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Showing posts from January, 2020

Spun! by JL Merrow Book Review

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I am finally back to my review archive project. I read this back in 2018 but it never got posted because I was slacking. So here it is! Spun by JL Merrow Released July 2017 Romance   |   Goodreads    |  Amazon Source: Netgalley An ill-advised encounter at the office party leaves David Greenlake jobless and homeless in one heady weekend. But he quickly begs work from his ex-boss and takes a room in Shamwell with easygoing postman Rory Deamer. David doesn’t mean to flirt with the recently divorced Rory—just like he doesn’t consciously decide to breathe. After all, Rory’s far too nice for him. And far too straight. Rory finds his new lodger surprisingly fun to be with, and what’s more, David is a hit with Rory’s troubled children. But while Rory’s world may have turned upside down in the last few years, there’s one thing he’s sure of: he’s straight as a die. So he can’t be falling for David . . . can he? Their friends and family think they know all the answers, and Da

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz Audiobook Review

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This was one of those listens that makes you want to keep driving to hear more. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz Released August 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Library Borrow 11 hours, 1 minute A teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war—with deadly consequences—in this dark and provocative novel by the bestselling author of The Passenger When Alexandra Witt joins the faculty at Stonebridge Academy, she’s hoping to put a painful past behind her. Then one of her creative writing assignments generates some disturbing responses from students. Before long, Alex is immersed in an investigation of the students atop the school’s social hierarchy—and their connection to something called the Darkroom. She soon inspires the girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance. But just as the movement is gaining momentum, Alex attracts the attention of an unknown enemy who knows a little too mu

Seed by Ania Ahlborn Book Review

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Here's another from the archive. I read Seed in 2013. I've since read a few other books by Ania Ahlborn - those posts can be found here . Some of them I've loved, some I have not loved. This is one I liked a lot. Seed by Ania Ahlborn Released 2012 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Library Loan With nothing but the clothes on his back — and something horrific snapping at his heels — Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable nightmare behind forever. Now, years later, the bright new future he’s built suddenly turns pitch black, as something fiendishly familiar looms dead ahead. Surviving a violent car crash seems like a miracle for Jack’s family, but Jack knows there’s nothing divine about it. The profound evil he uncovered as a boy has finally found him again. The thing that crouched at his bedside with soulless

TBR Thursday (6)

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This year I plan to read more books and do less social media time wasting. I am still doing okay with that but my life has been a bit stressed lately so I've been watching Shameless when I should be reading. But sometimes you need to do what your heart tells you to do. And mine tells me that I NEED to know how this relationship between Ian and Mickey ends even if it kills me, lol. Here's what's possibly up next in my reading life (always subject to change based on mood and general flakiness):        All #LadiesOfHorrorFictio n on deck! Except . . . This one here. Yep, I still haven't read this book. *yikes* I think I've posted this one here three times now. Why am I waiting? I think I answered that way up top but I'll get to it . . .  eventually. Currently Reading: This one is gooooood! It's a fun take on the tired old zombie storyline. So far I recommend it very much. I hope your week is going excellently and that a

Wilder Girls by Rory Power Book Review

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Behind that beautiful cover is a book filled with glorious body horrors! Wilder Girls by Rory Power Released July 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Purchased With My Own $ It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to

Audiobook Review: Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt

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This book is icky but I liked it, haha. Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt Released October 2015 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source:  Received for Review Consideration Nick Graves is a miserable man. Every day he comes home from his dream job to a stale marriage. On the day he finally summons the courage to tell his wife, Eve, he wants a divorce she has exciting news for him – she’s pregnant. Nick is a spiteful man. He purchases his dream home in an ideal location far away from family, friends, and coworkers. It’s a life changing decision he’s chosen to make without Eve’s consultation. Nick is a terrified man. He quickly realizes the residents of his new hometown are a bit eccentric. After a trip to the local doctor’s office Eve begins to behave strangely. And once Nick finds out what’s really going on he’ll never be able to look at Eve the same way. My 2 Cents For Free! A shitty man is about to surprise his shi

