Review: The Bookshop Below

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for the pre-release copy of The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers. Below is my honest review.

I absolutely loved the magical undercurrents (you'll see what I did there when you read this one) in this lovely novel about supernatural bookshops full of books that can do all sorts of fantastical things. I also really enjoyed the characters in this one, especially Lowell. The more you get to know them, the more you love (or in some cases, hate) them. Cassandra grew on me, but she wasn't my favorite protagonist.

My biggest complaint is that the whole "secret identity as a thief" thing was a bit silly... I mean, her name is Cassandra Fairfax and her thief identity is named... Cass? Really?

All in all, I really liked the book, and I very much want to go to one of these magical bookshops and take a gander at the River.

Four stars, and definitely recommended for fans of magical realism, magical books, dark-academia-adjacent books.

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Review: God's Junk Drawer

God's Junk Drawer by Peter Clines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the pre-release copy of God's Junk Drawer by Peter Clines. Below is my honest review.

What a wild ride! Dinosaurs, time travel, aliens, Neanderthals, glass obelisks, all sorts of random things bring this story right into the zone of "weird."

I really can't say much, because this one would be easily spoiled with the wrong word, so I'll say this: interesting characters, complicated but understandable scenario (with actual explanations in the long-term), and a really cool setting.

Highly recommended for people who like a weird sci-fi tale with a lot of twists and turns and dinosaurs!



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Review: We're Not Safe Here

We're Not Safe Here by Rin Chupeco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the pre-release copy of We're Not Safe Here by Rin Chupeco. Below you'll find my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED Rin's The Sacrifice. My experiences with Chupeco's work have shown that they have an extremely creative mind and that they try to push boundaries with new ideas, and I love that.

Alas, for me We're Not Safe Here led to mixed feelings.

PROS: Really strong weirdness vibes. Good characters. Excellent creepy cryptids. Compelling enough to be hard to put down, just because you want to see what happens next.

CONS: At times, it was vague in its answers in a way that wasn't satisfying (sometimes the vague answers are satisfying because you can fill in the blanks), including the ending. The blog post/video/chat/forum post format was an interesting twist, but at times, it could be difficult.

All in all, I enjoyed this one, but I do wish there were some tweaks that would have kicked it up a notch. And Rin, if you're reading this (you're probably not), I'd love a novella prequel to give us a bit more information!

I'd give this one three and a half stars, but after waffling a bit on how to round it, I rounded down to three. I liked it but didn't love it.

Definitely still recommended for horror fans who like creative creatures. I still liked the book and think it's worth a read, especially when my misgivings might be someone else's shining gem.

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Review: The Place Where They Buried Your Heart

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry. Below you'll find my honest review.

Yet again, I've loved a Christina Henry horror novel! That's quite a few in a row, which is putting her into my "automatically TBR" category of authors.

I was totally in the mood for more haunted house horror after reading my ARC of Play Nice by Rachel Harrison recently, also a Berkley novel, and then this one became available on Netgalley and I was ecstatic.

If you're a fan of Stephen King, this one was absolutely on par with some of his best works. It gives that King vibe, following a small group of people (and our MC) through a long period of life, with a danger in their area that grows over time in very Pennywise fashion, except in this case, it's a house and not a demonic space clown spider thing.

I don't want to spoil much, so I won't say more, but I highly recommend it for fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, Rachel Harrison, or even Chuck Wendig's recent forays into horror.

Five stars. Perfect Halloween read.

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Review: The Midnight Knock

The Midnight Knock by John Fram
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the pre-release copy of John Fram's The Midnight Knock. Below you'll find my honest review.

The Midnight Knock gets all the points for creativity. Definitely an original and weird story, with a much bigger plot than anticipated. The hook of the hotel full of people with one being a murderer is a great hook - it's used often for that reason - but this novel absolutely gave it an original spin on the WHY behind it.

I also really liked the formatting of the book. After a certain point, the title card is revealed again, with a new set of quotes, just like at the beginning, which added some believability to the events, and I loved that.

The characters were pretty interesting as well, but for all that some were developed pretty deeply, others (and I might argue some of the more intriguing ones) weren't developed enough for my taste.

There was some convolution to the story that also pulled me out of it a little.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and would definitely recommend it to closed room mystery lovers and horror fans. And I have to say, I think this one would make a REALLY good movie.

3.5 stars rounded up.

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Review: King Sorrow

King Sorrow by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for the pre-release copy of King Sorrow by Joe Hill. Below is my honest review.

Absolute gem of a story. Even though it's really long, the overwhelming majority of it doesn't feel like it's superfluous at all, but rather that it's all important to the overall tale.

The key aspect of this story that really drives the success of the plot is the characters. Hill has created characters that are developed, have depth, and feel like people. I felt like I knew them to the core of who they were by the end of the story. They had flaws, foibles, strengths, feelings.

And King Sorrow himself was such a cool main antagonist. A dragon who binds himself to people with contracts that he uses against them through loopholes? It's so very fae-like, and I'm here for it.

But I also love how the story reveals that you don't always know the people you love as much as you think you do, how people can change and grow and branch out from your picture of them over time.

Five stars, highly recommended for Joe Hill fans, Stephen King fans, dragon fans, horror fans.

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Review: Blind Date with a Werewolf

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs. Below you'll find my honest opinion.

I'd read three of these stories before, as they were previously released, but two were brand new! We finally got to see the last two of Asil's blind dates, and boy were they DOOZIES.

I'm really happy that we got more Asil. He's a really intriguing character, and I always get excited to see him on the page. And even more so in this, as he actually finds some healing and hope.

I can't say much without giving spoilers, so I'll stop there. But if you're a fan of Patty's Mercyverse, than this book is a must for some much needed side-character development love.

I'm still waiting for a Tom and Moira book (so glad we have some screen time with them here), but I'd also love an entire novel on Ruby's story!

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