The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The Caretaker is a great example of a horror story where the scale is handled right. It tells the story of Macy Mullins, a girl on the brink of bankruptcy who is struggling to support her and her sister after the death of their father. Macy gets offered a housesitting job where all she has to do is follow a peculiar set of instructions and she'll be paid a crazy amount of money. But what happens if she slips up?

I really enjoyed the general atmosphere, pacing and writing style of this book. The tone hit a good balance of being creepy but clear, and I found Macy to be a fairly interesting protagonist. Her situation was heartbreakingly believable and I never found myself confused by her actions or attitudes to what she was doing,

Having said that, the problems kind of came in the latter half of the book. Whilst the story remained compelling and well-written, I began to find Macy a bit frustrating as a character. Horror books rely on suspense and suspense is killed both by a character being too competent and by a character being too incompetent. Without giving too much away, I felt Macy's actions became very repetitive and this killed some of the believability and investment for me. I think balancing her successes vs her failures more would have kept me more on my toes and my interest going.

Overall, The Caretaker is an interesting horror book and one I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I did find moments of it genuinely creepy and scary, I just wish the story had changed things up a bit in the second half. I recommend checking it out if you're looking for a unique twist on 'isolation horror' but I also think this author has some room to grow and I am excited to see what they do in the future

Overall Rating:

3.5/5 stars

I Know a Place by Nat Cassidy

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This book was off to a promising start with the opening novella but unfortunately the rest of the stories were a bit hit and miss for me. I'll go through some of my favourites and then talk about some of the ones I didn't like.

Rest Stop: This is a novella about a man who stops at a gas station to use the bathroom on a long journey and gets trapped inside. Then things get increasingly worse. I am hesitant to say too much about the plot because I was pretty gripped by the uncertainty in this one but I found it went in such a unique direction and I think it will stick with me for a long time.

Run For Your Life: A man goes back in time and replaces the Beatles. This was a super interesting and fairly detailed story. I think I would have liked this expanded into a novella as well but I really enjoyed it as it stands.

Jubilee Juncture: A failing children's entertainer begs his friend for one last chance as he shows him his new ventriloquist puppet. This was a little predictable but deliciously dark and had some interesting ideas.

Nice: A boy gets a visit from Santa's elf who begs him to be naughty this year. Another story which was a little predictable but it made up for it in creativity.

Come: What if the girl from the Ring didn't kill you in seven days but instead when you did...something else? This was actually a very intriguing premise and again, almost had novella potential.

Stories I enjoyed less: Meet Cute #1 The Unluckiest Girl (too predictable and nothing but the twist), The Art of What You Want (honestly a little transphobic almost?) and A Fruiting Body (not a short story).

Overall, the writing style was enjoyable and I am glad I read this anthology. I would read more by this author but I think I would stick to their longer stuff as they have some really good core ideas, they just needed fleshing out a little.

Overall Rating:

3.5/5

Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? by Louise O'Neill

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers  in exchange for an honest review.

Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? tells the story of Chelsea Stone, an ex-child actor who is now struggling with her adult life. Chelsea used to act with her identical twin sister Madeline but they grew apart when Chelsea beat her for a key role and Madeline went off the rails. Now Madeline has disappeared and Chelsea is left wondering what happened to her sister.

Louise O'Neill has a talent for writing stories which tackle the difficult aspects of being a woman and I was looking forward to her take on child stars. Unfortunately, I kind of felt this book was about the wrong twin. Chelsea is an interesting character but her main purpose as the protagonist is to allow for the mystery of what happened to Madeline to drive the story. In terms of the biting social commentary and emotional grit that I love in O'Neill's work, Madeline would have made for a much better main character. Instead of getting a close look at the darker side of child stardom, these dark aspects are experienced second hand by the narrator. This means that a lot of the emotional gut punches are muted and don't quite land.

Putting that aspect aside, the general plot is a little messy too. It took me longer to get into this book than it normally does with O'Neill's work and I think that's partially due to the mismatch between the present day plot and the flashbacks. The present day plot flirts with being a thriller but stays solidly as a contemporary drama. Neither plotline fully explores its events either and this combines with the problem mentioned above to weaken the story further. A good example of this is the twin's mother, Erin Stone. She is a complex and interesting character to explore and yet she is a little sidelined and the emotional payoff of her story never really makes it to the surface.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I really admire what it was trying to do. I think it was a bit messier and a bit less emotionally impactful than I have come to expect from the author. I also suspect that the marketing may draw in some thriller audiences who will be disappointed. If you want a thoughtful exploration of the exploitation of women, I think O'Neill's other books are unfortunately a better pick

Overall Rating:

3.5/5 stars

The House Share by Kate Helm

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK in exchange for an honest review.

