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...