This book was incredible, and the audiobook was excellent. In fact, it was one of the best audiobooks I’ve personally ever listened to. Helen Lase4.5
This book was incredible, and the audiobook was excellent. In fact, it was one of the best audiobooks I’ve personally ever listened to. Helen Laser’s narration brought the characters to life, imbuing a perfect amount of panic and fear into the terrifying scenes. The production was also great quality, with the occasional special effects. It was a very fun and engaging listening experience!
As for the actual story, I had such a fun time with it! The characters were so fleshed out and realistic, and Nat Cassidy’s descriptions of gore sent chills down my spine. The novel also explores themes of grief, abuse, alcoholism, trauma, and so much more, in such a masterful way. Cassidy has a talent for blending the horror of the everyday with paranormal and supernatural elements. It makes for a thought provoking and extremely bizarre, entertaining read.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, the author, and Negalley for providing me with an Advanced Listener Copy in exchange for an honest review. ...more
Thank you Knopf for sending me a copy of this poetry collection in exchange for an honest review.
While this is not one of my personal favorite collecThank you Knopf for sending me a copy of this poetry collection in exchange for an honest review.
While this is not one of my personal favorite collections, I really enjoyed the observations made by Katz in this one. Section 2 had some of my favorite poems. This will be perfect for readers who really enjoy poems that dive into people watching and include musings about the world, the city, nature, and relationships. ...more
“It’s not that I don’t have more to say. It’s not that I don’t have sharper edges. It’s that I know how to package myself in ways men find manageable.“It’s not that I don’t have more to say. It’s not that I don’t have sharper edges. It’s that I know how to package myself in ways men find manageable. I’ve learned to press myself into neat, soft shapes, to smooth over the parts that snag or bite.�
This book left me feeling viscerally disgusted and horrified. As a lover of the horror genre, I’m using those adjectives in a positive connotation here. I truly cannot get this story out of my head � it’s all I’ve been able to think about since I finished reading it.
If you’re a fan of extreme horror, feminine rage, and revenge stories, this is going to be your next favorite novel. It explores autonomy, power, and control in ways that will leave you sick to your stomach in the best possible way.
Please check the trigger warnings before picking up this novel. It gets intense!
Thank you to Mia Ballard, Galaxy Press, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“Normality is the creepiest madness there is. This was all insane, yet it was so right.�
Vanishing World was strange and discomforting to read � it’s “Normality is the creepiest madness there is. This was all insane, yet it was so right.�
Vanishing World was strange and discomforting to read � it’s short but it packs a punch, and I don’t think I will ever forget reading this book. I would highly recommend this one to fans of Sayaka’s previous works, and to people who are interested in exploring themes of the oversexualization of anime characters, declining birth rates and motherhood, community, and family.
My biggest problem with this book was how repetitive it felt. The main characters were constantly asking the same questions and discussing the same topics over and over again. If it had been edited down to about 150 pages, I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more. With that said, this is a book I would still recommend if you want a reading experience that will sear itself into your memory forever.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...more
“But no man could do for me what a plane could. What man could propel himself to a speed of 150 knots before lifting us to an altitude of 37,000 feet?“But no man could do for me what a plane could. What man could propel himself to a speed of 150 knots before lifting us to an altitude of 37,000 feet? What man could carry me across continents and seas, all while keeping me warm and oxygenated inside his aluminum torso? No man I’d ever chanced to meet!�
Sky Daddy follows a woman named Linda whose life goal is to get married to a plane � a phenomenon that others vulgarly refer to as a plane crash.
If the synopsis of Kate Folk’s debut novel intrigues you, you’re in for a treat. The concept is explored with a great amount of depth, and the scenes of Linda’s plane rides get� quite spicy? Additionally, there’s a surprisingly wholesome and tender friendship at the heart of this story that I fell in love with.
This is perfect for anyone who loves weird fiction. My biggest critique as a reader was that it felt a little too long and the scenes got repetitive. I think if this was 100 pages shorter or so it would’ve been an all time favorite for me, but it’s still a novel I highly recommend!
If you read the synopsis and thought to yourself, “wow, this sounds like a book I’d really love!� � pick it up and buckle your seatbelt, you are in for the ride of your life with this one.
Thank you to Random House, Netgalley, & the author for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. ...more
“Somewhere in the dark of her mind, she wondered if love was a flavor of oblivion.�
“A Game in Yellow� is a captivating read that follows a couple, Car“Somewhere in the dark of her mind, she wondered if love was a flavor of oblivion.�
“A Game in Yellow� is a captivating read that follows a couple, Carmen and Blanca, who are in a rut � and their normal BDSM games aren’t helping them get out of it. Enter Smoke, a woman in possession of a mysterious play known as The King in Yellow. To read too much of the play is to fall into madness, but to read just enough is to experience a euphoric high that can’t be found anywhere else. Carmen reads some of The King and Yellow in the hope that the experience will bring back her spark with Blanca. But Carmen quickly becomes obsessed with the play, leading her down a rabbit hole of desire that blurs the lines between fiction and reality.
