Welcome back lovely readers! I have finished book #38 in the stack and am here to serve you up a heaping helping of review goodies! I’m a sucker for historical fiction (especially that which has a supernatural or suspenseful element added along to it). This book was no exception, adding to my Summer of Night (Halloween all year long y’all).

The Hunger by Alma Katsu is a fictionalized account of the doomed Donner party. The group of settlers traveled west to California, choosing to take the newer and more perilous Hastings Cutoff and resulting in them getting trapped in the Sierra Nevadas over the winter of 1846-47. Adding to the disaster of crumbling group dynamics, dwindling food supply, and frigid temperatures the group is being stalked by monsters/demons/Native American legend, the na’it.

This book was fantastic. The author took a well known and gruesome story, adding a twist to it that made it even more horrific. The feel of the entire story is that of a slow-burn; the vague feeling that something is wrong slowly starts to give way to the realization that this group of people are in serious peril. From there, the circumstances snowball quickly into this group being in serious mortal danger, not just from the outside threat of the cannibalistic stalkers, but from each other. Alma Katsu gives you a glimpse into what life was like for people traveling long distances over land in the U.S during the 1800s – how you depended on the others you traveled with, not only for company, but for protection. She also took, what I thought was shaping up to be a story about demons or Native American legends, and turned it into a tale of a disease/genetic disorder that starts an epidemic in the midwest and, ultimately, dooms most of the Donner Party.

I would absolutely recommend this book. I couldn’t put it down and spent a few nights staying up later than I should have, reading under the blankets.

Rating: 5/5

*Disclosure: I received a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest book review.*

A story that allows you to get inside someone’s mind, to really see what motivates them is a rare thing. It can be unsettling, but it is almost always an eye-opening experience. Nothing has ever proven me so right as this book. Here, I got to experience first hand what made the main character tick. I got right inside his head…inside his dreams…under the…skins of his first victims…? Gross.

The Bedwetter by Lee Allen Howard is a first person, diary-esq story centering on the misadventures of Russell Pisarek (who the tag line tells us is a budding serial killer – yes, accurate). We follow Russell through his daily life as he goes to work, visits an army supply store, and navigates his relationship with his sister, Becky and possible love interest, Uma (spoiler alert: poor Uma doesn’t make it out unscathed).

This book was hard to get through in a good way. Russell’s voice was so authentic that I found myself feeling almost slimy as I followed his descent into serial killer-dom. Even worse, through the entire first half of the book I ACTUALLY FELT BAD for this terrible guy. He would not hesitate to bully the guy on the bus he thought wronged him, BUT at the same time, he was also horribly abused as a child and mercilessly ridiculed over his issue of bedwetting. You left the book feeling that both his mother AND his father got what they deserved. That was the only point of the book where I didn’t feel bad for his victims – Russell himself was so victimized as a child that when he finally had it out with his mother it felt almost inevitable (good for you Russell for finally facing your demons).

It takes a talented writer to take such an unsavory character and have you wanting him to make it. I found myself hoping that he would just take the right path – make good choices – so he could have a better life, while also keeping my fingers crossed that someone would find out what this guy was all about and casually take him out.  (I had to stop while reading like “dude this guy is a serial killer in the making – HE IS NOT GOING TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES – while also saying, c’mon Russell, just buy the stupid device that wakes you up to pee!!)  Alas, Russell does not reign in his killer instincts, descending further into madness – and no one comes along to make the world a better place! He JUST. KEEPS. GOING. ABOUT. HIS. BUSINESS. (Let that sink in – NO ONE AROUND HIM -except his sister who is only mildly clued int –  HAS ANY IDEA how messed up this guy is. He passes as mostly normal – if a bit eccentric). Lee Allen Howard is one of those writers who comes along every so often, who is able to walk the line with his characters, making them sociopathic, while also maintaining enough normalcy that they hide in plain site.

Lee Allen Howard is so descriptive with his prose that I found myself gagging as I was reading this book. I could not venture into this story as I was eating my lunch, which is when I usually relax with a good book. I COULD HAVE only done that here, if I wanted to lose my lunch. Russell and his use of the hair clippers effectively put me off eating for the foreseeable future . It takes a rare writer to make a story THAT vivid. I have been grossed out while reading before, but never quite so disgusted. Lee Allen Howard writes Russell to life with quite some enthusiasm. (Side note: I tried eating breakfast while writing this review – WRONG CHOICE. I had to stop. Thinking about this story had me dry heaving all over again). The very worst part is that Lee Allen Howard had me thinking about how there are people hiding their most secret selves all around me every day. I found myself side-eyeing people while running errands (I’m looking at you grocery store Debbie, buying a roll of duct tape and some cheese.) and simultaneously looking over my shoulder. Is the guy at work I just had a nice conversation with secretly hiding a K-bar knife and looking to remove my scalp?!? I have no fingernails left from biting them y’all!

