Category: Book Reviews

Shannon in the Spotlight by Ka..

Posted 06/19/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

CW: Mental Illness, OCD, Anxiety I’m going to say it – I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I’m not usually a fan of middle grade books, but I did enjoy this one. I like the way it portrays mental illnesses as nothing to be ashamed of. That someone with mental illness, whether it be OCD, anxiety, depression, or other mental illnesses can do the things they want and the things that make them happy. So often I read about mental illness in books and the person is defined by it. While Shannon’s OCD and anxiety feature in the book, they’re not who she is. I loved Shannon. I also loved Micah and Grandma Ruby. I admit, there weren’t any characters in this book I didn’t like, which is a rarity. The writing was great, the book moves along at a good pace, and the plot […]

This Delicious Death by Kayla ..

Posted 06/18/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

CW: Gore, blood, graphic depictions of violence I have to say, this is probably the best take I’ve seen on a zombie apocalypse ever. It’s not your typical take on it because for one, the “zombies” aren’t zombies, they’re ghouls. For another, they’re not mindless creatures incapable of doing anything but shambling along and eating flesh. What makes them even more unique? They can only eat human flesh – animal flesh or plant-based foods make them sick. I love it. While I’m not overly fond of Jasmine or Valeria, I love Zoey and Celeste. I love that most, if not all, of the friend group are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The characters are well defined and we get back stories for each of them from the Hollowing, which gives insight into their experiences. Oh and I want slap the crap out Zoey’s parents, just saying. The writing is well […]

Wild Court by Matthew Samuels

Posted 06/17/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Today is my stop on the Escapist Book Co blog tour for Matthew Samuels’s Wild Court. This is an urban fantasy that deals with the paranormal. Thank you to Escapist Book Co and Matthew Samuels for allowing me to participate in this blog tour. When I first read the description for Wild Court, I was intrigued. I’m not usually one for urban fantasy novels, but I wanted to give it a try. I’m so glad I did. Wild Court has a unique spin on urban fantasy. It’s paranormal fantasy and it is done in a way that I haven’t really seen before. There is a slow build up to the full issue, but once the full issue is at hand, the book moves pretty quickly. Honestly, the slow build up is rather nice – it keeps the book from feeling rushed. I liked the characters – most of them at […]

What Waits in the Woods by Ter..

Posted 06/12/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

If you haven’t seen the review I did for Terri Parlato’s debut novel, All The Dark Places, I highly recommend you check it out – go ahead, I’ll wait… Ok, now that you’re back, I’m going to tell you that this book is just as good. You’ve heard of the sophomore slump? That weird thing where the second book isn’t as good as the first or any subsequent books that come out? Well, this book doesn’t have that. What this book does have is a dual point of view that doesn’t take much to get used to because it’s very clear as to who is telling the story at any given moment. The main characters we deal with are Esmé and Rita. Esmé is our main character, the one who just came back from Syracuse after her ballet career ended. She came home only to find her best friend, Kara, […]

The Forbidden Realms by H. C. ..

Posted 06/10/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Our review for today is for H. C. Newell’s The Forbidden Realms. This is book 2 in the Fallen Light series. The front matter of the book actually says this book is to be read after book 1, Curse of the Fallen. Ok, first, you’ll need to read the trigger warnings for this book. If you have issues with grief, gore, horror, etc., then I can tell you now, this book will not be for you… if Curse of the Fallen wasn’t for you, this one won’t be either. A quick note about Curse of the Fallen – it took me two tries to actually read it. Not because it wasn’t a good book, it was a “right book, wrong time” situation, which I knew from the beginning when I was having trouble with it. The book was good, my brain just didn’t want to focus on it. I read […]