Taste the Books: Review Morsels #53 Charlene Thomas, Marisha Pessl, Jennifer Brozek et al.

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.

Mira Gonzalez: "The Darkness Behind the Door" (ARC Review)

Title: The Darkness Behind the Door [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Mira Gonzalez [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural (not exactly...but I don't have a Fantasy Room in my blog, so that's the closest I could get), Contemporary
Year: 2024
Age: 14+ (technically, this is a NA book, but suitable for younger teens as well. See the WARNING! section though)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Gripping, cinematic and ultimately heartwarming (though with a side of sadness), with easy-to-love characters. Combines two tropes that never get old in a fresh combo.
Cons: At least one of the major reveals isn't hard to see coming. The prose would have benefited from a little more editing.
WARNING! (TW list provided by the author): Blood, gore, death, suicide, religious trauma, homophobia, profane language, implied sexual content, drug use. (More): Bullying, car accident, kidnapping, grief.
Will appeal to: Those who like a blend of mayhem, magic, mystery and memories. Those who don't mind a sizeable amount of queer awakening/coming-of-age, slow-burn romance and familial love spiking up such blend.

Blurb: When a phantom moose nearly runs Theo's car off an icy Alaskan road, Theo succumbs to curiosity, following the moose's trail to a door hidden amongst the trees. Despite the threat of becoming the latest victim in a string of mysterious disappearances, Theo crosses the threshold. To his horror, the door vanishes, stranding him in a monster-infested alternate reality. Looming adult responsibilities are forgotten as Theo must fight just to survive. Inside the surreal dimension behind the door, Theo finds allies who hold the encroaching darkness at bay: a sword-wielding man named Archer with a strange case of amnesia, and a shapeshifting dragon named Zephyr. A sinister phenomenon threatens to consume Theo as he grapples with his sense of identity and growing feelings for Archer; the longer he remains in this realm, the more his own memories slip away. With darkness closing in and his time running out, Theo must unravel the secrets his companions harbor and confront his own inner demons if he hopes to find a way back to the world he knows before all is lost to the shadows. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

OF TWO MINDS

Let's get it out of the way: this book is a VERY difficult one to review without spoilers. What starts as your average portal fantasy novel (though with a college-aged protagonist, which makes it different enough) soon takes an unexpected turn - or more like a series of them - and morphs into a coming-of-age story with one foot firmly planted in reality. The clues to the final reveal are all there, but the author does a great job of covering her tracks (except in one case - at least one of the twists was easy to figure out, though I didn't expect its follow-up) and unfolding the truth a bit at a time. Then again, the imaginative setting(s), immersive adventures and sweet, slow-burn romance are guaranteed to redirect your attention from the most telling details 😉. Come for the engrossing, cleverly built alternate reality, suspended between coziness and horror/despair, and the mystery behind it; stay for the engaging characters searching for their place in life, and battling trauma and personal demons (not all of them metaphorical) as much as they do the monsters and darkness in their portal universe. [...]

Offbeat Offline: October 2024 (Back and Refreshed…Ha, I Wish)

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? Not much, though I have some medical updates. Unsurprisingly, my housekeeping plans got derailed, but I managed to catch up with my ARCs up to January (which were my whole deal until I, ahem, requested more and was approved for some😅...they're all spring books bar one though, so I have time), and even to squeeze in a couple of non-ARCs.

Offbeat Offline: September 2024 (Plus Announcing the Last Hiatus of the Year)

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? Basically nothing - nothing new at least (I'll take it as a win). After the third visit in 20 days, I've been told my retina is still intact, but I should do a check-up in 3 or 4 months. My husband's ulcer is going well. The heat has receded. I've read the last book in one of my favourite series ever. It could be worse...and it often has been, so 🤐.

Daniel Church: "The Ravening" (ARC Review)

Title: The Ravening [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Daniel Church [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery, Horror
Year: 2024
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Intriguing premise. Badass and resourceful heroine. Tight action. Fascinating dreamworld.
Cons: The supernatural aspect is a lot less prominent than one would expect, until late in the story. The main character can be abrasive and goes from mistrust to love in a jiffy. The "historical" interpolations are a bit tedious and not really necessary. There's a questionable sex scene, and a string of repetitions ("babe", "girl" "stupid cow") that get old fast.
WARNING! Blood, gore, violence, murder, dismemberment, near-drowning, fire. Familial trauma, kidnapping, imprisonment, forced pregnancy, attempted suicide, homophobia, bullying, copious swearing. Contains a detailed F/F sex scene.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy a mixture of thriller and supernatural with plenty of action. Those who can get behind a tough female character without a maternal bone in her body.

Blurb: Jenna's life has always been a fight. From the traumatic and mysterious loss of her mother on a dark woodland road when she was fifteen, to the abusive and controlling boyfriend she's recently escaped, she has learned that trust hurts you in the end. Now Jenna's found what she hopes is happiness with her new girlfriend, Holly. But the world is full of darkness - some of it ancient, some of it closer to home... Evil, and those who serve it, will not let Jenna go. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Edelweiss. Thanks to Watkins Publishing LTD/Angry Robot for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

MAGICAL CRESCENDO

I'll be honest: I expected The Ravening to be less of an action-y thriller and more of a "classic" supernatural haunting. But though I would have liked to spend more time in the dreamworld Church created because it was super-cool (and because that's how I roll 😉), I appreciated how he slowly introduced more and more supernatural cues into a seemingly average (well, in a manner of speaking) abduction-and-escape story, only to finally give the fantastical elements center stage and reveal the mythological foundations of his narrative (I'm not going to be more specific in order to avoid spoilers, but basically, Church put a wild and creative spin on a well-known classical myth). It's a testament to the author's ability to weave a tale that never lets up - and to come up with a flawed, yet relatable and strong heroine - if I was able to enjoy a story employing one of my less favourite narrative devices (the aforementioned abduction-and-escape), so chances are that those of you who aren't fond of this kind of stories will be entertained enough to read on, and get to the supernatural bits in all their glory 🙂. [...]

B.C. Johnson: "Deadgirl: Gravedust" (ARC Review)

Title: Deadgirl: Gravedust [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Deadgirl (5th of 5 books, but there's also a novella about a side character that is chronologically book 2.5 in the series - though best read after book 3 if you want to avoid a spoiler about its ending)
Author: B.C. Johnson [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy
Year: 2024
Age: 14+
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Imaginative plot. Excellent pacing. Emotional kaleidoscope. Flawed yet lovable characters who manage to feel realistic in the middle of mayhem.
Cons: Darker than the previous installments. A certain twist brings some issues with it.
WARNING! Horror, gore and heartbreak (both for the characters and the readers). Guns, knifes/swords, rats, fires/burns, vampirism (on people and animals, the latter off-page), eye and leg injury, near-drowning, suicide (off-page). Lots of language.
Will appeal to: Those who love peculiar undead protagonists. Those who enjoy a mix of cinematic action and strong feelings. Those who like brave, resourceful teens who don't pose as heroes, but are set on saving the world whatever the price (and manage to love a lot in the process).

Blurb: For Lucy and her friends, the end is here. The deals they've made have fallen apart, and their enemies prepare a final attack on everything Team Deadgirl holds dear. An army of monsters out of a nightmare arrives on their doorstep, but Lucy, Morgan, Zack, and Daphne are scattered, unprepared, and alone. When an old villain turns out not to be as dead as they appeared - which is sort of Lucy's thing - the team again faces the one girl they were never able to defeat. And she isn't just seeking revenge against Lucy. She's after something far worse. (Amazon)

Review:  First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. And the author being B.C. Johnson, you all know I've been campaigning for his first Deadgirl book with all my might since 2013, when I read the original version. Also, B.C. Johnson and me have stayed in touch, if sporadically, for the whole time. I'm not what you would call a friend of his though, only a fan of his work. And an unbiased one. As usual, this review is the love child of my penchant for quirky, uniquely worded books and B.C. Johnson's ability to deliver them.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

How do you review the last book in a saga you've been invested in for almost twelve years? How do you find the words to say goodbye to a world and a cast that you aren't, will never be ready to let go, and yet (you agree, you see the point) went out with a spectacular, incredibly satisfying bang? First thing first - Deadgirl: Gravedust is what every series ending should be: high-octane, twist-serving, and emotionally destroying, but in a good way. (Wait, is there a good way? You bet there is). In this last installment, Johnson puts every idea, mood, plot thread, side character (alive and dead) that have ever been incorporated into the story to fruition, which is an impressive feat in itself, and shows how he's been playing the long game all along, though the first Deadgirl was just a standalone novel with sequel(s) potential when it was published (well, the author had ideas for those sequels, but I don't know how structured at the time - what I know is, he changed a bunch of them during his writing journey. And yet...). Gravedust is a colossal showdown (not only because it could be a legit superhero blockbuster, only with teens), and it's a chorus line's last bow after a terrific performance, because all of this has been as much about Lucy - the girl who stubbornly refused to die on her first date - as it has been about all her friends and family and allies, in more ways than one. Whether a character in this book is alive or dead, just bruised or badly injured in the end - and regardless of their lives still being a work in progress, because of course they are, and clear-cut endings are a lie - we get closure about them, or as much closure as we can. And it's funny, and it's sad, and it's beautiful. [...]

Isabel Strychacz: "House of Thorns" (ARC Review)

Title: House of Thorns [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Isabel Strychacz [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2024
Age: 14+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Fresh, atmospheric take on the haunted/magical/evil house trope. Engaging (if sometimes flawed) characters.
Cons: The first section is a bit lackluster. There's some confusion about the protagonist's age. The addiction theme is ultimately brushed aside.
WARNING! Grief, panic attacks, anxiety/PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse (offscreen), near-drowning, death of a parent who no longer lives with the family.
Will appeal to: Those who like creepy, but not downright gruesome stories. Those who enjoy sisterly dynamics and a pinch of childhood-friends romance. Most of all, those who are fond of mysterious houses and shifting realities.

Blurb: Five years ago, the Peartrees fled their home - the infamous ancestral Brier Hall - and never looked back. But her oldest sister went missing that night, and there’s been no sign of her since. In the aftermath, the Peartrees are traumatized and get by however they can. Lia’s remaining sister Ali says yes to any bad idea, and Lia tries so desperately to be the perfect daughter that it’s tearing her apart. But as the five year anniversary of the night they left nears, Lia begins seeing her missing sister everywhere. When Ali disappears with no warning except a cryptic phone call, Lia is sure she’s gone back to Brier Hall. Lia must go home one final time and face what haunts her in an effort to find her sisters and uncover the truth of her past. (Amazon excerpt)

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

ON THE HOUSE

I've been reading so many supernatural (or in one case, multiverse) books with houses at their center lately, and yet each and every one of them has managed to bring something different (and creative) to the table. I can happily report that House of Thorns is no exception. I'll be honest...it's a bit of a slow burn, and at first I thought it was a fairly run-of-the-mill modern gothic story, but when the mystery about the house started to get unraveled, I was hooked. Told from teen and kid Lia's perspectives, with the interpolation of some chapters from Brier Hall's point of view (which is not a gimmick, but a narrative device that does add a pivotal angle to the story, plus it's really cool), House of Thorns is a novel that blurs the lines between the past and the present, the haunter and the haunted - and even the ultimately familiar trope at its core feels fresh and exciting (OK, a bit heartbreaking too) in this context. While on the surface a tale of (strained) sisterly relationships and childhood trauma, on a deeper level HOT is about the need to belong and to find someone who will fill our empty spaces, a need embodied by the emotional entanglement between a young woman and a house who loves her back - if in a twisted way. Which makes for a melancholic and creepy narrative that works very well with the supernatural, time-bending quality of the story and the sisterhood theme. [...]

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #52 Emet North, Cheryl Isaacs, Sofia Ajram

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.

Tell Me Something Tuesday: What Day in Your Life Would You Like to Relive?

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 DAY IN YOUR LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE TO RELIVE?

Truth be told...none. As Lewis Carroll would put it,

"It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." (Alice in Wonderland)

If I could go back (as in, shove my grown-up mind in my younger body, I assume?) to one of the (few) capital-happy days of my life (like when I met my once-favourite singer for the first time), I would indeed be a different person, or the people in it would mean nothing to me anymore because I've become too far-removed from them, or I would be aware that the joy I felt back then was based on false premises. There isn't a single happy day that I can think of that wouldn't be tainted by the turn my life has taken since then, or by my present awareness of things I didn't realise at the time, or by my knowing I should have taken a different path, sometimes even in that very moment, and built a better life for myself. So...if you asked me, would you like to go back to a certain day and tell your younger self to live her life differently, I'd say yes, please, take me back NOW. But the happy days of the past are better left alone. That naive, hopeful girl will never come back anymore.

Sarah Hollowell: "What Stalks Among Us"

Title: What Stalks Among Us [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Sarah Hollowell [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Contemporary
Year: 2023
Age: 14+
Stars: 4.5/5
Pros: Spectacular premise that delivers all along. Lots of (often literal) twists and turns. Powerful friendship dynamic. Fat rep. Addresses lots of important topics (see the WARNING! section).
Cons: A couple of plot points ended up being red herrings of sorts or getting no explanations.
WARNING! (TW list provided by the author): Physical, emotional, and psychological abuse; aspects of abuse including victim blaming, isolation, manipulation, and gaslighting; mental illness (depression, anxiety, PTSD), self-harm (cutting), death, violence (gunshots, stabbing, strangulation), gore and body horror.
Will appeal to: Those who are in for a time-looping supernatural mystery with a strong contemporary core.

Blurb: Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan ditch their end-of-year field trip to the amusement park in favor of exploring some old, forgotten backroads. The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. When they stumble on the corpses in the maze, identical to them in every way (if you can ignore the stab and gunshot wounds) they quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot. And no matter what they try, they can’t figure out what - or who - is hunting them. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I requested this book on NetGalley last year to no avail. It turns out that (regardless of my small following, that might very well have been the reason for the rejection) I was a potential champion for it all along, because I kept it on my radar, I ultimately read it all the same and I loved it! (It doesn't hurt that it matches my blog aesthetic so well LOL).

A-MAZE ME

You know that feeling when a book has got an exciting premise, except the story doesn't make it justice? Well, nothing of the sort happened here. What Stalks Among Us (genius title, BTW) delivered on all counts, keeping me on my toes with all the twist and turns of the plot and the setting alike. I was invested in the mystery and the outcome (plus other aspects that I'll talk about later), but regardless, navigating the maze was a ton of fun in itself, a never-ending source of surprises and exhilarating moments. Also, the maze had a timey-wimey quality that I dug a lot, with intersecting temporal planes and even a number of loops - not to mention, it sometimes reacted to its visitors' (or better, prisoners') presence in very specific ways. I have to admit that not every one of the labyrinth's peculiarities made complete sense (neither did its genesis - knowing what I know now, I would have expected something different than a corn maze at the very least): e. g., I'm not sure how two instances of the same character could coexist, since it seemed at odds with the premise, and Sadie's connection to the maze and the significance of the sheep skeleton were never explained (though I have a theory about the former...but then again, it's contradicted by what happened with another character). But on the whole, the worldbuilding was well-executed and full of interesting angles (and paths...and more angles...see what I did here? 😉). [...]

Offbeat Offline: August 2024

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? THE HEAT. And...oops...a new eye problem for me, because of course. That's it. Well, I mean, my husband's ulcer is slowly but steadily getting better at last...but goodness, THE HEAT. I've been numb for the whole month, barely reading, barely reviewing, eating the usual assortment of quick/cold dishes, with the who-cares attitude of a cavewoman (primordial-instincts-only mode activated). Seriously, THE HEAT 🥵 😭. And then, the eye.

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...(I got most of these in eARC form though! See below). Anyhow, I wanted to give a bit of exposure to all the fall books that caught my eye, so here's my list (complete with pub dates)...

Katrina Monroe: "Through the Midnight Door" (ARC Review)

Title: Through the Midnight Door [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Katrina Monroe [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery, Horror
Year: 2024
Age: 18+
Stars: 4.5/5
Pros: Creative twist on the magical/evil house trope. Excellent characterisation.
Cons: The supernatural experiences inside the house could have been fleshed out more. A familial problem gets resolved too easily. There's some confusion about the characters' ages (though for all I know, it might have been fixed in the finished version).
WARNING! Blood and gore, implied suicide, self-harm, abuse/child abuse (not sexual), poverty, child loss, kidnapping, stalking, manipulation, alcoholism, vomiting, car-crash imagery, bug horror, fires. On the mental-health side: PTST, paranoia, OCD, depression, grief, guilt, generational trauma.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy a visceral examination of trauma and strained sisterly relationships on the backdrop of an atmospheric supernatural thriller.

Blurb: The Finch sisters once spent long, hot summers exploring the dozens of abandoned properties littering their dying town - until they found an impossible home with an endless hall of doors…and three keys left waiting for them. Curious, fearless, they stepped inside their chosen rooms, and experienced horrors they never dared speak of again. Now, years later, youngest sister Claire has been discovered dead in that old, desiccated house. Haunted by their sister's suicide and the memories of a past they've struggled to forget, Meg and Esther find themselves at bitter odds. As they navigate the tensions of their brittle relationship, they draw unsettling lines between Claire's death, their own haunted memories, and a long-ago loss no one in their family has ever been able to face. With the house once again pulling them ever-closer, Meg and Esther must find the connection between their sister's death and the shadow that has chased them across the years...before the darkness claims them, too. (Amazon)

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

SISTERS IN HARMS

Haunted/cursed/magical/evil houses have been a horror trope for ages, and 2024 in particular turned out to be rife of novels that put them front and center - I've read three in the last weeks alone, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. This is why it's all the more remarkable that some authors are still able to spin a fresh story around spooky mansions, as it's the case with Through the Midnight Door. I'll be honest though - in this book, it's the complex, often frayed relationship between three sisters (and their characterisation as individuals, or with regard to other people) that steals the scene. That's not to say that the house portion of the story doesn't deliver, though I expected a tad more (I'll come to that in a minute), and there's no denying that the other supernatural occurrences sprinkled throughout the novel are appropriately chilling - but the sisterly dynamic remains the core of the narrative, and a strong one at that. Through the Midnight Door weaves sibling rivalry/dependency, dysfunctional and toxic relationships, familial trauma, mental health issues, yet it's an uplifting story in what its protagonists are doing their best to bring justice to their dead sister, conquer the darkness that's trying to engulf them, and ultimately, find their way back to each other. [...]

The Blogger Freakout Tag

Hello sweeties,

it's been ages since I did a post other than a review, TMST installment or monthly recap...but I saw this tag on Lissa's blog, and I thought it was fun (plus I'm procrastinating on my reviews, as usual, and this is a neat excuse not to write one 😅)...so here I am, answering her questions. Feel free to do the same either in the comments or on your own blog (and hers, of course). And now, without further ado...let's freak out!

Cherie Priest: "The Drowning House" (ARC Review)

Title: The Drowning House [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Cherie Priest [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller/Mystery, Horror
Year: 2024
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Creative premise. Interesting, atmospheric mix of thriller and supernatural (namely, Norse mythology). Strong characterisation/character dynamics.
Cons: The protagonists' bickering and ego trips can get annoying at times. A couple of plot points lack strong foundations.
WARNING! Near-drowning, human remains, fires/explosions.
Will appeal to: Those who like a slow-burn, creepy mystery (but with a frantic climax) on the backdrop of old friendships and even older family secrets.

Blurb: A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers - but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all. Now they'll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place - and on the way they'll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he's bringing back to Marrowstone Island. (Amazon)

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

DOUBLE ROOM

How many books can you count that start with a housewreck? To the best of my knowledge, there are none; so I was immediately drawn to this story, where a dilapidated mansion washes up on a small town's shore causing the death of an old woman, Mrs Culpepper - not for the reasons you may expect - and the disappearance of her nephew Simon. I mean, the concept is awesome...though the aforementioned house ends up being of less consequence than I anticipated, while Mrs Culpepper's house is more central to the story (not only because Melissa and Leo, the two main characters, camp out in there). There are two levels to the mystery of the ominous mansion on the beach: one of them isn't particularly hard to crack, even before we get the wreckage's backstory (I'm referring to its origins - though where it's coming from NOW it's a different kettle of fish altogether, and we never get an answer for that, even if I have a theory), the rest is revealed bit by bit via some appalling discoveries the two protagonists make inside the other house, the one where they're staying, and thanks to some sniping of their own. The juxtaposition of typical thriller structure and supernatural content (namely, Norse magic/mythology) works very well, and the flashbacks into Melissa, Leo and Simon's childhood/young adulthood under Mrs Culpepper's wing are not only integral to the story (and necessary for character development), but also charming and poignant. [...]

Abigail Miles: "The Building That Wasn't" (ARC Review)

Title: The Building That Wasn't [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Abigail Miles [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Multiverse, Sci-Fi, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2024
Age: 16+ (the book is geared towards adults, but can be read by mature teens)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Merges a few sci-fi tropes and puts a clever and creative spin on them. Employs a peculiar writing style.
Cons: The pace is slow at times. There's an impalpable distance between the reader and the characters.
WARNING! Blood, torture (mostly off-screen), violence, domestic violence (off-screen), fires, claustrophobic spaces.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy a creepy twist on the multiverse theory peppered with a generous dose of mad science, a sizeable amount of family secrets and a dash of romance.

Blurb: When Everly Tertium encounters a strange man in the park claiming to be her grandfather, she is invited to visit a mysterious apartment building. There, she finds herself in a constant state of déjà vu, impossibly certain that she’s already lived through these moments, already been introduced to these people, and already visited all of these rooms and floors. So why does she have no idea what’s happening to her? The longer she stays in the building, the more Everly becomes convinced there is more going on than meets the eye. Something is off, time seems to pass differently, and the people living there seem trapped. Slowly, Everly begins to wonder if she is trapped too. But would she even want to leave, if she could? (Amazon)

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

THROWN FOR A LOOP

The Building That Wasn't is one of those books - the ones you can't review at length lest you reveal too much. One of the genre label I used for it is a spoiler in itself, though it doesn't even begin to encompass the...peculiarity...or madness...of the situation as a whole. By way of introduction, suffice to say that, while the plot relies on a few familiar sci-fi tropes and themes, it combines and twists them (along with some new, intriguing ideas) into a complex, claustrophobic, at times brutal, yet ultimately hopeful tale. In a way, The Building That Wasn't reads almost like a modern (and dark) fable, due to both the writing style and the fractured timeline. As a matter of fact, the narrative weaves back and forth in time, with different characters at the forefront (briefly but effectively including the building itself, which is really cool), and though I guess some of the event depicted will make more sense on a second read, Miles managed to create an engaging web of mystery while giving out a piece of the puzzle at a time, if you pay attention. I must admit I was fooled when it comes to the identity of the mysterious Warden, who runs the building, because there could have been at least another contender for that role (I mean, in my opinion...even if a certain detail should have alerted me, but I interpreted it in a different way), and I didn't expect the story to unfold the way it did; but even if I had, it would have been worth my time nevertheless. [...]

Offbeat Offline: July 2024 (Back and Review-Packed)

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? Disappointing medical answers and a whole lot of heat. The only plus is that I managed to read a nice amount of books - I mean, for my standards...you know, since I spend so much time on the reviews afterwards, which severely hinders my reading. And even then, I cheated, because a couple of those books were short, and for a number of reasons, I wrote mini reviews for most of them...Anyhow, here goes my recap of July's most notable moments...

Offbeat Offline: June 2024 (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? Some doctor appointments for me and the hubs, and...that's it for my personal sphere. Also, we had both European and local elections, with dismaying results (though the left wing made a small comeback). Here goes my recap of June's most notable moments...

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Who’s Your Favourite Celebrity (Alive and/or Dead)?

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...

WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE CELEBRITY (ALIVE AND/OR DEAD)?

I used to be a music gal and not to care much about actors, until David Tennant entered my life in 2017. It was January 1st when I started to watch Doctor Who in earnest, and at the end of Season 1, when Christopher Eccleston's Doctor regenerated into Tennant's, I fell in love 😍 (I mean, not right away - I watched Tennant's introductory episode first...). Our relationship is somehow complicated by the fact that only a fraction of his hefty body of work was/is dubbed in Italian, and I hate to watch movies or series in the original language because spoken English is not my forte (and subtitles, where present, are distracting). But I adore him nevertheless, not only as an actor (and a pleasant one to watch 😁), but also as a human being who seems to have his heart in the right place. I'd love to meet him one day...but I'd probably make a fool of myself (especially due to having to find the right words in English without having the time to think them through like when I write a post), so maybe it's for the best that I don't get the chance to travel...

I mean, he could...look at me like this...and I would...asdfghjkl 😂.

Brandon Jones: "Whirly World"

Title: Whirly World [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Brandon Jones [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2023
Age: 14+ (I shelved it as Adult because of the characters' age, and it's indeed marketed to that demographic, but it can be read by teens)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Inventive, entertaining, humorous and emotional.
Cons: Due to the large number of characters, not all of them feel fully realised. The ending doesn't give all the answers.
WARNING! Drowning, fires, claustrophobic settings. We see a character collapse to death in a flashback.
Will appeal to: Those who love creative afterlife settings, carnival rides and accidental heroes.

Blurb: Theme-park blogger Jason Green is dead and his spirit is stuck inside Whirly World, his favorite place to be. What should be a dream come true turns into an abstract nightmare as Jason confronts malevolent forces trapping him there. Desperate to escape, he has to befriend the other ten ghosts inhabiting this afterlife, from a disgruntled hostess crushed under a revolving stage, to a bereft security guard that still thinks it's 1983, and combine their strange powers to dig up the park's mysterious past. (Amazon)

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

FUN FAIR

Afterlife meets theme park with a side of superpowers and time loops, all wrapped in a mystery: a recipe for fun, though peppered with some emotional moments (what with the characters being, you know, dead). For one, the premise is creative and intriguing: eleven employees or patrons of a famous amusement park who died on its grounds find themselves trapped in a ghostly version of the same park. Among them is Jason, a theme-park blogger who in life was probably the biggest Whirly World fan, but isn't necessarily thrilled not to be able to leave the place for mysterious reasons - not to mention, he can't even remember how he died. He sets on exploring the surroundings (which leads to a series of frustrating discoveries - frustrating for him, but again, making for lots of fun on the reader's part), and one by one he runs into his fellow resident ghosts, which creates some amusing dynamics (since Jason has written about their deaths in his blog, and coming face to face with some of them brings out the fanboy in him, if for a moment. [...]

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #51 Steven Dos Santos, Leon Kemp, Holly Rae Garcia

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.

Nadi Reed Perez: "The Afterlife of Mal Caldera" (ARC Review)

Title: The Afterlife of Mal Caldera [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Nadi Reed Perez [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife
Year: 2024
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Creative, riotous yet soulful spin on a series of classic afterlife/rock lifestyle tropes. A love letter to hope and life from the other side of the veil.
Cons: Too focused on the ghostly sex and partying (though it comes with the worldbuilding, to an extent).
WARNING! Suicide/attempted suicide, drug use, alcoholism. Familial abuse, depression, hospital internment, infidelity/promiscuity, grief.
Will appeal to: Those who like life-affirming stories, coming-of-age narratives (even after death) and found families.

Blurb: Mal Caldera - former rockstar, retired wild-child and excommunicated black sheep of her Catholic family - is dead. Not that she cares. She only feels bad that her younger sister, Cris, has been left to pick up the pieces Mal left behind. While her fellow ghosts party their afterlives away at an abandoned mansion they call the Haunt, Mal is determined to make contact with Cris from beyond the grave. She enlists the help of a reluctant local medium, Ren, and together, they concoct a plan to pass on a message to Cris. But the more time they spend together, the more they begin to wonder what might have been if they'd met before Mal died. Mal knows it’s wrong to hold on so tightly to her old life. Bad things happen to ghosts who interfere with the living, and Mal can't help wondering if she’s hurting the people she loves by hanging around, haunting their lives. But Mal has always been selfish, and letting go might just be the hardest thing she's ever had to do. (Amazon)

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

NEW DIRECTIONS

I have to be honest: the synopsis set my expectations for a different story than the one I got, up to an extent. I figured Mal's attempt to communicate with her sister (and maybe her success in doing so) would be the main focus, along with Mal and Ren's (the medium) doomed love story. It turns out that I was right about the second thing (again, up to an extent) and wrong about the first, because this book encompasses so many more themes and situations - though it mostly boils down to coming to terms with one's own death, forgiving oneself and becoming part of a found family, plus helping the living to change their existence for the better. This could have resulted in a sappy (and fairly typical) tale, except the author made some interesting choices that gave enough of a spin to a series of familiar tropes and managed to keep the narrative sharper and rawer than it could have been. For one, Mal Caldera hadn't reached stardom status yet before she met her untimely death, and she was as flawed and selfish as they come (still is, at the start of her afterlife - though the good thing is, she's self-aware about it). Likewise, if the rest of the cast projects a cliché appearance at first, this soon enough makes room for surprises and unexpected twists (for all purposes, so does the story). The setting and worldbuilding (I'm talking about the afterlife-dimension-on-Earth here) are imaginative and well thought-out, and the ghosts' mythology is the right blend of familiar and fresh. [...]

Quinn Connor: "The Pecan Children" (ARC Review)

Title: The Pecan Children [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Quinn Connor [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2024

Age: 16+ (I shelved it as Adult because of the characters' age, and it's indeed marketed to that demographic, but it can be read by mature teens. There are far more graphic YA books out there)

Stars: 5/5
Pros: Atmospheric, engrossing, spellbinding, inventive, ultimately hopeful.
Cons: Slow first half (if you prefer stories with more than a modicum of action). While the scope of the main twist (and its implications) will take readers completely by surprise, the authors dropped enough clues to have them figure out the basic truth early on. Some questions remain unanswered. The ending may be too open for certain readers.
WARNING! Fires/burns, wounds, near-drownings, some gore. Death of a parent (off-page). A couple of (tame) sex scenes.
Will appeal to: Those who like sibling narratives. Those who enjoy a mixture of cozy and unsettling, beauty and horror. Those who are in for a unique kind of haunting.

Blurb: In a small southern pecan town, the annual harvest is a time of both celebration and heartbreak. Even as families are forced to sell their orchards and move away, Lil Clearwater, keeper of a secret covenant with her land, swears she never will. When her twin Sasha returns to the dwindling town in hopes of reconnecting with the girl her heart never forgot, the sisters struggle to bridge their differences and share the immense burden of protecting their home from hungry forces intent on uprooting everything they love. But there is rot hiding deep beneath the surface. Ghostly fires light up the night, and troubling local folklore is revealed to be all too true. Confronted with the phantoms of their pasts and the devastating threat to their future, the sisters come to the stark realization that in the kudzu-choked South, nothing is ever as it appears. (Amazon)

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

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

The Pecan Children ended up going in a different direction than I had anticipated, and I mean it in the best possible sense. Based on the synopsis (which has all the reasons to be vague, since with books like this one, spoilers are just around the corner), I expected a contemporary story with a strong supernatural core - a troubled sibling relationship on the backdrop of a dilapidated town rife with secrets and malevolent forces. Now that I know what I know, I realise that the synopsis isn't meant to be misleading, and truth be told, it encapsulates the book fairly well...on a level. The fact is, The Pecan Children is SO. MUCH. MORE than its blurb lets on, and even if the authors start dropping a certain set of clues early in the story, I wasn't prepared for the scope and manner of the big reveal - and its implications. In hindsight, the twist is not only jaw-dropping and exciting, but it perfectly fits the claustrophobic, lethargic setting, and it's an equally perfect vehicle for the "allegory of decay in small-town America" the editorial notes promise. Also, in lieu of a supernatural mystery, this book turned out to be a strong specimen of the magical realism genre, though with elements that straddle the line between the two. Another pleasant surprise, since through the magical realism lens, the social commentary and sibling dynamic get to shine in a way that a mere supernatural context wouldn't have allowed. [...]

Offbeat Offline: May 2024

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? Basically, medical check-ups (with an unpleasant find) and perm difficulties (what's new?) for me, and a series of visits and consultations with regards to my husband's situation. This is still a work in progress, so to speak, so I'll be able to tell you more in my next Offbeat Offline installment. For now, here goes my recap of May's most notable moments...