Review: A Family Affair

A Family Affair by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the pre-release copy of A Family Affair by Jodi Taylor. Below is my honest review.

Warning: Please note that this novel is the second in the Smallhope & Pennyroyal series, which is a spinoff of the Chronicles of St. Mary's and The Time Police series. It does have spoilers for some of the events of St. Mary's and the events of Time Police 6, in addition to the obvious references to the events of The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal.

I loved this one, which is par for the course for everything in the St. Mary's-verse. This one sees both of our main characters dealing with issues with their respective families, and jumps around a bit. It's nearly impossible to say much without giving massive spoilers, but I will say - Pennyroyal's story is a bit of a tearjerker, and Amelia's family dealings are quite a hoot to read, mostly because Smallhope is the queen of petty pre-emptive strikes and I'm here for it.

Highly recommended, but do take note of my warning above. This one does discuss the events of the rest of the St. Mary's universe books, especially the recent events of Time Police 6.

Five stars. GIMME MORE JODI! I NEED MOOOOOOOORE!

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Review: Carry Me to My Grave

Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the pre-release copy of Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden. Below is my honest review.

I really hate describing a book as "meh." As an aspiring (and imposter syndrome suffering) writer myself, I know how much of your heart and soul and sweat and tears get poured into every page, so it pains me to write that word in regards to someone's hard-earned page count.

But this? Meh. The concept was great, but I really didn't enjoy it executed this way all that much. The characters felt trope-y, and lacked a lot of real depth. Their behavior in every scenario was exactly as you'd expect or predict. The majority of the book felt like "oh we got away!" "oh no we didn't!" "oh no people died around us!" "oh we got away" "oh no we didn't!" "oh no people died around us!" over and over and over.

I very much enjoyed Golden's All Hallows and The House of Last Resort, so was very disappointed to find that, in my opinion, this one didn't live up to the quality of those.

But I didn't hate it. Like I said, the concept was interesting. And the monsters *were* creepy. I just couldn't love it either, because part of it felt... I dunno, phoned in?

Two and a half stars, but I'll round up.

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Review: Unpredictable Magic

Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for a pre-release copy of Faith Hunter's Unpredictable Magic. Below is my honest review.

YAY! More in the world of Jane Yellowrock! This time, we're checking in after a time jump. There's been a Witch War, unleashing demons on the world. We're following Angie Baby and little EJ, but they're all grown up now. Heck, the book starts with Angie Baby already having been married and divorced!

I am so glad we get more in this world, and I'm so happy that Faith decided to give us this story. I read in the acknowledgements that she had thought the final Soulwood book would be the end of her writing, but she was convinced (send that person a winning lottery ticket please!) to keep writing for fun instead of writing for deadlines, and this was the result. And supposedly we will get some more??? Celebration all around!

This one was tangly in true Jane/Nell fashion. Vampire plots, layer upon layer, are revealed, and the stakes are higher than they've ever been before with the EEBs being weaponized. We even get a few cameos! :)

I really loved this one. I can't wait for more!

Five stars, highly recommended, especially for fans of Jane Yellowrock and Nell Ingram.

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Review: Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die

Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen for the pre-release copy of Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold. This is my honest review.

If you're into slashers set in isolated small towns with big snowstorms, this is your book. If you enjoyed Until Dawn (the video game, not the movie with a different story), then you'll love this one.

Once the set up is done, the story ends up in an isolated mountainside group of cabins, only truly accessible by gondola, in the middle of a massive snowstorm, and that's when the crap hits the fan. Things go crazy outside their planned scare.

Cults? Isolated setting? One by one picking off? Twists within twists? Yep.

Lots of fun, four stars, recommended for horror/slasher/quick reads.

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Review: Scary Movie Night

Scary Movie Night by Miranda Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine/Bantam for the pre-release copy of Scary Movie Night by Miranda Smith. Below is my honest review.

This one was so twisty and turny and I loved every second. The mystery was well-plotted, layered, and had quite a few unexpected moments. The characters were, for the most part, deep and developed enough for the story, and the setting was spot-on for a fun time and a Hitchcock homage.

Four stars, highly recommend, will definitely pick up Miranda Smith's first novel.

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Review: Fabulous Bodies

Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Extra special thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the pre-release copy of Chuck Tingle's Fabulous Bodies. Below is my honest review.

In true Tingle fashion, I finished this book and immediately thought, "what in the actual f*$# did I just read?" But in a good way, also in true Tingle fashion.

I thought I knew what was coming in this one, and I did guess a few tidbits, but man alive did this one keep throwing me for loops!?

I loved how we saw that the shallow MC wasn't really all that shallow. I loved how we saw that you should never, ever meet your idols/heroes. I loved that we saw a really interesting take on zombies, even though zombies stress me out. And there was even a little science involved.

Absolute mindbang of a horror novel. Four stars, highly recommended especially for horror sci-fi weird stuff.

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Review: What Happened to Those Girls

What Happened to Those Girls by Carlyn Greenwald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the pre-release copy of What Happened to Those Girls by Carlyn Greenwald. Below is my honest review.

This one was a wild ride! From the moment the main character got the text message about how they're all going to die out there that then was unsent to the very end, it was explosive. I couldn't put it down!

It was a well-plotted and twisty mystery thriller, and I was very impressed with the author's ability to give depth to even the characters that weren't alive any more.

Highly entertaining, will read more by Greenwald.

Four stars, definitely recommend to mystery-thriller fans and YA readers who like a dark gruesome murder mystery.

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