In the same vein as Max Brooks’ World War Z, Devolution tells us the story from another near apocalypse and close monster encounter from a first-hand In the same vein as Max Brooks’ World War Z, Devolution tells us the story from another near apocalypse and close monster encounter from a first-hand perspective. We follow the journal of Katie, who has recently moved to a sustainable eco-community called Greenloop near Mt Rainier. The rather cult like feel of her new community actually soothes Katie but soon things get crazy when Mt Rainier erupts, the small group are cut off from the normal world and they end up preyed upon by man-like beasts from the nearby forest.
I didn’t know what to expect from a ‘Bigfoot’ horror novel but I ended up really enjoying this and flying through it. This was very fast paced and engaging - and each new journal entry of Katie’s brought another rather terrifying Sasquatch encounter into reality.
I did find it slightly fast-paced at times in terms of it didn’t take a long time at all between Mr Rainier’s eruption and the Sasquatch horror to rein down on Greenloop though I understand that this also was due to incorporating the reality of real help finding Greenloop, as well as experimenting with the amount of time it can take to really change a person’s psyche from hunted to hunter.
I also agree with some other reviews I’ve seen that I would have liked more character exploration or deep dive into Tony and Yvette as it felt like they were going to have a bigger part to play as antagonists when things went south as I was a bit disappointed that they just went a bit mad in the end instead. I loved Mostar and how her background was revealed as well as her encouragement of Katie and Dan - and how Dan’s mojo came back as he suddenly had a purpose again and seemed to find out who he really was as did Katie.
So I really enjoyed this - it was fast paced and punchy with just another gore and violence to make your stomach flip but unable to take your eyes away from the page!...more
CW: forced incarceration, animal death/cruelty, child death, implied sexual assault
Marion is a 50-year old woman who lacks social skills and still livCW: forced incarceration, animal death/cruelty, child death, implied sexual assault
Marion is a 50-year old woman who lacks social skills and still lives with her brother in their childhood home. Marion loves John but is also scared of his temper, and so turns a blind eye to what he keeps in the cellar - he is the only person she has after all.
This is a very character-focused novel as we follow Marion through past and present timelines. We learn about her childhood and her relationship with her parents, in particular her cold and controlling mother, and we also learn about her relationship with her brother John and what he was like as a child, and what he's like now as an adult. Marion never had friends, and was bullied in school and so, lacks a lot of social skills other people have and also looks decades older than she is. We see her focus on fantasies she has about a different kind of life with friends and family.
This book reminded me a bit of a Liz Nugent novel as Liz is a master at a morally gray character and unsettling quiet plots. However, I think the blurb of this novel completely throws off reader's expectations - we are told Marion is faced with a decision about the cellar when John has a heart attack but this doesn't happen till over 80% into the book so I was reading it expecting this to happen much sooner and became frustrated when it didn't.
I do think the character progression we see with Marion is interesting but overall I thought this book was just fine. I feel like there could have been a lot more done with the cellar aspect earlier on or brought the last 20% of Marion down in the cellar forward and had a better structure with past and present focusing on the cellar rather than Marion watching TV and eating an entire cake.
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Veris Thorn is trying to live an ordinary life with h4.5 stars
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Veris Thorn is trying to live an ordinary life with her elderly aunt and grandfather when she is dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, hauled in front of the Tyrant and told she must enter the North Woods, where no-one ever comes back from, to rescue his children.
If anyone had ever played the video game Bramble, this book reminded me a lot of it! The perfect short creepy adventure book encapsulated the most perfect creepy woods full of horrifying creatures that I feel a lot of authors try to do but not many achieve. And this author achieved it!
Veris is a brilliant character - very smart and able to look after herself and others. She is put in an impossible situation by a character who is pretty evil - either go into the woods and come back with the children, an impossible task, or her family will be killed. I really loved the creepy atmosphere and the tension as you wonder if they will get out, and knowing that hope is futile in many ways.
