howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

When Jesse decides to read a very disturbing book he's been hearing strange tales about, he doesn't expect anything to actually HAPPEN to him. It's just a book, right? Tell that to the strange men who have kidnapped him, or the terrifying place he's awoken in, with its awful, cruel doctors and guards. Will you make the same mistake Jesse made by reading this book?

Alright, friends, this is a tough review to write — not because my feelings are ambiguous about this book, but because some of my friends so brilliantly described everything I felt about this book in their own reviews, and frankly, I'm tempted to just lead you their ways. (Screw it, I'll write my own thoughts, but first, check out Cassie's and Kal's reviews — I adore these women to bits and they both said it all so much better than I could have!)

Okay, for my take on Will Haunt You: let me say that I was excited beyond belief to pick this book up. The pre-release marketing was flawless, Brian strikes me as a solidly excellent human being, and the entire idea of this book being the book that destroyed Jesse's life and the lives of so many before him? Of course I was feeling it!

WARNING: I read a book much like the one you're holding now. And this is what happened to me. Don't make the same mistake. Please, put it down. Or better yet, throw it away. This is your last warning. Turn the page, and you're on your own. Actually, that's not true. Turn the page and he'll be there, watching you.

I've always been a sucker for horror that breaks the fourth wall (it's no coincidence that the first film to ever scare me as a kid was The Ring, because I was so concerned that watching the movie-inside-the-movie would be enough to send Samara on her way to me), so this felt like it should've been an effortless home run — and I think it had the potential to be exactly that! Unfortunately, though, a few things just didn't quite hit the mark.

"I deserve answers. I deserve the truth."
"That's what everyone says... until they get it."

First, there's the downright strangeness in these pages. Don't get me wrong, I love a good bizarro from time to time, and there are moments where this book excels at that! On the other hand, sometimes the oddity reaches a point where I found myself constantly vacillating between "what the hell, this is so creepy!" to just plain old "what the hell". I'm actually seeing a lot of reviewers compare these moments (as well as the overall narrative style) to House of Leaves, and while I typically have a very solid rule against comparing one book to a different's author's book in a review, I wanted to touch on this because I agree with that in the sense that I think, if you enjoyed House of Leaves, you will LOVE Will Haunt You. Brian Kirk doesn't rip it off in any way at all, it just has some similarly ambiguous and strange vibes.

"You are inside your son's head." My beautiful son, Rox. I am his damaged brain.

Beyond things getting a little confusing and too strange for me at times, I struggled with the characters, for the most part. I adored Malia and wanted more scenes with her character, and I thought Cassie was a great side character as well — I definitely feel like Brian can write some awesome ladies! — but nearly all of the men were complete and total trash, and it was so hard to root for any of them, especially Jesse. I know that plenty of protagonists are written in an unlikable way on purpose, and I have no doubt that's what happened here, but unfortunately, that just doesn't work for me often when it comes to horror. I want a protagonist who's flawed enough to be human, but likable enough to root for. Otherwise, it's hard to kick up a fuss over the awful things happening to them.

Jesse is a recovering alcoholic and a former drug addict, among other things, but that definitely wasn't my issue with him. My issue with him is that, from the beginning of the book, it felt like he still didn't grasp the weight of what his addictions had cost his family (as his drunkenness played a part in his infant son's head injury, which has left him mentally disabled for life now). As a mother, I can't imagine putting my son in that position to begin with, much less being able to move on from that incident with anything less than completely life-destroying guilt, yet Jesse spends much of the novel wishing he had a different life and sounding downright whiny about what's happened to his son. We definitely get to see him progress, but I felt so biased against him by that point in the novel that it was too little, too late for me.

Finally, the last thing that didn't quite hit the mark is yet another topic that will work great for many readers, just not me personally: there's a very obvious parable sewn into this story that actually felt borderline preach-y to me at times. I appreciate a horror novel with a moral, but I typically expect them to be a little bit further out of the spotlight than this one was. Again, though, it's something that I think loads of readers will love about this story! It was just a bit heavy-handed for me.

