Caroline

If you're looking for a book that's guaranteed to mess with your head, then allow me to present Yesteryear for your perusal and enjoyment. This folks, is one of those books that has you muttering "wtf!!!" almost constantly. It's bonkers, but it's also very entertaining. 🐄

The story is told from the POV of Natalie Heller Mills, a good Christian wife, mother and influencer. Yesteryear is the ranch where Natalie and her family live their idyllic life. But all is not as it seems. 🐄

That's as much background as I'm willing to give. Trust me guys, this book is just twist after twist, revelation after revelation. Natalie, who spends an inordinate amount of time trying to be likeable for her Instagram followers, is anything but. I can't begin to tell you how much I disliked her. But it was her vileness that made this so enjoyable. 🐄

To be honest, apart from the children, none of the characters are particularly likeable. Caleb, Natalie's husband, is a conspiracy theorist, and her father-in-law Doug, has presidential aspirations. 🐄

It's not too much of a stretch to imagine the events portrayed in Yesteryear occurring in real life. Truth is often stranger than fiction, after all. 🐄

Thanks to 4th Estate Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

In her introduction, author Liz Nugent states that she had not written a book like this before, she was trying something new, and she warned that there might come a time when the reader would want to throw said book at the wall. She wasn't wrong.

This is an extremely dark book, with themes that some may find triggering. These include:

- Alcoholism

- Substance Abuse

- Sexual Assault

- Grooming

- Rape

The story centres around the Cooper family who live in Boston, namely sisters Erin and Ruby. Spanning three decades, it chronicles the lives of the sisters, and an incident in 1999 which saw the family divided; while Ruby and her mother, Maureen, move to Dublin, Erin and her father, Doug, remain in Boston.

As well as wanting to hurl my kindle at the wall, I found myself shouting WTF quite a lot. I've gone through every emotion imaginable whilst reading this book, that's how bloody good it is.

I found it incredibly difficult to like Ruby, and I have to be honest, Erin annoyed me a wee bit too.

Despite, or maybe because of, its dark themes, I loved The Truth About Ruby Cooper. What transpires within its pages are thankfully rare in real life, but it's interesting to read them from this perspective.

Thanks to Penguin Sandycove, Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

I love folk horror, I cannot lie, and David Barnett's previous books in this genre have been on my want-to-read list for a few months now. When the opportunity to read an ARC of Scratch Moss presented itself, I could not resist. Before I was halfway through, I had ordered the other two from the library. But I digress. I'm here to tell you about Scratch Moss, and all the reasons why you should read it. 🖤

Scratch Moss is a small Lancashire town, that was home to the miners, and their families, of Scratch Moss colliery. The colliery, on land owned by Lord Brody of Scratch Moss Hall, began operating in the 1860's, and was eventually closed in 1985. 🖤

That's the backstory to the colliery, but there is another story running parallel to that, the story of the consequences of destroying a sacred Barrow, and the story of Red Clogs, the bogeyman of Scratch Moss. 🖤

The story of Scratch Moss is told across several timelines; 2025, 1985, 1945, 1905, 1865 and AD85. What I love about this is we go back in time in forty year increments, then jump back to AD85, before moving forward again in the same increments. Thus we learn the identity of Red Clogs, and his connection to Scratch Moss. 🖤

This is a bleak tale, set as it is in the industrial north, with the miner's strike forming part of its backdrop. But it's the superstition and folkloric symbolism that provide the eerie, and sometimes menacing, atmosphere. 🖤

I loved Scratch Moss, despite how much it unsettled me. I now eagerly await my library reservations. 🖤

Thanks to Canelo Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Thursday Murder Club make a welcome return in The Impossible Fortune. We kick off proceedings with a wedding, that of Joyce's daughter Joanna, to Paul. Naturally, all the gang are there, and it is during the reception that Elizabeth is approached by the best man, Nick Silver, who fears for his life. Could this be what Elizabeth needs now that she must endure life without her beloved Stephen? 🦊

The gang are not quite ready to give up sleuthing, and happily embark on their quest to discover who might want to kill Nick, and why. 🦊

Ron, meanwhile, has his own problems, in the shape of his son-in-law. Help comes from an unexpected source. 🦊

This was an engaging read, with plenty of thrills and some light hearted moments. 🦊

I read this title on BorrowBox.

This is it peeps. This is quite possibly the most unsettling book I have read this year. The fact that this is a debut novel is impressive. It is a well written, tension filled, haunting tale.

The setting for The Hill in the Dark Grove is North Wales, an area of natural beauty that is steeped in folklore, and many of those stories, such as the tale of Gelert, form part of the narrative of the novel. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

The main protagonists are Carwyn and Rhian, who breed sheep on their isolated farm, which has been in Carwyn's family for generations. There is one area of the farm that Carwyn has never set foot on, until now. Suddenly, strange things start to happen, and people begin to disappear 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

The pace of the story is slow, but as the unease builds, the pages almost thrum with tension. The changes in Carwyn are unsettling, and Rhian's dread is almost contagious. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

This won't be for everyone, but if you love folk horror and/or Welsh myths and legends, as I do, you will definitely want to read this gem. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the digital ARC.