I read 11 books in September and I am happy with that number but I want to read more in October.
Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson 5 Stars – I don’t normally read middle grade but this one sounded so interesting and I was so happy to be chosen as part of this blog tour. The opening to Ravenfall was interesting as we are introduced to Ravenfall inn and the family that run it. All the family have powers and Anna is the youngest and she recently got the power of visions but only visions concerning death, at one party she witnesses the murder of a couple and something feels off about the vision and the person who touched her although she doesn’t know who that is. The next day a new guest arrives at the inn in Colin, who is the son of the people Anna saw murdered, his parents kept secrets from him and his older brother, Liam who should have been meeting Colin at Ravenfall but he hasn’t arrived and Colin is worried something has happened to him. I want to know more about Colin and how his family ended up in witness protection and why he was sent to Ravenfall, a place of magic when he doesn’t seem to have any magical abilities himself unless he hasn’t realised them yet.
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones DNF – The opening to My Heart is a Chainsaw was interesting as we see a couple killed by something in Indian lake in Proofrock but being introduced to our protagonist, Jade Daniels. Jade is currently living with her drunk father and longing to get away from the town for good but Jade’s one comfort is horror movies especially slashers. Like myself she has watched and consumed nearly everything and she is very knowledgeable on the subject but no one takes her seriously about it much to her displeasure and at times it even makes people uncomfortable. Despite doing poorly at school she decides to turn it around with a big essay on horror movies and horror culture but Indian lake and the murders that happened in Camp Blood are going to feature in it at some point. Honestly, it was a gripping opening and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
It Looks Like Us by Alison Ames 4.5 Stars – All I knew about It Looks Like Us before getting into it was it was young adult, queer, horror compared to The Thing which I loved especially it’s ambiguous ending and Wilder Girls which I didn’t really enjoy as it was too vague. However, I was excited to see where this book was going to go especially after the let-down that was My Heart is a Chainsaw and I really want some good horror for the spooky season. The opening was interesting as it begins at the end with the destruction of the facility and Riley being picked up and questioned since no bodies were recovered as there should have been six of them. We then learn she was chosen to take part in an Antarctic research project for SladeTech along with Nelson, Ilse, Luke and Dae-sung alongside their chaperone, Asha and the scientist, Greta. For the first day they take samples but quickly Riley and others begin seeing a creature around the facility although no one really talks much notice of this until it begins watching them.
Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino 4.5 Stars – The opening to Raising the Horseman centres around the Van Tassel family and the legend of Sleepy Hollow although this is taking place generations after the original story. We are following Kat Van Tassel who is struggling to deal with the superstitions of Sleepy Hollow and her desire to travel which is contradictory to what her parents want for her which is to take over the running over the house and get married as soon as she graduates. This obviously causes some tension but there seems to be a reason for this as Kat’s mother, Trina indicates when she instructs Kat to read the first Katrina’s diary and then they will discuss if the superstitions and legends are make believe or not like there might be a degree of truth to them that only the direct descendants of the family are aware of meaning The Headless Horseman might be completely real. This opening was interesting and really sucked me into the story and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert 4.75 Stars – The opening of Children of Dune was interesting despite being out of this series for a while. We return to the desert planet to learn that Paul’s twin children, Ghanima and Leto are now nearly 9 years old and both are classed as abominations like Alia although there is more to them. These are Paul’s children with Chani, so both were born from a mother with spice addiction so they awakened in the womb like Alia but both possess some of their father’s gifts including the ability to see into the future which alludes Alia to her frustration. The world has changed a lot since Paul when into the desert becoming a greener, more water rich place and it is changing the people there even the Fremen. Lady Jessica is returning to Dune to meet her grandchildren but not out of kindness but for the Sisterhood since she has returned to them with Gurney at her side, now possibly her lover. Ghanima and Leto keep some of their abilities hidden but Leto has begun having the dreams that Paul had and knows he has to seek out and question a man known only as the Preacher believing that it might be their father. There are also a lot of political moves being played with Jessica and Alia as opponents and there are many people still true to Paul and the Fremen ways that are caught in the middle and I can’t wait to see where this goes as it is the last book in the original trilogy.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 5 Stars – The opening to The Final Gambit was amazing despite it being several months since I read the Hawthorne Legacy I found it really easy to jump back into the story and it definitely kicks off with a bang. Avery is still trying to figure out why she was chosen by Tobias since she knows that she isn’t related to the Hawthorne family in any way but there is a strong connection between Toby and her mother which Avery is still trying to untangle and this is made harder knowing that Toby is still alive and out there somewhere. Initially, Jameson and Greyson aren’t in the picture since Jameson is travelling the world looking for clues and finding some along the way but they don’t make any sense at the moment and Greyson is at Harvard but with Avery’s 18th birthday coming up both come home. This also clashes with the arrival of Eve at Hawthorne House, Eve is Toby’s daughter and the only people that know this are Avery and Jameson. Eve explains that Toby has been kidnapped by someone that knew who he was and she was told to come to Avery if anything ever happened to him. This obviously hurts the family especially Greyson since Eve looks exactly like Emily but Avery understands her more and more with each day that passes since she is focused on only getting Toby back.
