morganjanedavis's Reviews (396)

Just as fun as when I read these as a kid. Yea it’s a pen name but, Lemony being part of the series while being the author is just the coolest. Nostalgic AF, fun, still holds up w/ kids today (I know this bc I read it aloud to my students). Big luv

My kids review of this book:

“Mind blowing, read if you like bad guys”

The lines
Are relatable
At times
But
Are played out

Some of them
Could be the quotes
That are pasted alongside
Minion memes
They are just that
Basic

And does stringing together
A few words
That sound nice
And conveying a message
That is widely relatable
Count as poetry?

So I can just
Break my lines wherever
Add a doodle
And it makes it a poem?

This wants to be poetry
It looks like poetry
But it is not

It’s like the author watched the banger movie The Skeleton Key and wondered how they can turn this into a thriller and make it believable. The end does make sense of the senseless throughout but at what cost? The majority of the book is hella stagnant and not worth the work to get to the ~twist~. I don’t normally like supernatural mixed w thrillers and this only solidified that.

AIGHT AT BEST

Philomela Drax was born into misfortune. Her mother was a dirt poor seamstress and Philo herself had no money and no prospects. When Philo and her mother Mary connect with Mary's father and learn he has a large fortune he'd like to pass down, things seem to be moving in a positive direction. Until the Slapes. Especially Katie. Katie Slape is evil incarnate, with supernatural prowess to boot. With one touch she can dig into the deepest crevices of minds, pulling out information that is most useful to her. If you have anything over $100 on you--run. Having preyed on Philo's family in order to steal their fortune, Philo is mortified that the Slapes and their devil girl will no doubt have her, too. Low on cash and loved ones, Philo must make her own way in order to recover her family's fortune and ensure that the Slapes are done away with, forever.

UGH. I MF LOVE MICHAEL McDOWELL. When going into Katie I was nervous that the book wouldn't be up to par with McDowell's other books. I fell in love with his novels through Southern Gothic works, and a story set in the Northern part of the US seemed so unlike his signature style. In these, families are tight-knit and bonds are strong, a characteristic forged out of necessity. Traditional family structure is shied away from in Katie but, themes of community and reliance on one another still shone through, for better (Philo, her gal pals, and the Maitlands) or for worse (the hodgepodge family that is the Slapes).

The realistic depictions of human nature exemplified make Katie feel like a period piece of non-fiction. All characters presented throughout Katie are ultra polarizing, which made the read that much more exciting. McDowell created such strong and nuanced characters: you want to befriend Philo while simultaneously doing a jig on Katie Slape's grave. Katie is titled after its antagonist but, the star of this novel is Philomela. Her story line was what tied every character together and her goodness radiated through them all.

Because of how ambiguous McDowell's conclusions can be, I was expecting that here. It wasn't and I loved that he did divulge the specifics of the character's fates because I was heavily invested in their story lines, the closure made it that much more sweet. This book has it all: gore, a killer child, NYC high life, LOVE (was not expecting this aspect but LIVED FOR IT. V MUCH MEANT TO BE), and the best closing sentence as related to the plot. Read it.

Ben has been looking. He’s employed every method he could fathom: going door-to-door, chasing hunches, posting flyers. None of this has given him any good leads. Eric has been missing for 5 years, kidnapped under Ben’s nose in the local supermarket. Since Eric has gone missing, Ben and his family have dug themselves into a stagnant rut. They dance around the obvious, never confronting the horror they’ve faced resulting in strained relationships amongst the trio: Ben, his father, and his stepmother (Eric’s biological mother, who quite plainly admonishes Ben for Eric’s disappearance). Because money is tight and Ben wants to help, he takes a job at the local grocery store. The one Eric disappeared from 5 years before. As if seeing his brother’s missing posters and feeling the torment of Ben and Eric’s final moments here aren’t enough, the store is toying with him. Eric’s belongings and missing posters that were LOOKED FOR for ages start popping up. Weird symbols are found drawn in odd places. But what does it mean? Is Eric alive? Can Ben finally bring his brother home?

There’s a lot to unpack here. While the meat of Bad Man was exceptional, it took a ton of work for the reader to get those portions of the book. Auerbach sandwiched vital information in between multiple pages of trivial chatter, making it hard to want to continue reading at times.

