When Kevin J. Kennedy sent me a copy of Collected Easter Horror Shorts, I could not wait for Easter to roll around! Unfortunately life got a bit too busy, so I wasn't able to finish the book before Easter... But this certainly isn't a book you want to rush!

If you're looking for a crazy rollercoaster of horror short stories all centered around a seemingly unlikely holiday, you have to check this one out! I will never think about Easter the same way again!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

My thoughts:
Oh my goodness. This collection is incredible! So many of these stories have stuck in my mind long after I finished reading them. Some actually gave me nightmares! They're all so creative and interesting!

Here are my rating breakdowns for each story along with some immediate thoughts/reactions:

Forward by Nev Murray
All the chocolate talk made my mouth water! Hey Nev! Feel free to send me British chocolate! ;-)

Lamb To Slaughter by Amy Cross - 3/5
What an interesting and dark concept.

Sonnes Hill by Lex H. Jones - 4/5
I liked the messaging in this one. Especially the bit about the communities that dry up! Phew! What a fun twist on this tale.

Easter Eggs by Latashia Figueroa - 4/5
Oh I loved this one. A bit tough to read at parts, and there were a few grammatical errors. But what a creepy story!

The Rebirth - 3/5
Woah. This was a weird one but dark and interesting. I have so many questions!

Baby Blues by Briana Robertson - 3/5
Ooofh. This one was horrifying and so sad.

Mia’s Easter Basket by Mark Lukens - 5/5
Woah! This one took a turn I wasn’t expecting!!

He Had Risen by C.S. Anderson - 4/5
A bit repetitive but a fun, but dark, zombie tale!

The Echoes of the Bunny-Man - 5/5
What a terrifying story!! And the authors note afterward....

Killer Jelly Beans From Outer Space by James Matthew Byers - 5/5
Such a fun and dark poem! I’ll never look at Jelly Beans the same way again!

Rotten Eggs by Jeff Strand - 5/5
Woah!!! I did not see that ending coming!

A Town Called Easter by Kevin J. Kennedy - 5/5
Woah! What a nightmare!

Lord of the Dance by J.C. Michael - 4/5
Wow! I did not see that coming. What an interesting and terrifying idea!

Easter Gunny by Peter Oliver Wonder - 5/5
Oh. My. God.

It’s Not All About Bunnies And Chocolates by Veronica Smith - 4/5
Terrifying and brutal!!

Last Supper by Suzanne Fox
This story was for me. Too sexual.

Bunny and Clyde by Lisa Vasquez - 4/5
Such a sad tale.

Magic Awaits by Christopher Motz - 5/5
Such a terrifying idea!! I loved this one!

An Easter Prayer by Weston Kincade and David Chrisley - 2/5
Hmm. I’m not sure I really understood this one. I felt like I was missing something going into it.

Trying To Write A Horror Story by Andrew Lennon - 3/5
Slow to start, but that ending!

Hatch by Christina Burgling - 3/5
What a strange tale!

Sulphur by Mark Fleming
Yikes. This was wasn’t for me. I can’t do stories about drunk driving.

Paying It Forward by Jeff Menapace - 5/5
Holy cow. This is an intense one! That ending...

Afterword by Kevin J. Kennedy
Perfect conclusion! I would LOVE to see more anthologies :-D


My final thoughts:
Bravo! Another amazing collection. Of course some of the stories just weren't for me, but I loved most of them. I cannot wait to re-read this next Easter!

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier is a quick read, but it sure packs an emotional punch! The story of these two sisters is quite bittersweet, but very powerful.

This graphic novel was so adorable. The artwork was brightly colored and fun. There wasn't a ton of detail, but it was all organized so well! I loved all the little words that were thrown in here and there to elaborate on what was happening in the panel.

