediums. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Books: “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman

Publishing Info: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, September 1973

Where Did I Get These Books: own it!

Where You Can Get These Books: WorldCat.org | Amazon| Indiebound

What We Watched: “The Princess Bride”

Book Descriptions: What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be…well…a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad’s recitation, and only the “good parts” reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He’s reconstructed the “Good Parts Version” to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What’s it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it’s about everything.

Kate’s Thoughts

Even though I’m solidly an older millennial, I didn’t see “The Princess Bride” until I was in middle school, and didn’t really grow up with it as a result. I know that’s perhaps a bit outside the norm for my age group (clock Serena’s experience below), but I enjoyed it enough for what it was. Because of that I was curious, a few years later, to read the actual book by William Goldman, and have distinct memories of reading it while on a family trip to a rental cabin in Wisconsin. When Serena picked it for our book club book I was interested to re-read it after all these years, as I felt like perhaps I’d have a new appreciation for it. And I was, in general, correct.

What I appreciated a bit more this time was the way that Goldman was kind of sending up sweeping fantasy romances, but it never really felt in a condescending way (at least to me; I know there were people in book club who REALLY didn’t care for his sections). Whether he’d ‘redact’ sections that went way too long focusing on decoration, or food, or he would cut out long and rambling other aspects of the story and the backstory of the world it was set within, it felt like a tongue and cheek chuckle at both sweeping fantasy as well as stuck up academics who try to find meaning in so much only to miss some of the points completely.

But that isn’t to say that the story itself of Buttercup and Wesley and their friends and foes is lesser in book form. I still found the story to be very fun, and I am sure that that is part due to the fact that Goldman himself adapted his book into the screenplay. I also really liked that we got the back stories for characters like Fezzik and Inigo, who definitely have memorable roles in the movie, but don’t have much exploration. As a person who always preferred the side characters to Buttercup and Wesley (blasphemy? Maybe! But damn did Inigo do SO MUCH MORE for fourteen year old Kate…), I enjoyed having the extra exposition.

Overall it was a fun revisit with a bit of a new perspective after all this time.

Serena’s Thoughts

Like many people, I watched and loved the movie before I realized there was a book. I mean, I first watched this when I was quite young, so even if I had known there was a book, it probably wasn’t at my reading level! But once I discovered it, you know I gobbled it right up! And have re-read it a few times since! However, it had been a few years since I went back to it, so after we decided to revisit this bookclub theme, I knew that I wanted to select this as my title. Bonus that the movie adaptation is so great as well!

All of this to say, I have probably very few novel things to say about either the book or the movie other than wild gushing. I do love them both. However, as became clear during our bookclub discussion, while telling the same story, the book and movie are very different things. I’d say that the movie is a fairytale romance first and foremost. However, the book is more focused on its comedy elements. This can be seen in the “story within a story” of “The Princess Bride” itself, as well with the framework and the “character” the author portrays himself as, going back and “adapting” this “classic” work. With those expectations in mind, I think each excels at its goals! The movie includes extra scenes focused on the romance, like the reunion between Wesley and Buttercup after falling down the ravine. And the book adds a lot of comedic content with the inclusion of features like the “Zoo of Death” and more intricate backstories for the side characters.

I do think the movie is probably more approachable to general audiences. The casting is truly perfect, and this version reduces the framing device of the “story within a story” to a few wholesome scenes between a grandfather and his grandson. But if you’re looking for a more detailed version of the story with a stronger focus on comedy (especially a lot of jabs at the publishing and entertainment business), definitely give the book a go!

Kate’s Rating 8 : It was a fun revisit to a high school read with a somewhat new set of eyes. It’s both a fun send up but a well done fairy tale romance as well.

Serena’s Rating 9: I love them both! A perfect example of a story being adapted in two different ways, but succeeding in both.

Book Club Questions

  1. This is a story within a story. how does this framing serve the story? Do you think the central conceit works? What do you make of Goldman as a character himself?
  2. The structure of the story uses a lot of parentheticals and asides. Do these work for you?
  3. The book calls itself a “classic tale of true love and high adventure.” Which aspects of each stood out to you, romance and adventure? Was one stronger than the other?
  4. Goldman also wrote the screenplay for the movie. In what ways did he adhere to or later the original story? Were there bits you would have chanted or included/not included?
  5. Mot of the characters are well established in people’s minds based on the movie versions. Did the movie stay true to the versions seen in the book? Were there any that were better in the books? Better in the movie? Did you have a favorite casting?

