 5 stars
Absolutely brilliant, give me 10 of them right now. This was FRESH, new, and exciting in a way that I haven't felt about a fantasy read in quite some time. Concept: ★★★★★ World building: ★★★★★ Plot/Pacing: ★★★★ 1/2 I find the more fantasy I read, the less excited I get about new books—because odds are, they'll remind me of something else I've read. That's NOT a criticism of all books, just a fact about frequency and how there's only so many ways to do certain types of stories. So it's always a huge, huge joy when I find a book like this. The Tainted Cup is a gorgeous, hybrid kind of thing. Part high fantasy—with an atmosphere of low fantasy—and part murder mystery, this novel lives in the middle of the venn diagram for a lot of subniche interests. We follow the story of Dinios "Din" Kol, the assistant to investigator Ana Dolabra, as he works to solve a murder mystery in the far reaches of the Empire, a fantasy coastal world with an emphasis on organic plant life, wet seasons, and... leviathans from the sea. Yes. Follow me. With the core murder mystery at hand, Din and Ana dive into their complex world of contagions, altered bodies, walled rings of caste systems, political corruptions, and survivalist populations in a world that feels like a very unique blend of Pacific Rim-level kaiju beings (yes, big monsters, named Leviathans in this story) and a Sherlock Holmes-style gentry mystery. I know, that's a LOT to process. But, in a truly spectacular blend of brilliant storytelling and good writing, the author masterfully sucks us into this complex world in bite-sized pieces while keeping the easily digestible murder mystery plot at the forefront. Hence my comment earlier that this novel is both high- and low-brow fantasy feeling in equal measure. However, let the record state that this novel is not like other genre hybrids of its type in the low fantasy area—there is a refreshing seriousness to the writing that I appreciated, as most novels that get this "wacky" get very campy as a result. The Tainted Cup is NOT that kind of novel, to assure other readers like me who are not usually a fan of that kind of storytelling. I couldn't put this book down, folks. The Tainted Cup was gripping as hell and a fun time to boot, and I am SO glad to hear it is a series so that we can more of this world and these characters. Come for the Sherlock Holmes pitch, stay for really interesting worldbuilding and well-written characters.
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 4 stars
Hell of a premise, and a gripping narrative that kept me up to read more of it. But then...a slightly lackluster and disappointing finish? Concept: ★★★★★ Pacing: ★★★★ Reveal(s): ★★ 1/2 (for me) Enjoyment: ★★★★ The Devil Aspect is one of those premises that grips you in right from the book description. Czechoslovakia on the rising tide of pre-WWII. A castle with a sordid history. A mental asylum housing the country's worst criminals, known by the public as "The Devil's Six." A young psychiatrist with the theory of an innate "devil's aspect" in all men and a desire to research his theory. And a series of grisly murders in Prague that seem to be morbidly inspired by Jack the Ripper. Don't you want to read that?? I certainly did. I love a twisty, turny, atmospheric thriller with more than a hint of the macabre. Viktor Kosárek, our intrepid newly trained psychiatrist, is the primarily POV for this novel as we follow him on his journey exploring the minds of the Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Viktor's exploration of those six pivotal criminals includes their stories, horrors, and Viktor's reflections. This is the primary backbone of the story. However, there's a second main thread of POV and intrigue: police investigator Lukas Smolak is tasked with tracking down "Leather Apron," the killer behind a series of grisly murders in Prague. The unknown suspect is killing women in a hideous ways that are clearly inspired by London's infamous Jack the Ripper—fifty years after Jack stopped—and Smolak is desperate to find him before more women are taken. With these two interwoven narratives, The Devil Aspect winds itself in tighter and tighter traps as the ominous tension creeps through this eerie, horror-soaked tale of intrigue and mental mindscapes. My overall take on this novel is very positive. As someone who doesn't love historical fiction UNLESS there's a genre hook to it like mystery/thriller or horror, this novel's use of both subgenres in tandem with its historical premise was a win for me. I love a good mystery that dances with the devil literally(?) and leaves that question mark on the board as a part of the game. The entwining POVs of Viktor and Smolak—as well as a few other one-offs—kept the pacing tight and propelled me through this dense novel quickly. Another plus! But... I had some issues anyway. Most notably with the ending, which I'll be honest was a bit of a letdown for me personally. ****I don't think the following is enough of a spoiler to hide this review, but please take note that I do discuss vague items regarding the ending below!!