Would I have picked this book up on my own? Probably not – the cover art alone was super unsettling (is this book watching me? I thought I left it in the other room – how did it get on my couch? It’s definitely following me now) and the story delves into one of the subsets of horror that I don’t typically go for. However, it was the quite the rollercoaster ride. If you like movies along the lines of Hostel and the Saw series, then this book will be right up your alley. Keep the lights on while reading and the food firmly locked in your fridge!

Rating: 4/5

I just finished up Trollhunters by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus. I started reading this after my son watched the Netflix series presented in 3 parts (like 3 seasons). We watched some of it together and it was very well done and interesting, especially for an animated series geared towards a younger crowd. The main character was voiced by the late Anton Yelchin and Blinky (the troll) is voiced by Kelsey Grammer.

I initially thought  to read this WITH my 8 year old son who LOVES the animated series. We made it through the prologue before he had me stop reading to him – too scary for bedtime stories. Alas, maybe when he’s a little older. I, however, soldiered on. The key here is that the series is INSPIRED by the book, not based on it (keep this in mind if you loved the series – this will keep you from being disappointed and allow you to enjoy the book for what it is). There were similarities between characters in name and certain key aspects, but where the series spans multiple events and gave characters certain roles or qualities, the book focuses on one event and doesn’t follow that trajectory.

Jim Sturges Jr. – a San Bernadino high school student – turns out to be the next in a line of trollhunters. Like some sort of weirdo family inheritance, Jim goes from being a nerd-by-day with feelings of not belonging anywhere, to hero-by-night. With the help of his “back-from-the-dead” Uncle Jack (who has never grown beyond the 13 year old boy he was when he was taken by the trolls as a trollhunter), his friend “Tub” and two trolls (Blinky and ARRRGH – don’t forget to pronounce all 3 Rs), Jim must stop “the machine” and the return of Gunmar the Black. Gunmar – the leader of the Gumm Gumms (a sect of old world trolls that still enjoy eating children) – is looking to return once the local museum has restored the artifact on display, the Killahead Bridge. Turns out trolls really DO live under bridges, or at least, they can travel using them.  In preparation for his return, other species of trolls from the underworld (which you can access from UNDER EVERY CHILD’S BED!!! Wut?!?) has been kidnapping children from around town who will be fed to “the machine” to feed Gunmar. Spoiler alert, the machine is really a giant meat grinder. See what I mean – not really 8 year old material – I might as well have sat him down and attempted to read Del Toro’s other book, series The Strain, to him. Would have been as well received I assume.

I enjoy Del Toro’s books and this was no exception. They are gruesome, but also have a good story in them and believable characters who you want to root for. I found the beginning of the book a little tedious – it felt like it took a REALLY long time to meet the trolls. Once we did, things moved right along again. There was a nice back story interwoven in about trollhunters, the trolls themselves, and Gunmar. The ending of the book leaves the possibility for potential sequels (what happened to the bridge? where did the guy from the museum go? what WAS that rash that covered his body and OOZED?! what about Claire’s family?), but served nicely on its own as well. In this specific instance, I like the netflix series BETTER than I liked the book – way more witty dialogue and there was more closure, even though the series went in a different direction for the ending than the book did.

Rating: 4/5

Today there are books #36 AND #37 AT THE VERY SAME TIME Y’ALL! Yes, sometimes I rock two books at once, especially if I think one of them may be a bit more ehem intense than the other. As promised, they are The Bedwetter by Lee Allen Howard and Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. I will be posting about these books separately once I’ve finished reading. Check back for updates!

Hi there lovely readers! If you’re just joining me, Friday I received a package in the mail from author Lee Allen Howard. I was contacted by Book Publicity Services to receive a complimentary advance copy of one of his novels in exchange for an honest review. I won’t keep you waiting any longer. The next book I will be reading for my blog will be:

The  Bedwetter by Lee Allen Howard. To be honest, this one looks darker (and a bit more bizarre) than anything I’ve read in a good long while. Stay tuned!

