drakaina16's Reviews (2.21k)

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

I'm sitting on my bed, having just finished the book, and my mind is completely blown. The fact that this book is a debut is astounding. Joseph Murnane is a tremendous writer. 
I'm about to get real personal here. 9 years ago, I was a heroin addict - I almost died, I went to jail, I almost lost everything. This book picked that scab a bit. But the bleeding felt GOOD, felt like a reminder of what I'll never go back to. Murnane's ability to humanize and make you empathize with the characters is extraordinary. This book is a beautifully rendered gut punch. Strong 5 stars

This book was so much fun! It's like reading an awesome B horror movie, complete with tarantulas, body horror, cool kills, and snappy dialogue. As a former tarantula owner myself, I thought the random facts about them scattered throughout the book was a nice touch. It's fast-paced, funny, and gory. 4.5 stars

I found so many of the stories boring that I just gave up. That's never happened with a Datlow anthology before, but they can't all be winners. 

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

I'm on the struggle bus right now, so I'm having a hard time articulating everything I'd really like to. Gage Greenwood has a way of making horror so intimate and so human - even when the horror is supernatural. I'm continually blown away by the quality of the writing. Some sentences were so beautiful, I read them again and again. 5 stars

Two Shows on Saturday ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
A Series of Attacks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now Hiring ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dunes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I Am Not Me Anymore ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Glawackus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Brock Hesford: Film Critic ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Winter's First Myth ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Levitating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to CLASH Books for providing a review copy. 

I was absolutely blown away by Victoria Dalpe's short story collection, Les Femmes Grotesques, last year. I jumped on the chance to review Selene Shade, and I was not disappointed. This book leans very much into horror urban fantasy, and I really enjoyed it. I've been reading some really heavy books lately, and this was a nice change of pace. The lore and world-building is really cool. Even though there is some romance, I didn't find it too annoying. 4.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing a review copy. 

This duology is tremendous. If you haven't read Fever House yet, rectify that immediately. It was one the my favorite books of 2023, and I had high hopes for the follow-up. I got so much more than I bargained for. The story picks up 5 years after the events of the first novel. A few familiar faces are back, along with two new characters (both of whom I loved). The Devil By Name doesn't have quite as frantic of a pace as Fever House, but that's not a bad thing and we definitely get more lore. I loved the way everything came together in the end. 5 stars

I always enjoy a good Hollywood ghost story. Lucas Mangum certainly doesn't reinvent the trope here, but it's a lot of fun. The book felt a little rushed at times, but the lore behind the lost media is really cool. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, but rooting for the ghost for once was kind of nice. 3.75 stars

There has been a ton of hype around this book since its release, and let me tell you - every bit of it is deserved. Currently, in my head, there is a war going on between Mean Spirited and Felix Blackwell's The Church Beneath the Roots for the creepiest thing I've read all year. (And, oddly, both books heavily feature dogs.) I'm pretty stoic when it comes to books affecting me in the real world, but Nick Roberts's writing is so cinematic that I had to stop several times to reflect on the absolute wrongness of what I had just read. Easy 5 stars. 

Thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy. 

This book is an interesting mix of hard science, science fiction, and horror, often in the same story. Some of the more science-y bits lost me a little, but others enhanced the horror. 3.5 stars

Penalties of Entropy ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Magnetization and Resistance ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Regret in Blue Sharp ⭐⭐⭐.5
Big Water Protect You ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Flavor of Lab ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Conservation of Cold ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Greater Secrets of Carbocations ⭐⭐
One Step Forward, Two Steps Starways, Three Steps Plop! ⭐⭐⭐
Trompe-l’oeil ⭐⭐⭐.75
The Organometallic God ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Butter Me Up and Float Me Sideways ⭐⭐⭐
Drowned in Mindfulness ⭐⭐⭐.75
First Blink ⭐⭐⭐
The Chroma of Home DNF

Thank you to Leigh Kenny for providing a review copy. 

Do you want a book that is suffused with dread and emotionally devastating? Have I got the book for you! This book put me through the wringer - it's a tough read, and not because it's not well-written. It's extremely well-written, and therein lies the rub. I could not put it down and read it in two sittings. The comparison to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance is apt, but somehow it manages to be worse than both. Check your triggers and be prepared. Easy 5 stars