**** So it's VERY possible I've just read too many of these types of tales. I'll start there. But there are a lot of us readers who have read/watched/consumed pieces of media with similar premises to this one at least in terms of story structures and... The Devil Aspect picked one of the more obvious endings in that niche. It was well done, don't get me wrong, but I'm sad to report that my first guess was the correct one. There were some red herrings that made the reading experience more satisfying, for sure, but then we went back to that basic concept for the ending and I'll admit that I was very disappointed to see it. And, in tandem with the ending reveal(s), I also thought the climax sequence was extremely brief and then ended rather abruptly in a way that left no room for more exciting developments and/or events to bolster how reductive the ending felt. Again, all of this is my personal opinion. I wish we had delved more into certain elements of the plot and its atmospheric elements vs. what ended up occurring. But, that being said, I'm still rating this 4 stars because 90% of the novel was gripping as hell and I very much enjoyed the reading experience itself.  4 stars
A bit long, but what a tale. Enter the woods, dark and deep, but watch out for the one who lurks in the shadows... And make sure the beacons are always lit. Don't go into Mockbeggar woods, they say. There's something in there that's not quite right. On the outskirts of a small English town, the Gonne family has stood apart for generations. The Gonnes keep odd customs and they take care of the abandoned Small Angels church down the road. They light beacons every night on the four corners of their property. And they hold vigil over the Mockbeggar woods. Lucia Gonne grew up as the youngest of four sisters on the Gonne family farm at the edge of the woods. The woods call to her in strange ways, and she finds herself constantly in trouble with her family as she breaks and bends their strict rules. Lucia doesn't understand what all the fuss is about—the woods like her, she's one of them, and her friend in the trees understands her when no one else does. Decades later, Chloe is preparing for her upcoming wedding at Small Angels, the abandoned church in her fiance's small English town. Everyone is shocked that she's getting married on that property, but no one will quite tell her why. No one meets her gaze, no one wants to talk about it, and when Chloe starts her wedding preparations at Small Angels, she feels something...off. As Lucia's timeline entwines with Chloe's, the tale of Mockbeggar woods and its secrets come into the light. For the first time, the townspeople and the Gonne family will need to talk about the secrets they've held for decades--and realize that the thing they thought had ended forever one fateful night might just be awakening again. What a glorious gothic tale for the fall season. I read this curled up in a blanket with a warm cup of tea, and that's my official recommendation for new readers. This book screams to be read in the autumn. Small Angels is a modern take on the ghost story, and one of those speculative, almost gothic tales that bridge the gap between mystery, horror, speculative, and literary. It's a multi-layered cake best left viewed as a whole and not quartered down into genre parts. I love these kinds of stories. I thought Small Angels was fabulous. My only critique is that it was too long—maybe not by much, but enough that I definitely had a hard time both getting into the story and maintaining my momentum in the middle portion. A tighter introduction with a streamlined middle would have easily catapulted this tale from a 4 star recommendation to a 5 star favorite novel without losing any of the punchy portions that made this story sing. In particular, I thought the storytelling element was superb. Telling ghost tales and fairytales around a fireplace, whispering about past legends... that kind of atmosphere is what Small Angels is about. And it nails this energy. It's one of those storylines that feels like its own tale from the fireside, fleshed out into a full novel with side characters and modern-day quests. Come for the small town, creepy elements. Stay for the storytelling core and the sense of triumph over evil.  4.5 stars