Reader’s Advisory

“The Princess Bride” is included on the Goodreads lists Best Books Ever and The Best Fairytales and Retellings.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer

Serena’s Review: “The Otherwhere Post”

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Book: “The Otherwhere Post” by Emily J. Taylor

Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, February 2025

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

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

Book Description: Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father’s crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible words: Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she’ll be trained in the art of scriptomancy—the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father’s past draws more attention than she’d planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she’s lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation—or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life.

Review: It’s been quite a while since I read Emily J. Taylor’s debut novel, “Hotel Magnifique,” but I do clearly remember liking it. So I was excited to see that she was releasing another YA fantasy novel! And I ended up liking this one even more than the first!

There are many things to praise, but I’ll start with the writing quality and the world-building first of all. Taylor writes in a clear, confident tone that easily draws readers into her fantastical world while also centering us around the characters and their own personal stakes. The serious nature of Maeve’s situation was clearly conveyed, while the transition towards more comedic or romantic moments was smooth and natural.

As for the worldbuilding, any time an author attempts to create a secondary fantasy world, there’s a risk of falling into info-dumping holes or unnatural dialogue used as exposition. Not so here. Instead, we are slowly introduced this world, its history, and its magical systems. The nature of the magic was incredibly interesting, and I enjoyed the way additional layers were papered upon the original concept as the story progressed. Beyond this, the history of this world is incredibly important to the story, and as Maeve is attempting to work through the mystery of her father’s life and death, she begins to uncover truths about her world as well. By the end, the magic system and the world itself have been built up by leaps and bounds from the foundations that the book starts with. And then, the bow on top, these are woven together for some great reveals in the very end.

Of course, none of this would work if Maeve herself hadn’t been an excellent character. From the start, her perspective and motives are clearly established, and as she works through the mysteries before her, she never loses sight of what is most important. Further, due to the secretive nature of her childhood, she’s incredibly distrustful, struggling to open up to others well past the point when others would feel secure. I appreciated that this aspect of her nature was so firmly established, even when it worked against Maeve’s own best interests.

I also really enjoyed the romantic subplot. There was a moment early in the book where I was concerned the book was going to go in one direction (I personally struggle a lot with books that hold on too long to secret identities), but luckily it jagged at the last minute. Even with certain secrets revealed, this was still a slowburn romance as these two slowly began to open up to one another with their own various secrets. They had excellent chemistry with each other throughout, however, which made all of their interactions a pleasure to read.

I ended up loving this book! There were several incredibly fresh fantasy elements included and, best of all, Maeve was written as a fully-fleshed out, complex YA heroine, something that I seem to have a harder and harder time finding recently. If you’re looking for a YA fantasy novel to restore your faith in the genre and that it’s still a good fit for you, than this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 9: Breathtaking in its creativity and incredible character work; I especially enjoyed the fantastic main character and the slowburn romance.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Otherwhere Post” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Novels of 2025 and 2025 YA Romantasy Releases.

Serena’s Review: “Upon a Starlit Tide”

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

Book: “Upon a Starlit Tide” by Kell Woods

Publishing Info: Tor Books, Feb. 2025

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

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

Book Description: For Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of one of Saint-Malo’s wealthiest ship-owners, the high walls of the city are more hindrance than haven. While her sisters are interested in securing advantageous marriages, Luce dreams of escaping her elegant but stifling home and joining a ship’s crew. Only Samuel—Luce’s best friend and an English smuggler—understands her longing for the sea, secretly teaching her to sail whenever she can sneak away. For Luce, the stolen time on the water with Samuel is precious.

One stormy morning, Luce’s plans are blown off course when she rescues Morgan de Chatelaine, the youngest son of the most powerful ship-owner in Saint-Malo, from the sea. Immediately drawn to his charm and sense of adventure, she longs to attend the glittering ball held in honor of his safe return and begins to contemplate a different kind of future for herself.

But it is not only Luce’s hopes at stake—the local fae are leaving Brittany and taking their magic with them, while the long-standing war with the English means Saint-Malo is always at risk of attack. As Luce is plunged into a world of magic, brutality, and seduction, secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface. The truth of her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.

Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.

