For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrant

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I very rarely read nonfiction, despite having quite an impressive collection of various nonfiction books. When I saw this on Net Galley I thought it looked so interesting that I couldn't resist requesting it and I'm so glad I did! This is an absolute must-read for anyone with an interest in books, authors or literature-based history. It is full of fascinating facts about such a wide range of authors, mostly focusing on the more literary ones but occasionally dropping in facts about contemporary writers.

I loved how this book was laid out and it made it immensely readable for me. Each chapter has a theme (for example, authors who went to prison or famous crime fiction) and then is divided further into sections about specific authors or events. There are also additional information boxes which, while a little randomly placed in topic, were formatted perfectly in ebook format. None of them divided up any of the smaller sections which was fantastic because I hate it when I have to flick back and forth.

The breadth of topics was good, although I must admit a lot of the references to american authors were lost on me. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing since I loved learning about something entirely new, but I did find it interesting how absolutely none of them were covered by my UK-based education. I'm sure someone with a higher degree in literature would find it even more interesting having heard of more of the authors, but it definitely didn't deter from my reading experience. It also covers authors from many different countries which is really cool. I think both people with an expert knowledge of literature and people with a casual interest in books will find the information in this book fascinating. While I can't say for definite how common this knowledge is within the field, there was enough variation and detail that I can't imagine anyone knowing everything already.

Overall, this is a fantastic trivia book for people who love books. It's well-written, well-organised and full of both indepth anecdotes and fun little snippets you can randomly share. I am so glad I read it and I will definitely be suggesting it to my bookish friends.

Overall Rating:

Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.

This book honestly has me so confused. This is one of the hardest books for me to rate because I just don't know what to make of it. Will Haunt You is a horror book about an aging rockstar who has read a book and now weird things are happening to him. The book he has read is the one you are reading right now by picking this up and so there are a lot of meta comments strewn throughout it. I actually felt this part of it was a little underused and there could have been greater potential for creating horror through this. However, that's not the book's biggest problem.

This plot...what plot? I had no idea what was going on half the time. It was like a series of events strewn together that made no cohesive sense and didn't build up to a proper plot. This is definitely not a small problem and I would have rated this book lower if not for the fact I enjoyed reading it so much. Brian Kirk is actually an extremely talented writer to make this absolute mess even remotely work and he definitely deserves props for that. I was never bored and I never switched off, despite not knowing what on earth was actually happening most of the time.

The characters themselves are also pretty decent. Our protagonist remains likeable despite doing a lot of terrible or questionable things. His wife is a strong character once she makes an appearance. I would have liked to learn more about Solomon, the person responsible for giving the main character the book in the first place, but that's an extension of my criticism towards the meta aspects. The female groupie character also could have benefited from a little more expansion, especially as her part is essentially over once the wife appears.

Overall, this is a baffling but enjoyable book. I would love to read more by Brian Kirk as with a more solid plot, he could easily produce a 5 star read for me. As far as horror books go, this has some major flaws but is personally saved for me by strong writing and enough intrigue to keep me reading. It's just such a shame I couldn't rate it higher.

Overall Rating:

The Doll Collection by Ellen Datlow

I stumbled across Ellen Datlow when I was browsing through the old Goodreads award pages to try and find more horror to read. It turns out she is a very prolific editor of anthologies and I promptly added several of her works to my TBR. The first I decided to read was The Doll Collection which is a horror anthology all about creepy dolls. However, in the introduction to the anthology a neat twist is revealed-the authors were specifically instructed not to use the 'creepy doll comes to life' cliche. Instead what we get is a fantastic collection of horror stories where dolls feature prominently in some way. This leads to a lot of scope in creativity and was a brilliant surprise.

As per usual with my anthology reviews, I am going to go through each story briefly and give my opinion of it. There are a lot of stories in here so you definitely feel like you get your money's worth in that regard, even if they weren't all winners.

Skin and Bone, Tim Lebbon-While hiking on a snowy mountain, a man discovers something very sinister indeed. This was a perfect example of how creative the doll concept could get and an interesting start to the anthology. One of the most linear and straightforward of plots (in a good way).

Heroes and Villains, Stephen Gallagher-A famous ventriloquist has died and someone is hired to use his dummy for an event celebrating his heroic death. Unfortunately some dark details surrounding his death are revealed. This was another cool concept but it wasn't told in the best way for me. Something about it almost dragged and I think the reveal would have worked better in a punchier story. Still a decent read.

The Doll-Master, Joyce Carol Oates-A man has a doll collection...or does he? I knew exactly where this story was going from the start but that wasn't necessarily an issue. I think the reveal happening earlier would have been more beneficial since it was so obvious. Pretty creepy with a sense of surrealism about it.

Gaze, Gemma Files-I started to read this story and only got a few pages in before skipping it. Something about glass doll eyes? The writing style did not agree with me.

In Case of Zebras, Pat Cadigan-Whilst working at a hospital on community service, a young girl finds a doll on a crash victim. This one was well-written but far, far too confusing and muddled. I didn't really get what was going on and I felt it could have been executed a lot clearer.

