reading_under_covers's Reviews (1.61k)

When sitcom star, Willow, tweets something that gets her canceled (and leads to her fiance leaving her), her agent sends her on a trip to Camp Castaway, a camp that bans electronics and allows you to look within. When another camper vanishes and doll heads start popping up, Willow will begin to wonder if this camp is really any safer than the real world.

HEADS WILL ROLL by Josh Winning was such a fun camp slasher!

I absolutely devoured this book - the shorter chapters made it so easy to keep saying “just one more chapter” and the variety of characters really brought out the side-eye in me.

The camp setting in Upstate New York made for such a wild ride and the addition of some really creepy elements brought the story to life.

I think slasher fans will love this one and I can’t wait to dive into Winning’s backlist!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 30

After a small coastal town is devastated by a hurricane, the survivors gravitate toward a long out-of-service payphone in hopes of talking out their grief and saying goodbye to loved ones, only for it to begin ringing on its own.

STAY ON THE LINE by Clay McLeod Chapman is nothing short of beautiful.

This novelette comes in at 80 pages and packs quite the punch in such a short amount of time and space. I tend to really feel a pull towards horror that deals with grief and that is such a major theme in this one (& done so well and in such a thought-provoking manner)! ALSO, THE PAYPHONE!! Such an iconic element on its own.

I feel like I can’t say much more without throwing the entire story out there, but I highly recommend picking this one up!

✨reach out and touch someone ✨

Huge thanks to Shortwave Media for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 30

I loved loved loved the cozy witchy vibes of this book!

The world, people, and magic were all so fun and it was so comforting to just be rooted in this story.

An intriguing read in the beginning, but the short chapters (which also alternated timelines) was often jarring and made it harder to latch onto the cliffhangers that led from one to the next. It also became exceptionally action-heavy in the latter half, which I had a hard time vibing with.

After an elderly substitute teacher is found dead at Baldwin High School, we spend time in the heads of many of the staff as they face repercussions and change in the months that follow.

I had a feeling this story was going to be right up my alley, and boy, was I right!

THE FACULTY LOUNGE by Jennifer Mathieu is, in essence, a book told in short stories. Each chapter takes the reader into the mind of a different staff member where we get to learn their story, how they came to be a member of the faculty, and what makes them imperfectly human.

I loved the large cast of characters and the “day in the life” feel that this story offered and it really drove home the importance of teachers being far more than just educators!

I laughed, cried, cringed, and truly fell in love with these fictional characters and the school that they’re so proud to work for.

I could read a million more books written like this one!

Huge thanks to Dutton for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 23

I found the first half of this book to be really slow - we cover years and years of Circe’s life and so many stories, told in a stream of conscious manner, which made it hard for me to latch on to the overall story.

However, once we hit the halfway point, it really picked up and we got to linger on some intense, beautiful moments in Circe’s story that really felt like the soul of the book!

I’ve heard Achilles is better than this one, so I’m looking forward to reading that one.

After Toby marries into the very religious, wealthy, televangelist Wright Family, he isn’t sure what he or his son, Luca are up against. When he ventures out to their estate to meet them all in one place for the first time, the bigotry and ghosts come out in full force.

NO ROAD HOME by John Fram is a hugely character-driven, anger-fueled family drama with some supernatural thrown in.

I loved the characters of Toby, Luca, and Julian so so much and I wish we got more characterization and a detailed backstory of Willow as well. With that being said, the character list in this book is STACKED, so be prepared to memorize that family tree (there’s a nice little key at the beginning that was extremely helpful!), but if you’ve been around here a while, you know I love when books have a long character list!

I found the televangelist aspect to be extremely unique and made this book even more uneasy when it came to the secrets that were slowly revealed, and almost wish that aspect were built up in an even wilder way.

This is my first read from John Fram and won’t be my last!

*triggers will be posted on Storygraph - but major bigotry all-around*

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 23

I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, but still a fun read full of absolute chaos!