The characters were perfect. I really enjoyed watching the main character, Cat, grow as the story moved along. And her little sister, Maya, was so cute! I loved her bravery and excitement and her outlook on life was also lovely. The sisterly love between these two was so refreshing! Of course there was still a bit of a struggle when the older sister wanted friendships of her own, but that only added to the realism of their relationship. The parents only played a small role, but they were wonderfully realistic.

The fact that Maya had cystic fibrosis added a very powerful element to the storyline. Considering the middle grade level, I think this was done very well. The author kept it real, but not too dark.I definitely hope to see more "real world" things like this in middle grade novels.


Beware, the negative:
My one hesitation with this graphic novel is around the Dia de Los Muertos element. When I read through, I thought what the author included was fun and interesting. Thought it was clear that the mother didn't fully understand her heritage because she had been a typical angsty teen. So I wondered if the lack of information about the history was related to that, or if it was just lack of research on the authors end? Either way, I definitely would have liked to see more information.

My final thoughts:
I really enjoyed this read! It's a great one to pick up one afternoon and just read straight through. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a middle grade read for someone in that age range, or for yourself!

But You Scared Me the Most by John Manderino is a very interesting collection of dark, yet humorous, short stories. I absolutely loved the tone of the book overall, and I had so much fun reading it!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

What an interesting collection of short stories! This is another one that I had to pick up here and there to read just one or two stories at a time so I could properly digest them.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection! I loved the variety of the topics the stories covered. The overall tone was slightly dark, but also humorous, which I really appreciated. Many stories began with a bang and drew me in immediately, while others had a slow start but then finished with a surprise. Once I finished one story, I just couldn't wait to dive into the next one to see what it would be about!

There were a number of shorts that I really loved. But of course, with most short story collections, there were also a few I didn't like.

Here are my very quick notes for the stories that I gave five stars:

Too Old To Trick-Or-Treat, Too Young To Die
I loved the realistic and humorous family dynamic in this story. And what a cool idea! This was the perfect story to choose to include first!

Wolfman And Janice
Loved this one! What a fun idea. And that ending!

Self-Portrait With Wine
What a fun one! I loved the spontaneity and humor of this story!

Bob and Todd
That was intense and so filled with anxiety!

The Mummy
Such a heartbreaking tale. When I read this one, it felt like my stomach dropped. This one hit me really hard!

A Matter Of Character
Loved this one! So bittersweet.

The Witch of Witch’s Woods
Loved this one! What a great story to end on. I loved the storytelling!


Then there were the ones I really enjoyed, but gave four stars:

A Certain Fellow Named Phil
Whoa! The first four sentences are so intriguing. And phew, this one was quite unsettling!

But You Scared Me The Most
Such a sad one!

No Place Like Home
Woah. This one took a turn I wasn’t expecting!

Made For Each Other
Awww.

Abduction
Woah. I did not see that twist coming.

The Weary Ghost of Uncle Doug
Aww I loved this one. Poor Doug!


My final thoughts:
If you enjoy short stories that drift into the "odd" territory, you should definitely check this one out! I had so much fun reading them and highly recommend the collection!

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk, Illustrated by Brendan Kearney is an adorable story that kids (or adults that appreciate children's books too, of course) will just love!

I mean, an epic race through the refrigerator between two breakfast foods? Sign me up!

I had so much fun reading this book! Some of the rhyming was a little off, but I loved the flow and humor overall. This is definitely one that would be fun to read out loud!

I also really enjoyed that the storyline was simply a race between Sir French Toast and Lady Pancake. As the two traveled through the refrigerator to reach the syrup, they encountered so many other foods which were fun to see. I especially loved some of the locations such as the Potato Mash Mountain or the dark and scary vegetable crisper.

And of course, the book ends with a lovely lesson about sharing.

The Case of the Stinky Stench by Josh Funk, Illustrated by Brendan Kearney is the second book in the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series. In this book, we follow the breakfast foods on another adventure.

