drakaina16's Reviews (2.21k)

I usually reserve 2 star ratings for books that I finished, but I'm kind of mad I did. This is not my preferred brand of extreme horror. I realize it's short, but it's long on torture porn and short on plot. I read extreme quite frequently, but this one just didn't do it for me. 

Where to even start with this book... If you like smart, feminist body horror wrapped up in a cosmic package, this book is for you. I'm way into all of that, so this book was damn near perfect. 

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing a review copy. 
Catriona Ward is the absolute master at writing the most unreliable of unreliable narrators. Looking Glass Sound has plenty of that, as well as a beautiful and horrible coming-of-age story. It is a slow, slow burn with things not really popping off until the last 20% of the book. When things come together, they do so spectacularly. The journey to the end is worth the wait. 

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 
Sissy is a short, brutal revenge story that I enjoyed quite a bit. Kelvin V.A. Allison always enjoyable stories with tons of action and Sissy is no exception. This is extreme horror, with just about every trigger warning, so definitely go into it knowing that ahead of time. 

The Root Witch was a really cool take on a folktale/urban legend. I enjoyed the characters and the slice of life in a newsroom scenes were interesting. 4.25 stars

Thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy. 
If you are into avant garde, stream of consciousness, William Burroughs-esque horror, the patient routine will be right up your alley. Written in long-form verse, you are locked inside the mind of Ashton as they visit the hospital. There are some brilliant slices of body horror with some truly unsettling imagery. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. 

This novella is brutal, fast, and nasty. If the Devil's Rejects were cult leaders, I imagine it would be something like The Collective. This is the first of Grant Wamack's works that I have read, and he is definitely on my radar now. 

Thank you to Encyclopocalypse and BookSirens for providing a review copy. 
I had a lot of fun with Ugly As Sin. I grew up watching WWF, WCW, and ECW so this book was quite nostalgic. I personally would not classify it as a horror novel - I think crime thriller might fit better - but that didn't affect my enjoyment at all. The book has great characters, an anti-hero to really root for, and perfect pacing. 4.25 stars

I love a good possession story. It's something I never get tired of reading. Imagine my delight when I read Suffer the Darkness and got not only a possession story, but one with a fresh twist. Strong 5 stars.