Carla

I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

I deeply enjoyed this collection of horror stories based around teaching—it made me uncomfortable in the most delightful way. It felt like an exploration of my own stress dreams about school: I have skipped an entire semester or year of a class, and I have to sneak in and take the exam without the teacher/professor ‘s noticing; it's the end of the year, and I have to clean out my locker but I don't remember where it is; the teacher/professor detests me and only me (this actually happened to me, but it replays in grotesquerie in dreams). This book perfectly captured that stress dream horror feeling, and now I need a brightly colored blanket and a cookie. Thanks! That was fun.

I have tears in my eyes. That's all I can say right now.

This is a treatise on disability, how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves. Does the inner self match the outer self (again, back to disability)? As a disabled person, I completely embraced it. It made me cry more than once.

It's also a treatise on how we change everyone we meet, for better for worse. The choice of how is ours.

You'll be wondering (and if you're like me, worrying) does the dog die? Click here if it's bothering you: no, no worries—or rather, worry not.

This feels...complicated. It's a reimagining of the Gospels by an atheist. Also by an amazing creative writer. You see the intense complexity.

Much of the book was, to use a rural Pentecostal phrase, “in the Word”. Then it all takes a dark, weird turn.

The author makes Jesus and Christ into twins, born on the same familiar night under the same miraculous star. Christ is visited by a stranger, who is never identified as human, angel, or demon, who tells him to document Jesus' activity and words, and then to betray him in order to kickstart the Kingdom. Both their names will be known for all time, as it was meant to be.

I am an Episcopalian, so I don't feel fundamentally uncomfortable with having had read this book as other Christians might. I love religious discourse of all kinds. But I didn't like it. In some parts, it felt true to Jesus' ministry, and even respectful and loving. In others, it seemed to claim that the Gospels were full of lying details (“there's history, and then there's the truth”), the truth nudged like clay to make things happen. In those parts, it felt...mocking, rather than creative or even exploring a historical theory. There was a sharp unpleasant turn in tone that surprised me.

Nina Bawden was one of the authors of my childhood. Greatly enjoyed revisiting her during my DST hangover/flareup. This would be an excellent gateway to horror for young people–scary without too much peril and no death or bloodshed.

Narrator added to list of favorites: Shaun Grindell is extremely easy to listen to. This book is absolutely fascinating—not only in the exploration of MBP, but in a personality disorder and, in my opinion, an inadequate personality. Horrifying and compelling. Not for anyone who cannot handle child abuse.

Captivating story with an unsatisfying ending.

The book was wonderful, the narrator was horrible. She read this story of the murder and dismemberment of a mother as if she were reading a fairy tale to a group of children, with a sing-song lilt. I could easily imagine her pausing to show pictures to the children. Had I not deeply respected Diane Fanning and her work, I would have stopped listening.

East of Eden plus classic ghost stories plus Lovecraft. Enjoy the ride.

Victor Garber is an adorable narrator. I had forgotten how intense this installment is.

But who took care of Bunnicula?

I love all the literary references in this series, from An Incredible Journey to Poe.

Listened this time—actor Victor Garber's narration. Delightful.

I love some of her poems intensely. This collection, put together by Oliver...is not good. It took me two years to finish it, and I adore poetry. So many poems about black snakes, that often sounded the same. Many poems about how she either deeply understood the First Nations people in a New Way, not like other people, or, in one offense passage, wanted to “paint [her] skin red” and join them. This was a struggle to finish. It felt pretentious and sometimes juvenile.

Great idea ruined by an inexplicable ending. Was it all supposed to be a dream? Then the author didn't explain that very well at all. I finished wondering what happened, and not wanting to expend the energy to sort it out. 

Disclaimer: Jonathan and I are friends.

