Oh no, another book reviewer

A NetGalley Review

This is definitely on the sillier side of horror but I don't think that's a bad thing! In The Secret Dinner we follow four lifelong friends and roommates who are strapped for cash and need to pay SIX MONTHS OF BACKOWED RENT back ASAP and so they do something pretty unorthodox to make the money in time. Things spiral from there (as things often do) and take turn for the macabre. And these guys simply could not STOP themselves from making their situation worse and worse.

Something I really liked is how the main character, Dante, opened the book by telling his friends a riddle, a word puzzle. The puzzle was basically that a man went to a restaurant, ordered the seagull meat, then went home later and took his own life. Why? Then Dante can only answer yes, no, or irrelevant to his friend's questions until the puzzle is solved. I will not tell you the answer here but the way this riddle tied into EVERYTHING was exceptionally well done.

Also, as we know, I am PRO mixed media in books and I was pretty delighted to see one character wrote letters to his mother (more on that in the book and it's WILD), a recipe for…seagull meat…, text threads, dinner invitations, emails, business cards, and a pretty funny picture drawn from when one of the characters was a kid. The chapters were also pretty short an bingeable so I felt like I was absolutely FLYING through this book. And I've been having a tough reading month so I really appreciated that.

There's also the conversation I feel some (if not most, if I'm honest) books regarding cannibalism have of "You eat meat from animals such as pigs, chickens, and cows and don't care about the treatment of those animals, so why is eating humans so taboo?" (This book is assuming people eat meat, if you don't then I love that for you, but clearly this book isn't talking about you. Please don't bean soup me in the comments. I am not currently mentally stable enough to handle it.) Also if anyone out there really wants to ruin their own day check out the episode on Tyson by the podcast Swindled. Anyways. I don't think the book was wrong to bring up this kind of morality issue, I just wish there was more of an original spin on it, I guess?

The only thing that stopped this from being a 5 star read for me is the language was outrageous! Cannibalism? Fine, do what you must. Calling one of the characters a whore and a hooker? Absolutely not! I mean, I guess I don't really know what I expected from four men but they were constantly demeaning one of the characters and talking about her like sex work isn't real work and it was genuinely ANNOYING. And I KNOW, ok, I know that it tied back to the themes of morality and what the characters considered to be right and wrong, when someone was considered human and when they weren't, I get it. But it bothered me regardless. And they also wouldn't stfu about one of the characters being fat. Again, I know, same argument, but we all have stuff that gets under our skin.

Overall, a pretty funny and amusing read and big shout out to the author for having this book translated into English for the first time (this book was originally published in 2016), that's awesome!

A NetGalley Review

AJW, they could NEVER make me hate you!

I didn't really know what to expect with this book, like I didn't know how the author was going to tackle the true crime angle. True crime thrillers are always popular but I feel like I've seen (and read) a lot that have left a sour taste in my mouth lately so there was a part of me that felt hesitant. Which was stupid on my end, like if anyone has proven they're extremely thoughtful about the topics they discuss in their books, it's AJW! (This may change in the final version (tho I hope it doesn't) where AJW was memeing My Favorite Murder by having a character that had a button that said "stay cute and don't die". Stop it, my ghost is actually writing this review actually because I DIED when I read it. I've said this before but I was part of the My Favorite Murder fandom and honest to god truly used to think nothing of their ending line "Stay sexy and don't get murdered" and upon reflection, that is so WEIRD. Like? Anyways, back to the review.)

We all know I eat up epistolary books and there were mixed media inserts (podcast transcripts, reddit threads, Tumblr posts, etc.) that I thought really worked with this book in terms of highlighting that true crime brain rot. Like saying Morgan's dad "is so baby girl" and the t-shirts of serial killers and, disgustingly, a countdown until Morgan was of legal age EW. But that's what I mean when I say those elements really worked for me, I was DISGUSTED because I know stuff like that is really out there. I've seen it, I've been gifted and bought stuff with serial killers plastered on it. Like dear god, I had serial killer trading cards. (I've changed! I know it's messed up & I would never do it again!)

I was also hesitant at the start of the book because Morgan and a fellow classmate decide they're going to find out the identity of one of Morgan's dad's victims, for spoiler reasons I can't say why they're doing this but I will say that I was like oh noooo, I hate teenage sleuth stuff because it always feels so unrealistic and silly to me. Again, I think AJW tackled this in such a way that I was like, into it and couldn't find much fault with how they decided to go about their investigation. Also THE PLOT TWIST AT THE END OMG.

