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The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
In many ways The Monsters We Defy delivers on its premise: we follow a ‘ragtag’ crew as they prepare and execute a heist to save themselves and their community. It did manage to hold my attention and even delivered some fairly entertaining scenes and/or dazzling descriptions, and I can see this appealing to fans of…
1920s, 20th century, actors, Adult, adventure, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, FANTASY, female authors, ghosts/spirits, heist, HISTORICAL FICTION, insta love, Leslye Penelope, lgbtq+ side, m/m side, MYSTERY, occult, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, ROMANCE, seances, spiritualism, The Monsters We Defy, URBAN FANTASY, Washington DC -
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
MILD-SPOILERS At first I thought that The Shape of Darkness was going to be a spoof of Gothic novels. The dialogues were corny, the two main characters are exceedingly frail, and the ‘murder mystery’ storyline struck me as somewhat theatrical (or perhaps I should say more suited to a film than a book). But I…
1850s, 19TH CENTURY, 2 STARS, 3rd pov, bad love, bath, drama, england, female authors, ghosts/spirits, GOTHIC, HISTORICAL FICTION, illness, Laura Purcell, murder mystery, MYSTERY, netgalley, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, read in 2020, seances, SISTERS, spiritualism, The Shape of Darkness, VICTORIAN -
Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen — book review
“There is something bad in the air and in the water now, something rotten and wrong. A moral disease.” While Please See Us gives its readers a slightly more innovative “missing women” type-of-story. Providing us with a panoramic of Atlantic City Caitlin Mullen’s novel follows Clara, a young psychic, and Lily who has only recently…
3 STARS, addiction, Adult, America, American, Atlantic City, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Caitlin Mullen, Contemporary, CRIME, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, friendships, ghosts/spirits, MAGICAL REALISM, missing girls, missing women, MURDER, new jersey, obsession, Please See Us, published in 2020, read in 2020, serial killers, spiritualism, stalking, Summer, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, tarots, THRILLER, violence, violence against women -
The King of Crows by Libba Bray — book review
I hate to say it, or write it, but The King of Crows wasn’t a very satisfying conclusion to The Diviners series. “Who got to decide what made somebody an American? America, the ideal of it at least, was its own form of elusive magic.” While it isn’t as drawn-out as the finale to the…
1920s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, ace, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Dreams, f/f side, FANTASY, favourite authors, found family, friendships, gay, ghosts, ghosts/spirits, KIDS WITH POWERS, lgbtq+, LIBBA BRAY, m/m side, MAGIC, Nebraska, netgalley, Neurodiversity, NEW YORK, occult, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, road trip, spiritualism, SUPERNATURAL, tarots, THE DIVINERS, THE DIVINERS SERIES, The King of Crows, travel, YOUNG ADULT