Review of “The House on the Lake” by Holly Hill Mangin

Thanks to Net Galley and Books Gone Social for the chance to read this debut novel ARC.

Honestly, I picked this book because I will read anything that has a haunted house and promises to be Gothic in some way. Lovely cover by the way.

The plot revolves around a woman who finds herself in a strange house surrounded by water-and she is deathly afraid of water. How did she get there? Why is she there? How did her sister end up in the same house? Who are these weird people on the island including the caretakers and two handsome men?

I almost gave up and did not read past the first couple of chapters because I couldn’t figure what was going on and the main character did not resonate with me. However, being a debut novel, I gave it a chance and read through to the end.

Unfortunately, I figured out the main twist quickly and the rest of the story was flat for me. I did read on to find out how the main character got into the predicament she was in and how the rest of the characters fit into her world. There is an awkward romance which when the twist is revealed is even more strange, and some unnecessary cursing that read out of place since it only occurs in one section of the book. The dialogue is klutzy in spots and the mantra the main character repeats kept reminding me of the book “Live, Love, Pray” in not a good way. The twist is mostly explained although some threads were not clear.

Not my type of Gothic and definitely not a haunted house story, more like a psychological mystery/romance.

I rate this one 2/5 stars.

Another Dead White Girl

A review of “Missing Clarissa” by Ripley Jones

First, thanks to St. Martin Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this YA mystery book.

Guilty secret here: I do love to read YA books, although I am far from that age group. This one features two high school juniors who decide to make a podcast about a twenty- year- old unsolved murder of a young woman from their town for a school project. They learn more about their town, their parents, and themselves, in this mostly engaging murder mystery.

I did appreciate the author tidied up the loose ends and gave us an answer to the question of what happened to Clarissa, the murdered young woman, by the end of the novel. I had figured out the murderer as soon as the character was introduced, only because this has been done many times before in the multitude of mysteries I have read, but perhaps YA readers, with less experience reading this type of book, will not hone in on the character immediately. There are red herrings, some humor, relatable characters and a clear story line although the author did the one thing I hate when reading fiction and that is throwing in political statements and preachy types of dialogue to hammer a point of view of the author, but not necessarily something a high school junior would talk about.

I rate this novel 3/5.

Another great Reacher Adventure

A fast read and an excellent addition to the Reacher mystery thrillers. This one has Jack walking into trouble (yet again) minding his own business, when he observes a woman being pushed under a bus. The local police swear she jumped in front of the bus as does another pedestrian. But Jack’s intuition knows something fishy is going on and as usual, one event leads to another and Jack ends up investigating the nefarious going on.

The main action involves a private, for profit, prison. There are several plot lines to follow in this story including one of a woman who ends up helping Reacher, a runaway boy who is traveling to the prison for his own reasons, a professional assassin with revenge on his mind and the prison administrators who are up to no good. The reader is wondering how the pieces fit together along with Reacher. There are a lot of great fight scenes and action scenes along with subtle humor. The authors, brothers in real life, keep the Reacher legend true to the previous books and I love how Reacher overcomes all the odds stacked up against him.

The only thing I wish is the authors would switch the first and second chapter and not start with a prison chapter since I found that as a first chapter to be boring and not involving. The second chapter with Reacher is much more compelling and has the reader anxious to read on.

I rate this one 4/5 stars with one star off for the boring first chapter. I thank NetGalley and Random House /Ballantine Publishing Company for the chance to read this ARC.

Not for the Faint of Heart: a review of “Little Eve”by Catriona Ward

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor Forge for the chance to read this ARC. This book has already won The Shirley Jackson Award in the UK in 2018 for Best Novel and now the rest of the world gets a chance to read it when it is released.

This is one twisted tale, much like the beautiful cover. It takes place during WW1 in Scotland, on an isolated eerie castle. It opens with a brutal murder scene and then flashes back to the events leading up to it.

I would call this a historical gothic story, although one with no holds barred gruesomeness and horror. FYI: there are many scenes of child abuse and torture in this story so be aware this is not a delicately presented gothic like “A Turn of the Screw”. “Little Eve” details ever horrible act in almost reverent tones.