Guess who's back?? You know it's summertime when a new Riley Sager hits the shelves. His perfect blend of atmosphere, twists, and propulsive narratives are always a hit with me. Come, join us for a deep dive into the dark pasts of suburbia in Middle of the Night... Concept: ★★★ 1/2 Pacing: ★★★★★ Mysteries/Final Reveals: ★★★★ Enjoyment: ★★★★ 1/2 At this point, you might as well call me a Riley Sager review plant, seeded to guarantee a positive review in the mix no matter the content. It feels that way to me, anyway--I seem to have an addiction to his stories and pacing structures. They're so perfectly paced for me. Middle of the Night takes place in the most Americana of locations: the suburb. And not just the suburb, but the microcosm: the cul-de-sac. Bonded by location and forced into tragedy by a disappeared boy in the late 1990s, this small group of cul-de-sac neighbors has weathered the decades with grief, life, and ever-present neighborly status. Who took Billy from his tent in the backyard one summer night? Why did they leave Ethan, the other boy on the scene, sleeping peacefully in the tent? Why has Billy never been found? Now in his 4os, Ethan is an adult haunted by the incident of his missing boyhood friend. He has recurring dreams and chronic insomnia and a bone-deep paranoia that doesn't seem to abate with his adult wisdom. At the start of the novel, Ethan's back in his cul-de-sac recouping from marital strife and housesitting for his parents. It's stirring up ghosts of all kinds in the sleepy—yet vigilant—neighborhood. And then they find Billy. Things are about to bubble to surface of this sleepy community whether the neighbors want it to or not... AH. Another winner from Sager. I said it at the beginning of this review and I'll say it again—I just really, really like his stories. The formula works for me and if you're a fan of his earlier books, let's just say you're going to love this one too. It's spooky without being a paranormal-driven narrative. It's split-timeline with the 1994 events spliced between Ethan's modern-day dramas in the neighborhood to create such perfect tension. And most of all?? It has some red herrings and distracting elements that make you feel like you're on top of the twists...and then it gets you. Even if you get some of it, there's enough nuance to the final third act that I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised by at least something. (Always a treat to be partially surprised by a mystery when you've previously read/watched so many twist formulas in media.) I am very pleased to have this join my Sager shelf. And I'm already ready for the next one!  4.5 stars
The third mystery romance from Kristen Ashley's Misted Pines series, and my personal favorite?? This was so adorable, sweet, and engrossing. Characters: ★★★★★ Setting: ★★★★ Plot: ★★★ 1/2 Writing style: It's a KA book, so keep this in mind as her writing style is Very Dramatic and she loves a good one-sentence paragraph (like, REALLY loves it) New to the Misted Pines series? I recommend readers start with book one, The Girl in the Mist, because this series of interconnected standalone romance pairings is best enjoyed in order. My review of The Girl in the Mist (Misted Pines #1) here. My review of The Girl in the Woods (Misted Pines #2) here. Nadia Williams is trying to recuperate and figure out her life in the wake of tragedy. When the cozy cabin shows up on her online search in the quaint small town of Misted Pines, Nadia has a gut feeling that it's the right spot for her. She abandons her high-rolling Chicago life for the woods. Riggs, a single-dad bachelor who works high-end craftsmanship commissions, lives on the small lake that Nadia's rental cabin sits on. He's a good time guy, a loner who's never wanted for temporary female company, and he's not pressed about Nadia living down the way. After all, no one stays in that cabin for long. But this good time guy and this healing woman with deep secrets are about to fall into each other in a big way, as Misted Pines is becoming known for one thing in particular: murder and drama. There's a legend of ghosts on Nadia's cabin property, with a long history of renters being run off the property in the middle of the night. People died on that land violently and the community has never fully recovered. Somebody has secrets to keep, and at the heart of the mystery is Nadia's small cabin property. Riggs and Nadia are caught right in the middle of it. With an attraction between them, individual baggage behind them, and an uncertain perpetrator in the woods, these two find that sometimes fate has a path in store for you—whether you're ready for it or not. The Woman by the Lake was a romance novel that took me partially by surprise. Which is probably on me, because I knew I was a huge KA stan and I knew that I had fallen in love, slowly, with this series. Why I was totally blown away with my love for this one in particular, who knows. For frequent KA readers like myself, the Misted Pines series is very unique. Kristen Ashley is known for her romantic and plot-based drama, her usually metropolitan settings, and her very large ensemble casts. Misted Pines has very little of those tropes—it's a minimal cast (single digits!), the drama is centered squarely on the plot and not the romance element, and it's so far into small town territory that it's in the literal woods. So that means all the "fluff" is scraped away from these stories, leaving the reader with what is at the core of all great KA tales: the romance itself and the character dynamics. If you're a romance reader, odds are that you love the character dynamics. That's what those stories are often about—the feel goods, the journey to love, the dialogue, the angst between the two leads, and the emotional core of the tales. (And for the smut readers, some seriously good times in the sheets too.) The Woman by the Lake shines with its romance dynamics and the sweet love story at its core. It's bottled up feel good, and I loved every second of it. Thank you to the author for my copy in exchange for an honest review.  5 stars
