C. J. Daley

I received this novella to judge for SFINCS. Opinion is my own, and does not represent that made by the team. I did also happen to purchase this on audible, as I am busy, and audiobooks are helping me keep up. The narration is very solid. 
Right off the bat, this novella hits us with a group of clone soldiers. They're used to wage someone else's war, never given a choice. And while there are many of them, it's obvious that they come from only a couple of original sets of genes, only changing certain aspects based off desired jobs in the military. John, seemingly just another clone, gives us unique thoughts and personality. It makes me think of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and how it humanized and personalized the clones. 
When wanting more is a death sentence, John might just find out that there really is more to life than what he's been offered, but will he live to get it?
I just felt like it was lacking a little bit in lore, building and description of what the world is. This partially works because as a clone, John would not be privy to everything, but I do think there are ways that more could have been included. 
Personally 3.5/5*, an enjoyable quick read! 

Grabbed this during the latest audible 2-for-a sale, and gave it a go on a long drive for Spooky Season. 
Let me say that I know today's traditional publishing is all about likening books to others (some agents even ask for it when querying), but this one says Bad Moms meets My Best Friend's Exorcism and unfortunately it's so spot on that it feels almost as if this book exists simply to be those two things blended. It does not read at all unique. 
A set of best friend soccer moms unearth a demonic entity when breaking ground on their to-be she-shed. Throughout the summer, their boxed-wine nights become less frequent as their possessed friend slowly marks each of them for doom and gloom. When some of them think moving away might be the only decision left to them, Amy, the lead, decides she has to bring them back together to free their friend for good. 
There are some very annoying (to me) stereotypes of husbands not helping, not listening, not being involved. I apologize that women still deal with things that should be from generations past, and it's certainly not a fault of the author's for including it, but it felt like a lot. (Men stop being tone dead and lazy)
I still had a decent amount of fun with this on though. The main character and author's voice were enjoyable and realistic. Personally a 3/5*. 

I received this novella to judge for SFINCS. Opinion is my own, and does not represent that made by the team. I did also happen to purchase this on audible, as I am busy, and audiobooks are helping me keep up. The narration is very solid. 
This novella does one of my all-time favorite things: mixing genres. It is a fantasy world, with trolls, demons, elves, gods and shapeshifters. But it is also modernized, kind of like Netflix's ‘Bright', but with more of a gangster noir feel.  It's gritty and witty, exactly how noir should be. The trolls are the gang muscle, and shapeshifters thieves. It works well. 
With that being said, this is part of the author's Alexander Southerland, P.I. series, and although it is possible to read it as a standalone, it feels as if it would only be enhanced by reading the others first. I just feel like, on its own, the content is not necessarily focused on something I would typically chose to read. The use of sex work opens the story to lots of misogyny. Although it does include a very thought out, and thoughtful, content warning before the start of it. 
Personally a 3.5/5* for me. I will definitely check out the series. 

Grabbed this during a 2-for-1 sale for Spooky Season, coincidentally didn't realize that I also had NetGalley waiting on a review (sorry)! It's a little different as a domestic horror, but I enjoyed. The narration is well done, and the character's voice comes to life. 
First and foremost, this is kind of a dark comedy. Or at the very least, the artistic voice comes across as funny. A lot of the analogies and metaphors are witty, and something I have never quite achieved in my own writing. 
In a way, I would liken this to a fictional “I'm Glad My Mom Died” as it shows a lot of the darker sides of motherhood: abuse, obsession, and dysfunction. It also goes into depression and delusion in a very atmospheric way. 
Unfortunately the end did lose me for a bit, which is when it was supposed to be building to climax, but it did end with quite the surprise. Personally a 3/5*, a fun one. 

And I absolutely love the cover!

