Under The Book Cover: grady hendrix

Top Ten Tuesday: My Husband Describes Books!

ACOTAR 5:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This weekly post is hosted by the wonderful Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl so please be sure to go check out her post with all of the information about TTT. The topic this week is a freebie, which means you can write about literally anything you can think of. I went through a few ideas and then I landed on this one: books as described by my husband. He loves to guess what I'm reading, and helps me pick out books sometimes, but he's not a super big reader like I am so I thought it would be funny to have him describe what he thinks a book is about based on the cover. I tried to pick a few he would recognize from my shelves, like ACOTAR and Empire of the Vampire, but I threw a few curveballs in there just for some fun. Let’s get started!
___________________________________________________________________________

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

"Oh I know this one, it's faerie porn."

2. Lightlark by Alex Aster

"Light what? What’s a lark? I don’t know what that is? I think this one is about a bard, and I'm assuming there's space involved based on the stars. I like the gold filigree on this, though."

3. The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

"Ancient curse. Like a group of people protecting the thing. Whatever the secret or bloodline or thing people can't know, that's what they're protecting."

4. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

"I'm assuming this is not a Spirit Halloween employee? Definitely a she controls the dead type of thing based on the skeletons.”

5. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

“Is that Yasuo? Based off of the snake, eagle, wolf, bear, I’m guessing they’re some sort of blood creatures and Yasuo goes to magic school?”

6. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Me: “Okay what’s this one about?”

Jamie: “The fourth wing. Not the third, not the fifth, the fourth.”

7. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

“A girl serial killer who is killing all of the other girl serial killers because they think they’re the final girl serial killers but they’re not the final girl serial killers.”

8. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Jamie: “I’m guessing it’s about Lily and Snape, past that I don’t know. What am I supposed to be getting about the cover?”

Me: zooms in on characters

Jamie: “…so he kisses with his eyes open? Is that it?”

9. The Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert

Jamie: laughs “Come on now.”

Me: “WHAT IS IT ABOUT TELL ME.”

Jamie: googles tentacle hentai “Come on now.”

10. Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

Jamie: “Looks like it’s cold so they gotta stay warm somehow!”

Me: “It’s smutty and has big blue aliens.”

Jamie: “NO. YOU DON’T SAY. IT COULDN’T BE. IS THERE A SIZE DIFFERENCE, TOO?”

_____________________________________________________________________________
And that’s it for this Top Ten Tuesday freebie post! I have to say, this is one of the funniest posts I’ve done. He definitely gave me the eyebrow raise of judgement for all ten of these covers and I could not stop laughing as he tried to tell me what he thought they were about. But I loved involving him in this and I hope you guys get a kick out of his responses. I’m already thinking of another post to have him be involved in! What did you do for this freebie post? I’m excited to see all of the variations that people come up with this week because the possibilities are endless! Please feel free to link your post below in the comments so I can come check it out. And let me know which description my husband gave was your favorite! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next chapter!

Share |

Blogtober 2022 Day 19: American Horror Story Book Tag

1984 12:00:00 PM

Share |

Blogtober 2022 Day 1: October TBR

blogtober 12:00:00 PM

Share |

2022 Most Anticipated Releases!

adult 12:00:00 PM

Hi hello and welcome to my 2022 most anticipated releases! I know this post is a bit late but I still wanted to share some of the upcoming book releases that I'm really excited about this year. This list probably isn't anywhere near finished but these are the ones I’m really looking forward to! These will be in order of release date and will have their Goodreads pages linked so you can easily add any of these titles to your want to read shelf if you’re interested in checking them out. Let’s get started!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Dead Silence

Author: S.A. Barnes

Pages: 352

Genre: Horror/Science Fiction

Release Date: 08 February 2022

From Goodreads: "Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate. What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right. Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate."

Title: Extasia

Author: Claire Legrand

Pages: 496

Genre: YA Horror

Release Date: 22 February 2022

From Goodreads: "Her name is unimportant. All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men. She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove. Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?"

Title: Gallant

Author: V.E. Schwab

Pages: 352

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: 01 March 2022

From Goodreads: "Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from. Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?"

Title: The Dragon's Bride

Author: Katee Robert

Pages:

Genre: Fantasy/ Romance

Release Date: 29 March 2022

From Goodreads: "Briar Rose might have a name out of a storybook, but she learned at a very young age that no prince was coming to save her. She’ll have to save herself. Unfortunately, even that is an impossible task in her current situation—trapped in a terrifying marriage to a dangerous man. Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how she finds herself making a deal with a demon. Freedom from her husband…in return for seven years of service. She expects the service to be backbreaking and harsh. She doesn’t expect to be put on an auction block in a room full of literal monsters and sold to the highest bidder. To Sol. A dragon. He might seem kinder than his fearsome looks imply, but she knows better than to trust the way he wants to take care of her, or how invested he is in her pleasure. In her experience, if something seems too good to be true, it certainly is. Falling for Sol is out of the question. She’s suffered enough, and she has no intention of staying in this realm…even if she leaves her heart behind when she returns to her normal life."

