Offbeat Offline: April 2025

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? Again, nothing bad, but nothing good either, at least on the real-life front (though I'm quite pleased with the bookish one, to be honest). I beta-read, read a bit, reviewed a bit, and went on the same errands as the past three years or so. No energy for anything else...and no will either. This life is draining me, and I can't see a way out or a change coming, so I just sit here and read and blog and play word games to blow off steam...

📚 FEEDBACKS, EARLY COPIES AND DECISIONS. I read and reviewed more than I expected to (mostly mini reviews, but still), and as anticipated in my latest recap, I immersed myself in some of "my" authors' drafts. In detail, I beta-read for Erin Callahan (author of The Art of Escaping) and Josh Winning (author of The Shadow Glass, Burn the Negative and Heads Will Roll), caught up on reviews for upcoming books, and got a much anticipated ARC directly from the author (plus I was approved for two more). Also, I looked at all my unread anthologies with a Seanan McGuire story in them, and realised there was no point in forcing myself to read and review the whole books when most of the times the only stories that really appealed to me were hers. So, from now on I'm going to rate/review them on Goodreads on the basis of her entries only, and I won't review any of them on my blog unless I decide - and manage - to read the whole collection, or most of it at least. Huge burden unshouldered.

Approvals (3):

• The Garden of Before (The Between #2) by Ryan Leslie (Adult, supernatural/multiverse - the author reached out to me with an early copy, but it will be available on NetGalley at some point)

"That's what happens here, Paul. Every power has its price. It always gets worse."

For Paul Prentice things have gotten much worse. His house was destroyed in the battle with the Koŝmaro. He's on thin ice at his job, where instead of working he loses himself in the Between's computer game, trying in vain to find explanations. His best friend Jay has transformed into a shadowy killer. Corinne and Supriya have vanished. And it appears his wife, Julie, has finally had enough and left him.

Alone and near ruin, Paul receives a familiar visitor with a dire message: they are all back in the Between. Hunted, captured, doomed. For Paul, still wearing the serĉilo's artifact on his wrist, escape was never an option. The game must be played until the end.

In the harrowing conclusion to The Between, Leslie once again invites readers into a mind-twisting world where the most terrifying monsters are the ones let loose inside of us.

• And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun (YA, afterlife/paranormal)

When her older sister is found mysteriously drowned in the river that cuts through their small coastal town, Soojin Han disregards every rule and uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters are overjoyed, reveling in late-night escapades and the miracle of being together again, but Mirae grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry...

Driven by an insatiable desire to finish what she started in life, to unravel the truth that crushed her family so many years ago, Mirae is out for revenge.

When their town is engulfed by increasingly destructive rain and a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin is forced to reckon with the fact that perhaps the sister she brought back isn’t the one she knew.

• The Yomigaeri Tunnel by Kelly Murashige (YA, supernatural/contemporary)

Monika can’t bring herself to celebrate her last summer before college. Instead, she’s still grieving the loss of the one classmate who didn’t make it to graduation, a boy named Shun with whom she had a complicated relationship.

Then, during her final Japanese Club meeting, Monika hears about the Yomigaeri Tunnel, a local urban legend. Those who venture into this mythological passageway undergo harrowing trials to confront their hidden secrets and worst fears. According to the lore, anyone who makes it through is rewarded with the ability to resurrect one soul from the dead.

Monika jumps at the chance to bring back Shun, but she soon discovers she’s not alone. Sharp-tongued and fierce Shiori is hell-bent on reviving her mother and won’t let anyone stop her. As Monika and Shiori confront the ghosts of their pasts, they have to decide: Are they friends, or foes?

Reads (4):

• The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve (Adult, sci-fi)

Four damaged people apply for a jump in the past via a time-travel technology that allows consciousness to relive a random (and hopefully happier) hour, but they end up getting stuck in their most fateful day and racing against the clock to change its outcome. It's extremely bingeable, and the individual stories intersect brilliantly (if a bit too conveniently), but it's got a few flaws that dampened my enthusiasm.

• Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry (YA, thriller)

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, a 17 y.o. girl reaches an isolated house at the invitation of her best friend, only to be met with her baffling absence, a group of teens keeping secrets, and an inexplicably hostile wildlife. Different, atmospheric, with a headstrong, resourceful and realistically flawed protagonist; yet gloomy, with very little action until the end, little emotion, and not enough room for side-character development. So, not a favourite, but it will stay with me.

• Bad Creek by Peyton June (YA, afterlife/contemporary)

A 16 y.o. girl whose older sister drowned at their usual vacationing spot recruits two lifelong friends to find answers, but secrets and ghosts are muddying the waters (the latter even literally), and history is threatening to repeat itself. This one is a well-done blend of supernatural horror and social commentary, and if it doesn't add much to certain familiar tropes, it's still worth a read for its intriguing mystery, chilling ambiance, nuanced characters, and giant middle finger to patriarchy.

• Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore (YA, magical realism)

An intersex teen rejoins the refinement school she once fled in hope to get answers about her sister who graduated there, but she gets entangled in a web of further questions and mysteries, and will have to decide what kind of girl she wants to be. Part mystery, part modern fable, part coming-of-age narrative, part sibling relationship exploration, all around fever dream. The intersex rep and the social commentary about the female experience/gender expectations are spot-on. (For link and cover, see below).

Reviews (5):

• Overgrowth by Mira Grant (Adult, sci-fi)

Review coming in a few days.

• The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve (see above)

Mini review coming later this month.

• Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry (see above)

Mini review coming later this month.

• Bad Creek by Peyton June (see above)

Mini review coming later this month.

• Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore (see above for mini blurb and review excerpt; see below for link and cover)

Mini review coming later this month (I plan on writing a full review later).

From left to right: UK cover, US cover

Here are my scheduled reviews for this month:

• Overgrowth by Mira Grant (on Tue. 6th);
• The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (on Mon. 12th);
• The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve, Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry and Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall (in a mini-review round on Sun. 17th);
• Bad Creek by Peyton June, Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore and Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall (in a mini-review round on Fri. 22nd...this one is still in flux, though. Should I decide to write a mini review for The Yomigaeri Tunnel, I'll put Our Last Echoes on hold. Otherwise, I'll squeeze in a full review for TYT at the end of the month).

Reviews aside, I'll participate in the Tell Me Something Tuesday meme on the 27th (question: Which books are you looking forward to reading this summer? (June-August)). In the meantime, here's the TMST prompt list for the month of May, in case you want to join in:

• May 6th: What is your least favourite thing about spring? (a question I submitted)
• May 13th: Share some book covers you love from the past year
• May 20th: Do you have a fitness routine or exercise you enjoy?
• May 27th: Which books are you looking forward to reading this summer? (June-August)

😫SPINNING IN CIRCLES. Seriously, what do I take hiatuses for? I did nothing but read and schedule reviews. OK, hiatuses serve the purpose of not having to produce blog content for every month, but I should actually use them to take a BREAK from all that. Except I can't seem to. What else do I have? Except responsibilities and errands and housework - which I do my best to dodge by, well, reading and blogging, because it's the only way I can rebel and reclaim some life for myself (though it's not "life", not really). Everything's stagnant...my husband still takes some steps inside the house and nothing more...I go on the aforementioned errands, get my hair dyed once a month, hit the supermarket once a week, rinse and repeat. Sorry for the negativity, but there isn't anything else to report...🤷‍♀️

Since I was on hiatus, I haven't blog-hopped at all in April, so I've got nothing 🙁. But I'm getting back in the game, so this section will be operative in my next monthly recap!

That's it for now. My next post will be up on May 6th, and it will be the review for Overgrowth by Mira Grant I mentioned above.

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?