howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 

I am a PUDDLE. This was one of the most wholesome, precious things I have read in my entire life. If you enjoy cozy fantasy tales with a bit of romance, a cast of very lovable characters, cottagecore vibes, and a heaping dose of found family, you absolutely need this on your radar because it includes all of that and more, and depicts it all brilliantly. I know I'm not the first to say this, but this book is absolutely a warm hug in the form of a book and I loved it.

First of all, the dialogue in this book had me in giggles constantly. Between the kids' shenanigans, Ian's wildness, and Jamie's dry snark, I smiled so much reading this! But there's also a ton of sweetness and even some really delightful swoon-worthy moments, and I'm certainly able to admit I had tears in my eyes a few times near the end over how simply precious it all was.

Despite its warmth and cheer, this isn't only a happy tale; there's also a ton of time spent discussing trauma and how difficult it can make everyday life, much less learning to trust and care for people when you've developed a fear of abandonment or being used. I absolutely adored watching Mika heal from her past and learn to truly live despite her fears.

Cover to cover, I adored this sweet little fantasy book and I'm so incredibly happy that I picked it up (thank you to Misty for inviting me to buddy read it with you!). It's one of the sweetest and best things I've read this year and I can't wait for the next cozy fantasy release of Mandanna's!

Buddy read with Misty! ♥

✨ Representation: Mika is Indian, Rosetta is Black, Terracotta is Vietnamese, Altamira is Palestinian, Ian is gay, and Ken is Japanese and gay 

 DNF @ 65%

I wanted so badly to love this book, but the writing was such a struggle and I finally gave up when my buddy read partner finished it and told me it didn't get any better. I loved the indigenous representation, the inclusion of a fantastic trans woman, casual queer rep everywhere, and the relationship between Lucky and her grandmother Stella... but none of that was able to redeem this book from the fact that it suffered from poor pacing and far too many characters and perspectives. I think VenCo tried to do too many things in too few pages and that ultimately hindered the entire book from succeeding.

✨ Representation: Lucky is Métis, Freya is trans, multiple side characters are queer and/or BIPOC 

 The Thing Under Your Bed offers a child's perspective of the classic terror that plagued most of us for years (and still creeps into some of our minds as adults): the horrible creatures that might hide under the bed, waiting for us to unsuspectingly dangle a limb over the edge so it can grab us and yank us down into oblivion.

It's such a fun story that brought back a lot of nostalgia for me, because I was definitely one of those "run and jump into bed so the thing under it can't grab my ankle" kids who had an imagination much too big for any nightlight to ward off. On the other hand, there's also a lot of heartbreak in this little tale, between depictions of an abusive alcoholic mother, a cheating father, and a shocking amount of violence against animals.

Overall, I liked The Thing Under Your Bed and considered it a solid 4-star read until reaching the ending, which felt very abrupt! I was admittedly disappointed with the final scene and knocked off half a star for it, but I still recommend this story and will definitely be checking out more of Stephen's work in the future.

Thank you to the author for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. 

 This last installment was pretty all over the place and the ending was a bit odd, but I still enjoyed it for the cute, silly shenanigans of Creepy Cat & co. I'm glad I picked up this series and I need more cute, goth cat stories in my life!
 

 

I read this in my bind-up of Books of Blood volumes 1-3, but I wanted to give it its own review since I'm not reading the entire collection right now. Wow, this story was immensely fucked up and did not go anywhere near where I was expecting it to go. The Midnight Meat Train is a quick, punchy reminder of why Clive Barker is one of the masters of modern horror and I loved this.