Tag: 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. […]

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 […]

Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo..

Posted 06/04/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

As I said in my review for Clown in a Cornfield, I found it much easier to listen to this book than I did to read it. So when I went to start Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives, I went straight for the audiobook. Fortunately, my local public library carries this series, so I was able to snag this one as an audiobook as well. First, I want to shout out to Jesse Vilinsky. She does an amazing job of narrating this series. I mean, AMAZING. The voices she’s created for each of the characters is now ubiquitous with those characters in my mind. I cannot imagine one of them speaking in any other voice. When I first started Frendo Lives, I hadn’t imagined that we’d be combining PTSD with Internet Conspiracy Theories, but here we are, and it is amazing. I should have known that this would be part of […]

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam C..

Posted 06/03/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve been trying to read Clown in a Cornfield since it first came out. I tried to get an ARC but failed, I tried to get it from the library but failed. Then I finally got it from the library, but couldn’t get into it. I was just about to give up when I was able to request it from NetGalley. I still couldn’t get into it – until I managed to snag the audiobook through the Libby app via my public library. Then… it clicked. Normally, I’d do the CAWPIRE review, but I think I’m going to just keep it low key today. I loved Quinn, Cole, and Rust. I liked Quinn’s dad. Wasn’t overly fond of the rest of the characters – although Janet was pretty cool. The rest of the cast was more or less window-dressing to me and I found myself more interested in Quinn and Cole than […]