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The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda
Intrigued by the title and cover of this latest graphic novel by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, I decided to give it a shot despite not being a fan of ‘Monstress’. Sadly, it seems that this creative duo is just not for me. In She Eats the Night we follow twins and restaurant co-owners, Milly…
2 STARS, Adult, America, asian american, asian diaspora, bars & restaurants, Contemporary, FANTASY, Graphic Novels, haunted house, hawaii, hong kong, HORROR, ISLAND, JAPANESE AUTHOR, monsters, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, read in 2022, Sana Takeda, Sequential Art, She Eats the Night, siblings, Taiwanese American Author, The Night Eaters, twins, URBAN FANTASY -
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
Having found Samanta Schweblin’s Mouthful of Birds to make for a relatively disturbing collection of short stories I was intrigued to read more by her. Seven Empty Houses even promised a thematic unity in its seven stories, as they all featured strange houses. Sadly I found the motif to be explored/utilized in a rather underwhelming…
2 STARS, Adult, argentina, argentinian author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, creepy setting, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, ghosts/spirits, haunted house, hauntings, HORROR, latin america, latinx author, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, published in 2015, read in 2022, Samanta Schweblin, Seven Empty Houses, short stories, surreal, SUSPENSE, weird -
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
“You have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night” Although I have previously quoted Lady Gaga’s iconic “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same,…
1980s, 1990s, 4 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, argentina, argentinian author, atmospheric, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boyhood, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, creepy setting, cults, dark, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, graphic content, GRIEF, grotesque, growing up, GUILT, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, illness, latin america, lgbtq+, loneliness, Mariana Enríquez, missing girls, missing persons, morality, occult, orphans, otherness, Our Share of Night, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2019, queer, read in 2022, road trip, sexual assault/abuse/rape, strong sense of place, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, toxic relationships, tragedy, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unrequited love, violence -
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
and this was supposed to be a horror story? the only unsettling thing about this novella is that cover. Nothing But Blackened Teeth was probably my most anticipated October 2021 release, and boy, did it disappoint. I mean, given that N.K. Jemisin called it “Brutally delicious!” I went into this novella with high expectations. After…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, American, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Cassandra Khaw, drama, FANTASY, female authors, ghosts/spirits, haunted house, HORROR, japan, lgbtq+, Malaysian author, My reviews, Nothing But Blackened Teeth, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, wedding drama -
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
As riveting as watching paint dry. I wasn’t planning on reading this as I wasn’t all that enthused by Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow. But, as I don’t like to write off authors on the basis of just one book & earlier this week I was in the mood for a gothic-kind-of-read, well,…
1980s, 2.5 STARS, 20th century, 3rd pov, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, drama, FANTASY, female authors, ghosts/spirits, GOTHIC, haunted house, hauntings, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, illness, incest, latinx author, manor/big house, mexican, MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHOR, Mexican Gothic, Mexico, My reviews, published in 2020, read in 2021, reading, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, slow pacing -
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
“I used to believe the house was haunted. Really, it was the other way around; the house haunted me.” 3 re-read: I once again loved this. The novel’s gothic ambience is truly hypnotic and Thomas really manages to suffuse Ines’ experiences at Catherine House with a dreamlike quality. There is a vagueness, a haze, one…
1990s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, campus, Catherine House, cliques, cold tone, Contemporary, creepy setting, dark, dark academia, dreamlike quality, Elisabeth Thomas, existentialism, FANTASY, female authors, feverish, gay side characters, GOTHIC, GRIEF, GUILT, haunted house, hauntings, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, modern gothic, morality, My reviews, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, no plot just vibes, obsession, otherness, Pennsylvania, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, secretiveness, strong sense of place, surreal, terrific prose, the female malaise, trauma -
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Readers, I am disappointed. Plain Bad Heroines was one of my most anticipated 2020 releases…maybe I should have ‘hyped’ it so much. This is certainly an ambitious novel, one that is a few hundred pages too long. There were elements that I liked, but these were ultimately outweighed by my frustration toward the tone of…
1920s, 2.5 STARS, all girls school, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boarding/private school, books about books, books about writers, Contemporary, creepy setting, curses, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Emily M. Danforth, f/f, f/f/f, film industry, films, GOTHIC, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, influencers, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Mary MacLane, metafiction, modern gothic, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, Plain Bad Heroines, playful style, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, SUSPENSE, teachers, YOUNG ADULT -
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez
Well…that was disappointing. Given the hype around this collection and the comparisons to Shirley Jackson, I was prepared to read some truly unsettling tales. However, as with a lot of other contemporary authors of horror, Mariana Enríquez relies on body horror, gore, and animal violence to instil feelings of unease in her readers…and while her…
2 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, argentina, argentinian author, CHILDHOOD, collection of short stories, Contemporary, female authors, grotesque, hallucinations, haunted house, HORROR, illness, latin america, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+ side, madness, MAGICAL REALISM, Mariana Enríquez, published in 2016, queer side characters, read in 2020, short stories, Things We Lost in the Fire, toxic relationships, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson — book review
“They can’t turn me out or shut me out or laugh at me or hide from me; I won’t go, and Hill House belongs to me.” The first time I read The Haunting of Hill House I felt confused and vaguely underwhelmed. Having loved We Have Always Lived in the Castle, I was expecting a…
1950s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, anxiety, atmospheric, Booklr, CLASSICS, creepy setting, distressing reads, favourite authors, female authors, female doubles, feverish, ghosts/spirits, GOTHIC, hallucinations, haunted house, hauntings, Hill House, HORROR, House As Character, loneliness, madness, manor/big house, modern classics, mothers & daughters, obsession, paranoia, psychological, published in 1959, queer undercurrents, re-reads, READ IN 2019, read in 2021, SHIRLEY JACKSON, suicide, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the haunting of hill house, tragedy -
The End of Temperance Dare : Book Review
The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb ★★✰✰✰ 2 stars I was hoping that this would be a ‘guilty pleasure’ of sorts or a cozy Gothic story…I wasn’t prepared for such a cheesy and badly written story. This book was unintentionally funny. The start of this novel was interesting enough, and the first few…
luce [is reading] 