Review: I didn’t love the first book I read by this author. I don’t often talk about transitions in my reviews, but “After the Woods” really highlighted how important a basic technique like this is to good storytelling. I often found myself confused by sudden shifts in focus and disjointed pacing. The characters were also fairly inconsistent. That said, between these struggle points, if you squinted, it was possible to see some true lyricism and style to the writing. With that being the case (and the fact that I’ve yet to come across a truly great re-telling of “The Little Mermaid”) I picked this one up with a hefty dose of wariness but also my usual hope. And wow, am I glad I did!

There are so many places to start with this one! But first and foremost, this is an excellent fairytale fantasy story. It perfectly captures the magical tone found in that sort of story, but also includes the necessary balance points of mild horror and, of course, swoon-worthy romance. I will say, this is rather loosely connected to “The Little Mermaid.” Other than the fact that she’s, you know, a mermaid, there’s not a whole lot of the original tale to be found here, other than a few familiar scenes that, even then, play out in a very different context than they do in the original. On top of that, the story also includes a nod to the “Cinderella” story, leaving the book as an interesting mash up of the two.

But first and foremost, I think this story much more closely lines up with selkie/seal wife fairytales. Like those stories, this one focus heavily on longing, wildness, and freedom. And it is here that the romanticism and lyricism of the writing really shines. The beauty and horror of the sea neatly aligned against the beauty and horror of humanity. And with Luce in the middle, a child of both worlds who struggles to understand herself and where she fits, torn between the great loves of the sea and her family and the man she grows to love. This could be a simplistic story, but there was such a depth of heart to Luce that the entire affair felt poignant and wondrous throughout.

As I mentioned, there were also some horror moments included, perhaps more than I had expected. Again, we were exposed to horror in the more fantastical sense, but it was the actions of the people that were truly despicable. The story’s strong foundation in a historical time and place truly reinforced these human-made horror moments, as some of the more powerful scenes drew from events/actions that were truly carried out.

I also want to heap immense praise on the author for her handling of the love triangle. I don’t want to spoil the way that this plot line plays out, but Woods is clearly winking at readers as she twists her way through some of the common romantasy tropes found in these sorts of stories and with these sorts of characters. And, best of all, she correctly identified when to give up the triangle altogether and allow the true romance to move forward. This is a stand-alone book, after all, so it was great that we were given what felt like a good chunk of time with the primary couple, initial love triangle bedamned.

One small criticms here would be that as these two “romances” were getting started, it felt like Luce’s feelings came a bit out of nowhere, especially for one of them. As the story continued, we were given more of a foundation to build upon. But those initial points of interest felt a bit instalust-y. However, they were saved by the lovely story that followed that delved into the tragedy and beauty of Luce’s position as a child of the sea who loves a man of the land.

I loved this book, if you can’t tell! As much as I love gobbling up books from authors who have a long list of solid titles, there’s something special about finding a great one from an author you didn’t connect with the first go-around. I can pretty much confirm now that this one will end up on my “Top 10” list for the year!

Rating 9: Like the exploring the sea itself, plumbing the dark depth of this book’s mysteries is an adventure into a world of beauty and romance! Perfect for all fairytale fans!

“Upon a Starlit Tide” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Little Mermaid Retellings and My favorite Fairytale Fantasy novels.

Serena’s Review: “Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales”

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Book: “Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales” by Heather Fawcett

Publishing Info: Del Rey, February 2025

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

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

Book Description: Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

Review: I know I had a bit of a rough patch there, with several reviews back to back that were middling at best and often downright negative. But I did have one shining light through it all, and it was the fact that the third Emily Wilde book was releasing only a few weeks later! And finally, here we are!

The tough thing about writing reviews for series like this is the fact that when you have book after book that hits a home run, you start to run out of things to praise. What do you say when the author already has such a solid hand on the wheel, striking a perfect balance of world-building, immersive character arcs, and thrilling, fairytale-like story features? I guess one thing that can always be said is that by the third book, you know for sure it’s not just a fluke. Heather Fawcett is just this good, and Emily and Wendell are just this great as characters. And the romance is just this well done, even here, in the THIRD book, without a silly break-up or offensively mind-numb “miscommunication trope” in sight!

The strength of the romantic progression seen in this book truly demonstrates the strength of Emily and Wendell as their own established characters. We don’t need contrived plotting to drive the story. Instead, their relationship is tested by very real factors stemming from their own priorities and insecurities. Emily struggles to balance her scholarly ambitions with her new role as an incoming Queen of Faerie. Further, she sees Wendell in a new light, now that he is returned to his homeland, and must reconcile the two versions she knows, finding ways to bring her own wealth of knowledge to the forefront in their political challenges.

