Coleen

I really enjoyed this book. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Fun characters that were easy to relate to, even if one of them was a ghost. This cozy mystery was more about how the MCs got along and how they learned to be friends and communicate. I am definitely interested in continuing this series if Olivia Blacke is going to continue it like she implies. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who just wants a fun light “paranormal” mystery.

I was enthralled with thos book. Told from mostly 3 different characters POV. They are former foster kids who are summoned because some human remains (bones) were found on the home of where they stayed when they were in foster care. The foster mother is cruel of course like a stereotypical foster parent. Even though I don't like stereotypes this was well written. I do like how the girls become sisters.

I'd recommend this to anyone who like a thriller. I will definitely be reading this author again.

3.5 stars rounded up.
This was a mostly good book. It dragged a little at points. The reveal of the past seance gone wrong was just too much build-up for not enough payoff IMO. It was spooky and chilling and pretty well written for most of the book. The only thing that made it downgrade from a true 4 star book was towards the end of the book. I was on board with an evil spirit but I felt it was overwrought and took down my rating.
I'd recommend this book to people who want a pretty well written spooky read.

I don't know what category to put this in. I read the “Baroness” sequence and enjoyed it immensely.I might go back and just read it like a normal book from cover to cover. This is the story of a lifetime. Actually I should say lifetimes.

Eerie dark and bleak but really good. The build-up to the last 1/3 was good but that last part just kicks you in the stomach. Great job! I recommend this book wholeheartedly/

I don't know if I was expecting better things from this book because of the rave reviews but I found it to be okay. Not WOW not bad but somewhere in the middle.

Still Missing is still my favorite Chevy Stevens book, but I did like this story. I think the domestic abuse angle was well researched. It wasn't typical, but like life everything is different and has some similarities to fit in a label. I did like the mystery aspect a lot, even if I saw it coming earlier.

Good read for those who like thrillers and don't mind time jumps from past to present.

This was a pretty good book. I think the only thing I didn't like was the fact that I knew what was going to be the “surprise” pretty early on. The main character is likable and you are hoping that she finds peace. I do like how it left the story open ended sort of with the epilogue.

This book was my first Diane Chamberlain book but if all her works are similar in quality it definitely won't be my last. Necessary Lies is set in rural North Carolina during 60's. Ivy, is 15 and practically running her poverty stricken family which consist of her grandmother who is diabetic and doesn't take good care of herself, Mary Ella, Ivy's 17 year old sister who is mentally handicapped and Mary Ella's two year old son William. Jane is a young social worker, newly married and new to the job. Jane becomes very invested in Ivy and her family and of course as the reader you do too. This book delves into the Eugenics programs that the U.S. had in place, and unfortunately can still be seen as being practiced in smaller ways with coerced consent being still practiced when giving tubal ligations to female prisoners as late as 2010 in California. This book makes you care very deeply about what happens with Ivy and her family and with Jane. Even though I've never been in either women's shoes I found them both very relatable. This story transports you very succesfully back to 1960 rural North Carolina, and into Ivy and Jane's lives. Great book, and I highly recommend it.

Miriam is a total bad as A crazy bad who is a walking Machine of Death. She touches someone and she sees how they're going to die. She accepts this as inevitable nothing to do about it. Then she finds someone who's future death haunts her. She doesn't want to care because fate has made it's choice, but she does in spite of herself. Part urban fantasy, part horror and all thrilling action. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I've read splatterpunk and been less disturbed I think because it was based on a true story made it hard for me to stomach. It wasn't for me.

This was my first Naomi Novik book and I will be checking out her other works too after this because I really loved this story.

I loved the story of the Dragon, the Wood and of course Agnieszka. The magic was wonderful. Agnieszka was glorious in the discovery of herself and the Dragon (magician) as a real person not just some figure she has learned to love for the protection he brings to her village but also fear because he is so reclusive.

Spoiler The queen and Kasia's trial after they had been “corrupted” by The Wood. I get the Wood is evil and it leads to an exciting climax but just like Agnieszka in the story I was just waiting for something to happen and it was a tad too long of a wait.
Recommend to fantasy and magic lovers

I'm very impressed by the author's skill in character building. I became so attached to Willow and the mismatched characters who come into her life that I was actually anxious for Willow to have a happy ending. Even though there were some aspects of the book I had trouble with I'd definitely recommend this to kids who are looking for an interesting and introspective book.