The Last Book You’ll Ever Read: The Complete Series by Cullen Bunn & Others 3.75 Stars – This might be the manga in me but I’ve never really got on with western graphic novel because I always felt there was too much dialogue. I personally believe that graphic novels, manga, comics anything in a visual format like this should let the art tell the story except where it is absolutely necessary to put dialogue in which is the way manga works but since this is a horror graphic novel I was willing to give it a shot since the only western graphic novel I have liked in the past is The Walking Dead. All I knew about the story going into it was we are following an author who wrote a book that literally ended the world and we are following the fallout of that event. The basic premise of the novel is that we are following Olivia Kade who wrote Satyr, the book that people are blaming for more violent action and death in the world. While Olivia does hire security in Connor Wilson she treat the whole situation very flippantly even continuing with her book tour despite the increasing amount of violence aimed towards her.
The Killing Code by Ellie Marney 3.5 Stars – The opening to The Killing Code was interesting for me as it is a World War 2 historical fiction blended with a murder mystery. I like murder mysteries but historical fiction has always been a hit or miss genre with me personally. We are introduced to two girls initially Katherine and Kathleen, Katherine is a upper class young girl at a boarding school in Arlington House but she has suffered with an illness all her life and knowing she is going to die she tells Kathleen, her nurse and maid, to take her identity and live a life she wouldn’t be able to otherwise and she agrees. After Katherine dies Kathleen becomes her and as she is leaving Arlington House since it is now going to be used for the war effort she is offered a job as a code breaker and takes it. Nine months later she is still there and seems to be a very good code reader as she has broken several codes that month alone. However, I am waiting for the murder mystery element to kick in since that is the element I will enjoy more.
The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti 3.75 Stars – The opening to The Epic Story of Every Living Thing was interesting and while it wasn’t that exited I was drawn into the story. We are introduced to Harper who is your average self-conscious, anxious teenager obsessed with the way she looks and how others see her but there is something different that sets Harper apart and that is she is a speed donor baby who wants to know who her father is. Harper throughout her life has found a few others that look just like her and she knows they must be at least half-siblings but she doesn’t contact them, only keeps an eye on their social media profiles. Harper does well in school and has an amazing boyfriend in Ezra but I feel that she doesn’t appreciate him enough as she is constantly worrying about 100 different things and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky 3.25 Stars – The opening to Lord of the Fly Fest was interesting as we are introduced to our protagonist Rafi, a podcaster who has spent her life savings to go to an exclusive musical festival on a desert island called FlyFest but an artist named River is there and she wants to interview him about his missing girlfriend, a model who should also be there. However, upon arriving at the island it is clear that FlyFest was never a thing and there is no one else there besides the guest who are all rich people acting like complete toddlers apart from a few like Rafi, Peggy and River. Rafi ends up exploring the small island with River and an influencer named Jack after being appointed to spokesperson by Peggy. During this brief trip they concludes that all the acts were cancelled last minute but River never got the message until it was too late and none of the people attending were informed. They end finding a shipping container which they hope contains their luggage but it doesn’t. This gave me really strong Lord of the Flies vibes minus the plane crash with a scam music festival added in but I get the vibe it is going to be a murder mystery or potential horror novel so I need to see where it goes.
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen 4.5 Stars – The only reason I am picking up this book is because I managed to get on a blog tour for Soul of the Deep, the sequel without knowing it was a sequel but it sounded interesting all the same and I didn’t really know much else about it before getting into it. The opening is interesting as it introduces us to a lot of lore without being overwhelming, we are introduced to Simidele who is a Mami Wata, one of seven. Simidele died at sea after being taken by slavers and was a given the choice to become a Mami Wata, a mermaid who collects the souls of the dead at sea specifically those that die on slave ships and she has been doing that for several months. The only issue is being a Mami Wata the ocean steals their memories of their lives before which she can only regain when she is on land. Simidele has been told several times by the other Mami Watas to forget her old life but she can’t let it go. When she comes across a boy who is still alive she goes against Yemoja’s rules and saves him because he is a captive but she needs to hide his existence but he wants to go before the orisa, Yemoja and appeal for help but this is going to reflect badly on Simidele but she believes that Yemoja won’t expect her to watch someone drown who she could save but that is what I think Yemoja wants.
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