We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Review

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: Gothic

Format: Paperback

Pages: 146

I popped this up on my list because I wanted to see the movie version that came out earlier this year, and I have a rule where I need to read the book first. Plus my flatmate adores Shirley Jackson's books and has been on my case to read it for the last two Octobers, and honestly it sounded right up my alley.

Honestly, though I had a hard time getting into this one. I started reading it on the bus, and the started re-reading it at the house. Still it took my a couple of days to finally push through the first chapter and get into the story. I was interested enough to know what had happened to the Blackwood family to keep reading, and it as the book went on I started to get into the story and understand why it was sort of hard to read.

The entire story is told from Mary Katherine Blackwood's point of view, and once I realized who she was to the story I started to understand why the was written the way it was.

It's rare for me to read a book and not find a character that I adore, but this was one of the rare ones. I didn't really connect with any of them. Though Cousin Charles was a tool from beginning to end. Well, Jonas the cat was adorable in the way I find all cats. But I wasn't really found of either sister really.

As for the story, I can see why people really love this book. The writing is beautiful and I cannot wait to see it translated into movie form. But for me it was a bit dry, and I kept waiting for something big to happen. Some big reveal about why this terrible thing happened to the Blackwoods. Something about the house. Anything to make me jump or spook me. I was sort of let down in that aspect.

This one is hard one for me to review. Because I know as a whole it's a good book and I can honestly see why so many people have enjoyed it. It just wasn't my kind of book when it comes to this genre. I wanted more ghost story and I guess less teeny tiny psychopath. It's a weird little bit book, but a solid read.

Buy, Borrow, or Skip: Oh jeez, honestly I'd say borrow. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. My copy will definitely be finding it's way to a free little library soon.

HAPPY READING!!

Spooky TBR Wrap Up

That's it nerds, Winter is officially here. It now sucks to stand outside and wait for my bus, and I won't feel my toes until the Spring Thaw. While I'm not putting all my Spooky reads away for good. I am moving onto a different kinds of reading this winter. I've got a stack of nonfiction calling my name and some fantasy books I've been itching to crack open.

Books Read: 6

Books Left Behind: 2

DNF: 1

Currently Reading: Ladies Guide to Piracy and Petticoats & Sorcery for Beginners 

While this TBR fell flat at the beginning it went ended with a bang. The last two books I read definitely screwed with my head, and I had to jump to something a little lighter and more upbeat to shake myself out of it. Though, the were great reads and I'm glad to have saved the best for last. The two books I didn't get to this year will be a great jumping off point next Fall! Until then.

HAPPY READING!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day! We're going a bit non-traditional this year, thus the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. gif. The flat mate wanted lasagna, and I haven't ever made one of those so I figured why not. We can do turkey for Christmas. I get up early enough to Skype with my out of state family. Wouldn't be any trouble to throw in the bird to start slow cooking. So no matter how you celebrate I hope filled with family and laughter, and don't forget to keep your fork. Because there's pie!

And, if you don't celebrate. Hopefully it's a fantastic Thursday!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about what we have yet to read. Generally they are books that have yet to be released, but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

What if Wendy first traveled to Neverland… with Captain Hook?

Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling's life is not what she imagined it would be. The doldrums of an empty house after her brothers have gone to school, the dull parties where everyone thinks she talks too much, and the fact that her parents have decided to send her away to Ireland as a governess-it all makes her wish things could be different.

Wendy's only real escape is in writing down tales of Never Land. After nearly meeting her hero, Peter Pan, four years earlier, she still holds on to the childhood hope that his magical home truly exists. She also holds on to his shadow.

So when an opportunity to travel to Never Land via pirate ship presents itself, Wendy makes a deal with the devil. But Never Land isn't quite the place she imagined it would be. Unexpected dangers and strange foes pop up at every turn, and a little pixie named Tinker Bell seems less than willing to help.

But when Captain Hook reveals some rather permanent and evil plans for Never Land, it's up to the two of them to save Peter Pan-and his world.

Why I'm Waiting: Because Peter Pan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up, and I'm always down for a retelling.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

In this funny and frothy novella that picks up where the New York Times bestselling The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue leaves off, freshly minted couple Monty and Percy fumble through their first time together.

Monty’s epic grand tour may be over, but now that he and Percy are finally a couple, he realizes there is something more nerve-wracking than being chased across Europe: getting together with the person you love.

Will the romantic allure of Santorini make his first time with Percy magical, or will all the anticipation and build-up completely spoil the mood?

HAPPY READING!!

The Monster of Elendhaven - Review

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: Gothic/ Horror

Format: e-Book

Pages: 160

Monster. The word started with a kiss and ended in a hiss.

This is a story of the end of the world, and the man who orchestrated it. It's a story of how a sociopath falls in a love with psychotic. Of how to men with zero morals get back at all the men who had wronged them, forgotten them, and cast them aside.  It's he story of a Thing, a monster, found his name. This books can be described in three easy words: that escalated quickly.

