boocwurm's reviews
195 reviews

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

emotional inspiring reflective

4.5

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

funny hopeful lighthearted

4.0

The Hollow and the Haunted by Camilla Raines

mysterious

3.5

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

dark reflective

3.5

 Thanks Saga Press for the gifted copy! 

 

The summer before senior year, Tolly Driver finds himself at a party where he doesn’t belong in his rural Texas hometown. But after an unfortunate run-in with peanuts he’s deathly allergic to and the reappearance of a dead student who’s now out for revenge, Tolly’s life changes forever—and so do the lives of several of his peers. Somehow, Tolly is turning into a slasher, and nobody in this tiny town is safe. 

 

Read if you love: 

-Slasher films 

-Unique narrative structures and voice 

-Reading from the villain’s POV 

 

This is bound to be an extremely polarizing book—one I had a hard time understanding my thoughts on, myself. Ultimately, I deeply appreciate what SGJ did with this novel, even if I wasn’t the right audience for it. 

 

SGJ’s voice is extremely unique, and it shines throughout the entire novel. Gear up for a lot of dry wit, rambling tangents, nostalgic bits of memory and tiny details most people wouldn’t blink at. This won’t work for everyone. It mostly worked for me, but the tangents and pacing toward the middle was where I found myself slogging. 

 

As for the story itself, I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER is packed full of things to love. Mostly, it’s chock-full of heart. Tolly and his BFF Amber were both well-rounded and unexpectedly loveable. I rooted for Tolly even when I shouldn’t want to, and I was warmed by the love story at the heart of the novel. 

 

Where this book really shines is its examination of and play on classic slasher films. If you’re a slasher buff, you’ll recognize the tropes and themes. If you haven’t seen a slasher film in your life, they’ll probably be lost on you. TEENAGE SLASHER is, at its core, a love letter to the genre, which I think SGJ does masterfully well. 

American Rapture by CJ Leede

dark emotional tense

5.0

Hello, new favorite of 2024. CJ Leede, you masterful, evil writer, you! 

 

As a former Wisconsin girlie and recovering Catholic, reading AMERICAN RAPTURE was like stepping into an alternate universe. I think my connection to both these things made the reading experience 10 times richer, but you don’t need either to appreciate what Leede has done here. 

 

Sophie’s been raised as a Good Catholic Girl in rural Wisconsin. She goes to Catholic school, prays and confesses as she should, and feels all the guilt and shame her religious upbringing has instilled in her. But just as her body begins to fill out and the allure of boys shines brighter, a virus spreads over the Midwest, turning people into sex-crazed zombies. Suddenly, Sophie must abandon everything she knows, journeying to find her brother and learning a lot about the world in the process. 

 

“I am changed, and I am new, and in the darkest darkness of my life, we stand in lethal color.” 

 

AMERICAN RAPTURE blends zombie and plague fiction with a coming-of-age tale for the repressed, small town teen, creating a work that’s both horror and literary. While the horror beats propel the plot forward, the narrative is very focused on Sophie and her growth as person as she deconstructs what she’s been taught since birth. Leede plays with the concepts of sexuality, womanhood, religion and community expertly, taking “extremism” to a whole new level. 

 

I want to reread this already, it was just that good. 

 

Major TW for rape and sexual assault, religious trauma and animal/human death! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Cold Snap by Lindy Ryan

challenging dark mysterious

3.0

 Thank you Titan Books for a gifted review copy! 

 

Two weeks ago, Christine Sinclaire’s husband met his untimely end after falling off the roof in a lights-stringing accident. Wracked by grief and unable to connect to her teenaged son, Christine packs up her family and heads to the remote Pennsylvania Wilds to celebrate Christmas in solitude. But after arriving in the cabin in the woods, grief and terror become intertwined as Christine finds herself haunted by horrors real and imaginary. 

 

This was a quick, creepy read that had all the trappings of horror I like—unexplained occurrences, physical manifestations of emotions, teenage angst, spooky solitude and major scary atmosphere. Unfortunately, something about COLD SNAP rang hollow for me in the end. 

