At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

 

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

For some reason I thought this was a zombie book but I was wrong. At the End of Everything is a book about a group of young offenders who get abandoned and forgotten once a deadly plague breaks out. They must fight for their own survival and navigate their new situation, which leads to a lot of drama and unpleasant situations.

If I'd known this was just a plague book and not a zombie book, I honestly wouldn't have requested it. This book hangs uncomfortably in the shadow of the pandemic and that made it a very difficult read. The deadly disease is a cough that kills people, and much of the book is just reading about teenagers slowly dying. There is not much outside of death and interpersonal struggles happening, and even the latter is a little sparse. There are a lot of narrating characters at first, and that made it difficult to get to grips with everyone. I understand that you need a lot of characters because most of them will die in a book like this, but I would have rather met them more slowly and had more time to get to grips with each one. The beginning was hard to get into for this reason.

Having said that, the characters are probably the strongest part of this book. I think the plot could have been more strongly emotion-driven as everything is a little distant, as unpleasant as the events which happen are. This is something I've experienced from this author before with previous books, so I guess it's more of a feature than a bug. I also wish we'd gotten a split narrative as one group goes out to try their luck in the outside world, and I think it would have been more interesting to see what happened to them as well rather than just the sad monotony of the institute.

Overall, I think if you enjoy other works by this author and like the sound of the premise, then you should give this a try. For me, there were too many factors which prevented me from enjoying it. It's a very bleak read and a potentially triggering one, so be aware of that too

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Beyond the Veil edited by Mark Morris

 

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

It's somewhat rare for me to enjoy the majority of a horror anthology, despite my love for horror short stories. I am pleased to report that Beyond the Veil is one of the best ones I have read in a while. There is no strong theme or link between the stories but most are supernatural and all have the same kind of 'feel' to them, which makes for a great reading experience. I also appreciated the distinct lack of erotic horror as it's a genre I find often isn't done well (or maybe doesn't mesh with me personally) and can dominate anthologies without any warning that it's there. 

There are tons of stories included and I can't talk about them all without a super long review, so I'll just mention some of my favourites.

The God Bag by Christopher Golden-A man discovers his dying mother has a secret prayer bag with a dark twist. This is the first story in the anthology and it really set such a strong precedent for the others. I was completely absorbed by this one and, though it wasn't surprising, it was a fantastic short story.

Caker's Man by Matthew Holness-A creepy neighbour obsessed with feeding the narrator cake fuels this story. I wasn't super keen on how it ended, but the atmosphere was great and it's one of the most unique horror stories I've read in a while so I definitely appreciated that.

A Mystery for Julie Chu by Stephen Gallagher-A woman buys a strange object at a car bootsale with spooky results. This was one I really wished was a full-length story as I was desperate to read more. Great characters and a setup which made for a nice break from the darker stories in this collection.

Overall, I couldn't recommend this more. This really is a solid collection of horror stories and there is something here for most tastes. It would serve well as an introduction for someone looking to branch into reading horror, or just as Halloween reading for a longterm horror fan.

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The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

 

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

Grady Hendrix is one of those authors I know is always going to give me a good time, and The Final Girl Support Group is no exception. From the first page this book sucked me in and I loved every second of it. 

This is the tale of Lynette, a 'final girl' of the horror genre fame. For those not in the know, a final girl is the sole survivor of a horror film, usually found in 80s and 90s slashers. She is usually pure, very resourceful and innocent, and often deeply traumatised by her experiences. In this world, famous horror movies are based on true events and our 6 members of the support group are the survivors. Scream, Friday the 13th, Halloween-they are all here under different names, and now we get to see what happened to the protagonists and who they grew up to be. The plot kicks off when Lynette suspects that someone is intent on murdering them all and goes on the run, determined that this time she will survive again.

There was so much about this book that surprised and delighted me. Firstly, the fact that each final girl comes from a recognisable franchise was completely unexpected and I adored it as a horror fan. I loved trying to guess what franchise each girl came from and putting together all the references and clues. Having said that, this book is so much more than a love letter to the genre. As always, Hendrix's characters are on point here. Lynette is ruthless and not a 'good' person, but you are 100% rooting for her as a reader. I think it does a brilliant job of recreating that familiar relationship between a victim and the public. Sure, you feel sorry for her but can you trust her? Is she telling the truth? Hendrix plays on these feelings to the book's advantage and it really is so clever in its execution.

It is truly incredible to have a book like this with a plot like it does and it be one of the most feminist horror books I have ever read. Rest assured, it is not overt and can be easily ignored if you wish. But to have such a strong cast of female characters, to truly poke and prod at the trope of the 'final girl' and how it is perceived by people, to have almost no sexual content or sexualisation of the female characters in the slasher genre: all this is so impressive to me. I think it has some fantastic things to say in the conversation of gender and horror, and these are woven effortlessly into the story so it never feels preachy or like that is the only point of the book.

There's not much more I can say to praise this book without giving things away but truly, it was everything I hoped for and more. If you're wondering what the difference between Final Girls by Riley Sager and this is, they are similar in basic premise and analysis of the trope but vastly different in content and execution. I enjoyed both thoroughly and reading The Final Girl Support Group, I didn't feel like it was being unoriginal or retreading old ground. This is definitely more of a horror than a thriller and it explores a wider cast of characters and situations.

Overall, if you enjoy horror (and in particular, slashers) please read this book. It breathes fresh life into the genre and I know this is a story I will be rereading a lot for many years to come. If you try one of Hendrix's books (and you absolutely should) this is the one I recommend the most.

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Who We Were by B.M. Carroll

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Serpent's Tail / Profile Books in exchange for an honest review.

