Review: Pictures of You

Pictures of You by Josh Malerman
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for the pre-release copy of Pictures of You by Josh Malerman. Below is my honest review.

Not sure how I feel about this one. I enjoyed it. The tension was good, the buildup was strong, and the characters were decent. But I also didn't enjoy it. It got very repetitive and the ending wasn't super satisfying.

I've read some of his other books, and Bird Box and Incidents Around the House were both so good that I had high expectations going into this one, and I think that might have clouded my enjoyment a little.

Three stars. I'd still recommend it, but people need to know it's not really horror.

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Review: Kiss Slay Replay

Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison. Below is my honest review.

Rachel Harrison has done it again. Kept me up late into the night multiple nights in a row. Made me love and root for her main character. And wrote an absolute banger. She’s quickly become one of my must-buy must-read must-recommend authors.

This one involves a former summer camp (horror trope!), a time loops with gruesome death/murders (horror trope!), etc but finds a way to make those tropes new and interesting. It's actually kind of easy to root for the main character, because it's easy to understand her and empathize, especially if you've gone through some hard times and come out the other side feeling lost and adrift.

I freaking LOVED this one, guys. LOVED.

Check this one out if you like horror with meaning behind it. And her other books too! They’re all great!

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Review: Little Red Death

Little Red Death by A.K. Benedict
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the pre-release copy of Little Red Death by Alexandra Benedict. Below is my honest review.

I really enjoyed a book of Benedict's that I read back in December, The Christmas Murder Game. It was a great mystery, twisty and turny in the right ways and with a setting that really established the mood and tone.

I felt that same energy for the first 60% or so of this one, but then THE TWIST happened, and my feelings got conflicted. Was the twist original? Yeah, pretty much. I can think of a movie that kind of did something similar but not in a thriller-y way. But was the twist SATISFYING? Not really. Once the twist went "meta," I felt like the charm and theme of the mystery was lost in the attempt to explain how things happened to be the way they were, and an inner monologue on existence became the focus.

So I can say I really enjoyed the first half and am unsure on the second half, leaving me settling at a 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

I still enjoyed the book, but I felt like I was taken out of the story for all the meta part. If you like twisty mysteries with weird things going on (like, say, The 7 and 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) then you'll enjoy this one I think. I'd still recommend it as a fun read.

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Review: We Are for the Dark

We Are for the Dark by Gretchen McNeil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for the pre-release copy of We Are For the Dark by Gretchen McNeil. Below is my honest review.

Let's start with the pros:

Awesome setting - creepy, atmospheric, mysterious, gives that preternatural eerie feeling of dread from the start.

Good characters - the two MCs are developed and have some depth to them

Twisty plot with decent pacing

And the cons:

Predictable, unsatisfying ending

I like this author a lot, having enjoyed her YA horror/thriller TEN and absolutely loving her 2025 adult horror release They Fear Not Men in the Woods, which is an epic banger of a novel and you need to go read it immediately.

I'm glad she's branched into adult horror (get it, branched, after I just mentioned the book with "in the Woods" in the title???), and I hope she keeps going with it. But alas, this one wasn't my favorite of hers.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

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Review: Blightfall

Blightfall by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Delacorte for the pre-release copy of Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson's Blightfall, book one in the new Skyward sequel series Riftwake.

This is my second BrandoSando collab book this year, and boy was this one a winner (especially compared to the other *sad face*).

I had a hard time even realizing it was mostly written by someone OTHER than Sanderson, because they worked so closely together on the previous three Skyward side tales.

I had a blast with this one. Arturo and Sadie were fun POV characters, and the remaining cast really rounded out nicely. My favorite was Suki, the kitsen xenoanthropologist who was intrigued by and trying to document every little detail. And of course, I adored the slugs. The taynix always steal the show for me, but even more so because in this book they had their own little interlude chapters!

Can't wait for more in this world, as this one set up the next phase of Skyward universe so well.

Five stars, highly recommend (but please read the first series beforehand, or you'll be massively spoiled).

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Review: The Calamities

The Calamities by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for the pre-release copy of Chuck Wendig's The Calamities. Below is my honest review.

Ughhhh, Chuck, the majority of the time, your books are big wins for me, but this one didn't work for me at all.

The characters weren't really likeable or root-for-able, though I am hoping Key completes her quest and Silas was a creepy yet interesting POV. The plot was kinda messy and all over the place with a lot of extraneous complications, and the pacing was just off. I felt like there was a lot of potential that was spent on making things gruesome for shock value rather than put into the main storyline.

There was a lot of build up at the end, leading to something huge, but then it just kind of abruptly stops and you're left feeling like "that's it? that?" and that was disappointing.

I did like the concept of the soul-bargaining and the elixir, but I felt like it took a massive back burner to the convoluted plot.

I didn't hate it overall though, and I'll consider reading the second/final book of the duology when it comes out, to see if it picks up and utilizes all the potential built in this one.

I give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to three for a "didn't love it, didn't hate it, liked it I guess."

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Review: Dreamland

Dreamland by Olivie Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the pre-release copy of Olivie Blake's Dreamland. Below is my honest review.

This is a hard one to review because it was VERY convoluted at the beginning, which made it hard for me to get into. But I pushed through, and I'm glad I did. Turns out, it was weird and confusing with unlikeable characters, but also compelling to watch things fall apart.

I'm not really sure how to explain my feelings, because I was drawn to the circling of the drain that Anya seemed unable to shake - she was drawn to the chaos like a moth to a flame, and I was drawn to watching her sink further and further like the call of the void.

But again, no one was really likeable in this one. No one made me root for them, not even the tortured Julian, even though he was probably the one I rooted for the most, as much as I could, I guess.

What a weird, confusing, but even still, entertaining book. 3.5 stars rounded up.

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