 

If you like THE BABADOOK, this book is in a very similar vein. It’s jarring on purpose to exemplify how Christine’s grief is affecting her. She hallucinates, blacks out and becomes extremely disoriented—unfortunately, that means we, as readers, do too. At times, this made the story very difficult to follow. There’s a line between disorienting to make a point and making the narrative impossible to understand, and this book moves over into the latter a little too much. 

 

The ending was probably my biggest gripe about this novel. Where I thought the story would conclude with a grander message and resolution, instead, it veers off into “What the hell just happened?” territory … in a bad way. I really don’t know what to make of it, honestly. 

 

If bite-sized horror is your jam, you might appreciate this. However, if you want a story with … any answers at all, don’t go looking for them here. 

Silver and Bone by Claudia Cain

funny mysterious tense

4.0

 Thank you to the author for the gifted ARC! 

 

Looking for a mystery novel with a paranormal twist? SILVER AND BONE delivers! 

 

-Bisexual vampires 

-Supernatural detectives 

-Gruesome murders 

-A whole lot of wit 

 

I had a lot of fun with this story. Mystery/thriller books aren’t my usual jam, but the supernatural elements added a layer of intrigue to this story that kept it fast-paced and engaging to the very end. It’s got vampires, werewolves, necromancers—the works—chock-full of classic lore and tropes. 

 

Jennifer is a kick-ass heroine with a sense of humor I really appreciated. There’s tons of banter in this book, but it never felt cringey or overdone. The side characters had quite a bit of depth to them too, filling the book with a lot of heart I didn’t necessarily expect. 

 

I did struggle a little with the flashback parts of the novel. At times, the POV and time setting changed, and that threw me for a loop, but it wasn’t so challenging as to make it unreadable. That being said, these parts did help round out the main story and allow the reader to piece together what was happening in the mystery, working to build out the world a lot more. 

 

I would be remiss to not mention: Claudia Cain is positively ruthless. Her fight scenes are detailed and interesting to read—just don’t get too attached to… anyone. She’s not sorry for what she’s done. 

 

I absolutely plan to read the second and third books in this trilogy to see what else Jennifer and her crew get themselves into! 

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

inspiring lighthearted mysterious

4.5

Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark, precisely… but she hasn’t seen it in a while, either. When Belle turns 30, she’s summoned by her coven to examine the use of her magic since it was granted 15 years ago and determine her worthiness of keeping it. Trouble is, modern life and a bit of anxiety have hampered Belle’s magical prowess. With her gift at risk, Belle must team up with an unlikely mentor, a protective watchman and those she holds close to uncover a precious skill: Believing in herself. 

✨Cozy fall atmosphere
✨Found family
✨A bookshop and a cat familiar
✨Soft, sweet romance

REWITCHED was an absolutely delightful read! Full of cozy magic, wit and charm, it made for the perfect October/fall transition book. I thought Belle was a completely relatable character—she’s turning the monumental 30, still has no idea what she’s doing with her life and is scared of taking risks due to self-consciousness. The earlier chapters felt a bit targeted, I’m not going to lie. 😅

The atmosphere of the book was great. There’s a cozy bookshop, a spooky coven headquarters, a calm flat and a welcoming old man’s magical attic in London—all enveloped in early autumnal vibes. The magic system/coven explanation was rich enough to keep me interested but not overwhelming; I especially liked the concept of the grimoire as the central “rulebook” for Belle’s trial and training. 

There was a bit of a mystery throughout that was fun to explore, too. Nothing felt super high stakes, but I didn’t expect it to. The journey was focused on Belle and her confidence (found in some very unlikely places), and this was heartwarming, relatable and satisfying. 

If you need a cozy magic story to round out your fall TBR, this should be it!

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced

4.5

Two months after the explosive events that concluded book one, Rune finds herself being used as a pawn in a ruthless leader’s games across the sea. Gideon, fiercely recommitted to the New Republic’s cause, is prepared to shut away his heart and hunt her down once and for all. But as secrets are revealed and Rune and Gideon reunite in unexpected ways, they can’t help but toe the line of their feelings, weighing the cost of love, loss and what they truly want in the end. 