This was quite the experience. I’m not sure how to talk about it? ...But I'll give it a whirl. I feel like Pam Godwin is in her own category and should be reviewed and talked about as such. Concept: truly dark, truly a Pam experience, truly gripping Sense of danger: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★ I have no idea how to talk about this book—I feel that way about most Pam Godwin stories, let's be honest—because it's one of those stories that's meant for a very select readership and those readers often find these stories organically on their own. So please understand me when I say that this book is NOT for everyone. And it's not even for most dark romance readers? It really, REALLY depends on your personal boundaries and preferences. Let's pitch it like this... Did you love Credence by Penelope Douglas , but you wanted a lot more angst with a real polyamorous angle, a lot more trauma, a lot more triggers, and truly terrifying scenarios? Do you love horror and thriller books with twisted sexual angles in them? Do you have the will to experience realistically paced triggers on page? If you answered yes to all three of those things, then keep reading this review. (If you answered no, that makes sense and I love that for you, but then do please check out some other books instead of this one.) Hills of Shivers and Shadows is a story about survival, first and foremost. And a love story as a distant second subplot (that clearly will grow in the later two books in this trilogy). Don't come for the romance—it's not really about that. It's a study of psychology, of locked-room decision making, of only hard choices and no ability to abstain. What would you do if you were trapped and couldn't get out? Are you the type of character who, when caught in a bear trap, would chew off your own foot to survive if you needed to? Could you do it? This is the kind of questioning that Pam puts our characters through. And it's the kind of gripping, engaging narrative style that forces the reader to consider those same questions of evil versus survival and the depths of human resilience when placed in the darkest of nights. It's a 5-star read for me. But let me explain why, because I don't want to say it's a favorite because of the trauma or the triggers—the pain and traumas in this novel are NOT fetishized for the reader. This is a 5-star for its grip, its realism, and the sheer kudos that must be given to Pam for how absolutely singular this story was for me. Trigger warnings abound in this novel. Click here to visit the author's website to view the list. Thank you to the author for my early copy.  5 stars
Note: This review is an older one of mine that somehow missed its review highlight. Because it is older, it's missing my usual long-form review format. I hope you enjoy this "reader's digest" version of my thoughts! Broken Harbor was such an interesting installation of the Dublin Murder Squad, and it definitely feels similar to French's first novel, In The Woods. This fourth installment of the Murder Squad follows Scorcher, a "my way or the highway" detective with a haunting childhood who ends up working on a truly bizarre case. In one of Ireland's abandoned house developments, in a town that used to be called Broken Harbor, a family is found dead. Two kids suffocated upstairs, the parents gruesomely attacked on the landing. The mother is alive, but spends much of the novel comatose in intensive care. The murder is chilling, but the true fear comes from the state of the family's home—there are holes cut into the walls and the ceiling, obviously done on the fly and monitored by several video baby monitors. Someone's been watching this family. And we don't know who, or why. The questions surround Scorcher and his partner, and French does what she does best: she chokes her protagonist with layers of the past and present, cascading into a crescendo that you can't help but become absorbed in. I find all of French's novels gripping, this is true, but Broken Harbor was an easy slam dunk of so many of my favorite things—the claustrophobic setting, the "watched" element of the found footage, the whodunit and whydunit converging into one mess. You won't be able to put this book down until you know the answer. And that answer might just surprise you... Familiar detective paradigm aside, this novel truly crackled with suspenseful energy. French does it again.  4 stars