Who We Were is the story of a group of people who all attended school together. Years later, a reunion is due but someone is sending everyone nasty emails spilling secrets from their personal lives. There was also an incident that happened at the school in the past which we learn more about as the book unfolds.

Initially I was overwhelmed by the number of characters, and it did feel like there were slightly too many POVs. However, the characters were pretty distinctly written so once you got used to who was who, it was easy to keep track of. The various plots were interesting enough, and it was fun to see how the storylines came together. I would say this is closer to Big Little Lies in tone rather than a traditional psychological thriller.

I am reviewing this a few weeks after I read it and sadly I can't remember anymore detail, but I know this was a well-written thriller and one I definitely enjoyed reading at the time. I found the style very compelling and easy to read, and I would certainly like to check out this author's other work.

Overall Rating:

.5

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin UK - Michael Joseph in exchange for an honest review.

Oh wow, what a treat this book was! I adore detective fiction and this was just one big love letter to it. Eight Detectives is the story of an old crime author named Grant McAllister and a young editor named Julia. Years ago he published an academic essay on the mathematical formula for writing murder mysteries, accompanied by several short stories as examples of this formula. It had little success but Julia has rediscovered this collection and wishes to publish them again, expecting a much more successful run. As she reads through the stories though, she begins to find hidden references to an unsolved murder and she suspects something sinister may be going on.

The format of this book made it a joy to read. It alternates between one of the short stories, followed by Grant and Julia discussing it afterwards. Each short story is brilliant within its own right and many have homages to famous detective fiction (for example, one is essentially a twist on Christie's And Then There Were None). All homages are acknowledged within text by Grant and so this prevented the stories from just being rip-offs, and all the stories had their own flavour and energy which made for delightful reading.

These stories on their own would make this book great but amazingly, there is a fantastic plot beyond them. Julia soon starts to spot inconsistencies in Grant's stories and these begin to add up to a bigger mystery. The whole thing is clever, delicious and fantastically done. I simultaneously wanted to power through this book and languish in the sheer brilliance of it all. I kept waiting to be disappointed but I never was. And this book actually scared me at several points as well! I am rarely scared by books but a few of the short stories truly unnerved me to the point where I didn't want to be alone.

Overall, this book is a must-read for any fans of murder mysteries. The love for genre spills onto every page and the result is possibly one of my favourite books of all time. Everything is crafted so carefully and executed so well. Pavesi has some serious talent to hit the balance so well and I could not have wished for more from a book like this.

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Wife After Wife by Olivia Hayfield

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown Book Group UK in exchange for an honest review.

Don't be fooled by this cover, this is not a thriller. It is however an exceptionally good book! This is a retelling of the story of Henry VIII and his marriages, reimagined in the 1980s to modern day. I have a cursory knowledge of this part of history but I think one of the strengths of this book is you can enjoy it regardless of your historical knowledge. If you know the story, you can appreciate the amazing amount of work that has gone into researching this and how it is cleverly twisted to work in the modern day. If you know nothing, you can be surprised by the engaging plot and frankly very interesting life of the main character and his wives.

Another thing to be praised is what an easy read this is. The writing is so engaging and, despite it being a fairly long book for its genre, it never once dragged. In fact I read all of it in two days because I could not put it down. The character guides allow it to be more accessible for people who don't know their history, but it can be easily understood and followed without them. There are lots of characters but they are handled well and I never lost track of who anyone was. Henry is made very likeable despite his flaws and some artistic license is taken to make the plot flow better which I fully support. I even read the interview with the author at the end (which I almost never do) and I loved the explanations for why she made the changes she did. I can't see anyone but the strictest historian being bothered by them.

Overall, this is one of the best retellings I have ever read, if not the best. The source material is perfectly translated into modern day with what is clearly a lot of work from the author, and none of the writing style or enjoyment is sacrificed in order to make that happen. This is such an engaging book and it's clear to me that Hayfield is incredibly talented. If you want a fun way to digest history or just a really good adult contemporary book, I could not recommend this more.

Overall Rating:

.5

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill

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

This is such a hard book to describe. A Cosmology of Monsters is the tale of Noah and his family, a group of people all battling various monsters, both metaphorical and real. This is definitely lighter on the horror elements so don't go into this expecting a particularly scary tale. Instead this is more of focused look at one family with a rather bizarre (not in a bad way) supernatural angle. This is a horror only in so much as there are monsters and various horror elements (a ghost house, HP Lovecraft) are mentioned frequently.

This book has very compelling writing and was easy to follow most of the time. It is split up into parts and in between the parts are short chapters which I found a little odd. These short chapters were the only parts I found hard to follow. My main issue with this book is it felt like it frequently changed plot and then never returned to those elements. We start with Noah's parents and the story of how they met, which is fair enough I suppose. But then we are focused on his older sisters and his parents never receive much attention again. Then it moves onto Noah and, while his sisters remain present, their various plot elements aren't really resolved in a satisfactory way. The writing saved this from being a total disaster but I did feel confused about which parts of the plot were meant to matter, be it thematically or in terms of the actual story being told.

There were also unexpected romance elements in this which were...interesting. I don't want to spoil anything but it caught me off guard and it meant this was a slightly different story than I expected. Again, this was written so well in terms of tone that it didn't matter as much but I still feel it's worth mentioning. This does not have the tone of a horror book and I feel that's important to know going in. It offers an interesting look at how tragedy affects a family, mental health, coming of age and other engaging themes.

Overall, I am unsure what to make of this book. There are parts I really like, parts I can appreciate for what they did and parts that leave me a little disappointed. I think this is definitely a book that will stick with me a long time and one that is certainly worth trying if you're intrigued by the premise. Horror lovers might be left a little wanting by this book but for those who enjoy quiet tales with a focus on theme and character, this is definitely worth a shot.

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