Hello, dearings! I’m alive yet again =D I have been making some solid progress on my readings, which brings us here today: MORE MINI REVIEWS! This time, our theme is Edgar Allan Poe, as I’m reading this pretty and giant book with his main works =) I’m not done yet, hence the ‘part 1’ deal, haha!
Just remembering that the mini reviews deal is a combination of inspirations from Cait, of The Paper Fury, and from Lindsey, of @thepagemistress, and that I do those with books that: a) I really liked, but the book didn’t change my life; b) regardless of my feelings, were too short for a complete review; c) regardless of my feelings, weren’t unforgettable.
In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for these Edgar Allan Poe’s books:
Good afternoon, my loves! Welcome to the cover reveal for Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault, by Candace Robinson =D In this post, you’ll find overall info about book and author and my cover analysis!
Good day, bamboo lovers! Welcome to the book blitz for Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know Of), by F.J.R. Titchenell! In this post, you’ll find overall info about the book and the author, my cover analysis, what people are saying about the book, a killer excerpt and a giveaway!
Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know Of)
by F.J.R. Titchenell
Genre: YA Horror, Comedy
Release Date: April 4th, 2017
The world is Cassie Fremont’s playground. Her face is on the cover of every newspaper. She has no homework, no curfew, and no credit limit, and she spends her days traveling the country with her friends, including a boy who would do the chicken dance with death to make her smile.
Life is just about perfect—except that those newspaper headlines are about her bludgeoning her crush to death with a paintball gun, she has to fight ravenous walking corpses every time she steps outside, and one of her friends is still missing, trapped somewhere in the distant, practically impassable wreckage of Manhattan.
Still, Cassie’s an optimist, more prone to hysterical laughter than hysterical tears, and she’d rather fight a corpse than be one. She’ll never leave a friend stranded when she can simply take her road trip to impossible new places, even if getting there means admitting to that boy that she might love him as more than her personal jester.
Skillfully blending effective horror with unexpected humor, this diary-style novel is a fast-paced and heartwarming read.
(Alternative title: HOLLY F*, THE CREEPS. ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE! =OOOOOO)
Hello to you that decided it was a good time to seat and read a review! Or not sit, but happily scroll down through your phone. Oh, well. Welcome to you, no matter if you are seated, on your feet or laid down. My only piece of advice before cutting the crap and start talking about today’s book is: do not read this with the lights off. You know, safety matters and all. Thanks!
Without further ado, today I took the day to review a DELICIOUS book that I received from the author in exchange for an honest review: Black Water Tales: The Unwated, from JeanNicole Rivers! Technically, this is the second book in the series, but they are totally unrelated to each other, so I will just treat is as a standalone 🙂 Thanks so much for sending me your book, JeanNicole! I don’t have the words to describe what it meant to me! Actually I kind of do, as I am writing all about my feels for the book as we speak, but never mind that.
Blaire Baker is one of those people who is in a serious need to find a purpose in life. Which better way than to volunteer herself to teach special children at a poor orphanage in eastern Europe? St. Sebastian sounds like the perfect place to escape her problems and make herself useful, maybe even changing some lives for good. Paired up with Travis, a funny and easy-going nurse on the same mission as her, Blaire heads to Borslav to start her life.
She knew not to expect a nice looking place or even healthy children, but nothing prepared Blaire to the eerie creeps that St. Sebastian gave her. She also wasn’t prepared to deal with emotionless and stoic children that couldn’t care less what happened around them. Or even to hear so many whispers about the basement.
As if caring for those lost children wasn’t already a big deal, Blaire also started to be haunted by her own past. She would have to fight her own demons before trying to dig up the mysteries around the night noises and voices of St. Sebastian.
The only question is… Will she survive long enough for that?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
DEAR HEAVENS, WHERE DO I BEGIN?! This book scared me on a whole new level. I admit not being an avid reader of terror books so far in my life, but NOT A SINGLE BOOK THAT CAME BEFORE THIS ONE WRACKED ME SO HARD! Nearing the end, I would shiver in broad daylight, with the sun on my back and many people around me, feeling utterly alone in the world. As I finished it on a very crowded subway station, I kept looking over my shoulder, being sure that ~something~ was watching for me, if you know what I mean. I only avoided a panic attack because I managed to run home and burn my energy. And when I say run, I mean it. I must have looked absolutely crazy, because I only stopped to cross streets and to enter my building… Oh well, it happens to the best of us. For all those sensations, that are priceless on their own twisted way, A MILLION STARTS FOR THIS BOOK!