This novel about an atmospheric, creepy island and the haunting revelations of buried angst and secrets ending in a gory finale isn't for everyone—but wow, this hit the spot for me! Atmosphere: ★★★★ Angst/Drama: ★★★★★ Horror elements: ★★★★ Plot: ★★ 1/2 Laney is a divorced teacher with a dead sister, a rich ex-husband, and a niece now under her care. Her ex-husband gifted her their rich island property in the middle of Lake Superior, and while Laney loves it to pieces, she doesn't have the money to pay for it alone—so she rents it out as an exclusive rental property for vacationers. She hates every moment of it, but there's no other choice. So when Laney receives a call from a renter that blood and scratches have been found in a closet, and pentagrams are all over the property, she's pissed. Someone's throwing a mean prank and now she's got to fix it before the property loses more revenue. Armed with her niece, Madison, and sheer will, Laney heads to the island. However, when she gets to the shore prior to heading over to Hemlock Island, Laney discovers quite the scene: her ex-husband, his sister and Laney's ex-best friend, and two other people from Laney's past that she'd much rather forget. With spooky shenanigans and sinister consequences awaiting them, the last thing Laney needs is this tangle of interpersonal drama. But it's too late, and now this motley crew finds themselves trapped on an island—and what they're about to find will change them forever. I would categorize this novel as one of those hybrid, in-between concepts. Not quite horror enough, not quite thriller enough, not quite interpersonal drama enough. And for the detail-oriented lovers, I can see the disappoint rearing its head from the very first few chapters. This is a novel based in action, dialogue, and tension. All taking place on a truly gripping island setting in Lake Superior on the Great Lakes. (Which is in my neck of the woods as a Michigan girl, so let's be real, this was a huge sell for me.) For me, a reader who loves drama, action, and clean prose focused on goals in her mystery/thrillers, Hemlock Island was a win. I loved the tension, the secrets bubbling to the surface, the surprises blatantly hidden and revealed at the proper times. This isn't a shocking whodunit, or whydunit, or even meant to be truly surprising/shocking—instead, I found the wins in Hemlock Island to be the sheer enjoyment of the unfolding story and the ruthless practicality of the characters faced with a horrifying scenario. Come for the creepy island. Stay for the creepy island + the politics of this twisted tangle of friends and lovers and enemies.  3.5 stars
An English manor home with secrets. A family history mired in murder and mayhem. And a steamy romance just waiting to erupt... Concept:★★★★ Pacing/Plot:★★ Enjoyment:★★★ 1/2 Before I get into anything at all about this book, I'd like to state for the record that I'm still a Kristen Ashley mega fan. Not a single month goes by without me reading a new KA book or rereading an old favorite for comfort. So if this is the first review of mine/others that you're seeing for a book from this author, I encourage you to check out my other reviews. Just because this one didn't become a new 5-star favorite read of mine doesn't reflect on my very high ratings of her other books. Check those out, and try this one for yourself! Daphne Ryan, American billionaire heiress to her retail tycoon father, is on her way to a remote English manor house with her stepmom, Lou. They're both not looking forward to their destination. But family duty calls.... Portia is Daphne's spoiled younger sister. The one who's a pain in the ass, pouts and acts out to get what she wants, and is constantly at odds with her sister because according to their late father's iron-clad will, it is Daphne and Lou who hold the strings to Portia's inheritance. Portia's asked Daphne and Lou to come to Duncroft, the English estate of her new boyfriend and his family, to impress the parents and show off how well she's doing in life to get Daphne to loosen the noose on her money. They've been invited for an entire week. No distractions—just Portia, her family, and David's entire family. At Duncroft. Mhmm, awkward yet? Add into the mix: Ian Alcott. David's older, sexier brother. Ian hates his role in the aristocracy, he's had enough of David and Portia's bullshit, and he's been invited to stir up further trouble. And he's got his eyes on new prey... Daphne. But Duncroft isn't just a silent setting for this complex family drama played out over one idyllic week. This manor house has secrets, and it goes bump in the night. And it has some unsolved mysteries that it wants solved. Daphne and Ian are about to get a whole lot more than they bargained for in this week. And it's going to get steamy... Too Good to Be True was an entertaining read. Kind of like spending a fun week with characters playing house in those stately estates featured in our favorite British TV shows and movies, I enjoyed the vibes of this story a lot. Who murdered the mistress off of the balcony? Was it the lord of the manor in the Turquoise Room? The younger brother in the Brandy