For his part, we see a very different Wendell here as well. He is still the lovably frivolous and rather self-centered character that we’ve come to know and adore. However, we also see more flashes of the dangerous aspects of his character. Beyond that, we see a new layer to him, as he comes into his own with the responsibilities of caring for his land, his people, and, of course, Emily (who would insist that she needs to caring for!).

There were so many excellent romantic beats, particularly from Wendell, that hit all of the right notes! Each book has been more romantic than the last, and this one was no exception. I love the way the relationship between these two progressed, while also very much staying the same, with each internally rolling their eyes at the other near constantly, while externally pledging undying support in whatever crazy pursuits they come up with next.

I also really enjoyed the main story we got here. I wasn’t quite sure where this book would go after the events of the second book. In many ways, that felt like the end of an excellent duology. But I was pleased to see that there was still plenty to explore in this world, including a hefty dose of danger and darkness. I will say, that like the two books before it, this one does have strange pacing towards the end.

Pacing is always tough, because it’s hard to explain exactly what is meant when you talk about it. But, on the other hand, a reader will often recognize strange pacing when they see it. And now in all three of these books, there has been this strange feeling of the book leading up to and hitting (perfectly, I might add) the climax of the story around the 75% mark. And then…the book just continues and an entirely new mini-adventure starts up and becomes the true end of the book. I always enjoy the story as a whole, including these final storylines. But they do sit oddly within the greater structure of the story. Perhaps, that initial 75% climax mark just hits too hard? But then, these are always incredibly impactful moments, and to lessen them would be a disservice. So, I’m not sure. Maybe just a strange feature, rather than a bug.

Overall, this one hit it out of the park! I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent with Emily and Wendell in this world, and this third book was no different! If I had to rank them, I’d say that the first one was still the best (as first books almost always are), but then this third one comes in right on its heels. But, as I adored the second book as well, this sort of ranking is ultimately rather meaningless. If you’ve enjoyed this series so far, boy, are you in for a treat!

Rating 9: Like Emily Wilde herself, Heather Fawcett is a force in her field! Everything a reader could hope for from a fairytale fantasy: dark forests, deep curses, and a desperately romantic love story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales” can be found on this Goodreads list: New In 2025.

Kate’s Review: “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”

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Book: “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by Grady Hendrix

Publishing Info: Berkley, January 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: They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).

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

I am always so excited when Grady Hendrix has a new horror book coming out. I have enjoyed basically all of the books he has written and the way that he can create narratives with some humor, some heart, and some genuine horror moments. He always feels so genuine in his books, and I always feel like I’m on pins and needles waiting for a new one. And now it’s finally time for him to take on witches and witchcraft!!

I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. (Source)

Clearly my expectations were high, and I will say from the jump that they were a bit upended, but not in a bad way at all. This is perhaps Hendrix’s least obviously scary story, as the witchcraft is definitely present and it does have moments to shine. But at its heart “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is less about actual witches and covens and spellcasting, and more about finding power within when powerless, and the injustices of violent misogyny towards vulnerable women.

First let’s talk about the witchcraft themes, as we all know how much I LOVE a witch story. And I mostly liked it in this one! I love the idea of a witch posing as a librarian in hopes of finding more women to empower and bring into a Coven, and I really liked the way that it shows Fern, Zinnia, Holly, and Rose find a crumb of power in their powerless situations as pregnant teenagers in an oppressive unwed mother’s home in Florida. The magical systems are interesting and the spells cast are engrossing and at times nasty, and I found the Coven led by librarian Miss Parcae to be equal parts compelling and in some ways sinister. Mostly due to Miss Parcae herself, who really felt like Agatha Harkness in the way she is grey as hell in her characterization. And of course there are themes of being careful what you wish for as four teenage girls who are desperate start to use magic they don’t really understand or comprehend. I do kind of wish that Hendrix had been a little more willing to lean more into the idea of the witchcraft even at its most destructive being a necessary wickedness in the face of the oppression and violence and harm that the teenage girls were suffering at Wellwood. I definitely understand making things less black and white and I always appreciate messy answers or difficult answers in stories, don’t get me wrong. But I think that the absolute horrors that these girls, many of them children, were enduring, as many were in real life during the times before Roe vs Wade was implemented, could have had some more vengeance thrown at them. Especially since in real life this kind of vengeance wasn’t doled out to those who deserved it nearly as much as it was in this book. And still isn’t being doled out at times.