The narrative had to be my favorite style: third person with switching points of view between Blaire and Travis. As both them are oblivious to the things that really happen at the orphanage, the narrative choice fit as a glove. Even when one of them discovered something else, we all kept in the dark (quite literally) about what was real and what was paranoid delusion. In the end of the book, I truly didn’t know any more if things were actually happening of if it was a glitch from one of their minds. Rivers plays with your mind that hard.
The plot was all kinds of brilliant. I admit that the story starts off a little slow with Blaire going to Borslav with Travis, but as soon as they step on St. Sebastian for the first time, you are doomed. It’s a mix of morbid curiosity with pure agony that makes you go on. You want to see these poor children winning in life after so many problems. I have to also admit that I was actually cool in the scary side while I thought things were supernatural. While I thought that ghosts were behind the bad things and that was a simple matter of calling Sam and Dean, you know?
I thought it would be the case of involving the Impala brothers 😛
However, Rivers played me like a puppet and laughed (metaphorically) at my face. No Sam and Dean were required and just like that my biggest fears came alive: REAL PEOPLE DOING NASTY THINGS. This is what truly scared the shit out of me and Rivers had me at my fear of real people. Well played, Rivers. Well played indeed.
Ok, focus. Now we have characters. Oh, the characters. I was soooo in love with Blaire and Travis once that I got to know them! What I really liked about this book is that the author didn’t push the romance – no, it’s all about the mystery and remaining true to yourself. Despite some facts, it would have been really easy to turn Travis and Blaire into a couple and I am so proud of Rivers for not falling into that trap ❤ From the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU!
What I really love about Black Water Tales: The Unwanted is that every character has a shady edge, even the children and St. Sebastian building. By the way, the building pulses with life, which is so freaking odd and creepy. I love decadent places, but I doubt I would have the courage to enter St. Sebastian.
The only complaint that I have is that I ended the book without many vital details. I felt more tying up right before the end and I doubt that the next instalment of this series will also be in Borslav, so it is a bit disappointing. I only overlooked this on my rating because all the rest is SO FREAKING AMAZING that I could deal with some plot holes, haha!
I think I have already went on too much today, so let me just wrap things up by saying that if you love mystery and terror, you simply have to read this book asap. After that, message me for us to fangirl about it together, please! =D
Thanks for reading another unnecessary long and fangirling review, you rock if you reached the bottom of my post! Also, another round of thank-yous for JeanNicole herself for being incredible in both writing this masterpiece and sending it my way ❤ ❤ I loved this experience! But of course you couldn’t tell by this review. #sarcasm
(Alternative title: the book that made me so hot to read it that burned me when I did)
Hi, there, lovelies! Slowly and steadily, I’m putting some order on my missing reviews 🙂 I’m almost done with the sent books, so I’ll start the asked ones, haha! Today I’ll be talking about a book I received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review: The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, from Joyce Carol Oates. While I thank the publisher to the infinity and beyond for approving my review request, I must say that this book wasn’t my kind of terror 😦
For that reason, I won’t be long on my review, as I still think many people out there will love it despite my feelings towards this book 🙂
From one of our most important contemporary writers, The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror is a bold, haunting collection of six stories.
In the title story, a young boy becomes obsessed with his cousin’s doll after she tragically passes away from leukemia. As he grows older, he begins to collect “found dolls” from the surrounding neighborhoods and stores his treasures in the abandoned carriage house on his family’s estate. But just what kind of dolls are they?
In “Gun Accident,” a teenage girl is thrilled when her favorite teacher asks her to house-sit, even on short notice. But when an intruder forces his way into the house while the girl is there, the fate of more than one life is changed forever.
In “Equatorial,” set in the exotic Galapagos, an affluent American wife experiences disorienting assaults upon her sense of who her charismatic husband really is, and what his plans may be for her.
In The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, Joyce Carol Oates evokes the “fascination of the abomination” that is at the core of the most profound, the most unsettling, and the most memorable of dark mystery fiction.
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
This book wasn’t for me. I like my terror more terrifying. I enjoyed the first story, but I had it all figured out in the middle. The other stories were just boring for me and I feel awful for that. The writing style was tiresome, the mystery was too obvious and the terror itself didn’t built up on my head I was the most wrong target, haha! So, two stars.
