howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 This was absolutely magnificent. I love stories that take real incidents from history and tweak them to tell another version of that tale, and I love the exploration of how religion can be used as a weapon against the weak. May is such a powerful character and reads as wise well beyond her years, but at the same time, we're occasionally treated to these reminders of how young and afraid she is and it's done so well that it took my breath away every time. Full review coming soon, but needless to say, I loved this!
 

 While I definitely think a handful of the stories strayed very far from being actual folk horror, this was still perhaps my favorite YA anthology I've ever read. There were a ton of incredible, creepy, touching stories in this collection and I'm so glad I read it! Full review coming soon!
 

 

I absolutely adored everything about this book and couldn't get enough of it. Ollie is the most lovable little protagonist and I wanted with my whole heart to reach right into the book, pull her out, and give her a big hug, because she broke my heart time and time again with all of her pain and grief. Despite how hard it hit me whenever she dwelled on her loss, though, this story is first and foremost a horror book, and it excels at the spooky elements, too.

I know I'm not alone when I say that scarecrows are kind of creepy all on their own, and a story featuring a moving scarecrow is always going to make my blood chill a little (I blame R.L. Stine and the fact that The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight gave me literal nightmares as a kid!), but I thought these scarecrows were particularly unsettling and I really loved the descriptions of them!

I also adored the "book within a book" element of Small Spaces, which is a risky endeavor in my opinion because it can frequently ruin the immersion of the actual story, but in this case, Katherine Arden pulled it off flawlessly and I was just as invested in the Websters as I was in Ollie and her classmates! Well, almost—it's hard to compete with precious, soft little Coco and surprisingly clever and kind Brian. There's so much more than meets the eye with all three of these kiddos, and I loved getting to know them and watching them form the wonderful, adventurous, brave trio I knew they could be.

I'm so excited to continue the series and to see what terrifying little adventure Ollie is sent on next. I know nothing about the following books aside from their titles and covers, so I'm crossing my fingers that Brian and Coco are involved in the rest of them too, because I am nothing if not a sucker for an MG series with a brave, passionate little friend group going to battle for each other (and everyone else they know, usually). I loved this and can't recommend it highly enough, and I plan on continuing the series very, VERY soon!

✨ Representation: Ollie is implied biracial (her mother is described as having brown skin but no specifics are stated), Brian is Jamaican

 

What a lovely, mesmerizing, infuriating book.

My Dark Vanessa is a tough book to rate and review, and I'm not sure I can do it or myself justice, honestly. I usually try to review every book I read, but I'm granting myself some grace on this one and I'll just say that it was a gorgeous book that I'm very happy to have read, even if it made me immensely uncomfortable, heartbroken, and angry more often than not.

I suppose some books are meant to do that, though.

Buddy read with my wonderful friend Misty 🖤 

RTC

 Oh my god, this was SO adorable and I loved it so much. All I needed to hear was that the series is about a gamer girl and her newly adopted kitten, and I was sold! Musubi the kitten is so precious and perfectly depicted, right down to his goofy little poses and movements, and it was so fun to see things through Riko's oblivious perspective as she tries to figure out his quirks and personality. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys cutesy slice-of-life manga and cats! ♥

(And if you can read it like I did with a cozy kitten sleeping on your feet, even better) 

 This had some great horror elements, and I liked the writing for the most part (Kaitlyn did come off as extremely pretentious sometimes, but honestly, so did I at that age lol), but I have very mixed feelings about some parts of it. I'd say this was a 3.5 star read for me, but I have to round down to 3 because I found the big twist really predictable and the characters felt flat and one-dimensional for the most part.

All of that aside, I had fun reading this and I'm very excited to read Dawn's newer books! I have a strong feeling those will be more suited to me and I'm glad I picked this one up.

Buddy read with the wonderful Sam and Ashley! 🥰

✨ Representation: Kaitlyn/Carly has DID (inspired by the author's family member but I can't speak to the quality of the representation), implications of a queer main character 

 This was my first time reading anything by Jeremy Ray, and I would definitely read more books from this author! I enjoyed this and thought it was a lot of fun. I loved the idea of the statue women and how bonded to them Harley seemed from the beginning. I thought the story was well-written, though I predicted the ending only a couple of pages into the story, which took away from the suspense. I also found this to be one of those stories where I spent a solid chunk of time silently yelling at the protagonist to stop making terrible choices, but at the same time, I understood why she kept finding herself in those situations and I felt for her.
 

 

There are four things that I love, all of which are present in this book: cryptids, feminist horror, Laurel Hightower's writing, and a story so action-packed I have to devour it in one sitting.

I love cryptid stories in general, and like many cryptid lovers, I have a soft spot for Mothman. (I'm a diehard member of the "Mothman isn't bad, actually, he's just trying to help" club, in case you were wondering.)

When I heard Laurel was writing a story involving him, I was immediately sold, though I did force myself to patiently wait a little while to read this because I knew one of my favorite bookish groups was planning to read it in October. It was so worth the wait!

I loved Addy's character and how angry and full of spite and pain she was over the misogyny she'd faced throughout her life, especially from her ex-husband. When we meet her, she's already jaded and mistrusting of men she meets, and honestly, it was very easy to relate to her concerns and wariness. But that element of the story takes a backseat pretty quickly because let me tell you, shit hits the fan fast in this novella, and once it does, it never lets up until the end.

I was totally captivated and loved every second of this. It would make such a fun horror movie adaptation (*cough cough, side-eyes streaming services*), and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes cryptids, creature features, and/or horror with badass, tough feminist heroines. I can't wait to see what Laurel comes out with next!