howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 I'm so sad that I'm already caught up on these adaptations, and I really hope Grine is able to release more volumes soon. Reading these has made me want to go back and re-read the original series so badly! We get to see a lot of the heavy, sad themes in the series come into play in The Encounter, because this is the first book where it really starts to sink in for Tobias that his life is permanently changed, and he struggles with accepting that for a while.

It's also the first instance where I think it fully sinks in for the kids that there's a good chance they're going to die during these missions, and there's even a scene where they say they'd rather die than be taken alive by the Yeerks. It's heavy stuff and totally reminded me of why, despite how young the characters and audience for this series are, K.A. Applegate never went too easy on us or shied away from discussing the reality of how difficult and scary it would be to rebel against such a powerful, sneaky force of enemies. 

 It feels a little unusual to "review" a book that is, essentially, a collection of book reviews, and yet I can't not give this the 5-star treatment. Sadie knocked this one out of the damn park! I can't wait to shove this book into the hands of every horror reader I meet, but first, I need to give you some backstory.

I met Sadie on Instagram years ago, and meeting her is how I got into the horror book community and worked up the courage to start focusing primarily on my lifelong favorite themes. Horror has been my most reached-for genre since early childhood, but when I first joined bookstagram in 2016, I fell into a crowd whose mindset was "YA or bust" and I got crammed into a box I never really felt I belonged in.

If you ask anyone who's ever transitioned from the YA online community to another bookish space, they'll probably say the same: it's a nerve-wracking experience. I lost so many followers when I shifted my focus, and I even received DMs from friends who basically told me, "I like you, but I'm unfollowing and/or muting you because I can't stand seeing these scary books in my feed." It was rough!

But every time I felt discouraged, I looked at Sadie and the little circles she moved in, and I took heart. Here was someone who was inspiring me, who was doing what she loved—using her platform to promote horror—and she had found a niche that she fit perfectly into! Watching Sadie be true to herself told me that if I was true to myself, and did what I loved without worrying about what others thought, I could find my niche, too. And you know what? I did. I feel like I have a corner carved out for me here, a place at the table that's solidly mine, and I don't know if I would have ever taken a chance if I hadn't met Sadie.

I'm rambling, but the point is: I have a really special place in my heart for Sadie, so when I tell you I'm proud of what she's accomplished here, I mean I am really fucking proud of her.

But you know what, you're not here to listen to me gush about the author, you're here for my thoughts on the book. 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered is an absolute treasure chest full of prized jewels of the horror genre from traditionally published and mainstream bestselling authors, all the way to self-published indie works that don't get nearly the recognition they deserve. Whether you're new to the horror genre or a lifelong devotee, there are titles in here that you're going to want to add to your TBR immediately.

Luckily for me, even though I read a lot of horror titles, most of the ones in this book were still on my TBR or totally brand new to me! (Of the ones I had read, I second her recommendation for every single one: no duds here.) I even created an entire Goodreads shelf for Sadie's picks that I haven't read yet, and I'm challenging myself to work through that shelf over the next few years, because she hasn't led me astray with a recommendation yet.

In case you couldn't tell, I loved 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered a whole lot. Sadie's writing is so fun and relatable, she speaks from the heart, and she's really damn talented at making you want to read everything she recommends as soon as you possibly can. It's no wonder I have a shelf full of books I bought based on her suggestions and that shelf is growing all the time. On top of everything else, the physical copy of this book is a delight: it's beautifully formatted and has gorgeous artwork that I couldn't stop staring at. Sadie and Page Street Publishing killed it, and I really hope there's a sequel in the works someday!

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

 This was just okay for me, unfortunately. I thought the art was pretty, but the dialogue was at a bare minimum and it mostly felt like an excuse to make an art book and market it as a graphic novel. The end of the book includes the single-page comic this story originally was, and I feel that the original version was a lot better than this longer story.
 

 This one unfortunately wasn't as much fun as the first Stinetinglers collection, but I still enjoyed it! I think I might have liked it more if I'd read it visually instead of listening to the audiobook. The narrators were a mixed bag and the quality was subpar. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend the audiobook and would definitely suggest grabbing a physical or e-copy instead!

These stories just weren't as much fun as the stories in the first collection, either. They didn't feel quite as spooky or over-the-top as you'd typically expect from Stine!

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

 This little dystopian horror tale chilled me right to the core. In Aloisville, it's been raining everyday—how long this has been going on is anyone's guess, because the rain washes people's memories away with it. Even a single droplet can erase your morning, and the more the rain touches you, the more it takes away. This novella is told through Laverne's journal entries as she attempts to find a way to hold on to what is happening, to make sense of it all, and it's like a trainwreck you just can't look away from no matter how much it horrifies you.

I loved the fact that this story was told through journal entries, because you know you're only getting a small portion of the story. Laverne really has no clue what is going on, but she has her theories, and all we can do is guess along with her as more is slowly revealed. Perhaps the most unnerving part of the story for me was how Laverne suspects the government (and maybe even some of the citizens around her) knows more than they're letting on, because her rage and fear and paranoia are palpable and it's so easy to imagine ourselves in her shoes.

Laverne herself is a very flawed, yet enjoyable character to read through the lens of. She's a 63-year-old retired physician who is very bright, capable, and entirely unused to feeling so helpless and oblivious. She comes off as crotchety and irritable most of the time, which added a reality to her character that I loved because it was so easy to imagine meeting someone just like her.

My only complaint about Nothing but the Rain, and the reason I gave it 4 stars despite gushing about it so much, is that it's too short and would've benefited tremendously from being developed into a full novel! I hope that Salman will consider revisiting this world, maybe through a sequel novella, because there are so many questions I want answers to and so much more time I'd like to spend with Laverne.

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

✨ Representation: Laverne and a side character are both Black 

 Saving Chupie was so cute! I love cryptids, and I especially love chupacabras, so I've been eagerly awaiting this release and it didn't let me down. The art is stunning, Chupie is the cutest little guy, and I loved the storyline's themes of family, making friends, loyalty, forgiveness, and learning how to accept help even when we want to do everything on our own (for both adults and kids). I'd highly recommend this to any kid (or kid at heart) who enjoys fun adventure stories with monsters and beasties.

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

✨ Representation: all characters are Puerto Rican 

 This was absolutely adorable. ♥ I wish there was more dialogue, as some of the comics didn't make a ton of sense without any context for what exactly was going on, but for the most part, it wasn't needed. It's just a cute, cozy little comic strip about two characters in love, creating their own little bubble of safety and happiness with their new pet dinosaur Matcha, and it's precious. Absolutely a warm hug in a book and it made me want to cuddle up with my family and never let them go. 🥰

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

 Anyone who's been following my reviews for a while knows that I have a convoluted relationship with Junji Ito's works: I either obsess over them and find them to be absolutely flawless, or I spend most of the book bored out of my mind. Unfortunately, the latter was more frequently the case with Soichi (though I did find it to be unique enough to be worth 3 stars instead of the 2 I initially planned on giving it). I didn't care a lot for Tomie, either, so maybe I just don't mesh well with these collections Junji Ito does revolving around a single character.

That said, there was some genuinely creepy imagery in here (I never got over being chilled a bit by the shots of Soichi with his mouth full of nails), and I loved the Easter egg of the famous model from another of Junji's works.

The whole collection is really over the top and definitely one of Junji's sillier works, but I think a lot of his readers are going to love it. It wasn't a new favorite for me, but I'm still glad I read it.

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