sam ☆
cozy, unsettling, charming and oddly nostalgic. the perfect short story for spooky szn ♡reread nov. 12, 2025“૮₍ •⤙•˶₊˚ෆ when you picture this as a studio ghibli film it's so chefs kiss. this is my second time reading this (read it last autumn) and i love it even more upon a reread. from a 4 star to a 5 star simply for the nostalgia of it and and the whimsy sprinkled into an otherwise very cozy horror novella.
lover girl is our unnamed narrator as well as the title to this fast, messy, emotionally jagged character study that i tore through in a couple of hours. partly because the writing is simple enough to keep you moving and partly because i was desperately waiting for something to happen. anything.
characters:
the unnamed narrator is distinct and painfully self destructive. there's an underlying note of female rage that comes out through bad decisions, toxic relationships, flippant sex and a kind of restless craving for validation. she reminded me of a flatter and far less interesting version of the protagonist from boy parts by eliza clark.
i enjoyed the super short chapters from the men's povs (i guess?) but they also felt so underwhelming. i liked the inclusion of them and thought it smart to keep those chapters extremely short but i wish there was a bit more depth.
atmosphere
the synopsis says AND I QUOTE “the decadent parties of upper class america, and, eventually, to paris” so, like, where was that? the atmosphere felt non existent. i think the synopsis gave a false sense of hope that there would be descriptions of decadence, wealth and opulence. i want snobby upper class friends and descriptions of moments the protagonist couldn't relate to. when, in fact, this story could've taken place literally anywhere and it really would not have mattered. there's no sense of wealth, setting, or world around her, which made the whole thing feel hollow.
writing
intentionally vapid and annoying stream of consciousness? or bad writing? any possible bad writing was able to be disguised by the way the narrative choice was chosen as internal monologue. there were some pretty rough sentences, dialogue and phrasing (especially in the beginning) that had me really worried for the quality of the work but the writing. even though a lot of the sentences simply don't land, especially early on, the voice stabilizes later.
plot/intrigue
the biggest issue is purpose. as a portrait of a spiraling twenty something, it works; as a novel that wants to say something, it stays frustratingly blank. however, i'm not even sure if “spiraling” is quite true because she isn't spiraling. she's actually quite stagnant for the entire book.
does everything need a point? does every piece of literature need to make an impact or have a distinct point of view or theme? i guess not. however, this was an exhausting ride to go on for there to be no real plot, growth, theme or resolution. although, the narrator became more sympathetic to me as we went forward this still felt empty. i kept waiting for a thematic throughline or even a somewhat satisfying ending, but the final moments gave very
“where are you going 🚕 “
“home i'm going home”
(and then the metaphorical taxi drives off and you just hope she goes to therapy or something)
like okay so now what??? wtf.
enjoyment
and yet! i didn't dislike the reading experience. i just finished feeling neutral. not irritated, not moved, just completely middling. a story about a recent liberal arts graduate with men centric views and low self esteem is not new and this didn't give any interesting or dynamic shifts to that ever so repeated narrative.
so.
i don't know if i enjoyed this. i legitimately don't. therefore, it's a 3 star and i will probably not think of this book or it's characters again.
☆ thank you CLASH books & netgalley for my gifted advanced book copy. all my reviews are my own opinion.
cw/tw: addiction, alcoholism, body shaming, cheating, diet culture, drug use, toxic friendship/relationship, vomit, fatphobia
“perfume” reads like a fucked up fairytale. whimsical isn't quite the word i'm looking for to describe the prose, but something adjacent to that. gross, but gorgeous. beautifully written and deeply disturbing. rooted in the beauty of scent and the descent into madness triggered by obsession. unsettling in all the right ways without relying on empty (or corny) shock value. every line was intentional, and farrr more psychologically rich than I expected.
cw/tw: abandonment, abuse, animal cruelty/death, violence against women, blood, body horror, bullying, cannibalism, child abuse, death, feces, murder, pedophillia, suicidal ideation, violence
i wanted to love this so badly. it was one of my most anticipated reads and an arc i was so grateful to be accepted for, but this was genuinely just a massive disappointment. the prologue had me convinced i was about to be fed some of the most delicious, gorgeous prose (+ immersive atmosphere and some dark academia with gothic undertones), but pretty quickly i realized this was just going to be pretty writing with zero substance.
& to be honest, the writing wasn't consistently pretty either so those moments of stunning prose got buried quite quickly.
the writing is lovely in places, but the dialogue is stiff (unnatural as well and preachy at times). you could tell may wanted the characters to feel like “complex women” but that's impossible without any actual interiority or warmth breathed into the characters.
thora, especially, is framed like we're supposed to read her as a complex, sharp, morally grey woman, but she's mostly just rude, smug, and exhausting in a way that feels less like a complicated/imperfect victim and more that the author genuinely mistook being a self serving cunt for personality. i don't mind unlikable heroines (i actually adore them); i mind boring ones.
every woman in this book is either cruel, hollow, or inexplicably hostile, which [again] makes me think may wrote this mistaking meanness for depth. the world feels empty, the time period feels inconsistent, and the romance is... arguing → sex → arguing → sex → revelations delivered like monologues from a bad stage play. on repeat. for~fucking~ever.
the men were one note misogynists, the world building felt oddly hollow, and the atmosphere never actually lives beyond description. for as much time as the author took to write (quite lovely!) descriptions of the buildings and the garden it all still feels so surface level.
i kept waiting for the tension, the romance, the academic obsession, the magic, the point. something to click. it never did.
while there are flashes of beauty in the prose and a few interesting ideas buried in here, the execution dragged everything down. “all vibes no plot” books still need tension, emotion, or at least one character you don't actively dread returning to. this had none.
vibes can absolutely carry a book, but vibes alone still need life.
i finished this out of pure stubbornness and because i truly believe reviewing an arc is meant to help publishers and authors put out better stories. so, while i admit this review is a bit snarky i hope some of the critique will help may for future works as i can tell she has true talent.
i'm glad others loved this, but for me? just no.
☆ thank you orbit books | redhook & netgalley for my gifted advanced book copy. all my reviews are my own opinion.
🌶️: explicit & plentiful
💖: forced proximity, grumpy sunshine, miscommunication, secret relationship
cw/tw: self harm, abandonment, physical abuse, animal cruelty/death, attempted murder, homophobia, blood, brainwashing (??), death, emotional abuse, forced medical procedures, gaslighting, grief, death of a parent, misogyny, parental abandonment, toxic friendship, toxic relationship
oh i fucking loved this. the ballad of black tom is sharp, unsettling, and deeply compelling. lavalle was able to build such distinct, memorable characters in a such a short, little novella. tom, especially, was a great protagonist. clever and flawed and painfully aware of the world stacked against him. i expected a more “jazzy harlem” vibe, but the eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere (especially suydam's house) more than delivered. this was well paced, the writing was sharp and engaging, and even though i hated the pov change in the second half (at first) it was a genius narrative choice ~so my bad for questioning you, king. i don't know why i doubted you, lavalle.
provocative, necessary, and one of the strongest examples of using fantasy & horror to show the real violence and fear black americans have always lived with. lavalle doesn't have to exaggerate anything; the worst parts of this story already exist in america.
a win. a classic. i fear i might become a victorlavalle girlie now.
cw/tw: blood, corruption, death of a parent, grief, hate crimes, police brutality, racial slurs, racism, gun violence
overall, i absolutely loved this short story collection. memorable, dreamy, beautifully written and a joy to get through ♡ my ratings and thoughts for each short story:
4/5 ☆ wild ones
(maybe 3.5 ☆)
a mother's love and a daughter's [perceived] rebellion. what makes a house a home, and when do we let our children fly? the concept of craving warmth, home, and family, but also grappling with internalized regret over not flying away was touching and relatable.
5/5 ☆ traces of us
couldn't stop crying for the majority of this. contemporary love story + black mirror + sci. fi. i absolutely adored that. beautiful, heartbreaking, thought provoking. what do we truly know about the human brain? what is immortality? what would you do to find the love of your life in every life?
5/5 ☆ sweetness
🤡. literally. if i think too hard about what i think this short story is about i get sick to my stomach. (hint: “release the files”). i also feel it could've been about drug addiction, age regression, child trafficking, purgatory ~or it really could've just been a fucked up clown story. regardless, i originally rated this a 3, but 2 days later (and upon completing the short story collection) i can't stop thinking about this one so five stars, baby!
