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 That Horror Built by Christina Henry

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

It should be no surprise that I absolutely love everything Christina Henry writes at this point, and The House that Horror Built is no exception. This book tells the story of Harry, a single mother who begins cleaning the home of famous horror movie director, Javier Castillo. This involves cleaning all of the creepy props which adorn his home and following a very strict set of rules. Harry manages to successfully keep a professional distance from her boss until one day, she and her son are forced to move in with him due to her limiting financial circumstances. She then has to balance maintaining her boundaries whilst also suspecting there is something very odd about the house...

This is a hard book to pinpoint. If I had to, I'd say it was a slow-burn ghost story with a few psychological elements. Most of the book is focused on a creeping sense of dread, with only minimal horror 'stuff' actually happening. This was more than enough for me as a reader though. I found the characters interesting and I wasn't really sure where the story was going to go. I think the climax more than makes up for the slow pace of the beginning. The story gets very intense and troubled, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I am a huge fan of horror as a way of exploring human emotion and trauma, and this book does that very well in my opinion. I also like books which keep you on your toes. Which characters can you trust? Are things are sinister as they seem? This book plays with that well, and that's where the more psychological aspect comes in.

It should also come as no surprise that I am going to recommend this book. It's admittedly a little different than Henry's other, more-action filled works but I think that's a strength rather than a detriment. I think there's a lot here for horror fans to love

Overall Rating:

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

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

I read Rachel Harrison's debut novel The Return and thought it was really enjoyable but a little unpolished. I am happy to say that Black Sheep is that book with all the polish and so much more.

Black Sheep is the story of Vesper, a young woman who escaped her upbringing on a cult-like religious farm and is now struggling to get by. One day she receives an invitation to return to the farm to attend the wedding of her favourite cousin, Rosie. It just so happens that Rosie is marrying Vesper's childhood sweetheart and so despite her better judgement, she decides she has to go back to find out what is going on.

This book embodies all the best aspects of horror for me. Horror as a metaphor for trauma can be such a powerful tool, and Harrison uses it impressively here. Some of the themes present in The Return can also be found here, but this time they feel fully explored and the metaphor is far stronger. I loved going into this book almost blind and I encourage other readers to do the same. I simultaneously felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen but also I wasn't quite sure, which is a great position to be in as a horror reader.

The characters are also really strong. Vesper in particular stands out, but I loved the hints of complexity surrounding her mother. Other characters like Rosie and Brody are less complex, but it feels by design. We don't get to know much about them and why should we? Vesper views them a particular way and we are limited by her narration.

This book has convinced me to read everything Harrison writes forever. I didn't think this was really a topic area I was hugely interested in going in, and I fell in love with the writing and style. Her other books similarly aren't about things I would normally seek out (witches, vampires) but now I can't wait to read them. If you're a fan of horror used to explore human emotion and depth, I strongly recommend giving this a try

Overall Rating:

.5

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen

 

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

It is difficult to describe the plot of this book spoiler-free. Gone Tonight centers around Ruth and Catherine, a mother and daughter who live together and have a fairly close bond. Catherine's world comes crashing down when Ruth reveals she might have Alzheimer's, ruining Catherine's plans to move away to a new city. But soon Catherine starts to suspect that Ruth is lying to her and it becomes clear that Ruth has additional reasons for not wanting Catherine to leave.

Gone Tonight is a thriller that sheds its skin many times and becomes many different things. It's a very interesting book and it is carried by the strength of the two main characters. Ruth in particular is well-written and could've honestly been a real person. I liked how I never knew where the book was going to go or what the characters intentions were fully. It's a hard balance to keep characters mysterious whilst not losing reader interest, but this book does it masterfully.

I did feel this book lost some of the steam near the end but I am not quite sure why. Perhaps the focus shifted a little too much off the main two leads and their psychological and interpersonal struggles were really what I was interested in. That isn't to say that the book ends badly and I was still invested throughout, but it became clear to me what was going to happen and it lost some of the magic as a result.

Overall, this is a solid thriller and one of the better examples of the genre. Pekkanen's solo work is just as gripping as her books with Greer Henderson, and if you enjoy cat-and-mouse style thrillers, then this is definitely worth checking out

Overall Rating:

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

 

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

Every so often a thriller comes along that gets a ton of hype. Listen for the Lie is one of those books and I actually think that this hype is in detriment to it.

