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.

View all my reviews

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!



View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews