Review to come! I cant wait for the next one!

Interesting book about this serial killer. some seriously disturbing atrocities from him for sure. I can't imagine what the victims and families must have gone through. anyone else ever heard of him?

Another 2.5 read for me. I am unsure if this is supposed to be humorous at all? Or if this is legit a real thing. If it is supposed to be comedic, then I should bump up my rating because this lady is crazy and some of the stuff she discusses made me bust out laughing. Like... we can't roll up our socks because it leaves them stretched and stressed and tired (or something like that... she humanized SOCKS and put feelings to them). She doesn't want us to have books that don't give us joy? Well, HEADS UP! I am a HUGE book lover and so ALL of my books SPARK JOY in my life... but I doubt she would believe that. How is it "tidying" up when all she really talks about is donating things or throwing things away? How is that TIDYING? To me, that is CLEARING out the house. Those are two different things. The cherry on top is that we are supposed to "thank an item for giving us joy" and toss it aside. Gifts from friends, for example, we should not keep. The purpose of the gift was JUST to say "Thank you" or "I appreciate you" from someone to you. The item itself is meaningless and we are just expected to discard it. This lady is a total kook... if you want to laugh or be reminded "Wow, people think like this?" and you DON'T want to simultaneously be downhearted by our own news and politics on TV for a change, then pick this up. You will laugh and roll your eyes until they pop out of your head.

I have never been a fan of 'historical' or 'war' fiction. Not going to lie there. So it does take a good story to keep me engaged in one, and The Crows did that. The story begins with a young man receiving an unknown./mysterious packager from his grandfather who was in the war. While the build-up was a little longer than maybe necessary, it was worth it. What starts out as a chilling tale of POW story turns into a horrifying story of guttural terror. There are just a handful of minor editing errors (that can easily be corrected), but this is a book that I would recommend as a short horror story. The Crows are coming... *runs and hides and prays they never find me* 4 stars!

In Making Jake, we get to see just what caused Jake Marlow to become the twisted psycho that we experienced in the first installment of this trilogy, Ashley's Tale. Mike Duke did a great job at making me loathe our deluded main character from his shocking origins to the heartbreaking end of this novella. There was one scene that I do not think i can ever forget... and I practically felt it as I was reading the words. Truly a disturbed individual, Jake is now explained and we will get to see what his ultimate endgame is in the next and final book of the trilogy!

This book has SO much going for it. It has coming-of-age elements, a supernatural element, vengeful murders, friendship, loss, love, DOGS, and so much more. I was hesitant at first when I received this book because I have been reading a lot of ~250 page books for some time now and this book is MASSIVE. It's not Game of Thrones length or IT/The Stand length, but it is definitely a big book not only in number of pages but size of pages, too. But I am so glad that it was a bigger book because I was that much more pulled into the story and lives of the characters.

Jones writes a story that you just want to keep reading. It was hard for me to find a good stopping point, even between chapters, because I just wanted to keep going. He really does a great job at painting a picture that you can see, touch, smell, and hear. You will really like some characters and there are some you will despise and shake your head at while you just wait for them to get what's coming.

I really enjoyed the concept of the book. A bullied and trouble young man in the past makes a wish and it comes true. His soul gets transported to an amulet and years later a boy finds the amulet. They end up "sharing" a body and all the people from the bullied teen's past are now adults and still living in the same town. And he is not happy. I don't want to say TOO much more because there are definitely some good twists and turns that I did not see coming that I do not want to spoil!

5 stars for me! Thank you to the author for this copy in exchange for an honest review!

In Secret of Seasons we meet a young girl named Casey who, at first glance, seems to have it all due to her enrollment at a nice college and blossoming social life. What we later discover is that her home life is full of responsibilities most of us didn't have to worry about when we were that age. Her dad is always working and her mom is not healthy, leaving it up to Casey to take care of her mother and her younger brother. So it makes sense that she might end up in a social situation to escape that lifestyle that would end up leading her to a secret ceremony that ultimately releases a mysterious force that will forever alter her life and everyone around her.

This is considered along the lines of YA paranormal mystery horror. It was a fun read and I read it in two sittings - I just got so drawn into Casey's life and had to find out what was going to happen. The relationship that Black build between Casey and her brother gave me all the feels and I just wanted to hug them both! She is able to craft a college-set story in a way that actually even made me miss it a little...? I know, right? Who wants to go back?! But in this situation I found myself doing a lot of the same things that Casey would do - and for me, believability is key sometimes in laying the groundwork for a story.

The cover of the book says this is Esoteric Equinox Book 1 so I can only hope that there will be more to come! 3.5 rounded up to 4 for Goodreads!

If you like urban legends and bloody horror then this is definitely the book for you! Andrea Merchak takes the reader on an explosive killing spree ride and explores a lot of our favorite urban legends along the way. In Bloody Legends, our killer believes his "art" is bringing these urban legends to life in a way to always be remembered - both he and the victims.

Daniel is our killer and he is a total psychopath! He shows no remorse or empathy for what he is doing and, in fact, it is the opposite as he revels in the kills and the "beauty" if his creative work. He is meticulous in his victim choices, aiming to select the perfect match for whatever urban legend he is trying to bring to life next. And since this story is told mostly from the killer's POV, it is very matter of fact, to the point, and no fluff. Daniel has a one track mind and does not want to give the reader any more information than is required. And some of the ways he kills... will make you want to close your eyes! Truly some freaky scary kills here...

This book goes from victim hunt to killing to detectives doing their thing in a routine pattern throughout. For the most part, that worked for me. But it did get a little repetitious with the formula: hunt, kill, investigators discuss seemingly the same thing, etc. I would have liked some more filler scenes to really help either get to know the killer more, the detectives more, the victims, etc. It was go, go, go the whole story - which, again, was nice for a fun and wild ride! But I think it could have gone a little deeper than just fun and wild because Merchak has that ability for sure!

I definitely recommend this book to slasher fans, urban legend fans, and those who enjoy reading about serial killers. I am definitely reading more in this "Bloody" series because I have to know it all!