Listen for the Lie is the story of Lucy, a woman who was accused of killing her best friend 10 years ago and could never be proven innocent or guilty. She returns to her hometown at the request of her grandmother, only to discover that a podcaster is making a series about the murder. Everyone in the town thinks Lucy did it and she has very few friends as a result. She is also prone to wild fantasies of constantly murdering those around her.

In a vacuum, this book is great. It has fantastic pacing and a nice steady plot which makes it very easy to read. The characters, the mystery, the general events are all excellent. But I have some issues and almost all of them stem from things I have read about this book. Do I wish I could ignore them? Absolutely. Does the modern marketing world make this impossible? Yes.

Firstly, I've seen this book advertised as having 'an epic twist' multiple times. This is just not true. It's not that kind of thriller and doesn't need to be. It has great pacing as I mentioned and a number of interesting surprises that crop up throughout the plot, but none of them are a gut punch 'this changes everything' twist. Expecting a twist disrupted the reading experience for me and almost put me on edge, and I worry this marketing will leave a lot of people disappointed.

Secondly, this book is allegedly a dark comedy. Humour in books is so hard to pin down. There are almost no books which make me laugh out loud and I am one of those weird people who will cry-laugh at TV shows when I'm entirely alone. I honestly didn't even know this book was supposed to be funny which I think is a bad sign. Does the humour come from the fantasy murder sequences? If so, these needed to be actually elaborate escapades and not one or two lines of repetitive dialogue.

I feel like I've ragged on this book quite a bit and I want to stress, I did really enjoy it. It's a great example of how to write a thriller without a huge twist, and books of this kind honestly deserve more credit. I loved the messaging around family, and the relationships between Lucy, her parents and her grandmother. There was some thought-provoking stuff around how you can let down those around you by thinking them capable of terrible things, and that was explored from several different angles.

Overall, this book is definitely worth picking up if you enjoy thrillers. Just try to go in without the expectations pushed on by the marketing or other readers, and there's a lot to enjoy here. Tintera is a great writer and I look forward to more thrillers from her

Overall Rating:

The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

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

Look, I get that some books are a tough act to follow. Back when I originally read The Last Mrs. Parrish, I adored it. When I reread it before reading the sequel, I also loved it although I wasn't fully as gripped the second time. I was also of the opinion that there weren't many places for the story to go and unfortunately, that opinion was not challenged by reading the sequel.

The problem with The Next Mrs. Parrish is twofold. Firstly, in order to exist it must undo the ending of the first book and then heap more misery upon our main characters. This is not particularly fun to read about, nor was it something I wanted to see. Secondly, the first book was so good because it had a strong twist. There were other factors which also made it good but the twist was really the key, and you can't recreate that kind of magic twice. At least, it would be near impossible.

This book tells the continued story of Amber, Daphne and Jackson as they fight each other for custody of children most of them don't care about, abuse each other emotionally, sexually and physically, and generally go through bad stuff. Is it awful? No. But is it something I really wanted to read? Absolutely not.

This book is perhaps worth picking up if you are very curious but I honestly don't think it needs to exist. It doesn't add anything to the original (and in fact, it detracts from the ending quite substantially) but I can't say I hated it or that I regret reading it. I believe there is now a prequel and I think it needs to stop. It unfortunately feels a bit like a cash grab

Overall Rating:

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

Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Muñoz

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

I liked this book a lot better when it was called Knives Out.

Perhaps that is a bit unfair but I can't help but feel the movie's influence throughout the whole of this book, and not in a good way. Young female protagonist who seems undoubtedly guilty early on? Check. Determined sleuth who teams up with said young protagonist to add stress to their situation? Check. Heck, the other detective in the audiobook even has the same accent as Daniel Craig! It was very distracting.

Despite all this, the main reason I have an issue with this book has nothing to do with Knives Out and everything to do with the fact it doesn't play fair. From the very start of the murder, we are told the main character goes into the room of the victim with a knife. We are not told what she does in that room. She then talks mysteriously about her 'secret' for the rest of the book. The clear implication is that she has killed him, and yet (despite being the POV character) she never actually says those words so it is painfully obvious that we are being misled. I don't like this and it left a sour taste in my mouth, particularly because without this subterfuge I think it becomes incredibly obvious who is the real killer.

There are some strengths of this book. I liked the characters well-enough. They were a bit more fleshed out than your typical YA thriller/mystery, and while I found the love interest to be the blandest, I liked reading about everyone else. The detective is pretty good and I feel like the book would have been stronger written from her POV, not the least bit because it would solve the POV issue from above. There is one genuine twist which was clever and surprised me, although admittedly that's because I was actually expecting the book to go for a darker option.