The House Share tells the story of Immi and Dex, two young twenty-somethings who move into a strange but financially-enticing houseshare in London. A little like a cult and a little like university, the houseshare promotes communal living and a vested interest in helping each other as a community. And as with both a cult and university living, there is a bit of a darker side with things taking a turn for the dangerous.

The House Share is a book of two halves. For the first 60-70%, I really enjoyed it but then something odd happened. Characters started acting stupidly, one of the narrators vanishes off the page and stops being important, mental health gets emphasised in a weird way. It was so disappointing because while the writing itself was still pretty good, the plot had taken a sharp downturn. In particular, the epilogue is a real slog and suffers from having the perpetrator dramatically reflect on their crimes like a Bond villain. I also can't believe we don't get to hear again from Dex's point of view after he finds out he's innocent. That felt like such an oversight to not get his reaction at all.

The final twist of it being a psychological experiment also didn't ring true to me. Why pick those particular people if that was the case? Why is the psychology behind everything so shaky? I am not a clinical psychologist but I do have a doctorate in mental health research and the representation, while not awful, was not super accurate either.

Overall, there is still a lot to like about this book and in terms of the thriller market, this is one of the better ones. It's a shame the quality wasn't consistent throughout but I do think this author has huge potential and I would be interested if they released another thriller

Overall Rating:

.5

Slasher Witch at the Waterpark by Penny Moonz

 I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute blast this book is!

Slasher Witch at the Waterpark is a farcical horror comedy book about a witch killing a bunch of people at a waterpark. It is equal parts ridiculous and fun, with a lot of creative deaths and details which made this book such a delight to read. An ancient witch getting drunk off frozen margaritas whilst she murders dozens of people? Timeless.

There's honestly not much else to say about this book. The title tells you what you are in for, and it certainly delivers. I will say, I genuinely did love the range and creativity behind the deaths and the horror. Parts of the waterpark start coming to life, sea creatures reign terror and the skies open up to meteorological horrors. There are a few gross moments to be aware of but I am usually quite sensitive to certain elements (bodily fluids etc) and I found it manageable. If you're looking for a fun horror read that is goofy in all the right ways, I cannot recommend this more!

Overall Rating:

.5

Twisted Tales Anthology by Multiple Authors

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Igloo Books in exchange for an honest review.

I adore the Twisted Tales series. There is something so delightful about official Disney fanfiction and I was particularly excited to learn there was a short story collection. As I sometimes do with anthologies, I'm going to talk about stories individually. I can't remember the story names so I will do it by film instead. I am also going to spoil things a little because it's hard to talk about them otherwise:

Beauty and the Beast: What if Belle went to the fair instead of her father? Well, she never meets the Beast, the castle dwellers presumably are doomed and she ends up running the bookshop in the town which hated her. She's perfectly happy though. This one is a little weird because while it's nice she has an alternative for a good life, it does raise some questions.

Lion King: What if Mufasa survived the fall? This story was one of the ones I disliked the most just because it felt so out of character. Mufasa becomes a helicopter, overprotective parent when he was quite open and honest with Simba in the movie. He also still trusts Scar, so you can't even argue that the accident changed him. It was decently written but didn't really ring true.

Ratatouille: What if Remy met Colette instead of Linguine? I skimread this one as I'm not hugely into Ratatouille, and as far as I could tell, not much changes from the film. Colette still meets Linguine and they still end up owning a restaurant together, so any changes are a little superficial.

Little Mermaid: What if Eric met Ariel as a mermaid? This one was kinda cool. It has some of the same stuff as the live action remake, where Eric and Ariel get to bond a bit more because she can talk to him. However, this was another one were things didn't really change much. Rather than look interested, Ariel can now say 'that's interesting'. The story goes in a different direction but it's not super exciting.

Rattle the Stars & Fates Three: I skipped both of these as I have only seen Treasure Planet once and Brave not at all.