I do also always appreciate AJW puts out characters in books he'd like to see into the world, I really admire that. In this book we have a trans boy, a trans girl, and a nonbinary character and as a cis woman I can't even begin to imagine how validating it has to feel seeing a character you identify with in a book! I also think there's a lot to say regarding the trauma of how Morgan was raised, BOTH his parents were really something else in the book, each in their own hideous ways. And the way Morgan's schoolmates and people who don't even know him treated him because of who his father was. And I think there's a very interesting friendship dynamic between Morgan and Alyssa that I don't want to spoil but I will say I wanted to see more, idk, introspection(?) about it on Morgan's end. Also, it's very sweet, but I imagine the relationship between Morgan and Felicity would be…complicated. And we can't get into that but I imagine they'd need a lot of therapy together to make it long term.

I think truly the only thing that stopped this from being a 5 star read for me is the stuff with Morgan's mom was not exactly confusing but, also, idk not NOT confusing. It's hard to talk about without going into spoilers but I did not understand her plan at all. I mean like, on the surface yes, I'm just talking about like, the long game plan, I guess. And the book ends in such a way that I'm just like AGGGHHHH NOOOOO what's going to happen to Morgan now?!?! AJW, dude, I have $20 and an endless well of appreciation, please write a sequel. PLEASE, write a sequel! You can't end the book like that omg!

A NetGalley Review

These days I'm not really a celebrity memoir kind of a person. With everything going on I find more often than not if a celebrity comes out with an autobiography I just don't…care. But I absolutely ADORE Ke Huy Quan and would read a 5,000 page hate letter about everything he disliked about me personally if he published it. And rate it 5 stars. So just know when I say I don't care about celebrities, I NEVER mean Ke Huy Quan!!!

Of course I was one of the people who rediscovered this actor with the explosive popularity of Everything Everywhere All at Once, his Be Kind monologue is one of my absolute favorite scenes. Honestly every scene in that movie is my favorite scene. BUT ANYWAYS. I was familiar with his work as a child actor, even if those movies aren't really my personal favorites. This is where everybody drags me in the comments for not liking The Temple of Doom or The Goonies, HOW could I not like The Goonies?! Idk, they're fine movies, they're just not what I'm personally reaching for if I decide to watch a movie ok I'm SORRY. Encino Man however… 👀 (Yes, I know I'm a sentient garbage can that's been cursed with life.) Anyways, a short story long for this paragraph is I'm honestly so happy for Ke Huy Quan and that he's acting again like he always wanted to. You deserve the world, Ke! Also don't be shy, DM me the name of the actor who dissed you at the SAG Awards, I will fist fight them myself.

I'd say about the first idk, 30% of this book I cried through every chapter. I had absolutely no knowledge of Ke's life as a child and the hardships he endured. Being jailed for trying to flee Vietnam, TWICE. Finally leaving and being trapped on the ship for a month because Hong Kong didn't want to take in more refugees. The way his own auntie treated him, it actually broke my heart. And the stuff about Ke's dad was so sad as well. I know I'm giving a lot away right now but there's a massive difference between me relaying what I read and the way Ke describes these events, trust me.

This was such a good read, Ke is a total sweetie pie and you can feel the joy and enthusiasm he felt while filming certain projects. I found myself hootin & hollerin during the good times, and filled with despair during the bad times. Even if I found the writing to be a bit simplistic in certain areas, I can't deny the emotion was always, ALWAYS there. (No shade btw, have y'all read my reviews before, the award for most basic ass review writer goes to ME.) My only question is Ke is very open and honest about his life & experiences and then just casually drops that Michael Jackson invited him over for a sleepover & private screening of The Temple of Doom at the end of a chapter and then never talks about it again? Maybe there were additional details that were edited out but I just found the lack of details in just that one story kind of odd.

A NetGalley Review

3.5 stars rounded up

I do love Appalachian horror stories and Mimics are right at the top of the list for some of my favorite monsters. So when I read the synopsis and discovered this would also take place in a setting where everyone is trapped in a gas station? Girl, sign me tf up!

What I will say is the atmosphere and the setting were both top tier. I will always love a book set in the fall, it's my favorite season and if any other season is your favorite, sorry but that's incorrect. (Kidding!) Was it brutal reading about crisp autumn air in the middle of a heat wave though? Well, yes. And I will always, ALWAYS love a setting where the main characters are Trapped and Must Fight Against Evil. If anyone has seen the 2008 movie Splinter y'all will know why I always get so excited when people are trapped in a gas station specifically.