And that brings me to the aspect of this book that I think worked the best for me, and that is the very realistic portrayal of the way unwed pregnant women and girls were treated by society during the time period, and the realistic portrayals of pregnancy and birth. And all of the horrors that come from those things. Fern, Rose, Zinnia, Holly, and all the girls at Wellwood home are dehumanized, insulted, shunned, and shamed by most of the people who work there, being implied to be whores, or stupid, or bad, with no actual reflection on their circumstances and the various steps it took to get them there (and for many of them they were victimized in various ways leading up to their pregnancies by other people, and very much so the men who impregnated them). The absolute rage I felt for all of these girls and the way they were treated was incendiary, and the horrific circumstances so many of them dealt with was just heartbreaking and horrifying. And with continued attacks on reproductive rights in this country with an uncertain future about how far that is going to go really just hits that point home in this book. On top of that we have two very different but very graphic depictions of childbirth in this book that felt very real, and didn’t hold back in the portrayals of both the clinical and unnecessary things that were done in a hospital birth, as well as the way things can go wrong in a home birth setting. If you have triggers associated with birth, and pregnancy loss, I would definitely say proceed with caution. I know some people think that birth scenes shouldn’t need trigger warnings because they are ‘natural’, but I don’t subscribe to that as it can be VERY traumatic, and this book doesn’t shy from that.

All in all, I really enjoyed “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”. It has anger, it has magic, it has hope, and it has heart.

Rating 9: Filled with magic, friendship, and raging against sexism and misogyny that continues to seep far beyond the setting, “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is a witchy and unrelenting story that reads like a refusal to go back to the past.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is included on the Goodreads lists “Witches, Goddesses, or Nuns”, and “Witchy Books for Autumn”.

Serena’s Review: “The Thirteenth Child”

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Book: “The Thirteenth Child” by Erin A. Craig

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the library!

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

Book Description: Hazel Trépas has always known she wasn’t like the rest of her siblings. A thirteenth child, promised away to one of the gods, she spends her childhood waiting for her godfather—Merrick, the Dreaded End—to arrive.

When he does, he lays out exactly how he’s planned Hazel’s future. She will become a great healer, known throughout the kingdom for her precision and skill. To aid her endeavors, Merrick blesses Hazel with a gift, the ability to instantly deduce the exact cure needed to treat the sick.

But all gifts come with a price. Hazel can see when Death has claimed a patient—when all hope is gone—and is tasked to end their suffering, permanently. Haunted by the ghosts of those she’s killed, Hazel longs to run. But destiny brings her to the royal court, where she meets Leo, a rakish prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. And it’s where Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet—to save the life of a king marked to die. Hazel knows what she is meant to do and knows what her heart is urging her toward, but what will happen if she goes against the will of Death?

Review: It may be January of 2025, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still doing the handwork of December. That is, working my way through the back catalog of Fall 2024 titles that I didn’t get around to reading and reviewing in a timely manner! Even though I didn’t get to it until months later, I’d been looking forward to this one quite a lot. Not only did it sound like a great, unique fairytale fantasy story, but I’d heard a lot of good things about the author. So, without any more preamble, on to the review!

I love fairytale fantasies. And while I always enjoy fairytale re-tellings, there’s always something special about an original tale, especially if the author nails the sometimes indecipherable qualities that truly make a story feel like a fairytale. And that was definitely the case here! One thing that I always think of as distinct to fairytales is the blending of dark and light elements, and we had that in spades here. There’s the more straight-forward coming-of-age story for Hazel and a sweet slow burn romance towards the end, but on the other hand, this book verges on horror with some of its more grim elements.

And here, in particular, is where the story shines. Not only are some of these aspects truly creepy, but the book doesn’t shy away from grappling with some very tough moral questions. It’s essentially one long “trolley problem” of a plotline, with Hazel coming down on different sides of the equation at different points. Sometimes this inconsistency on her part could be frustrating, especially when she’s fully in the know with regards to the intricacies of these decisions. But at the same time, no amount of understanding would take the horror out of being the one to make these choices.

Another hallmark of fairytales is that the lead character often has a truly awful home life, and such is the case with Hazel. This story unfolds in a unique way, following Hazel through her life from a small child up through adulthood, with each time period being given fairly significant chunks of the book. That being the case, we get a decent amount of time with child Hazel during which we see how she grows to be the young woman and adult she becomes. There are various familial roles explored, from the neglect and abuse from her parents, to the closest brother she has who is taken away only to be a stranger when she meets him again later, to the complex relationship she has with the god of Death who is her godfather. This last one was particularly well done, as it could have easily fallen into a few trope holes. Instead, we get a relationship that is as conflicted and challenging as families can be, mixing both love, frustration, disappointment, and even rage altogether. Through this lens, the book explores the expectations of parents, and the ways in which love can turn into a burden.

