Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

This was absolutely disgusting, like absolutely just fucking weird. Please read the trigger/content warnings before reading this but holy shit, this is EXACTLY what I want from an adult horror. I actually needed to take breaks when reading this because it’s so so well written and so utterly disgusting that you’ll have a physical reaction to what you’re reading. And the ending?? Cathartic, but in a, “I need to stare at a wall for a few hours” kind of way. Amazing horror novel, I need Andrew Joseph White to purely focus on adult horror in the future, but I will never read this book again and I need a physical copy in my home.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hmm. This was super unique when it came to the plot and world building. I think that going from past to present was an interesting narrative choice, but I’m not sure how much it actually added to the story. When it came to the characters, I was left wanting more in general. Jia didn’t feel very fleshed out. She had her family loyalty and her anger/revenge, but I didn’t feel connected to either of those. The relationships she had with the people around her felt lackluster too. Jia and Lin’s situationship felt meh, and her anger at his betrayal felt unfounded for like 75% of the book. Also I hate when the non-white female main character has a white love interest that seems set up to be end game, so I didn’t like Jia’s relationship with Essian either. Both “romances” felt very lackluster and superficial. If character relationships are going to be driving plot points, I need more from those relationships because a plot driven by relationships does nothing if those relationships aren’t substantial, and unique plot points and worldbuilding cannot save a relationship driven book.

M. L. Wang has an absolute gift for writing. I could not put this down, even more so than with Blood Over Bright Haven. Wang’s worldbuilding is RIDICULOUS. This wasn’t a short book but there was so much to be learned from geography to societal dynamics to politics, yet it didn’t feel like info-dumping, nor like the pace was bogged down by the amount of info presented. It made the world feel extremely solid. The action sequences were extremely well written. And the characters? Beautifully done. Mamoru, Misaki, really everyone, felt so fleshed out and dynamic, and the exploration of relationships was heartbreaking and healing at the same time.

This felt like a fever dream of a book. I could not put it down. Calla and Dre and Jamie feel so real, and the family dynamic was outstanding. It truly felt like a real family. The twist or horror aspects were not what I was expecting and honestly, it felt so refreshing for the horror genre. I love the way resentment and love in a family dynamic  was explored and the social horror, which even as a subplot, felt explored thoroughly. I’m really excited to see what Viel does next.

I really wanted to like this more, but I think Backman failed here with what he succeeded with in A Man Called Ove, balancing emotional depth and humor. In fact, by trying so hard to balance them, he failed at both. The stupidity of the characters drove me insane. They all felt like over-the-top caricatures with no emotional depth or character arc. I think there wasn’t a core focus for this book plot-wise, and a character driven story works, but this was in too many places at once, leading to there being no true emotional heart, when it should’ve been about anxious people.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How is the story about vampires yawn inducing? This was not a horror. This barely included vampires and their lore. If I wanted to read about toxic straight couples, I would read regular romance. The surrounding story of war didn’t feel complete. It felt like an afterthought to try to give the story some sort of depth or context. The sex felt meh and I could not find myself invested in any part of the relationship shown. Honestly, the story was vulgar for the sake of being vulgar. The vulgarity didn’t add to the story or to the character development in my opinion. At least it was short.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think The Song of the Hell Witch was a fresh take on the romantasy genre. The magic system was unique– women gain their powers through trauma. It does have the single Dad and second chance romance tropes. It’s trans inclusive feminism, which we definitely need more of at this moment. However, I found the pacing inconsistent; slow at the beginning, sped up, and then lagging in the middle before speeding up again. I wish more time was given to develop Pru, Puck and Mari as characters, and the world building could’ve been expanded on.

Cool idea, not great execution. The writing was extremely messy. The concept was inconsistently executed, and the characters lackluster. I definitely think the book could’ve been shorter, especially because the planning of the murders felt extremely repetitive, even across three different POV‘s. Honestly, I wish it had stayed a manual or a manual with the lessons taught because the students’ POV’s weren’t compelling, and I found myself losing focus to the point of DNFing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love body horror. I love botanical/mycelium based horror. I love how the story seamlessly includes supernatural horror in a modern environment without it feeling tacky or forced. I loved how the story included mixed media and non-linear timelines, jumping from the past to the present, including news articles and scientific documents and interviews. The story was fast paced, and truly anxiety inducing. The characters were all awful yet at the same time you were rooting for them to survive. I’m excited to see what Jo Kaplan does next.

I’m not sure how to feel about this even days later. I liked how uncomfortable the story was, which I’m sure was the point. I think the themes of pleasure and entertainment as a distraction that leads people willingly into fascism isn’t quite accurate. I think it’s more that the desire for pleasure and entertainment are a byproduct of already existing in a fascist statement to distract from revolution. Brave New World asks the question of would it be utopic to live in an authoritarian world where all choices are made for you, if it means you do not think or struggle in that life, and I would say that it’s not. Authoritarianism and Fascism go hand in hand, a truly utopic world would be one where the government provided for all citizens and everyone could make the choices that make them happy, so long as it doesn’t infringe upon the rights of others.