”He had been shown the perfect religion. One that required no faith. Nor were there any parables to communicate its lessons, because there were none t”He had been shown the perfect religion. One that required no faith. Nor were there any parables to communicate its lessons, because there were none to be taught. Only this: that death was blank. Not a doorway, but a wall, against which the whole human race was mounded like jetsam. He felt like a drowning man himself, flailing about for something to hold on to. Just one thing that might help him stay afloat a little longer, even if it was bound to sink in the end.”
I’m going back and forth between making this a 4 star or 5 star rating—4 stars because it’s extremely slow and reads more like literary horror with strong religious themes than a dread-filled, fast-paced, blood soaked, horror novel, 5 stars because I occasionally like slow books with English settings and passages that haunt me. I can already tell this story is going to stick with me and I’m going to think back on it for years and years.
I have to think on it. But for now let’s say this is 4.5/5 stars for me. In spite of its sluggish pace, I loved the gothic/folk horror elements, the subtle unease, and the ambiguous ending! So…..do with that what you will!...more
“The plans of women have been called plots, schemes, murders, but if we do not claim the future as our bodies are claimed by men, then both are gobble“The plans of women have been called plots, schemes, murders, but if we do not claim the future as our bodies are claimed by men, then both are gobbled up by husbands and historians.”
Locked away in an old schoolhouse, Tansy Black reflects on her short stay in the small, sun-blessed, seaside town of Bellinas in northern California, home to an isolated community of artists, musicians and influencers. Run by a billionaire (Father M) and his supermodel wife–who just so happens to be the cousin of Tansy’s husband—this bohemian community believes in clean living and high vibes. The women are all named after flowers, internet and cell phones are prohibited so as not to disrupt one’s “tuning in with the universe”, and wifedom/motherhood is especially revered. Tansy had agreed to drop everything familiar with her old life in New York to move to Bellinas in hopes of winning favor and love from her husband. But the longer she had dwelled in the idyllic paradise, the more red flags became apparent. Now, believing she’ll be sentenced to death for witchcraft, Tansy tells her story in hopes of warning others.
The Witches of Bellinas gave strong Midsommar vibes with a hint of The Stepford Wives. The story is atmospheric and colorful with vivid prose that sucks the reader in. At the same time there’s a sense of unease that progresses with every chapter. I felt for Tansy’s suffocation amongst a claustrophobic community while also grappling with emotional isolation. Themes of belonging, loneliness, womanhood, nature, and the consequences of self-sacrificing for others are prevalent throughout Tansy’s story and I loved every minute of it.
Excited for this one to hit bookshelves in May!...more
My mother has killed me, My father is eating me, My brothers and sisters sit under the table, Picking my bones, And they bury them under the cold marble sMy mother has killed me, My father is eating me, My brothers and sisters sit under the table, Picking my bones, And they bury them under the cold marble stones.
I wasn’t sure about this book in the beginning. It moved at a leisurely pace in spite of the premise promising spectral portraits, ghosts, and a secluded small town. But to my surprise, by the very last page of Childgrave, I decided I loved this book.
The story follows Jonathan Brewster, a photographer and widowed father living and working in New York City. His 4 year old daughter Joanne makes it known that she’s made some new imaginary friends, which doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for a preschool aged child until Jonathan starts seeing these “friends” in the photographs he’s taking. When it’s discovered that the ghosts in the pictures have a connection to a small town called Childgrave, Jonathan develops an unusual fascination with its centuries-old secrets.
Now, in spite of that premise, Greenhall takes his sweet time letting readers get to know Jonathan, his daughter Joanne, and the small circle of people in their lives. Half the book has us in Manhattan and focuses on Jonathan’s infatuation with a woman named Sara, a mysterious and beautiful harpist who might have a connection to the spectral portraits. It’s not until halfway through the book that we finally get to the strange village of Childgrave where a culty population of townsfolk dwell, and this is where readers will lean in and begin to feel unease. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments in the book where readers will undoubtedly wonder where the story is going, but if they’re patient, the plot becomes very unsettling and everything starts to connect by the end.
This is a psychological horror novel that takes its time and one that I will personally appreciate for the fact that I can’t stop thinking about it now that I’ve finished it. It’s laden with religious themes, witty dialogue, and strange characters. Readers who are fans of Shirley Jackson might find themselves taking a liking to Ken Greenhall and his underappreciated horror gems....more
"We shivered and the cold seemed to come from her; and when we opened our eyes up we realized that we'd actually been thinking, and that it was Marina"We shivered and the cold seemed to come from her; and when we opened our eyes up we realized that we'd actually been thinking, and that it was Marina who was our thought."