This is a novella and while I’d have loved an even bigger story about Veris and everything that happened, I also think Premee Mohamed was able to nail a short story that gave the reader just enough, left them feeling satisfied but also wanting so much more. This book ends in a way you could anticipate a novel of a grown up Eleanor and I’d be here for that....more
Mrs March is happy with her life - taking care of house and home while her author husband George March finds success within his writing career and theMrs March is happy with her life - taking care of house and home while her author husband George March finds success within his writing career and their young son Jonathan appears a happy little boy. But Mrs March's world is turned upside down when a local shopkeeper remarks that a character in George's new book, reminds him of Mrs March and she can't escape it. As reality and imagination blur together, Mrs March begins to suspect her husband of horrid crimes and wonders if she ever really knew him at all.
This was an interesting, quite gripping tale as we follow a woman whose grip on reality begins to unravel the further we venture into the story. We learn a lot about Mrs March, except her first name, from the type of strange child she was, her early relationship with her husband and the distant wife she has become centered on appearances. I found Mrs March as a character focus truly fascinating - how she reacts to others, and always how she focuses on herself as well and makes every little thing about her and how people must think about her.
There was an element of murder mystery in this book too, and I quite enjoyed the 'what if?' part of the book - even though Mrs March is starting to lose it a little bit, some of what she is thinking about George and Sylvia almost does sound plausible at times, and I was almost ready for a twist that it would actually be true. I found myself fascinated in a way someone can be in something tragic as we followed Mrs March on her solitary journey to discover more, and the sad, lonely, desperate figure she was (morphing more and more into Johanna in many ways I guess)....more
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nella is the only Black person working in Wagner publishing hoI received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nella is the only Black person working in Wagner publishing house and she's sick of being the token person of colouring and dealing with the microaggressions she encounters every day. So she's delighted when new girl Hazel, a Black girl from Harlem, starts and they become friends. But soon Nella notices that Hazel is acting differently, and in ways is making Nella look bad and her job performance is suffering. As things get tenser, and creepier, can Nella figure out what' up with Hazel?
I liked the writing style of this book and the atmosphere that was slight intense, unsettling and creepy at times. The environment of Wagner was created really well I think, and learning more about the publishing world in many ways from difficult authors and temperamental cover artists was quite fun at times, as well as getting a look at what's like to be a Black woman in a predominantly white environment and how some people behave and the microaggressions she has to deal with and sometimes ignore for an easier time with her colleagues.
I do feel like so much of this story was build up, and when we really start figuring out what is happening, the book is already 90% finished so I was a bit disappointed with the conclusion feeling very rushed then, and then the epilogue was twisty and fun but also slightly depressing and not the ending I would have wanted for Nella obviously.
I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
When four women travel to a remote island off the coaI received this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
When four women travel to a remote island off the coast of Canada for the semi-finals in a reality dating show, they have no idea that a night under the stars is about to go terribly wrong. As the women, and the crew are hunted by a mysterious monster in the forest, one contestant finds herself drawn to the dark, hairy being and the soul within.
This is a fast-paced romp of the book that really scoops you up and takes you along for the ride. I very much enjoyed this and found it really entertaining - as well as just very funny in parts. As someone who is partial to Love Island, I thought the dating show concept in this book was great and I loved that the characters we were following were all so different in their own ways.
I would have loved more time with all of the characters just to flesh them out even more, and really get a deep dive into their brains, and improve their relationships with one another. While the book's pacing was fun in that I got really swept up in the story, I definitely think parts of it could have been slowed down so elements of the story could have been more fleshed out and given a bit more explanation. I didn't really like that there wasn't really an explanation given for Patricia being on the island - and I found it a bit unrealistic that so much death could be just swept under the rug?!...more
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Winnie Wednesday is living the life of an outcast, ever since I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Winnie Wednesday is living the life of an outcast, ever since her father was proclaimed a traitor four years earlier. Now, she's sick and tired of being ignored and bullied by the others in her town, and watching her mother struggle - and decides to enter the Hunter Trials to claim back the respect her family deserve. But when Winnie enters the forest, where every night, Nightmare creatures appear to threaten humans and are killed by Winnie's townspeople called The Luminaries - she finds out that while hunting is in her blood, it's also a terrifying thing to do and maybe she's not as good as he thought.