Interesting book. The saddest part is even though this is a fantasy book I could see people denying rights to a group just because they're scared. It's happened in the past it is happening now all over the world including the U.S. I can imagine a scenario which leads to what happens in this book because of fear.
In this book Delilah “Lilah” is visiting a cryptid menagerie when suddenly she transforms into an unknown cryptid. There are cryptids from succuabe, oracles, werewolves, minotaurs, griffins,berserker and ones you've heard less of like werecats, ifrits etc. When Delilah changes she is arrested and the local sherriff is looking to sell her. She has spent 25 years as a human and then suddenly she has no rights and can be bought or sold like property. The animals ie dogs, research monkeys and zoo animals actually have more protections then the cryptids. This is because in 1986 there was a “reaping” Spoiler where people all over the U.S. were dead because there was a compulsion where parents or other family members killed everyone in their whole family minus a child in the house who was exactly 6 years old. It is told like the adults were compelled by these cyptids which are never identified are the 6 year old survivors. So all cryptids including human like cryptids like oracles had their rights and protections taken away. Even if they were as intelligent as 100% humans.
She is sold to the menagerie which is a traveling zoo that displays cryptids. Of course the treatment of these cryptids is so deplorable that you wonder how people can live with themselves. However you're reminded humans do a lot of horrible things as a group or individually especially when they're scared.
Warning there is some violent scenes that are more detailed and rape and of course torture both physical and psychological. However I'd still recommend it to urban fantasy fans. Interesting read.

This is the first book of the Wayward Children series I'm giving less than 5 stars to. I enjoyed it but I felt that visiting Jack and Jill again was unnecessary. Beautiful writing but...

So I finally got around to reading another one of Richard Laymon's books that I had surprisingly not read. This was like watching one of those 80's horror movies where you're yelling at people GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! Of course, this story is about a murder house where there must be more murders, because reasons. We have to kill the neighbors too for good measure.

Enjoyable schlocky splatterpunk fun. Not my favorite Laymon by far but still a nice walk down my memory Laymon Lane.

I feel like I just punished myself by finishing this book. I'm sure other people will like the book and the main character, Eleanor. For me I'm not on board. I couldn't stand Eleanor, I just cringed constantly while reading about her. However I kept expecting the book to get better, and it never did. So... maybe not the book for me.

The author did a great job with making me as a reader invested in Judith. First you get brief bursts of knowledge about her in this wonderful and lyrical second person narrative. These beginning short burts are so beautifully written. It starts out like Judith cut off from her neighbors and her family because she is made mute by a man and her mother's orders because she has didsdain for the girl she came back as with half her tongue cut out. The short bursts become longer and longer as Judith realizes that there is more to herself than just these small glimpses.

I'd recommend this to those who like historical fiction, don't mind second person narrative and a book that has wonderful lyrical moments.

I was fooled into reading this by all the stellar reviews, and book jacket description. As I read the book I wondered if this would be the time I was so disgusted with a book that I would throw it. Which in my mind is something I DON'T do because I respect books too much to do that. The only thing preventing me from throwing it at a wall this time was that it was a library loan. I'm not going to talk about it much besides the fact that my loathing for this book is deep. The only reason I finished it was it was a book club choice. Otherwise it'd be on my books I despised and refuse to finish pile.

Such a fun little book. Jack Sullivan is a monster slaying tween. The world may be full of zombies, winged wretches, tentacle demons and the ultra monster known as Blarg, but Jack Sullivan 13 year old abandoned foster kid who is in the middle of the monster apocalypse is going to slay those monsters. This book is great for kids who like Diary of A Wimpy Kid style books but with more monsters which automatically make it “cooler”. Lots of humor with the right Mixon tongue in cheek horror that isn't stereotypically scary but good anyway.

Holy crap! What a book! It's the creepiest book I've read in my life! Bela is a girl who has a “friend”. Is it an imaginary friend? This book is told from the child's POV. I think that is what makes The Other Mommy so scary and menacing. Also Bela's parents aren't abusive but their confessions when they think she is sleeping make it more uncomfortable IMO. This is my favorite Josh Malerman. If you're in for a good scare I HIGHLY recommend this book.

This was okay. Fair warning most of the book is not horror at all. I don't feel like the scary part made it any better or worse. It just was. Might just not have been the book for me.

Naomi Novik has become an auto-buy author for me and she hasn't let me down yet. 

-Araminta, or, the Wreck of the Amphidrake 3.75/5:

-After Hours 4/5

-Vici 3.75/5

-Buried Deep 5/5: So DAMN good! I loved this retelling of the Theseus myth. Ariadne was wonderfully written and her love for her brother and her intelligence was just beautiful.

-Spinning Silver 4/5

-Commonplaces 3.5/5

-Seven 4.5/5

-Blessings 5/5: Perfect little story. The drunk fairies and their “blessings” were a hoot. Loved the ending!

-Lord Dunsany's Teapot 4.25/5

-Seven Years From Home 5/5: JFC that was a great story! The buildup of the war between the Esperigans and the Meldians was remarkable. The viewpoint of an imperial outsider becoming an ally was gloriously done. The Meldians were so freaking mesmerizing I want a whole book about the Meldians now!

-Dragons & Decorum 3.75/5

- Castle Coeurlieu 4/5

There is a sneak peek at her work in progress called The Long Way Round and I'd suggest getting your hands on this book to read this story. I'm already excited for the story tentatively titled Folly.

My oh my was this a fun story. I loved Emily and her determination to have the most complete fairy encyclopedia. I loved the stories she told of “folk”. I really enjoyed her relationship with Wendell and how it developed. Great story would recommend highly.

This is not creepy or thrilling but still highly enjoyable. It's about friendship.loss and letting go. It was still mysterious with a possible ghost. The lengths we will go to for our friends even if they're gone. Would recommend