The Haunted Stacks

August was a record breaking month for me, both for books finished and pages read, not only this year but in my life ever. All it took was:

1. reading easy books to procrastinate from reading other books I struggled with (but was committed to finishing for book club or buddy reads)
2. a couple of comics and novellas
3. being very unwell physically and mentally

🙂

Anyway, on to the books, quite a lot of them have been good.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

4 ⭐

Bachelor style reality dating show goes to an island with (unbeknownst to them) a Creature.

SPOILERS: Great, propulsive, compelling. Fab to get you out of a reading slump.
Based on the loving descriptions of Patricia’s ancient femininity/soulful eyes/bare swinging boobs my expectations were definitely drawn towards monster romance rather than missing link, but I had a good time anyway.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

4 ⭐

Vampire story set in Sweden, half told from kids points of view.

Very disgusting (compliment) and sad and hopeful. Characters felt very whole and were easy to follow. Drags a bit in the middle, could have been 100 pages shorter. Check the trigger warnings if you observe any, even if you’ve seen the film and thought it was fine, major horrible plot points were cut out of the film.

We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca

1 ⭐

Girl loses her father and her grieving, emotionally distant mom lets something into the house.

Loads of antics, seemingly for shock value, but what’s the point? Boring extreme horror vibes. SPOILERS: Based on other reviews I read, apparently the monster is grief again: the fucking Babadook is a scourge on all our houses.

The cover is cool and I like the comic size thin floppy format.

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

2.5 ⭐

In a world where having too much testosterone turns you into a literal monster, for some reason TERFs still exist and they’re hunting down our main characters.

You just know the shitlords wouldn’t take a day off even in the apocalypse, so some of this is depressingly believable. Very angry novel. Love to see TERFs perish, but the misery is unrelenting and every character hating themselves so loudly was tiring to read. Good gore, good sense of impending doom. Some of the characters felt similar to each other, so sometimes it was difficult to follow whose POV I was in. If you’re a cis woman you might feel challenged/criticised by some passages, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

4.5 ⭐

Chess based YA-ish romance (they bone but it’s fade to black).

Was I having a deeply troubling health scare while I read this and was desperate to escape in to fluff? Yes. Do I stand by the rating? Also yes. Tricked me into caring about chess.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

4 ⭐

Their sister went missing years ago and now similar disappearances are happening: can they get to the bottom of it?

This thriller is very thrilling. pretty long but kept me hooked and guessing all the way through. Knocked off half a star for all the words it spends on loving descriptions of tesla features, zzzzz.

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

4 ⭐

Heavily tattooed nun with a punk rock past investigates some fires at the christian school where she teaches music.

Takes about 60 pages to get up to speed, but stick with it. Plays with private investigator noir beats, with very rich characters, and super engaging story which gets pretty dark at points. SPOILERS: the reveal came out of nowhere and I didn’t really get the fire starter’s end game but overall thumbs up.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

3 ⭐

Bodyguard robot hacks his controller chip so he can ignore orders and watch tv (and other reasons), hijinks ensue.

Solid, enjoyable. The middle and the start were strongest imo, and it ended very abruptly. If I had a criticism, I wanted a more murder-y bot

They’re Coming Down The Stairs by Shane Melisse

4.5 ⭐

The Bananas in Pyjamas kids tv show from the past, but make it spooky halloween times.

Great, especially if you spent much of your childhood in fear of the pyjama clad bananas.

The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane

4.5 ⭐

Middle grade vampire themed graphic novel.

I read this for the Storygraph genre challenge (middle grade novel with queer representation). It is very cute and sweet. There’s a bit with a bird sicking up a phone which I particularly enjoyed.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

4.5 ⭐

A teenager is groomed by her teacher, told half in the past and half in the present as she works through it in therapy.

The best book I never want to think about again, absolutely heart breaking.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

4.5 ⭐

P.I. style story (which I really had a hankering for after the success of Scorched Grace) set in a magical school. Very moreish and satisfying, cool and interesting magic system, well rounded characters, interesting mystery, I really enjoyed it. This is also the most I’ve ever seen the word oubliette used… there aren’t even any oubliettes in the story.

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan

2.5 ⭐

1990s funeral parlour run by women is responsible for putting down a vampire menace.

I was so enamoured by the premise for this one, I went in with really high hopes. I noticed the writing style which is never a good sign for me. SPOILERS the twist felt more like a ‘gotcha!!!’ but it did have some fun moments, especially, “cheer up, we just inherited a dog”.
I probably would have DNF’d around 50 pages in if I weren’t reading this for a book club, but the 2nd half really picks up so I’m glad I finished it.

The Big Show: The Classic Account of WWII Aerial Combat by Pierre Clostermann

4 ⭐

Following a French pilot as he flies for the RAF during world war 2. He kept diaries at the time and has lots of tech specs for the planes and that.

Unrelentingly horrific. How did these people cope? As someone who is not in to planes a lot of the descriptions and tech specs washed over me, and as someone who doesn’t have a baseline interest in wars, a lot of the strategising was dry for me, but despite that the story is crisp and vibrant and very affectingly hopeful and sad. You can definitely tell he kept detailed notes at the time.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

5 ⭐

Dual perspective fantasy story telling you how 2 characters came to be in a prison cell. It has dragons and emperors and gods and japes and all that.

I was hesitant to get into this one because it’s part of a series, and I haven’t read a non disappointing series in years.

This is so complicated but also the most moreish book I have read in ages. Love the diversity and the richly detailed characters. Love the capital f Fantasy of it and the horrific elements, SPOILERS singers the Old Man keeps especially. So good!! So rewarding!! If the 2nd book is shit I will scream.

Thanks for sticking with me til the end! Let me know if you’ve read these, or if you have any recommendations.

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