Basically, it is a story of a family cult centering around a man the children call “Uncle”, two adult woman, and four orphaned children along with a police detective and the villagers who live near them. The location and the time period are crucial to the story which I appreciated. All good Gothics should have a location as a character.

Be patient reading the first few chapters. They are confusing since they are in the voices of the children and the villagers. You won’t know what is going on, or what the heck the children are talking about, but that is what will goad you to read on. As the story unfolds, you will find out about the history of the main characters and the truth behind the murders. It is convoluted, confusing, and intriguing to learn. The deeper you get into the book the more you will want to read.

I recommend this novel for lovers of Gothics with the caveat that there is quite a bit of child abuse described. Rating: 4/5.

First, thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

An admission: I didn’t realize M.C. Beaton was deceased and this book was written by another author, “R.W. Green”. I was excited for the chance to read a Beaton book because I love her Hamish McBeth mysteries. I have never read one of her Agatha Raisin mysteries, but if they are like this book, I probably will not.

Honestly, I do not like the character of Agatha Raisin. She is vain, flighty, and too worried about which man she is going to have next for dinner. For a character driven mystery series to work, the reader should look forward to visiting with the main character(s) to find out what is happening in their lives along with solving the mystery. Alas, I was not able to enjoy either one.

Aside from not liking the characters, the mystery is non-existent. The writer tells you who the killer is from the beginning. The plot is dull although there are some funny moments if you find nude jokes to be funny. There are no twists and turns, no secrets to find out, little atmosphere, and the ending is ridiculous to me.

I think I will skip the Raisin books altogether and re-read the wonderful McBeth mysteries written by M.C Beaton. Rating: 2/5 stars.

Overall A Solid Short Horror Story Collection

Today’s review is for “Tales Of Nightmares” a collection of horror stories loosely based on nightmares from various authors and edited by Loren Rhoads. All of the offerings are well written and intriguing. Some more than others, of course. I really enjoyed reading Bill Bodden’s “The House on River Road,” about an urban legend and haunted house and “Elle a Vu un Loup” by Loren Rhoads. Both short stories had me thinking about them long after I read them.

Unfortunately for me, there was included a story called ““Glue and the Art of Supermodel Maintenance”, which is pure torture porn and I could find no redeeming qualities to it. I wish the editor had not included the story. It has nothing to do with nightmares, and to me, is just gratuitous violence against women. I almost stopped reading the collection when I came across this one. It was so disturbing to me-and not in a good horror story way- I have to take a whole star away from my review. It’s like a movie having a dead dog to stir up the feels. I don’t need to read about torturing women to enjoy a good horror yarn.

Other than that, I found the collection enjoyable and readable. I recommend this book to horror readers with a caveat to skip over “Glue” if torture porn does not appeal to you.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Automatision Press for the chance to read this ARC.

Twisted Tale of Trying to Fit In-a review of “The Things We Do To Our Friends” by Heather Darwent

I will admit, I read this book straight for a day because it kept my interest for the entire time, although when I look back on that, I wonder about my own personality. Why do I like stories about twisted personalities and strange people? Do I see myself in any of the characters? Would I ever behave as the young women in this story do to try and fit in with a group of people I perceive as better than myself?

Don’t worry, friends, I would never go as far as these women did. This is a dark tale of a young woman named Clare with a secret past, who is trying to reconstruct herself and her life by latching on to a group of fellow college students who seem to have a lux and exciting life.

Clare is the trendy new narrator found in many novels recently; unreliable, not likable and with a dirty secret. She finds a group of students (or do they find her?) including Tabitha, the beautiful and formally rich woman the others all orbit around like the sun, Sam, a handsome young man with a penchant for fast cars and fast living, Ava, a deeply layered character, and one I found the most interesting, and Imogen, who loves to cook.

Tabitha draws Clare into her web like a spider, wrapping her up in a life Clare always imagined. They summer in France, they lounge about their fancy pad, they eat scrumptious meals and they play games.

Although not really games, as I would call them. More plots and plans, intricately detailed, dangerous and exciting. And Clare is the chosen star of their newest plan.

None of the characters in this book are likable. None of them have any redeeming qualities. They scare me. The things they do made me squirm. But I kept reading.

Eventually the reader will suss out Clare’s secret and a little about what makes the others the way they are. However, the author does manage to throw in some twists and surprises I did not see coming. The ending was cold and flat, much like I assume Clare’s eye would be. I enjoyed the ending though.

I rate this book 5/5 stars for keeping my interest even though I hated the characters. Thank you to Bantam Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Tidying Up a Long Life-A Review of “Bernice Runs Away” by Talya Tate Boerner

As the title suggestions, Bernice decides to run away from home-but Bernice is not a child, but a delightful and quirky 80 something year old with a family, a home and friends that love her. Why would a senior citizen decide to leave everything and everyone she knows to go on an adventure?

Bernice is a widow and lives alone with her cat in the house she and her husband first moved into when they were married. She has the support of her church friends and her good friend Marlene. Her daughter wants her to move to Atlanta and live in a carriage house she is building on her property so she won’t be alone. But, of course, Sarah, her daughter, never thought to ask Bernice if moving in with her was something she wanted to do. And it isn’t.

Bernice is tired of her old life. She reminisces about her summers as a teenager spent at Lake Norfork and her first love, John Marvel, who broke her heart. She decides she will move to the Lake and try to change her life.

She uses the techniques set out in Marie Kondo’s organizational books (which I personally don’t care for) but in a humorous way so it was not preachy like Marie can be, to decide what is important for her to keep and take with her to the Lake. She uses these techniques throughout the book.

Once at the Lake she makes new friends and discovers more about herself and what has been bothering her deep down over the years. She gets a new haircut, gets some answers about her teenage love, and sorts her family issues out. The author does a great job by making the story realistic, not magically giving Bernice all the answers she wanted but having her grow as a person and basically, tidy up her past and present life.

I truly enjoyed this book and read it in a day. It is not a thriller or a mystery book. It is purely a sweet family story starring a plucky 81 year old who reminds me of my own mother. I highly recommend this book. I give it 5/5 stars.

Thank you to One Mississippi Press and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this ARC.

An Interesting Take on Fairies

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, is my first review for NetGalley after being away from reading and reviewing for three years and I am glad I picked this book to review.

Professor Emily Wilde is an expert researcher on the subject of the Fairy Realms (sorry, I am American and spell it Fairy instead of Faerie) and is looking to expand her knowledge and perhaps a better spot on the faculty of her college by exploring the Far North in search of elusive Hidden Ones- a type of mystical high class fairy and putting a new entry in her Encyclopaedia she hope to publish soon.

Like many academics, Emily is better at books and research then she is dealing with people. She is an introvert after my own heart. When she goes to the North realms, she will need to learn to relate to the townspeople in order to accomplish her goals and to survive. Along with her is her wonderful not-just-a- dog, Shadow, and a surprise guest; her academic and smoking hot rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Emily meets various human and non-human beings on her explorations, learns more about Bambleby and about herself. The story is told through journal entries with footnotes, which for the action scenes, tends to dull the excitement in this reader’s opinion. In some ways, I wish the author had used both journal entries and straight forward storytelling so the tension and action are not dampened down. The format also has the book start slowly but not enough to lose my interest.

I think the author is planning a series of Emily Wilde books which I will definitely read when they come out. I want to learn what happens next for Emily and Wendell, and I love Shadow. I want to thank Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

WOW ! Three Years have passed!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It has been three years since I have contributed anything to my book review blog. Pitiful, I know.

I could blame COVID, but that would be untrue. What happened was I became addicted to a mobile game called Rise of Kingdoms. Warning: do not play Rise of Kingdoms unless you want to spend all your time (and some money) playing a phone game! It is addicting, fun, but overall, too much of a time waster for me.

I went cold turkey and quit last week. Why? It dawned on me finally what I have been wasting my time doing, and I missed reading good books.

So, back to reviewing books for NetGalley and my own selections.

A review is so to be coming! Feels good to be back