Hey readers! I’m look for help designing/adding decor to my book nook (a smallish 4 x 8 foot bump out of a sitting area attached to my dining room). I would LOVE to hear some ideas for how I could make an area more cozy! Send me ideas or pics for small spaces! If I use yours, I’ll give you a shoutout on my blog when I post updates!

Welcome back lovely readers! Today I’m serving up a review of Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie, which is admittedly better than what they ate throughout the course of this book.  (Yikes – gross for sure) I am a HUGE fan of horror mixed with science (dark science fiction) or creature features. Anyone who knows me will tell you that Halloween, NOT Christmas, is my favorite holiday. This turned out to be (kind of) a mix of both. All the children in the world drop dead at the same time during what comes to be called the Herod event. Three days later, the children wake up. The only was they can STAY awake, is through feeding them blood…human blood. One pint buys them about an hour. The catch? Every time they “go back to sleep” (i.e. die again) their brains deteriorate more, leaving them more primitive, more animalistic, and less human.

Anything with children dying is a tough read for me since I’ve become a parent (I stick my kids’ faces on every child that something bad happens to – weird? Totally. Can’t help it – reading about kids in peril makes me panic slightly for my own children). This was a tough one as all the kids – EVERYWHERE – drop dead. This horror novel started off quite sad as the scenes of the parents losing their children was heart-wrenching. You witnessed families falling apart in the aftermath and experienced the characters grief. It was something that hit all too close to home – the thought of an event that you can’t protect your children from – just awful. When the children started to wake up and then wanted to drink blood, I got it. I get being willing to do anything for your children, to keep them alive. But at the same time they were dead bodies that wanted to drink your blood y’all! Seriously?! AND. THEY. WERE. DECOMPOSING. The sheer number of bacteria running around must have been crazy. I can’t see how there would have been any humans to get blood from after they all get sick.

Predictably, as the blood supply dwindles (with each pint only buying you about an hour with your child), humanity did what humanity does best. They started attacking each other, stealing, murdering, or farming the homeless for their blood. Society broke down like it always seems to do when the apocalypse hits. BUT, I can’t say that I know a single parent that wouldn’t do something similar to keep their child alive if they thought they could.

As the story moves, we come to find out that Herod Syndrome is caused by a parasite that only affect prepubescent children. Here is where the story started to lose me. There was this great concept of this parasite and it wasn’t carried all the way through. We never really find out how it got there, did the government really come up with a blood substitute, is there a way to get it out of existing adults, what happens to children that were kept awake the entire time? There were a lot of loose ends. Even the ending was a loose end for me. The children eventually start animating on their own without being fed blood by their parents as the parasite changes their brain chemistry and they “forget” who they are – it essentially overwrites them through the breakdown of their chemicals as they decompose and they become walking parasites. The ending of the book leads you to believe that the children have overrun the neighborhood (if not the world) and are hunting all the adults. We never do find out WHY they start waking up on their own (nor was it ever anticipated). All the other loose ends are still loose, which bugs me to NO END. I actually didn’t mind the feral, vampire children ending; I mostly minded those other items being left outstanding. It felt like that could have added to the story, plus I like to know things. The other aspect that I didn’t love was the character development. The author TRIED to give them a back story and make them believable, but they just felt flat; I didn’t really care about the parents at all beyond the point where their children initially died. I can’t point to one reason why either. They just didn’t do it for me as far as characters went.

Overall, I enjoyed this for what it was – a fun, fast-paced gore fest with some limited social commentary.  I would probably have enjoyed this even more around Halloween.

Rating: 4/5

Today I was able to move on to book #35 – Trollhunters by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus. The animated series was produced in 3 parts on Netflix and the part of Jim was voiced by the late Anton Yelchin (of Fright Night fame). All I will say so far is that the book is significantly darker than the show. While my kids. An watch the show no problem, I will not be reading it with them for some time.

Have you encountered a book my different in content or tone than its media counterpart?

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This is going to be more of a “mini-review” format. You, dear reader, may be asking WHY? Well, to be honest, I don’t have that much to say about this book. The concept was pretty interesting (or I wouldn’t have purchased it) – Izzy Stone has been in foster care since her mother fatally shot her father at 7 years old (and her grandmother died 3 years later). In her latest foster family, she works in a museum alongside her foster parents. She gets the chance to read the letters and journal of Clara Elizabeth Cartwright and gets drawn into the mystery of her incarceration at Williard Asylum.

