Destiny (howling libraries)

I love Darcy Coates' ghost stories so much that sometimes I forget how great she is at writing suspenseful mysteries, too! I LOVE murder mysteries like this, with a group of strangers trapped together in the middle of nowhere, and I was honestly on the edge of my seat for quite a lot of the story. The ending did feel a bit rushed to me, but not enough to dull my enjoyment!

original update, June 2023:

Book of the year right here. What am I even supposed to do with myself until November?!?! THE AUDACITY

Review coming when I can stop screaming

re-read update, November 2023:

I still haven't stopped screaming

re-read update, February 2025:

Will I EVER not sob at "it was my honor"? Unlikely.

Eventually, I'll write reviews for these books, but the short of it is that I loved this so much more the second time around.

I love Pigeon Gazette and this was absolutely adorable. Very relatable, very cute, 10/10 do recommend.

This was a good time! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator's bubbly charm was really unique and fun for a horror novella. I'll be honest upfront and say that Ro aggravated me a bit, even though I could empathize with her - she wasn't a badly written character, just a little TOO real in some of her red-flag-ignoring nonsense. 😅 I guessed the ending ahead of time, but thought it was such a fun (and messed up) way to wrap things up.

I read a final copy borrowed from the library, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also gifted an early review copy. All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: queer (bi/pan/sapphic) MC and love interest, sapphic romance

✨ Content warnings for: violence, death, animal death (not Ro's cat), murder, kidnapping, imprisonment, mutilation, cannibalism, mentions of childhood abuse (verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual), mentions of infidelity

I've heard a lot of love for this book and I'd enjoyed short stories by Tananarive Due before, so I had a feeling I'd enjoy this, but I didn't know just how much I would adore The Reformatory. This book was an absolute masterpiece from start to finish and I wouldn't have changed a single thing about it. I'm so glad that I finally read it and I'm going to shove this beautiful, sad story at everyone I possibly can.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: several Black main and side characters, two sapphic side characters

✨ Content warnings for: graphic racism, racist slurs, misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, graphic abuse, pedophilia, rape, infant death/murder, child death/murder, imprisonment, mentions of cancer/terminal illness, grief

Life was like a language I couldn't speak.

I've been meaning to read this for WAY too long, and I'm glad I finally did. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and it was lovely! I love grief-themed horror stories and this one portrayed it beautifully. While the more horror-centric elements of the plot lost me at times, I kept being drawn back in by not only the protagonist's commentary on grief and loss, but also by her own mental struggles with simply existing. I thought the ending felt a little bit rushed and wouldn't have minded the novella being longer, but overall, I really enjoyed it.

I read a final copy borrowed from the library, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also gifted an early review copy. All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: sapphic Mi'kmaq main character, sapphic side character, portrayal of a sapphic relationship

✨ Content warnings for: grief, loss of a parent, terminal illness, suicidal ideation, erasure of Native culture, climate crisis descriptions, parental abuse (brief)

DNF @ 35% (about 250pg)

I give up. I know this is pretty widely beloved and I had high hopes, but I can't mesh with this writing at all.

God DAMN, I love a good vengeance story.

I loved the way this story was told, alternating chapters between present and past events. It gave us a chance to get to know and feel for the victims without being bogged down with massive info dumps or overly long and gratuitous assault scenes.

I'm usually really wary of horror books featuring sexual assault as a main premise because many of the more extreme ones I've read handled it VERY poorly, but it was easy to see the care and respect the author handled those scenes with. There are quite a few painful moments in this book that will break your heart and make you rage.

Overall, Seven Rabbits was beautifully written and I can't wait to read more from this author!

Buddy read with Misty!

✨ Content warnings for: rape, rape culture, gang rape, leaked nudes without consent, abuse, threats, blackmail, abortion (off-page), suicide, misogyny, religious bigotry, abuse of police power, racism, violence, gore, torture, murder, desecration of corpses, alcohol, underage drinking, loss of loved ones, grief, pregnancy complications/maternal death (off-page), bullying, fat-shaming

I absolutely adored this. I can't decide if this or Pumpkin Spice is my favorite book in the series so far! I liked Kira too, especially once she started letting her guard down a little and we saw more of her personality shine through, but Bennett really stole the show for me. I related SO much to his need to feel useful and his tendency to let the people he cares about stomp all over his boundaries (or, more accurately, his tendency not to establish boundaries at all because he just wants everyone to be happy and doesn't always even realize he's put himself last again).

Also, the doggo love? Everything! I can't even tell you how many times I had to go find my Echo and give her some cuddles while listening to this because Laurie Gilmore is just so good at putting those pet-loving feels into words. ♥️

This was so much fun! I loved the first book in the series and thought Reggie's character was hilarious, so I was really excited when I learned the second book would feature him as the love interest. He was absolutely delightful and I laughed out loud a handful of times over his jokes, puns, and general zany nature. The plot was interesting enough and never got too serious, even though Reggie was supposedly in danger - there was always a general feeling of ineptitude from the Committee, so it was easy to bliss out in the sweet rom-com vibes. ♥️ Cotton candy in book form, this one.

Buddy read with Misty! ♥️

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: queer side characters

✨ Content warnings for: stalking (not descriptive or portrayed in an explicitly frightening way), disrespect of a person's dietary needs, general lack of support from MC's parents, feelings of unimportance, minor descriptions of blood

This was such an intriguing take on the Sleepy Hollow story. I've never seen someone tackle this retelling with such an interesting angle! I loved the main character and I adored the relationship between Ben and Brom. ♥️

I had high hopes this would be really cute, but most of the comics fell short, reminding me of those bland one-liners I read in newspapers as a kid.

This was okay! I loved the darker elements - mostly watching these two go a bit psycho together - but I didn't love the writing. It wasn't an issue with the writing style itself as much as the fact that a lot of things didn't make sense to me, like Talon's self-contradictions (mainly how he kept leaving Lena alone for extended periods of time without intervening despite knowing, or at least being able to assume, what was happening to her). I felt like, if he were really as fiercely protective over her as he made himself out to be, there are a few things that shouldn't have happened. I also felt like the ending tied up pretty neatly without a lot of explanation for how they got away with things. Overall, it was fine, just not great.

update: february 8th, 2019:

That was just as magical and beautiful and sweet the second time. I have to say that Luca and Imre are one of my favorite OTPs of all time, and I just don't think I'm ever going to stop gushing about this incredible story. ♥

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first read: june 16th, 2018:

When I first heard about this book, the author was accepting ARC requests, and I immediately had to send one in. Feel free to judge my long love of this “taboo”, but I have loved age gap romances ever since I was a preteen. My favorite theme in age gap pairings is when the older individual is this sort of mature, caring, stoic type, while the younger is still wild and angsty and trying to find their place in the world… which basically sums up Imre and Luca, but there’s so much more to it than that, too.

Some people were born with a thick skin; some developed it over time. Luca had been born with skin like paper, and a crystal heart.

Luca, the younger man, is a gay 19-going-on-20-year-old, and is an utter wreck inside. He’s got a turbulent home life, and he’s desperate for love and attention, especially from Imre, who he swears he’s been in love with practically his entire life. I know, there’s a lot of potential for the relationship to come across as “grooming”, but let me go ahead and put your mind at ease: nothing in this coupling felt inappropriate or pedophilic to me whatsoever, and Imre is honestly as innocent as they come.

He’d had massive hands, hands that could crush granite to dust, this great dark earthen god with the strength of stone, but he’d handled everything—from his tiny, bleating goat kids to the smallest clover flower to Luca himself—with a gentleness that flowed from his hands like water, imbued with a living warmth. And Luca had been in love with him, the way only little boys could be.

For every place that Luca warms my heart with his fragility and tenderness, Imre turns me into a damn puddle with how kind and gentle and honest he is. He’s a goat farmer, but he loves and cherishes all of his animals so much, and he’s just the most ridiculously precious “gentle giant” sort of character that I’m a complete sucker for. He constantly deals with this internal warring over his growing feelings for Luca, and sometimes, his perspectives are so hard to read because you can just feel the agonizing guilt in his chest.

That was the problem with Imre; he was so honest, so rawly and quietly true, that his honesty seemed to ask for the same from everyone.

Beyond the romance and Luca’s coming-of-age story, there are a few underlying currents that I loved: 1) Imre’s demisexuality, which Luca speaks frequently about how much he respects and how terrified he is of violating; and 2) Imre’s Romani heritage. There’s a scene where he mentions feeling like his culture has been watered down and erased due to the forced displacement of his ancestors, and it is absolutely heartbreaking and so incredibly necessary. Romani rep is something that I feel like we see so rarely, and I loved Cole for adding those pieces in to Imre’s fabric.

He would destroy himself for this kiss.

It’s a long book, clocking in at just under 600 pages, but it’s such a fast read, and so addicting; I literally read this in one day, and could not focus on anything else until I finished it. It is a sloooooow burn in the best way, and the payoff is passionate, sweet, and worth every moment of building up. AND there are baby goats, sooo…

Luca and Imre are my new favorite adult contemporary OTP, and I strongly encourage every single fan of contemporary romance to pick this book up ASAP! ♥