bookswithlydscl's reviews
358 reviews

The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Kicked October off with a suitably spooky read. I'd seen a lot about The Haunting of Velkwood on BookTube and loved the premise and the overall book lived up to it for me. 

Can't beat kicking off a month with a 4.5* read and one that was absorbing, creepy, chilling, sad and hopeful.

A modern, gothic, suburban ghost story with a lovely romance sitting alongside it.

Recommend the audiobook, the narrator was excellent!

A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

not as strong as the last one, the case wasn't as absorbing for me but still really solid and enjoyed.

Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

My favourite Non Fiction of the year to date. I loved the mix of ancient myth and modern pop culture within each folklore area. It's so so well researched and feels a lot richer and fuller with more depth than a lot of books I've read of this topic and style. It's thoughtful and insightful with important messaging to take on board. Easy to dip in and out of and was a thoroughly fun and engaging read with plenty of facts and titbits to share with those around you. Loved it!

Dead Ends by Jeffery Deaver

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

3.94 average - overall a strong collection of crime/mystery/thriller short stories. 

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

5 star re-read. This time audiobook and I definitely think I prefer reading it as a physical book. Still amazing and this time I really appreciated how many elements of the story have been used in the other films in the JP/JW franchise!

Mischief Night Massacre by Jason Parent

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

10 tales of horror set on Halloween or Halloween adjacent holidays, an absolutely winning pitch for me.

This is a fantastic horror short story collection that feels aimed at the older YA crowd and which read like Point Horror or RL Stine for a new generation. It feels modern and fresh even whilst utilising classic horror tropes and monsters. A good number of the stories were genuinely scary, gory and incredibly tense. I loved it as a collection and loved dipping in and out of the stories over a few days. From a favourites perspective I especially enjoyed Easy Pickings, Keeping Up Appearances and Rain, and whilst a few were weaker than others there wasn't a dud story in the collection.

My individual story ratings and notes as I read along:
- The Russian Dollhouse- 4* 
- Dia De Los Muertos - 4.25* - this one has grown on me the more distance I get from it 
- Easy Pickings - 4.5* - a true horror story 
- Keeping up appearances - 4.5* - short, sharp, shocking. The stories in this collection keep getting better and more horrific as we go. 
- A Not Not-So-Scary Halloween - 4* - Not the scariest or most horrifying but a quick one with a good twist at the end - probably bumping up a .5* because it's set in Orlando and references the theme park - Halloween events which I love (title is partially in reference to Disney). 
- Rain - 4.25* - honestly that was so tense! Things that go bump in the night dialled to 11

- Black - 3.5* - still good but didn't quite click as well as some of the others 
- Ride like the devil - 3.5* 
- Last Halloween - 3.75* 

Even though this collection was teenage character focused for the most part I wouldn't let that deter you. These stories have genuine creep and ick factor and will be an ideal spooky season read for all horror fans!

 Thank you to NetGalley and Corpus Press for a digital review copy of "Mischief Night Massacre" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. 

The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This series is getting better and better and Ruth has really grown on me. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

After Arrival by Massimo Paradiso

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A little slow moving at times but overall a fantastic after arrival, dystopian Alien scifi story. This is how modern scifi telling classic science fiction style stories should be written. It's about family and society, the power struggle following the power grab by an elite few and the corruption of those left in charge. It's not big and outlandish, even the alien scenes feel pretty subtle and designed to add to the story rather than give a wow factor. Very glad I picked this up on kindle unlimited and will check out some of the author's other work.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A startling debut. Dark, oppressive and a commentary on society and the justice system. Felt a little long in places but didn't go in depth in areas that I would like to have explored - the moral dilemma of rooting for criminals - murderers, rapists etc and what it woukd mean for them to win and be released back into society. The ramifications of that and so much more!

Death Rites: A dark and atmospheric crime thriller by Sarah Ward

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Death Rites is the opening to a new crime thriller series based around Archaeology professor Carla James and overall it was a highly enjoyable and easy to read crime thriller.

When newcome to town, Carla, is brought in to bring some potential insight into items found around a victim's body she becomes drawn into the case and becomes quickly convinced that a serial killer is hunting in their town.

The story is strong and intriguing and I really liked the addition of the allusions to witchcraft and old folk superstitions. I did knock it down a little because some of Carla's decisions aren't smart and read to me as aimed at padding the story a bit and the reasoning for Carla being brought in and involved is very thin. I did like the supporting cast of characters, especially Erin and Perez.

It took a little time for the pace to pick up but when it did and the story started to unfold with connections becoming clear and secrets being revealed, I was all in and really enjoyed the ride. Definitely enjoyed it enough to read the next in the series and I think fans of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs will enjoy many elements of the story and characters.

Thank you to Canelo and Netgalley for providing an eArc of "Death Rites" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.