There Is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold, Seanan McGuire-A fantasy story about a woman who makes dolls and these dolls become vessels for emotions. This was fascinating as a story and I got sucked into the world very quickly. My only criticism is it could have been darker. It was more fantasy than horror and the setup for horror elements was definitely there.

Goodness and Kindness, Carrie Vaughn-A man becomes convinced that Kewpie dolls are linked to kindness and obsessively collects them. This was an okay story with a somewhat sinister undertone to it but was ultimately a little average for me and I don't remember it that well.

Daniel's Theory About Dolls, Stephen Graham Jones-When a mother miscarries, she tells her two young sons that their baby sister is a doll they bury in the backyard. This has a troubling effect on one of them. This was one of the stronger stories definitely, with very weird but interesting horror elements. Again, it seemed to be told in a more confusing style than it needed to be but I did enjoy it.

After and Back Before, Miranda Siemienowicz-This is set in a dystopian world and I can't really say much more about it. Very confusing narrative but a creepy and strong ending.

Doctor Faustus, Mary Robinette Kowal-Whilst working on a play, a real demon is accidentally summoned and a puppeteer must use her skills to escape. This was very very loosely related to the doll concept but apart from that, it was a decent horror story. Quite short and simple but again, that's not a bad thing.

Doll Court, Richard Bowes-A man starts dreaming of doll court, a place where previous childhood crimes against dolls are punished. This was another great idea executed in a slightly muddled way. It was done well enough to keep me interested but there was a weird book element that I wasn't sure needed to be there (unless it's a reference to something I don't understand).

Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line, Genevieve Valentine-A woman sees a young girl on the train holding a doll. I didn't really like this story sadly. I didn't get what it was trying to do and I ended up skimming most of it.

Ambitious Boys Like You, Richard Kadrey-Two men break into a house with the intention to steal things. However, the old man who owns it has installed some horrifying forms of defense. This was absolutely my favourite story of the whole lot. It had an interesting and well-executed concept, some great horror moments and created genuine tension.

Miss Sibyl-Cassandra, Lucy Sussex-A doll is sold at auction. Honestly I skim read this one since it was told in letter format and I found it very hard to follow.

The Permanent Collection, Veronica Schanoes-Told from the point of view of an expensive doll in a doll collection, this is the story of the owner of the collection and how he abuses dolls. There could have been more done with this concept but it was one of the stronger stories and had some neat moments.

Homemade Monsters, John Langan-A child creates his own homemade Godzilla figure when his family can't afford one. His friend trashes it and then horror things happen. Again, a super creative use of the doll concept and I mostly thought this was done well.

Word Doll, Jeffrey Ford-I honestly don't remember this story at all unfortunately.

Overall, this was an interesting collection but it failed to live up to its potential. Many of the stories seemed to use a confusing narrative style that made it difficult to tell what was actually going on, and that made me disconnect. I skimread a couple and while there were some gems in here, the majority of stories were just average. I am still keen to check out other anthologies that Datlow has edited and I hope they leave more of a lasting impact.

Overall Rating:

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Faber & Faber in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Peter Swanson book and sadly I'm left a bit wanting. Firstly, the blurb on Net Galley was slightly misleading. The one on Goodreads is clearer but there is zero ambiguity as to whether or not Hen's neighbour is a murderer. I was expecting a story centered around Hen doubting herself and trying to prove whether or not he killed someone, but instead this is predominantly about a serial killer almost befriending the one person in the world he can talk to about his murders. It is confirmed almost immediately that Matthew is a killer, and almost as quickly that Hen isn't in any danger from him.

Beyond the initial opening, there are very few thrilling things that actually happen. Rather than events, this book is squarely focused on different characters talking to each other. Normally I am into stories like that but this one was rather dull. I think ultimately the characters were too flat for it to really work for me. Hen was decent enough and I think Matthew was the best-developed out of all, but the side characters were painfully uninteresting. There was also a weird thing where practically every adult character got propositioned for extramarital sex at least once. I found it a little hard to believe that all of them had the opportunity to cheat within such a short space of time.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THE PLOT, STOP READING NOW. PLOT STRUCTURE WILL BE REVEALED BELOW WITH NO DETAILED SPOILERS BEYOND THAT.

I am not going to go into detail with spoilers but there is something that happens near the end of this book that I 100% did not see coming and sadly, it wasn't a thing I am usually keen on. Ironically, I initially thought that something else I am not keen on was going to happen instead but for once, I thought it would have worked really well. Sadly another thriller trope I disliked turned out to be the true twist and while it did turn a mediocre book into one with a punch, I don't think it worked particularly well for the storyline. Swanson deserves kudos for genuinely surprising me in such a big way because it has been a long time since that has happened with a thriller. However, that could also be because the general plot is so straightforward that I wasn't expecting anything more from the story itself.

PLOT STRUCTURE SPOILERS OVER.

Overall, the writing for this book is strong and it could have been a lot worse than it was given how basic the driving story is. I still plan to read more from Swanson and am more hopeful for his other books, but ultimately there just wasn't enough going on here for me to love.

Overall Rating: