Creepin’ it real: ANOTHER spoopy book review.

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  • People Of The Lake
  • By: Nick Scorza
  • Genre: YA Fiction
  • Publisher: Sky Pony/ Simon & Schuster
  • Release Date: October 1, 2019

I received a copy of this from the publisher and Eidelweiss in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Man, do you ever just feel super conflicted about a book? I really loved most of this book!

It centers around 16 year old Clara, just embarking on a Summer at her Father’s house in a tiny town called Redmarch Lake.

This will be the first visit since her parents divorce.

Her relationship with both of them has been strained since the death of her twin, Zoe. 

Zoe was pretty much her world, so with her gone, not much matters anymore.

As soon as she set foot in Redmarch Lake, I genuinely tore through this book! It’s not that it was the deepest or most imaginative plot, but that’s why I loved it. It reminded me of just a good old spooky book from my teenage days.

Weird townspeople? Check. Ominous warnings? Check. Creepy noises? Check. A sketchy death/potential murder? Check. 

But wait! There’s an even creepier layer: Clara and Zoe had their own secret language. Clara starts receiving notes of warning in the freaking language she only shared with her dead twin. DUDE. 

It was SO good! But then all of a sudden towards the end, something happened. The pacing started to feel a bit rushed, and the actual ending was good, I just wasn’t into the style of dialogue used. That’s nothing against the book, just personal preference. 

Overall, it was an entertaining book, absolutely! Also, perfect for spooky season!! 

I always give my neutral books a 3.5. ⭐️

Horror genre in literature is scary now. 😱 Review: The Best Horror Of The Year Volume Eleven.

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The Best Horror Of The Year Volume Eleven. Previous years have featured huge artists such as Stephen King and Neil Gaiman
  • By Ellen Datlow
  • Genre: Fiction/ Horror
  • Publisher: Nightshade/ Simon & Schuster
  • Release Date: September 3, 2019

*I received a copy of this from the publisher and Eidelweiss (thank you!) all opinions are my own. *

When I was a teenager I DEVOURED the horror genre. It was pretty much all I read. Then, I went years without reading anything. Like… at. All. OUCH. Anyways, when I saw this book, I snatched it right up and was more than ready to dive in. 

This is an anthology of short fiction stories by “the best of the past year,” this one has a hefty 21 in total. 

My impression after reading, and PLEASE, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m old. Take this in the way that your grandma doesn’t understand that newfangled rap music. 😆

The term “Horror” has changed drastically since I set that last book down all those years ago. I mean, I’m actually fascinated by the evolution it’s been through. 

These stories weren’t bad at all, they were intriguing, macabre, off the wall, odd, it’s just being that it’s been so long, I found myself presumably “stuck in the past” just waiting for that story that would be like my beloved familiar favorites.

Let’s make one thing clear: I did my research, and I’m no fool. Ellen Datlow is THE Queen Of Horror. So I trust she knows what’s up with these stories. 

I think perhaps I need to veer towards a more paranormal side? I did hear of a similar anthology with ghosts, now I would LOVE to give that a go! 

I did have a few favorites in here:

The Donner Party by Dale Bailey

A Brief Moment Of Rage by Bill Davidson

And, White Mare by Thana Niveau. (This one especially reminded me of my old school stories.)

Overall, I think this is probably a great read for anyone familiar with today’s horror. Not only is it packed with a wide variety of tales, but it also offers a great opportunity to discover some amazing new authors you may not have known of. 

As for me? I’m not mad I read it. It was an interesting experience. Fo sho. 

When a book becomes therapy: Review~ Resurrection Girls

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Review: Resurrection Girls

* I received a copy of this from the publisher and NetGalley (thank you) all opinions are my own.*

This is my 5th draft of a review for this book. Sometimes books are put into our lives that we just KNOW we were meant to read. Those rare ones that you never know how to put into words. Here we are… on the struggle scooter.

Truth is, I’ve been avoiding everything this book made me feel for a long time now. I’ll explain later.

This book is about a girl named Olivia Foster whose little brother drowned in the backyard pool 3 years ago, pretty much taking the whole family with him.

Her mom is a shell of a person, barely existent, drugging her feelings away on any prescription pills she can get her hands on.

Dad is nonexistent, working late nights and emotionally unavailable.

As for Olivia? She’s just… there.

She acknowledges her desolation constantly, but her numbness keeps her from connecting it as a feeling.

Her house has become a tomb, 3 hurting people, so overwhelmed with grief that they’ve disconnected from every aspect in life, including each other.