Gave this a go when I saw that all except for 2 are currently included with audible. Just in time to head into October spooky reads, and I love some scifi shark horror. Each one's been a little less science and a bit more fiction, but parts have remained fun. 
This one has a time jump. Jonas is now a father of two children, a boy and a girl, and is also 64 (?) years old. The family is broke because the Tanaka institute's loss of Angel the Meg. Terry is trying to force him to write his memoirs, figuring they'd sell well. This book really sells him as a has-been, even though he was a graduate in paleontology, it's just kind of glossed over as not relevant. 
So when Jonas is offered a co-host position for a daredevil reality TV show, he jumps at the prospective paycheck. This is obviously just a plot point that would get Jonas Taylor back on the ocean, that part I can respect, but it went so incredibly heavy into the stunts and the characters' personal experience and thoughts with them that it just made no sense at all. It was too much and took away from the story itself. Not to mention the author took the opportunity to sexualize Jonas' 17 years old daughter, a character he wrote, and could have easily made older, but clearly he liked that idea. He also loves to make Terry and Jonas daydream about cheating. 
All of these should have a content warning for misogyny right with the blurb, it's almost to the point where they are hard to read, but the shark horror continues to bring fun to the stories and that kind of keeps me holding on. Personally a 3/5*, I need a break. 

Gave this a go when I saw that all except for 2 are currently included with audible. Just in time to head into October spooky reads, and I love some scifi shark horror. 
This book took the writing to all new heights. All new heights or scientific inaccuracies that is... the author has a group of Kronosaurus living in the Mariana Trench. Not only have they survived millions of years, but clearly they have evolved to have gills, therefore they can live in the trench! Which that part is fine because if it could survive for millions of years, sure it may have evolved. But what gets me is the choice of a kronosaur, which was believe to be an INLAND sea marine reptile. Now it's in the Mariana tench?
It is strange to me that the book continually describes the megalodons as being albino, practically luminescent in the water they are so white, and yet every cover on the series is so lazy that it's just a great white made to look big, not even colored to appear white. And I'll complain again, Meg and the great white...not that closely related, they'd look different! This book focuses on Angel, the Meg pup that was captured at the end of book 1. Somehow it has only been four years and the meg has grown to over 70ft, larger than the largest Meg ever found (the average of which is 30ft in the fossil records, and these sharks could have lived to like 100). The author tries to explain this by it being in heavily oxygenated water, as opposed to the tench. But that argument would suggest that the megs mother would have been smaller due to growing in the trench, however she was also 64ft, so that seems invalidated. Okay...I'm sorry for the random history argument 
This book introduces the Tanaka's business partner Benedict Singer. He is willing to do absolutely anything to get what he wants. He is to this book what the mob was to Jaws. You can really tell that this author idolizes Jaws, because he cannot seem to write a different plot line. They also have in common the fact that apparently marriages cannot be happy. The love interests seem to only exist to give the books a happy ending, they are always in strife the next book. 
All that complaining aside, as well as the fact that even with the added baddie and more monsters it's the exact same story twice, it's actually still quite fun. There's just something about such a large shark churning the ocean red. Personally a 4/5*, we'll see how many of these I can stand. 

Gave this a go when I saw that all except for 2 are currently included with audible. Just in time to head into October spooky reads, and I love some scifi shark horror. 
This prequel novella sets out to show what happened on the Mariana Trench mission that cost two scientists their lives and almost killed Jonas Taylor as well. The audio includes a preface where the author mentions wanting to finally give the reader the inside details, as well as adding Easter eggs for book 5. Personally, this part did not really work for me, but it was nice to go back to. (I still think the prequel should be first in the audio, then Meg...). 
The Easter eggs do not work for me because it gets confusing even though it's short. Especially with the audio. The scientists are actively discussing megalodons and calling Jonas crazy, meanwhile in the first book it makes it sound much more cut and dry. He was overtired and on a dive he shouldn't have been. During the dive, he caught a glimpse of a gigantic shark head, panicking, he rushed them to the surface. The meshing of meg talk with that makes the credibility of calling him a crackpot seem less likely for me personally. 
Also this book really amped up the old men talking about women's bodies style of writing. I get that people actually do talk like that, but it's so heavily present in this and that's just unnecessary. I'm here for sharks, not misogyny. 
Personally a 3/5*, didn't scratch the itch I was looking for. 