 

This was a fantastic follow-up and conclusion to the Crimson Moth duology! Right from the beginning, the reader is pulled into an exciting conflict that brings our two MCs together without any wait and sets the stage for the rest of the book. Rune and Gideon immediately have delicious enemies/lovers tension and made me fall in love with them all over again. Over the course of the story, we see them grow and change, alliances shift and ultimately land with a satisfying wrap-up. 

 

Rune and Gideon’s character development was fun but perhaps speedier than in book one. Gideon’s change of heart, in particular, happens pretty abruptly, but it didn’t bother me very much in the grand scheme. What I liked more was seeing Rune shrink into a new, more scared version of herself we haven’t seen yet. The parallels between her and Alex were clear, and I appreciated getting that kind of reflection, with them mirroring each other. 

 

The only reason I rated this 4.5 stars is because some of the story’s twists were really predictable. I might have been more willing to overlook that if the ending had not been so breakneck-conclusionary. Everything just happened so fast and “perfect” in that final few chapters that there was less satisfying payoff on the mysteries than I had hoped. 

 

Outside of that, I had a ton of fun reading this duology. It was engaging, quick to digest, thoughtful in its worldly critiques, had an interesting magic system and was simmering with tension. Love!! 

The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli

adventurous tense

5.0

 After losing her grandmother in a bloody anti-witch revolution, Rune Winters has one goal: Save as many witches from the hate-fueled Blood Guard as possible. To do so, she poses as a vapid socialite, hiding her real identity as the mysterious, vigilante witch, the Crimson Moth. Gideon Sharpe, a noble leader in the revolution, has dedicated himself to hunting down and exterminating the Crimson Moth and ending the witches’ reign of terror once and for all—and Rune is his primary suspect. Realizing the other has information that could further their goals, Rune and Gideon secretly pretend to court one another, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse where tensions are high and lines become impossibly blurred. 

 

The highlights: 

-Enemies-to-lovers romance 

-Interesting, well-defined magic system 

-Love triangle 

-Hidden identities 

 

WHEW this book. I found it compulsively readable—every time I picked it up, I could not bring myself to put it down. It was fast-paced, interesting and dripping with delicious tension. 

 

THE CRIMSON MOTH doesn’t put forth a completely unique romantasy concept—witches are seen as evil, they are hunted after a revolution, and a young, powerful girl must save them all, but love gets in the way of her plans. But where I think this story really shines is the matching of wits in our main characters and the ideologies the story puts forth. 

 

Rune has a bit of an identity crisis in this story. By day, she’s a silly young aristocrat who’s known for being a huge flirt, loving pretty dresses and enjoying a good ball. By night, she puts her life on the line using her limited magical abilities to save other witches. But neither of these things really defines who Rune is or what she wants out of life. She’s so clouded by grief and the concept of duty after losing her grandmother, she hasn’t allowed herself to actually envision a life of peace and joy. She makes dumb decisions and has a wild, wounded spirit underneath her vapid and vicious façades. I really appreciated her sensitive nature and her ability to not have everything figured out. 

 

Gideon is a good mirror for Rune. He, too, carries a tremendous amount of grief with him and throws himself into his “cause” to avoid confronting his reality. He holds back his true feelings for Rune almost until the end because he doesn’t believe himself worthy. The two are much more similar than they believe themselves to be, which sparks their banter and chemistry on the page. 

 

Then there’s the plot and overarching conflict. I liked that there was quite a bit of nuance to the story’s warring sides—the formerly ruling witch queens and the Blood Guard revolutionaries. Both of the MCs’ beliefs are called into question throughout the book, and we learn that neither side are the righteous, benevolent rulers they claim to be—muddying the violent feud between them. It’s this complication that makes the romance between witch and witch hunter more “acceptable” while stoking that enemies-to-lovers tension. 

 

I really liked the magic system used here. It was relatively simple, using blood to power spells, but the addition of visible spellcaster scars and/or the need for blood from others put limitations on the witches’ power—and made Rune’s predicament more interesting and believable. 

 

There were some wild twists and turns throughout the story. I halfheartedly predicted some of them, but it didn’t make the payoff any less satisfying. The ending is action-packed and leaves on an intense cliffhanger that made me thank my lucky stars I had a digital arc of book two ready to go!!