Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Horror

Hazelthorn by CG Drews

Posted 07/09/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Hazelthorn is one of those books that took me forever to read, for no good reason. I literally have no reason why it took me so long to actually sit down and read this book – other than perhaps a combination of mood reading and school. I say this because Hazelthorn is an amazing book. Characters There are a lot of characters in this book – some designed to make you hate them, clearly. Characters like Oleander, Dawes, and Bane just made me want to reach into the pages and punch the daylights out of them. Azalea wasn’t much better, but at least it was obvious that she was only in it for herself. Laurie is an interesting character. He’s arrogant, rude, and acts like he hates everyone and everything. And, I suppose, in a way, he does. But the secrets he hides are why he’s the way he is. […]

June ’26 Wrap-Up

Posted 06/30/2026 by Charli in Wrap Up / 0 Comments

I finally got back into reading this month after almost a year of not reading. I didn’t review all the books on this list, but I did review several of them. Here’s what I read in June 2026: So there it is – all 13 books I read during the month of June 2026! Clown in a Cornfield, Together We Rot, We Did Nothing Wrong, 1 Peter, 52-Week Prayer Practice for Women, The Courage to Change, Sweet Nightmare, and The Joy of an Uncluttered Life were NetGalley reads. Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives and Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo were just to finish the released books in the series. ‘Salem’s Lot, Hell House, and The Exorcist were part of my Summerween/Scariest Books Ever Written list. What did you read this month?

Sweet Nightmare by Tracy Wolff

Posted 06/30/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

So I was approved for Sweet Nightmare back in 2024, but I didn’t get around to reading it until now. Part of this was because I’d tried out the Crave series and it just wasn’t for me. Unfortunately, I’d tried the Crave series after I’d been approved for Sweet Nightmare, so I decided not to bother reading it, figuring Tracy Wolff wasn’t the author for me. Well, I was wrong. As with many of the books I’ve had issues getting into on NetGalley that have already been released, I found that listening to the audiobook helped me immensely. I really liked the main narrator – Suzy Jackson, and I was impressed with Andrew B. Wehrlen as well, although we didn’t get to hear him nearly as much as we did Ms. Jackson. Both narrators did their jobs well and did not detract from the story at all. Characters The characters […]

Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Ch..

Posted 06/10/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve stated before that Clown in a Cornfield gives me Children of the Corn vibes, but with the third installment, that’s changed. The Church of Frendo gives me The Village by M. Night Shyamalan and The Wicker Man vibes. This installment features Quinn Maybrook, but she’s not with Rust or Cole (though they are mentioned and do appear). She’s on her own, and she’s tracking down the people who participated in the previous Halloween’s massacre in Kettle Springs – the one year anniversary of the first Kettle Springs Massacre. She’s not fooling around either. Enter in a new character – Johnny D. I loved this one. He was funny, and he refused to just let Quinn go off on her own and do what she wanted. Nope. Once she picked him up, she was stuck with him. And I loved that. Another character I was somewhat fond of was Tabitha – although at first, I didn’t quite understand what was […]

Together We Rot by Skyla Ardnt

Posted 06/08/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve been trying to get through my enormous backlog on NetGalley and the “bottom of the pile” (when looked at without sorting) was Together We Rot – a book I remember being hugely excited for when I was approved for it, then promptly failed to read. As with many of the books I fail to read immediately, I regret not having read it sooner. Or rather, I regret not finishing it sooner, as I did attempt to read it a couple of times. The same as many of the other books I’ve tried to read recently, I ended up listening to this on audiobook to actually finish it. I feel like the town in which the book is set doesn’t lend much to the story, and I think that is by design. The only parts that truly make a difference are Earl’s Diner for a short period, the public library for a […]