The Reluctant Prince: What if Bambi didn't know he was meant to be the Great Prince? And what if he didn't want to be? This was kind of the opposite of the Lion King story. I enjoyed it because I got to imagine Patrick Stewart as Bambi's dad again and that was fun. Bambi is a little whiny here but it was mostly fun.

A First Mission: What if Mulan took the job with the Emperor? This was a really strong story and a great way to end the anthology. A lot is different from the film/sequel, and it's nice to see that alternative world. I wish more stories were as bold as this

Overall Rating:

.5

An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

I, like most of the world right now, am obsessed with Bridgerton, so when the opportunity to read a romance book set in a similar period came up, I was more than a little curious. An Improbable Season is the tale of three young women coming out to society in Regency London, some more eager to meet their husbands than other. We have Kalli, a starry-eyed romantic who is immediately forced to make a match when she is caught in scandal, her sister Thalia who dreams of being a poet (and has zero common sense) and finally Charis, my personal favourite being autistic-coded and obsessed with science. Each of the three girls has their own romance plotline which gets explored throughout the book.

As with any book with multiple plots/characters, people are bound to have favourites. In my case, I thought the Charis romance was by far the most interesting. Kalli's was fine but predictable, and Thalia's outright annoyed me. Minor spoilers here but Thalia gets immediately taken in by an obvious hot guy rake, and every decision she makes with regards to this is frustrating and predictable. There was little tension, just annoyance at how stupid she was being. Kalli fairs a little better, being predictable but enjoyable still. There is a little doubt as to which suitor she will end up with, which is also nice.

Charis's romance is good. There isn't much representation of someone like her in this kind of romance (at least, not to my admittedly-limited knowledge) and it was really refreshing. I loved that she bonded with her romantic partner through science, that her attitudes and behaviours weren't a problem for him and that she had a small breakdown anytime she thought she might have romantic feelings for someone. I adored her story and if the whole book was focused on her, it would be an easy 4-5 stars.

Overall, this book is definitely worth checking out if you're enjoying Bridgerton and want more of the same with a YA twist. The historical elements aren't too heavy so that might irritate readers of the genre, but it's still a lot of fun for the most part. Just be aware there are a few obvious tropes/cliches alongside the good stuff

Overall Rating:

.5

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bonnier Books UK in exchange for an honest review.

What would you give to accomplish your dream?

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is the story of Laure, a black ballet dancer struggling to establish herself in Paris despite being the best dancer at her school. Tired of always having to do more, her life is changed forever when a fellow dancer brings her to a god and she decides to strike a bargain. Finally, she will get the recognition she deserves...but at what cost?

This book had so much going for it that I loved. Firstly, it's a horror story about ballet which I am obsessed with. Secondly, the protagonist really is one of the best YA protagonists I've read about in a while. Laure is painfully three-dimensional, so real she could dance off the page and demand why I am not doing more. Thirdly, the whole plot felt very unique to me. I don't read a lot of 'strike a deal' horror books but I think even if I had, this one is still incredibly unique.

Unfortunately, this book had two main flaws and they stopped me enjoying it as much as I did at the start. It is just too long in my opinion or at least, there is too much of the book where nothing is really going on. The beginning was so tight and so intriguing and then it slows to a bit of a halt, only briefly picking up speed again throughout. Related to this, I also found parts of the book to be a little confusing. I struggled a bit to keep track of where characters were or what was happening to them. Laure's parents are a good example of this. She kept on reinforcing this idea that her father had abandoned her and been a terrible parent, but then he kept cropping up and it wasn't entirely clear to me what he had done that was so awful. There are quite a few plot points like this and it didn't help when combined with the pacing.

Having said that, this book is still well worth the read. So many elements are strong and compared to other YA works, it stands out by a mile. I am very excited to see what this author does next as I believe they will only get stronger the more they write, and I hope to be seeing many more books from them in the future. This is a powerful voice and something horror desperately needs more of

Overall Rating:

.5

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bonnier Books UK in exchange for an honest review.

A murder mystery set on the moon sounds like exactly my cup of tea, so I was very excited when I got approved for this book. The Launch Party is about what happens when you take a bunch of people into space, abandon them in a luxury moon hotel and then one of them is murdered. It is an interesting blend of a traditional murder mystery with a modern sci-fi twist, although I was hoping for a little more of the former than this delivers.

I'm not sure quite what it was about this book that meant I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I think it is partially that the murder mystery elements are not as strong as they could be. For logistic reasons, the cast are left abandoned in space as soon as they arrive but this introduces an additional 'survival' element and immediately implies there is something going on.