This was a fun YA urban fantasy and once you can get past every character being named after a day of the week, I quite enjoyed the story that had a nice mystery/threat running through it as well as lots of action scenes and horrific moments with the Nightmares. I think this one falls into the YA category a lot more than Susan Dennard's The Witchland books (which I think straddle that line between YA and adult) but I still enjoyed it even though I was thinking of all the characters as something straight out of Riverdale, haha.
The pacing of the story was good, and I felt swept up in the story, especially the last half or so and I appreciated Winnie's growing friendship with Fatima and the twins, while her crush on Jay grew even bigger. I do think some things are really obvious in the story (view spoiler)[Jay is the werewolf and Erica is a Diana (hide spoiler)] and was surprised they weren't revealed but I'm looking forward to book two to see where this all goes.
Aoileann is a solitary figure - ignored and shunned by the other inhabitants of the Irish island she lives on, she spends her days in a dark, lonely hAoileann is a solitary figure - ignored and shunned by the other inhabitants of the Irish island she lives on, she spends her days in a dark, lonely house with her grandmother - the two of them looking after the 'bed thing' that is Aoileann's mother. When a young mother arrives to the island, Aoileann develops a scary obsession with the woman and a growing resentment towards the child.
This book is fantastic in creepy setting and horrific situations, that are desperately sad and brutal all at the same time. The isolated island life, especially experienced through someone even further ostracised, was done so well and there were times I didn't know whether to hate the islanders for their ways or pity them.
Aoileann was honestly a scary character - she had been through so much, clearly she was deficient on the social front and had no idea how to interact with others or form normal attachment, and then she also had been the victim of assault from the island men. And then to live in a house that is more or less a prison on top of all of that. It's no wonder the beauty, simplicity and charm of Rachel obsessed her to the point of dangerous behaviour.
I do think this book may be a hard read for people who are family carers, and therefore I wouldn't recommend it to these people. There are some moments in this that made me so uncomfortable due to the way Aoileann and her grandmother treated her mother - they kept her as comfortable as possible, and cared for her in the way they knew how but there were moments that made you truly wonder if she was trapped in a terrible silent prison of her own self. And as Aoileann's obsession deepens, her behaviour towards her mother becomes more resentful and cruel.
I can't say I loved this novel as there were times I felt I had to look away due to those uncomfortable moments and the creepy feeling while reading the book as Aoileann became further out of reach from normality. But in terms of atmosphere it was top notch and for people who like literary horror, books with chilling senstions, this could be perfect....more
When Louis Creed and his family move to a new home in the town of Ludlow, Maine, they are warned by their elderly neighbour to keep an eye on their peWhen Louis Creed and his family move to a new home in the town of Ludlow, Maine, they are warned by their elderly neighbour to keep an eye on their pets and children thanks to a busy road out front that's claimed the life of many a cat and dog. The Creeds settle in, but soon tragedy strikes and Louis is allowed into a dark secret of Ludlow that may change how he see life and death forever.
This was my first Stephen King book, and I'm so glad I enjoyed it. This was a great mix of slight horror and creep but also a lot of just ordinary things happening in the book such as the day to day family life in the Creed household. I really liked seeing the father-son relationship that formed between Louis and Jud, and how they took care of each other and Ellie and Gage as kids in a book were actually fairly cute which I often think is hard to do. I also enjoyed some of the ups and downs and complexities of Louis and Rachel's marriage - things weren't perfect, they never are but I liked seeing how they supported and cared for each other and how they continued as a unit through all the up and down.
As an animal lover, I was afraid of what this book may entail when it comes to animal death but thankfully it was all pretty much okay, and very readable. My only problem was the treatment Church received from his family after his 'resurrection'. It was Louis's choice (or maybe it wasn't, depending on how you interpret what happened) to go ahead and bury him, and he was the one that brought him back only to throw him out, kick him and treat him with disgust and I felt sorry for poor Church.