I'm pretty sure this book broke me in all the best ways. Because I love a story about a villain. About characters who do bad things because they can. But, this book took that too a whole new level. I was barely thirteen pages in and I had no idea what I got myself into with Johann, but I was pretty much game to read about him kill be from the next hundred odd pages.

Then came Florian, and slowly I started to realize what was going on. I started putting the pieces together of how these two fit together, of who they really where to each other. I was glued to my screen the entire afternoon. I couldn't put it down. It was brilliant from start to finish.

Despite knowing how wrong their relationship is, I couldn't help but ship the two of them. Both of them are amoral, murders in their own rights, but no two creatures seemed more perfect for each other than Florian and Joann.

Monster of Eldenhaven does live it up to is Dark Fantasy tag. There is a lot of violence in this book and mention of sensitive themes. So it's definitely not a book for everyone. Jennifer Giesbrecht hold no punches and comes out swinging from the get go. 

It's honestly been a while since a book has floored me quite like The Monster of Eldenhaven has. For such a small book so much happens between its pages, and none of it good. It took me the whole afternoon to read because I had to put it down from time-to-time just to breath. To clear my head of all the muck this book dredges up. Because you shouldn't like either of these characters, you shouldn't be enthralled by them. They are terrible men, doing terrible things. 

But, the whole thing draws you in. The isolated and dying city of Eldenhave, its dark and twisted history, the stories they tell of their gods, and all of that shaped the men Joann and Florian turned into. How Giesbrecht connected their two histories, and how she ended the story. Because if you aren't paying attention you might not see what she did there.

The Monster of Eldenhaven is a story that could have gone wrong at some points throughout the story. At any point the violence and pur amoral nature of the story could have gotten boring and stiff. Only id doesn't, because Jennifer Geisbrecht somehow tells this brutal story with beautiful prose. Despite how desolate Eldenhaven is, and broken and vile these characters are. Her writing draws you in and doesn't let  you go. 

The end of the world really did start in Eldenhaven.

Buy, Borrow, Skip: While I read this through my local library, I'll be adding this book to my collection very soon. Because it is definitely one I'll be reading again, and I'll also be looking out for any new books by Jennifer Giesbrecht.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon! Some are by authors I already enjoy, some are the reason I gave the book a longer look. Either way they're all going to find their way here!

When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.

But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit—or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller.

HAPPY READING!!

Through the Woods Review

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult / Graphic Novels

Format: e-Book

Pages: 208

With my current work schedule I've been reading smaller during my commute and lunch. It was just my luck that Through the Woods came in from the library during this time. It seemed like perfect time to read it with the weather changing into winter, and me still in the mood for creepy and spooky reads. I just didn't realize how creepy this was book was going to be.

It was the artwork was what first drew to Through the Woods. The creepy cover with bony hands reaching for the girl was enough to let me know this was definitely my jam. I loved the use of color through the five stories as well. Most of the panels were black and white, but color came to draw your eye to a certain moment, characters, or emphasize the danger of what was happening. It's one of my favorite trick illustrates use when it's done right. And, it done wonderfully throughout each story.

I made the mistake of assuming because this was geared toward Young Adult the stories wouldn't be that unsettling. So I started this first story on my first bus, and by the time I got to the third story I had to set this down. Not because I was bored. Because I was sitting outside, in the dark, in the cold, waiting for my bus. It wasn't even that the stories were scary in and of themselves, but it was the way that Emily Carrol writes them. The voice she gave to each character it gets under your skin and leaves you unsettled.

Kind of like the feeling you got as kid when you jumped into bed so the monsters didn't take a swipe at your ankles, or had to have the covers tucked under you feet so they couldn't get in your sleep. You know it's silly, but it makes your heart pound a little faster.

That's these stories. 

I did enjoy all five short stories, but My Friend Janna was my favorite of the five. I do enjoy a good story about a haunting and that one was done so brilliantly. But, as a whole I enjoyed all five stories and I'll definitely have to put more of Emily Carroll's work on my TBR.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about what we have yet to read. Generally they are books that have yet to be released, but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Reveries are worlds born from a person’s private fantasies, and once they manifest they can only be unraveled by bringing their conflicts to resolution. Reveries have rules and plots, magic and monsters, and one wrong step could twist the entire thing into a lethal, labyrinthine nightmare. Unraveling them is dangerous work, but it’s what Kane and The Others do.

Or did, until one of The Others purged Kane of his memories. But now Kane is back, and solving the mystery of his betrayal is the only way to unite his team and defeat reality’s latest threat: Poesy, a sorceress bent on harvesting the reveries for their pure, imaginative power.

But what use might a drag queen sorceress have with a menagerie of stolen reveries? And should Kane, a boy with no love for a team that betrayed him, fight to stop her, or defect to aid her?