Gave this a go when I saw that all except for 2 are currently included with audible. Just in time to head into October spooky reads, and I love some scifi shark horror. 
For starters, I was surprised by just how hard science the scifi is presented as. The author's love for Jaws meshed with his reading about megalodon and the Mariana Trench into this fast paced, full-of-teeth ride. Some of the information is a bit dated now based off some of the newer things we've learned about the trench, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of this. The entire novel is kind of posed as this conspiracy theorist-esque take on if the megalodon had not actually gone extinct. And honestly, it's hard to tell where that obsession ends and the novel writing begins. The information within is presented from scientists, and the author spared no expense in making sure it sounded like it. The equipment being used, the shape, size, build of the sharks, even down to tiny details like how big a megalodon's nostrils would be. 
I will say the author does jump right to the very max that scientists believe the Meg could grow to, only stating that the females were larger than males. As if the significantly younger ones at the sizes of 20, 30, 40, or even 50 feet wouldn't be absolutely terrifying as well. 
The main character of Jonas is interesting, but it was kind of hard to see where the hothead military guy ended and the paleontologist began. Personally makes total sense they cut out that last part for the movie, because literally no one would believe that of Jason Statham. Absolutely gutted though that “It's a megalodon” from the movie isn't directly from the novel.  

Also the Meg was not nearly as closely related to the great white shark as the author repeatedly states (although to be fair, it was previously thought to be). 
Personally a 4/5*, still an intensely bloody story, but it was presented as much more solid than I expected. 

I won an audible code for this, I believe from the narrator, so I gave it a listen. 
This book meshes hotel horror with Norse mythology. It starts with Victor arriving at the hotel after receiving a free trip from a radio show he can't seem to remember participating in. When he meets Silje, the woman staying in the room next to him, he can't help but feel as if he's known her for a long time. It is from there that things get a little... strange. 
It mixes magic, eternal and fated lovers, action, suspense, and expansive knowledge of Norse mythology. It handles the pacing pretty well while only feature a handful of characters. But it does miss the mark of atmospheric horror for me, which I believe had to do with length. The blurb mentions The Shining, but this has a shorter opening, so I didn't get that eerie back-of-the-neck creeping feeling. 
Personally a 4/5* for me. I look forward to checking out more by the authors. 

I grabbed this one during the Velox Books rerelease, but decided to also grab the audio so that I'd have time to get through it for Hispanic Heritage Month. Horror anthologies are my jam and this one didn't disappoint. 
Reyes puts some fun, some horrific, and some really unique ideas into this one. I definitely imagined that some of these could have been longer, or later adapted out into full length works. There are just a couple that mesh a few things in a new way, and that would be cool to see it explored further. Not that the short form isn't good too!
A lot of these take place on Halloween night, or close to it, and it definitely works as I personally tend to pick up horror short story collections around Spooky Season. 
Also shoutout to Jack Forest making an appearance, I will definitely be reading that novelette soon too. 
I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for Devil's Hill II, so it was cool to step back and see where it all started. 
Personally a 4/5*. House of Souls and The Monster Slash were my favorites. 

This is book three of the Mortal Techniques. They all function as standalone stories, but reading them in order does definitely add a bit to each as two and three feature side characters turned leads. 
This one was a bit drawn out for me. The opening felt overlong and towards the middle of the book it still only had a singular plot point. I don't necessarily think books need a reason to exist though, I just didn't find the ‘why' for a while. 
Haruto is immortal and promises to rid the world of evil spirits. He uses ritual staffs to cleanse the world of them, and it's a clever choice by the author to have the staffs get re-blessed in between each use. This allows for the main to not be all powerful. It also has some unfortunate repercussions for our hero. 
Haruto is accompanied by an old, ornery poet, who may or may not have a familiar past. They go from town to town, removing spirits, destroying kimonos, drinking wine, and getting paid. They also pick up a couple more friends along the way. Additional connections everywhere!
The combat is great, unique, and thrilling. The use of so many different spirits keep things fresh along the way with different abilities and what it takes to stop them. 
Personally a 4/5* for me, Never Die still hails as king. 

