As far as not posting on here or over on my YouTube channel the simple answer is that I was not reading much this past summer with life becoming busier and busier. I have attempted to film a couple of videos in the past month but watching them back it was obvious I was tired and not into it the process of filming. That is not the type of content I enjoy creating. But the past seven days have been great for my reading. After barely reading a book a month I have read four in the past week!
As for news coming up for the blog and possibly my channel I do have some plans that will allow me to post more regularly. I am going to be participating in NaNoWriMo informally this November. I began working on an idea for a book a couple of months ago and as of today have written over 3000 words and am hoping to hit 100,000 in late December! I plan on doing weekly updates with that to see how the process is going and what I am doing differently this time compared to my other first drafts.
As for reading, I have been reading a minimum of one book a month with the help of my boyfriend. We started our own book club where we alternate who picks a book each month. We've read three so far, the third is in the reviews below and I hope to incorporate this tradition of ours into my regular reviewing schedule.
Check out the reviews below and look forward to more reviews in the coming months.
Happy reading!
Author: Stephen King
Page Count: 1156
Rating: A
Format Read: Audiobook and Paperback
Genre: Horror
Keywords: Fear, Small Towns, Friendship
Kid Appropriate: No
Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real ...
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
My Review:
Okay if you follow my YouTube channel you may have seen a video I uploaded earlier this year of books that I am taking a shamefully long time to read. Check that out here if you're curious. But this was definitely one of the longest books in that list.
For a quick recap I started this book in early 2017 when I bought the very chunky paperback. I read about half of the book then before I took a break and picked the book backup that fall. Around November I put the book down again after getting to about 60% through.
Fast forward to last month, I downloaded the audiobook and started all over again because I had honestly forgotten just about everything that wasn't included in the Tim Curry miniseries from 1990. This is a LONG audiobook coming in around 45 hours. I was worried that it was going to be slow and boring and I was going to fail to read this monster for a third time.
Luckily, that was not the case! Steven Weber was a great narrator that kept me focused through the long hours (though I will admit by the end I was listening to this at double speed). His voices for different characters was well done and I could easily picture the whole story.
Now for the story itself, despite the crazy length this book goes at a great pace keeping you focused and immersed in this story that is bouncing between 1958 and 1985. I enjoyed that chapters would end mid sentence and pick up immediately in the next chapter in the other timeline. It kept me engaged and really ruined that "just one more chapter" rule. Another style choice that drew me in is that this isn't just a book of jump scares. There is an underlying mystery that we slowly unravel with interludes as Mike interviews older residents of the town and flashes of just how evil humans can be with the slightest of nudges. It is all building up to this answer of what is wrong with Derry.
The characters themselves were each very distinct and I would say I preferred the timeline when they were eleven more than when they were adults. The friendship between the seven kids is believable and drives everything along nicely as they meet and grow to become family to one another in the face of this unspeakable evil. They definitely grow up by 1985 and certain decisions make each character a bit less endearing than they once were.
As far as the horror aspects of this novel, no it is not strictly about clowns though that is a common appearance of the monster. This creature that appears as Pennywise is so much more than that and morphs to individually scare each person in a similar way to what a Bogart might in Harry Potter. It sees what will affect them most and becomes that. The morphing nature of the beast kept the creepiness factor high.
Overall, I loved this book and it is easily one of my favorite Stephen King books along with The Shining and Bag of Bones. It is creepy, has great characters, and is highly addictive. However, there is one scene that I had heard people mention repeatedly towards the end of the book that made them wish they had never read it. Now that I know what that scene is I completely understand where they are coming from. It is disturbing and I don't even understand why it happened. I skimmed to my best through the scene and am just now pretending it was not there.
Note on the audiobook: it is a King book. There is quite a bit of profanity. Most of it is pretty offensive and definitely not politically correct. Wear headphones if not alone and/or near easily offended ears.
Author: Michael Rutger
Page Count: 400
Rating: B
Format Read: Audiobook
Genre: Horror
Keywords: Missing Girls, Conspiracy Theory, Witches
Kid Appropriate: No
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Still recovering from the shocking revelations they uncovered deep in uncharted territory in the Grand Canyon, American myth and legend investigator Nolan Moore and his team take on a new mission, investigating a rumored case of witchcraft and possession.
Nolan hopes their new case, in a quaint village in the middle of the woods, will prove much more like those he and his team investigated prior to their trip to Kincaid's cavern. But as the residents accounts of strange phenomena add up, Nolan and company begin to suspect something all too real and dangerous may be at play. A force that may not be willing to let them escape the village unscathed.
Nolan hopes their new case, in a quaint village in the middle of the woods, will prove much more like those he and his team investigated prior to their trip to Kincaid's cavern. But as the residents accounts of strange phenomena add up, Nolan and company begin to suspect something all too real and dangerous may be at play. A force that may not be willing to let them escape the village unscathed.
My Review:
Now when The Possession was released this year I was beyond excited to continue the search for the unknown with Nolan and the team. Then I read the very mixed, definitely skewed towards negative, reviews a month after its release. So I hesitated and hemmed and hawed over whether the reviews were going to steer me away from the book. Ultimately I sprang for the audiobook.
