howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

This book was a lot. I almost put it down several times, but honestly, it was like a catastrophe I absolutely could not look away from. Do I recommend it? No, not unless you also find yourself inexplicably drawn to extremely fucked up, gore-filled depictions of the most abusive, messiest relationships you can think of, full of murder, torture, and tremendously depraved sexual activities.

But if you do find yourself inexplicably drawn to those things, well... this was pretty damn good.

✨ Representation: Christopher and Ivan are both queer men

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

torture, murder, mutilation, necrophilia, rape, dub-con, BDSM, cannibalism

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

There were 3 or 4 really good comics, and the rest ranged from mediocre to bad. The humor does get pretty dark (a lot of comics about dead babies/children, one strip making fun of a blind person, and a handful of jokes about suicide).

I did like the Grim Reaper character, though.

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

I went through a spell in my late teens and very early twenties where I loved Koontz's writing, but I somehow never picked up Intensity. Now, with it having been several years since I'd read anything of his, I'm wishing I had read this back then, because I probably would've enjoyed it more. It would have been shocking and suspenseful, and I probably would have stayed on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

In 2021, though, I mostly found Intensity shockingly... boring.

While the premise is intriguing — a young woman stays with her best friend's family for the weekend, only to watch a home intruder slaughter them all, leaving her the sole survivor — it was drawn-out, primarily due to the inclusion of the killer's POV. If his chapters had been left out, the story would've been half as long and twice as interesting. While Chyna's narrative is primarily focused on action, fear, and the thrilling aspects of her journey, Vess' chapters almost singularly focus on his own self-obsession and the mundanity that ensues, such as entire pages dwelling on how many words he can make from the letters in his name.

I'm still giving it 3 stars, so obviously, I didn't hate it, but I can safely say Intensity was a letdown and didn't motivate me to go back to reading Koontz's work any time soon. He's a talented author, but I don't think his method of storytelling clicks with me the way it used to. I'm glad that I read this, because it had been on my TBR for a very long time and now I can see what the fuss was about.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

home invasion, violence, murder, kidnapping, rape, imprisonment, animal abuse, animal death

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

I need help, someone
please do something
I would have never
cut a hole so deep
in my abdomen if
I had known how
much it would hurt

Eric has become one of my favorite authors of all time, and this collection was just as perfectly upsetting, dark, and troubling as I hoped it would be. Simply the way they string words together feels like a dangerous magic on its own, but coupling that incredible writing with the vulnerability and brutal honesty in Eric's dissection of intrusive thoughts and fear of one's own mind makes this a collection I won't forget.

✨ Representation: Eric LaRocca is a queer author in a queer relationship and that is alluded to multiple times in these poems.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

violence/mutilation, death, child death, infanticide, insects, intrusive thoughts about harming loved ones

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

This absolutely broke my heart. I had to stop in the middle of this graphic novel three times just because it was such a tough read. I've never read the full novel, and I still plan to, but now I know I'll need to really be ready for a tearjerker if this version, condensed down into a short graphic novel, could be so devastating!

Between Shades of Gray follows a fictional story in a very real setting: a teen Lithuanian girl and her family are taken by the Soviet secret police in 1941, where they are then hauled off to Siberia and will spend years in terrible conditions. No punches are pulled, and there's a miserable reality to the entire story (which is why it didn't surprise me to learn that the events are strongly inspired by the author's interviews with her own family members, some of whom actually lived through events like those described in the story).

As far as the graphic novel itself goes, the artwork was fine - a bit muddled at times, but it could be because it was an advanced e-copy - but that's not really the selling point here. This story is powerful enough that, frankly, it doesn't need incredible, eye-catching artwork. Instead, the art is muted and dark in a way that fits the story well. All in all, I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word for how I felt while reading this, but it was an easy 5-star rating and I highly recommend this or the original novel to anyone unfamiliar with these events.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

violence, murder, abuse, starvation, illness, infant death, death of a parent, war, human trafficking

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

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

This was such a fun collection of stories and I couldn't be happier that this was my introduction to Sonora Taylor's writing! I'm a huge fan of the intersection of horror and romance in stories, but it's so rare that I get the opportunity to actually see an author commit to the theme this wholeheartedly, and I loved it.

Some of the stories feature romances gone wrong, while others let us watch relationships form despite harrowing, terrifying scenarios unfolding around the couple — such as one of my favorites in the collection, 'The Sharps', which combines an absolutely horrifying eco-horror plot with a very sweet new pairing. Of course, I can't pass up the opportunity to mention the very fun, festive ''Tis Better to Want', where Sonora wraps up the collection with a very unique look at Krampus.

