aka @koosli@aus.social. I'm almost exclusively reading horror fiction, truly the greatest of genres.
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Heart-Shaped Box (2007) is the debut horror novel of author Joe Hill. The book was …
Loved the premise and the beginning chapters, but ultimately HSB avoids all possibilities for something insightfully great. Instead, it's all male gaze, breasting boobily and women suffering. Written in 2007 and aged badly. Joe Hill picked the wrong hero.
Maeve works as a Disney Princess at Disneyland, haunts dive bars on the Sunset Strip and lives with her Old Hollywood grandmother. She's cultivating her misanthropic side but it's not quite enough, eventually settling on going the full Patrick Bateman.
I like how CJ Leede writes (I'm talking the phrasing and such, not the subject matter) but this book seemed a couple of drafts away from being finished. There is too much that doesn't add up, too many loose ends and late/improbable reveals. And I'm taking into account the cartoony, turned up to 11 storytelling.
A lot about it was fun, although it was too sadistic and mean-spirited for me. Guess I'm not ready for this anti-hero.
I already know this is going to be much more fun than my last book
It was Vera's idea to buy the Itza. The "world's most advanced smart speaker!" didn't …
Upsetting but well done, this book is great in how it deals with grief, identity and the migrant experience. It's very scary too. Content warning for dog lovers :(
It was Vera's idea to buy the Itza. The "world's most advanced smart speaker!" didn't …
I've been pre-warned this one is going to be a bit upsetting
It's starting to feel like I'm dishing out five star reviews simply because I'm enjoying reading so much. Well here comes another one I very much enjoyed.
Unquiet is a mysterious, gothic, and almost romantic story of a young woman (Judith) faced with the return of her supposedly dead brother-in-law. He (Sam) can't remember what happened and is compelled to stay hidden; Judith is alarmed at the idea of keeping news of his return from her absent sister as well as the impropriety of having a man in her house while her family is away. You see, it's 1893, a woman can be rooned.
Unquiet mixes together folklore, superstition, visual art, ambiguity and a very strong feeling that something isn't quiet right. I loved how it stayed so tense without too much needing to happen. Very deft.
More spooky gothic book
"The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when …
Top tier horror. The story of a troubled teen and a reality TV show depicting her alleged demonic possession, as told by her little sister. One of those books where, upon finishing, you immediately want to go back to the start and read it again.
The name of the tutor cracked me up... not subtle
"The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when …
Gosh I am very excited about this one. My initial thought is: Shirley Jackson inspired character names? Hmm!
Started this a year ago, and left it for a long time before coming back. It's an anthology, so always a mixed bag. The best stories are brilliant - my pick is The Centre by Alison Whittaker. The rest are a mixture of good and great. Some are very contemporary, others told in the familiar style of Dreamtime stories.
"Fan favorite David Wong takes readers to a whole new level with this blistering sequel …
This book is a near-perfect study of an author assuming their entire readership will be like them - USian white het dudes. It does better than John Dies at the End on this front, but once you notice it's hard to ignore: someone is a reporter or a lady reporter: a man or a black man etc etc. The author also goes out of his way to make jokes about black people, not wildly racist ones, rather expressing an urge to laugh at not with. My position on this kind of stuff is to read, use your brain and notice, and move on. It really just means I'm unlikely to recommend the book to anyone else. Aside from all that stuff, it's a much better book than JDatE. It is a novel rather than a series of episodes and it's a lot funnier. The story itself is a bit thin …
This book is a near-perfect study of an author assuming their entire readership will be like them - USian white het dudes. It does better than John Dies at the End on this front, but once you notice it's hard to ignore: someone is a reporter or a lady reporter: a man or a black man etc etc. The author also goes out of his way to make jokes about black people, not wildly racist ones, rather expressing an urge to laugh at not with. My position on this kind of stuff is to read, use your brain and notice, and move on. It really just means I'm unlikely to recommend the book to anyone else. Aside from all that stuff, it's a much better book than JDatE. It is a novel rather than a series of episodes and it's a lot funnier. The story itself is a bit thin and while it's full of action it is missing some development of ideas (like about fear and the psychology of groups) and world-building for the spiders, baddies etc. Still, I read it quickly and stayed engaged the whole time.
From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes this reimagining of the classic …
Very gothic old school style horror complete with a crumbling house up a mountain, shrouded in mist and riddled with mycelium. I found this very creepy and engrossing, and the details of the mystery at hand kept me wondering.
A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones …
Sam, a thirty-something entomologist, temporarily moves back to the family home to cover a housing gap. The house, where her mother now lives, was originally the home of her now-deceased grandmother, the cruel and overbearing Gran Mae. Sam notices some jarring differences in both her mum and the house, and the story unravels from there.
This book was the perfect easy and entertaining read to end and begin the year with. I enjoyed it and finished it very quickly. I could have done with more tension and a bit more length once the horror really kicked off. Also more insects! Still, T. Kingfisher remains one of my favourite recently-discovered authors and I will read every horror book she puts out.
