Review: The Hitchcock Hotel

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of The Hitchcock Hotel. It was a fun ride! Below is my honest review.

What a super fun mystery novel! I loved the theme and the atmosphere. Hitchcock might not have been the best guy, but his movies were always top notch, and this novel really captured that style and modernized it.

The characters were complex, with fleshed out personalities and deep histories both together and as individuals. The story was paced well, with reveals being just when they needed to be. And while I guessed a bit of the twist, the ending still got me on some of the major points, which is hard for mysteries to do for me anymore, so I was thrilled!

All in all, really fun, great characters, great atmosphere, great pacing, great story. Highly recommended.

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Review: Sleep Tight

Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for the pre-release copy of Sleep Tight. Below is my honest review.

I haven't read anything by JH Markert before, but I think he's definitely going on my "to read more" list.

This one opens the day of a criminal execution, and pretty much zooms forward at a breakneck pace the rest of the book. It was a lot of fun to read (not a lot of fun for the characters to live out LOL).

I think my biggest gripe was the not-so-likable main character. I mean, who knows they're racing to find their daughter, kidnapped and in danger, and still pops some pills, potentially lowering their own ability to do what is necessary to get their kid back?

All in all, it seemed to be a movie screen-play turned into a book, and I'd love to see the movie.

Four stars, recommended for fans of mystery/thriller, cults, and gritty cop dramas.

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Review: The Darkest Night: 22 Winter Horror Stories

The Darkest Night: 22 Winter Horror Stories by Lindy Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the pre-release copy. Below is my honest review.

I'm going to be 100% honest here: I requested this ARC because of a handful of the horror authors in it: namely, Rachel Harrison, Josh Malerman, and Darcy Coates. They're all authors I really love! Luckily for me, so many of the other stories really grabbed me, so now I have a long list of potential new horror authors to check out further.

Rather than do an average of scores, I'm going to give this one an overall four stars, because even the stories that weren't my favorites were still fun, which is just what I wanted from this anthology.

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The Mouthless Body in the Lake by Gwendolyn Kiste
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three and a half

Interesting concept and good writing, but not sure the ending hit for me. I'd say I'm intrigued enough to potentially check out more of her stories one day.

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Cold as Ice by Tim Waggoner
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

Oh, this one was fun!

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Children Aren't the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden by Josh Malerman
My Fan Status: Big Fan
Stars: Three and a half

Love Josh Malerman, but I didn't feel like this one had much of a plot. The twist at the end was clever-ish.

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The Vermin Moon by Hailey Piper
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three

I can't say I loved this one, but I didn't hate it either. It was... weird. But also heartbreaking.

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The Body of Lenora James by Stephanie M. Wytovich
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four and a half

Can we get a full length novel of this please? Loved!

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Mr. Butler by Clay McCleod Chapman
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four and a half

Albeeeeeeeee, Mr. Butler was creepy as heck! Loved the personal nature of this one, and really disturbed by Mr. Butler.

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Feast of Gray by Lindy Ryan and Christopher Golden
My Fan Status: New to me (Ryan) and Fan (Golden)
Stars: Three

I liked this one fine, but felt like it needed more.

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I Hope This Finds You Well by Eric LaRocca
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three and a half

That ending though!

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The Buried Child by M. Rickert
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three

Kind of confusingly written and muddled, brought me out of the story a bit.

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Father's Last Christmas by Lee Murray
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

Lots of fun (for us) and reminiscent of Gaiman's Stardust (in a good way)

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The Warmth of Snow by Cynthia Pelayo
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three

Decent little shorty, didn't feel like much of a plot though

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Wintry Blue by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
My Fan Status: Fan (Golden) and New to me (Lebbon)
Stars: Five

Absolute yes. I wanna see this made into a movie!

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Carol of the Hells by Kelsea Yu
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

Man, that ending tore me up!

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Full of Toys by Jessica McHugh
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three

A poem on a creepy gross bloody Santa picture.

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Nice by Nat Cassidy
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

You know what? There's not much creepier than kids in horror. Yikes.

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Thaw by Rachel Harrison
My Fan Status: Devoted Follower/Obsessee/Stan/Fanboy
Stars: Five+

I'm a huge fan of Rachel Harrison's. This story is no exception to that. Nothing quite like dealing with a jerk of a significant other AND a possibly living creepy snowman hunting you.

