blewballoon's Reviews (763)

This was great! There's a lot packed in for such a short length. I think the story was paced really well, and the author did a great job of establishing and fleshing out the characters while still keeping the plot moving and the suspense high. The audiobook had different narrators for each character, which was a nice touch. I'd highly recommend for those interested in a quick read and a sort of mix of folk horror and urban fantasy.

I picked up this book entirely based on the cover, and I was a little worried the universe would punish me for being superficial. Fortunately it did not! The cover matches the interior, it's such a Halloween book with some really lovely cottage witch elements as well as some dark and spooky magic. I really liked the romance and the interpersonal relationships within the coven. The narrator did a good job. I think the weakest element of the book was the dialog for the big bad guy towards the end, but the rest of the ending was still good. I hope this author publishes more books like this in the future, I can only see them improving and this was a promising start.

As someone who grew up around and is very familiar with the Fall River area and the Lizzie Borden story, I really enjoyed this. I think the author did a pretty good job of highlighting the sinister aspects of the area's history and describing the scenery and people. The biggest mistake I think they made was that they called the high school "Fall River High" which is not the name of the public high school there. The author's note explains some other liberties they took on purpose, which didn't bother me. It was really fun to read a horror story set so close to home, and I thought the narrator also did a great job bringing the text to life. 

As for the story itself, I actually found it more compelling before the twist. The initial premise was intriguing, but the twist/reveal made it feel less interesting and more typical to me. It cut the tension from the previously tangled character dynamics and motivations and simplified them. The ending (before the epilogue) was better than I expected, though. If you're a "I celebrate women's rights, but also women's wrongs" type reader and you want a YA horror, this might be a good fit for you.

A solid YA spooky book that I would say is appropriate for middle grade readers as well. The spookiness is minor, so if you're more squeamish towards horror this would be a good option. Sometimes the haunted house story is about the friends you made along the way. I liked each member of the trio of unexpected friends and their individual character journeys. It was a nice touch that the audiobook had a different narrator for each one. 

Hmm this was working for me until it wasn't. It ends on a real bummer note. 

Loved making my way through the festive pumpkin patch with all the classic pumpkin patch activities with two sweet characters. The full color art was pretty and fun. 

As a character driven reader, if you can make me tear up in empathy with your character in the first 14% of the story, you've won. I loved the characters, and I loved the quiet and considerate romance. The spicy scenes are mostly fade to black, fyi.

The mystery felt more like a Columbo episode to me because I thought the killer was super obvious, but it was still fun to see the characters figure it out. 

The audiobook narrator was good, but it wasn't always easy to tell who was speaking because the narrator mostly did the same voice for everyone. 

I had a good feeling about this book when I first saw the cover, and it proved to be correct. I really enjoyed Fi and Shane's partnership and I loved that their relationship was a platonic friendship, and the romance elements of the story came from other characters. I liked the bookish and brawler combination they had, it reminded me a little of Gideon and Harrow from The Locked Tomb. I quite liked Briar as well, he was so earnest. I thought the prose and plotting were solid, they provided a great backdrop for the characters to shine in. I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy the fantasy fairy tale retelling sub-genre, and if you liked this book I'd recommend The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones.  

Wanted to give this a shot, but the negative reviews have scared me off.

5 stars for how much fun I had while reading this, and how it gave me pretty much everything I wanted—or more specifically, everything the 13 year old goth girl inside me wanted. Adolescent me would be thrilled to know that her adult self would get to read a published horror romance with a character who is basically Danny Phantom. Sure, some of the writing was clumsy and I found a few typos, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. What time period does this take place? Don't care, the fashion rules are pure vibes. I thought the Phantasma trials were exciting, I had fun seeing how each sin was challenged. I found the characters interesting and compelling, even the side characters all felt like they had their own story even if we only got a few scenes with them. The spicy scenes are excessive, but I didn't actually mind and the romance worked for me. Despite the layer of horror over everything, there was also tenderness and care between Blackwell and Ophelia, as well as between Ophelia and her sister. This book embraced all the cliches and leaned hard into the goth horror aesthetic, and that was combined perfectly with lovable characters. I had a blast. I Would recommend to anyone who loves spooky stuff and spicy romantasy.