crafty_goblin's reviews
81 reviews

It's not a bad book, I liked the general idea and the folklore of Scuttler's Cove but I kind of struggled to be hooked enough to reach the end smoothly. I had to push myself a bit too much on this one. I almost dnf it at 50%. But I was curious to see where the folklore stuff were going so I kept going. 

The character development is ... A bit too light and stereotypical for my tastes, especially women. I didn't root for any character at all and that's a massive issue for me as a reader as I need to root for a character to enjoy the ride, especially if the plot is too easy to find out for my tastes. 

The general rhythm moves from super slow to super fast. 

I liked the memories introduced here and there in the middle of the plot. It gives more context, some hints and a bit more of Scuttler's Cove vibes, which was one thing I liked, the setup of an old and small village changing face during summer due to waves of incomers.

The last 15% were a bit too much for me and not enough at the same time. Like, everything has been throw super fast at the end but it still lacks of something... I don't know what exactly, more creepiness, or more folk, or more substance or less cheap horror stereotypes (the wealthy playing ritual and sacrifices with stereotypical theatrics, for example). Or maybe It just didn't hook me enough to feel the vibes and the ambiance, the atmosphere. 

As I said, not a bad book, other readers will probably find their way through it with more passion than I did , it was just not my cup of tea, or not what I thought I was going for. 

Fast pace, too much for my taste when it comes to thriller/mystery  but it can work for other readers. The writing is good and the plot works pretty well. Not enough character development for me to root for any character. I actually dont remember any name after I finished the book. Ended on a cliffhanger so be aware of this if you prefer to wait for the full series to start reading (me usually 😅). 
Overall, a good thriller but not for my tastes. 

Those who’ve been following me for a while know that, as much as I read also outside of my comfort genres (Fantasy and Horror), there is one thing I never read : Romance. Especially Het Romance. 

A fellowship of bakers and magic caught my interest at first because it sounds like The Legends and Latte (Travis Baldree) kind of cozy fantasy and I tell myself, why not! A bit light on the character development and world building sides, but it's a cozy fantasy read so It didn't bother me that much.

I’m still not a fan of het romance but it’s pretty light in this book so it kind of worked for me. I loved the messages of tolerance, self acceptance and friendship in this book. I also like the fantasy based baking contest. It’s cozy, warm and sometimes fluffy but in a good way. Way sweater than Legends and Latte style but the same vibes. I, surprisingly, really enjoyed this book (for a non romance reader) and I definitely can see myself coming back to this universe here and there if the author decides to write others adventures or spin off based on this universe. 

This book has been provided as an ARC by the author. 

If you are looking for a well written  fantasy series, mixing mythic, legend and quest fantasies, you are in for a great read with Tales of Piecora series. 

Slow pace, strong character development and excellent, detailed world building, The Emerald Cave is one of the rare indie fantasy reads I read in the last few years, that hooked me from the very beginning. 

The style is flawless, the writing is excellent and the descriptions are well built and smooth, allowing the reader to visualize pretty easily this massive world building while still enjoying the plot. 

I love how flawed and diverse the characters are. It's not the typical quest/epic hero journey but more a tale of survival and inner lessons. 

I definitely recommend this book. 

Arc provided by Netgalley and the file was compromised. Impossible to edit the font size and the one in the file was too thin and small to. E a comfortable read. 

I usually don't read novelette or short story because my neurospicy brain needs hell of a time to warm up to a new universe and hook for the characters. But as I did read Welcome to Cemetery first, it works for me. I always have a thing for those ghost and monsters hunters especially those from UK and USA, they have something for the darkish vibes and dramatics. I'm also a big fan of horror, weird true crime and folk podcasts and documentaries. That's all the vibes I felt in BestGhost. It was so good ! I loved Welcome to Cemetery, a lot, but being more the supernatural kind of reader more than cop thriller kind, Bestghost totally nailed it for me. I want more ! I definitely can see more short stories like this linked to Cemetery universe or even a bigger ghost hunters story. I'm in for it !

I have so much fun in Cemetery ! the book has been in my TBR with the novelette BestGhost from the same author and I was waiting for them to be sell outside of Amazon to buy them but C.J sent me both as Arc so I read them right away. I’m more horror than thriller, but this thriller (Welcome to Cemetery) is so dark than I felt the horror at every corners ! I've been hooked from the very first page. Give me a city with more crimes than people and a bad-ass, unhinged, queer female lead cop with a weird past and I'm in. Her partner, old life-battered cop trying to care more to catch up with his kind of weirdly protector-like and determined partner is excellent. The duo works pretty well. I like how the story is written, the "villain" was kind of not enough for my taste (based on behavior and acts not about the crimes) but it still work pretty great for me. I definitely want more tales from Cemetery in the near future, I'll read them with pleasure and enthusiasm.

I had so much with Elton and Taron. I like the fact that Elton opened and closed the audiobook by reading the first and last chapter and Taron (actor playing Elton John in the movie) the rest of the book. The rhythm is great, it's entertaining like only pop/rock stars from the 50’s to the 80’s always is. You move from laughing out loud when Elton recalled his most fun moments, to feeling heartbreaking by the stories of those monstrous artists who marked our pop culture and music history by their talent while they were destroying themselves, badly impacted by AIDS, addiction, shady and toxic people around them and all that the darker side of the music and entertainment industry, especially in the 70's and 80's. I especially loved the fact that it is raw and not censured. Elton didn't try to paint a better image of himself and the era during which his career exploded, but really offer an honest, transparent and not filtered recalling of those events and stories. It's full of glamour, sparkles and laughs but also full of difficult moments, regrets, remorse and descent to hell sometimes. I really recommend the audiobook.

I received this book as an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. 

I was aware of the Roanoki Colony's stories and speculation around the lost colony, and the idea to read an horror fiction around it was why I requested the ARC. I am a big fan of folk horror stories working with puritan and witchcraft subjects. So I thought I would enjoy the ride. But I didn't. Or at least not enough to recommend it. 

The general idea is good, the journal entries format allowing to introduce smoothly different POVs  definitely worked for me, I really like this part. It is mostly well written, though the book definitely needs editing. I Highlighted so much weird structures, typos, names written differently from one chapter to another, that I guessed several time if the story had been beta read or not. This, is a super bad point for me. My neurospicy brain tend to focus on this only then, and i cannot enjoy the rest. 

I loose focus here and there because of some weird jumps allowing too much lost information for the plot to be coherent all the way from beginning to the end.

A warning for cannibalism, child death and graphic sex should be added. I don't read SMUT or romantasy/romance (just because I don't like how the relationship are painted most of the time and how bad the women are depicted pushing further lenient misogyny) but I don't have issue with graphic sex in case of ritual, for example, in horror. But here, it just felt like the spice had been added as an after thought to contempt the crowd and fit the trend. Unfortunately this part wasn't good, in my opinion. It adds nothing to the story and as it wasn't announced in the warning it made me almost DNF it at the first intercourse because it felt out of place. 

The bigger issue, for me, in this book, is how women are painted. Absolutely every one of the female character has been poorly written and/or badly developed (or maybe just not enough). Of course, I don't speak about the position of women per se, as it  was a tough period for women. But fitting the moeurs, bigotry and religious believes of the era doesn't mean butchering the character development. I would advise to take a look at Gerald Brom's female Character development in Slewfoot to have an example of what I meant by witchcraft/puritan era and excellent female character development. 

All together, it think that a revision of the text for all the typo and a beta reading session, to have a second opinion about the character development and about the "world building" would have been enough to make of this book a great one. That's a really good first attempt but it feels raw still.