drakaina16's Reviews (2.21k)

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

What starts off as a typical southern-fried ghost story, steeped in the sounds and smells of the bayou, becomes something very unique. This is literary gothic horror at its best, full of beautiful passages and atmosphere. I recommend going into the book semi-blind and letting it surprise you. The story becomes so much bigger and more complicated than expected and I enjoyed the ride very much. 4.5 stars, rounded up. 

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

For fans of: Appalachian folk Horror, slow burns, creepiness over gore
This is a very impressive bit of folk horror and was my introduction to the author. This is one of the creepiest books I've read this year. It is a dual timeline book, but I never had trouble differentiating between them and the book never felt jumbled. It's big on atmosphere and low on gore. The majority of the gore happens off camera, but that doesn't make it any less unsettling. I'm looking forward to reading more by Breanna Leslie. 

I would normally not have picked up a horror novel about WWII, but it was part of a reading challenge. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. The mashup of war novel, sci-fi, and cosmic horror really worked for me. So much so that I plan on finishing the trilogy. 3.75 stars, rounded up. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a review copy. 

This book was so much fun. It's a mashup of coming of age and holiday horror that kept my interest from start to finish. I also loved Slashtag by John Cohn, so it was really cool to see him do something completely different from that book. 4.5 stars, rounded up. 

Thank you to Cemetery Dance for providing a review copy. 
I wanted to love this book, but instead I just liked it. It was fine. The writing is gorgeous and I enjoyed the plot device of never coming out and saying some things. (Unfortunately, to say more about this would be to reveal a major spoiler.) The whole thing felt a bit overly long and drawn out, but ultimately I liked the book. 3.25 stars

This book is over-the-top gory, depraved fun.

Oh boy, where to start? This book had such potential, but it also contains one of the most annoying, awful protagonists I've ever read. Frankly, I don't know why someone as cool as Sophie would ever want to be friends with Annie and totally understand why her boyfriend broke up with her. She was slightly less insufferable by the end, but it was too little too late. I would absolutely read a book about Sophie's backstory. She's the reason I'm even giving 2.5 stars.