Elle

I’d like to thank Netgalley and Gillian Flynn Books, from whom I received an ARC of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I wasn’t sure about the Kittentits audiobook when I started it because to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like the narrator. I kept listening anyway because sometimes narrators grow on me, and I’m glad I did because Stephanie Willing really worked for Kittentits. I especially loved her voice for Jeanie, as she did a great job of bringing out Jeanie’s casual indifference and annoyance towards Molly.

Holly Wilson found a really great balance of writing in the tone of a child but with the style of an adult. Kittentits felt a lot like reading the diary of a 10-year-old girl. It’s written in first-person, and Molly sounds very much like a child, but it doesn’t feel like reading a children’s book.

There’s some offensive language used throughout Kittentits but in my opinion, there are two different kinds of authors when it comes to offensive material. Those that use it just for shock value, and those that use it because it’s an accurate representation of their character’s behavior and the setting. Holly Wilson doesn’t use offensive language just because she wants to shock people. In 1992, Molly uses these words because she’s a kid who thinks it’s badass. She also knows her dad doesn’t like it and she wants attention that she isn’t receiving. She’s lonely and has a lot of anger and grief she doesn’t know what to do with. This is how it comes out.

I didn’t have any preconceived notions of where the story would go after Jeanie faked her death and Molly set out on her adventure but it definitely went way beyond anywhere I would have guessed and into some pretty surreal territory I wasn’t expecting.

Kittentits is my favorite kind of weird book. I thought I’d like it but I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I’ve thought about Molly, a little girl I think I’d have been great friends with as a kid, several times in the days since I’ve finished it, and I expect I’ll think of her from time to time in the future.

I’d like to thank Netgalley and Gillian Flynn Books, from whom I received an ARC of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I wasn’t sure about the Kittentits audiobook when I started it because to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like the narrator. I kept listening anyway because sometimes narrators grow on me, and I’m glad I did because Stephanie Willing really worked for Kittentits. I especially loved her voice for Jeanie, as she did a great job of bringing out Jeanie’s casual indifference and annoyance towards Molly.

Holly Wilson found a really great balance of writing in the tone of a child but with the style of an adult. Kittentits felt a lot like reading the diary of a 10-year-old girl. It’s written in first-person, and Molly sounds very much like a child, but it doesn’t feel like reading a children’s book.

There’s some offensive language used throughout Kittentits but in my opinion, there are two different kinds of authors when it comes to offensive material. Those that use it just for shock value, and those that use it because it’s an accurate representation of their character’s behavior and the setting. Holly Wilson doesn’t use offensive language just because she wants to shock people. In 1992, Molly uses these words because she’s a kid who thinks it’s badass. She also knows her dad doesn’t like it and she wants attention that she isn’t receiving. She’s lonely and has a lot of anger and grief she doesn’t know what to do with. This is how it comes out.

I didn’t have any preconceived notions of where the story would go after jeanie faked her death and Molly set out on her adventure but it definitely went way beyond anywhere I would have guessed and into some pretty surreal territory I wasn’t expecting.

Kittentits is my favorite kind of weird book. I thought I’d like it but I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I’ve thought about Molly, a little girl I think I’d have been great friends with as a kid, several times in the days since I’ve finished it, and I expect I’ll think of her from time to time in the future.

This is my second Natsuko Imamura book (the first was Woman in the Purple Skirt) and I love her writing. Amiko is severely misunderstood by everyone around her, and as a result, she spends a lot of time isolated and confused about the world works. She tries harder to grasp what's going on around her than anyone tries to understand her, which is really depressing.

Alongside Amiko's story is that of her family and how they cope with a loss that devastates them. The descriptions I read say this book is heartwarming and I didn't quite feel that myself. It's more like heart-rending to read on as her father, mother, and brother devolve into shadows of their former selves. As Amiko silently struggles without even realizing she's doing so. It was a good read though and Amiko was an endearing character that I won't soon forget

After reading Carmella in February, I decided I needed more sapphic vampire stories in my life. Around that same time, I stumbled upon House of Hunger, which fit the bill pretty well, and thought the premise sounded great.