3.5/5 ☆ taiya
really unique exploration into depression and the isolation it creates internally. systems, schedules, community, perfection ✨ mean nothing.
(mean nothing if you're not treating the root issue. also, fuck gaslighters)
4.5/5 ☆ the wave
living vicariously through people on social media 😡 bad 😡 is not unique social commentary. it's something we're waking up to now more than ever. celeb culture is dying and influencers are becoming more insufferable to the general public. that doesn't mean this short story wasn't incredibly unsettling, powerful and worrisome. this was so black mirror, but specifically in the way that i can see this happening in the near future. i could see the early stages of technology like this being created now.
social media is just one big performance, but nobody want to stop performing.
or whatever.
wish there wasn't so much surfing jargon, but easy enough for me (a non-surfer, never surfed a day in her life) to understand. i think the use of waves as a metaphor was actually super clever.
?/5 ☆ young god
even Gods hate the world we live in. valid.
2/5 ☆ the message
i feel like there was something to this story that was supposed to deeply move me, but my brain is too smooth to get it. science v government? cultural phenomenons hindering the forward movement of scientific studies? climate change and the cost of ignorance? all i know is, yes, soulmates are real.
5/5 ☆ the things that we will never say
both of my parents spoil me. love me. obsess over me. i'm the child of immigrants and my beautiful, gorgeous parents know what it feels like to have parents who [culturally] don't believe in being emotionally open with their children. i finished this incredibly short story feeling grateful that i say i love you so comfortably, so easily to my parents and sad my parents can't do the same with their own. my dad has told me about the things he wishes his mom would say to him. this story was achingly beautiful.
4/5 ☆ the breaking
i'm just taking this story at face value. eerie, unsettling, melancholic.
2/5 all the souls like candle flames
i honestly just found this quite boring. beautifully written. but boring.
4/5 ☆ of milk and blood
“the devil is merely a fallen angel” vibes ??? idk. loved this.
3.5/5 ☆ between sea and shore
i loved the folklore feel of this. it felt like i was listening to this around a campfire. not every short story has to have nuance and inner meaning (i tell myself to cope). sometimes it's nice to just read a story and enjoy it for what it is.
4/5 ☆ wings
pretty. dreamy. short & sweet.
5/5 ☆ fanfiction for a grimdark universe
omg this was so fun. i loved everything about this. i'm something of a fanfic connoisseur myself and this was perfect. so meta. completely obsessed with this. probably will end up being the most memorable of all the short stories in this collection. 6/5 honestly.
4.5/5 ☆ once on a midsummers night
absolutely adored the prose. pretty, lyrical and immersive. the story was engaging and i was actually disappointed when it ended. i think this is the longest of all the short stories and it felt the most earned in length. out of all the stories so far this is the one that i'd love fogg to expand upon and make an entire world out of.
?/5 ☆ an address to the newest disciples of the lost word
while beautiful and vivid i found this story incredibly dull somehow. maybe not dull, but lacked the charm from the other stories. however, i absolutely love the concept of tenderly speaking on how important language is.
2.5/5 ☆ the house of illusionist
unfortunately, this story kept getting away from me. i'd get a grasp and then it would slip away quite quickly. rinse and repeat for the entirety of the reading experience. the moments i did understand i quite enjoyed. a sad and devastating situation that had as dreamy and kind an ending as possible (which i appreciated).
cw/tw: death, grief, terminal illness, abuse, death of a parent/family members, war (there prob are more content/trigger warnings, but unfortunately i can't rmbr any more)
☆ thank you interstellar flight press & netgalley for my gifted advanced book copy. all my reviews are my own opinion.
emily mccosh is growing into a top five author for me, so the bar was high and while this wasn't as strong as her other work, i still had a lovely time reading this. the story is cozy and full of warmth. friends who adore each other, a brooding but sweet love interest (aidyn 💖), endless scenes of food, libraries, and faery woods. but it's also incredibly repetitive (“snort” appears over sixty times kill me) and strangely hand holdy for mccosh. i found myself craving the lyrical prose i've come to expect from her. not her strongest, but still comforting and totally worth revisiting when i want something soft and familiar.