For the most part, I enjoyed my reading experience of this book. It was a fascinating blend of erotica, drama, and horror, which I’ve never seen combined in a novel before. I loved the premise and I loved watching Carmen’s descent into madness.
However, I wish the story had been longer and explored more of the dynamics between Carmen, Blanca, and Smoke. We got a hint of conflict between the three but the friction wasn’t played up as much as it could’ve been in my opinion. I also think it would’ve been more satisfying as a reader to learn more about each woman’s past throughout the story, because it would’ve made the ending more impactful for me.
Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...more
Eat the Ones You Love is a compelling, campy, deranged story of a sentient plant named Baby that eats humans and lives within a crumbling, decrepit maEat the Ones You Love is a compelling, campy, deranged story of a sentient plant named Baby that eats humans and lives within a crumbling, decrepit mall. Lush, languid prose builds tension and atmosphere with creeping suspense. Themes of obsession, desire, romance, and friendship intertwine throughout the narrative and play out over the day-to-day activities of retail workers.
The characters are complex and dynamic, and one of my biggest complaints as a reader is that we didn’t get to see more of certain characters. A majority of the narrative focuses on Shell, but the occasional glimpses we received of the different characters made me want more � I especially loved the chapters focused on Jen.
I also didn’t love the pacing. The plot dragged during the first half just to wrap up in a rush at the end, leaving me feeling a little unsatisfied as a reader. However, even with my critiques, this is a book I would absolutely recommend to horror readers who love Little Shop of Horrors and who are drawn to a story about a plant that hungers for human flesh.
Thank you to Tor, Netgalley, and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“We blame the algorithm for our predicament, she thinks, but the algorithm was written by people. That’s who put us at Madison. People, not machines.�“We blame the algorithm for our predicament, she thinks, but the algorithm was written by people. That’s who put us at Madison. People, not machines.�
Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy my time reading The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami. While the concept was interesting and I did enjoy reading about the main character’s experience in archival work and the discussions around how algorithms and statistics are biased, I left the novel feeling unsatisfied.
I never emotionally connected with the main character or the side characters that she interacted with everyday. The way the story was written made me feel like an outside observer, and I never felt like I was actually engaged with what was going on, even during high action moments.
I also felt disjointed as a reader with the one random perspective shift in the middle of the story that was never really discussed again � I don’t think it added much to the story, and if anything took away the excitement of a reveal that came later.
Readers who enjoy slow, introspective stories might really love this one � just don’t go into this expecting a gripping dystopian read that is difficult to put down like I did.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Song pairing: Major Minus - Coldplay, it’s a perfect match I fear ...more
“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.�
This is the type of story that creeps up on you slowly. You sit down to “What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.�
This is the type of story that creeps up on you slowly. You sit down to read a chapter or two every night before bed, and then all of a sudden The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is the only thing that you can spend your days and nights thinking about. Yes, I am talking about my own personal reading experience of this novel � I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I was about 20% in.
This is bleak. It’s bloody, it’s gory, and it’ll leave readers with a spine-tingling, chest-tightening sense of utter dread. The prose in this novel is evocative and the characterization is masterful � Good Stab and Arthur Beaucarne both feel like real historical figures.
Stephen Graham Jones shines as an author as he blends both supernatural and real life horrors with the historical fiction genre. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is his best novel yet, in my opinion, and it cements him as this generation’s king of horror, with a fresh voice and skillful pen.
Thank you to Saga Press and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...more
“Is there anyone who knows a young woman's body better than her closest friends? By way of love or comparison or some combination of the two?�
Ling Lin“Is there anyone who knows a young woman's body better than her closest friends? By way of love or comparison or some combination of the two?�
Ling Ling Huang’s sophomore novel is an ambitious science fiction that tackles themes of identity, economic inequality, friendship, envy, and bodily autonomy. It examines the intersection between technology and art, highlighting the humanity entrenched in art in an age where artificial intelligence is also capable of creating it.
Ownership and originality are also two aspects of art that Huang explores in this novel � specifically through the lens of the main character, Enka. She is jealous and insecure about her own art, always comparing herself to her best friend Mathtilde. Envy seeps from Enka from chapter one, clouding her thoughts and influencing her actions.
It’s fascinating to experience the narrative through her perspective. Enka is complex, being both sympathetic and despicable at times. Huang’s character work truly shines here. As an author she has managed an enormous feat by giving Enka such strong motivations and emotions that she springs to life from the words written on the page.
Thank you to Netgalley for proving me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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