While House of Hunger is a horror book, nothing about it stood out to me as horror until around 80%. Up until then, it really felt like dark romance. I understood going into the book that there would be romance, and I'm always fine with that, but only romance for well over half the book when it's categorized as horror just isn't for me. I appreciated some of it, but it still felt too long and slow, and then the last 20% was like: whoa here's some horror and it's going down very quickly whooosh now it's over! I honestly think that if it was paced to my liking, I would have enjoyed it much more.

The atmosphere of the House of Hunger was really dark and luxurious and I feel like I know exactly what its smoky parlors full of drunken overindulgent nobles look like. There are a lot of interesting places and scenes I think would lend themselves perfectly to a movie. I think I'd really enjoy a film based on the book. 

If you're someone who likes romance (with a little spice), and is into mysterious gothic vibes, you might really like House of Hunger!

Nestlings is truly creepy, something I was personally pretty grateful for considering my last horror read didn't feel especially spooky. I went in blind, so I had no idea what the horror aspect was, and I spent about half the book guessing, which was a lot of fun. I love that Cassidy didn't go with the typical tropes so even once I had figured it out, I was still surprised by various characteristics and rules of the Big Bad (which I'm not mentioning in case someone else wants to go in blind, but it's easy enough to look up).

I love how complicated Ana was. She struggled with bitterness over her parapalegia and resentment of her daughter in addition to the normal postpartum stuff. After all, she wouldn't be paralyzed if she hadn't had Charlie. The constant fight in her mind between loving and hating her baby, and then the guilt she felt afterward, the worry she wouldnt and couldn't be a good mother, was heartbreaking. Ana struggled with Reid as well, but in my opinion, anyone would. Reid was a colossal ass. Once upon a time, before this book began, he may have been a good guy, but not anymore. He didn't feel like a complex character, he just felt like an incredibly selfish jerk that only does things that will serve him. He was suffering mentally, just as Ana was, but the ways in which they handled it were so different. Sometimes I did feel like he had a right to be the way he was, or that it made sense, but I was constantly angry at him and even had to remind myself once that he isn't a real person.

There were a few things that were brought up or events that took place that confused me. I understood what was going on, but I didn't really know why it was going on. It didn't feel like filler, exactly, but it didn't feel necessary either. So yeah, a few things had me scratching my head, but the story was good enough that it was easy to shrug them off.

The formatting of the book was very pleasing to me, so I want to mention it too. Short chapters were broken down into small, numbered chunks, and paragraphs were small. I've never complained about paragraph or chapter length before but I liked this very much. Nestlings takes place during the pandemic and in a note at the end, Cassidy explains why. He wanted to “capture the incredibly strange period of time we were living through in 2021 (and '22)” where people wanted the pandemic to be over, but it wasn't quite. Some pretended it was. Some couldn't. It was just a very odd, nebulous time. I think he did a good job of capturing that uncomfortable feeling of the unknown.

Nestlings is a story of grief. It's a story of the complexity of motherhood. It's about feeling like you don't belong . And it's about an ancient evil that predates crosses 😉

I knew next to nothing about The Pale House Devil when I borrowed it from the library. It was in the new fiction section and I basically grabbed it at the last minute on my way out the door because I was in the mood for something short and spooky. I can say now that was a good call.
This frightening and fast-paced creature feature is worth it for Ford and Neuland alone. They may be hitmen but they are also good men with good hearts and they're great friends with excellent banter. I wish they were my uncles.