I also thought the Mimic was written exceptionally well. It was terrifying, it was in your face, and it make me suspicious of EVERYONE. My absolute favorite moments were when the Mimic was being an absolute diva and coming to specific characters and haunting them as someone they both knew. (Sorry trying to be vague because spoilers, you know how it goes.) Those were some of the best, scariest moments and the way the Mimic was preying on their guilt was sooooo good, The Mimic did come after Jane at one point but the tension in that scene wasn't as good in my opinion because, without getting too deep into it, Jane's guilt was undeserved.

This does lead me into a few things that kept me from rating this book 5 stars, unfortunately. -The intensity Jane's guilt over the car accident her & her brother Thomas were in led me to believe the events of the accident unfolded a certain way, but this then made me feel a bit…idk, underwhelmed? when the full reveal happened. And Thomas' attitude about it towards Jane was WILD. I know he had his own stuff about the accident going on and I understand that and why he would blame Jane but…? Like dude have you ever heard of growing tf up? -I know they're literally the main characters so obviously a lot of the focus will be on their dynamic and their journey, but I feel like since so much of the focus was on Jane and Thomas, the other characters fell by the wayside. Especially with some of the reveals towards the end, it would have been helpful to get a few more chapters from Kimi's perspective for example. -While I really liked the very end of the epilogue, I wanted more from it overall. Without giving anything away, what ah, what happened with Ashley? What about Jackson? It kinda seemed like was something going on between him and Jane right? Or did I just hallucinate that? Not that they HAD to end up together, I'm just nosy!!!

Anyways, overall I did enjoy this book and for a debut, this was absolutely incredible! I only expect the author to get better and better from here and I will definitely be keeping my eye on this author to see what they come out with next.

A NetGalley Review

Quaint Folk is the perfect book to read for summerween (even if the story actually takes place more in winter but shhhhh), like if we aren't already adding folk horror to our summerween reading plans, we absolutely should be!

In Quaint Folk we follow Jessica, her husband Greg, and 15 year old child Sandy as they travel to Hasenhurst for Greg's job. At a glance Hasenhurst is an idyllic village to live in, where all the residents are friendly, the children are suspiciously well behaved, and the modern world seems not to have touched the island. However, things are not quite what they seem as the village prepares for the impending holiday of Tigglestide.

While reading this I was fully in love with the aesthetics and the tone of the book. The aesthetics were very Wicker Man (the 1973 movie, not the 2006 Nic Cage remake) with a metric fuckton of rabbits, people in fun, silly costumes, and cute woodland creatures in waistcoats. LOOOOVVVEEE! The tone also did lean more horror comedy than horror which did take me aback initially but once I leaned more into the comedic tone I was back to having a good time. I think the author did a fantastic job of building a sense of creeping dread throughout the book and making you feel like something isn't quite right in Hasenhurst even while you're giggling at the dialogue.

I also really enjoyed following Jessica's and Sandy's journeys throughout this book. Jessica is trying desperately to blend in due to past religious trauma and a previous relationship that ended badly, both of which she's trying to cover up by throwing herself into the town's celebration of Tigglestide. Sandy is Jessica & Greg's kid who is a nonbinary folkloric witch who knows something's up in this village and is doing their best to get to the bottom of it. Jessica and Sandy frequently clash in their ideas of what's going on and this definitely adds tot eh overall drama of everything else going on. There's also a subplot with Jessica and the lord mayor's wife, Molly, but we can't get into it because of mild spoilers, but Jessica & Molly were some of my favorite parts fo the book.

I think what stopped this from being a 5 star read however was there was a lot of stuff going on. There was a trying to get Hasenhurt into the modern age subplot, a Round Robin subplot, Sandy's investigation subplot, Jessica's feelings about her parents, past relationship, Molly, struggling with fully accepting Sandy's identity, and failing marriage with Greg subplot and honestly it was a little too much. Also Jessica is writing a book during all of this too and I thought it was cute but it didn't really go anywhere. There was a point where I thought Jessica being a writer would tie into one of the subplots but it didn't so it ended up being just yet another thing to keep track of. A lot of really amazing ideas that weren't fully developed unfortunately.

Also I'll be the first to say it, I was a little confused by the ending as it was a bit ambiguous but I think a reread when this is published might resolve my confusion. Overall a really good addition in the folk horror genre, Bitter Karella is an author I'd like to keep my eye on to see what they come out with next in the future.

A NetGalley Review

4.5 stars rounded up

This book was so good!!!! Like, I'm not sure I agree that it's Final Destination meets The Cabin at the End of the World, but either way, I had such a good time! In Dive Bar at the End of the Road we follow a whole cast of characters who each end up in a car accident that mysteriously places them in range of a dive bar with a sassy bartender and another silent & sullen bar patron. Oh and also something is stalking them every time they go into the woods, no biggie!