All of that aside, please don't mistake this for a negative review; I had fun reading Will Haunt You and think it's going to find a lot of love in the hands of a lot of readers. There were so many moving pieces to this book that it was a given some would work for me and some wouldn't, but the areas in which this book shone, it really drew me in, leading me to believe I would happily read whatever Brian Kirk releases next because I have no doubt he's only going to get better and better.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Flame Tree Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

High school reunions are bad enough on their own, but what really takes the cake is having a bloodthirsty werewolf show up to kill several of your old friends. Now, Duane and Savannah are scrambling to find shelter as their former classmates rapidly succumb to their newfound primal urges.

If there's one theme in horror that I don't reach for often at all, it's the classic werewolf story. Even as a kid, werewolves just never frightened me much, and it's always been hard for me to find werewolf plots that intrigued me much. That said, when I saw that Wolf Land was being re-released, I couldn't pass it up, if only because I'm so fond of Jonathan's writing in general.

"You are wayward lambs."

In a turn of events that surprises literally no one, I enjoyed this tremendously (enough so that I flew through it in less than 24 hours because I couldn't put it down!). My friends, this is what werewolf horror is supposed to feel like: gruesome, bloody, dark, angry, messy, and downright terrifying.

And when I say "gruesome" and "dark", let me make this very clear: this book is dark as hell. I knew Jonathan was capable of writing some tremendously violent, sickening scenes, and I knew he had warned readers that this was his darkest work yet, but none of that prepared me for what I found in these pages. Wolf Land is nonstop action and bloodshed that, were it adapted into a film (and it totally should be), it would more than likely be one of those rare releases to get hyped as having made poor, unsuspecting moviegoers rush from the theatre puking and/or weeping.

Of course, it's not all blood and guts; as always, Jonathan is incredible at character development. As always, there are villains that leave you frantically awaiting their karmic fates, but there are also unlikely heroes at every turn, and I had so much fun rooting for them. What may have been my favorite part was the way this book tackles misogyny: it's subtle enough not to beat you over the head, but damn, is Jonathan good at making a point. There's a classic "nice guy" character who has to learn that, despite his best intentions, he's still missing the point in a few places; there's a woman who's endlessly shamed by her supposed friends, but we learn has been through hell worse than anyone imagined; the list goes on with roles played out by women who are so much more complex than they appear on the surface (and at the end of the day, it's the ladies who get to kick the most ass, which I'm always here for).

Mingled in with the terror, the gore, and the subtle, brilliantly executed social commentary, there's everything I expect from Jonathan's writing: laughs, an occasional perfectly-placed pop culture reference, layers of world-building begging to be further explored, and at least one really adorable, precious kiddo (because what would a Janz title be without me internally panicking over the outcome of a child or two for at least half the book?). Seriously, though: A+, all the gold stars, another successful Jonathan Janz title.

Content warnings for very explicit violence, murder, sexual assault, child death, mentions of pedophilia, sexism, and a little more gore for good measure.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Flame Tree Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a little tough to rate, because I honestly want to give the artwork 5 solid stars, and the storyline 3 at best. It's a positively stunning book with a lot of lovely and unique characters, but the plot needs more fleshing out and the ending was confusing, anticlimactic, and didn't really make much sense. There are definitely some noir elements to allude to the title, but by the time you reach the conclusion, it feels like there were a lot of vague red herrings thrown out there just to up the "mystery" of it all. All in all, I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but it has potential and I'd probably give these authors another chance if they release another graphic novel as pretty as this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Right off the bat, the author built up some solid respect in my eyes by discussing her own paranormal experiences and going into some detail regarding the equipment she'd be using and her own fail-safes in place to avoid false readings, etc. I like that you could see she took it very seriously, and that feeling continued throughout the book—there were some cases in which she even readily admitted they didn't find any conclusive evidence, and in one case, she explained that she could only detail the homeowner's explanation as the homeowner had asked her not to investigate the property (for risk of stirring up trouble).