“Welcome to Aloisville, rainiest town in the rainiest state. Population: we don't recall.” Laverne has lived here for... well, a while. She knows she moved to Aloisville with her husband before their divorce, and at some point, it started raining, but when? There's no way to know for sure, because there's something in the rain water that erases the memories of the people of Aloisville. One drop, and you might lose just a moment, but the more time you spend in the rain, the more you forget until you're just a husk that starves to death because you don't remember how to eat. The town's been blocked off, and the citizens of Aloisville try to plan an escape, but Laverne wants no part of it. She just wants to stay home and stay alive.

I happened upon the audiobook of this novella randomly while looking for something short to listen to last night after I finished a long book. I decided to start it on my nightly walk with my dog, and when I stepped outside, it was raining. I have to say, walking a block in the rain while listening to the journal of a woman who is terrified that the nearly never-ending rainfall outside her house will strip her of her memories was, uh, quite the experience! The narrator, Soneela Nankani, is partially responsible for that, as she really did a great job capturing Laverne's personality and constantly shifting emotions.

It was interesting to see how the people of Aloisville adapted to the rain and how it affected Laverne mentally. The mystery of the rain was my favorite part of the book and I enjoyed coming up with theories about its origin along with Laverne. Her theories were better than mine, though. Because the story is so short, it's hard to say more without giving too much away, so I'll stop here with this: I think the ending was perfect.

I've been excited about Plastic for a long time and checked it out at the library as soon as it was released, but for whatever reason (aka I'm dumb), I didn't start it right away. In fact, I even had to renew the borrow once before I got to it. I'm kicking myself now because once I started it, I could not stop. I devoured this book and I loved it.

Plastic takes a futuristic, dystopian look at climate change and gun violence through an extremely surreal lens with plenty of dark humor. 
This book is extremely unique. The chapters are structured as if they are episodes of a TV show, but it makes sense in the context of the book. The figurines talk in what feels at first like a sort of dumbed-down way. If you've ever seen that episode of the American version of The Office where Kevin starts talking strangely and he says “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick,” it's very much like that. It's strange at first, but easy to get used to as it's really just faster communication. Our way of speaking is even referred to as “old-fashioned dialect,” indicating that this is just the way english has evolved over time.

Sometimes you're reminded that the figurines are made of plastic in the silliest ways, for example when two of them kissed and “their hard lips graze each other's, a scratchy sound of plastic brushing plastic,” a line that pulled me back to my childhood, smushing Barbie faces together to make them kiss. Honestly, the fact that they're plastic and the ways in which they live their plastic lives is a huge reason to read the book because the way Scott Guild translates everything from human body to plastic body is so interesting and fun. But it's just one of many deep themes to consider. While the world within the book was plastic, it mirrored our own possible future so well that it gives the reader a lot to think about.
There's also Plastic: The Album, which tells the story of Plastic through song, like a musical. I listened to a couple songs and they're perfect, so full of emotion. I'm definitely looking forward to the album's release on May 31. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Plastic and I hope Scott Guild has something else in store for us!

Emet North's debut novel, In Universes, is unlike anything I've ever read. It's beautiful, challenging, and the very best kind of strange. Each chapter is just a glimpse into Raffi's life in one of an unlimited number of possible universes. On their own, the chapters could be short stories—all entertaining for different reasons—but together, they weave a tale of grief, love, heartbreak, and the search for self.

Anything is possible when we're talking about infinity, so some of Raffi's lives take place in fairly recognizable universes much like our own, while others take place in universes in which aliens inhabit animal bodies and attack humans, or, in my favorite (because it was both entertaining and absolutely brilliant), mothers fracture into hordes of animals when they give birth to daughters. What the universes all have in common though, is that they all fall within timelines in which Raffi connects with Britt, Kay, Graham, or Alice, and each of Raffi's lives is unique in a perfect way that doesn't make them unrecognizable as the same person. Raffi's shifting and changing relationships with these recurring characters were fascinating, especially the one they had with Britt, who is always important no matter the universe.

Raffi is a remarkable character. They truly read as if they are a real person. They have fully fleshed out hopes, dreams, flaws, and plenty of endearing qualities. It's easy to relate to and love a character as genuine and realistic as Raffi. Their friends and lovers were also great people. I wanted to choose a favorite to mention here but I couldn't do it. Too hard. It might be Graham though.