It's hard to talk about this book because everything I really enjoyed veers strongly into spoiler territory and I do feel like the less you know going into the book, the better. I did like the pacing of this book however, I feel like we don't linger too long on something. I can appreciate, now more than ever, an author that's not always holding a reader's hand and making time to make sure you always understand exactly what's going on at all times by making their characters speak in a way that's wildly unnatural to the characters themselves and the plot. Like thank you for trusting me to pick up what you're putting down, queen. Anyways.

This read exactly like a movie and I do love a book with a big cast honestly. I know sometimes it can't work but here it was so, so good and I felt like I knew a decent amount about everyone. We mainly follow Ellie, Henry, Noemi, Caleb, and Raymond, plus occasionally we follow a few other random "guest" appearances. I will say one of the guest appearances, even though they have one of my FAVORITE scenes in the whole book, could have been cut. Purely because we don't go very far with them or do very much.

Okay, now lemme spit out a few rapid fire out of context things I liked that hopefully convinces you to read this book: -THE LEG -the bartender (whomst I cast as Adam Brody in my mind, if they ever make this into a movie he would be PERFECT as the bartender!) -The Thing, yeah, that The Thing -Caleb & Noemi's ending -Ellie & Henry, their ship name is Hellie, fight me -Henry get behind me, I will protect you my precious, giant son!

And now a few things things that didn't quite work for me: -Ellie's leg, I get there was a lot going on but it's like her leg was injured only if it made for a more tense scene. Sometimes she was sprinting around no problem, other times she needed help to walk -Ellie, stop trying to make fetch happen -(A crumb of context first, when the characters are in the woods/generally outside the dive bar, what they fear most appears to torment/try to kill them) Noemi & Ellie's fears were of real life things, while Edgar, Henry, Caleb, & Raymond's fears were of well, more unrealistic things. I thought it was kind of interesting in a way but also, for a reason I can't really put my finger on, it also bothered me a little too.

A NetGalley Review

This book was…fine. To be honest while I was reading this I couldn't help but think about how everything this book was trying to do, You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews did it better.

I think what I enjoyed most about this book is Rose isn't as innocent as she seems. Unfortunately, despite this fact, it doesn't necessarily make her an interesting character to follow. Like listen, diva, I have a whole slew of mommy issues that makes me a people pleasing doormat too but eeeyyyuuuuccckkk! At least I don't revolve my entire personality around a MAN. Imagine Rose as a lady Joe Goldberg but like, more boring. I think learning of Rose's sinister behavior would have been better to learn at the end, along with several other twists and reveals you learn. Or, I don't know, keep it at the beginning but make Rose more…interesting?

In that same train of thought, there's a reveal of a certain plot point that Rose's husband, Brian discovers, and…it's really weird? In the sense that Brian is pushing Rose to have a baby she doesn't want (because of aforementioned mommy issues) and then claims he's pushing her to have a baby because he thought that's what SHE wanted. It was just a weird confrontation for them to have and personally, it was just a weird way he found out. Brian also gives Rose a glass family heirloom at the beginning of the book that ends up breaking and then we never hear about it again. Why not have Brian discover the broken glass and confront her about it?

This book wasn't for me but I think if you're new to the thriller & mystery genre you'd find this interesting despite its odd plot holes and mysterious red herrings. For me, at this point, I need a domestic thriller to really do something different and unexpected. I don't mind a "is the house haunted or is the main character just losing her grip on reality?" kind of story but this one just didn't do it for me unfortunately.

A NetGalley Reviews

In Amityville Awakens, we follow a cast of characters and how they deal with the events that follow after the Amityville house has been torn down. Hang on to your hats because we have Pablo, Silva, Terri, Joey, Meeker, and occasionally Joey's neighbor, Mr. Fitzpatrick to keep up with in this story and not everyone is strictly necessary (Meeker).

The events of the story itself, I have no issues with, if you like the Amityville book or the movies, I think you'll enjoy this book and I don't have a lot to say about it honestly. The fungus spreading was probably my favorite part and how it spread around town was honestly pretty fun. Not everyone's black out actions were always as thrilling and were sometimes quite sad but it did add stakes to the story. The author wasn't holding back any punches and if you were slated to die in the story then that's what was going to happen, which I can honestly respect, even if some of the deaths were pretty sad. We were cruising towards a 4 star read, I was having a great time but the two things that completely took me out were:

Meeker - Listen, if she's your fave I'm sorry but what was she doing here? To me it was doing nothing, cheating on her husband, and terrorizing Krista because it seemed to be her kink. There was no point in having Meeker around other than we needed a standard cop character around for a while. I really didn't have much of a problem with her until did something with Krista involving gun play. If that's also your kink, proceed. If you're like me that's NOT your kink and might even be a bit of a trigger for you, there's your trigger warning to proceed with caution. Idk, Meeker was honestly a huge loser and I didn't care for her.

