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It by Stephen King | A Retro Review

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Just in case you haven't heard of this one, I decided to post a retro review 😀 I reread this in 2017 or around then, I think. My GR dates are all out of wack since they did that facelift ages ago. Anyhow, I never did get around to posting it here so here it is. About the Book It by Stephen King Released September 1986 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lu

Mini Review Dump #6: All Audio's Today

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  Recent Mini Reviews Let's face it, most of my reviews lately are what most people consider "mini" anyhow. Most of the time I'd rather be reading than writing an essay deconstructing every part of a book, so it is what it is. Here are the quick takes and the thoughtless thoughts about the recent(ish) books I've read. This week it's all audios. I hope you find something you might like to read here! Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros ⭐⭐⭐ Wow, this is a long book! I know most people will love that fact but for me it felt overstuffed in the middle with needless (and annoying) drama to add some conflict into the romance. The beginning was perfect and the end really drew me in but I didn't love some of it as much as I did Fourth Wing. I'm really mostly here more for the dragons. We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian ⭐⭐⭐ I listened to this book on audio and had a bit of a struggle getting used to the narrator whose accents didn't work for me. The writing style

Bee Tornado by Chris Sorensen | Horror Fiction Review

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If you like creepy crawly B movie horror comedies (and why wouldn't you?!) give this one a go. Bee Tornado by Chris Sorensen Released July 2023 Source: Received for review consideration Goodreads  | Amazon Derek Stratton, a broke and widowed storm chaser, is trying his best to support his daughter Mel. Their lives take a dangerous turn when a colossal tornado releases a swarm of prehistoric bees from the Colorado soil, plunging them into a treacherous fight for survival. Derek finds an unexpected partnership with an eccentric bee expert and his sister-in-law, a local cop. Together, they embark on a harrowing race against the clock to rescue Mel from the Bee Tornado. My 2 Cents for Free! Please keep these wild creature features coming! Sometimes a reader (me, okay, it’s me) wants something creepy crawly, sorta ridiculous but maybe completely plausible too . . . Bee Tornado is all of these things and just like Suckerville , the pages fly! Things start off when two young dudes decide

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood | Audiobook Review

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This was a bit of fun on audio. It's a mini-review because sometimes I don't have a lot of words for how I feel. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood Released June 2023 Source: Borrowed from Library Goodreads  | Amazon The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. My 2 Cents for Free! This was a cute romance but the heroine was a bit too doormatty for my tastes for most of the story with both her family and her mentor. Woman you are grown. All the way grown up. It is ok to put your annoying mother on mute/ignore FOREVER or to finally tell her she's a mess. She needs to hear it. Grrrrr. Anyhow, th

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix | Horror Fiction Review

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Why did I wait so long to read this book (that I bought in 2016 😅)? My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Released May 2016 Source: Purchased with my own $ Goodreads  | Amazon Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act….different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? My 2 Cents for Free! I waited far too long to read this book and thought I had ruined the experience by watching the movie first but nah. I lik

You've Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca | Horror Fiction Review

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I've seen a lot of love for this author. Maybe I've chosen the wrong book? Or maybe I have terrible taste. You've Lost A Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca Released March 2022 Source: Found in a Little Free Library! Goodreads  | Amazon A disturbing new vision of terror from the author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. "Each precious thing I show you in this book is a holy relic from the night we both perished-the night when I combed you from my hair and watered the moon with your blood. You've lost a lot of blood . . ." My 2 Cents for Free! I’ve never read this author before and found this book inside one of the Little Free Libraries that I steward so I grabbed it up before someone else could (I've since returned it to another Little Free Library). I saw some buzz about this author online and for some reason, I was under the impression that their writing was grossly extreme but that might just be my brain being forgetful and mixing things up. Or m

Rules for Heiresses by Amalie Howard | Romance Fiction Review

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This guy was a bit frustrating but I'm not sorry I read it. Rules for Heiresses by Amalie  Howard Released October 2021 Source: Purchased from Read, Romance, Repeat Book Box Goodreads  | Amazon Amalie Howard whisks you away with a historical romance full of drama, true love, and the perfect happily ever after. Sometimes, finding love means flouting the rules... Born to a life of privilege, Lady Ravenna Huntley rues the day that she must marry. She's refused dozens of suitors and cried off multiple betrothals, but running away—even if brash and foolhardy—is the only option left to secure her independence. Lord Courtland Chase, grandson of the Duke of Ashton, was driven from England at the behest of his cruel stepmother. Scorned and shunned, he swore never to return to the land of his birth. But when a twist of bad luck throws a rebellious heiress into his arms, at the very moment he finds out he's the new Duke, marriage is the only alternative to massive scandal. Both are qu

The September House by Carissa Orlando | Horror Fiction Review

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This is a great addition to your gothic fiction collection! The September House by Carissa Orlando Released September 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel. When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing

Mini Review Dump #5 - It's All 4 Stars+ Today

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Recent Mini Reviews Let's face it, most of my reviews lately are what most people consider "mini" anyhow. Most of the time I'd rather be reading than writing an essay deconstructing every part of a book, so it is what it is. Here are the quick takes and the thoughtless thoughts about the recent(ish) books I've read.  How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a good read with some terribly flawed characters who pissed me off multiple times before I learned all of the circumstances. It's a well-crafted spooky read with some great characterization. Stick with it if the fighting between the siblings starts putting you off. I probably would've quit if I weren't listening on audio because it's long and the arguments drove me nuts but I'm so glad I finished. I’m also pretty sure my mother’s creepy ass Ashton Drake dolls feature heavily in this book so that was an extra level of creep. Recommended if you don't mind being very a

The Only One Left by Riley Sager | Book Review

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This was such a fun audio! The Only One Left by Riley Sager Released June 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier. At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a

Hideaway by Dean Koontz | A Retro Review

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I wrote this review many moons ago. It's a bit more plot heavy than my recent reviews but it's still brutally honest. About the Book Hideaway by Dean Koontz Released January 1992 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon Strange visions plague a man after he survives a near-death experience in this chilling thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Surviving a car accident on a snowy mountain road is miraculous for Lindsey Harrison, but even more so for her husband, Hatch, who was clinically dead for eighty minutes.   After experimental procedures bring Hatch back to life, he awakens with the terrifying feeling that something is it out there . But it soon becomes apparent that the evil stalking Hatch is within him—a dark force of murderous rage that hides within us all... My 2 Cents for Free! I first read Hideaway when I was able to waste away an entire day reading and I remember loving it to bits. This time around I listened to it on audio because I can’

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison | Horror Fiction Review

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This was fantastic on audio! It almost made me look forward to housework.   Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison Released September 2023 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle. Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means retur