Often, when I (and many people, I imagine) read a book, I insert myself into it. What would I do if I was the main character? What would I say if I was the side character? I did do that sometimes while reading In Universes, but more often, I inserted the concept of the book into my life instead. I've lost so much sleep the past couple nights, lying awake thinking about the points at which my life could have split into different universes and what those universes might be like. Or thinking about the universe in which I never met someone I love, or I did, but I love them in a different way, or they are merely an acquaintance. Or, hey, what kind of animal horde my mother would have fractured into when I was born (polar bear).

When I wasn't losing sleep over In Universes, it was affecting my dreams. I won't go into detail because reading other people's dreams is kind of boring and that's not what this is anyway, but my dreams have been incredibly weird and 100% influenced by this book. I loved In Universes while I was reading it, and I love it even more because it had such a strong hold over both my dreams and waking thoughts.

If you're looking for something thought-provoking that will take you on a multifaceted journey, this is it. This is the book.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins, from whom I received this ARC. It was a pleasure to read and review In Universes!

Pizza Girl's struggle with the death of her father and her terror that she is too much like him is extremely relatable for me. Someone once said I was like my father and I wanted to shrivel up and die, so I get you, Pizza Girl. Jenny provided a welcome distraction from that and the other struggles in her life and Pizza Girl says if she'd never met Jenny, “I would've found something else to lose myself in—if you were pushed off a cliff, you'd grab hold of anything resembling safety,” and this is really all it is. Her obsession with Jenny was born of desperation for something, anything, that felt safe and comfortable and different to free her from her current situation.

I enjoyed the story, which shifted in unexpected ways. At times, I found myself wishing for more information about Jenny and her life, but I came to understand why that information wasn't included. This was Jean Kyoung Frazier's debut novel and I'm definitely interested in looking into more of her stuff!

I listened to the audiobook while reading the ebook at the same time, something I'd never done before. It took a minute to get the audiobook speed to match my reading speed well enough that it didn't feel super weird, it was extremely satisfying. Also, I noticed something: in two spots, the ebook had different text than the words spoken by the audiobook's narrator. By the content, I could tell that the stuff the narrator said was deliberately removed/changed in the ebook. A friend who often listens and reads at the same time told me this happens a lot. I find that so interesting! I wish I could do this more often to hear all the differences but alas, library availability of both ebooks and audiobooks doesn't always line up as perfectly as they did for Pizza Girl.

This is the best catalog I've ever read, and I've read a lot because my nana used to get a ton of them in the mail. If you're planning to read Horrorstör, a physical copy is the way to go. The design of the book really adds to the reading experience in a way I didn't expect and it was a real joy. The map in the front cover makes it obvious that Orsk stores are set up just Ikea stores, which really cool because so many people have been to Ikea that easy to understand exactly where Amy & co. are when they're in various locations around the store. And if you aren't familiar with Ikea stores, well, there's a map. So you can just look at it.

There was some fantastic humor in the beginning of the book that made me laugh out loud more than once, and then when shit really hit the fan I was gasping in horror and my days of laughing at Amy's shenanigans were long gone. There was even a part where, after finishing a particularly terrifying chapter, I had to stop reading to stare at a wall for a couple minutes. I really had a hard time putting this one down and did so only once, out of necessity. After that, I refused. I read it straight through, carrying it with me throughout the house whenever I needed to get up for something. 

I can't wait to get my own copy. And a coffee table. Because Horrorstör would make an excellent coffee table book.

Is this anti-Ikea propaganda? Because it worked. I'm not sure I'll ever look at an Ikea the same way again. Should I get my coffee table there? I'm scared.

I have to be honest: when I picked up this book at the library (because of its amazing title), flipped through it and saw there was a list of the books in the back, I considered simply taking a picture of the list and placing 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered back on the shelf. 