Even with how much I didn't like Meeker, I was still having a good time! Listen, you can't like every character and that's fine. But the thing I couldn't abide by AT ALL was Marvin. Marvin was Terri's brother, not step brother like I thought for a period of time, like, her biological brother. Marvin spent literally all his time either sexually harassing Terri, calling her a slut, threatening Joey to stay away from Terri, or actually literally trying to have sex with his sister. WHY? I kind of thought for a really long time that maybe Marvin was in someway possessed by the house and he was going to be the second surprise bad at the end just when they thought they had defeated the evil. So even tho I was wildly uncomfortable, I kept reading. And sorry, spoilers, but no. Marvin's just a freak that wants to fuck his sister. I could not figure out what the sister was trying to do or say with this character. My best guess is maybe the author wanted to tie in the rumor/speculation from one of the Amityville movies that Ronald DeFeo was sleeping with his sister? But it didn't need to be there, there's plenty of Amityville material to work with without including that. It was too much for me honestly. I would have rated this book much higher if it weren't for that!

A NetGalley Review

A surprising amount of heart for a book about a guy who can't stop shitting snakes.

Despite the somewhat silly premise, this author has a lot of good stuff to say regarding the medical and healthcare system. Tbh I'm overweight and if I have to go to the doctor about something I have to sit there and listen to the doctor tell me whatever I'm in for is because I'm too fat. Tripped on a curb and sprained my ankle? Have I tried losing weight about it? Messed up shoulder that, without warning, will radiate pain up my neck and leave me unable to move my arm for hours until I cave and take enough Tylenol to kill a horse? It's probably just too much sodium, have I tried not eating as much cheese? So when I tell you I really felt Adam's frustration about his numerous doctor's visits and through all his pain and suffering he's still not being HEARD!!

I also think the ending was brilliant, I won't ruin it for anyone but dear god was it satisfying. There was some stuff that I didn't quite understand about the snakes themselves but also, it's FINE. It's a guy who SHITS SNAKES. It doesn't have to make perfect, logical sense all the time. There was also a side plot that I would have liked to know more regarding Adam and his wife, Darby. It seems like they were also having some issues regarding pregnancy (so TW if that's something you don't want to read about, miscarriage is mentioned) and I appreciated their conversations but I did need a little more about it honestly. But the conversation they have with Darby's parents was also very satisfying to read as someone who's parents constantly pressure me for grandchildren even tho they have SO FUCKING MANY.

A NetGalley Review

I never expected a sequel to The Only Good Indians, but if we all know one thing SGJ always succeeds in, it's to deliver the unexpected.

I think the cool thing about this book is you don't necessarily have to be thoroughly familiar with the events of The Only Good Indians to enjoy Off the Reservation. The best kind of sequel (in my opinion) is one that you can read independently of the first book. In Off the Reservation we follow Nate Yellow Tail who finds himself back in the hospital again after a car accident that should have killed him (but didn't because it's hard to kill a Yellow Tail) and his best friend Sebby. However Nate woke up and Sebby did not. Nate's nurse talks Nate into joining her and two other Blackfeet on a road trip in an RV to repatriate an Indigenous boy's bones who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Hoping to save Sebby's life, Nate agrees. Unfortunately, in freeing the boy's bones from beneath the earth, they accidentally free something else they didn't intend.

Hands down my favorite chapter was Indian Evel Knievel, SGJ always absolutely crushes the villain/monster POV chapters. It actually would have been cool to have a few more of these chapters, but I did like how we flipped through many POV chapters of each of the main characters. I think this added a lot of interesting depth to the story. And the way the evil entity is ah, expelled (wink) is honestly pretty funny and genius. I was shocked, disgusted, and maybe a little annoyed when I initially read it. But now that I've taken the time to digest it, I can appreciate that, again, SGJ always delivers on the unexpected.

I will say though, it felt to me like SGJ really struggled with this story and my feelings of this were confirmed in the acknowledgements. The pacing was a little off, there were elements that didn't quite fit into the story as successfully as I would have hoped, and the ending felt a little rushed. I will say though, despite all this, I have to praise SGJ's originality and I can promise you, you've never read a story of possession like this one!

There's a lot more I want to say, but unfortunately I can't really figure out how to talk about it without spoiling the story. Appreciate everything Stephen Graham Jones does with the stories he chooses to tell us is all I'll say.