Hi hello and welcome to my April wrap-up! I had a great reading month with some amazing poetry, some author redemption, and finding a new favorite author that I plan to get lost in. I will be including mini-reviews for all 11 books I read this month in case you're interested in my thoughts on each book. I'll also be linking to any review posts if you'd like to check out my more in-depth thoughts on a book. All books will have links to their Goodreads pages in case you want to add any of these books to your want-to-read lists. With that being said, let's get started!
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Title: I Am Not Your Final Girl
Author: Claire C. Holland
Pages: 91
Genre: Horror Poetry
Release Date: 28 February 2018
From Goodreads: "From Claire C. Holland, a timely collection of poetry that follows the final girl of slasher cinema - the girl who survives until the end - on a journey of retribution and reclamation. From the white picket fences of 1970s Haddonfield to the apocalyptic end of the world, Holland confronts the role of women in relation to subjects including feminism, violence, motherhood, sexuality, and assault in the world of Trump and the MeToo movement. Each poem centers on a fictional character from horror cinema, and explores the many ways in which women find empowerment through their own perceived monstrousness."
Mini-Review: It's hard to put into words exactly how much I loved this. I absolutely plan on doing a full review with quotes and feelings and everything possible so all I'm going to say right now is that I loved every single bit of this. It's heartbreaking and empowering and everything I wanted in a poetry book about final girls. Please pick this up if you haven't read it yet.
Title: Don't Go to Sleep
Author: Bryce Moore
Pages: 320
Genre: YA Thriller/Historical Fiction
Release Date: 02 August 2022
From Goodreads: "Gianna is the average seventeen-year-old girl living in 1918 New Orleans. She worries about her family's store, the great war, and a mysterious illness that's about to take hold of the city she loves. It doesn't help that there also appears to be a mad man on the loose in her neighborhood. The attacks started as burglaries but soon escalate to cold-blooded murder. There's a killer out there, and the police can't seem to figure out how to stop him. Gianna enlists the help of her friend Enzo to investigate. And as they study the crimes, they see a common link between the victims, and Gianna can't help but wonder if it's the same man who attacked her family years before. As Gianna gets closer to the killer, she discovers a connection between them that she never would have suspected."
Mini-Review: This book popped up on NetGalley right after I watched the Buzzfeed Unsolved Axeman episode so of course, I had to hop right on it! I love historical fiction so getting the opportunity to read a historical fiction mashed together with a thriller that included a real-life murder mystery case? Absolutely! Unfortunately, I feel like I set my expectations a bit too high and I was too excited for this if that makes sense. I really wanted something different than what happened and I think I just had a different idea of what this would be about. It did include actual family names from the real-life murders (the author included information at the end about the Axeman murders and the victims) which added to the realism of the story and I appreciated that aspect. I do want to add that the "mysterious illness" that happens throughout the story is eerily similar to the things that are happening in our current world so if content like that is triggering to you, please be aware of this topic. There was a lot of focus on the mystery that the main character is trying to solve and I just wasn't a huge fan of her (or really how she treated her friend, Enzo) as I was reading. The story was fairly easy to read and I did enjoy the historical bits of it, but it was overall a miss for me, sadly.
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Title: Night of the Mannequins
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Pages: 138
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 14 July 2020
From Goodreads: "Stephen Graham Jones returns with Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?"
Mini-Review: I picked this up wanting to dip my toes into Stephen Graham Jones before diving into one of his longer books, just to get a sense of what his writing was like. I think this one missed the mark for me because I just...didn't get it. I feel like I might be in the minority with my opinions on this, unfortunately, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping I would. I did like the kind of ambiguousness of the story and how you're left to wonder what really happened. The unknown of it all was a pretty cool aspect and it was something that I did enjoy! But I think I just didn't enjoy it enough if that makes sense? I will absolutely still be reading more of his books because I think I could really enjoy his longer works, but this one seemed to just be meh by the end.
Title: My Dearest Darkest
Author: Kayla Cottingham
Pages: 352
Genre: YA Horror/LGBT
Release Date: 29 March 2022
Release Date: 29 March 2022
From Goodreads: "Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of a river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she's felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her. Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena's suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another. One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts―beauty, power, adoration―in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island."
Mini-Review: Let me try and sell you on reading this in just a few phrases: eldritch-esque creature, semi enemies to besties to lovers (they weren't roommates but, you know, they were roommates), bloody body horror, spooky private academy. You can't not want to read this, right? I loved the spooky vibes, Finch was such a great character (watching her grow into her own and accept herself was just chefs kiss), and did I mention the heckin spooky vibes?! This was definitely the perfect spooky read!
