Rachel🐈‍⬛

Wow! This book. A must read for any animal lover. This should be sitting on your living room table.

A great story about loss and grief. Reminded me a lot of “ Grief is a Thing With Feathers” which is a favorite of mine. This is a new author to me, and now I will have to read everything. Only issue I had, was I wanted it to be longer.

Probably the best horror/scifi book I've read in a very long time. I read horror so much, that not much phases me. I've become kinda immune to most of it. This book was brilliant and for once, actually gave me that old” creeped the Hell out” feeling again! Ohhhh how I missed it. Such a great book.

This was a lovely book. 3 main characters and one of them is a lake. Magical Realism at its best.

Wow. This story! First of all, it's home for me. Two of the towns listed in this book, Paintsville, I'm from, and Beauty, my husband is from.
The hardships are real, and people today still struggle. There is no place like the bluegrass, and I love it here, but these stories you read, are truth.
Also, that ending was absolutely heartbreaking.
This author is brilliant and she keeps getting better.

A very touching story that will bring you to tears. Two children meet and become best friends, both dealing with mothers that have issues. They stick together and help each other through the rough spots. Such a sad story but written beautifully.

This book was brilliant. A little “too” brilliant. It had so much wittiness and prose that made sense to me, that I ended up depressing my self. Only because the authors view of what the afterlife is, is what I have felt and feared in my heart for years.

Where to begin with this book? It was absolutely beautiful, brilliant, and like nothing else I've come across. Folk horror, fantasy, sci-fi mix. Really makes you think about how we are pushed to go along with the “sheep” or be ridiculed, sometimes even killed. I loved Leemet and his story is amazing. Sad. Heartfelt. He stood strong and never gave in. A new favorite!!

A very good coming of age, magical realism take. About escape and letting go...

You are supposed to give ratings to the book, the writing, how well it's written etc. Not rate how much you “like” a character! All the bad reviews are basically because the MC is such a dislikable, piece of shit. All the one star ratings pretty much tell me, the author did his job. He wrote a misogynistic, narcissist....and apparently wrote him well!
You aren't meant to like the MC. You are meant to see how someone like this behaves and why. What they can do to people, and why.
I think this book was well written for what it is supposed to be.
If we are to like every character we read , that makes for some boring reading , in my opinion.

I might have actually enjoyed this story if I could have gotten past the ill treatment of that poor cat! And how stupid these people seem to be. ( sorry but I'm a cat lover/rescuer, so it's pretty much my life.) Has this author never heard of a vet? I mean, given the characters are written to be kinda shitty people anyway.... But I can read small bits of animal violence if it's like an extremely small bit.( I'm not a prude) but I just couldn't take the graphic descriptions of how they left the poor thing laying there, the girl Halie laughing about it, etc. Etc. Enough is enough. You ask any group of people what's the one thing they may turn away from in horror and you get two answers. Child abuse/ molestation and animal abuse. So when will authors learn, you ain't gonna win no readers that way.
Like I said, might have ended up being a good story. I didn't read past the chick laughing and carrying on at the poor dead cat.

This was probably my favorite short story collection of early 2022. I enjoyed every single story. A great collaboration of authors, with such magical, mythical takes. A true joy to read. Definitely going to be buying a copy of this book.

Don't understand why this has such a low rating. Creepy, surreal, twilight zone thriller.

I absolutely loved this book. Reminded me a lot of another Nigerian trilogy by Ben Okri, The Famished Road( which is an all time favorite) I had searched for years for something like that trilogy and never found anything close, so this author answered my prayers.

A lot of magical realism has no real plot. A lot of it is written with interconnected characters that stories somehow mesh. It's almost like short stories, but not. Strange happenings, spirits, demons, myths, gods, eccentric characters, and situations that are dire. I loved this book so much.

Oh how I loved this book.

This lady has become a favorite author, real fast. Loved her last book and couldn't wait to get this one. It did not disappoint. I love unreliable narrator stories. Very unique, chilling tale.

This was a really good thriller that had Twin Peaks' vibes. I don't understand why it's not rated higher. The characters were written well and it had a unique storyline that I didn't figure out right away( which is when I finish a thriller, otherwise I give them up) so...I stuck with this one .look forward to more by this author.

If you want one book that has immense meaning this year, open this one. It absolutely filled me up from beginning to end. Beautiful prose, tragic story, wonderful legend, beautiful soul.

I loved this book so much. This is exactly the kind of books I love to read. Gothic, tragic, combining stories and tragedies of all who live in the building. When a book starts out with the devil's daughter paddling a coffin across the sea, it's my kinda read.

This is my favorite of the Newford books thus far. I hope they keep getting better and better. I loved this one so much.

I absolutely love Kobo Abe. Never disappoints. This is probably my favorite book by him, with The Ark Sakura a close second. Such a talented mind.

I love this authors' writing. I'll read her grocery list. This is a homage to The Fall of The House of Usher, with actual answers. A very good, creepy novel. It's stuff like this that truly scares me. Reminded me of Mexican Gothic, but better.

This is the year for things that creep, crawl, and spore. This is the 3rd horror novel ARC I've read this year to do with either plants, fungi, mold, or creepy fruiting growths. My nightmares will never end.

Merged review:

I love this authors' writing. I'll read her grocery list. This is a homage to The Fall of The House of Usher, with actual answers. A very good, creepy novel. It's stuff like this that truly scares me. Reminded me of Mexican Gothic, but better.

This is the year for things that creep, crawl, and spore. This is the 3rd horror novel ARC I've read this year to do with either plants, fungi, mold, or creepy fruiting growths. My nightmares will never end.

I loved this story. I could very much relate to the main character. A bit of humor, and a unique storyline. Look forward to more by this author, for sure

Oh how I loved this book. It came at a time when I really needed it. ( Existential crisis, anyone?) Just the right amount of humor, plenty of heart, a bit of romance, cats, and lots of stories. Lots of lives. This is a brilliant book. One of my all time favorites. Look so forward to reading more by this amazing author. His sense of humor is just perfect.

Oh how I loved this book. Carroll is like a British Murakami.