All in all, I thought it was solid on the technical aspect. As someone who strongly believes in paranormal phenomenons, some books of this type have left me feeling annoyed or belittled, as though the author didn't really believe in what they were saying, and was just looking to make a quick buck. Robin Strom never makes the reader feel as though she's anything less than sincere, though.

Overall, if you enjoy nonfiction about paranormal events and investigations, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of On the Hunt for the Haunted, and I know I'll be recommending this one to friends for a long time to come.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It was just a mistake. One big misunderstanding, that’s what landed Hannah here in the Institution, and soon enough, her best friend’s parents and the doctors and the judge will all realize it. While she’s stuck here, though, Hannah’s going to do what Hannah does best—persuade people.

Mystery books aren’t my top preferred genre—not even in my top 5, really—but the fact that Danger is more of a mystery shrouded within a story of a young woman’s struggle with mental illness was enough to sell me on the synopsis, plus we don't get a ton of Jewish rep in contemporary stories and Hannah is a young Jewish girl.

It wasn’t my fault. Accidents happen.

Right from the start, I felt like Alyssa B. Sheinmel’s narrative voice suited the story perfectly, as there’s something a little rough around the edges about the way she tells a story (and I mean this as a good thing). She really managed to immerse me in this world Hannah’s living in while she’s there in the Institution, despite the fact that it’s established early on that we can’t be certain Hannah’s telling the truth in her descriptions.

If you enjoy unreliable narrators, you’ll love Hannah, because she thrives on keeping the reader in the dark as she recounts her memories of what happened to land her in this place to begin with. She’s an extremely manipulative (and fairly narcissistic) character, and the most intriguing part of that is how she manages to extend that manipulation into the storytelling, too.

There’s not much of anything I can say about the plot without risking spoilers, because there are twists scattered throughout the story that you’ll want to meet for yourselves. All I’ll say is that I thought Alyssa B. Sheinmel is a tremendously enjoyable writer and I will happily be coming back for more of her work in the future.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you give a name to an impossible thing, does it make the impossible thing any less impossible?

This is a tough review to write, because I genuinely cannot remember the last time I had such mixed feelings about any singular book. There was a lot to love about You Must Not Miss, and a little bit that didn't work for me, and so much that I've yet to make up my mind about, even now, almost a month after finishing it. Yes, that's right, I've been sitting on this for a month in hopes of putting my thoughts together in some reasonable order, and I'm still struggling.

Your despair made Near. You felt so deeply, and for so long, that your very sadness grew limbs and walked away from you.

First, the atmosphere in this book is beyond incredible. There's a thick fog of melancholy and hopelessness overlaying the entire story, even in the happiest moments, and it left me reeling every time I closed the book. It's like some sort of weird trip, and it actually left me in a really bizarre headspace for a few days after finishing it. There's also a dark, creepy vibe to the second half of the book, and if you know me, you know I love unexpectedly creepy twists in otherwise non-threatening stories.

Good. Let it be scared. Let everyone be scared of the things Magpie could do to them.

Next, we have the subject matter and the way it's approached; we're kept in the dark for much of the story about what exactly has happened to ruin Magpie's best-friendship with Allison, her former bestie, and what has turned her into some sort of vague pariah in her school, but we're immediately made aware that her father has destroyed their family with an affair, and her sister has left her high and dry. She's totally alone, and it's painful to read, especially once the "big reveal" occurs (and was precisely what I thought it would be, though it hurt my heart just as much).

It did not escape Magpie that a thing casting a shadow must be a thing with some degree of realness to it.