I already knew from chapter 1 in this book that I was in trouble. I had to tame my fight or flight urge to push it away.

See, I WAS Olivia. I AM Olivia. I was Olivia when at 15 the only close family member I had decided to shoot himself at school and my family refused to talk about it because it’d upset my grandma who had already lost a son to suicide. A few months later, she suffered a stroke that left her unable to walk or speak and I was expected to watch her disintegration for 6 years acting strong so I didn’t upset her up until she died. She was the only mom I ever had.

Everything Olivia thought and how she reacted was like looking back at a mirror of myself. My heart hurt for her.

In the book, a family of women move in across the street including a girl Olivia’s age named Kara. She’s mysterious and risky. She’s a bad influence, keeps serial killers as pen pals and is obsessed with death. Instead of repelling Olivia, she’s drawn in. Why? Because FINALLY! Someone not afraid to talk about it!!!

It’d be really easy to be judgmental and say that Kara is a toxic friend. (She is, but I mean, she’s flawed. Like us all.) She’s manipulative, sometimes cruel; but she has a PURPOSE in Olivia’s life: to bring her back from the dead.

I think it doesn’t matter so much the means by which we start to awaken again, even if we DO make some really bad choices, or veer off track for a bit. Because those are human mistakes.

And when you’re wrapped up in your PTSD cocoon of numb indifference to everything, you may as well not be human.

Trust me, I know. I’ve been fighting to come back to life for a while now. My last Apocalypse took everything I was and tossed it into the ether. Including the old me. The new me hides from feelings and fights off the numbness every day.

We all need a Kara to shake things up sometimes. I guess in a way this book was my Kara.

This book is a raw look at the cataclysmic destruction that trauma and grief can do to a family, and strangely, the beauty of clawing your way through it. Only the REAL way. Not the pretty way.

Ava Morgyn has a poetic style of writing that gets me right in the feels. I love that.

I would recommend this to anyone who has actually experienced REAL pain and loss. I feel like this is a book you’ll either really get, or you won’t.

As for me, I REALLY got it. I mean, I’m pretty sure she wrote it just FOR me. 😉

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 5 black hearts.

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#resurrectiongirls #netgalley

When your healthy past comes back to haunt you. AKA: Review: Essential Chakra Meditation

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Title: Essential Chakra Meditation awaken your healing power with meditation and visualization

Author: April Pfender

Genre: Health, Mind & body, religion & spirituality

Publisher: Althea Press

Release Date: August 20, 2019

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✨I received a copy of this from the publisher and NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.✨

April Pfender, a ‘Reiki Master teacher, Meditation Instructor, And sacred retreat and workshop facilitator’ has written what I think is a fairly jam packed book, much more than I was first expecting! (this isn’t her first rodeo, she has written a previous book titled Chakra Balance.)

It’s also very aesthetically pleasing, full of bright watercolor images and beautiful mandala accents, if that matters. (Let’s be honest, that stuff matters.)

If you don’t know what chakras are, they’re basically main energy centers, (picture a wheel) in our bodies that help energy flow throughout. That’s IF they’re working properly.

Sometimes one or more can get blocked due to any number of things emotionally or physically and in turn, the blockage can eventually have a negative effect on our body.

It’s believed that there are ways to unblock them, and the goal of this book is to teach you some ways to do that on your own by using specific meditations for each of the 7 chakras.

Before you start protesting because meditation… gross. Who has time for that? This book is built around a system of either 5, 15, or 30 minute meditations, your choice.

Everything leading up to the actual start of meditation was well explained and easy to follow.

The majority of the book is split into chapters by each Chakra.

They start with a brief overview of its purpose in your body, etc. Then, every chapter as followed:

The Element • A Mantra (spoken phrase to be repeated) • Sanskrit Mantra • And instructions on how to do a Mudra (hand postures that target specific reflex points) that correspond with that Chakra.

Then begins the 5, 15, or 30 minute meditation. It appears that she’s added extras titled Tips To Expand, where there are exercises for adding crystals or oils, etc.

As someone who used to be very in tune with my spiritual side and practices such as this, I find this to be a great book for anyone at any stage. It’s very thorough, Easy to follow and made to be convenient.

The only drawback I envision would be trying to follow the written visualization while meditating. She suggests recording a reading of it, which might work. But Lordt knows not with this voice. Where’s Morgan Freeman?? 👀

All in all, I’d use it. Heck. I might even actually give it a shot for a month or so. I’ll let you know.

🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️ I give it a 4 Meditators, that’s rounding up because for me, the reading the instructions would be a  HUGE distraction.

Rounding up because it was a very thorough, well written book.

* Edited to add that I’ve heard from the author that an Audiobook is forthcoming, so that solves the issue with distractions! Yay! *

#essentialchakrameditation #netgalley 

 

Review: Minor Prophets

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Review: Minor Prophets

By Jimmy Cajoleas

Genre: YA Fiction/ Horror

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams Books

Release Date: September 10, 2019

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I received a copy of this from the publisher and edelweiss+, and Netgalley(Thank you!) All opinions are my own.

This was one of those books that I like to call a “what in tarnation?” book, which happens to be my favorite type. The kind where you think you know what’s going on, but you also feel like you might be the only kid at the table that doesn’t get the joke.

It centers around teenage siblings Lee (our narrator) and his spicy sister Murphy.

Lee has always been a bit odd, plagued with visions that “only sometimes” come true, spending most of his time alone and feeling misunderstood by the world as a whole.

After their mother’s untimely death, they’re forced to flee to a place their mother NEVER talked about: their grandmothers place, “The Farm”.

They’re welcomed with open arms, and Lee questions why their mother kept this part of her life from them.

This is where the plot starts taking us on what I can only describe as akin to watching a car crash in slow motion.

The tables have turned here for Lee. The town welcomes him with what can only be described as reverence. Grandma dotes on him, encouraging him to hone in on his visions, he has a purpose, she says. Murphy is no longer the golden child, and a rift begins to form between the two siblings.

As each day passes, you begin to see Lee’s thoughts cloud (or is it clarity??) as the truth of The Farm, its past events, and Lee’s true “purpose” are revealed.

I myself was constantly questioning what was reality vs. delusion. (Remember, the only narrative we have is from Lee’s own mind.)

If you’ve ever been someone that’s struggled to fit in or find a purpose, you’ll find Lee a very relatable character, even as things turn bat-s*it crazy.

This book was a ride! I loved the contrast of Lee’s amicable personality against the sinister undertones throughout.

If you feel like cracking open a dark, occult undertoned, supernatural, cult-like vibed great read, this is it. Here it is.

Jimmy Cajoleas also wrote The Good Demon in 2018, which I haven’t had a chance to read. But I want to now!

#minorprophets #netgalley #piquebeyond #abramspublishing #amuletpublishing #bookreviews

Review: Stolen Time

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Review: Stolen Time

Author: Danielle Rollins

Genre: YA Fiction/ Time Travel

Publisher: HarperCollins / Harper Teen

Published: February 5, 2019

“Seattle, 1913

Dorothy spent her life learning the art of the con. But after meeting a stranger and stowing away on his peculiar aircraft, she wakes up in a chilling version of the world she left behind—and for the first time in her life, realizes she’s in way over her head.

New Seattle, 2077

If there was ever a girl who was trouble, it was one who snuck on board Ash’s time machine wearing a wedding gown—and the last thing he needs is trouble if he wants to prevent his terrifying visions of the future from coming true.”

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There are things I loved about this book, and things I didn’t love so much.

This is a book about a woman from the 1900’s who accidentally gets more than she bargains for when she sneaks into an airplane that is actually a time machine and finds herself in Seattle, 2077 which is now a wasteland mostly underwater after a series of massive earthquakes and a giant tsunami took out most of the West Coast. (As someone who grew up in the PNW, always being brought up to prepare for “the big one”, even having drills in school, this is freakin terrifying to think about.)

What I DID enjoy was the fast paced adventure it took me on, the dynamic between the main character and the male protagonist, the group as a whole, and DEFINITELY the cliffhanger/holy crap moment you get at the end.

As for not so much: I thought the characters weren’t as developed as they could’ve been and the dialogue definitely wasn’t that amazing. Also the “Villains” were a tad cliche for my taste.

This wasn’t enough to keep me from reading the next book, though. I damn sure need to know what happens next. 👌

I’m useless and would rather sell all my things and run away to live in the hills as a hermit eating nothing but pork n beans for the rest of eternity than the commit to the star system in cases like this. And it’s my blog, I run this joint. So I don’t have to. 🤨

#bookreview #netgalley #Stolentime #Harperteen

Review: Llewellyn’s Complete Book Of Essential Oils

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Title: Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Essential Oils {How to Blend, Diffuse, Create Remedies, and use in Everyday Life}

Author: Sandra Kynes

Genre: Nonfiction (adult), Religion & Spirituality

Publisher: Llewelyn Publications

Publication date: August 8, 2019

 

*I received a copy of this from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for a review. Thank you! All opinions are my own. *

I have MANY of Llewellyn’s products in my own personal collection; from books to almanacs to Tarot decks. They’re generally my most trusted publisher for all things “woo woo”. That being said, I still don’t just run out and buy everything they put out because

1. I’m poor, WOMP. 

and

2. When it comes to topics like this that require thorough education and are advertised as “complete”, it has to be worth the price and not a bunch of fluff.