The ending of this was so tense, though I do think the actual terrifying parts with Gage were so brief and over very quickly. I really liked it though and I will happily go on and read another book by Stephen King in the future....more
When Chris MacNeil's daughter starts acting strangely, she does everything in her power to help her from doctors, hospitals and medication. But as thiWhen Chris MacNeil's daughter starts acting strangely, she does everything in her power to help her from doctors, hospitals and medication. But as things go from bad to worse, Chris finally turns to the last place she would think in her desperation - the Catholic Church in order for them to perform an exorcism on young Regan.
This....was interesting, I guess? I'm not a huge horror reader, but predictably I'm a little basic at this time of year and often I'm feeling like picking up some kind of horror/scary book to give me the spooky, Halloween feels and there's times that this book definitely does but not so much as with what is written on the page but more so the imagining of the terror and pain going on in this family and what this demon is doing to a poor little girl. That's definitely the hardest part of this book - especially when there's a point the demon uses Regan's own hands to mutilate herself in front of her mother.
I can't say I enjoyed this book either due to the subject matter, and even though I didn't find this overly violent or gross in any way (the worse/most vulgar parts in the book were really when the priests were describing some of the consecration of the church and what some people were doing to the statues, or what this kind of consecration/devil worship entailed). There is a style to this book that is impressive, and despite some of the horror, and the language and the shocking scenes, there's an intelligence behind the story and all the characters that is evident in all of the conversations from Father Karras and Father Dyer, to Detective Kinderman.
I don't think I'd necessarily recommend this book but I'm glad I've finally picked up one of the 'horror classics'....more
In the second book in The Marionettes series, blood witch Valerie Darkmore continues battling some dark secrets as she and her vampire partner Prince In the second book in The Marionettes series, blood witch Valerie Darkmore continues battling some dark secrets as she and her vampire partner Prince Reginald investigate a series of brutal killings in the area.
This was another fun read, and I could definitely see some improvements from the first book even in the lessening of the amount of plot points around Valerie. In this book, the story was allowed to breathe a bit more and we focused on the after effects of the wendigo attack on Valerie, and the changes it's made to her hunger levels - and who she feeds from. I do think, similar to the first book, that Connor feels like a non-story and I really didn't care about him and his new vampire struggles in this one (also Val, you're telling me you've been with Connor for YEARS and you've never experienced an orgasm with him?!?). Unless Connor becomes a more major player in the third or fourth book, he hardly needed to be included at all.
I really enjoyed the spicy scene we got in this book, and honestly I never thought a bathroom (a shared one at that) could become so sexy but it did! The chemistry between Valerie and Reid has been strong from the very start but it was off the wall in this book, and that chapter which included a bed sharing scene (in a dormitory with many others around) and the tension from the sexiness plus the need to be quiet was electric.
Again, the book ends on a cliffhanger though not quite as shocking or abrupt as the first book. Still one that has made me really excited for the third book!...more
In the town of Burrowhead, something dark is brewing as the body of a local man is found stabbed to death in the playground and policewoman Georgie 'sIn the town of Burrowhead, something dark is brewing as the body of a local man is found stabbed to death in the playground and policewoman Georgie 's investigation into the crime begin to uncover a whole lot of ugliness hiding not so deep within the town inhabitants from homophobia to racism. On top of that, the long ago memories of the town seem to be haunting the ground and a sinister feeling is strong and ready to devour.
I listened to this book on audiobook and as a creepy, dark read it certainly hit the spot.
This book starts off with a bang with the discovery of the body of local psychiatrist Alexis by his policeman boyfriend Simon, and we are introduced to the small Burrowhead police team quickly from head honch Georgie, petite but fierce Trish, heartbroken Simon and forensics man Cal. As is typical of most crime books, we learn that there's many a thing going on in everyone's lives to make the case feel personal as Georgie battles with childhood memories, and struggled in her marriage and Trish cares for an elderly uncle battling dementia.
