What it Seems by Emily Bleeker

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

What a brilliant idea for a thriller! What it Seems is the story of Tara/Angela, a young woman who has been raised by an abusive woman and whose only joy in life is watching her favourite Youtube family. One day she gets the chance to work with them and so she runs away from home, although this might not be the perfect escape she dreamed of.

This book starts slow for the first few chapters but I soon got into it. As soon as the Youtube stuff begins, the plot really takes off and I couldn't wait to see how things played out. I will say, I was expecting this book to be slightly darker based off the cover and description. It is light on the thriller elements (although not tone) and it never really went to the places I wanted it to. Similarly, there aren't really any twists? There is a revelation our main character has which was sort of treated like a twist but I can't believe it was intended to actually be one since I assumed that was the intended plot from the start. Having said that, I was engaged throughout and this definitely has a unique plot compared to most thrillers. What it lacks in thriller gimmicks, it makes up for in a solid story and interesting characters.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of the genre. It isn't especially dark but it creates a great atmosphere and it stood out just for the novelty of the content. I have a few other books on my TBR by this author that I've been putting off but I will definitely make them more of a priority now.

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If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

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

This is a book unlike any I have ever read before, but the premise sounded so promising that I couldn't resist giving it a go. I am so glad I did. If I Had Your Face is the story of four Korean women, living in a society where plastic surgery is the norm and everyone earns a lot but saves nothing. This is not a plot-heavy book truth be told, but it is driven forward by the characters and the writing, which is incredibly compelling. It follows the typical format of having several narrators and plotlines and rotating through them, although most of the characters are close friends.

There are some flaws to this book sadly holding it back. I was 40% through the book before I reached the fourth narrator and by that point, I was slightly alarmed by the amount of time we were going to get with each storyline. As I mentioned, this is not a plot-driven book and honestly, there isn't really a plot to speak of. This is not something I consider a flaw because the book itself is still very engaging and has a lot to say. However, I would personally have cut the parts about Wonna (the pregnant neighbour) as her plot didn't go anywhere and she didn't really interact much with anyone else, so I can't say she added a lot overall. I did also find keeping track of some of the characters confusing, but that could be due to my own unfamiliarity with Korean names. In particular, I struggled to keep up with what was going on with Miho's boyfriend.

Overall, this was a refreshing and unforgettable read for me. I wish more time had been dedicated to building up the character's plotlines into a satisfying climax but putting that aside, I'm so pleased I picked this up. Frances Cha feels like an author who will go very far and I can't wait to read her next book.

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Strangers by C.L. Taylor

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

C.L. Taylor has proven herself capable of crafting very neat, well-executed thrillers and Strangers is no exception to this. There is a slight trend to have thrillers where you appear to be focused on separate characters only to have their lives collide when it comes to the climax. I can honestly say that this is probably the best example of that kind that I've ever read. It is both extremely hard to predict just how and when the characters' lives will intersect, and also satisfying when they do. I was impressed by how tightly plotted this book was.

The only real flaw of this thriller is that it feels like it has too many characters. The blurb mentions three POV characters and I was actually surprised when I checked this after reading it because it felt like far more. I think because each character has several people they interact with, and the way that the stories all intersect at the end means that you have to keep track of pretty much all of them, this resulted in there feeling like there are about twelve main characters. This was actually executed about as well as it could be since for once, I remembered pretty much all of the characters which I am notoriously bad with for thrillers. Even so though, it is a little intense.

In terms of the plot, this book falls squarely into domestic thriller. There really aren't tons of thriller elements or lots of mysteries going on but each character has a solid enough storyline and it kept me engaged throughout. Overall, this is a really enjoyable read and a great example of Taylor's writing skills. I look forward to seeing what else she can write next.

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Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV

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

Something is Killing the Children is the story of a small town suffering from a monster attack, and the girl hunting said monster. This is a fairly standard premise but it does a decent enough job with it. Honestly I wasn't really blown away by any aspect of it. The artwork is nice and there are some creepy moments which are illustrated well but it was a little too scratchy for me at times. This is only the first volume so the story is fairly cookie cutter, although there are some cool elements I suspect will expand and improve the plot later on. The characters were decent enough but again, nothing really stood out about them (except the stuffed octopus). I really wish I could give this graphic novel more glowing praise but alas, it just didn't show me anything new.

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Pretending by Holly Bourne

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review

There is no doubt about it, Holly Bourne has solidified herself as one of my favourite authors. Pretending is her second adult book and boy does it pack a punch. April is a woman in her early thirties, tired of putting up with mediocre men and worn out from her job at a sexual advice charity. After yet another failed date, she decides she is going to get her revenge on men. She is going to pretend to be Gretel, the perfect no-fuss woman.

That premise may sound like a light-hearted comedy romp but don't be fooled. As with all of Bourne's stories, the focus here is solely on the main character dealing with her mental health and trauma from her past. There are huge trigger warnings for sexual assault, trauma but also for general sexist, entitled, borderline abusive behaviour from men. These things are captured so well that it's astonishing how unafraid Bourne is to write them down. It is both refreshing and heartbreaking to experience them in a story form and I will forever treasure this book because of that. I cannot stress the potential triggers enough though, as important as they are. I have no history of sexual assault (at least in the traditional sense) but this book made me reflect deeply on my previous relationship and ask some serious questions about what marks it might have left on me.