Title: The Pawn and the Puppet

Author: Brandi Elise Szeker

Pages: 344

Genre: Dark Romance

Release Date: 01 April 2022

From Goodreads: “ The Emerald Lake Asylum is not a place most desire to go. Nineteen year old, Skylenna, however, made a promise that she must keep. Once hired, she only has one purpose—prove to the council that barbaric treatments, such as waterboarding, scalding baths, and beatings, are no longer the answer. But that all takes pause when she meets the source of terror in the asylum. A patient with a split personality—on one side, he’s the bloodthirsty genius, Dessin. On the other, a hidden persona that is buried deep in his subconscious.When Dessin is caught in an attempted cell break, he faces execution if Skylenna can’t bring out his core personality and reveal his humanity. She has ninety days to save his life, and the only way to do that is to let him consume her into his world of moves, counter-moves, and master puppeteering. With each passing day, their bond deepens, a forbidden attraction forming against her best judgments. Little by little, Skylenna uncovers the sinister secrets of his past that turned him into the monster everyone else fears. And Dessin proves to have one weakness despite the terrifying, indestructible persona he presents to the world: her.”

Title: I Am the Ghost in Your House

Author: Maria Romasco-Moore

Pages: 432

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

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?"

Title: The Children on the Hill

Author: Jennifer McMahon

Pages: 352

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Release Date: 26 April 2022

From Goodreads: "1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when’s she home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love. Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl. Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.

2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister."

Title: Book of Night

Author: Holly Black

Pages: 320

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Release Date: 03 May 2022

From Goodreads: "In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own. Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows."

Title: Hide

Author: Kiersten White

Pages: 256

Genre: Adult Horror/Thriller

Release Date: 24 May 2022

From Goodreads: "The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught. The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that. It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't. But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive. Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run."

Title: Wicked Beauty

Author: Katee Robert

Pages: 400

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Release Date: 07 June 2022

From Goodreads: "In Olympus, you either have the power to rule...or you are ruled. Achilles Kallis may have been born with nothing, but as a child he vowed he would claw his way into the poisonous city's inner circle. Now that a coveted role has opened to anyone with the strength to claim it, he and his partner, Patroclus Fotos, plan to compete and double their odds of winning. Neither expect infamous beauty Helen Kasios to be part of the prize...or for the complicated fire that burns the moment she looks their way. Zeus may have decided Helen is his to give to away, but she has her own plans. She enters into the competition as a middle finger to the meddling Thirteen rulers, effectively vying for her own hand in marriage. Unfortunately, there are those who would rather see her dead than lead the city. The only people she can trust are the ones she can't keep her hands off—Achilles and Patroclus. But can she really believe they have her best interests at heart when every stolen kiss is a battlefield?"

Title: The Woman in the Library

Author: Sulari Gentill

Pages: 288

Genre: Adult Horror/Thriller

Release Date: 07 June 2022

From Goodreads: "The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer."

Title: The House Across the Lake

Author: Riley Sager

Pages: 368

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Release Date: 21 June 2022

From Goodreads: "Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving."

Title: How to Sell A Haunted House

Author: Grady Hendrix

Pages: 400

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Release Date: 12 July 2022

From Goodreads: "New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a hilarious and terrifying new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else..."

Title: These Fleeting Shadows

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Pages: 336

Genre: YA Horror

Release Date: 09 August 2022

From Goodreads: "Helen Vaughan doesn't know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven't spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she's shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, dor she'll be left with nothing. There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen's dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night? And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick? With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can."

Title: Love on the Brain

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Pages: 384

Genre: Adult Romance

Release Date: 23 August 2022

From Goodreads: "Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project--a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia--Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward. Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school--archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away. Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas...devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?"

Title: Pretty Dead Queens

Author: Alexa Donne

Pages: 336

Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller

Release Date: 04 October 2022

From Goodreads: "After the death of her mom (screw cancer), seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary in the California coastal town . . . until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she’s not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen. With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother’s books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town’s secrets, the more she worries that

her own mystery might not have a storybook ending."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

And that’s it for my most anticipated releases of 2022! As I said above, I’m sure I’m missing some really awesome books, so please keep an eye out for a second post of even more anticipated releases for this year. I’d love to know what some of the books that you’re looking forward to this year are so leave me a comment down below and let me know! To no ones surprise, my number one most anticipated release is, of course, Gallant by V.E. Schwab. I’m always looking forward to any book she puts out into the world. That’s all from me for today so thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next chapter!