Corpse Walker: The Night Parade by Ralynn Kimie My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Corpse Walker: The Night Parade in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I went into Corpse Walker: The Night Parade with cautious optimism. The synopsis was intriguing—dark folklore, mysterious parades of the dead, and a lyrical writing style that immediately drew me in. Ralynn Kimie has crafted something thoughtful and unsettling, with the potential to be deeply moving for the right reader. Unfortunately, I now realize this book was never going to be a good match…
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House of Hollow
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland My rating: 1 of 5 stars The Gist I really wanted to love House of Hollow. It had all the right elements: mysterious sisters, a traumatic backstory, eerie vibes, and a fairytale-turned-nightmare premise. On the surface, it promised something dark and dazzling. But beneath the lush prose and moody aesthetic, there’s not much holding the story together. The Details Let’s talk about the writing. Krystal Sutherland clearly knows how to craft sentences, but when every page bursts with metaphors and poetic phrasing, it gets old fast. What starts as lyrical quickly becomes exhausting. The constant references to rot, shadows, and otherworldly beauty pile up.…
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The Keeper of the Key
The Keeper of the Key by Nicole Willson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Keeper of the Key in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Nicole Willson crafts a gripping and atmospheric tale in The Keeper of the Key, a YA horror/paranormal novel that delivers exactly what I hoped for. From the first chapter, I felt pulled into a world full of eerie charm and unsettling secrets. The setting breathes with life—creepy without becoming cliché, vivid without overexplaining. Fans of haunted mansions and generational curses will find so much…
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Wake the Bones
Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne My rating: 2 of 5 stars The Gist Wake the Bones promises a haunting, Southern Gothic tale steeped in magic and decay. In some ways, it delivers. The rural Kentucky setting is rich and eerie. The prose is lyrical and strange—sometimes beautiful, sometimes overwhelming. But despite all that promise, the story never fully came together for me. The Details Laurel Early has always been different. She can read bones. She senses things in the soil. After dropping out of college, she returns to her family’s farm. There, strange things begin to stir. Bones move on their own. The woods seem to breathe. Something old…
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The Things They’ve Taken
The Things They’ve Taken by Katie McElhenney My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Things They’ve Taken in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist The Things They’ve Taken by Katie McElhenney offers a unique blend of fantasy, adventure, and young adult drama. It follows the journey of Lo, a girl whose mother has been taken by a supernatural force. To rescue her, Lo teams up with a mysterious and brooding guide named Shaw. They venture into a strange and dangerous world filled with magical creatures and perilous challenges. The Details…
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This Vicious Grace
This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of This Vicious Grace in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist This Vicious Grace introduces us to Alessa, a young woman with a powerful but dangerous gift meant to protect her people. The Details The novel presents a unique magic system centered around Alessa’s gift and her role as a Finestra. This concept is fresh and adds an interesting dynamic to the story. Thiede crafts a vibrant and detailed world with its own customs, politics, and history. The setting…
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Three Kisses, One Midnight
Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, and Evelyn Skye My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Three Kisses, One Midnight in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Three Kisses, One Midnight by Chockshi, Menon, and Skye is a whimsical journey into a world of enchantment and romance. While the novel offers moments of magic and charm, it falls short of achieving a perfect spellbinding experience, earning a modest three-star rating. The Details The plot revolves around the protagonist, whose destiny is intertwined with three magical kisses beneath the…
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The Iron Sword
The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of The Iron Sword in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Well, I think I need to admit to myself that I may have joined the Iron Fey and Evenfall series too late to fully appreciate it. I feel too old and, perhaps, too impatient for this type of story. It is very YA and I have been spending a lot of time lately reading contemporary fiction and mysteries and thrillers, so doing the jump from murders and unhappy…
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A Lullaby for Witches
A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of A Lullaby for Witches in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I loved Fox’s The Orphan of Cemetery Hill and could not contain my excitement when I found out Fox wrote another story. For the past two years I have noticed a slight change in the publication process, shall we call it, in the books that have hit the shelves. A larger number than before feel like they are missing the last bit of polish before getting…
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Luminous
Luminous by Mara Rutherford My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of Luminous in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I loved Rutherford’s Crown of Coral and Pearl duology. The world building and the story itself were just wonderful. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard Rutherford is publishing a new story. About magic. And witches. Yay! Having read a few new releases this year, I’m starting to notice a… trend? A common thread? Not sure what to call it, but I’m starting to see some similarities in the publications.…