What I liked: the first story. I loved the concept and even after understanding it all, it gave me the creeps to keep going. I have a thing for dolls, especially porcelain dolls. I know several people are afraid of them, but I love them to the core – I have four myself, gifts from my grandma ❤
That’s my reaction EVERY TIME I see pretty vintage dolls, be it porcelain or not, haha!
Anyway, I don’t really want to bitch about this book. All I will say is that I was too excited to read the book and got disappointed. If you like light terror, soft mystery, creepy things and don’t open this book with high expectations, you’ll love it 🙂
That’s it! Thanks for reading this review and I honestly hope more people can love this book to compensate my lack of love 🙂
Good morning! Sorry, this Sunday post is a bit later than usual because I was too hooked on Darkness Fair to leave a scheduled post yesterday, sorry! Anyway, my chosen one for the TBR of the Week is my newest baby! My hero dad got me Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children along with To Kill a Mockingbird and I couldn’t be happier ❤
Hi, there! Welcome to a cover reveal for a book that is giving me the chills since I first read its snyponsis: Black Water Tales: The Unwanted, from JeanNicole Rivers!
Black Water Tales: The Unwanted JeanNicole Rivers
Publication date: March 31st 2016
Genres: Adult, Horror
In the remote, eastern European town of Borslav there is St. Sebastian orphanage, a place where people discard their unwanted children. For the American, Blaire Baker, it’s the perfect place to volunteer her services. Paired with a cheerful volunteer nurse, Blaire is enthusiastic about the possibilities, but is quickly discouraged when she encounters the nefarious nature of the staff and the deplorable conditions of the facility and the children.
Upon arrival, one of the children informs Blaire, “There’s something in the basement.” It isn’t long before strange things begin happening, including Blaire’s flashbacks of the accident that killed her parents. The children soon suffer injuries that Blaire, first, fears may be the deeds of the callous workers but she soon thinks the abuse may originate from a source that is less than human, something unwanted.
The unwanted is coming but in order for Blaire to fight it, she must dig into St. Sebastian and herself in search of truth. Blaire wants nothing more than to help the children, but when discovers the tragedy that happened in the basement and learns that the same evil forces are still at work, it will be Blaire who needs help…There’s something in the basement.
IS THIS A BLAST OR WHAT?! *–* I just need to read it, haha! I do hope I make the cut for the upcoming blog tour in May ❤
About the lovely author:
I was born in the tiny, but lovable town of Centralia, IL which has a two screen movie theatre, one high school and still celebrates May Fete, so I had no choice, but to develop a fantastic imagination. Since childhood I have been writing everything from short stories to songs, but I have always aspired to compose a novel. Black Water Tales: The Secret Keepers is my first novel and the first book in what will be a series of thriller novels.
Philosophy was my study in college and I received a Bachelor of Arts in the subject from Florida International University. Writing is one of my most favored artistic pursuits, but my love for the arts does not stop there, I am also a vocalist and actress and participate in local theater in Houston Texas.
Hi, there! Good morning and happy Saturday! As I already mentioned, Saturday is mainly book tag day, so here we go!
I was tagged FOREVER AGO by sweet Rosema, from A Reading Writer, and wanted to also apologize, as she tagged me on August and I only saw it months later and am only doing the tag today 😦 Sorry, I promise it won’t happen ever again ❤ But let’s go to the actual thing!*
A Book That Kept You Up All Night Reading
Stripped with The Vampire [review here!] and I regret nothing ❤
A Book That Made You Scared To Sleep
Shielded Past [review here!]. Really, the psychological catch on this book melted my mind. I shivered without realizing while reading…
A Book That Made You Go To Sleep
The End, last book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Seriously, I dreaded it 😦
A Book That Left You Tossing and Turning All Night in Anticipation of its Release
Viscount’s Wager [review here!], from Ava March ❤ [I bet you thought I was going to mention her in the first question, mwahaha mwahaha! Unfortunately, I’ve read Convincing the Secretary during my day light hours…]
A Book That Has Your Dream Boyfriend
The Vampire Diaries series, in which resides Damon Salvatore 🙂
A Book That Would Be Your Worst Nightmare to Live In
Percy Jackson’s. Judge me all you want, I wouldn’t bear to live as a demigod without being able to read my precious books (and don’t you go Annabeth on me, everyone knows she’s Hermione from Percy Jackson series, haha!)
