king_lefay's Reviews (252)

Even as I was reading House of Hunger in its very first chapters, I wanted it to be so much longer. I got hints of the Gothic tone I believe the author was going for, I just don't feel like she indulged in it quite enough. The first few chapters fly by, which isn't a terrible thing necessarily because I did prefer the setting of the House itself, but even when we got there things just continued zipping along. I wanted to spend more time in that world of debauchery and blood, lust and vampires. The inklings of a truly Gothic atmosphere we got were incredible and there were some wonderfully dramatic bits of dialogue, I again just wish that more time was spent building and intensifying that vibe (especially that debauchery aspect; this book could've been way more descriptive and reveled in the vice-riddled world of aristocratic vampires). 
Even though the descriptions were generally very well-written, there were some aspects of the writing style that I found repetitive and a little boring (e.g. the phrase "Just then," is used far too frequently and often probably doesn't even need to be used at all). 
All that being said, if you want a well-done contemporary sapphic Gothic novel about hedonistic, aristocratic vampires and the poor girls who get pulled into that world, House of Hunger is certainly worth checking out. 

Poetry is so subjective, and maybe it just is not for me, but I felt like this collection was pretty cheesy. Maybe if I had different life experiences or read it at a different time in my life, it might've moved me more, but there were a lot of instances where it just felt like social-media-twitter-instagram poetry, which is all fine and valid and moves people and means lots but I don't think it's for me, which is also fine bc not everything needs to be for everyone. 

Effectively done. A truly miserable experience. 

An incredible collection of small town folk horror and urban legend! Wonderfully eerie atmosphere and teenage terror to be found! Might only suggest reading each story a little spaced since certain setups and similar themes are repeated sometimes back to back, but each story most certainly held its own. Definitely see myself re-reading this in many autumns to come. 
My personal favourites included; Stay by Erica Waters, One-Lane Bridge by Hannah Whitten, Ghost on the Shore by Allison Saft, Third Burn by Courtney Gould, and It Stays with You by Aden Polydoros.

An absolute delight! Fun, funny, love-letter to 80s and modern-day nerdom, a perfect addition to the fantasy-puppet genre right down to moments shockingly dark and full of love. 

First story was pretty good, second two were just a little underwhelming. 

I think this might be his best book yet. Certainly my new favourite of his. Just so impressive the deft with which he weaves this story of profound grief, strained family relationships, and absolutely bonkers and at times truly frightening puppets.