drakaina16's Reviews (2.21k)

Thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy. 

For fans of: action-packed apocalyptic creature features
I thought this book was great! It's very fast-paced, with the next action scene never lagging far behind. Feeders has a creepy premise and also delivers well thought out characters. 

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing a review copy. 

For fans of: creepy culty small towns, cosmic horror, dry humor and tight writing
I had a great time with Edenville. It combines a bunch of my favorite tropes into a tightly written cosmic nightmare. Quinn is one of my favorite protagonists in the books I've read this year. I also loved the snappy, dry humor throughout. It's not comedy horror, just written very tongue-in-cheek and very self aware. This is a very impressive debut novel and I'm excited to see what Sam Rebelein writes next. 4.5 stars, rounded up. 

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

For fans of: evil in a small town, literary horror with gore, excellent characters, queer representation
This was a great book! It is a fairly slow burn, but I love the way Kevin Lucia sketches out the town and the people living in it. He absolutely draws you in. The creatures are super creepy are super creepy as well. This was a perfect read for the beginning of spooky season. 4.25 stars 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a review copy. 

As soon as I heard this anthology was coming out, it became one of my most anticipated releases of the year. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. There are stories included that were so good, so mind-blowing that I ended up buying all the author's works. Strong 5 stars. 

Reckless Eyeballing by N.K. Jamison ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wandering Devil by Cadwell Turnbull ⭐⭐⭐
Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Lesley Nneka Arimah ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Other One by Violet Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lasirén by Erin E. Adams ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
The Rider by Tananarive Due ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Aesthete by Justin C. Key ⭐⭐⭐.5
Pressure by Ezra Claytan Daniels ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dark Home by Nnedi Okafor ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Flicker by J.D. Lewis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Norwood Trouble by Maurice Broadus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Bird Sings By the Etching Tree by Nicole D. Sconiers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
An American Fable by Chesya Burke ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Hide & Seek by P. Djélí Clark ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Origin Story by Tochi Onyebuchi ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25

Thank you to Cemetery Dance for providing a review copy. 
I've read a few Kristopher Triana books now and I can confidently say he is a master of the slow-ish build up. And when things let loose, they go off the rails quickly and don't let up. The less said about the plot, the better. I found the book riveting from start to finish, eager to see where it led next. The ending and reveal were phenomenal. I'll be thinking about it for a long time. 

Thank you to Cemetery Dance for providing a review copy. 
Cold, Black & Infinite is a first-rate collection by a master of literary horror. Only a couple of stories didn't wow me. Gethsemane is one of the best short stories I've ever read, and there is some excellent cosmic horror here as well. 4.25 stars

Midnight in the Southland ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2:45 to New Xebico ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Happytown Yuletide Massacre ⭐⭐⭐.75
Y2K ⭐⭐⭐.25
Black Friday ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Tommy the Destructo-Bot vs. The Bullies From Future Street ⭐⭐⭐
Afterbirth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Annie's Heart is a Haunted House ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
The Gods of Our Fathers ⭐⭐.5
Solve For X ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We've All Gone to Crooked Town ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
The Smile Factory ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Holes in the Fabric ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Happy Pills ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gethsemane ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We've All Gone to the Magic Show ⭐⭐⭐.5