Just like the first, some of the lines didn't really flow well, but overall it was a fun read! One element that really stood out to me in this one was the play on words! For example the clever bit about the Red Herring or the line about tripping over Miss Steak that made me laugh out loud. And the author bios at the end were also fun to read and continued to match the humor of the story.

The Eldritch Heart by Matthew S. Cox is a cute love story that is packed with action from cover to cover! If you're looking for a great YA Fantasy where the princess acts as the stone that bends the river, and fights against outdated beliefs, then this is the right book for you!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

First things first... LOOK AT THAT COVER. My goodness, I love it so much! The cover was designed by Eugene Teplitsky and it's a design that fits the book wonderfully in my opinion. When I read the description of the heart for the first time in the text, I immediately looked back at the cover and thought, "The designer must have actually read the book and really paid attention!" Far too many times, especially with fantasy books, I've found that the covers just don't align with the text. This one was spot on!

Matthew told me he's about to drop a new cover design. I can't wait to see it! Once that has been released, I will make sure to add it in here!

So now about the heart of the book! The writing style was very easy to read and it all flowed well. There were so many passages that I absolutely loved (see "My favorite passages" below!). And like I said above, it was so action packed! Just when I thought things were going to calm down a bit, the girls were thrown into another crazy situation.

I really enjoyed Kitlyn as a character! Right from the first chapter, I was drawn to her. Even with everything that was thrown her way on a daily basis, she stayed so strong. I also really loved the character Ralen. I would have happily read more about him, though I am glad that he didn't overshadow Kitlyn and Oona. I also really enjoyed many of the side characters such as Kethaba, Beredwyn, Ogun, and Evie.

Thinking about Kitlyn and Oona together as a duo, I did really enjoy their wit and tenacity!

There were SO many elements in this book that are very relevant to the state of the world today that Matthew covered wonderfully! The two that really stood out included:

Same-sex relationships and the unfortunate disdain that comes along with it. But not to worry, there was also a very refreshing, and positive stance held by more characters than those that were nasty!
Inappropriate behavior and touching. This is extremely prevalent in fantasy, so I was thrilled when Ralen growled out of distaste and anger when one of the characters spoke of what a guard had done.

Beware, the slight negatives:
There were two things that kind of took me out of the story a bit. I've been mulling these two things over and I think it's simply because I've grown out of this genre; I don't think these things would have even phased me if I had read this book when I was a teenager. I used to LOVE YA Fantasy, but now the ones I enjoy are very few and far between. And don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed this one!

The first slight negative for me was how repetitive it was. I started to lose interest in the romance and the relationship between the girls and the king because of how often certain things were brought up. At first I was okay with the repetition! For example, when Oona thought about something, I like that we also saw Kitlyn thinking the same thing before the tension was resolved. But after awhile, it became bothersome to me (which, of course, is my usual irk with many books).

And this makes me so sad, but I have to say that I really didn't like Oona. I really wanted to see her grow up! Things toward the end seemed to be improving, but it was too late for me to jump on board. But to avoid spoilers, I'll leave it at that.


My favorite passages:
Kitlyn covered her mouth in a poor attempt to mute her laughter and reached to help her up. The princess clasped her hand, setting off a sensation like a mass of exuberant fireflies swarmed around her arm and settled in the pit of her stomach.

“Argh!” She screamed. “I feel like one of those nutters they confine in... in...” She huffed, the sharp breath tossing a frappe of her hair off her face. “Straightjackets.” Grunting, she pulled, and another bow came loose. “When I am queen, I shall outlaw any garment one cannot put on or take off themselves!”

"Tenebrae's teacups!" Oona's hand sprang open as a reflex, dropping the bade. She clutched her fist to her chest, gasping from the pain.
The guards relaxed all at once. Usually, that epithet invoked the death goddess' bosom rather than her tableware... and did not belong coming out of a princess' mouth.

By late afternoon, the growling in her belly had grown loud enough to have a conversation with, not that she could understand a word.