‘into the night' was one of the best chapters she's ever written and i was gagged
🌶️: fade to black
💖: caretaking/nursing back to health, found family, friends to lovers, gods and mortals, mutual pining, one bed, secret relationship, slow burn
cw/tw: animal death/cruelty, blood, death, gaslighting
a stunning, eerie start to a new graphic novel series. the art is gorgeous. melancholic but ethereal in a way. the writing is simple but lovely with flashes of dry humor that totally landed for me. from what i know, this graphic novel collection will be based off of the seven deadly sins which is deeply intriguing to me. that and the visual style are enough to keep me hooked for volume two.
☆ thank you first second books | 23rd st & netgalley for my gifted advanced book copy. all my reviews are my own opinion.
the bloody chamber — 6/5 ☆!!!
i loved this! the prose was stunning, divine. i felt everything i needed to feel. unsettling! delicious! vivid! feminist!
themes: adult/child relationship, girlhood to womanhood (similar to ‘rebecca'), innocence/corruption, women taking their agency 💖
📜 bluebeard
the courtship of mr. lyon — 3/5 ☆
beauty & the beast retelling. super pretty writing, but wanted more from the ending and the heroine's growth.
themes: agency and choice on a woman's terms? vanity, self discovery
the tiger's bride — 3/5 ☆
another beauty & the beast retelling. interesting idea and themes, but felt unfinished. could've used more depth.
themes: the concept of a woman's body being her currency, power reversal between women and men
puss-in-boots — dnf
genuinely hilarious, but a slog for me to get through. i'll get back to it. the humor landed but the story was meh.
the erl-king — 3.5/5 ☆
slow start, great middle, wild ending. weird in a good way. lush, eerie, and hypnotic.
themes: female self liberation
the snow child — 4/5 ☆
so short and shocking. super haunting. it went by so fast and was so disturbing, but incredibly impactive.
themes: female rivalry, male gaze and objectification, men will quite literally fuck rape a corpse
📜 snow white
the lady of the house of love — 5/5 ☆
gothic perfection. lush prose, tragic story, and the rare male character who doesn't ruin everything. loved the writing (this and ‘the bloody chamber' have the most flowery and stunning prose of the entire collection).
themes: female isolation, fate, death/desire
📜 sleeping beauty and maybe hansel and gretel??
the werewolf — 4/5 ☆
little red riding hood but if she was about that life and didn't give a fuck. so satisfying.
themes: dismantling victimhood!!! or something
the company of wolves — 3.5/5 ☆
classic fairytale vibes. i adored the heroine's ambiguity even if the logic of the ending didn't really make sense to me.
themes: i honestly don't know
📜 little red riding hood
wolf-alice — 3.5/5 ☆
i have a feeling i'll be thinking about this one for awhile. sweet, strange ending to the collection based off off ‘through the looking glass'
themes: identity/humanity, self recognition, girlhood to womanhood (or maybe innocence to experienced)
cw/tw: death, blood, rape (on page), rape (mention), sexual assault, murder, adult/minor relationships, misogyny, torture, child sexual abuse
bunny, i love you! 4.5 ☆ “૮₍ •⤙•˶₊˚ෆ
(i think???) bunny is a story that captures the loneliness of wanting to belong and the horror of getting what you wished for, wealth, class, and the grotesque pressures of female friendship and performance. the strain creatives feel and the theft that happens in creative spaces. girlhood to womanhood and untreated mental health issues.
but, honestly, i have no fucking clue. this is a book you read if you're okay with everything feeling off, everything feeling contradictory, and everything feeling confusing. awad's writing is sharp and clever, but it's also manic and funny and dreamy. reading this literally felt like slipping in and out of a fever dream. the world she built is so vivid and deranged that i didn't mind ending this book with more questions than answers. i was just too obsessed with the atmosphere, the character work, and the eeriness of it all (which was strangely beautiful). easily one of the most special reading experiences i've had.