There's also the downright weirdness of Leno's writing to consider that it makes it even tougher to rate this. The narrative voice reminded me of one of my all-time favorite authors (I try not to name-drop unrelated works in reviews, but I have to say that I think fans of the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire would dig this writing style like I did). So, the atmosphere is great, the plot is touching, the writing voice is excellent — oh, AND there's some really great trans rep in the love interest! So... If you're anything like me, at this point of this review, you're probably thinking, "Okay, what's the problem?!"

She hadn't meant it to be so honest, so prickling and sharp, but there it was. Prickling and sharp and oh so honest.

Magpie. Magpie is the problem. I don't believe I have ever so thoroughly enjoyed every single aspect of a book while disliking a main character so much, but here we are. I found her painfully bland in the first half of the story, and cruel in the second. Some of the decisions she makes are brutal and cold-hearted, but I could get behind them — I'll never have a problem with protagonists seeking revenge, to put it bluntly. My issue was how she treated the people who loved her. There were characters in this story who genuinely cared for Magpie and wanted to do right by her and to help her, and she consistently took advantage of them and left them out to dry while she lost herself in her trauma and need for revenge. I want to chalk this up to her mental state and forgive her for it, but in the end, I couldn't do it, and that alone is almost enough to knock this down to 3 stars for me.

In the end, I decided to give this 3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads' sake. It didn't feel fair to lower this to 3 stars when there was so much I genuinely did like, but the one thing I struggled with made this a slog to read (it took me over a month to finish this book, when it's short enough that I could have read it in a day otherwise!), left me frustrated more often than not, and made me wonder if it's just Magpie's character, or if Katrina Leno's characters in general are going to leave me with this disappointment. I certainly hope not, because her writing voice alone is enough to have me wanting more, but I'm sad to say that You Must Not Miss definitely missed (sorry) the mark on my expectations.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've never been the biggest Nancy Drew fan, but I remembered the characters well enough that my favorite thing about this graphic novel was seeing them re-imagined as modern, fun teens. (HIGH key loving the fact that my fave from my childhood, George, grew up to be a queer punk girl?!) The plot was okay—a little underwhelming, maybe, and certainly predictable—but the characters were fun and the art was lovely, so I feel pretty comfortable giving this 4 stars. I assume this creator is going to make more in this 'series', and if that's the case, I think I'll check them out, too.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first time trying anything by Garth Ennis after being disappointed by Preacher a while back, so I wasn't sure what to expect, and even now, having read this, I'm not entirely certain how I feel about it! There's a lot of good, and a lot of bad, too, to be unpacked in this graphic novel.

The good:
- interesting characters
- diversity (2 queer MCs, multiple POC characters)
- interesting social commentary on the current sociopolitical climate in the US and how it affects minorities
- a few really creepy and/or disturbing scenes

The bad:
- you're immediately thrown into a bizarre scenario with no back story or information about what's happening
- there's very little "logic" to what's happening (i.e., how are people chosen? who "deserves" it and who doesn't?)
- volume 1's ending feels very abrupt and premature

So, all in all, this is a pretty mixed bag, but I'm intrigued enough to say I think I'd like to read volume 2 sometime, and the things that I did like about this graphic novel have me weighing the possibility of giving Preacher another try while I wait.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Island Book looked like it would be a very sweet and fantastical read, but instead, I got an art style I didn't enjoy, a narrative voice I found boring and slow, and a plot that meandered before firmly burying itself in the end. I have no idea what has happened, or what the purpose of this graphic novel was. I suppose it's one of those stories where you're meant to focus on the journey and not the destination, but the journey really wasn't saying much, either.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I already liked Chris McCoy's webcomics, so I was excited to read this collection, and it didn't disappoint! The sense of humor is just hilarious and so spot-on for my tastes, and I really love the simple, cute art style. There's a lot of sarcasm and cynicism, and while it does occasionally manifest in a joke that's a bit insensitive, I don't think the average reader will be offended unless you just really hate morbid humor. Otherwise, give this one a go and I genuinely believe it'll brighten your day a bit.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!