The book was a mediocre read for me. It started out strong – there was the mystery behind the shooting of Izzy’s mother (why did her mother do it? what is in the letters her mother sent her? will she EVER go see her?) and the story of Clara (would she ever get out? would Bruno find her? what happened to her baby?) The story jumps back and forth between Izzy and Clara. As it progressed though, I lost interest. For Izzy, there was the edition of a school bully with her own sad back story. It never felt like the other characters were every really fleshed out enough to feel real to me. Things came to a head with Shannon (the bully) and were then resolved pretty quickly. This seemed unrealistic to me as, prior to that, Shannon was bullying most of the kids in school (the teachers knew this but didn’t get involved) and was pretty much a giant pain in the ass. To have that be wrapped up in a few pages at the end felt unrealistic. Then there was the other matter of Izzy’s molestation by her father as the impetus for the shooting that landed her in foster care. It was revealed pretty far along in the book, and before it was revealed for certain in the letters Izzy FINALLY read (I don’t think I could have waited 10 YEARS to read these letters – but that’s just me – call me Nosy Nelly over here) the only clue that anything was wrong came when the Shannon’s cronies locked Izzy in one of the morgue’s body cabinets at the asylum (yes – that’s right- this girl is a big enough bully to LOCK A GIRL IN A DARK CABINET WHERE THEY STORED DEAD PEOPLE and leaver her there, but sure school officials, let’s look the other way when she is a stone cold bitch to pretty much everyone in sight). Again, if that is where the story was going (and it did), it just felt like it came out of left field instead of being the intended result all along.

This brings me to Clara’s story. She was a naive 18 year old girl in the 1930s whose parents LOCKED HER UP in a mental institution rather than let her marry someone they didn’t agree with. Now, Clara blamed them for her brother’s death and it was hinted at that her father ruined him, but again, the exact details were never really fleshed out. It became a side note. Anyway, so Clara thinks her father caused her brother to commit suicide and rather than just running away with Bruno (her boyfriend…who she is also secretly pregnant by) in the night or when her parents are out she hears her father call the police to come get her and GOES UPSTAIRS TO PACK A STEAMER TRUNK (seriously?!? yes, she actually did this and then got carted off to a rest home. *face palm*) The rest of her story seemed like bad choice after bad choice. She could have just told the doctor her father was right and she would go along with his plans, get released and run away, right? Nope, she spent the entire time trying to convince them that her father was out to get her…after the first 2 weeks of this you or I would PROBABLY have formed a different plan – not Clara, she is nothing if not persistent. She kept this up until her father lost his fortune in the stock market and sent her to Williard Asylum to save money (a real banner example of parenthood right there). There she had ANOTHER chance to escape – she could have run and jumped into the river and swam away (ding ding ding – no one is going to jump in after you, it’s probably filthy) OR when Bruno started working there and was going to smuggle her out as part of the burial crew. They almost made it, but got waylaid when the other person helping them REFUSED TO GET IN THE BOAT. Bruno was killed and Clara was recaptured at this point and was locked up until like 10 pages from the end of the book. I had a really hard time reading Clara’s story – the treatment of women in general and Clara specifically was horrific to read, especially when they forcibly removed her baby to “give to a good home” and her sterilization directly after the baby’s birth – just brutal the things women were subjected to (and still are, but that’s a story for another day). It was also agonizing and (frankly) annoying to witness her continuing to make these choices that kept hindering her efforts to escape. I wanted to crawl inside the book and shake her (ugh, but really keep me faaaaaaaar away from that mysogynistic shit-hole).

Overall, the book I ended the book and felt like “that was it?” It almost felt unfinished for me, even though the issues were wrapped up. I guess, I just felt unsatisfied afterwards. It wasn’t a bad book; it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Hey lovely readers! Thought you all could do with a look at my book stack that this cozy area is named for. My book stack is a medium size cart that I keep by my bed (because if someone touched or *gulp* asked to borrow an unread book I might start to sweat profusely or develop a twitch – it’s better for everyone this way, trust me.)

It is overflowing with books and there is no sign of my stopping filling it soon. Or stopping my library visits either. My head is all: you don’t really need to borrow five books from the library or order another on Amazon. My heart just smacks me upside the head and is all: you get free shipping if you add this book dum-dum; you’re actually SAVING money and the library is free so duh! Then my head is like: oh Riiiiiiiiight, makes sense – lets do that.

I might be a book hoarder y’all. Please don’t stage an intervention – it’s better this way. If you haven’t heard from me in several days – just send coffee, and chocolate…and another book.

What should I add to my stack? Comment below or send me an email!