Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

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

Natural Beauty may be one of the hardest books I've read in a while to place. Our unnamed narrator finds herself working for the mysterious beauty and wellness company, Holistik, after a string of bad luck in her life leaves her near-destitute. Once a promising pianist, now she sells strange dystopian-esque beauty products (though tbh we see very little of this). She also meets and falls for another young woman who is distantly involved with the company.

Even when writing this summary, I struggled greatly to describe this book because it is not really plot or character-driven in the traditional sense. The narrator has a compelling story and mind which went a long way to keeping me engaged with the story going on, but if anything I would say this is a world-driven book. Even then, the elements of the world remain in the background and I found this quite difficult as a reader. The blurb gives no indication that this is meant to be futuristic or dystopian and yet it was the only way I could reconcile what was going on with any kind of reality. I felt quite unsure at any one time that I really understood the world the book was taking place in and this dimmed the horror somewhat, especially early on.

Having said that, I really enjoyed this book. It was a fairly easy read in terms of pacing and length, and particularly near the end, the horror kicks in properly and you get some really intense scenes. My main issue is I can't really place why I enjoyed it so much. I think the main character does provide some much-needed grounding in the story which otherwise would feel quite absurd (and often still does) but I wouldn't say she drives the story either. The horror elements are often a little confusing and/or so removed from reality as to not quite hit their mark. I normally dislike body horror but it didn't affect me much in this book because the descriptions were so abstract. I think the message about the beauty industry is lost due to the ridiculous nature of much of the horror and that's a real shame. It left the book feeling a little YA and indeed, I started to wish I was reading Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill instead. That book covers many of the same themes but in a much more grounded way, despite the absolute dystopian setting.

Overall, this review seems quite negative but I would actually recommend reading Natural Beauty. It has a lot of interesting ideas, set pieces and themes going on. I wish the characters were more emotionally-driven and that the world/horror elements were more grounded in reality but this book still has a lot to offer and I think I'll remember it for a long time

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

We Are Hunted by Tomi Oyemakinde

 

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

We Are Hunted is the story of a teenager named Femi who goes to a Jurassic-Park style island with his family for a exclusive vacation. Things start to go wrong in expected and not so expected ways, and he's left trying to escape the island with his life.

I will admit, this book ended up being a lot different than I was expecting. It is listed as a horror which is not necessarily unfair, but I think sci-fi fits it much better as a label. There aren't too many horror elements apart from descriptions of violence/attacks (which are fairly gruesome), and there is more in common with traditional sci-fi stories in terms of characters and plot. The action scenes are the best written however and I thought that part of the story was handled really well.

Overall while this book ended up not really being my typical genre, I still really enjoyed reading it. I won't be seeking out anymore in the series but it was a fun one-off and I'm glad I read it.

Overall Rating:

3/5

Ink Ribbon Red by Alex Pavesi

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.

At the time I read Pavesi's first book (Eight Detectives) I really enjoyed it. I recently reread in anticipation of this book and I found it much more lacking than I remembered. Still, I went into Ink Ribbon Red with excited optimism. Unfortunately, the whole thing fell a bit flat.

This is a very hard book to get into. The premise is that a bunch of old university friends are at a house for a weekend together. During this trip, they play a game where they write stories about murdering each other. This is alluded to by the blurb but isn't made clear in the book until a good 30-40% of the way through. Meanwhile, you have a narrative which is jumping around wildly because it turns out that some of what you're reading is the stories written by the characters. This is a great idea in theory but without being set-up properly in the book itself, it creates a horrible mess for a first-time reader. It also means you have to pay really close attention to the times/dates at the start of each section which I find tiresome. I find I can ignore these in most books without any confusion so it's a pity the writing was not clear enough here.

In terms of the content of the book, I found the characters diverse and interesting enough. I wasn't particularly invested in the story, partially because of the issues mentioned above and partially because there wasn't much to work out aside from the content of the stories. Ultimately I think this book had a great idea but it wasn't executed to its full potential. I like the creativity behind it but it definitely needed to be refined a bit more in order to create a better reading experience

Overall Rating:

A Lesson in Cruelty by Harriet Tyce

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Headline Audio | Wildfires in exchange for an honest review.

The plot of A Lesson in Cruelty is a little hard to summarise without spoilers but I shall do my best. This is really a book of three separate plots which then come together. The first part is about Anna, a woman who is being let out of prison only to find her cellmate dead on the day of her supposed release. The second is about Marie, a woman imprisoned on a remote Scottish island (that's about it really). Finally we have Lucy, a law student who desperately wants to sleep with her professor and gets the chance to when they go away to a conference together.

If these plots sound a bit disjointed then good, I have accurately represented the listening experience. Never has a book had so much going on and yet so little of it which actually matters in the end. The swaps in character did not feel particularly natural and I actually found it intrusive to the flow of the story. The three characters are distinct but when the plot starts coming together and the different threads start to collide, you start to realise how much faff there was. It is at this point that some events are chalked up to 'random coincidence', something I'd be more forgiving of if this wasn't already a bit of a mess in terms of how its crafted.

I also just need to talk about Edgar for a minute because he is in some ways the most outlandish character. He is a law professor and honestly cartoonish in the way he neglects his family and how he conducts 'research'. I'd like to point out here that I am actually a lecturer and even allowing for the liberties fiction can take, what he gets away with is absurd. It pokes a huge hole in an already-punctured plot.

The 'twist' at the end is painfully obvious as several reviewers have pointed out, but it's made even more obvious by the way the audiobook is narrated. The narrator does an ASMR voice for some passages where we're not supposed to know who exactly is narrating them, but then the same voice (admittedly dialled back) is used for that character so it becomes clear who it's going to turn out to be. Additionally, some lines near the end are a different volume to the surrounding ones. This was very distracting and just made the production seem a bit cheap, like they'd been dubbed in afterwards.

Overall, I sadly wasn't very impressed by this thriller. The plot is oversaturated and requires suspension of disbelief to buy that certain aspects would be allowed to happen. The characters are decent but there are so many of them and too many coincidences play out in terms of their relationships. Perhaps if the audiobook had been better then I would have enjoyed this more, but it wasn't my cup of tea

Overall Rating:

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

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

Harrison is a fairly new author to me and one whose work I am immensely enjoying. Black Sheep was one of my favourite books of the year. I thought The Return was a little lacking but I loved the themes and writing. So Thirsty is kind of a revisit to The Return, albeit with a different lens and focus.

So Thirsty is the story of two friends, Sloane and Naomi. Sloane is the calm, meeker of the two who is currently in a somewhat unhappy marriage. Naomi has always been wild and never thinks about the consequences of something before she does it. Whilst on a trip for Sloane's birthday, Naomi insists they go party with some strangers in an isolated house which triggers a chain of events leading to them both getting turned into vampires.

I did really enjoy both the writing and general atmosphere of this book. It continues the 'toxic friendship' line of thought from The Return, though I felt this could have been more strongly tied into the vampire aspect. Maybe the author wanted to avoid the obvious but it makes sense to link metaphorical bloodsucking with literal, no? Everything was still a little bit vague, a little bit abstract. Even by the end of the novel, I couldn't tell how Sloane really felt about Naomi or vice versa. I wanted a deeper exploration of the nuances of the friendship, of how a situation like that really affects people emotionally.

Having said that, this book is still well worth the read. I feel like Harrison is so close to releasing my favourite ever horror book about toxic female friendship. So Thirsty isn't quite that, but it is an interesting and strong vampire horror novel and those in themselves are rarities in my opinion. If you've not read anything by her before, I'd recommend Black Sheep over this but if you've enjoyed her other works, this is perfect to pick up

Overall Rating:

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

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

Disney Villains: Happily Never After Gaston by Lorie Langdon

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

Of all the villains who deserve a sad origin story, Gaston is not one of them. Still, I was super excited to read this retelling/prequel/exploration into Disney non-canon. And I'm so glad I did!

Happily Never After Gaston is the story of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, reimagined as an ugly and unpleasant teenager. Living in his brother's shadow and hated by his family, his luck starts to change when he meets an enchantress named Agatha and they form an arrangement of sorts. If Gaston can prove himself to be a good person, she will make him attractive. It's a simple premise and one which is extremely well-executed.

This book can't have been easy to write. Gaston is intentionally a flat and unpleasant character in the original film. He has to be compelling enough here to half-lead a book, but not so sympathetic that it doesn't fit with his portrayal in the film. I'd say the author does a great job of this. Is this Gaston from the films? No, but he's close enough. And honestly, it was a lot of fun as a Beauty and the Beast fan having this alternative version of Gaston and that world.

Fun is the main word I'd use to describe this book. It has the same kind of enjoyment as the Twisted Tales books and is worth checking out for any Disney fans who like exploring the characters from new and different perspectives. It has some nice nods to the original film, good writing and characterisation, and an interesting plot

Overall Rating:

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: