2023 Wrap-Up: In Which I Bend but Don't Break

Hello my beauties!

Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2023 up. Seriously...I'm copying the following part of this intro from last year's post, because...same? down to the number of Review Morsels installments I posted...

"This was a DISASTROUS year, on all counts. Life was a mess; blogging was (consequently) slow and highly irregular. I had to sit it out for a while, and I ended up writing only a VERY small number of full reviews (though I did post ten Review Morsels installments)."

(Please note: I only wrote my first full review of 2023 in May...).

I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise, since my problems are ongoing and nothing really changed since last year, but...it's disheartening. Anyhow, I'm still here, which should probably be regarded as a success, all things considered (but since I would literally have NOTHING GOOD in my life if I didn't blog, probably not...I mean, of course I'll never leave this gig) - hence this post's title. And without further ado, here goes my 2023 recap...

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 11 (!!!!!) years and a couple of months 😃.

This is what happened on Offbeat YA during the year, broken down by number of posts, events I took part in, books I reviewed, authors I interacted with and discussion posts I wrote...plus an off-blog, real-life section!

Offbeat Offline: November 2023 (Plus Announcing a Short Hiatus)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? A major health setback and the worst hair incident ever (now resolved though), plus I did nothing productive...nor did I read. I was constantly angry or tired or both, and I don't know where the time went...I felt like I was always busy without getting anything done, or too sapped (and, did I mention angry?) to accomplish anything even after doing the bare minimum (and to be honest, I ended up embracing the couldn't-care-less attitude as a defense mechanism, and spent most of my time vegetating in front of my computer...). Even blogging and blog-hopping were a strain, which is why I'm planning a short hiatus (I HATE the idea of going on a hiatus in December, so I'll grit my teeth and produce my usual end-of-the-year recap at the end of the month...). So...November sucked. BUT! at least I saw my man David Tennant in the first Doctor Who special for the show's 60th birthday (!!!!!), and that brought me SO MUCH JOY. Bless you David, I love you too much for words 😭🧡.

(On a side note, I got my flu and Covid vaccines. How come the flu one is always painless while the Covid one always makes my arm hurt? Not terribly, but still. Is it the same with you?).

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Which Books Are You Looking Forward to Reading This Winter? (December-February)

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHICH BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THIS WINTER? (DECEMBER-FEBRUARY)

I don't know if I'll ever get around to buying all these books or when, since 1) early reviews and excerpts might cause me to change my mind in the future, and 2) given my current situation (see: unemployment status), book money is scarce...(I got a few of these in eARC form though! See below). Anyhow, I wanted to give a bit of exposure to all the winter books that caught my eye, so here's my list (complete with pub dates)...

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #47 Seanan McGuire: "InCryptid" Series #9-12

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Kiersten White: "Mister Magic"

Title: Mister Magic [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Kiersten White [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2023
Age: 14+ (I shelved it as Adult because of the characters' age in the present, but it can be read by mature teens. There are far more graphic YA books out there)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Original and enthralling, with an easy-to-love cast. Makes an impassioned argument for children's rights to creativity and freedom (and everyone's right to be themselves). 
Cons: You have to suspend disbelief about the main character's passively buying into her father's narrative (or lack thereof). Also, the ending might hurt you a little...
WARNING! Child abuse, mind control/indoctrination, sexism, homophobia, gaslighting, parent death (off page). A minor instance of body horror.
Will appeal to: Those who love a dark - yet emotive and hopeful - childhood-friends reunion on the backdrop of a supernatural mystery.

Blurb: Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who - or what - the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has. Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. They’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap? (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I was aware of the hidden layer of meaning behind this story before I read it (by the way, White opens out about it in the Acknowledgment section), but I don't think it made a difference for me. In my opinion, you can go in blind or not, get the allegory while reading or have it explained by the author afterwards, but it shouldn't detract from/add to your enjoyment either way (unless you come from a similar environment as White's). Then again, I know of at least one reader that had a different experience (read Tammy's review here).

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT

I think I've discovered a new bias of mine lately: give me a story in the supernatural or magical realism genres with a cast that met as children and reunite as adult, and I will enjoy it despite its flaws, if there are any - as long as those characters allow me to love them enough. So, I won't say that Mister Magic is a perfect book (which, duh, hardly any book is perfect, but you get my meaning), while I will admit that the aforementioned characters could have been fleshed out more or given better dialogue in some instances...but they were able to win my affection (especially Val), plus the story was intriguing and had its heart in the right place, so to speak - hence the five star rating.

At the core of Mister Magic are a diverse group of friends in their late 30s/early 40s who were together on the titular show 30 years earlier, and have little to no memories of it - but what memories they have are fond...until they get the chance to scratch past that surface, and realise that something insidious and unsettling was at play (just in case you're thinking sexual abuse, no, nothing of the sort). It doesn't help that the show only survives in the (fuzzy) memories of those who participated in it and those who used to watch it, because there's no clip or info to be found ANYWHERE (and yeah, there's a valid explanation for that, I swear). Getting to know the why and the how and the WHAT - in the wake of the show's reboot - was fun...yet heartbreaking...yet exhilarating; but it didn't steal the scene from the characters (more as an ensemble than as individuals, I will admit, except for Val), especially in the later chapters, and especially when we finally get a glimpse of their younger selves on the very show's set, and discover what happened to the missing sixth cast member... [...]

Krystal Sutherland: "House of Hollow"

Title: House of Hollow [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Krystal Sutherland [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Afterlife, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2021
Age: 14+ (please note: this is dark YA - you may want to take a look at the WARNING! section)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Unique twist on a well-known fantasy trope (I'm not mentioning it in order to avoid spoilers). Fascinating settings. (Mostly) satisfying characters. Evocative writing.
Cons: Potentially disturbing imagery. An instance of rape apology from the intended victim. An inappropriate kiss between a minor and her sister's boyfriend.
WARNING! Body horror/bug horror. Blood and gore. Death. Attempted rape. Murder. Drowning. Fire. Suicide (off page). Alcohol/drug abuse. Vomiting.
Will appeal to: Those who like dark, yet luscious stories with a supernatural mystery at their core.

Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children. The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years. (Goodreads)

Review: This book has at least three different blurbs LOL. I picked the one I like most (and, I seem to remember, the original one), but mind you - it doesn't mention the third sister Vivi, who's an integral part of the story.

TERRIBLE BEAUTY

Even if, like me, you don't put much stock on covers, House of Hollow has a striking one, doesn't it? one that, back when the book came out in 2021, compelled me to look at the blurb and see what the story was about. And even after the aforementioned blurb piqued my interest, I have to admit that the cover had me a little nervous, especially since I can't tolerate bug horror on a visual level (though I fare better with it when it's used as a literary device). Yet, at the same time, I thought the art was beautiful. Well, that's House of Hollow for you: "sheer horror and sheer beauty joined at the hip", as I stated in the mini review I wrote after reading it for the first time. It's a novel of contrasts, except they end up merging, or complementing each other at the very least. It starts as magical realism with a sizeable amount of mystery (what happened to the Hollow sisters when they were kids? what is the strange power they seem to exert on people? and what happened to Grey, the one who embraced such power shamelessly and used it to her best advantage?), then takes a turn toward the supernatural and becomes darker and darker, and more and more disturbing...yet the lyrical, evocative writing makes a thing of beauty out of it. [...]

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #46 Kosoko Jackson, Jay Bonansinga, Adrian Tchaikovsky

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear, I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Michael Karolewski: "The Prophet's Debt" (ARC Review)

Title: The Prophet's Debt [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Valcara Incorporated (2nd of 6 books)
Author: Michael Karolewski [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Urban Fantasy
Year: 2023
Age: 18+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: Creative spin on the afterlife. Good blend of fast-paced and introspective. Flawed yet relatable lead.
Cons: More complex and a tad less exciting than Book 1 (probably since the afterlife setting plays a smaller role). Sees the main character suffer a setback in terms of self-destructive habits. Ends on a cliffhanger.
WARNING! Imprisonment and torture of a kid. Attempted suicide. Death by fire. Stabbing. Animal death. Bug horror. Brainwashing. Alcohol and drug abuse. 
Will appeal to: Those who're looking for a fresh take on the afterlife. Those who can root for an antihero on an erratic redemption path.

Blurb: Rose Ryder may have prevented an apocalypse, but her work is far from over. After hearing her friend Jade call out for help from beyond the grave, Rose will stop at nothing to find her soul. Her quest brings her back to Valcara, where she learns her heroism on Earth has attracted the scorn of powerful Valcarans. However, she finds an unlikely ally in the corrupt soul who previously exploited her: Anita Munroe. Back on Earth, Rose encounters treacherous factions in her covert mission to expose interdimensional collusion. A paranormal support group led by a suspected murderer. A sinister magic company that conceals corporate sins with shiny marketing tricks. And most troubling for Rose, the unexpected return of a villain from her past. At every turn, Valcaran interference bleeds through, revealing startling connections between the mortal world and the afterlife. Contending with betrayal and renewed fears of cosmic devastation, Rose realizes that rescuing Jade's soul from damnation may require dooming her own...and the world she gave up heaven to save. (Goodreads)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I received a review copy from the author after joining his mailing list and volunteering to read this book. This didn't influence my review in any way.

RICH TAPESTRY

I stand by my word about the Valcara Incorporated series: it's a very imaginative (if a bit disheartening 😂) spin on the afterlife, with strong imagery and an interesting protagonist to boot. To be precise, in this second installment, the narrative is split between Rose (former office drone and unacknowledged world saviour) and Dan (paranormal investigator and inexperienced mind-hopper), whose paths skirt each other and loosely dance around the same people and/or situations, until they come together and a certain reveal takes place (honestly, I didn't see that one coming). Dan brings a different perspective to the table - one that straddles the line between the magical and the mundane instead of the one between life and afterlife - and comes with his own (double) baggage, which makes for an intriguing backstory. The plot is complex and rich, with on one hand Dan's investigation into a little girl's disappearance (which will open a whole can of worms), on the other Rose's attempt to save her friend Jade's soul by infiltrating a paranormal support group and a "paranormal professionals" organization, thus playing double agent for different factions, all while making a startling discovery about the state of her own soul (another twist that I didn't see coming). Oh, and did I mention that, in the meantime, someone is still causing monsters from the Void to bleed out of portals and onto Earth? [...]

Offbeat Offline: October 2023

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? We got unseasonable heat; I joined Bluesky and had issues with MailerLite; I applied for an internship that wasn't exactly what I (and everybody else who did the same) expected...All the rest has been pretty stationary, including my husband's situation. I didn't even read much, because at the beginning of the month I was still wrestling with a review that I had started at the end of September (and that I had included in last month's recap though it was still incomplete), and it took me AGES to finish it - I don't know why (in case you're curious, the book was House of Hollow - see below). A nightmare experience that I hope not to have a second time...

Michael Karolewski: "The Soul Sector"

Title: The Soul Sector [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Valcara Incorporated (1st of 6 books)
Author: Michael Karolewski [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Urban Fantasy
Year: 2021 (reissued 2023)
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Creative spin on the afterlife. Good blend of fast-paced and introspective. Flawed yet relatable lead with a solid redemption arc.
Cons: Might feel a bit too long if you don't click with the main lead, since a good chunk of the novel deals with her backstory, everyday life and moral swings. Ends on a cliffhanger. Gay characters get proper attention and sympathy, yet they seem doomed to feel guilty.
WARNING! Alcoholism/alcoholic parents. Attempted suicide. Drug addiction/overdose (off page). Casual homophobia/slut shaming (countered). Road accidents. Violence, blood and gore. Spiders. A couple of brief/not overly graphic sex scenes (in case you're not comfortable with those).
Will appeal to: Those who're looking for a fresh take on the afterlife/apocalypse. Those who can root for an antihero on a redemption path. Those who enjoy a Good Place vibe, only with corruption and mayhem.

Blurb: Rose Ryder never believed in the afterlife. Until she ended up there. When she finds herself in Valcara, a dystopian purgatory where souls are bought and sold, she is focused on only one thing - reuniting with her deceased younger sister. But Rose quickly learns her premature arrival violates Fate’s design. After a Valcaran company recruits Rose as their secret weapon, she becomes entangled in an industry that straddles the realms of the living and the dead. At the mercy of a divine corporation she doesn’t fully trust, Rose is sent back to Earth to meddle in mortal affairs. As she uncovers corruption on a cosmic scale, she realizes greed and deception extend beyond the grave. She wishes to free herself from the job, but her Valcaran employers hold the ultimate bargaining chip - if Rose refuses to cooperate, they will send her sister’s soul to Hell. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: this book was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to Michael Karolewski for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

CORPORATE SOUL

This book fell through the cracks for me when it first came out, so I'm glad the author decided to revamp it and put it on NetGalley to build some series awareness, since Book 2 is due in a few days! (on October 31st, to be precise).

Anything with an afterlife setting or dealing with the subject never fails to pique my interest, but it's not an automatic win for me. Exactly because I love the genre, I'm very picky about it - and I'm pleased to say, The Soul Sector hit a lot of right notes for me. For one, it brings a fresh concept to the table (as far as I know - what I can say is that I've never come across a similar one before): Purgatory (here called Valcara) as a very Earth-like stock market trading in souls instead of shares, often with a complete disregard of morality issues. In addition to serving as a clearinghouse for Heaven and Hell, Valcara is also a world between worlds, where - besides Earthlings - a number of non-human creatures (well, souls) end up as well, while waiting for (more like, earning) their forever placement. Lots of colourful characters populate this imaginative setting, that nevertheless is only the tip of the iceberg, since Karolewski hints at a much larger universe - not to mention, he's got no less than six books planned for the series. At any rate, Valcara  is only partially the backdrop for this installment's events: the story has one foot firmly planted on Earth, and no, that doesn't make it (half) boring (not only because there's a generous amount of interdimensional chaos in the end 😂. Not saying more because...SPOILERS). [...]

Tell Me Something Tuesday: What's Your Favourite Supernatural Creature?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE SUPERNATURAL CREATURE?

Wow, I haven't written a TMST post - I mean, one that doubles as a discussion post - since the beginning of May...only the "Which books are you looking forward to reading" ones. I blame my frequent hiatuses and the amount of books I've had to write reviews for, but mostly, I've been too tired and pressed for time to add yet more posts to my blogging schedule. I hope to be able to participate more regularly in the future, but don't hold your breath...

OK, so - I guess it comes as no surprise to you that while I'm not particularly fond of vampires, were-whatever, zombies, faes/faeries or any other fantasy creatures (though I've occasionally read about some of them, and I've watched 15 seasons of Supernatural 😅), I'm TRASH for ghosts. My obsession passion started with the very first YA book I read, back in the '90s: Remember Me by Christopher Pike (the first installment in the namesake trilogy). To be precise, I'm trash for everything that has to do with the afterlife, as this blog page testifies - so, basically, I ADORE stories set in the Great Beyond as well - but there's something about dead characters who don't want to stay dead, or try to connect/interact with the living (or to scare them LOL), or investigate the reason for their own demise, that makes me weak in the knees. I'm not even sure why they intrigue me so much? Maybe it's because coming back from the dead (sorta) or touching the living is the peak of impossibility, the ultimate cheat AND rebellion - and I LOVE all things impossible and subversive. Also, there's so much potential for a heartbreaking-yet-heartwarming story to be told, both from the ghost's POV and from their loved ones'. Whatever the reason...I love ghosts, and I always will - so keep them coming, please and thank you 👻.

Josh Winning: "Burn the Negative"

Title: Burn the Negative [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Josh Winning [Site | Goodreads | Other Goodreads (as Joshua Winning)]
Genres: Thriller/Mystery, Supernatural
Year: 2023
Age: 18+ (but it can be read by mature teens)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Compulsive read. Wild spin on the Cursed Movie/Final Girl tropes.
Cons: The often concise writing style tends to create a sort of detachment. None of the characters is what you would call "likeable" (which is more or less the point, though, I guess).
WARNING! Suicide, some gruesome deaths, fire, vomiting. Child abuse, kidnapping, gaslighting, parent with memory loss.
Will appeal to: Fans of slasher movies (with a twist). People who have never seen one, but love an off-the-wall, blood-soaked mystery with a social-commentary angle.

Blurb: Arriving in L.A. to visit the set of a new streaming horror series, journalist Laura Warren witnesses a man jumping from a bridge, landing right behind her car. Here we go, she thinks. It’s started. Because the series she’s reporting on is a remake of a ’90s horror flick. A cursed ’90s horror flick, which she starred in as a child - and has been running from her whole life. In The Guesthouse, Laura played the little girl with the terrifying gift to tell people how the Needle Man would kill them. When eight of the cast and crew died in ways that eerily mirrored the movie’s on-screen deaths, the film became a cult classic - and ruined her life. Leaving it behind, Laura changed her name and her accent, dyed her hair, and moved across the Atlantic. But some scripts don’t want to stay buried. Now, as the body count rises again, Laura finds herself on the run with her aspiring actress sister and a jaded psychic, hoping to end the curse once and for all - and to stay out of the Needle Man’s lethal reach. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: While Josh and I go a long way and I've beta-read for him in the past, for this book he sought help from a friend of his who's an expert on the horror genre - plus I didn't get the chance to read an eARC because the publisher didn't approve my request (this publisher isn't the same one that put out Josh's previous novel, and apparently, they have a different marketing strategy). But of course this isn't Josh's fault, and I continue to support his writing (not to mention, I know that more adventures in beta-reading are in the pipeline 😉). So I purchased a copy of Burn the Negative, and here's my honest review.

SLASHING AND TWISTING

Burn the Negative has been advertised as a homage to classic slasher movies...which I'm not a fan of, simply because I don't do movies. But as with Josh's previous title The Shadow Glass - which is a homage to classic fantasy movies, such as Labyrinth and The Neverending Story - it doesn't matter...or, well, it probably does, but not so much. Maybe you'll enjoy the story more if you're in tune with the genre and can catch all the big and small references to its movie counterparts; but then again, there's a tiny chance that the outrageous twist Winning pulls towards the end will sit better with people who are thinking outside the "slasher movie" box. I know it did with me, to the point that I upped my rating on the strength of that twist - AND of the ending, which cleverly subverts the Final Girl trope. Let's say that the twist will work better for you if you can appreciate wild turns of events that have a campy, yet horrifying quality, but go beyond shock value and sort of double up as social commentary. Admittedly, I was feeling a little underwhelmed during the first half of the story, while it cycled through a series of popular horror movie tropes without adding a lot to them, but then the second half picked up and started to deliver twist after twist, bringing Winning's brilliant vision to fruition. [...]

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #45 The Seanan McGuire by Any Other Name Edition (Part 3)

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear, I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Clara Kumagai: "Catfish Rolling"

Title: Catfish Rolling [on Amazon | on Amazon UK | on Goodreads] (Note: this isn't technically an ARC review, since I got my copy from the US-based publisher Amulet Books/Abrams, but Zephyr/Head of Zeus/Bloomsbury issued the UK version back in March; the US version is coming out this month. Also, I decided to use the UK-version blurb because it's less spoilery)
Series: None
Author: Clara Kumagai [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2023
Age: 14+
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Original, poetical, thought-provoking. Rich in Japanese mythology and culture without being overwhelming.
Cons: If you're the kind of reader who needs all the answers, you might get frustrated.
WARNING! The main character experiences the loss of a parent during an earthquake, and has to deal with her other parent's deteriorating memory. There's the (tame) prelude to a sex scene that happens offscreen.
Will appeal to: Those who can appreciate a quirky and quiet (yet engrossing) story about grief, memory and the relative quality of time.

Blurb: There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls. Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones - the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces. But it's dangerous there - and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself... (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Edelweiss. Thanks to Amulet Books (Abrams) for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

LESS IS MORE

Books that deal with time paradoxes are my kryptonite (among other things, that is), and magical realism is one of my favourite genres, so I was looking forward to reading a story where the two things intertwined for a change - since most time paradoxes are usually encapsulated in a sci-fi narrative. I found the premise of this novel fascinating - an earthquake capable of breaking time and creating a series of  "fast zones" and "slow zones" with different rules, in one of which the protagonist's mother could perhaps still be trapped years after vanishing in the quake itself. The funny thing is, the story ended up going in a different direction that I had envisioned - until the last section, the effects of the fractured time were subtler than I expected, and the magical realism more subdued - and yet there was never a moment when I wished I was reading the kind of story that my imagination had conjured (the blurb has a certain ominous quality that the "zones" don't match, not in the way it leads you to believe. But the story doesn't need to venture into supernatural or horror territory to hold the reader's interest). [...]

Seanan McGuire: "Lost in the Moment and Found"

Title: Lost in the Moment and Found [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Wayward Children (8th of ?? books)
Author: Seanan McGuire [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural (technically it would be Portal Fantasy, but since I don't have a Fantasy Room in my blog, I decided to shelf this one as Supernatural - that's the closest I could get)
Year: 2023
Age: 14+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: An imaginative look-in-reverse at one of the most common fantasy tropes. Creative, harsh but compassionate, poetical. Could work as a cautionary tale for kids in potentially abusive environments.
Cons: Darker and sadder than the previous installments. Due to the brevity of the story, the shop/portal at its center doesn't live up to its potential.
WARNING! Parent death (on page). Grooming and adult gaslighting.
Will appeal to: Everyone who's ever been betrayed or threatened by an adult. Everyone who's ever felt out of place, but doesn't necessary dream of a happier world than the one they live in...

Blurb: Welcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.

Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He’s not in the Shop, and she’ll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she finds that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds. And stepping through those doors exacts a price.

Lost in the Moment and Found tells us that childhood and innocence, once lost, can never be found. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: A while ago, I decided I wouldn't write full reviews anymore for certain types of books, including novellas. But since I've been reviewing this series in full from the start, I'm making an exception here, and I intend to go on doing so for all its future installments. So, I'll keep writing a mini review after my first read, and a full one after my second.

GETTING REAL

Fair warning: if, like me, you crave all things magical and bizarre, and you vibe more with teen characters than with their younger counterparts, you might struggle a bit with the 8th installment in the Wayward Children series, namely its beginning. LITMAF has a much younger protagonist than the ones we've encountered in the previous books, and though the series as a whole does "dark" a lot, in this case the darkness is rooted in a familial loss, and in a very human threat instead of a fantasy one. So, if you're anything like me, you'll agree that Antsy's experience in her abusive environment is a story that will always need to be told (though it's unclear if it may work as a cautionary tale for kids, since the series has a much older audience), and you'll feel and root for her - but you'll also hardly recognise the series that you've grown to love, while caught up in a story that might very well be ripped from the headlines (it's a very intimate and personal one instead, as the "Author's note" states, but you know what I mean). Not to mention, Antsy's ordeal prior to finding her door takes up 1/3 of the book, which makes it the longest origin story in the series so far. I'm here to tell you that, if any of this bothers you, reading the next book in the series (which I have, indeed, read in ARC form while I'm writing this review) should change your perspective, and that if you ever go back to reading LITMAF for the second time (which I did), you'll probably gain a new appreciation for it; but as far as first impressions go, you've been tipped off. [...]    

Offbeat Offline: September 2023 (Back and Meaning Business)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Oh, you know, the average blog hiatus. Except I spent it reading, and reviewing, and scheduling October/November posts 😂. It's funny, because as soon as I decide to sit a month out and only read for fun, I'm suddenly feeling overwhelmed by all the books I still have to review - ARCs, but not only - and I start to produce blog posts for the post-hiatus months. I have 6 more posts lined up for October...😮. Also, I got both good and bad news on the money front. The housekeeping, in the meantime, continued to suffer...

Offbeat Offline: August 2023 (...and a New, Month-Long Hiatus)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? New heatwave, new eye visit, and I watched Good Omens 2 🤩. Nothing actually bad occurred (OK, nothing actually good either, but I'll still call it a win?), except for almost getting baked on the asphalt/having a heat-induced nervous breakdown at home multiple times...but thank goodness the season's worst is over now (I hope...). Also, I've been busy scheduling my October posts because I'm taking a blogging break on September...

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Which Books Are You Looking Forward to Reading This Fall? (September-November)

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHICH BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THIS FALL? (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER)

I don't know if I'll ever get around to buying all these books or when, since 1) early reviews and excerpts might cause me to change my mind in the future, and 2) given my current situation (see: unemployment status), book money is scarce...Anyhow, I wanted to give a bit of exposure to all the fall books that caught my eye (a really small number, especially compared to the summer ones), so here's my list (complete with pub dates)...

R.A. Sinn: "A Second Chance for Yesterday" (ARC Review)

Title: A Second Chance for Yesterday [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: R.A. Sinn [Twitter | Goodreads]
Genres: Sci-Fi
Year: 2023
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Intriguing, inventive sci-fi twist on the Merlin Sickness trope. Relatable lead.
Cons: Requires some suspension of disbelief. The temporal disruption and its consequences can get confusing. The family issue resolution feels unearned. The ending doesn't give straight answers (if that's something that bothers you).
WARNING! A few scenes involve vulgar/inappropriate male nudity.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy narratives that play with time. Those who love redemption arcs and star-crossed romances.

Blurb: Nev Bourne is a hotshot programmer for the latest and greatest tech invention out there: SavePoint, the brain implant that rewinds the seconds of all our most embarrassing moments. She’s been working non-stop on the next rollout, even blowing off her boyfriend, her best friend and her family to make SavePoint 2.0. But when she hits go on the test-run, she wakes up the next day only to discover it's yesterday. She's falling backwards in time, one day at a time. As things spiral out of control, a long-lost friend from college reappears in her life claiming they know how to save her. Airin is charming and mysterious, and somehow knows Nev intimately well. Desperate and intrigued, Nev takes a leap of faith. A friendship born of fear slowly becomes a bond of deepest trust, and possibly love. With time running out, and the whole world of SavePoint users at stake, Nev must learn what it will take to set things right, and what it will cost. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

SERIOUS FUN

Here's the thing: I love narratives that play with time because they're great fun (even the tragic ones, if you get my meaning). But I also love them because, at the same time (no pun intended), they're perfect to vehiculate philosophical concepts, or simply, to make you think. This one, while I'm not thrilled about the direction it went with regard to the family angle (more about that below - I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum), had a lot to say about ethics, redemption, and becoming, if not the best, at least a better version of yourself - and mind you, it managed to stay entertaining and to throw a few surprises at the reader in the process (though I should probably have seen at least one of them coming - but even if I didn't because I was engrossed with the story, and not because the twist was difficult to figure out, that's still a good thing!). [...]

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #44 A. Deborah Baker, Kate Alice Marshall, Kelsey Sutton

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear, I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Ann Christy: "The Never-Ending End of the World" (ARC Review)

Title: The Never-Ending End of the World [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Ann Christy [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Sci-Fi
Year: 2023
Age: 14+ (technically an adult book, but it can be read by mature and even younger teens)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Original take on the apocalypse. Engrossing and soulful.
Cons: The premise is a bit far-fetched in terms of scope (but hey, it's called "sci-fi" for a reason...).
WARNING! Some violence and blood (a mother taking a swipe at her child, too), though most of it is off-page.
Will appeal to: Those who crave an apocalypse book off the beaten path. Those who like stories that play with time (though not in a time-travel sense). Those who need for their sci-fi to have a lot of heart.

Blurb: Coco Wells hasn’t seen another living person since she was a teenager. All of Manhattan is reliving the same few seconds, minutes, or hours on a loop...and they have been for years. Coco scavenges for food, reads, and - most importantly - avoids loopers. She’s learned the painful lesson that a broken loop can mean death. After eight years of solitude, learning to survive and precisely timing the loops that weave around the city, Coco wonders what lies beyond New York and what has become of the rest of the world. As she leaves home for the first time, one question haunts her above all: “Am I the only one left?” (Amazon excerpt)

Review:  First off...DISCLAIMER: this book was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section) and Edelweiss (where it was free to download as well). Thanks to Campfire Publishing for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

For once, I'm going to be that person and start my review with a "target audience" caveat: I don't usually gravitate towards post-apocalyptic stories (though I've enjoyed some in the past), because while I love a book that makes me think, I'd rather not read a book that has the potential to make me suffer. With all the doom and gloom going on in my life (and, well, the world), what I need most - and look for in a story - is the chance to escape. But the (clever) title of this book caught my eye, and its (exciting) premise called to me, so I downloaded it before my mind made the leap to "post apocalypse"...and I'm so glad that I did, because it blew my socks off. The survival aspect turned out to be inextricably intertwined with the exciting premise I mentioned above, in ways I couldn't even have started to imagine; so, for all purposes, TNEEOTW is far from your average story about struggling to survive in a world gone to pieces - which is why you needn't worry about not being a post-apocalypse kind of reader, as long as broken-time-centered speculative fiction, moral dilemmas and ragtag bands of heroes are your jam. [...]

Offbeat Offline: July 2023 (Trudging On, but With Books)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? A new eye scare, more hair woes and a never-ending heatwave that felt more like a deathwave. I'm aware that all I do in these monthly recaps is complain about whatever, but this is my life, y'all. And this blog is the only outlet I have where to get stuff off my chest, so please bear with me...Every time I try to make it short (if not sweet), but HAHA NOPE WHAT DOES "SHORT" MEAN 😭.

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #43 Britney S. Lewis, Marie Hoy-Kenny, Seanan McGuire

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

Rebekah Bergman: "The Museum of Human History" (ARC Review)

Title: The Museum of Human History [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Rebekah Bergman [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Sci-Fi, Contemporary
Year: 2023
Age: 18+ (but it can be read by mature teens)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Original, poetical, compassionate.
Cons: As with most books with a large cast, it's hard to get attached to all its characters.
WARNING! Drowning (off-page). Death by cancer (off-page).
Will appeal to: Those who like a deep, yet accessible meditation on the meaning of time and memory.

Blurb: After nearly drowning, eight-year-old Maeve Wilhelm falls into a strange comatose state. As years pass, it becomes clear that Maeve is not physically aging. A wide cast of characters finds themselves pulled toward Maeve, each believing that her mysterious “sleep” holds the answers to their life’s most pressing questions. As Maeve remains asleep, the characters grapple with a mysterious new technology and medical advances that promise to ease anxiety and end pain, but instead cause devastating side effects. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Edelweiss. Thanks to W.W. Norton/Tin House Books for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

ORGANIC PALETTE

I have to be honest: given the premise (the comatose little girl who doesn't age), I expected this book to be more on the magical-realism side, which...it really isn't. Anyhow, there's an element of fabulism in Bergman's storytelling that almost makes me vary of using the sci-fi label for this novel, though it incorporates futuristic technology and ultimately revolves around a certain scientific breakthrough (which, conversely, will end up causing devastating outcomes). I think the best way to describe TMOHH is speculative fiction, yet rendered with a poetical tone, and at the same time set against the realistic backdrop of very human feelings like pain, regret and fear - of losing our memories and the version of ourselves that we've gotten most attached to, and of departing this world without leaving a mark on it, or at least having someone who'll remember us when we're gone. [...]

Sara Flannery Murphy: "The Wonder State" (ARC Review)

Title: The Wonder State [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Sara Flannery Murphy [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2023
Age: 14+ (I shelved it as Adult because of the characters' age in the present, but it can be read by teens; also, the protagonists are teens in the flashbacks)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Engrossing, unique twist on the "estranged-friends-with-a-dark-secret-are-back-in-town-to-face-their-past" trope. Mostly fleshed-out characters with complex relationships.
Cons: Not much diversity. The one Black (and gay) character feels less developed than the others.
WARNING! Blood, gore, violence and some disturbing imagery. Adult abuse on kids (not of the sexual kind).
Will appeal to: Those who love a dark, yet poetical story steeped in magic. Those who enjoy adult-vs.-teen timelines.

Blurb: Five friends arrive back in Eternal Springs, the small town they all fled after high-school graduation. Each of them is drawn home by a cryptic, scrawled two-word letter: You promised. It has been fifteen years since that life-changing summer, and they're anxious to find out why Brandi called them back, especially when they vowed never to return. But Brandi is missing. She'd been acting erratically for months, in and out of rehab, railing at whoever might listen about magic all around them. About a power they can't see. And strange houses that appear only when you need them... (Amazon)

Review:  First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

WONDERFUL RAINBOW

When I first read the synopsis of this book, it called to me...but after I placed my NG request, I realised that it was unclear if Brandi's mental health was damaged and she was hallucinating the houses, so by the time my acceptance email came, I was praying that TWS wasn't one of THOSE novels - you know, the ones where mental health issues are treated like plot devices. I'm pleased to say this wasn't the case, and actually, this book delivered even more than I expected it to. Also, if you've read Stephen King's It or Dan Hanks' Swashbucklers (which I enjoyed and reviewed last year), and you're wondering how much novelty a story about a group of estranged friends reuniting in the wake of a tragedy can hold, the answer is: a great deal. TWS is part mystery, part adult drama, part coming-of-age story (thanks to the dual timeline), flirting with portal fantasy by way of magical realism and a touch of horror. I know it sounds a bit too much, but the way Murphy weaves it all together, it works like a charm.