Mini-Review: Let me try and sell you on reading this in just a few phrases: eldritch-esque creature, semi enemies to besties to lovers (they weren't roommates but, you know, they were roommates), bloody body horror, spooky private academy. You can't not want to read this, right? I loved the spooky vibes, Finch was such a great character (watching her grow into her own and accept herself was just chefs kiss), and did I mention the heckin spooky vibes?! This was definitely the perfect spooky read!
Title: Baby Teeth
Author: Zoje Stage
Pages: 304
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Release Date: 17 July 2018
From Goodreads: "Meet Hanna. She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.
Meet Suzette. She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained homeschooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all."
Mini-Review: Okay, a little bit of shame on Megan time. I got an ARC of this book years ago and never got around to reading it. Granted, I had a pretty good excuse of, you know, dealing with cancer, but still! Recently, my mom picked this book up and was raving about it to me which made me want to finally pick it up all these years later. It was so wild, holy crap! I loved the pacing and how things progressed as the story moved forward. I constantly felt a sense of dread not knowing what was going to happen next and it was great. I'm so happy I finally read this!
Title: I Am the Ghost in Your House
Author: Maria Romasco Moore
Pages: 432
Genre: YA Fantasy/LGBT
Release Date: 19 April 2022
From Goodreads: "Pie is the ghost in your house. She is not dead, she is invisible. The way she looks changes depending on what is behind her. A girl of glass. A girl who is a window. If she stands in front of floral wallpaper she is full of roses. For Pie’s entire life it’s been Pie and her mother. Just the two of them, traveling across America. They have slept in trains, in mattress stores, and on the bare ground. They have probably slept in your house. But Pie is lonely. And now, at seventeen, her mother’s given her a gift. The choice of the next city they will go to. And Pie knows exactly where she wants to go. Pittsburgh—where she fell in love with a girl who she plans to find once again. And this time she will reveal herself. Only how can anyone love an invisible girl?"
Mini-Review: I think this was kind of a middle-of-the-road read for me. I read it in 2 sittings, completely by accident to be honest. I did enjoy the story, and Pie as a character. It was heartbreaking at times following her because she wanted so badly to be seen but she had been raised to do the opposite. There were themes of loss, abuse, love, finding yourself, family relationships, and heartbreak that were really well written, in my opinion. I loved seeing Pie's growth throughout the story and who she became by the end. I had a different idea of what this story would be about but it didn't ruin anything for me once I started reading. Truthfully, I'm glad I was wrong about what this story was about! I loved the way it ended up unfolding so much more than I initially thought it would. I'm still shocked I read this in 2 sittings but once I started, I really didn't want to stop! It was haunting; not in a spooky way but in a way that sits in your heart and just reminds you that it's there every so often. This may not be my favorite read of all time but it's certainly one that I cannot stop thinking about and smiling when I remember my time with Pie.
Title: Come Closer
Author: Sara Gran
Pages: 196
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 01 July 2003
From Goodreads: "A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that's replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she's doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea. The new voice in Amanda's head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane?"
Mini-Review: Apparently this is the month of novellas with psychological horror undertones! The more I think back on this one, the more I enjoyed it. And I think that also has something to do with the fact that I convinced my mom to read this one, so I got to discuss it with her after she finished reading it. I really liked that this kept me wondering the entire time I was reading. Was Amanda really possessed, or is she losing her mind? It genuinely kept me guessing and thinking about the things that she was doing and wondering if it was a demon taking over her body slowly or if it was just the way that she was deep down and she was just slowly becoming her "true" self. There was such a good story packed into less than 200 pages and it's something that I'm still thinking about long after I finished reading!
Title: We Need to Do Something
Author: Max Booth III
Pages: 188
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 08 May 2020
From Goodreads: "A family on the verge of self-destruction finds themselves isolated in their bathroom during a tornado warning."
Mini-Review: Oh look, another psychological horror novella! This one was awesome, plain and simple. The concept is really as short and sweet as the description: a self-destructing family is trapped inside their bathroom during a tornado warning. I wasn't sure what exactly I was expecting but holy crap it wasn't this. I loved this frickin book. It starts off relatively chill but quickly escalates into something that I wasn't expecting. I still don't really know what happened and I love that it's kept me guessing! This is one that I'll absolutely be going back and reading again because it has the perfect creepy vibe that I always love reading. I don't want to give too much away and I know it's cliche but you really do have to read it to understand. If you're looking for a quick creepy read, this one is perfect!
