howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 This was one of the shortest stories I've read of Kealan's, and one of the most ambiguous, too—and, somehow, one of my absolute favorites. The prose in this piece was downright beautiful and I loved how bizarre and open-ended this felt. Kealan Patrick Burke is an all-time favorite and this story absolutely reminded me of why that is.
 

 I love a good creepy elf, especially as someone who generally loathes dolls and the Elf on the Shelf toy with every fiber of my being, and Snowball more or less delivered! This was really more of a 3.5-star read for me, as it just kept leaving me wanting a bit more. I feel like the majority of the book was about building suspense and Brandon's dread, but the ending was rushed and anti-climactic, and the scenes in which Snowball actually acted out were surprisingly dull. That said, the writing was solid, and I definitely did build up a bit of a connection with the family, so I certainly found myself dreading the inevitable here. Snowball won't go down as a favorite, but if you're looking for a quick holiday horror novella, I'd give it a try!
 

 This was such a tough, intense read at times. I can handle fictional horror all day, every day, but give me a story like this and I had to take it in small sips because I couldn't stop thinking about the genuine terrors these poor victims went through and how appalling it is that the GSK went free for so long. It hurts my heart to no end that Michelle McNamara wasn't here to see DeAngelo put behind bars, but wherever she is, I hope she knows how important her work was and how much her efforts and care must have meant to the people most affected by this small piece of justice finally being done.
 

 This was really sweet and silly, and it got surprisingly poignant and emotional towards the end as the metaphors came to light about the house spirits and how they were affecting Buster's human's mental health. I loved the implication that housecats are tiny superheroes who run around busting up the sources of our depression or anxiety! While mental illness is obviously more nuanced than always being solved with cuddles from a cat, I know my girls have helped me through so many bad days that I could easily see them as kicking the butts of some mean little house spirits around here.

There were a few things that I wish we'd gotten more information on, but I hope we will in future installments (like what was in that letter? And why haven't Chauncey and Nova gone home?!). I read this with my 6-year-old and he loved it so much that he was beyond excited to find out there will be a sequel, so I've already pre-ordered book 2 for us! 🥰 

 

I'll admit that this book had a rocky beginning for me, but I should know by now to never doubt V.E. Schwab. She's one of my all-time favorite authors for a very good reason, and while this wasn't my favorite book of hers, it definitely won me over by the end and I had such a good time in this world. If it tells you anything, my buddy read partner and I finished this today and are starting the sequel tomorrow (and I never read series installments back-to-back, so that's a big deal for me!).

First of all, I enjoyed the setting and world-building immensely, but I wish we'd had more of it. I'm really hoping the second book explains the backstory a bit more, because I need to know more about what happened to turn the United States into this wasteland full of sin-spawned monsters! I did really love that we gradually got explanations for how the Corsai, Malchai, and Sunai were created, and I found the concept of the Sunai in particular really interesting: this idea that they were entities born of massively violent events was so sad and thought-provoking.

As far as the characters go, Kate took a while to win me over, and even by the end of the book, I can't say I loved her, but I did enjoy watching her grow. August, on the other hand, had my heart from the moment we met him and that feeling only solidified as the book went on. He's such an angsty, sad, soft little cinnamon roll and I hope we get to see him find peace by the end of this duology, because if anyone deserves it, August does.

Overall, I thought This Savage Song was a really fun read. It didn't quite match up to V's writing in their other works, in my opinion, but I didn't want to put it down and felt like the pacing was perfectly done so that the story flew by me. I think it would make an incredible film and I'd love to see that happen someday. 🤞 This was a 4.5-star read for me, but I can easily justify rounding up because of how much I adored the ending. I can't wait for book 2 tomorrow!

Buddy read with the incredible Misty! 💖

✨ Representation: Kate is deaf in one ear 

 I felt bad at first when I decided to DNF this, given how beloved it is and how much I admire the opinions and reviews of the friend who recommended it to me. Alas, not only was it not for me (I'm just not a lit-fic fan, and I have come to terms with that), but there was a scene in the narrator's early childhood with another young boy, revolving around him beginning to discover his sexuality, that made me awfully uncomfortable. I don't enjoy reading about small children and sexual acts in the same paragraph ever, much less the way it was written in this.

I didn't feel as bad about DNFing this, however, when I looked up the author and realized why his name had sounded so familiar to me. I'm not basing this DNF on who he is as a person or his other books, so I'm not going to go into that here, but if you're unaware, feel free to do a quick Google search or shoot me a DM. All I'm going to say is that I no longer have any remaining guilt about putting this one down, and I don't have any interest whatsoever in trying any of Boyne's other titles.