This book. Is. COMPLETE. I’m shocked at the amount of information covered in here. I have many books on the same topic that don’t even come close to this.

It’s broken into 7 sections, which I’ll try to summarize.

Part 1: History. Starting with ancient times,  from Egyptians to Greeks to Medieval times to now. Also talks about safety practices.

Part 2: Blending. Explains scent notes (with charts) even has a chart of oils for each Sun Sign and complete instructions on how to make personalized Birthday scents.

Part 3: Healing Properties. VERY thorough section. Includes common ailments, oils associated with them, and tons of recipes/instructions for ointments, salves, baths, diffusion, etc.

Part 4: Beauty. Recipe and chart galore. Tables for skin types or hair issues, from dandruff to hair loss with the best oils to help. Recipes for face masks, moisturizer, body scrub, bath bombs, shower melts, room spray, and much more.

Also had a very in depth section about Chakras and how to add oils into your spiritual practice. Even has recipes for scented candles.

Part 5: Home Care. Recipes to freshen and deodorize, general cleaning (any cleaners you can imagine), and a very detailed chart for pest control. Includes a detailed section on Feng Shui.

Part Six: An in-depth profile of over 60 oils. This part was a pleasant surprise because it was PACKED with info. Each one even has its own recipe for something, either personal or home care. MORE RECIPES! Yay! 

Part 7: Detailed section on carrier oils, where they derived from, what they’re best used for, etc.

Appendix and glossary in the back for reference.

This is by far the best book I’ve seen of it’s kind EVER. And I have both owned and looked through a lot of them. I wish I had it in my hands right now. I feel like this is one of those ones that’d get all crinkly and bent and stained up from use. A well loved book.

I MUST FIND A WAY TO HAVE THIS BOOK!  It’s going on my Xmas list!

Solid 5 crystal balls 🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮

#LlewellynsCompleteBookOfEssentialOils #Netgalley #Llewellyn #bookreview

 

Review: To Drink Coffee With A Ghost

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I keep searching for a mother in every woman I meet, but if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t even begin to know what it is I’m supposed to be looking for.

–which parts make up a mother?

Review: To Drink Coffee With A Ghost

Author: Amanda Lovelace

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Publication Date: September 17, 2019

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* I received a free copy of this from the publisher and Netgalley for review. (Thank you!) All opinions are my own.*

This is the finale of Bestselling Poetess Amanda Lovelace’s duology “things that haunt”.

The first, ‘To Make Monsters Out Of Girls,” focused on being in a toxic relationship.

This one is about the loss of her mother and their very complicated relationship.

When I was younger, poetry was like an extension of me. It was the THING. That thing that took the tired jumbled tangle of inexpressible emotions and made sense of them.

I knew it’d be risky business for me to dig in to this topic.

See, what makes death so hard is the ABSENCE of that person. So, while my mother is very alive, I’ve spent the majority of my life feeling like she has been dead.

As I read through these pages I realized that I had experienced nearly every situation she had described.

Difficult relationship? What little relationship I had with my (non-custodial) mother was conditional and manipulative. The author speaks of her contradictory feelings of wanting approval and almost idolizing her mother, no matter how torturous and toxic she knows it is. And her relationship with her sister; how much they had to step up and take on the grown up roles for each other.

This book runs the entire gamut of emotions. From the resentment to grief, to the acceptance, to moving forward.

It was written for the lost girls like me. The ones like my sister who had to put our mother to bed because she fell asleep sitting up smoking a cigarette or trying to get a spoonful of food to her mouth. Our mother is no longer very much mother. She’s more pills than mother now.

Amanda Lovelace has that rare gift of saying a multitude of things in just a few short sentences.

If you’ve never read her work, I highly recommend it.

And this one was so beautiful and touching to me. It’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 stars, no doubt. Sad I don’t have a copy on my shelf right now!!

”I don’t necessarily think you should have to

forgive those who have mistreated you in

the most life-defining ways. Forgiveness is

something sacred. However, I would like to

think I could forgive you, if given the

opportunity. I would like to think you would

give me reason to.”