The old one pursed her lips. "Oh, and we don't eat babies, either."
Kitlyn blinked.
"They're too difficult to prepare. Tiny bones, you see."
She dropped the spoon in the bowl, horrified.
Kethaba burst into laughter. "Oh, forgive me, child. The look on your face..." She cackled.

She'd felt like a mouse in a barn full of wildcats before, but now the barn happened to be on fire too - and locked.

No words came to mind to fit the weight in her heart, or the sorrow on his face, so she kept quiet. Long meadow grass on both sides of the road wavered in the wind like waves upon the ocean.

Pure panic gave her wings, and she somehow managed to bounce out of it onto her feet.

She drew in a breath to do what any self-respecting sixteen-year-old princess with a meager longsword would do when finding herself ten paces away from such a thing: she screamed.


My final thoughts:
I would absolutely recommend this to fans of YA Fantasy! This story was so refreshing when comparing it to other YA Fantasy novels I have read. There were so many bits of this book that made me gasp or laugh right out loud! I can't wait to read more by Matthew S. Cox!

The crayons are a mix of emotions; tired, sad, fed up, annoyed. Some feel overused, while others feel sad and lonely because they aren't used enough. Two are fighting over the sun, and one is trying to be a peacekeeper. But what will Duncan do to make them all happy?

This book was so cute! I loved that each page featured a specific crayon color. Also on each page, there was a letter from one specific crayon to Duncan telling him why it is upset along with an illustration of featuring things from that specific color. For example, on first page like this, we see Red Crayon writing to Duncan saying that it is overworked and tired, and on the next page we see a firetruck, hearts, santa, and apples.

The artwork was so perfect for this story! I loved that Oliver Jeffers absolutely nailed the tone.

This could definitely be a hit with children! Just perhaps not super sensitive ones. I know when I was a kid I felt bad when my crayons got all short and stubby, and thinking about them being alive and angry at me may have really bummed me out.

The Summer the World Ended by Matthew S. Cox... oh my goodness. What a rollercoaster! This is another book where I just want to shout, "GO READ THIS!" This book has heartbreak, quite a bit of terror, and a whole lot of heart.

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

To be honest, I didn't remember anything about the synopsis before I dove into this one. I had read it once, when I agreed to review the book, but by the time I finally got around to reading it, it was like I was totally clueless.

If you enjoy letting a book take you by surprise, I recommend skipping this review and avoiding the synopsis.

What I will tell you without spoiling anything is that this is an intense ride. I almost DNFed it because the first few chapters were so heartbreaking and hit me really hard. I'm so glad I stuck with it though because once the main character leaves her hometown, it's a real page-turner filled with twists and turns!

If you don't mind being a bit spoiled (even with the synopsis), let's dive in!

Phew. The first five chapters of the book was so hard for me to read, emotionally. The pain the main character, Riley, was feeling was so REAL and intense. It made me so incredibly sad that I kept debating DNFing the book. Bravo, Matthew, that NEVER happens to me!

Once I hit chapter six, there was still a lot of sadness as Riley continued to deal with the hand that life dealt her, but this was also when the story really sucked me in. From then on, it was so full of twists and turns that I couldn't put the book down! And again, because I hadn't remembered the synopsis, I absolutely did not see each twist coming.

I loved the characters! The author absolutely nailed the pre-teen persona with Riley; from the way she reacted to things her dad said or her thoughts about kissing, to the struggle she had between being a kid and an adult, it was all so wonderfully done. I really enjoyed Riley and her father's relationship, which again, was so realistic. I also really loved both of their humor that was scattered throughout the novel.

Man, there are SO many things that I wish I could talk about with this book... But it would stray too far into majorly spoiling the story. So I'll have to just leave it at that.

My favorite passages:
“I want you to be comfortable talking to me, Riley. I’d prefer you wait until you were eighteen, but if you decide to have sex, I’d rather you do it safely rather than sneaking around behind my back.”
Riley discovered that chicken tacos weren’t too easy to breathe. When she stopped coughing, she hid her face and her arms, wanting to crawl under the table and disappear.