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Candy Cane by Thomas Hutson
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Five

Sometimes it's best to write what you know. Insert devil emoji here.

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Eggnog by Kristi DeMeester
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

Don't mess with momma!

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Threads of Epiphany by Sara Tantlinger
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

I'd read this full length novel!

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The Ladies' Society for the Dead by Darcy Coates
My Fan Status: Big Fan
Stars: Four

Nice twist!

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Being Nice by Jeff Strand
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Four

Interesting play on the Naughty/Nice List and last minute makeup points lol

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Ghosted by Mercedes M. Yardley
My Fan Status: New to me
Stars: Three

Decent little ghost story about a partner who died who you didn't really know

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Bruiser by Jamie Flanagan
My Fan Status: New to me/Fan of his shows
Stars: Four

Weird but I'd watch this show!


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Review: An Academy for Liars

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of An Academy for Liars. Below is my honest review.

Alexis Henderson really knows how to set up a new world. She's an expert, even. This one is no exception. Receiving a random entrance call like a letter from Hogwarts, the school for persuasion happens to have its own secret hideaway domain, out of view of the eyes of the rest of the world. From the phone call in the abandoned booth to the final paragraph, An Academy for Liars gripped my attention in a chokehold and wouldn't let go.

If you haven't read Henderson's works, this one is a fine place to start. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but be prepared for some magic school fun and a lotta bit of darkness. Definitely recommended for fans of dark magical realist academia stories.

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Review: So Thirsty

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the early copy of this delicious novel. Below is my honest review.

I discovered Rachel Harrison last year, thanks to getting an early copy of Black Sheep from Berkley, and am really glad I did. Her horror novels are a LOT of fun, finding a perfect balance of gruesome and comedic, dark and snark, human and monstrous.

So Thirsty was a rollicking good time, and honestly, a lot deeper than you'd think when you picked up a horror novel. This isn't just your average vampire novel. This one delves into the themes of relationships... love, friendship, family, and most importantly, the relationship you have with yourself.

One thing I really love is that it does have some setup at the beginning, but it's sprinkled in as Sloane and Naomi hit the road on a friend-trip for Sloane's birthday, and the whole atmosphere just screams "this won't end well." Once they hit the resort, the gas pedal is pushed all the way down and doesn't let up. From creepy shadowy figures at their second floor windows at night to rattling chains in the basement to an unquenchable thirst for blood, this one will grab you by the neck and hold you while it drains you until late into the night.

Absolute gem of a novel. Highly recommended. I can't wait to catch up on Harrison's catalogue. I already have my copy of Such Sharp Teeth and will be taking a bite out of it soon.

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Review: Nightmare of a Trip

Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Putnam for the pre-release copy of Nightmare of a Trip! My honest thoughts are to follow.

Maureen Kilmer's Suburban Hell was a highlight of my 2022 reading, and even though I somehow completely missed that she had a 2023 release with Hex Education, I'll definitely be getting my hands on a copy of that to catch up on.

I really loved Suburban Hell, so I was super-excited about Nightmare of a Trip. Unfortunately, I didn't love it. Did I enjoy it? Sure, but it just didn't have the same pacing excellence, lacked the strong character relationships, and had a very meh ending in comparison to Suburban Hell. I feel like the story struggled with some repetition (that I think was supposed to help build tension but didn't really accomplish that successfully).

I think my biggest issue was that it felt like we really just got a few fun ideas for horror movie scenes and then the story in between was "how can we get to those moments."

I still enjoyed it, and will definitely still pick up Hex Education to catch up (and read whatever her next release is), but this one just didn't nail it for me.

3.5 stars, rounded to 3. I'd still recommend it for Kilmer fans and fans of horror. It wasn't a bad read at all, just not as WOW after Suburban Hell set such a high bar.

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Review: This Book Kills

This Book Kills by Ravena Guron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the pre-release copy! Below is my honest review.

This book was just FUN. The school setting was well done, the characters were entertaining and had depth, and the mystery unfurled over the course of the novel with really good pacing. I really enjoyed the development of relationships between characters throughout the story, which felt natural to me, and I very much enjoyed the diverse main character's perspective.

My only real gripe with this one is that, if you are a big mystery reader, you're probably going to guess the ending like I did. But that being said, it didn't really detract from the FUN of the novel, so I still chose to rate this one high.

Four stars, definitely recommend to mystery/YA fans. Give it a shot, and I think you'll enjoy it.

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