—Here’s Hoping 

#ToDrinkCoffeeWithAGhost #Netgalley #Goodreads

Review: Into The Hourglass The Evermore Chronicles book 2

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Title: Into The Hourglass  The Evermore Chronicles Book 2

Author: Emily R. King

Genre: YA Fantasy/ Teens/ New Adult

Publisher: Skyscape

Publication Date: August 20, 2019

176A969E-BE21-4158-A3B2-C37AFA44FB85.pngEverley Donovan’s mission: retrieve the hallowed sword of Avelyn stolen by the wicked Prince Killian, who slayed her family and left her for dead. Should she fail, the seven worlds will come to an end, as could time itself. And no one treasures time more than Everley, whose lifesaving clock heart cannot beat forever. She has set sail with a rogue crew for the otherworlds, where the key to dethroning the prince lies deep within the Land Under the Wave.

But passage through these unknown seas—where horrors lurk and pirates rove—proves a treacherous gamble. The Land Under the Wave was not made for humans, particularly one with a fragile clock heart. Here, Everley’s tragic past resurfaces unsolved questions. Here, too, the prince has hidden secrets more precious than pearls, secrets that could fracture the future forevermore. Everley must take back her sword and break free from this watery world before her time runs out…or so will everyone else’s.

I received a free copy from the publisher and Netgalley. (Thank you!)

All opinions are my own.

This is the second installment in The Evermore Chronicles by Emily R. King, and it continues the adventure we first began in Before The Broken Star.

Everly, our beloved spicy heroine with the clockwork heart is still hellbent on defeating our villain, although while her intention may have been personal in the beginning, she has learned there’s far more at stake now should she fail.

This book has Everly taking us through quite an adventure: we sail with her ragtag crew toward a treacherous place called The Land Under The Wave.

This book had my nerd brain in heaven. There were twists and turns, DANGER!, mermaids, a sea witch, pirates, elves, fairies, time-hopping because, oh yeah I forgot to mention, she’s on a mission from FATHER TIME.

All of this combined with her trusty-ahem-loyal, (cough theyweremeanttobetogether cough) sidekick made for another solid enjoyable read.

Again, it wasn’t one I couldn’t put down. But there wasn’t anything I disliked about it and it kept me entertained. So I give those ones 3.5 stars.

#IntoTheHourglass #NetGalley #Bookreview

Review: Before The Broken Star

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189B0840-A127-4D02-829A-A5D558161712.jpegTitle: Before The Broken Star (The Evermore Chronicles Book 1)

Author: Emily R.King

Genre: YA Fantasy/ Adventure

Publisher: Skyscape

“Everley Donovan is living on borrowed time. The lone survivor of her family’s unexplained assassination, she was saved by an ingeniously crafted clockwork heart. But the time she was given won’t last forever. Now, every tick-tock reminds her how fragile her existence is and hastens her quest to expose Killian Markham, the navy admiral who shattered her world and left her for dead. But Everley’s hunt for justice will be a long and hard-won voyage.

Her journey takes her to a penal colony on a cursed isle, where she will be married off and charged to build the new world. It is here, and beyond, that hidden realms hide, treasures are unearthed, her family secrets are buried, and young love will test the strength of her makeshift heart. When Everley discovers Markham may not be who he seems, her pursuit for truth is bound to his redemption, her tragic history, and her astonishing destiny.”

My Take:

Everly is a girl who both is and has a secret: after her entire family was murdered by her father’s partner, Markham, she was believed to be dead as well. But her uncle, a clockmaker, saved her by constructing her a clockwork heart to replace her human one.

He has been keeping her safe and hidden, just a girl that works in his clockmakers shop.

Until the day that Everly discovers that Markham is in town and everything she’s been secretly working up to until this point comes to fruition: she can finally get her revenge.

She plots her way onto Markham’s ship, but soon find revenge is no simple or quick deed. The universe has many other people and journeys for Everly to encounter; some wonderful, some are a bitter pill to swallow.

Everly as a character is a fierce and stubborn girl, a stark contrast to the fragility of the clockwork heart keeping her alive.

The characters she encounters are all perfectly written in the way that I believe they make you feel exactly what the author intended you to.

The good ones you feel a fondness for, the sassy ones make you chuckle, and the bad guys you despise.

This is an ongoing adventure, part of a series. I have already read the next book; review coming soon.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It didn’t blow me away, but it didn’t disappoint me either. In these cases, I always give it a 3.5

💫💫💫.5