this should be a required reading

I must read everything he’s written immediately wow

I don’t even know where to begin with this book…I know I say that a lot in reviews, but this one has really left me speechless. It tells the dark tale of power and obsession within academia and is set against the backdrop of the 2016 election.

Our tale is narrated by Oliver Harding an older white male professor who becomes so lustfully engaged in the life of a fellow colleague Ruhaba Khan a Pakistani Muslim law professor. Ruhaba takes in her estranged nephew Adil after he falls into the wrong crowd in his home of France—Oliver takes this as an opportunity to grow closer to Ruhaba by being a mentor to her young nephew. We quickly learn of darkness lingering in everyone’s past while the world around them is preparing to go up in flames.

I do not know what else to say other than everyone should read this book. It should be a required reading on why white supremacy ideologies are harmful to everyone and why continuing to uphold them is not a sustainable future for us. This writing is so powerful in the emotions it provokes from you. I’ll admit it was hard to get behind a white male narrator for obvious reasons, but I’m so glad this is how Jha chose to tell this haunting tale. I urge you to pick up a copy of this book I promise you, you will not want to put it down.

this was a very fun very endearing read that surprised my lil heart yuhhh

Death of a bookseller tells an intoxicating tale of obsession and deep dark horror. It’s a dual POV of two booksellers who are night and day. Laura the contemporary literature bookseller who’s all flowers and smiles and Roach the true crime loving loner.

Roach quickly becomes infatuated with Laura and dead set on showing her that they share the same twisted darkness. This is a book that you will want to devour in one sitting. It traps you in its story and holds you in an uncomfortable gaze. It’s a thrilling read that will have you on the edge of your seat unable to predict what happens next. Make no mistake this isn’t some cozy bookish read it’s horrific and I loved it.

Thank you so much netgalley and W. W. Norton & Company for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley and ECW Press Audio for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

For as long as I can remember I have loved all things morbid and horror related so this collection of fiction and poetry made me extremely happy. I love the way each story flowed into the next, the transition of one monster to the next was so magical to me. Each writer had such vivid lucid imaginations that put you into the horror stories they’re telling. It is very often I enjoy collections like these, but I found even the stories I found weaker in comparison to others were still strong enough to hold my attention and not pass up completely. I can’t wait to see what these authors have in the works this future.

Fans of the books and show: cursed bunny, bliss montage, it came from the closet, salt slow and black mirror.

My favorite stories and poems:
The vetalas song
Hashtag wwmd
Gruesome my love
Glamour us
Poem made for pennywise
And the moon spun

Honorable mentions:
Wooly bully
Ghosts of pride

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start this review off by saying, this should be a required reading for all. It touches on so many issues that I never would have considered attributing to disordered eating, which is my own oblivious privilege, but hearing them put into this context OF COURSE it aids to eating disorders. Systemic issues and oppressive settings are going to impact every day life including how you eat and what. Having a history of an eating disorder, especially an untreated one which most are, can lead to numerous different health issues through your lifetime. We as a society need to spend more time and money focusing on how to help heal and improve lives disrupted by eating disorders because it is a bigger issue than we are making it out to be.

As someone who identifies as a woman I have had a tricky relationship with food and my body basically my entire life. After reading this book and keeping my own mental issues as well as those that are generational in mind—I realized yes society depiction of women and food is the issue but it isn’t solely to blame here. My depression and anxiety also play a key role in my relationship to food. With eating disorders not having as much research as other health issues it makes sense that it took me almost 30 years to realize my depression impacts my relationship with food just as much as diet culture does. I am someone who healthily got out of an eating disorder and whose CBT and antidepressants are a GODSEND, but I am one of the privileged lucky ones. My ED never went far enough to cause physical harm, but the mental harm took years of undoing. We must do better by our minds and our bodies.

Please read this book!

Thank you Netgalley and RB Media for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Where is she?”

Brutes tells the sickly sweet tale of girlhood. How we are impacted and influenced by those around us and how that can quickly evolve into an obsession. It’s a dented up hazy dream of a novel shifting from past to present day in a way that took a second for me to grasp. It’s creepy and at times truly made my skin crawl. The writing and the story at hand reminds me of both The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides and Godshot by Chelsea Bieker which are favorites of mine.

The book is visually stunning and really puts you side by side with the girls. Painting your nails the air thick with the scent of acetone, stomping through the foliage thick with the humid Florida air. It reminds you of bubble gum dreams with razor sharp edges. Bright cherry lip gloss with glimmers off the lake which houses the monster we are warned about. That all being said, it is a little tricky to navigate and you never 100% know what’s going on. I think that may be part of its genius though. I could see myself revisiting this book and in doing so gaining information I missed upon my first read. Would definitely recommend to a friend and look forward to Tate’s future books.

EDIT: I bought the physical copy and reread this book and it is even better the second time around, the ending gets me every time!



Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this early digital copy in exchange for a review.

Maggie is reeling from the discovery that her marriage, which only lasted 608 days, is going to end in divorce. But she is fine! She is stuck at a job she doesn't love and is questioning how she ended up there in the first place with very little money to her name. But she is doing great really! So what if she is only 29 and is someone's soon to be ex wife? She is ready to take charge of her life.

She now has time to explore who she is on her own, what type of sex she likes and what time of day she likes to eat her burgers (4 am). She is discovering who she is through tough love from her work peers and her best friends in their group chat. Meeting new friends along the way and taking up MANY hobbies to see what sticks.

Really Good, Actually is unlike any book I have ever read and related to. It feels as if Monica Heisey took over my life for a day to write the character of Maggie. It catapulted me back to my early 20s, friends I kept, bars we would frequent, the ever present pop cultural references. The emotions that were able to be captured through this storytelling while also giving me big belly laughs and occasional tears is something that is very rare to find in a book. I felt every big emotion Maggie felt that first year alone. Life is hard with a lot of big complicated feelings and I think this story captures the messiness of it all so wonderfully.