Title: Spades
Author: Charlie Nottingham
Pages:
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 03 May 2022
From Author's Website: Brooke is a retired supernatural hunter - now a peace-loving librarian, ignoring her paranormal roots. Declan is the owner of Spades - a biker bar known for its otherworldly clientele. When Brooke gets roped into one last case, she ends up at Spades. But the job goes out the window after a couple drinks with Declan. One day later, Brooke can feel Declan's pain, and he can hear her thoughts... without trying. Somehow, Brooke and Declan are now bound on a sensual, almost spiritual level. But it was only supposed to be a one-night stand. Are they bound together forever?
Mini-Review: I really enjoyed this, oh my gosh. The writing and the world felt effortless to fall into, I found myself very intrigued by the two main characters Brooke and Declan, and I finished this book wanting to know more! You know how some stories that are set in previously established worlds can sometimes feel like…confusing? With Spades, while I do think there is a larger world that the author has created and that exists in other books outside of this one, I never felt lost or like I was “missing” anything. If anything, it made me want to read more and discover the larger picture of the world! Absolutely enjoyed my time with this story and I can’t wait to read more from this author!
Title: Raven's Cry
Author: Charlie Nottingham
Pages: 286
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 04 April 2022
From Amazon: Rain's lost everything in the last decade. Her grandmother, her brother, and her family home might be next. All she has is Graham - a powerful Fae who illegally escaped the Fae Realm and has been her best friend ever since. Until Ezra - the sexiest Vampire she's ever seen - commissions her for one hell of a job. Cleansing dozens of vengeful spirits from an abandoned mansion for a life-changing amount of money. All Rain wants is to focus on her budding relationship with Ezra, but the ghosts in the mansion have awoken the ones Rain has spent a decade trying to keep locked up. But Rain isn't the only one with secrets. Ezra has a few of his own."
Mini-Review: No shame but almost as soon as I finished Spades, I picked up Raven's Cry. I was hooked on Charlie Nottingham's writing and I immediately needed more! Raven's Cry was already on my Kindle (bless KU) so I just started reading it and I am so happy I did. I'm obsessed with the world that Charlie has created and her writing is just so easy to get lost it. This is also one of my favorite introductions to polyamory I've ever read! I'm so ready for the sequel but until that is out, I'll be binging her entire backlist!
Title: The Last Final Girl
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Pages: 216
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 22 September 2012
From Goodreads: "Aerial View: A suburban town in Texas. Everyone's got an automatic garage door opener. All the kids jump off a perilous cliff into a shallow river as a rite of passage. The sheriff is a local celebrity. You know this town. You're from this town. Zoom In: Homecoming princess, Lindsay. She's just barely escaped death at the hands of a brutal, sadistic murderer in a Michael Jackson mask. Up on the cliff, she was rescued by a horse and bravely defeated the killer, alone, bra-less. Her story is already a legend. She's this town's heroic final girl, their virgin angel. Monster Vision: Halloween masks floating down that same river the kids jump into. But just as one slaughter is not enough for Billie Jean, our masked killer, one victory is not enough for Lindsay. Her high school is full of final girls, and she's not the only one who knows the rules of the game. When Lindsay chooses a host of virgins, misfits, and former final girls to replace the slaughtered members of her original homecoming court, it's not just a fight for survival-it's a fight to become The Last Final Girl."
Mini-Review: This. I knew this book would not disappoint me and it didn't! I was so iffy on SGJ after reading Night of the Mannequins and not vibing with it, but I am so glad I picked this up because I just had a feeling I would love it and I absolutely did. I saw a lot of reviews that weren't fans of it for one reason or another, but a lot of the reasons seemed to be the writing style or the format of the book. It reads like a frickin cheesy horror slasher and that's what made me love it so much! I could really picture it in my head like a movie unfolding as I was reading. It was funny and bloody and just what I needed to end off my reading month on a good note!
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And that does it for my April wrap-up! I can't believe I actually read 11 books this month, that feels insane to me. I think my favorite book that I read in April would have to be Raven's Cry. Charlie Nottingham is a new favorite author for me and I was just obsessed with this book! I also loved I Am Not Your Final Girl and I am absolutely planning on getting a physical copy of this one. I'd love to know what your favorite book that you read in April was and a book that you're excited to pick up in May! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!