This is the sequel to Adella of the Campos. The author offered me a review copy and I couldn't say no! 
They are both pretty fantastic sailor/pirate fantasy novels that feel at times almost like historical fantasies. The world, locations, people and traveling all feel real and possible. But with some magic/mythological stuff mixed in too. The sea creatures continue to show their fangy faces! 
Adella is a fierce main character that is still the bleeding heart of the story. Her actions have consequences that carry over into this second novel, and she processes them in real time. Some of the things she survives though have me feeling like she's almost Lara Croft-level crazy! 
The author definitely has some experience with horses because the story focuses on some things that other authors, who may not have that experience, are likely to never think of. It has a way of grounded things, even combat, that makes it very personal to the reading experiences. The way they react almost makes you feel like the rider. 
My only tiny gripe, which isn't really even a complaint at all, is that like the tides in the title, the climax kind of ebbs and flows in a way that makes it kind of just happen, rather than building to a crashing wave. 
Personally a 4/5*, I recommend picking up the series, stat! 

The author offered me an audible code to give this a listen, and I'm so glad he did. The narration by Jamie Treselyan was fantastic work. 
This book is honestly a wild ride. It's long, but it doesn't end up feeling long enough. It starts in a somewhat grounded fantasy world. There is magic, but it comes with the landscape of the world. Then however, it turns into a full on science fiction / fantasy mix as the mystery opens up. I won't spoil anything, but it does end up coming together and making sense. 
Darius, a boy with visions and unbelievable strength, receives an invite to the Training Grounds. It is a prestigious school, so he isn't sure why he's been accepted, but he agrees to go. With that comes the general growing pains of new places, new faces, and learning new things. In my opinion, these are some of the most unique classes and school backdrop since the Boy Who Lived. Each class gives background on the world, as well as helping us to understand that the students are progressing, and I didn't feel bored for a single minute. 
The school does feature a tournament that feels very Triwizard Tournament meets The Hunger Games, as unexpected deaths are almost expected as kids battle for the cash prize. This did feel a little underwhelming to me, as it got a bit washed out by everything else going on, but it was cool to see the kids compete. Also it wasn't the climax, so it ended up holding its own. 
The novel comes to a pinnacle with the most scifi/fantasy blend for one hell of a climax. I do wish it had a less cliffhanger ending, but it did make me want even more! Personally a 5/5*, another great. 

The author offered me a review copy, for which I took far too long to get to, but he was really gracious about it. And honestly, I'm pretty pissed I waited. 
This is a vampire-led dark fantasy that is scifi-linked to the author's other works via the Intercontinents. Regardless of that, on its own, this is one of the most unique novels I've read in years. It has the fast paced, fang-fueled action of Underworld (sans guns), with the backdrop of a completely original fantasy world. Since the fall of the Waywards, the Midlands are said to be safe from the vampires, when really they are the focal point of secret vampiric hunting parties. Not everything—and most definitely not everyone—is as they seem. 
The main character of Davion is both accessible while still being somewhat tainted and morally gray. His hands aren't clean, but he still fights for what's right. A secret potion allows him to blend seamlessly with the vampires, being accepted as one of them, but it also leaves him with the same insatiable bloodlust they suffer from. 
The novel somehow manages to be its own entity while still having this entirely gothic feeling to it. The descriptions of the vampiric court are gaudy and vibrant, while still otherworldly. 
This is a first for me from the author, definitely won't be the last. I need to know more about the wolven race! Personally a 5/5*. 