I also enjoyed the romance, but this definitely didn’t come into play until the last half of the story. Given the time jumps, it avoids instalove, but just barely. It’s by no means the focal point of the story, but what we do get is sweet and I enjoyed the way the story swerved at key moments to avoid becoming mired in some of the current romantasy tropes.

Towards the end of the book, some of the reveals and plot turns were a bit predictable, perhaps, which is the only thing holding this back from a 10 for me! And the reader’s tolerance for some of Hazel’s continual struggles in the face of a decision that she already knows the consequences of will also vary. However, for me, I thought this was an excellent original fairytale, and now I can’t wait to go back and read the author’s other books!

Rating 9: A wholly original fairytale fantasy, chock full of all of my favorite things!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Thirteenth Child” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Gothic Fairytale Fantasy and Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2024.

Kate’s Review: “Wake Up and Open Your Eyes”

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Book: “Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Publishing Info: Quirk Books, January 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: From Vulture’s “master of horror” Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn–-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from “one of horror’s modern masters” holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.

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

I’m going to preface this review with the following statement: I’ve had a few interactions with Clay McLeod Chapman and he has always been INCREDIBLY kind. He’s always been very genial in the times we’ve chatted, be it at conferences or on social media or in messages exchanged in regards to his books and my reviews. I’ve always found him to be a super kind human being and I’ve enjoyed all the times we’ve spoken/written each other. That being said, he is also one of the authors that I feel PERSONALLY VICTIMIZED BY WHENEVER I READ ONE OF HIS HORROR NOVELS.

Just superimpose his face on Rachel McAdams, I say! (source)

This is in jest, obviously. But Chapman’s books always hit a nerve with me, and always get under my skin, and his newest book “Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” is his scariest one yet. And this is because of a couple reasons. The first being that Chapman is a master of suspense and horror imagery, being more than willing to push the envelope when it comes to the lengths he will take his reader within his stories. He’s usually pretty unflinching and brutal, and unapologetic about it, and that is definitely the case in this book. But the other, and more effective, reason is pretty straightforward this time around: “Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” is a satirical and incredibly gory spin on the way that far right propaganda has seeped into the collective consciousness of a huge percentage of the American public, and in this book it turns them into literal rage possessed zombies that want to destroy everyone and everything with their hate and need for violence. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is basically a book that is a manifestation of my mental health crises I had last summer and then again after the Election. So that’s great.

First, though, I want to talk about the straight up horror elements of this book. The basic premise is that a man named Noah, a liberal man living in Brooklyn, as noticed that his parents in Virginia have been becoming more and more obsessed with the right wing cable network Fax News (it’s blatant, and I’ll talk about why I’m fine with that later in the review), parroting talking points and becoming more and more paranoid and hateful. When he goes down to check on them after not being able to get in contact with them, or his brother and his family, he finds his folks basically wasting away watching Fax…. until something switches and the catatonic turn into violent, rage filled zombies. The zombies start attacking all non zombies while shouting ‘WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES!’ and ‘JUST THE FAX!’. He eventually finds his seven year old nephew and hopes they can make it back to Brooklyn. As far as the zombie-esque horrors go, it’s nasty, it’s violent, and it’s unrelenting. Once we are in an action moment, the pedal is to the metal and it’s VERY violent and gross. He also knows how to build up the tension as we see various characters start to succumb to the indoctrination/possession, with SO MANY nasty body horror moments and gory bits, things that even made me feel a little nauseated as I read (trigger warnings abound here too: animal death, sexual assault, school violence, it’s all here). It’s effective and disturbing, which is the exact right tone for this book.