Putting that aside, this is just a stellar example of Bourne's writing skill. The characters might as well be real people, the pacing is perfect and the plot, though a basic slice of life on paper, is exactly the story that needs to be told. I have no doubts this will resonate with any woman at least a little bit, but it could also open some eyes for some men if you're willing to not take the prose as a personal attack. I desperately want the straight men in my life to read this, if only so they can finally appreciate the complexity and depth behind navigating relationships from a female point of view. The beauty of it as well is that a book of this kind could so easily feel like cheap pandering but it doesn't even come close because it rings so true.

Is this book perfect? No. I can see some people having issues with aspects of the plot, and this is by no means an easy read. But I love Pretending for daring to tell women their feelings are valid and to not shy away from the uglier truths. If a book can rip you apart and stitch you back together, not by pretending everything is okay but by promising it might be...that's a book we all need to exist.

Overall Rating:

.5

This Little Piggy by Rob Ashman

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

 I will preface this review by saying gory serial killer books aren't really my thing. I requested this ARC way back when I joined NetGalley and I was excited by the prospect of new thrillers, without really pausing to stop and think if I actually wanted to read those thrillers. Having said that, This Little Piggy really surprised me with how enjoyable it is. This is a very good example of its genre.

As expected, this book has a fair amount of graphic gore and that was a little off putting. However, it also had a brilliant main detective character. It isn't often I find myself actually connecting with the police in police procedurals but Ashman did a great job of creating someone who was capable of driving the book beyond the basic serial killer plotline. The serial killer themselves is similarly well-written, never veering off into the cartoonish or unbelievable. All in all, I was very impressed by the writing.

This is not a thriller for people who enjoy a lot of twists or turns, but if you want a solid police procedural with a suitably gruesome premise, this is the perfect book to pick up.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Passengers You Cannot See by The Behrg

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Pricks Like Thorn media in exchange for an honest review.

I've read quite a lot of horror anthologies recently. I'm going to be honest, this one didn't really stand out. That might seem harsh but it's not necessarily a bad thing. The stories in this collection for the most part were fine. Some were really good-Kill Your Darlings for example is a fantastic story about an author who pushes the whole 'write what you know' thing too far. Still Born was a heart-breaking and chilling tale about a couple dealing with the title topic. But putting those two aside, the other stories in this collection are just sort of all right. There was only one I actively disliked and that was due to me not being able to cope with the content (Scabs if you're curious). I definitely think this collection is worth a read and the author is clearly talented when it comes to themes. It lacks many of the problems I've had with previous anthologies and it's just a shame that more of the stories didn't blow me away.

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You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

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

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book. The premise sounded so amazing that I knew I wanted to read it, even though I wasn't necessarily sure if it was more fantasy or horror. You Let Me In falls directly into the dark fantasy category, and more specifically this is a book about fae. Had I known that going in then I might not have requested it but I am so glad I did because this book is phenomenal.

Cassandra Tipp is an author with a dark past. When she vanishes mysteriously, her niece and nephew must provide her lawyer with a password in order to inherit her estate, a password which can only be found in one last story she had left. This though is the true story of her life. Chosen at a young age to be the property of a fae being, she explains how all the dark deeds she has been accused of doing were really the work of fantasy beings. But which story is real?

This book was extremely well-written. I was instantly sucked into the world and the prose manages to be poetic and fitting of the fantasy elements without veering too far into needlessly flowery. Cassandra really draws you in as a character and the whole 'doubting whether the story is fantasy or if she is merely deluded' stuff is handled very well in my opinion. It would be easy for an author to misjudge and either make her a caricature or else too unreliable to connect with but she remains a compelling and engaging narrator throughout. The other characters who featured were also interesting, particularly the sister and therapist.

I strongly recommend this book, even to those who don't normally read dark fantasy. This is not horror in the traditional sense but it does contain horror elements. There is also a romance plotline and some sexual scenes so be aware of that. I would not recommend it to people who dislike the use of mental health for unreliable narration, but if you want a dark and mysterious story that draws you in, this is a perfect pick.

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Crueler and More Unusual by Erik Dean

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

In terms of premise, this is one of the strongest anthology collections I have ever read. This book contains four short stories, all of which center around crime or punishment with a futuristic horror twist. The shortness of the anthology allows for a really tight premise and every story feels like it fits with the others because of that.

I also really liked the plots of the stories themselves. Each one has something unique to say and they manage to avoid treading on each other's toes. I think my favourite was 'Early Release', a story about a world where murderers get the chance to fight for their freedom if they can avoid being hunted down by their victim's families for 24 hours. 'Dummy' was really intriguing and had a surprise factor that the others lacked somewhat which was great. I enjoyed the plots of all four of them though and would be interested in reading more of a similar vein.

Sadly, what lets this collection down is the writing. Every character speaks so flatly and it was incredibly distracting. They will just state their motivations or feelings in a way that humans never actually talk like. At one point a character self-identifies as a 'millennial' and uses it as a reason he doesn't watch the news in a way which is definitely not a joke that character is making. It was the only real problem of the anthology but it was a big one which makes it hard to overlook.

Having said that, I think there is real growth possible for this author. The stories are solid as I said and there's definitely talent in the plotting and execution (no pun intended). If the dialogue was fixed and the characters felt more real, I can see them really going places.

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The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames

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

I read an extract of this book aaaages ago and was instantly intrigued, despite it not being my usual genre at all. As a rule, I dislike more literary books and I try to stay away from them. But something about The Other's Gold just drew me in and I was very happy when I finally got the chance to finish the story.

This is the tale of four women spanning several decades, who meet in college and form very tight friendships. Each of the four women will make a 'mistake' throughout the course of the story and the plot structure is built around that. This is literary fiction as I stated so you are kept almost at a distance from the four characters throughout the book. You get a strong sense of who they are but I never quite felt close to them and I think that's because of the writing style. Having said that though, I found them a varied and interesting group to read about.

One thing I wasn't expecting about this book is that it is remarkably refreshing. I had a rough idea of what the mistakes might entail before I started reading it and I was surprised by the nature of almost all of them. Two of them are very weird in an almost off the wall way and these were my favourite to read about (although that's an odd phrase given they're not pleasant haha). The first mistake is pretty pedestrian and I actively disliked the nature of the second one.

The main problem of this book is that there are several things which don't feel fully explored, despite the length and the entire plot basically being a character study. Each mistake is focused on in turn but then the feelings that caused those mistakes aren't really resolved for anyone. This isn't as big a detriment as it sounds but it particularly stood out at certain moments and was a bit of a shame.

Overall, The Other's Gold is a compelling and expertly-told tale of four women and the lives they build together. Is it perfect? No. But I found it both enjoyable and extremely hard to put down. The story and characters sucked me in and I know this is a book I will remember for a long time.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

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

What a curious book! I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this thriller. I personally haven't read many books about polyamory and I think it's actually the perfect topic to explore in a thriller-type setting. Thursday is one of three women married to the same man, named by the days he spends with them. One day she finds out the full name of one of his other wives and so she investigates her life, leading her to find some potentially disturbing things out about her own husband.

The first third or so of this book was brilliant. Thursday was a great narrator, the setup was a little unbelievable but gripping and best of all, I had no idea where the story would go. Unfortunately the book doesn't stick with this premise the entire way through which is really all I can say without massive spoilers. Instead it takes a rather confusing swerve in topic and plot and it never manages to quite recover from it in my opinion.

The writing itself (in terms of style) is probably the strongest aspect of this book, followed by the characters. Even after it took the turn I disliked, both of these elements remained strong and I was invested in the story because of the connection I had built to the characters. I still couldn't predict what was going to happen which was nice, although I found the ending a little confusing and I'm still not quite sure what actually happened with everything.

Overall, I still think this is a decent thriller but it does a lot of stuff in the last 60% which is going to put some people off. I wish it had stuck with the excellent story it began as but as it is, it's a pretty standard but well-written thriller.

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Ordinary Souls by J.S. Bailey

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

Ordinary Souls is a horror short story collection, supposedly about normal people in abnormal situations but this doesn't really ring true. However, it's a neat collection regardless and I found the majority of the stories interesting. There's quite a large range so I'm going to go over some of the standout ones now.

The Mirror-A woman buys an antique mirror with a dark twist. I liked this story and it was pretty solid but there was a massive plot hole/confusion that I couldn't overlook. So initially the mirror is said to show the future. Later on, it's revealed that it actually shows your deepest fear and the narrator fears the future which is why she sees that. But then at the end, it is showing the future again for different characters? It really bothered me.

The Ghosts of Memory-A group of students go investigate an abandoned house and creepy stuff happens. This was a really solid story, fantastically paced and intriguing. The narrator was a little dense but this was definitely one of my favourites of the collection.

Journal Entry from the End of the Universe-A woman who becomes immortal writes diary entries. A pretty great take on the concept of immortality but I feel like the ending lacked a little detail. I wanted to know more about the future than was discussed, and I think that would have helped this story be even more original in concept.

The Author, the Lonely Walker, and the Class-This is basically three stories in one: a short story, sections from the POV of the author and then sections focused on a classroom discussing the short story in an academic setting. There was a really interesting concept at play her but sadly I didn't find the short story discussed all that compelling. It was a good idea though!

Maria-A couple are looking at a plain painting which appears black to one of them and white to the other. Then it ends. I was so into this story but it is waaaay too short. I don't even know what was meant to be going on and it fell so flat because of that. It's such a shame because it had a great concept. And why was it called Maria? It makes no sense.

There are 16 stories in total so this is by no means a comprehensive list but these are the ones I felt like I had something to say about them. All in all, it's a fair collection but there were sadly a lot of stories which didn't gel with me. Three are related to other works by the author so I felt like I would be missing stuff if I tried to read them. There is also a fair amount of sci fi or other things which don't quite fit the horror genre so just be aware of that as well.

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