WHAT I LIKED: The characters and their relationships were well written, capturing the complexities surrounding them perfectly. The story itself was sick. I loved the concept, the eeriness of the store, and the small hints dropped throughout the novel that pointed towards the perpetrator. The unpredictability of the conclusion left my jaw on the floor–I couldn’t think of a more full circle way to end it.

WHAT I DISLIKED LIKE SO SO MUCH: THE PROSE. This is my second Auerbach novel and the writing style throughout the first I read (Penpal) was not as unbearable as this. He included excruciating detail on the most mundane things that it almost felt as if I was reading a screenplay or script with set directions instead of a novel. What makes that all the more frustrating is that there were large portions of the story that could have been expanded on if not for the time taken to tell me someone left their seat to go to the sink. Portions of the story could have been linked together in a more cohesive way and expanded upon, making the read that much better. I’m sad this wasn’t the case.

IDK if I recommend this book or not. The story, characters, and nowhere town setting are so cool but, I’m not sure if it’s worth the time to sift through the BLEH that is the prose. I don’t regret reading this but I moved it to my donate pile with a swiftness.

Frank feels numb. While being an adventurer has alotted him experiences most only dream about, he still feels like he's missing something. He's determined he'll find that THING in the box. He's finally solved it, and the Cenobites have made their offering. Upon acceptance, Frank realizes he just wants to be WHOLE AGAIN. He took humanity for granted, he wants to come back, to be normal. What's left of Frank lies in wait. He will wait until he finds someone loyal enough to make him whole again. This better come quickly...Frank requires blood...and flesh, in large quantities. Meat. He will be whole, he will be man once again. He NEEDS it.

I'm not sure what I expected going into this but boy was this FUN. Most body horror I've read has overlapped with slasher or splatter subgeneres exclusively, the change of pace with small dashes of sci-fi/cosmic elements was refreshing to read. The imagery that came with the description of the Cenobites and Frank as he formed made me squirm, Barker held nothing back. All of the characters !!!ALL OF THEM EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! were insufferable. I found myself rooting for no one but the forces of evil and hoping that said force got its claws into every human that was mentioned within these pages. This was half the fun :-).

I could have done without so much emphasis on the romance, I understand the necessity as it was part of the driving force within the novella and whew was the romance STUPID--again loved to hate it :). Read this!! It's a classic and it's short and you guessed it—SO FUN!

Mister Tinder’s girl revolves around Alice: the survivor of a gruesome stabbing at the hands of twin girls who were obsessed with her father’s graphic novel character Mister Tender. Fast forward 14 years and Alice is happy, running a coffee shop, and living her best life…or so she thought. Alice discovers that she has a stalker that goes by the name of Mr. Interested. She investigates to see just how deep the obsession goes and uncovers more than she bargained for. Will Alice be able to put together the pieces to her horrific reality before it’s too late?

I’ve been trying to get out of a thriller slump and this has done it! The book was fast paced, with the interactions between Alice and Mr. Interesting get more and more tense as the book progresses. Wilson is a strong writer, including vivid detail that lead to me being able to play the scenes over in my head, even when I stepped away from the book. While the beginning and middle were very strong, I wish the last 20% or so of the book was slowed down a bit. I felt that the plot was rushed and less care went into it compared to the first portions of the book. The writing style even seemed to change, trading carefully curated descriptions for simple sentences. There were moments I felt were cheesy/cringe but for the most part I was engaged through and through. This was a fun thriller that’s plot heavy and mysterious, would recommend.

Oof this book is HEAVY: major tw for child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, general horrific treatment of kids. This novella follows the tragic life of Kyle and Jude and the abuse they suffered after their mom’s death. Now older, Jude seeks vengeance on his monstrous abusers for his brother and himself.

I went into this book blind, I’d only seen a few reviews but knew nothing of the plot. This was truly a DOOZIE. While it was gory and extreme at times, the emotional aspect of the trauma the boys endured made my stomach churn. Jeffrey spares no details when highlighting the abuse and the revenge for mentioned abuse, creating a storyline that gut punches you from the bloody messes and the depraved acts depicted. I really enjoyed the introspective portions where Jude was lost in thought, it added depth and made me fully feel the weight of what he was going through. This is a short read and while the themes were a LOT, the revenge and body horror related to said revenge were fantastic. Would recommend, but please heed the tw’s listed above. There’s even one at the beginning of
the novella so be advised.