Stephanie

Pretty cheesy holiday rom com mystery. It was fun, but didn't live up to the hype or the Knives Out comparisons.

The romance side of the story didn't really do it for me. I found Maggie a little grating and Ethan's savior complex, overuse of the word “sweetheart/sweetie”, and over all dialogue to be pretty cringy. This was more of a mash up of one sided “enemies to lovers” and one sided “insta love”. If I had to read about how perfect Ethan Wyatt was one more time, I think my eyes were going to roll out of my head.

However, the mystery side was definitely a page turner and kept me entertained. But I found the other characters involved were just kind of...there? They were all so nonchalant that they didn't have any impact and I felt very indifferent about them. I do wish the big question of how Eleanor Ashley got out of the locked room was actually revealed. I'm not sure if keeping it a mystery is something I like about the book, or if that is something the author couldn't explain either.

While I this won't be going under my list of favorites, I still had a good time reading it and thought it was a fun read for the holiday season. 

The weird girl speculative short story collection you've been looking for.  “Bunny Ears” and “Dizzy Room” were my favorite of the bunch. I loved the writing style and the very nostalgic feel to some of these stories. There were a few that felt like they dragged on a bit in places, but I overall really liked this collection!

Thank you to Netgalley and Stillhouse Press for the eARC!

The second installment of the Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series. I read the first book earlier this year and adored it, it is among my favorites I read in 2025. I was beyond excited to be asked to review the second in the series. 

We follow four new bittersweet stories of people setting out to have one last meal/meeting with lost loved ones. I cried just as much in this book as I did the last, it is such a tear jerker, but leaves you with a sense of hope and reflection as well. I was caught slightly off guard that the fourth story felt much more heavy and challenging than the others, including the stories from the first book.  

There are some characters from the first book appear again, making the stories semi-interconnect in various ways. The characters are likeable, though I will say my favorite has been the mischievous calico cat, Chibi, who takes any opportunity to try and escape from the restaurant. 

Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen has been my favorite of the healing fiction books I have read. I am looking forward to reading the others when they are translated.

Thank you to Viking Penguin and Netgalley for the ARC!

I'm really not qualified to give an in depth analysis of poetry, but I can say that Maggie Smith's writing was really delightful, reflective, and thoughtful. I connected with quite a few poems. 

My favorites: 

“A Suit or a Suitcase”
“Now They're Saying Isolation Atrophies the Brain”
“Time-Stamped”
“The Before Picture”
“You Asked If I Believe in the Afterlife”
“Homebody”

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Hauntingly creepy and claustrophobic, Graceview Patient feels like a long hospital stay fever dream with an unreliable narrator. While the plot is pretty simple, the psychological horror ride you go on with Meg is anything but. Caitlin Starling has had two great books come out in 2025. She is quickly becoming my favorite author to look out for. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

These poems are good, I just didn't relate to most of them. I think a lot of these poems went over my head, or I'm quite possibly not the target audience for them. I did really enjoy a few of them (“Encore”, “Camaro”, “Equinox”, and “Meteor”). I look forward to keeping this on my shelf and revisit in the future, with possibly a different mindset and different experiences. 

Creature feature at a drive-in? Count me in. Great nods to classic horror films of the 50's, you can feel how much the author loves the horror genre. The action scenes were so chaotic and gory, in the best way.  I love that this almost reads as a cozy, creepy 90's/00's horror flick. Perfect for a summerween read. 

Thank you to Mad Axe Media and NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5/5 

Such an addictive novella. I ended up reading this in one sitting because the concept was so interesting. An immersive reality software lab where you can live out any fantasy? Sign me up! For such a short story, the two main character's felt pretty well rounded and fleshed out. Excited to hear there is a sequel coming because I need more time in Ellen and Natalie's world. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Victory Editing Publishing for the eArc.

I thought this would be a story about a feral demon baby, but I was surprised it was more of a dramedy about generational trauma, female rage, and postpartum depression. Loved the dark humor, loved the decent into madness, and I even enjoyed the unlikeable main character. But the ending fell flat for me. It felt rushed and too nicely wrapped up to leave me with a lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the eARC.

What's not to love about a beautifully illustrated Halloween pun filled book? Super cute and perfect for kids during spooky season.

2.5/5 

Brain Damage offers 4 bleak and gory short stories full of disturbing twists. The art style is executes the eerie atmosphere well. 

I love bizarre and weird horror manga, but I think this one fell flat for me. Each story had an amazing concept but they seemed to work as short stories for me. Either they had good stopping points, but it kept going until the ending changed the tone of it. Or they felt too disjointed to flow smoothly. I would have given this a 3.5 had it not been for sexualization of a minor and incest between said minor and a vulnerable family member in the third story, “Family Portrait”. It was completely unnecessary and honestly killed the vibe of this book for me. 

Labyrinth Quartet - 3.5
The Cursed Room - 3
The Family Portrait - 1
Blood Harvest - 4

Thank you to Fantagraphics Books and Netgalley for the eArc!

A wholesome slice of life story that illustrates how compassion and kindness can have a ripple effect and change lives. The multiple POVs for each chapter was endearing to read, I really enjoyed slowly getting glimpses of the lives of each character and seeing how they interacted and intertwined in the stories of the others. Some characters aren't very fleshed out, and we don't spend much time with them. But that reflects the setting of people passing through a convenience store. The last chapter was really unexpected, but gave Dok-go a deeper complexity after spending much of the book being a rather simple, yet mysterious character. Kim Ho-Yeon's story was touching and Janet Hong's was amazing, I really adored this book.

Thank you Harper Perennial and Netgalley for the eArc!