I was very interested in the author's journey to narrate the novel herself, so when I saw an ARC sign up, I jumped right on it. The narration is vivid, distinct and overall a fantastic job for a first outing! 
Other than following along with the author's narration journey, the only thing I knew going into this was that I was a fan of the cover. I believe this falls under what people are calling romantasy, which is not typically my bag, but this one is done pretty spectacularly. The fantasy world isn't just a backdrop, it's living and deep and filled with lore. The romance is front and center in the plot, but the author doesn't leave the world building or characterization behind. I thought the love interest was interesting and believable, and the climax and twists took it to something other than just romance. 
Now there is a bit of spice...the author teases it several times without going there, but then it finally does. Spice is not for me, but I thought the use of it was in the correct places for sure. 
I'm impressed as this is my first from the author, and I'm sure it won't be the last now. Personally a 4/5*. 

The author surprise attacked us with this novella's release, but I ain't mad at it. 
This is a prequel novella that takes place 20 years before the events of The Look of a King. It follows a much younger Roscoe, and his journey to being the pirate/semi-King's man that we know him as. 
This novella is witty, well written, and filled with wise cracks. I will say that I do wish that we got a bit more of the gritty side, as they are pirates, but the story is just as enjoyable without it. 
I would like to be reading side stories from this world for years to come. Let's go to new places, see new faces, and find new favorites. Personally a 5/5* for me, I'm still longing for more. 

I basically freaked out over the release of this cover. It's clear riff on/nod to And Then There Were None both in cover and name—And the complementary colors? A favorite cover this year for sure. 
The novel features the recently accused/first person perspective of Kit, a care giver out of options. So when her boss sends her to the Hope's cliff mansion, she has no choice but to agree. The place has a dark past, the kind of past that gets altered over generations. Now their story's little more than a schoolyard chant, Kit didn't even know that Lenora was actually alive. Lenora is entirely reliant on her caregivers, but she does have one working hand that she can use to communicate... and type. 
I really enjoyed this story. It is a slow burn, but the revelations and chapter endings keep you going. There is a slight level of creepiness, but it doesn't go supernatural. A mansion on a slowly crumbling ocean cliff is a great setting. 
It does suffer a bit from what I've said about several other recent thrillers, where there is just so much thrown in. But Sager does handle it very well. Additionally, I was a bit held up because I feel like it really is like 60-80 pages longer than it needed to be. 
Personally a 4.5/5*, not bad at all for my second Sager read. 

Another thriller book club pick, I went with the audio by Vivienne Lehany. It was done pretty well overall. 
The elephant on the page for me, was that this is the first experience I have ever had with 9/11 being a plot point in a fictional story. I didn't think it was misused or advantageous or anything like that, it just feels weird seeing something I lived through used as history. In some respects, it's even a brave undertaking as it's something that's bound to draw scrutiny. 
A famous novelist is found dead. The woman likely to be indicted for the killing, goes missing the day of 9/11, last seen inside one of the towers. Right before the 20th anniversary, with new technology, a piece of DNA is identified and is a match for the missing woman, Victoria. This leads the novel down a winding path of twists and turns surrounding the supposed guilt. 
Enjoyable and engaging, but does feel like there is a bit too much thrown in. I love thrillers, but I don't feel there needs to be an entire melting pot of ideas. If done well, not everything needs to be a twist. 
Personally a 4/5*. 

I decided to continue on with the audio, as I received Never Die to judge for best narration from the Indie Ink Awards. Kim Bretton does a fantastic job bringing these novels to life. 
This one follows the Art of War, now referred to as Yuu, as she hides from the repercussions of her miscalculation at the end of Never Die. It takes place five years later, but is written to be read as an entirely independent story. Which is good because it has been nine months in between them for me. 
This is pretty unique as the author is giving us the same world, with a previously seen character, but it's a completely different story. The tone, the plot, the pacing. Everything is different. 
Yuu is wrapped up in a competition filled with merciless and vengeful gods, taking out their spite and boredom on those chosen to participate. 
Personally a 4/5* for me. For me the story hit a little less than ND, and for the audio, calling the character Yuu got very confusing as your brain tells you they're saying “YOU”. 