A Book That Reminds You of Night Time
The Tutor [review here!], from Bonnie Dee. The atmosphere of that house made me feel like it was always night 😦
A Book That Had a Nightmarish Cliffhanger
Sanctum, from Madeleine Roux. Honestly, I didn’t want to believe my eyes when my book was over, haha!
A Book That You Actually Dreamed About
Wow, I don’t know… I mean, I often dream with Damon, but it’s not about the book or the show, so I really don’t know, haha!
A Book Monster that You Would Not Want to Find Under Your Bed
Any of the monsters featured on the Deltora Quest series. OMG, I always had the chills while reading those books D:
just look at this friendly fellow.
That’s it! Thanks for reading ❤ Thanks for the tag and sorry again, Rosema! 😀 I had lots of fun doing this! If you are reading this post and likes tags… TAG, you’re it! Hahaha!
*I preferred to use my last read book for each of those experiences 🙂
Hi, there! I AM GRADUATED OMG! I DID IT! GOODBYE COLLEGE!
Okay, I’m controlled now. This is my first review as a graduated journalist and I’m so happy that the book is Shielded Past, from sweet Patti Morelli! I received it from the author in exchange of an honest review and this is it! Let’s do this!
Kate was raised by a foster family and never really knew anything about her past. It wasn’t a problem: she had her best friend ever, Annie, a loving husband, Greg, a foster mom that was very proud of her… Or so she thought.
After moving to a lovely house and getting pregnant, Kate starts to feel that there is something off with her so-called perfect life. Everything looks creepy: her house, her neighborhood, her new dog, her past…
Now that she is expecting a child of her own, Kate needs to know whether those scary incidents are really happening or if she is losing her mind and could be qualified to be in a place like the old mental hospital near her home…
The Analysis
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion while reading the book 🙂
This book was AWESOME. SO AMAZING. SO PERFECT. I apologize in advance, as it is so much more complex than my humble description, but it was a creepy and intelligent read! It surpassed all my expectations and for sure was one of the best horror/mystery books that I’ve read in my life! Overall rating was 4 stars 🙂 Now let’s get serious, haha!
The writting technique is the point that lost a star on my rating. Specially on the beginning of the book, I felt that I was reading a screenplay that had been transformed into a movie. And there were other minor typing/grammatical errors along the way, so this is the only reason I didn’t gave this book a full and big 5 stars rating. It was a third person narrated book with switching point of views, in the exact way that I like, so we always knew all that was going on. Moreover, Morelli was brilliant at this because we couldn’t be sure of nothing until the really final chapters, as the mystery was too big. Morelli has a simple writing style that makes you fly by her story and feel the intensity of it like a punch, haha! I was constantly breathless each time that I picked up this book to read and couldn’t sleep after the end, haha!
The plot was brilliant and very well executed. For every aspect of her life that Kate solved, there were other four or five new that she had to question. PERFECTION. The mystery remains until the very end, as the real villain threatens to kill Kate and we don’t know if she is going to survive. And I’m not going to tell you if she did ❤ There are no loose ends on this book, everything gets solved – oh, almost. There is a bit of a cliff hanger on the epilogue, but I can live with that, it was nice, haha! I hope this becomes a series!
Bonus point: this is a horror/mystery book that has an old mental institution on its plot. I love those! It’s one of my favorite scenarios for horror books, haha! That’s why I lost my mind in the Asylum series, haha!
I also freaking loved the way Morelli builds her characters: they are so real in the little things, you know? Good or bad, their actions are true and you can understand their minds, their problems, desires and developments. I loved Annie and really connected with her (I swear is not just because my middle name is Anne, haha!). She was always so funny and optimistic despite everything that happened in her life and her eventual boyfriend is one of my new bookish boyfriends (oh the list that I never made, haha!).
The scenarios description was always very detailed, but not that kind that tires off the reader. I could see all the places just like in a movie in my head, where nothing passes in blank for Morelli. This is that type of book that, after you finish, you want to re-read just to see if you could have figured everything out sooner, haha! If you like a good thriller / mystery / horror book, just read this one. Just do it.
That’s it! Thanks for reading and thanks again to Patti Morelli for trusting me with her work! I loved this ❤ Do you guys like books that talk about the horror of mental institutions??