🐇 suggested reading music: Hymn of the Cherubim Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (kira aka creepy doll loves cherububic music so i had to search what that was and found this. love it!!)
cw/tw: abandonment, drug use, animal cruelty/death, anxiety, depression, attempted murder, blood, brainwashing, cults, death, death of a parent, drugging, emotional abuse, grief, rape (mention), self harm, suicidal thoughts, toxic friendship
debut novel(la) that captures the nuance of black womanhood through a fantasy horror lens. a black woman scorned (scorched!), betrayal from medical professionals as a black woman, the trauma (parasite!!) of pregnancy, the constant blame cast on Black women for having standards and boundaries. the deep rooted longing and craving for sympathy/empathy/connection, but alongside the fear of what that vulnerability might cost.
i feel like there is a lot of nuance here that i'd maybe appreciate more on a reread. i adored the creeping dread, anger, anxiety, grief, pain, relief that we were made to feel as readers through these characters. the prose was stunning. i can't wait to see what else this author can create.
cw/tw: blood, body horror, infant death, miscarriage, suicidal thoughts, violence, death of a parent, infertility, bodily fluids, child birth (detailed)
i wanted to love this. the concept is there, but i found this really disappointing. corny dialogue, flat characters, one note. bland, totally not engaging and felt incomplete. this really just felt like a caricature of a dark academia story in a gothic setting. if you connect to the characters (the star being the ✨cigarettes✨) than this may land for you. i just wanted it to be done. if this wasn't a novella (and if i wasn't hungry to hit my reading goal) this would've been a dnf.
a collection of poems i think everyone should read, but felt adoringly curated as a love letter to black women. i don't know much about poetry or if this project aligns with the baseline expectations of the craft, but what i do know is this was visceral and real and special.
the difficult thing for me with poetry is that i want so badly to know how the poem was meant to be interpreted, but it's such a gift when i'm able to use the words to fit my own narrative. this whole reading experience just felt incredibly special. i saw myself represented on so many pages, but also felt love for the pages i couldn't quite relate to. this was sharp, emotional and reflected many of my own experiences through black womanhood. i'll return to this often.
(my absolute fave poems were: 13 ways of looking at a black girl, the president's wife, welcome to the jungle, untitled while i listen to drake, beyonce in third person & 99 problems)
left of forever gave me so much of what i've been wanting in a contemporary romance. two lovable, but deeply flawed and imperfect people. an authentic character driven romance. a love story that felt obtainable and sincere. i cried like five times reading this. wren and ellis felt real, flawed, familiar, and easy to root for. i cared about them as individuals, as a couple, and in the moments they shared with others. the plot was a little unrealistic, and some lines made me physically cringe (sixteen to be exact), but to be cringe is to be free, right? or whatever the millennials say (derogatory).
(i am a millennial)
this book was fun, heartfelt, and refreshingly not copy and paste. i wish we got more from ellis's perspective, but the author's voice deeply connected to me. it was emotional, warm, and full of heart. not an all time favorite, but definitely a standout. i'd reread it. maybe soon. second chance romance might be my new favorite trope.
▪️tropes: forced proximity, found family, childhood friends to lovers, one bed, mutual pining, second chance
▪️steam: explicit & plentiful
i got this book recommendation from the ~summer book recommendations~ youtube video by the booktuber johanna st john and i owe johanna my LIFE. this book is so far outside my comfort zone. heavy gun descriptions (that i know zero about), southern white men doing southern white man things, a lot of what i'd usually call ♡dude bro♡ plot beats. and yet i ate it up. no country for old men is a brutal, meditative, and strangely beautiful novel that secured one of the easiest 5 stars i've ever given.
you can tell from mccarthy's prose and overall authorial voice that he trusted the reader to keep up with zero handholding (which i loved). it took me a bit to adjust to the lack of quotation marks and shifting povs, but once i did, it was a rewarding experience. the story swings between moments of incredibly brutal violence and long stretches of stillness or introspection. i kept highlighting every time moss was “just sitting” or “just staring” because it felt funny at first, but all these moments of stillness were so intentional. it all felt so deliberate and human.
chigurh is arguably the best antagonist i've encountered in any media i've consumed. he's terrifying not just because of what he does, but because of how he thinks. cold, “principled”, completely unreadable. he was just insane, but there were times where he gaslit me into thinking he's anything but. moss felt deeply real and so human. making choices that were sometimes smart, sometimes doomed, but usually incredibly stupid. sheriff bell didn't fully click for me until i sat with the ending (and reddit lol).
