Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Goodreads Blurb

A story of scorned witches, sinister curses, and resurrection, The Bone Witch is the start of a dark fantasy trilogy.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother, Fox, from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha—one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

The Bone Witch Trilogy:

The Bone Witch (Book 1)

The Heart Forger (Book 2)

The Shadowglass (Book 3)

My Review: Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I loved the beginning of this book and was thrilled to read but wasn’t amazed at how the story formed throughout the book. It had a great plot, and you get to learn the back story of what happened to Tea. It had a magic and creepy monster who needed to be awakened by dark Asha in order to kill the creature before they attacked the human. I felt like it lagged a little. It resembled a little to Memoirs of a Geisha, which made it fun to see Tea transformation to an Asha.

Review: The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

Goodreads Blurb

A spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead.

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

My Review: Rated 3 out of 5 stars

The London Séance Society was composed solely of men who would stop at nothing to exploit poor widows. Many people long to see the supernatural world firsthand and hope for a chance to reconnect with their loved ones. This story invites you to London to experience a séance. Readers will be just as captivated by Vaudeline as Evie and Lenna were. She is the spiritualist who promises an authentic experience of meeting your loved one, free from deceit. Will you take a seat and join the séance?

The story centers around Lenna, who has lost her sister Evie, and her friend Eloise. The author leads readers on a wild goose chase as Lenna searches for the real reasons behind her sister’s and friend’s deaths. What she uncovers is troubling: Evie knew the schemes within their society and was even complicit in them. It turns out that Evie was trying to learn everything she could about the horrific secrets the society was hiding. In a surprising twist, it becomes apparent that Evie was actively participating in the scheme to expose the terrible things the society was doing for profit.

Maintaining a high social status was especially important to Mr. Volckman, the president of the society. This meant he kept a “kill list” of wealthy families to arrange marriages between society members and their widows. Not only did they plot through deceptive séances, but they also resorted to underhanded tactics, taking advantage of women during their mourning. What you experience during a séance might not be real after all. People are vulnerable after the death of a loved one. The book mentioned the steps needed to conduct a séance and we learned what the Victorian’s mourning customs were.

The story started off slowly, which took me a long time to continue going through the story. There were some great twists to the story and provided a good context on conducting a séance for someone who had never been to one.

Author Biography

Sarah Penner is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary and The London Séance Society. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages and her debut, The Lost Apothecary, has sold over one million copies worldwide.

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Sarah spent thirteen years in corporate finance and now writes full-time. In her free time, Sarah enjoys hiking, yoga, and cooking. She also sits on the Board of Directors at her local animal shelter, Friends of Strays. Sarah and her husband, Marc, live in Florida.

Review: The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

Goodreads Blurb

Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead. In fact he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself go out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win.

My Review: Rated 3 out of 5 stars

It is a young adult horror story that involves a teenager who can see ghosts and who becomes a target of the ghost of Sawyer Doon, a student who shot students in his high school. The story mentions topics such as identity, race, racism, and LGBTQIA+. Jake is the only black student at St. Clair Prep. Making friends and feeling accepted at the school is hard for him. The teachers and students make racist comments and treat him differently. I think the author added some significant elements that would spook anyone. He also added some mystery to the book by having Jake try to figure out why he kept seeing Sawyer and what it was he wanted from him. The hatred within Sawyer was not going to win. Jake realized he had people who truly cared about him for who he was. It’s a spooky story that will keep you on edge.

Author Biography

Ryan Douglass is an author from Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling YA horror novel, The Taking of Jake Livingston, and the poetry book Boy in Jeopardy.

Review: A Time of Torment by John Connolly

Goodreads Blurb

Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.

But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade.

Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war.

Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder.

All in the name of the being they serve.

All in the name of the Dead King.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow, this book was intense from the moment I read page one to the very last page. The title says it all. Torment is written all over this book. I was clenching my teeth of how cruel and heartless the characters were in this book. I was tormented reading every word the author wrote, tormented with every thought the characters thought, tormented with every action, death, rape, kidnapping, and torture. John wrote a book that captures the reader and leaves them wanting more. When you thought the end was near, the book was only beginning its torment. This book also had a few paranormal events throughout the book. This was a five-star read. I highly recommend you read this book and clamp yourself to your seat. Beware!!

Author Biography

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.

He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.

This page is administered by John’s assistant, Clair, on John’s behalf. If you’d like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.

Review: Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter

Goodreads Blurb

Zombies stalk the night.

Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls.

Sadly, they’ve got mine…

Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.

After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.

She’s never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her…from everyone. Now, with her best friend, Kat, at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole’s secret and learn to fight the darkness.

But the clock is ticking…and if she fails at a single task, they’re all doomed.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow, this book was even better than the first. I just couldn’t put it down. Ali was such a strong person. She got dibilated by Z.A, but she wouldn’t let her take over her life and others. Cole never gave up on her and was really in love with Ali. He stayed with her through good times and bad. I was glad that the traitor wasn’t one of the zombies slayers. I would have been upset. They are all family. The doctor got what he deserved. He killed so many innocent people in hopes of saving his daughter. Ali was put through so much pain, and poor Jaclyn was malnutrition and tortured. I was really hoping for the zombies that he was controlling, which should have been the ones to kill him. I was so happy to see all slayers help Ali release that evil zombie Alice away from her body. Now they saw that they are able to cure themselves and be able to kill more zombies. This book had me at edge between all the fighting, torturing, escaping, and starvation. I’m going to be reading the next book in this series and can’t wait to see what will happen next.

Author Biography

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs and cats.

Cover Reveal: Petulant Shadows by Martha Sweeney

BOOK DETAILS:

Petulant Shadows
by Martha Sweeney
Publication date: October 17, 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller

Synopsis:

Dedicated to: those who have been abducted, trafficked, abused, and murdered; the families who have lost someone; and the sheepdogs who fight to save them. May your souls find peace.
………………………………………….
There is a sinister evil hidden in the shadows. Some do not know of its existence yet others are haunted by it every waking moment and every sleepless night.

The legends say that it arrives quiet like the wind, lurking in the shadows as the darkness sets upon the earth each night. It leaches into towns through the smallest of cracks and festers, growing like a fungus that makes everything rot in its path.

A sudden opportunity to flee presents itself to Paisley. Something within her commands her to run. As if guided by the hand of God, she finds shelter in the town of Biernhard and through a man named Grayson.

As Paisley begins to come to grips with her past and embrace a new life for herself, the shadows creep back into her life and the town she calls home. Will this darkness conquer Biernhard and claim Paisley once again, or does the town have its own fortitude against the darkness that it is rumored to have battled and defeated many generations before?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60433973-petulant-shadows

AUTHOR BIO:

Martha Sweeney is a BESTSELLING author who writes in a variety of genres: romance (contemporary, romcom, suspense, paranormal and historical), suspense, fantasy, thriller, coloring books, and soon, science fiction. She strives to push herself as a storyteller with each new tale and hopes to push her readers outside of their comfort zone whether it be genre or the stories themselves.

With a B.S. in Psychology, Martha utilizes her knowledge of human and animal behavior successfully in the business world and in her writing to present realistic characters and situations. She’s been creative since she was little, always drawing, coloring or making crafts, so her venture into being an author was a natural transition.

Author links:
https://www.marthasweeney.com/
https://www.instagram.com/marthasweeneyauthor/
https://twitter.com/MSweeneyAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMarthaSweeney/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13453575.Martha_Sweeney