I found this to be such a delightful, people watching type of book! The Passengers on the Hankyu Line gives us brief glimpses into the different lives of the commuters, and how these strangers can influence each other with their short time together on the train. I love how some of the stories intertwined with each other. As someone who is unfamiliar with the region of Japan the story is set in, I did find it a little hard to keep track of which train line went where and how they connected. But I still very much enjoyed reading about how each stop was different to the last, and seeing the area or neighborhood the line ran through.
I think healing fiction might be one of my new favorite genres to dive into, they always feel like a warm hug of reassurance while reading them. If you like cozy, slice of life stories, I recommend picking this one up!


Thank you to Netgalley and Berkeley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I found the premise of this book to be super interesting, though I have to say I found myself finishing this book thinking “what did I just get done reading?”. Part of that may be because I am not very familiar with The Bacchae. While the writing is beautifully poetic, I did struggle slightly with some of the choppiness of it. I loved the multiple POVs, but found the characters falling a little flat, and a couple I didn't enjoy reading about. The start was a bit slow for me, but when it picked up towards the middle, I was flying through the story. 

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the advance readers copy!

This is such an interesting and insightful book! I love nature facts and learning about things I didn't even think of, like how do insects sleep, are rats getting smarter, what's that smell (it's a skunk), and...grandmas? Although some parts felt a little dense with information, the writing was great and kept you very engaged through out each section. If you are a science lover, I really recommend picking this up!

Thank you to Timber Press and Netgalley for the advance reader copy!

“This is also the world where people, often women, are doomed to spend much of their lives forgiving the errors of others and suffering for the sake of other people's growth.”

With minimal plot and heavily character driven, I found the first 30% of the book to be a little slow and hard to get into. Once the pace started to pick up, I was so deep into this story. I can't explain how much I enjoyed the writing style, especially the blunt, dry humor.  All the characters felt so real, and complex, as if I was just a bystander watching someone else's life happening before me. Which made finishing the book bittersweet, as I didn't want to say bye to Max and Vincent just yet. 
There are so many quotes in this book that are so relatable, I'm really tempted to get a physical copy just to annotate all of them. After reading Disappoint Me, Nicola Dinan's debut novel, Bellies, is going on my tbr right away. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press for the ARC of this ebook!

I could have done without the image of Ray Romano masturbating yet here we are.

Fun, quick read. A handful of haikus I enjoyed, but a lot were misses.

Cosmic horror, existential dread, bugs, and dark humor wrapped in a nice little package, with a filament bow. This is definitely one of the most bizarre books I have read in a long time, and I was so here for the wild ride.

A body snatcher-esque story with chaotic writing in the best way, it's easy to say it kept me fully immersed. I would read a whole series about the mirror people, they are so strange and interesting, this story left me wanting to do a deep dive into them. Underneath the unsettling, squelchy body horror really is an emotional story that touches on bodily autonomy, identity, and the push and pull of balance of humanity and inhumanity.
I'm already looking into more stories by Drew Huff.

Thank you to Drew Huff and NetGalley for the ARC copy!

I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin is a title that instantly drew me in. Although the book ended up being something different to what I originally thought, I still greatly enjoyed reading it. I loved the formatting and writing of this book, it felt more like a close friend was telling me stories. Witty, blunt, vulnerable, and very relatable.  I would love to read more from Carla Sosenko again.Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House The Dial Press for an ARC copy!

I enjoyed this book more than I originally thought I would. I found the writing of Charlie to be very relatable, for better or worse. I loved the friendships portrayed, which gave a heartwarming contrast to the raw and melancholy of the relationship between Charlie, and the much older author she starts a relationship with. The amount of grief, healing, and growth that Charlie goes through in the book does make the story reflect the title, bitter sweet. 

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

I found this book to be quite insightful. I haven't heard of the majority of these murder ballads, and it was interesting to get a short history behind them, though I wish there was a bit more included. The artwork was wonderful. I think it may have flowed a little better to have the ballad before the history, instead of the other way around, but that is mostly a personal preference. Overall, it was a very interesting read!

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!

Becoming Ghost is a collection of poems about the author's parents' experiences during the Vietnam War. I sometimes find it hard to analyze or interpret poetry, and this is one of those books for me. I read it in one sitting because the writing is beautiful, powerful, and emotional. There have been a few poems or lines that have really stayed in my mind. Though I did find it difficult with how the poems would change povs or perspectives 

Thank you Washington Square Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is one of those books I have a feeling I will think of often. This book felt like a warm, bittersweet last hug, and left me crying into my blankets. This book is broken up into four short stories that are all connected to each other in some way. The story didn't try pack too much in the short page length it has, which I appreciate. It is a fairly simple, yet beautiful story that is perfect for a cozy read. While the story is short,  the impact from it is long lasting. 
I can't wait to read more in this series as they are translated.

 Thank you to Penguin Group and Netgalley for the ARC.  

Ten chilling short stories that all revolve around Halloween, perfect for spooky season. I really liked the writing and all the nods to horror movies. Each story is unique, and makes this book a very interesting collection of stories. 

The stand out stories for me were Russian Doll, Keeping Up Appearances, Black, and Pulp. 

I did find myself a bit confused on who the target audience is, as some of the stories seemed to be aimed towards a younger audience, while also having pretty gory and graphic moments. There were also a few moments where the pacing seemed to dip in some of the longer stories.  There were also a few themes and words that I wish weren't included. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading each story and think this would be a great book to read around the spooky season. 

Thank you Corpus Press and Jason Parent for providing this book for review via NetGalley!

A short and sweet (with some spice) office romance. The main characters had great chemistry that lead to a lot of tense and flirty moments. I loved that Dana was portrayed as intelligent, independent, and the backbone of the company. While the story was predictable, and I do wish it was a bit longer than 55 pages, it is still a fun, quick read!


Thank you BDA Publishing LLC for providing this book for review via NetGalley!