his narrative hit hard once i realized he's not just a lazy, tired old man. he's the voice of a dying era, trying to make sense of a world that doesn't resemble the one he fought for. he represents a perceived death of “old america,” the inability to come to terms with a modern world that feels too fast, too violent, too broken.
there's something almost tender in how the women are written too. or maybe i'm just a lover girl at heart and romanticized moments that weren't meant to be romanticized ‧⁺◟૮₍• ༝ •₎ა most of the relationships were flawed and sometimes even uncomfortably written, but often seen as love personified. the women in this story were seen as pillars, beacons or representing hope and grounding. these morally corrupt flawed men constantly admiting how they needed the women in their lives felt intentional and symbolic.
i absolutely adored the summer feel. the dry heat, small town texas, american decay, shitty motels, everything was so vivid. the author has a true gift for creating a vibe (🇺🇸)
this is the kind of book i want to revisit again and again for the feeling of it. the symbolism, the silence, the inevitability of it all. a story about violence, consequence, and the tragedy of trying to outpace a world that's already moved on.
cw/tw: adult/minor relationship (married at 16 and 33), murder & attempted murder, blood, gun violence, injury (detailed), racism
this was a hazy, slow burn that reads more like a literary character study than a psychological thriller. the summer setting was gorgeously vivid, and the house felt like a living, breathing character. i liked how fully realized the characters were even when i couldn't stand them. the atmosphere was the real star. i adore vibes. i love vibes. i'll eat vibes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. the house was sexy. the food was sexy. the summer heat was sexy. the plot ૮₍•᷄ ༝ •᷅₎ა not so much.
frances is one of the most painfully uncomfortable protagonists i've ever read and i mean that as a compliment (readwise says i highlighted 222 times and i promise 75% minimum were insane frances moments). she's weird, repressed, and deeply lonely. i loved her. hated her. wanted her to stfu. cara was captivating when she wasn't monologuing. peter existed.
if you go in expecting an unhinged summer fever dream about emotionally stunted people unraveling in a crumbling mansion, you'll have a great time. just don't come for the suspense, mystery or a thriller.
cw/tw: abandonment, body shaming, cheating, child death, death of a parent, divorce, fatphobia, suicidal ideation, drowning, gaslighting, grief, toxic friendship, toxic relationship, suicide attempt, murder
dark waters is the third book in the small spaces quarter. this one just didn't hit the same. the stakes were there, the pacing was solid, and (as always) arden's prose remains effortlessly readable, but this story lacked the emotional depth and atmosphere that made the first two books so incredible. brian steps into the spotlight and finallygets his chance to lead, but it didn't land with the same emotional weight as ollie's or coco's arcs before him. phil's addition to the group felt forced at best, but insufferable if i'm being honest with myself. the relationships that once felt strong now feel muted, fractured and distant. even the atmosphere, usually arden's strong suit, lacked the vivid detail that made small spaces and dead voices so immersive.
i'm still invested in this world and love these kids dearly, but this installment was by far the weakest for me. hoping the final book is more satisfying.
also, that cliffhanger ૮ ›̥̥̥ ⸝⸝ ‹̥̥ ྀིა my babies, my angels!
(੭ ;´ - `;)੭ ♡ a soft lil fantasy about a fae king learning how to raise a human child. this was such a beautiful, heartfelt story. i truly didn't expect to fall in love with it the way i did. i thought this would be a very cozy, slice of life fantasy, but with it's deeper themes of grief, love, fatherhood and family it aligns more to “soft” slow paced, high fantasy. iohmar is one of the most emotionally grounded protagonists i've read in a long time. he's deeply flawed, fiercely loving, and trying so hard to be the kind of king his parents would respect. the bond between him and his son was so tender and profound (i literally teared up multiple times it was just so incredibly sweet). i adored the romance subplot, the changing seasons structuring the book, and the atmospheric prose that made each setting feel alive and almost sacred. the final 25% lost a bit of clarity, especially around the missing friend, shadows plotline but mccosh has such a strong and confident authorial voice that even though i found it a bit meandering towards the end i can tell she wrote everything with intention.