There's a lot going on this book in terms of town history, and it feels like a starter book that we are only on the tip of the iceberg so to speak. I definitely feel intrigued by what will happen in the final two books and how everything will come about - though I think I will pair them with a lighter read as I found this one just quite bleak and depressing as it was just dark in atmosphere and the ill feeling from the villages such as the racist attacks was just heavy at times as well....more
This is the memoir of Art Barbara - a perfectly ordinary guy who grew up in the 80s and 90s to eventually become a slightly washed up musicia3.5 stars
This is the memoir of Art Barbara - a perfectly ordinary guy who grew up in the 80s and 90s to eventually become a slightly washed up musician living in his mom's house. Art starts his story when he founded The Pallbearer's Club in school - a social club where students attended the funerals of people without friends or family, and who would also help out the undertakers with burials. And this is where he meets his best friend Mercy, and from the time he met her, Art claims he changed forever.
The fun part of this novel is Mercy is reviewing this book, and adding in her own notes to what happened, and each chapter has a review from Mercy where she critiques Art's memoir (or as she claims, his novel). This aspect of the story makes the audiobook a really fun listen as you have Mercy's voice interjecting in parts of the story and I loved the production of this.
This is a horror book but the horror within it is very, very subtle which is kind of Paul Tremblay's speciality. There is just a slight creepiness and unsettling feeling throughout as Art talks about his relationship with Mercy, the things he may or may not have seen or done and what all that might mean. I think if you like the show Midnight Mass, I would recommend this book.
I did find the middle/start of the second half of the book fell flat for me a little bit as I was waiting for something to happen, and I got just a bit tired of hearing about Art's crappy life when he didn't seem to do anything to help himself. The end definitely perked me up though.
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Marion is tired. Tired of her industrial city of Prane, pumpinI received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Marion is tired. Tired of her industrial city of Prane, pumping out smog into the dirty streets, and especially tired of working as a maid for hardly any money and returning to the slums every night. So when Marion spots a notice looking for Bloodmaid, despite the views of friends and families that she is selling herself, she takes the opportunity to escape the drudgery of her life. When Marion arrives in the House of Hunger, she is immediately initiated into the political hierarchy of Bloodmaids and finds herself vying for the top spot, and the love of her mistress Lisavet.
I really love Alexis Henderson's writing and this book definitely sealed it for me. This is vampy and horrifying in all the right ways, with a perfect level of blood, violence combined with just the right amounts of sexiness.
The world Marion lives in what very much feels like a post Civil-War era US, separated into North and South with both areas divided on behaviour and views. There's not a lot of world building but just enough that we learn about the bigger differences between North and South, and how much it takes for someone to be able to travel between them.
I went into this blood initially believing that it was about some kind of vampiric creature using bloodmaids - but the truth that it (appears) to be normal people is almost even more horrifying. As is the reality that this world Marion lives in is run by blood in almost every matter - including the train which is run on 'blood fuel'. A lot of Marion's experience in the House of Hunger has a hazy, almost dream like quality as she is taken in with the wealth, the food and the comfort while almost daily being bled in payment.
I don't think there was a huge amount in this book that really shocked me - you can kind of figure out what must be happening and what kind of dark secrets the house is holding. I did like the showdown and it all the right amount of tension to keep me gripped. ...more
When Jules hits on hard times, losing her apartment, job and boyfriend all in one day, she thinks she's hit the jackpot when she ends up being offeredWhen Jules hits on hard times, losing her apartment, job and boyfriend all in one day, she thinks she's hit the jackpot when she ends up being offered a job to apartment sit at the Bartholomew - a prestigious block of apartments in New York. But things start feeling off when another apartment sitter disappears, and Jules begins to find out there a lot of strange stories connected to her new home.
This ended up being a great surprise for me, as I didn't expect to enjoy it so much or to feel as utterly creeped out, and spooked either. I think it helps that I'm a big AHS Hotel fan, and this book gives off loads of Hotel vibes - and it's even mentioned in the book too!
I think this was just really well put together, and Riley Sager knew how to pace the book well and put in enough creepy and spooky parts without it being gauche or over the top. I liked Jules as a character and I wanted her to come out of everything alive and well. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting the reveal at all (view spoiler)[ Is Riley Sager a Riverdale fan? (hide spoiler)] but I think it's genuinely terrifying enough, and honestly kind of believable too to make it all even scarier.
I think this is my favourite Riley Sager book I've read to date so far!...more
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