Initially, I was debating returning the book. The first quarter is slow, muddled, and feels overly pointless. I found myself countless times daydreaming while it played, losing entire chunks of the story. It was bad and I started to think all the people that had DNF'd or given one star might be right.
Then I sat down over the weekend and turned it on for one last try...and didn't turn it off until the book was over. This is definitely a slow build that makes no sense when you're trying to get into the story. It reads nothing like the first book. And I think that is the main problem. If I had gone in without having read that first one I think I would have been less critical of this style that is completely different.
Slowly it will draw you in with little details and before you know it the story is taking off on a crazy adventure of spurned lovers, witchcraft, mystical walls, and demons. I gave this one four stars because of the beginning but by the end I truly enjoyed this book. It was short enough to have good pacing, I laughed out loud more than once with one liners from Ken, and it is just creepy enough.
Read it if you like cheesy syfy type stories that you can devour quickly and will make you laugh. Don't read this if you're look for a great novel to critique and learn great life lessons from.
Author: Scott Thomas
Page Count: 414
Rating: B
Format Read: Paperback
Genre: Horror
Keywords: Evil, Hauntings, Fear
Kid Appropriate: No
Synopsis from Goodreads:
At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, lies the Finch House. For years it has perched empty, abandoned, and overgrown--but soon the door will be opened for the first time in many decades. But something waits, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests.
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country's most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won't be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt soon becomes a fight for survival--the entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country's most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won't be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt soon becomes a fight for survival--the entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.
So I read this book with my boyfriend. We trade off each month who picks a book for us to read together and this month it was my pick. Being a huge fan of both the horror genre and Halloween I knew I wanted something creepy. So during a search through Amazon and Goodreads I stumbled across this book which had some pretty good reviews. Unconvinced after having two books in a row we both deemed meh, we read the sample. And were immediately hooked.
This book is a pretty cheesy sounding premise. Horror writers doing an interview and staying overnight in a haunted house. That is all the first quarter of the book is with characters being cryptic and over the top while the house is a bit bland, only a few creepy things happening here and there that will send the hair on your arms standing up on end.
It is that simplicity of scares that I liked in the very beginning. There is nothing jumping out and throwing the fear in your face. It's small things that you'll likely experience later in your normal life. A creaking sound. A draft. But you'll be thinking back to this book with a level of wariness.
From there the book diverts from the original premise and you see a slow decline into insanity for each character that comes to a head and the real conflict begins with the true evil within the story revealing itself.
Gore, scares, and dark secrets abound in this read and I loved it. My boyfriend (who is not a horror fan) and I both gave it roughly four stars, knocking off a star for some slower moments or scenes that just didn't feel fully fleshed out. Definitely check this one out if you're looking for a new horror book.
Author: Daniella Vega
Page Count: 252
Rating: B
Format Read: Hardcover
Genre: YA Horror
Keywords: New Girl, Haunted House, Sacrifice
Kid Appropriate: Teens and older
Synopsis from Goodreads:
From Danielle Vega, YA’s answer to Stephen King, comes a new paranormal novel about dark family secrets, deep-seated vengeance, and the horrifying truth that evil often lurks in the unlikeliest of places.
Hendricks Becker-O’Malley is new in town, and she’s bringing baggage with her. With a dark and wild past, Hendricks doesn’t think the small town her parents moved her to has much to offer her in terms of excitement. She plans on laying low, but when she’s suddenly welcomed into the popular crowd at school, things don’t go as expected.
Hendricks learns from her new friends that the fixer-upper her parents are so excited about is notorious in town. Local legend says it’s haunted. Hendricks doesn’t believe it. Until she’s forced to. Blood-curdling screams erupt from the basement, her little brother wakes up covered in scratches, and something, or someone pushes her dad down the stairs. With help from the mysterious boy next door, Hendricks makes it her mission to take down the ghosts . . . if they don’t take her first.
Hendricks Becker-O’Malley is new in town, and she’s bringing baggage with her. With a dark and wild past, Hendricks doesn’t think the small town her parents moved her to has much to offer her in terms of excitement. She plans on laying low, but when she’s suddenly welcomed into the popular crowd at school, things don’t go as expected.
Hendricks learns from her new friends that the fixer-upper her parents are so excited about is notorious in town. Local legend says it’s haunted. Hendricks doesn’t believe it. Until she’s forced to. Blood-curdling screams erupt from the basement, her little brother wakes up covered in scratches, and something, or someone pushes her dad down the stairs. With help from the mysterious boy next door, Hendricks makes it her mission to take down the ghosts . . . if they don’t take her first.
My Review:
At just over 250 pages this book is a quick read. It delivers creepiness, romance, a persistent haunting, and a feisty protagonist with a dark past waiting to come out. With the page count being so low there is not a lot of room for a well fleshed out story to develop. That was my main complaint. The book did not feel like it was fully written at certain times, a bit rushed. Despite this I still enjoyed my time in this book. It delivered a great Halloween time read that had me flipping the pages towards an explosive end that I wouldn't have guessed from the beginning.