I am SO GLAD I didn't do that because this book is so much more than a list. There is a short spoiler-free summary/review (including general themes, tone, style, and setting) for each book that is so thoughtful and well-written I can just feel Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror)'s excitement and love for every story through her writing. It made me excited to read the books, even the ones I probably wouldn't usually be interested in. Quick note: when the setting was noted, it would say something like “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” or “New England,” or something. But one of the featured books takes place in a single room of a house and so the setting said “Bathroom,” and it made me laugh haha

The list is actually 91 specific books and 10 author spotlights. In the author spotlight pages, Hartmann introduces the author and her favorite books they've written, then details several of their books for you to choose from.

There are also thought-provoking essays by various horror writers peppered in throughout the book which I really enjoyed, especially the ones about queer representation in horror and what horror means to the queer community. 

Also! Hartmann included a good bit of independently published horror, which I'm thankful for. I'm in getting into indie stuff but there's so much of it I didn't know where to start. Now I do!

I discovered Rachel Harrison last year and will very happily read anything she writes as she’s quickly become a favorite. Now that I’ve finished The Return, the only book I haven’t read yet is Bad Dolls, a collection of 4 short stories, and that’s only because it’s not available at my library right now (I have it on hold!).

In The Return, Harrison’s debut novel, the intricacies of friendships and how they grow and change are perfectly captured. Friendships can be hard to maintain, especially when it comes to the ones that start when you’re a teenager and follow you into adulthood (even as you grow into what can sometimes be an entirely different person) making a million mistakes along the way. It was refreshing to read about a group of friends loving each other while struggling with this reality instead of having perfect 10+ year long relationships. And of course the horror only made it better!

Elise, Molly, and Mae, the three friends Julie left behind when she went missing, all deal with her return differently. Upon seeing Julie for the first time, Elise immediately knows something is wrong, that Julie isn’t the same, but Molly and Mae are determined to find the Julie they’ve been missing in the one that came home. The three women struggle to agree on how best to treat Julie while Julie slips further into strangeness and the culmination of it all is perfect.

I’ve heard people refer to Rachel Harrison’s books as both ‘cozy horror,’ and ‘feminist horror,’ and I’d say both apply.

The horror can be high stakes, but the whole book isn’t edge-of-your-seat nightmare fuel. It’s the kind of horror you recommend to someone who doesn’t typically read horror and is a little interested, and you want them to read something excellent to get them hooked.

The feminist themes and strong women are present in every Harrison book and it’s something I love to see in horror.

This is it. This is the physical book I want to annotate. I can't, because it's a library book, and I'm honestly kind of devastated.

Anyway, our narrator is incredibly selfish, a horrible friend, and she doesn't care about anyone around her. But she doesn't seem to care about herself either. She's self-destructive and makes no effort to take care of herself in even the simplest of ways. She's not exactly a likeable character, and yet, I found myself liking her. Maybe even loving her. I don't behave the way she does (I promise!) but I somehow understood her. And anyway, her friend Reva did sound kind of annoying.

Though a couple things might not have been 100% believable, the book felt like an incredibly honest memoir, and I enjoyed that aspect a whole lot. I found myself relating to some of the narrator's thoughts and experiences in some abstract, some more concrete ways. She said some things I could have written myself and who knows, maybe that's why I liked her as much as I did.

I love the way My Year of Rest and Relaxation feels like it's about nothing and something at the same time. A young woman sleeps through a year of her life, so, yeah, there's not a lot of action. But sometimes, she wakes up, and in a haze, she goes out for supplies, or to see her irresponsible therapist for prescription refills. She calls her horrible sometimes-boyfriend. Her friend drops by. She reflects on old memories. The between-sleep content provided a surprising amount of substance for a book about a woman who wants a year of nothingness.

I haven't read any other reviews, but I've heard reception was kind of mixed on this book and I understand why, but I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone who doesn't take issue with characters deemed unlikeable.

