Review: Play Nice

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. Below you'll find my honest review.

I'm a huge Rachel Harrison fan. I've made no secret of that. She's pithy, she's creative, and she knows how to write with depth.

Play Nice wasn't just your average haunted house novel. It's a novel of possession, and it's commentary on what it means to be a woman unbelieved, to be a woman breaking the mold of normal, to be in a family that likes to polish over the truth with a nice-looking veneer. But it's also a haunted house story.

My favorite thing about Harrison's books is that she always makes it a horror novel that also has the deeper commentary and meaning woven into the story. Don't get me wrong - I love a great popcorn horror novel, just being exactly what it appears on the surface with the scaries and the mysteries and the terror. But honestly, I also really love when you have something below the skin, something thick and meaty that drives the story into a thoughtful place as well.

Five stars, highly recommended (go read all of her books!).

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Review: They Fear Not Men in the Woods

They Fear Not Men in the Woods by Gretchen McNeil
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for the pre-release copy of They Fear Not Men in the Woods by Gretchen McNeil. Below is my honest review.

Having only ever read Gretchen McNeil's young adult book Ten, I've been meaning to pick up more of her works, so when I saw she had an adult horror debut coming out, I had to click Request. And I'm really glad that I did.

I want this one to be made into a movie. Or maybe a limited series for one of the streamers. (hint hint, Amazon).

The tension built in this one in a perfectly paced way. Just enough slow burn at the beginning to set the stage, but not so much that it felt like it was dragging. Then when they get out there into the woods, the proverbial you-know-what hits the proverbial fan HARD and it hits it FAST. One by one, the party shrinks, and they begin to realize that the woods might be a much more dangerous place than they ever thought possible, and that they might not make it out alive.

Highly recommended for horror fans. Five stars.

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Review: The House of Quiet

The House of Quiet by Kiersten White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte for the pre-release copy of The House of Quiet by Kiersten White. Below you'll find my honest review.

Well, this book chastised me. It wagged its pointer finger at me and said, "Shame on you for not having gone back and read any of Kiersten White's YA stuff. Shame on you for only having read Hide and Mister Magic! SHAME!"

I absolutely LOVED this one. She does some amazing worldbuilding, and the crazy part about that is that she does it with a story in ONE house in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE cut off from the rest of the world. Does she answer everything? No. Does it take a while to fully grasp the entire structure of the powers/the procedure/etc? Yes. But that doesn't matter because she's got a great group of characters that make you want to keep reading so you can find out whatever little tidbit comes next.

I adored some of the side characters the most - Lake and her weirdness, Dawn and her search for purpose and meaning, Forest and his silent fortitude - but the main characters were also strong and well developed. They were easy to root for, for sure.

Five stars, and I really, really hope this is going to be at least a duology. I need more in this world!!! Highly recommended.

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Review: Catch Your Death

Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the pre-release copy of Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron. Below is my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. It was tons of fun! It offered up a mystery told through flashbacks and interviews with the police, alongside some (reliable?) narration. The creepy house with secret passages set out in the countryside and cut off from power, phone service, or even the surrounding area due to snow was a great setting. The mystery was spooled out at just the right pace, and the twists, albeit slightly predictable if you're a huge mystery reader like myself, were spot on in both timing and thrill level. And the relationships of the characters were really well done.

Four stars, definitely recommend to mystery/YA fans. (Check out her novel "This Book Kills" too!)

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Review: Breathe In, Bleed Out

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Camp Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the pre-release copy of Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley. Below is my honest review.

I'm a big fan of the horror genre. Movies, books, tv shows... doesn't matter. I love it. But I mostly veer torwards the supernatural side of things and avoid the slasher-y type horror. This one sounded "fun" though, so I picked it up, and I'm glad I did. I tore through it in less than two days, and I had trouble putting it down. It had some really wacky original death scenes, had a good story, and had some compelling characters. It was also very much like reading a movie - I think this one would be easily translated to the big screen and would do well at the box office.

I'll definitely pick up some more of his books in the future.

Four and a half stars, rounded up.

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Review: Let's Split Up

Let's Split Up by Bill Wood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic for the pre-release copy of Let's Split Up by Bill Wood. Below is my honest review.

Billed as Scooby Doo meets Scream, this one had so much potential to be one I would really love. I love horror movies. I love mysteries. I absolutely adore Scooby Doo.

Unfortunately, while the setting was great and the characters were decent, the reveal wasn't well executed - I guessed the killer the first time they were introduced, extremely early on. It was too obvious. Also, the prose and dialogue needed some editing. Written by an author from the UK but set in the US, there were quite a few UK vernacular moments that ended up in the book that should have been shifted to US terms. There were also so many incomplete sentences in the beginning that it took me out of the story.

Overall, it was a fun story. Just needed some tweaking to make it a great book.

Three stars. Recommended for Scooby Doo fans who are okay with it being a little Scream-adjacent but are also willing to overlook flaws for fun.

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