The nitty-gritty: Angsty, immature characters, overly-dramatic dialog and secrets revealed too soon add up to a disappointing story. It seems February is the month of disappointments, as yet another one of my highly anticipated 2024 releases failed to impress me. I had high hopes for An Education in Malice, especially after loving the author’s last […]
The nitty-gritty: I wanted the gothic creepiness of What Moves the Dead, but instead this sequel lacked the elements that made the first book so good. “This isn’t just a dream, though. It’s the war.” I absolutely loved What Moves the Dead last year, and I was honestly surprised to see Kingfisher had written a […]
The nitty-gritty: A short, psychological horror story that is heavy on mood and light on plot. Your Shadow Half Remains is a psychological horror story that takes place after a pandemic-like event, and it’s definitely more “psychological” than “horror,” in my opinion, which is probably why I didn’t rate it higher. I do love Sunny […]
The nitty-gritty: Darcy Coates takes the serial killer story and gives it a unique twist in this creepy and unsettling tale. “Doubtful, Illinois was a glue trap. People sometimes came in, but they very rarely left…The longer you spent in the town, the more you felt trapped there. As though there wasn’t any space for […]
The nitty-gritty: A haunted museum is the setting for Luke Dumas’ latest, a solid mystery story with supernatural elements. If you’re a dinosaur fan, and I mean if you love scientific facts about dinosaurs, you’ll probably enjoy The Paleontologist a lot. I thought I liked dinosaurs, but I have to admit parts of this book […]
The nitty-gritty: Disturbing and creepy, Nestlings is the perfect horror story to curl up with this Halloween. “What does it mean to be a mother? This, she realized. Doing what was best even though it killed you.” Nestlings arrives just in time for Halloween, and I couldn’t have picked a better book to end October […]
The nitty-gritty: A twisty, tension-filled story about a dysfunctional relationship, My Darling Girl has some surprises in store for readers who like a bit of the supernatural in their tales. I always hear great things about Jennifer McMahon, so I’m very glad I finally got to read one of her books. My Darling Girl was […]
The nitty-gritty: Lina Rather combines cosmic horror and a fascinating historical time period in this engaging and uplifting tale. A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is an immersive story set in 1675 London with some wonderfully creepy cosmic horror elements. I loved Lina Rather’s Our Lady of Endless Worlds series, so I was curious to see […]
The nitty-gritty: Cottagecore turns bloody in this uneven slasher/romance. I’ve been looking forward to another book by Delilah S. Dawson ever since I read and loved The Violence. Bloom seemed promising, with it’s beautiful but disturbing cover, but unfortunately this was just OK for me. Maybe the novella length had something to do with that, […]
The nitty-gritty: An atmospheric, eerie tale with a fairy tale vibe, Starling House will delight readers with its fantastical mysteries, subtle romance and heartfelt friendships. “It’s something about the way the shadows fell in Eden, after Eleanor died. It’s the way everything soured: the river ran darker and the clouds hung lower; rich coal seams […]