Why I'm Waiting: Because this sounds amazing! 

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls.

When Ana’s father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father’s murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue.

A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all.

HAPPY READING!!

Mini Reviews

I adore this series so much, and this installment was no different. The CatStronauts series is written for more Middle Grade readers, and the plot definitely appeals more to them. This was a quick read but so cute. All about finding a lost friend. The panels are bright and the dialog fun and full of cat puns. It's really fun for all ages and cat lovers alike. This one follows along well with the last of series, but didn't require me to remember what happened in the last book. So they can totally be read out of order. Though I recommend the series as whole. It really is a delight. 5 Stars!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon! Some are by authors I already enjoy, some are the reason I gave the book a longer look. Either way they're all going to find their way here!

On the heels of a devastating plague, Torvi’s sister, Morgunn, is stolen from the family farm by Uther, a flame-loving Fremish wolf-priest who leads a pack of ragged, starving girls. Torvi leaves the only home she’s ever known, and joins a shaven-skulled druid and a band of roaming Elsh artists known as the Butcher Bards. They set out on a quest to rescue Torvi’s sister, and find a mythical sword.

On their travels, Torvi and her companions will encounter magical night wilds and mystical Drakes who trade in young men. They will sing rowdy Elshland ballads in a tree-town tavern, and find a mysterious black tower in an Endless Forest. They will fight alongside famous Vorseland archers and barter with Fremish wizards. They will feast with rogue Jade Fell children in a Skal Mountain cave, and seek the help of a Pig Witch. They will face wild, dangerous magic that leads to love, joy, tragedy, and death.

Torvi set out to rescue a sister, but she may find it’s merely the first step toward a life that is grander and more glorious than anything she could have imagined.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about what we have yet to read. Generally they are books that have yet to be released, but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

The night Heather killed her.

Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.

Why I'm Waiting: This seems very in the vein of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but maybe with a supernatural twist to it. So I'm all in.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Astrid is the surrogate for Princess Renya, which means she bears the physical punishment if Renya steps out of line. Astrid has no choice—she and her family are Outsiders, the lower class of people without magic and without citizenship.

But there is a way out of this life—competing in the deadly Race of Oblivion. To enter the race, an Outsider is administered the drug Oblivion, which wipes their memory clear of their past as they enter a new world with nothing to help them but a slip of paper bearing their name and the first clue. It’s not as simple as solving a puzzle, however—for a majority of the contestants, the race ends in death. But winning would mean not only freedom for Astrid, but citizenship and health care for her entire family. With a dying father to think of, Astrid is desperate to prevail.

From the beginning, the race is filled with twists and turns. One of them is Darius, a fellow racer Astrid meets but isn’t sure she can trust. Though they team up in the race, as Astrid’s memories begin to resurface, she remembers just who he was to her—a scorned foe who may want revenge. Astrid also starts to notice she has powers no Outsider should—which could help her win the race, but also make her a target if anyone finds out. With stakes that couldn’t be higher, Astrid must decide what is more important: risking her life to remember the mysteries of the past, or playing a cutthroat game in order to win her—and her family’s—freedom. 

HAPPY READING!!

Mini Reviews

How cute was this?! So, Pumpkinheads was my first Rainbow Rowell book, and I got say I'm sold on her writing style. This was down right adorable. The story was fun, upbeat, full of excitement, and great snacks. I adored everything about Deja, her attitude, the fact she was curvy, and her love for snacks. But, I also Josie and how much he loves the pumpkin patch. Most of all I loved their friendship. The story itself is brilliant and relatable to a lot of people. The artwork was great and full of those warm fall colors. It also added to the side stories going on around our two main characters, and who doesn't love a book with a map in the front! 5 STARS!!

I wasn't sure if this was going to be my jam, but notorious for picking up books with amazing covers. This was one of those times where it worked in my favor. Bloodlust & Bonnets is not be taken seriously. In fact it makes fun of my Regency era tropes, and a bit at the fantasy genre at well. From start to finish this is absolutely ridiculous. The artwork itself was different than what is normal seen in Graphic Novels, but I thought it fit with the overall theme of the story. It was a wonderful little read that me giggling to myself while was bundle up on my sofa with my cats. 4 STARS!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon! Some are by authors I already enjoy, some are the reason I gave the book a longer look. Either way they're all going to find their way here!

Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic.

This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths. Now suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner's illustrious maiden voyage, a number of the passengers - including millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, the maid Annie Hebbley and Mark Fletcher - are convinced that something sinister is going on . . . And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

Years later and the world is at war. And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship. Plagued by the demons of her doomed first and near fatal journey across the Atlantic, Annie comes across an unconscious soldier she recognises while doing her rounds. It is the young man Mark. And she is convinced that he did not - could not - have survived the sinking of the Titanic . . .

HAPPY READING!!