Translated from Spanish, this was a very dizzying, lyrical and beautifully dark novella--inspired by a true story!--about a group of orphaned young girls unable to fathom their emotions of envy, anger, and admiration for a new girl with a tragic past....more
Wow….just wow! This is one of the most unique psychological thriller novels I’ve ever read. It’ll probably t4.5/5 stars rounded up to 5 for Goodreads!
Wow….just wow! This is one of the most unique psychological thriller novels I’ve ever read. It’ll probably take me a while to write a proper review, but I know for a fact it’s best to go into this book blind, and even better if you read along with the audiobook.
I couldn't give this book a perfect 5 stars because there were some parts that felt like sluggish rambling (considering this book is written in mock-memoir form, it kind of makes sense. Memoirs tend to ramble at times.) and I was eager to get back to the meat and potatoes of the story. But the book still deserves so much love for it's uniqueness, for it's heartfelt and unusual friendship between it's two protagonists--I mean I damn near cried at the end.
This book was emotional, endearing, and unsettling…all at the same time. Bravo, Tremblay! Bravo!...more
I can understand how many people were disappointed with this book seeing as they were not given much of what they were expecting in the summary: set iI can understand how many people were disappointed with this book seeing as they were not given much of what they were expecting in the summary: set in the 90's, contestants in a famous, full-contact, haunted house escape room are witnesses to a shocking murder. We are given detailed perspectives and backstories from three of those witnesses, a young Black girl who’s lost her father and has been uprooted from her home, a queer international student from Thailand who is using his studies as an excuse to hunt down his former English teacher, and a lonely hotel manager who is mislead by a toxic relationship.
In spite of wishing with all my heart that this book centered more blood and scares–as I’m sure many readers were also wishing– this book still worked for me. Reading several negative reviews gave me an idea of what not to expect and I went into this book prepared to be underwhelmed. Instead, I found myself fully invested and loved how cleverly the story was woven together to reveal how the characters’ lives intertwined. This felt much more like a leisurely-paced mystery thriller than a horror novel. In fact, I’d like to think of it more as literary fiction with nods to horror pop-culture references.
This is not a book of scares. It is heavy with social commentary on fear and race and fetishism. Many of the characters in this book are fallible, unlikeable, but very real. By the final page, I ended up loving this book.
So I'm here to try to set you up for a more successful reading journey than some of your peers who probably gave up on this book.
If you go into REPRIEVE expecting loads of horror, fast pacing, gore, and major plot twists, you will be disappointed. If you go into this book expecting the horrors of a haunted house/escape room attraction to be front and center in this story, you will also be disappointed.
But if you are a lover of mystery and/or literary fiction with horror themes, fantastic character development, intricate story plot, and multiple perspectives, you might love this book as much as I did....more
“It has always seemed deceitful to Molly, the way we put our children to bed in soft pajamas, give them milk, read them books, locate their stuffed cr“It has always seemed deceitful to Molly, the way we put our children to bed in soft pajamas, give them milk, read them books, locate their stuffed creatures, tell them that all is well, there’s nothing to be scared of, as though sleep isn’t one-sixteenth of death. When they resist the prospect of sleep, of long dark lonely hours, intuiting that this is indeed a rehearsal for death, we murmur to them, we rub their backs, pretending they will never die. Little do they know that behind our backs we keep our fingers crossed, and that our hearts too thump with anguish when we turn off our bedside lamps.”
Judging by the Goodreads ratings, it’s easy to speculate that readers were divided on this book. One verdict was that this book was utter nonsense, pointless, confusing. Another verdict was that this book was brilliant. Where do I fall?
I personally ended up loving this book as a work of art. But people’s dislike for the book is understandable and my guess is that the low ratings come from a few questions left unanswered and readers possibly being mislead by plot summary. So let me say this:
THE NEED is a strange marriage of many genres. Psychological suspense, science fiction, maybe a little splash of literary horror. The writing is simple, but the imagery is beautiful. And while I CAN tell you that the story is about a mother who is desperate to keep her children safe after she hears an intruder in her home, and this little snippet of a summary is just the tip of a very weird iceberg, I WON’T tell you anymore because it’s best to go into this book blind.
But I loved this book. It was like a very artsy and unsettling film put into words. What I personally took away from it was that motherhood is like two sides of a coin: terrifying and mundane, beautiful and frustrating, joyous and agonizing. Motherhood is absolute madness.
If you are looking for non-stop action, gore, and loads of chills, this is not that story. If you’re looking for loads of jaw-dropping twists? Not that story either. However, if you love slow-simmering books with quick chapters, unreliable narrators, a trippy unique plot, perhaps even a story that will make you want to hug your own mother, give this one a try. See which camp you fall into on the star-rating scale....more
Nina The Wandering Reader
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