Reminiscent of horror stories from the 70s and 80s, The Devil and the Deep has all the ingredients for a creepy good time. There are demons, undead, possessions, cults, plus plenty of mystery, and I will take all of that, please and thank you.

The story starts with a prologue. It's 1975 in the small coastal town of Port Gaynor and Father Michael is attempting to perform what should be a run-of-the-mill exorcism. Except it's not, because of course it isn't. This exorcism off the walls bonkers and it's probably the most awesome opening to any book I've read in recent memory. The story continues 17 years later, the exorcism long forgotten by all except for one person, when an ancient evil reawakens and every citizen of Port Gaynor unwittingly becomes a part of a grand plan beyond their wildest imagination.

I found the characters very easy to connect with and I even found myself sympathizing and connecting with someone I absolutely didn't expect and that was really fun. I love when a book surprises me and this one was full of surprises. Sometimes when I'm reading a book I have to stop and wonder how the hell the author came up with the thing I just read. I did this multiple times while reading The Devil and the Deep and it was extremely satisfying. Something else I found satisfying was that every time I had a question, I had some time to develop my own theory, but then it was answered. Sometimes I like when books leave a lot to the imagination but this wasn't one I wanted that from and I'm glad that it delivered what I wanted.

The Devil and the Deep takes up about 75% of the book and then there are a few extra short stories. The Thing in the Bay is a heartbreaking story that follows one woman as humanity is driven to madness by an unknown force. The Ghosts of Powick Bridge is a moving and poetic tale of the ghost of a man who died in a war and is haunted by a song. E and the Night Before Christmas is the story of a cloaked figure with a scythe who brings chaos and horrifying creatures to a small town on Christmas Eve. This one was my favorite, it had a really great twist. The last is Eleven Twisted Christmas Songs: horror parodies of familiar songs you'll easily recognize and want to sing along to in your head. These short stories weren't really necessary but they did add to the overall theme of madness and they were fun bonus reads. 

The book opens with a stylistic warning: Christian Francis believes in the use of creative voice in fiction. There are ‘rules' that are often forced opon writers and Francis doesn't subscribe to them. He does things his own way. He uses commas to signify a breath within sentences, for example. This warning basically says that if you're bothered by his lack of rule-following, this book isn't for you. I knew I wouldn't have a problem so I read on! I did notice that Francis didn't follow the typical ‘rules,' but there wasn't anything that stood out too much and it wasn't out of control or distracting, so even if you're a person who cares about that stuff, I honestly don't think you'd be put off. 

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Evocation boasts a perfect balance of character relationships, romance, and supernatural suspense.

The plot was fantastic but my favorite part was the development not only of each character, but of the relationships between Moira, Rhys, and David. Rhys and Moira's love for each other is sweet, and so deep, it actually gave me butterflies. David is a snarky jerk who is used to getting what he wants, when he wants it, but underneath his tough guy exterior is a vulnerable man who is terrified of the ancient curse placed upon his family. At the beginning of the book, Rhys and Moira are at odds with David, and he's not too happy with them either, but as the story progresses, their feelings change in a way that feels natural and evenly-paced. The proximity is forced, but the slow-burn to the conclusion isn't!

As for the story itself, it wasn't until I hit about 10% of the book that I knew it was absolutely for me. I wouldn't say the first bit was confusing, but there was some setup and I honestly didn't know exactly what was going on. But once I got there, I was all in. I was truly engrossed as the trio attempted to break the curse threatening David's life. I never would have guessed how everything came to a head! The ending was a great surprise, one that made me both excited for a sequel and beyond depressed that I'll probably have to wait a long time for it.

This book really has it all: a spell-binding plot that leaves you excited for the next installment, unforgettable characters that defy initial impressions and surprise you with their depth, and a MMC who calls the FMC “little goddess.”

I received an ARC of Evocation from the publisher and all opinions are my own.