Overall, I would say I love the writing style of this book but the elements themselves didn't work for me. If this author releases another book, I would definitely give it a try for the aforementioned strengths mentioned. I just wish this book was a little more original and a little less unfair with its mystery

Overall Rating:

This Little Family by Ines Bayard

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher 4th Estate in exchange for an honest review.

Occasionally you read a book that will haunt you forever. This is one of those books.

This Little Family is not really the book I expected going in and I think the blurb is actually fairly misleading. This is not really a psychological thriller or horror, except in the sense of it being a real-life horror. This is the story of Marie, a poor woman who is raped by her boss and then through a series of circumstances, forced to give birth to the child. She then goes through some of the worst postpartum depression I've ever read about, all depicted and described in heart-breaking detail.

This is not the kind of book someone 'enjoys' but I absolutely could not put it down. The writing is superb and there is a kind of car-crash fascination with the constant barrage of bad luck and psychological trauma Marie goes through. I kept reading hoping something would work out better for her, knowing from the prologue that it wouldn't. At the same time, this book is incredibly honest and sensitive in the way it portrays Marie (in my opinion at least). Nothing is gratuitous or unnecessary, and it all feels like a very real portrayal of someone's pain.

If you're looking for a reading experience that might profoundly change you as a person or a deep exploration of a truly awful situation, then this is the book for you. If you want a typical thriller with twists and turns and psychological tension, then ignore the marketing. Thankfully this book ended up appealing to me anyway, far more than most thrillers can, but I do wonder how many people will be mislead and unfairly rate the book due to the poor choice of marketing. It really does deserve better

Overall Rating:

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

Such Pretty Things by Lisa Heathfield

 

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

This book is intense. Think Flowers in the Attic but with considerably more bite.

Such Pretty Things is the tale of Clara and Stephen, two children who get sent to live with their mysterious aunt after a horrifying incident has left their mother in a coma. With no children of her own, their aunt is overly invested in caring for the pair of them. Unfortunately she does not know how to cope when they don't fit into her ideal, and the children have a knack of being unknowingly cruel to her in return.

The atmosphere of this book was fantastic. This is the kind of horror rooted firmly in real life, in the awful ways relationships can crumble and obsessive thoughts can lead to tragedy. Very early in the book, you learn as a reader that the aunt has had several miscarriages hence her strong desire to bond with the children. The children however do not know this and the resulting social mishaps are full of tension and a building sense of doom. Additionally, Stephen and Clara's bond as siblings is put under increasing strain as they grow apart in their views of their aunt and their new situation. Almost all of the horror of this book comes from the familial relationships, and it is executed excellently.

Overall, if you enjoy horror built from human nature and a creeping sense of uncertain dread, this is the book for you. It is a deliciously slow burn and yet good enough that I read it almost entirely one sitting. I loved every minute of it

Overall Rating:

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

 

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

There are some books when you start reading them, you know you are going to fall in love. Daisy Darker was one of them.

The tone of this book is much more gothic than thriller. Daisy has been summoned to her grandmother's house for her 80th birthday. Her grandmother was told she was destined to die at the age of 80, and so she has gathered the entire Darker family for a reading of her will. Her grandmother lives on a remote island which gets cut off by the tide periodically, so once the family arrive they are immediately trapped there. After the will reading goes badly, terror strikes when one of the family members is found dead. And it doesn't end there...

This book has incredible atmosphere. It really reminds of What Remains of Edith Finch, both in tone and plot. I was completely sucked into the sleepy, subtly creepy story being woven. From the offset it is very clear there is something deeply wrong with the family, but there is also this fantastic unwillingness to address the abnormality. There are hints of Agatha Christie with the huge, isolated house and the unhappy family residing inside.

I don't want to say too much about this book, but it does have a certain plot element which I think makes it a bit like Marmite. It's actually the kind of thing I usually hate, but I think it is executed well here and I personally enjoyed it a lot. I think it did knock it down from a 5 star read and I understand why people aren't a fan, but for me personally it wasn't enough to spoil the book.

Overall, I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy creepy, gothic horror/murder mystery vibes. It absolutely delivers on that front and manages to have a unique identity of its own whilst evoking other work in a welcome way. I know I will remember this book for a long time and it has definitely become one of my favourites

Overall Rating:

.5