The interaction between characters is also a little limited, albeit only a little. I did get a strong sense of each character but mostly through second-hand observations or from the POV narratives, not through actions or interactions. It took me a while to get my head around who everyone was and get a sense of who they were, which again weakens the mystery aspect a little.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read but it definitely lost some steam for me about halfway through. Perhaps with faster pacing or more defined characters, it would have kept my attention more. Having said that, it's an enjoyable concept and worth picking up if you like murder mysteries with a conceptual twist

Overall Rating:

.5

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

Did I ever think I would be reading a serious horror book by Chuck Tingle? Absolutely not! But I am so glad I did.

Camp Damascus tells the tale of Rose Darling, a 20 year old woman who is happily living a very Christian life in her very Christian community. Everything seems idyllic until one day, her male best friend tries to kiss her. Shortly after, she throws up an astonishing amount of flies and her life takes a demonic spiral from there.

This book is a little different than the kind of horror I normally read, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It has good queer rep (in my queer opinion), it has some really memorable characters and addresses an important modern issue through a horror lens (mainly, conversion camps). I was particularly impressed by how 'real' the characters felt. This book does a good job of capturing the complexity of having a shitty family whilst absolutely making no excuses for them.

My only issue with this book is it felt a little linear? Not every book has to have twists or surprises even, but it felt reasonably obvious what was going on quite early into the book and the story didn't evolve much from that point. I still enjoyed it a lot because of the characters but the horror aspect was lost to me due to the predictability, which was a bit of a shame.

Overall if you can handle the subject material, I would definitely give this book a try. It's definitely not a book that I will forget for a while, and I look forward to more serious work by this author given the standard of the character writing

Overall Rating:

.5

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

 I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Faber and Faber Ltd in exchange for an honest review.

A queer horror book centred around a reality dating show? There are few combinations of words which could get me more excited. Patricia Wants to Cuddle is the story of what happens when the cast of a fake Bachelor wind up on the wrong island.

This book had all the right components. It starts off just following the cast members of the show, who are all interesting and well-written. It didn't feel like I was waiting for the horror to begin, I was enjoying getting to know the characters and excited to see what would happen to them. Then the horror does kick in and it is an enjoyable ride.

One strength of this book is it feels absolutely unique. It was not what I expected going in and I have read very few things like it. Unfortunately this is also the book's biggest weakness. For such a unique story, it ends quite abruptly and feels very anti-climatic. Thematically it works but that's just about the only level it does work on for me.

Overall, I still have a strong soft spot for this book. I would love to read more things by it and I am very excited to see what the author does next. With a more satisfactory ending, this easily could have been a 5 star read for me

Overall Rating:

.5

Guilty Women by Melanie Blake

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

In 2021, I reviewed the first book of this series Ruthless Women and marked it down for transphobia. Well, I am pleased to report that the author does some major course correction in this one. Is it entirely perfect? No, but I have respect for someone who listens to feedback and does their best.

Guilty Women is a continuation of the previous book and is best described as a soap opera come to life which also happens to take place on the set of a soap opera. I enjoyed the fun ridiculousness of the first book and I mostly enjoyed the fun ridiculousness of this one. The melodrama is toned down considerably and this is both a blessing and a curse. The characters definitely feel more real and there is an emotionality to them that didn't fully exist in the first book. On the other hand, it's a little less fun and in fact contains some quite graphic depictions of sexual assault which was a bit jarring tone-wise.

My main issue with this book however is that there is simply too much going on. I feel that many of the storylines/plot threads were not utilised or connected fully. The best example for me was the Katherine/Lee storyline. Katherine's past lover both onscreen and off comes suddenly back, and they rekindle their romance in a very passionate and intense way. This plot takes an interesting turn but then you don't revisit it again until the very end of the book, and even then it's barely explored properly. There is a lot of interesting stuff happening throughout, it's just all a bit messily put together.

The audiobook was a particularly nice way to experience the story, so long as you don't mind listening to graphic sex scenes. It really brought the story to life and amplified that 'soap opera' feeling in a good way.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you enjoyed the first one and you want to see where the story goes. It definitely improves upon the first one in many ways, and I did enjoy seeing where the characters went and the interpersonal dramas going on. I don't know if a third book is intended but if it is, I would hope it manages to strike the balance between the fun of the first one and the heart of the second one

Overall Rating:

.5

If I Can't Have You by Charlotte Levin

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Pan Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.