This audiobook, narrated by Matt Godfrey, blew me away. It also got me through the tail end of 21 days of Covid, in which I struggled to concentrate properly and correctly on the written word. Jonathan's storytelling carried me away to the mind and world of an angry but caring teenager who just wants to protect his little sister and date his crush. But he's thwarted by an escaped child killer and...something else in the woods.

This book is so evocative that I could see everything just as it happened...even if I didn't want to. It's terrifying and dark and fast and amazing. 

I live on a mountain, surrounded by woods. I'm not going outside for a while.

I am reviewing this book for Cemetery Dance in my position as an early reviewer, so I must note I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tremendous throwback to Gothic tales of the time of Shelley, Stoker, and Poe...but with the gusto, action, and profanity of today. It's the perfect blend of Gothic romance (“I just met you, and this is crazy, but marry me, maybe”), Gothic dread, and gnarly horror. What a delightful mix. I read it in one sitting.

I have to disclose that not only am I a Cemetery Dance early reviewer, but Jonathan is a friend of mine. But this is an unbiased review, for his writing blows me away. It's terrifying and claustrophobic and chilling and gory and just the perfect thing for a chilly October night.

And look at that perfect, gorgeous throwback cover!

Enchanted by this brutal and gripping religious horror, one of my favorite subgenres. Incredible worldbuilding. I am chronically ill and disabled, and the imagery of this world made me forget about high levels of pain for long stretches at a time. Thrilled to find out just now that it has an upcoming sequel!

The idea of this book is splendid—the worksheet to organize each sweater you are knitting. I am going to use it going forward. There are strong and clear instructions for how to choose yarn, how to adjust gauge and choose size and yarn for comfort, and other such tips that aren't usually given. 
However...each pattern is knitted in speciality yarn that cannot duplicated by the reader—dyed by the author, found by the author at a wool exposition, etc. Also, the book is quite difficult to read, written in light grey on cream-colored paper. 
And the patterns are not written for a new knitter, even though the beginning of the book is geared toward a beginner. They are written conversationally: “work as up and down construction sweater, and then...”. It would be overwhelming had I never knitted before.

The case is so incredibly convoluted, and so many details were included (it's more than 600 pages long), that it almost wasn't enjoyable at all.

This is a dense, academic read, not recommended for the layperson unaccustomed to academia. The conclusion almost lost me, with its incredibly long, compounded sentences and few paragraph breaks. It felt like the author was taking a last stand at the lectern and wasn't taking too many breaths.

I finished this on the eve on the latest elementary school shooting in America. Whitman was the first modern school shooter, more than 50 years ago—“an inveterate liar” who, when discovered, took out his feelings of shame on his mother, his wife, and his fellow students. He shot for two hours, and was prepared to shoot for days. He also was able to shoot way beyond the barricades the police set up in estimate of his firepower for public safety. No one in America should be able to lay down that kind of weaponry against their fellow Americans—especially students, going to class.

True crime is supposed to be, in part, a lesson for the future. What can we do better? How can we keep assaults and murders from happening again? We've learned nothing when it comes to public mass shootings, especially school shootings. This one could substitute for Virginia Tech—manifestos, barricades, malignant narcissism, someone who should not possess firearms. And so on. 

I'm so tired.

Excellent read in my 50th year.

Not half as good as Baby Jane. This felt as if he wrote it in mind to be filmed.

I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway and agreed to review it honestly in return.
I loved how often this book directly addressed chronic illness and pain. I felt seen and heard. It was the perfect companion to Lent.

Werewolves are my favorite monster, and the language is lovely and lyrical, so I really enjoyed it, and I will continue with the series eventually (looks like there's only a second one). I only scored it three stars out of five because of the bestiality. It was gratuitous and strange. The mani characters only had sex when he was a werewolf; they never consumated their relationship as two humans, only as a human female and a male werewolf. And it was graphic. Graphic and hairy and slobbery. It was so pretty, and frightening, with these amazing ideas about the nature of good and evil, and then that would happen. I'm no prude, but I don't like when my horror makes me uncomfortable around my dogs.