That place is so boring, I think the dust has dust.

He set his hands on her hips. Riley’s heart skipped about, getting into a boxing match with the butterflies in her stomach.

“For an event like this, the government wouldn’t bother warning anyone. All it would do would create panic and add a short period of terror and misery before the nukes hit.”


My final thoughts:
This book really had it all; video games, friends, heartbreak, interesting family dynamics, love, suspense, terror, and plenty of twists and turns. And it was so wonderfully written! Five stars. I cannot wait to give this one a re-read!

UGH, this book had so much potential! But in my opinion, it fell incredibly flat.

First of all, I didn’t like the way this book was written at all. There were so many run on sentences. SO. MANY. The sentence structure was also very difficult to follow and I found myself reworking the text for better flow in my head, which really slowed down my reading.

I also didn’t really care for the way that this storyline was organized. It seemed very scattered and distracted; like this wasn't a final draft and that bits of the story were missing or out of place.

How much this book jumped around kept throwing me for a loop. There were many times that I had to restart the section to see if I had missed something. When I realized we had jumped to a random new character, I was left thinking, “Why should I care about that scene?” I kept hoping that everything would tie together soon. On a couple of occasions, it did. But for the vast majority, it did not. At least not clearly. Which left me again feeling like this was a rough draft.

The very first scene where a strange jump happened that I actually thought flowed pretty well in regard to the story and added more depth rather than seeming random was on page 109. However, this whole scene was one quick transition sentence followed by ONE MASSIVE sentence the spread over three pages... Why?

Then of course there were the characters. I really wanted to pull for the main characters, Nadia and Saeed, but I just didn't find them interesting at all. Reading about their relationship wasn't heartwarming to me, it was dull. I did appreciate the fact that the two fell in love during time of unrest, and that there was always a level of respect in their relationship, no matter what stage they were in. But the rest was just so dry and a bit tedious. I wanted to learn a little bit more about them and each of their personalities. But as they were portrayed, they just felt so one-dimensional.

The storyline itself just didn't hold my interest. I was quite bored when the two main characters met and started courting one another. Things got a little tense with the violence that was occurring, and to be honest, I had kind of been hoping that it would get a little grittier. But then suddenly there is mention of doors that can take you to another place. I started feeling hopeful that this was where the story would take a turn and hook me! Well, it certainly took a turn, but not in a good way. The storyline after the doors made their appearance was even more boring to me.

I hate to be so negative... But when I find a book that I truly do not like, it's pretty rare! And of course I have to be honest.

Definitely just not a book for me. I had no interest in picking it up once I had set it down. While reading I really struggled to stay engaged with the story both because of the writing style and the overall plot.

If this wasn't a book club pick, I would have DNFed in the first chapter. I honestly just couldn't recommend this one. Though I am looking forward to hearing what my bookclub as to say about it!

To end on a positive note though, here are my favorite passages:
War would soon erode the facade of their building as though it had accelerated time itself, the day’s toll outpacing that of a decade.

She learned how to dress for self-protection, how to best deal with aggressive men and with the police, and with aggressive men who were the police, and always to trust her instincts about situations to avoid or to exit immediately.

One’s relationship to windows now changed in the city. A window was the border through which death was possibly most likely to come.

The agent spoke softly, almost sweetly, his whisper bringing to mind that of a poet or a psychopath.

Once they met an acquaintance of Saeed’s and this seemed an almost impossible and happy coincidence, like two leaves blown from the same tree by a hurricane landing on top of each other far away, and it cheered Saeed greatly.

In this issue, Tony Stark gives Spider-Man a new outfit to test out. Spider-Man is suspicious- and for a good reason! When Peter asks Tony why he is helping him, Tony asks Peter to, "stick with me through what's coming, no matter what." Tony won't go into detail until Peter swears...