Audio Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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This book won the Goodreads Choice Award . I was expecting to love it. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo Released October 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Library Borrow Galaxy "Alex" Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she's thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world's most elite universities on a full ride. What's the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale's secret societies. These eight windowless "tombs" are well-know

Book Review: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

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I didn't love this one as much as I'd hoped but I think it's my own fault. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon Released February 2014 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source:  Library Loan West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not

Book Review: Hidden City by Alan Baxter

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This was fun and just the right amount of gross! Hidden City by Alan Baxter Released February 2018 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration When the city suffers, everyone suffers. Steven Hines listened to the city and the city spoke. Cleveport told him she was sick. With his unnatural connection to her, that meant Hines was sick too. But when his friend, Detective Abby Jones, comes to him for help investigating a series of deaths with no discernible cause, Hines can’t say no. Then strange fungal growths begin to appear in the streets, affecting anyone who gets too close, turning them into violent lunatics. As the mayhem escalates and officials start to seal Cleveport off from the rest of the world, Hines knows the trouble has only just begun. My 2 Cents For Free! If you’re in need of a fun, slightly gross, imaginative tale of magic and gritty urban fantasy with perfect little touches of ho

Book Review: The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

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Whatever you do, don't read the blurb on GR or Amazon! The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters Released December 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration A supernatural thriller in the vein of A Head Full of Ghosts about two young girls, a scary story that becomes far too real, and the tragic--and terrifying--consequences that follow one of them into adulthood. Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face... In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it. I cut off the blurb here because it is a GREAT BIG SPOILER!!  ♥ Bark My 2 Cents For Free! I love s

Book Review: Where Stars Won't Shine by Patrick Lacey

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I'm back on my never-ending horror spree! Here are some thoughts on Patrick Lacey's Where Stars Won't Shine. He's also written  Dream Woods   which I reviewed last year. Where Stars Won't Shine by Patrick Lacey Released January 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration I'll be seeing you. That's the note left behind for Ivy Longwood when infamous killer Tucker Ashton murders her boyfriend. Several years later, after Tucker vanishes from his jail cell, Ivy travels to Ashton's hometown of Marlowe, Massachusetts. Not for closure or therapy. She's being called there. Steered by forces beyond her control. What she'll find is not the quiet suburban town Marlowe once was. It's something new. Something dark. Something that answers the question: Where did Tucker Ashton go?  My 2 Cents For Free! An author is haunted by the serial killer he spent years re

TBR Thursday (5)

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This year I plan to read more books and do less social media time wasting. So far I am doing okay but I have to admit it is tough to ween myself off the internet. They're not kidding when they say that stuff is addictive! I am feeling noticeably better about the state of the universe the less I use it even if I find its siren call difficult to ignore sometimes. Anyhow, I hope you're all starting the year off with a good book! Here's what's up next in my reading life (always subject to change based on mood and general flakiness):  Next up on audio is RITUALISTIC HUMAN SACRIFICE by C.V. Hunt .  I have a copy on audio that the narrator sent me. I LOVED Cockblock and am anxious to read all of her work now. I still haven't read this one. *yikes* So . . .  soonish I'll be reading  HOW TO SURVIVE A HORROR MOVIE  by Seth Grahame-Smith.  Currently Reading: THE TWISTED ONES by T. Kingfisher  is my current read. I have about 80 page

Sleep in the Dust of the Earth by Anthony Hains Book Review

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If you like creepy, this one is for you! Sleep In The Dust of The Earth by Anthony Hains Released February 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Received for Review Consideration Sometimes they come back angry … Ace’s life is satisfying in an ordinary sort of way. At twenty-five he’s deeply in love with his wife of two years, and he and Runa are expecting their first child. But when Ace’s mother-in-law passes away after a short illness, things take a turn for the weird. Everyone in the family knows that Gretchen dabbled in the occult prior to her death, inviting friends over for occasional tarot card readings and sĂ©ances. What most of them don’t know is that she spent a considerable amount of time training her grandchildren in the art of the uncanny. Now Brinn and Oliver appear to be experimenting with strange rituals—rituals linked to increasingly disturbing events. To get a handle on what’s happening, Ace and Runa begin investigating Gretchen’