Hello, there! Today I would like to introduce you to a book called The Night Clock, by Paul Meloy! We are on its release day, so I’ll leave a list of where to find it online on the bottom of the review 🙂 I received my review copy through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review, so thank you again!
I’ll do something different this time, as I was in love with the blurb available at NetGalley and Goodreads: instead of telling the story myself, I’ll let you guys see what I expected from the book and I’ll explain why later:
Goodreads Story
An incredible debut novel that will move and terrify you, as reality itself is threatened by a world just beyond our own.
And still the Night Clock ticks…
Phil Trevena’s patients are dying and he needs answers. One of the disturbed men in his care tells him that he needs to find Daniel, that Daniel will be able to explain what is happening. But who is Daniel? Daniel was lost once, broken by the same force that has turned its hatred on Trevena. His destiny is greater than he could ever imagine.
Drawn together, Trevena and Daniel embark on an extraordinary journey of discovery, encountering The Firmament Surgeons in the Dark Time – the flux above our reality. Whoever controls Dark Time controls the minds of humanity. The Firmament Surgeons, aware of the approach of limitless hostility and darkness, are gathered to bring an end to the war with the Autoscopes, before they tear our reality apart.
The Analysis
I apologize for not bringing the story myself, but I wanted you guys to feel what I did. The Night Clock sounded to me like an amazing sci-fi/horror story and I make no secret how much I enjoy fictional books that discuss on their narratives the capacity of our minds. I was so excited when I started it that pains me to say that I wasn’t the right audience for this book. Without a doubt it has an amazing plot and the narrative style is interesting, but I was bored to my bones. It takes too much time for the reader to realize the connections that Meloy does between his characters and the character’s manners also got me a bit. I can handle swearing and I don’t mind, but I don’t like vulgar and there were too many vulgar characters to my taste. I finished the book yesterday night and my overall evaluation was of two stars, as Meloy has good moves during the story and had an amazing plot to work with. Now, let’s begin the real analysis.
As I said, the plot was amazing. A doctor that starts to see his patients dying out of nowhere? A book that plays with the mind? Awesome! But I got so confused during the reading… I discovered that I didn’t like or connect with neither Phil or Daniel, so it was hard to be involved in the story. I really think that Meloy had an awesome idea, but I wasn’t ready for it, it was beyond my tastes as a reader and I apologize for that. I feel very bad for talking like this, because I know how much love, thought and effort takes to write and publish a book. Honestly, if you like sci-fi, give it a try, you may like it 😀
The narrative was a strong point of the book. The point of view of the characters was always changing, so you could have a big picture of what was happening during all the struggles and mysteries – but without realizing what was within The Night Clock. I was so anxious to know exactly what was The Night Clock that I made a dance when it was finally explained (it was part of the mystery of the book, so of course it takes time for us to be sure, haha!). I liked that no character was wasted for Meloy. If the person appeared, Meloy always had a way to tell the reader who that person was before their function on the book. I’m a very curious girl (cof journalist cof), so I was very happy with this, haha!
Which takes me to the characters. I didn’t like or connect to anyone, but also didn’t hate anyone. They were real people, don’t get me wrong. Just not my kind of people, I guess. I see book characters as someone you would like to be near in anyway and you measure how much you like them for the desire of closeness with them (we do this without realizing, trust me). I didn’t wish to be close to anyone in this book and you see, I have a soft spot for villains and bad guys. That’s why I said that I was the problem, that this book wasn’t for me. If you can’t connect with anything in the book, the problem is you, sorry, haha!
There’s something that I really wish to compliment: the looks of The Night Clock. I got a pdf for this review, but omg: it was BEAUTIFUL. The cover, the title page, the chapters… Seriously, I don’t regret owning this ebook at all and wish I could afford it on print. The art is breathtaking and deserves a space on my shellfish wardrobe ❤
The amazing title page ❤the chapters ❤
I won’t make this as long as it could because I see no point: I really admire Meloy’s creativity and his narrative skills, his talent for making a story of everything inside of The Night Clock and I wish him all the success in the world 🙂
That’s it, guys! Thanks for reading, sorry if I wasn’t very helpful today. As promised, you can take a look here where to find the book 😀 And Happy release day to Paul Meloy!
I was the most wrong target, haha! So, two stars.
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 