Room? Etc. Etc. As a Clue, Pride and Prejudice, and Agatha Christie fan, I had a very fun time with these fun little details and the engaging mini-mysteries. In terms of the actual plot and romance—sigh, okay, you've got me. I had a slightly harder time here. I think it was the fact that this full-length novel was originally written as a Kindle Vella. The mini-episodic story structure—Vellas are produced in short segments, like old newspaper story installments, over time—was definitely still at play here in this longer novel. As a marathon/endurance reader who reads books in as few sessions as possible, this was a hard sell for me as I was very aware of that structure going in and it felt like it repeated its own structure ad nauseum in the middle of the narrative. However, that being said, I think this a fun read for those who just want to rest their brain a while with these fun characters in a very classic setting. There's a dash of mystery, a dash of historical, a dash of family drama, and a dash of steamy romance. It is a very fun sampler platter of a lot of good tropes! Thank you to the author for my copy in exchange for an honest review.  4 stars
The first book from this author from a male point of view?? And a heavy mystery plot?? Kristen Ashley is really branching out, and I'm here for it. Pacing: ★★★ Plot: ★★★★ Enjoyment: ★★★ 1/2 Writing style: It's a KA book, so keep this in mind as her writing style is Very Dramatic and she loves a good one-sentence paragraph (like, REALLY loves it) The Girl in the Woods is the sequel to The Girl in the Mist. Yes, you could start with this one first as it's a new story arc—but it's a richer reading experience if you read them in order. Rus is an FBI detective on the hunt for the Crystal Killer. He's tired, he's jaded, and he's pretty sure he's done with FBI work in general. And he's definitely done with murderers. But when the Crystal Killer strikes in Misted Pines, a small town in the Pacific Northwest that's already seen their fair share of shit, Rus has no choice but to make the trek. And it's another murdered girl. (Rus is bone-weary of finding cold girls in the dark.) Unfortunately for Rus, there's a twist to this murder: while it's done in the style of his Crystal Killer, it's not...quite... right. So now Rus has a copycat killer on his hands AND the worrisome wrath of the real murderer to come once he finds out someone's got his calling card. Suffice to say, things are not going well for Rus. But things look up when he meets the local burlesque club owner, Lucinda (Cin) Bonner. She's everything Rus could want in a woman, and she's a level of competent that he can't help but want to have at his side. Misted Pines might have more for Rus than just his ticket out of dodge. It might be what he was looking for all along... Y'all, this series continues to be unlike any of this author's prior works. It's obviously a KA book—swoony men, drama-drama, and her characteristic writing style that drives me nuts but keeps me coming back--but there were several things in this one that really shook up her canon. And I loved it. 1.) The ENTIRE story was from the male perspective?? Rus is running the show, we don't get Lucinda's POV. This was fresh for KA and honestly fresh for most indie romances I've read. Rus was a very interesting and clearly male gaze for us to have. I liked it, I wouldn't mind seeing more of this. 2.) Of all the Kristen Ashley romances I've read, this pairing was the most mature and lowkey of all of them. Lucinda was an adult who made sound choices, Rus was an adult who made very reasonable choices, and their romance itself was solid. No spoilers, but let's just say there is usually more drama in the romance itself for KA stories. (I love that drama, but this was interesting and I liked it more than I thought I would.) 3.) It completely blurred the line between a mystery/thriller and a romance story. Was it romantic? Yes, as much as I could find a sole-male POV window romantic from my cis-het female perspective. Was it also a gory, descriptive, and pulse-pounding thriller? Also yes. In fact, if I had to pick one shelf for this series to sit, I'd actually place The Girl in the Woods on my thriller shelf, because that's the more natural spot for it to sit. The romance took a backseat to the plot in this one. Which ALSO surprised me, by fact that I loved that too more than I assumed I would. Overall, another winner in the KA index for me. (I am a very biased audience.) Pick this up if you like male POVs, thrillers, and well-rounded romance leads. Thank you to the author for my copy in exchange for an honest review. |
Amy Imogene ReadsJust someone looking for her own door into Wonderland. Categories
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All reviews posted are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any other individual or entity. When applicable, reviewed titles sent to me by the publisher are noted at the bottom of each review.
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