I love the fact that Sonora Taylor is over here, brave enough to tackle consensual sex in horror when many horror authors won't go there. I could rant for days about the problems I have with much of the horror fandom's general treatment of the romance genre despite their shockingly long list of similarities, so this collection absolutely warmed my heart. This was my first time reading Sonora's work but definitely won't be my last, and even if she someday decided to craft her entire brand around stories like the gems in Someone to Share My Nightmares, sign me the hell up.

✨ Representation: 'Bump in the Night' features a sapphic romance; multiple BIPOC characters; Krampus is pansexual

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

violence, murder, skinning/flaying, abuse (physical, mental, emotional), BDSM & whipping (consensual)

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

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

Stuck On You is a gross, quick little story about an affair gone very wrong — or, to be fair, maybe very right? It's quite an effective parable! Ricardo's wife sends him off on a trip to collect "souvenirs" to resell, and while he's gone, he picks up a hitchhiker offering an alluring payment. Things go very badly for Ricardo, though, and he learns a valuable lesson. This is a very short, steamy, and fairly disgusting read that I had a lot of fun reading, and I'm definitely interesting in checking out more of Jasper Bark's writing in the future. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer and that we could have explored a certain theme

Spoiler

(the possibility of Ricardo having been affected by some sort of curse of his wife's doing)

a bit further!

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

infidelity, death, mutilation, cannibalism, racism, mentions of drugs and drug smuggling

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

This was absolutely fantastic. Not quite what I expected, to be fair: for some reason, I thought the entire book's focus would be on serial killers, while it actually focused quite heavily on historical warriors and heroines, including some really badass ladies who fought Nazis, such as Virginia Hall. I learned a lot of information (I hadn't heard of almost any of these women before reading this book!) and it's packaged in an incredibly binge-able format. The author offers a little input here and there, whether it's a quick joke or a personal remark on the treatment of a woman, and while I know some nonfiction readers prefer little to no side-chatter, I really enjoyed those little tidbits and thought it made this an immensely fast, light read.

I also appreciated that, whenever a story's focus would include particularly triggering topics, there was a brief little content warning at the top of that story's first page to let readers know what they're in for (or to decide to skip that story altogether). I've never seen something like this implemented in a nonfiction collection before, and I found it very thoughtful!

All in all, if you enjoy nonfiction about gruesome deaths (both deserved and not) and fascinating women of the past, I highly recommend checking out She Kills Me. I'm so glad I read this and I know this is a book I'll be recommending highly!

✨ Representation: She Kills Me features women from all over the world of many races, places of origin, cultures, religions, abilities, and more.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

mentions of violence, murder, rape, infanticide, abuse, war, misogyny

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

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

Ain't Burned All the Bright is a really soft, poignant, sweet look at a family living through two tragedies: the COVID-19 pandemic, and living as a Black family in the US. Our narrator is telling two stories consecutively, both of watching how his family is coping with the pandemic and their father's own experience with COVID-19, as well as wondering at his mother's reasoning for staying glued to the news as she watches stories about police killings and protests.

There's very little text in this book as it's primarily a few words here on there on pages full of artwork, but I've learned from reading his work before that Jason Reynolds has a way of putting across incredibly complex and layered stories with very little actual speaking, and he didn't disappoint me here.

It's an emotional, authentic, painful story, but it's interwoven with familial love and the hopeful reminder that tough days are easier to face when we have our people with us. I highly recommend this book and hope it gets the love it deserves when it releases. This book absolutely needs to be on the shelves of every classroom and library.

✨ Representation: the narrator and his family are Black

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

mentions of police brutality, protests, COVID-19 pandemic, a family member who is COVID-19 positive

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

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog

I never knew how much I needed this precious graphic novel about a queer hard-of-hearing witch and a nonbinary werewolf (both Chinese-American) childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship, but WOW, here we are and this is going to be one of my favorite releases of the year, no doubt at all.

Because I'm having a hard time putting into normal review formatting how much I loved this, let the bullets do their thing:

• DIVERSITY FOR DAAAAYYYYYS
• Not only are both MCs Chinese-American and queer, but Nova has two grandmas in a relationship with each other, too?! KILLING ME WITH CUTENESS, Y’ALL
• Such sweet and wholesome witchy rep, please give me more stories about good witches interacting with nature and doing sweet protective craft ♥
• This art is adorable, full stop, and can we just take a moment to appreciate the precious quiet detail of Tam’s ears?!
• Tam uses they/them pronouns (and even corrects other characters) and the other characters are so respectful of them!
• Multiple references to Nova’s hearing aids ♥
• Nova’s bestie is the obligatory skeptic character who’s also a trip and ships Nova/Tam so hard, A++ wing-woman over here
• Everything is just so wholesome and precious and we stan