Chapman doesn’t just limit himself to the low hanging fruit of Fox News and far right cable news (correct as this indictment may be), though, which makes this even more sinister and astute. He also takes on the all too real pipelines of wellness influencers and the Pastel QAnon movement with it’s anti-science/anti-medicine/anti-vax bent (with Noah’s sister in law), as well as the incel and red/black pill movements (with his older nephew). Both of these are mostly centralized online and on social media, and show up in algorithms like snakes in the grass. I think that the Fox News angle is pretty obvious (not that it’s incorrect!), but I know that I’ve had to explain to people about trad wives and the wellness to alt-right pipeline as well as incel bullshit, and how it is radicalizing completely different demographics into far right wing ideology, so to see him have THESE THINGS in this book made the satire that much more powerful. And scary. GOD this book is scary. Because while no, people like my grandfather was when he was alive aren’t mindless violence craving ghouls with no impulse control and a need to murder everyone in their vicinity, there are people who feel like they have lost their loved ones to a sickness of hate, fear, and bigotry, which can be violent and traumatizing in their own ways. Chapman really, really gets that, even if he has it under guise of blood soaked automatons that are killing machines and splattergore moments. And he doesn’t just have grievances for the brainwashed and hate filled, but he also indicts Noah himself (and other go along to get along liberals) as someone who just sat back and let it happen, like so many have done in the face of not wanting to rock the boat or to just be pleasant, until it’s too goddamn late.

Are the horror elements in this book over the top? Maybe. Is it absolutely NOT subtle? Completely. But I think that the time for subtlety has passed us. Chapman has his finger on the pulse of America right now. And I’m writing this as the new president elect is gearing up to take back his power, partly in thanks to these kinds of manipulations, propaganda, and indoctrination that this book has amped up to levels that may be fictional, but are rooted in a very bleak reality. And I’m honestly terrified.

(source)

“Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” is another top notch horror tale from one of the kindest authors I’ve met who still manages to personally victimize me Regina George style with his books (I mean that in the best way). It’s a must read.

Rating 9: Easily one of the scariest books I’ve read in a long time, if only because when you peel back the supernatural and satirical bits you find something that feels very, very real.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward To In 2025”.

Kate’s Review: “Tunis to Sydney”

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Book: “Tunis to Sydney” by Meriam & Christian Carnouche, & Sam Rapley (Ill.)

Publishing Info: Fairsquare Graphics, August 2024

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

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

Book Description: Lilia and Bill enjoy a tranquil life in the heart of Sydney, Australia. Bill is a local, while Lilia hails from Tunisia, making them an unconventional but inseparable pair. Their happiness has always been unshakeable, until that day. 

When Lilia receives the devastating news of her parents’ tragic death in a car accident, a staggering ten thousand miles away. She’s consumed by a profound sense of shock. The weight of unspoken questions surfaces. Did she fail her parents by not being there for them throughout the years?

As they hastily journey to Tunis for the funeral, Bill stands steadfastly by Lilia’s side, offering unwavering support. Yet, this journey unveils the fault lines in Lilia’s life, leading her to confront a cascade of profound questions.

Dive into a poignant graphic novel that delves into the labyrinth of grief, resilience in the face of loss, and the complexities of human relationships.

Review: Thank you to Christian Carnouche for sending me an eARC of this graphic novel!

I am very fortunate in that I haven’t experienced a deep in my bones kind of grief in my life when it comes to losing people I care about. I know many people who have, however, and I kept thinking about this as I read the graphic novel “Tunis to Sydney” by Meriam and Christian Carnouche. When I saw this novel in my inbox, the description sounded interesting, in that the graphic novels I read tend to be more genre focused, or full on memoir. But this one really grabbed me, and I decided to give it a try, mainly because the idea of following a woman in grieving her parents, and returning to her childhood home in Tunisia. I am so, so glad that I took a chance on this one because wow did it deliver.

“Tunis to Sydney” is very much a ‘day in the life’ kind of book, though it’s more like a few months in the life. We follow Lilia and Bill, a married couple living in Sydney, Australia, though Lilia is originally from Tunisia. When she gets a horrible phone call that both her parents have been killed in a car accident, they return to Tunis to make plans for the funeral. The story is a path of Lilia’s loss of her parents and how she maneuvers through a deep grief and all the other feelings that come with it, like shock, guilt, and rage. I though that following this journey was very poignant, and that it touches upon the guilt of leaving loved ones behind for a new life as well as a sense of loss. But that loss is not only of immediate family, but of a place as well, as Lilia has returned to Tunis after being gone for so long, and readjusting if only for a little while. Watching her move through scenes of her former home was so bittersweet, and I loved the moments with the community, and within spaces that she hadn’t seen in so long, be it her mother’s greenhouse or even the market or Zitouna Mosque.