If I Can't Have You is the twisted story of a woman obsessed with a man. From the day Constance meets Samuel at her workplace, she is convinced he is the one for her. Unaware of her obsession, he begins sleeping with her and so starts an unhealthy and dysfunctional dynamic which fuels the whole plot.

The plot of this book is very simple but it's all in the execution for me. This is a very well-told story, with a decent pace and enough going on that it keeps you invested. I really liked the addition of Edward, an elderly friend Constance makes early on. I think this could have easily focused entirely on the romance/stalking aspect and, while it is still mostly about that, it adds depth and realism that Constance has an existence outside of that, even if she doesn't realise it.

My biggest contention of the book lies with Constance's friend/roommate, Dale. Initially I thought he was her husband and this was a little confusing (I did listen to the audiobook so it's possible I missed something) but more importantly, I can't decide whether I like what he symbolises in the story. Dale is hopelessly in love with Constance and this is meant to be a mirror to her feelings towards Samuel, but it doesn't quite hit true. For starters, Constance initially does little to encourage Dale whilst Samuel definitely flirts with Constance and takes advantage of her. Secondly, the direction the Dale plotline takes means I am not quite sure what the author was going for. Is this meant to be Constance's punishment for acting how she does? Intentional or not, it's hard not to read into it that way. But again, I do like the depth and interesting parallels it adds at times.

Overall, this book is an intriguing exploration of an obsessive relationship. It doesn't do anything ground-breaking plot wise, and if you want a high-octane thriller then there are better examples out there. But it is an interesting blend of thriller and standard fiction, and it has enough depth and interesting things to say to be worth your time

Overall Rating:

.5

A Guide to Movie Based Video Games, 1982–2000 by Christopher Carton

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Pen & Sword in exchange for an honest review.

As a video game researcher, I am always on the hunt for books about games. I love to learn and I was very excited when I saw this book available. The title tells you exactly what you are in store for-a guide to movie-based games created in the pre-2000s era.

I will admit, this book wasn't as entertaining as I'd hoped. I think not being alive when these games came out (for the most part) limited any kind of nostalgic enjoyment I could get out of it. I found some sections interesting (such as the Disney and comedy movie ones) but there wasn't a lot of commentary about the games themselves, which meant that if I didn't care about the intellectual property then there wasn't a whole lot to keep my interest.

Having said that, I think this book is very informative and seems pretty thorough. I imagine anyone who has nostalgia for these games would get a lot more out of it than me, and I am very excited for the next instalment which will cover the games I played myself. I recommend it for anyone who is curious what games exist from this time period, or for someone looking for a trip down memory lane

Overall Rating:

.5

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

I have long given up on finding a YA thriller which will genuinely surprise me, and sadly Five Survive is no exception. Having said that, this is a genuinely enjoyable listen and is by far one of the best examples of its genre.

Five Survive is the story of a group of friends on their way to spring break when they get caught in a nightmare situation. After going off road, a sniper shoots out all of their tyres and holds them hostage. Their only hope for escape is for them to correctly identify the secret the sniper wants, and potentially sacrifice that person to the sniper.

As mentioned, this book did not surprise me once. I think it is painfully clear from the first few chapters why the teens are held hostage, as well as a few other 'reveals' from later on. It would be nice if a few of these story elements were masked a bit better because it does undercut a lot of the tension.

The main strength of this book is the characters and the tension they provide from being trapped. Oliver in particular is a super interesting character, and Red herself made for a reasonable enough protagonist. I do think there was scope to develop characters even further. Maddy in particular is very important to the narrative throughout, but we barely learn anything about her despite her being Red's best friend. They never speak independently of the group or really interact properly, which seems super weird.

I had a few issues with the audiobook specifically. Some of Red's inner narration is quite annoying when it is read aloud to you, though I think this would be better in print. Several times the narrator says a line and then the speech tags say a completely different delivery (for example, shouting a line then following it with 'Maddy said quietly') which was just jarring to listen to.

Overall, I think this book would be very much enjoyed by a teen audience but it doesn't have much reach beyond that. In terms of YA thrillers, it is one of the better ones out there. I would probably recommend the text version over the audiobook, just because of the minor narration issues I pointed out

Overall Rating:

.5