One of my final reads for my Goosebumps July reading. This was technically the final GB spin-off that I had yet to read from, so I'm glad I was able to pull it off. 
Like the holographic cover art shows, this features the spooky spokespeople Lefty, Slim, Righty and each of their choices for spooky short stories. These stories are a bit chunkier than those featured in Tales to Give you Goosebumps, but they're still quite a ways off from the full books.  
Featuring “Ghost Granny”, “Spin the Wheel of Horror”, and “Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space”.
Spooky, quick, and fun. Personally a 4/5*. 

I finished my prior read with one single day left to knock out something GB for my Goosebumps July. So I decided to grab something from the Presents series as they are all around 60 pages. 
I'm glad I was able to knock out one more for July. When I looked at the choices, I knew I wanted to go with this one. It's one of the show's episodes that sticks out the most to me from memories of watching as a kid. And the 8 pages of color images is a kick of nostalgia too. 
Quick, fun, and makes you want to watch the show. A success. Personally a 3/5* for me. 

This is one of the Give Yourself Goosebumps books, and I think the series was serviced really well as a choose your own adventure. It made it both scarier and more climactic flipping back and forth through the pages. At one point I had all five fingers of one hand between pages so that I wouldn't miss any of the endings. 
I went into this hoping for a Goosebumps version of The House of Wax and to a certain extent, it is, but it also does it's own thing. A bit more supernatural, and it pulls a few characters from the original series to appear as wax figures! 
Personally a 5/5*, really enjoyed this format. 

This cover is one of the first I remember from when I was a kid. We used to take shore vacations as a family every year, and sharks were always such a fascinating and scary thing to me. They can be just below you, and you don't even know! 
I honestly didn't remember the story that much, so I was incredibly surprised with the inclusion of mermaids. I think my brain just stuck with the shark cover and that was about it. 
Very enjoyable though, and it was nice to be surprised. The research stuff described, as well as the different marine life on board, definitely had me hooked and wanting more of that background info. 
Personally a 5/5* for me. The setting change was a bit hit. 

Grabbed this one as my Most Wanted read for my Goosebumps July. Technically one of the special editions (a MW miniseries), but I'm counting it for both. 
I have read that Stine usually comes up with the title or tagline first and then artwork gets commissioned, often even before the book's written. Wow though, because this one is just so entirely unrelated to the content. I think I'd care less if I hadn't also gotten burned by the cover of Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls too. I'm just looking for some zombies here. Still a great cover though. 
The creepy old house in the neighborhood seems like the perfect spot to get back at the bullies. No one would expect the class scaredy cats to plot some scares of their own in there. Too bad there's already a haunting going on... 
This one also features a haunted mask that they find in a wooden box. It just kind of read like Stine smushing several of his other ideas into one and that's the only reason why it's a bit longer. Fun regardless though, personally a 3/5*. 

This was included with audible, so my fiancée and I gave it a go on a long drive. 
With influences taken from the same Japanese folklore as the Ring, I was interested in this one from the start. I was nervous with it being YA, but the start was rather gruesome, so I thought it might work. 
As a vengeful spirit, she only attacks those that get away with harming children. Her judgment and execution is swift and gruesome. So why is she hanging, or haunting, around a teenage boy? 
I did not dislike this, but I did find myself feeling like there was simply too much going on. It focused on the boy and his cousin, partially on his mother and father, as well as a having a large part take place in Japan, dealing with a group of women that gave their lives to exorcising demons. Yet somehow, the book was actually about the spirit Okiku. It just read as very clunky. 
One thing that definitely did not work for me was dialogue. The boy is fifteen and his cousin is an eighteen year old teacher's assistant (which I was always under the impression you needed college classes done to do...) but they talk like they are thirty years old. 
Personally a 3/5* but I don't think I'll pick up the second.