I also appreciated how up front and honest this story was with how grief and loss, especially an astronomical one such as the loss of not one but two parents, can consume a person. Lilia is reeling through most of the story, moving from shock to guilt to sadness to anger and back around, and her emotions and palpable and completely leap off the pages. She has her moments of being overcome by many of these differing stages, and while she has her moments of being unfair or even cruel to her husband after the loss as really taken its toll, there is always sympathy for her, and the story never makes her out to be right or wrong, nor does it judge her. It shows how grief and trauma of this type can be incredibly messy, and I thought that was such an honest point of view and route to take. It also made her journey feel that much more touching, seeing her resilience in the face of despair, while her loving partner and husband is there to support her in any way he can, even if that means dealing with difficult moments.

And I REALLY loved the artwork in this. Sam Rapley’s style is a mix of realism as well as a clear aesthetic that makes for very poignant imagery that is striking. There were moments and images that really took my breath away, and really added to the overall weight of the story.

(Fairsquare Graphics)

Overall I really, really enjoyed “Tunis to Sydney”. It’s heartfelt, quiet, and deeply emotional. Absolutely lovey.

Rating 9: A lovely and melancholy story about loss, grief, and healing. Incredibly moving and stunning artwork. Highly recommend.

Readers’s Advisory:

“Tunis to Sydney” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Best Books About Grief and Grieving”.

Serena’s Review: “The Scarlet Alchemist”

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Book: “The Scarlet Alchemist” by Kylie Lee Baker

Publishing Info: Inkyard Press, October 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

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

Book Description: Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.

When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.

The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.

Review: Honestly, this is one of those cases where I didn’t check out a book in a timely manner based on the cover. I really have a hard time with covers that feature models. For some reason, they always make me feel as if the quality of the book itself will be on the lower side. I’m sure I’ve missed out on several winners with this mindset, but I can’t help it! Luckily, I subscribe to a book box that included this book and when I was going through the titles I hadn’t read yet, I decided I should probably give this one a go! And thank goodness I did, since I ended up loving it!

There was so much to enjoy about this book! But one of the things that stood out was the story’s themes of family and sibling relationships. Our main character has been adopted into her aunt and uncle’s family and raised as a sibling of her cousins. With this, comes a lot of baggage about her place. Throughout the story, we see her struggle with feelings of imposter syndrome and a need to justify the love and care she’s been raised with, though from all we see, her aunt and uncle love her like she is their own. More importantly, however, the story follows the close sibling relationship with her cousins. As the plot progresses, these relationships are tested again and again. This isn’t simply a superficial take on the complicated nature of siblings, but instead dives into the warring feelings of love, jealously, and even fear that can make up the deepest bonds.

On the fantasy and world-building side, I very much enjoyed the alchemy in this story. The author does an incredible job of fully fleshing out this magic system, giving it important limits and consequences. Nothing comes for free or easily, and as the story continues, we see the true power and danger of alchemy. At the same time, it’s not an easy answer to every problem. Indeed, half the time it feels as if alchemy itself IS the problem! Towards the end, I was truly wondering how many of these elements were going to be wrapped up. And I’ll be honest: this is the first in a duology, so many of them weren’t! Instead, we were left with a fairly killer cliffhanger in at least one important way!

I also really enjoyed the main character. As I mentioned in the bit about family themes, much of the story centers around Zilan’s feelings about her place in the world. But even as she struggles, her determination and unflinching view of the world carries her through.

There was also a romantic subplot to be found, those this definitely played second fiddle to the rest of the story. I did appreciate the slower build the author gave this element. For example, Zilan meets this character fairly early when he asks her for a huge favor essentially. She blows him off and then literally doesn’t think about him again for many chapters until he shows up in her life again. It’s always refreshing to see a realistic take like this. From Zilan’s perspective, this was some random guy and a brief interaction. There is no reason for her to fixate on him, and, blessedly, she doesn’t! I could go on an entire rant about my feelings about heroines who meet the MMC one time and then seem to devote a significant amount of their inner thoughts to him for the remainder of the book. This is a great example of how to include a romance in what feels like a natural, realistic way. It’s important to Zilan, but by no means the most important thing she is dealing with.

I really loved this book! As I said, it does end on a pretty big cliffhanger in certain ways. Luckily, I have been now rewarded by my own recalcitrance regarding the cover art and don’t have to wait since the sequel came out this fall! I’ll definitely be checking it out soon!

Rating 9: With an intricate magic system and a fantastic lead character, this one is sure to please all YA fantasy fans!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Scarlet Alchemist” can be found on this Goodreads list: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Fantasy.