Author: megs14malloy

Review: Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward

~ megs14malloy

Nowhere BurningNowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Nowhere Burning is a dark, melancholic novel set deep in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains.

Although told via three main perspectives, the perspective that kicks off our tale, and really serves as the heart of the story, is that of Riley, a young girl, who saves herself and her brother from the clutches of their abusive Uncle’s home.

Running away in the middle of the night, Riley has one plan in mind, to join a group of unhomed teens squatting on the abandoned grounds of a infamous movie star’s ranch, aptly named, Nowhere.

I don’t want to mention the other two perspectives, as the Publisher’s Synopsis leaves them out, therefore I don’t want to be accidentally giving things away.

Just know this story is much more complex and nuanced than the synopsis may lead you to believe. One of the most interesting aspects of this novel, in my opinion, was trying to figure out how all three were going to ultimately connect.

Initially it seems Nowhere is the only connection, but is that actually true?

This novel is quite stark and gritty. It feels bleak, the tone of which reminded me a bit of the 2010 movie, Winter Bone. It’s also a very slow burn, that sneaks up on you emotionally.

I didn’t realize how much it had captured me until the very end. I begrudgingly admit this book made me cry actual tears and they seemed to come out of nowhere.

I was shocked at the emotion Ward was able to draw out of me. It was like a punch in the gut. I feel like the way she pulled everything together, it was just beautifully done. It was hard to not feel emotion and empathy for this set of characters that life seemed to be so unkind to.

The world isn’t always an easy place, but beauty, hope and love can often be found even on the darkest of days. This story felt like moving through a deep, unending fog, but it’s worth the darkness; it’s worth the trudge.

I would recommend this to Readers who like a dark, emotional slow burn. It feels very Literary Horror, with plenty of dark subject matter to really sink your teeth into. For fans of Ward, this is a must read.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I feel like this one is going to stick in my mind for a long time to come!

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Review: All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles

~ megs14malloy

All of Us MurderersAll of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙

In All of Us Murderers, a lush gothic mystery by K.J. Charles, we follow Zeb Wyckham after he is summoned to his wealthy Uncle’s manor home for a family gathering.

Even though the guest list no doubt includes many individuals Zeb would rather avoid, like his estranged brother, for example, he nevertheless accepts the invitation, curious to discover what it’s all about.

How bad can it be?

Therefore, Zeb arrives at the property at the appointed time and date and is less than thrilled to find not only his horrid brother, and his snake of a wife, but also his cad of a cousin and irritable ex, Gideon.

As they dine with their Uncle Wynn the very first evening, they discover the truth of why he’s brought them all there. It’s time for an inheritance game. The winner takes it all, and that’s a vast fortune indeed.

Wynn wants someone to marry his young ward, Jessamine, upon his death. That way, he’s assured she’ll be cared for. If one of them is willing to do that, they’ll get his full fortune.

Zeb can hardly believe what he’s hearing. Jessamine is very, very young, and from the start, she’s seemed not entirely well. He’s unsettled by his Uncle’s plan, and vows to take no part in it; money be damned.

However, that leaves his other male family members, and none of them are desirable as suitors. What is Zeb to do? How can he stop this unsavory business from playing out?

All of Us Murderers turned into a delightful reading experience for me. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started, but I’ve thought about it many times since finishing.

It’s a bit of a slow burn, and it did sneak up on me, for sure. I was pulled in quite thoroughly without even noticing how invested I had gotten. The gothic atmosphere was impeccable and I loved the MC, Zeb, soooo much.

The mystery elements, mainly revolving around the motivations and intentions of Uncle Wynn, before turning into a full-fledged Murder Mystery, were also quite entertaining. It got intense the further it progressed, with the stakes getting higher and higher.

The star of the show for me truly was the gothic setting and subsequent atmosphere. With inclement weather rolling in across the Moors, the characters are trapped at the property with no means of escape.

Even when Zeb decides he won’t play his Uncle’s little game, there’s really nothing he can do about it. I loved that element, it made it feel claustrophobic and desperate.

It also has a Scooby-Doo feel about it in places, which I enjoyed, but I can see how some Readers may find those aspects a little silly. For me, the hauntings and history of the house just added to the overall ambiance. It was giving me exactly what I wanted in that regard.

Finally, I would note how much I enjoyed Zeb’s delivery of the events happening around him. He had a wry and witty way of viewing it all, which lent it a bit of humor to the story, even though what was happening was unhinged.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this and am happy to have read from a new-to-me author. I look forward to picking up more from Charles in the future.

Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would def recommend this to anyone who enjoys a atmospheric Gothic Mystery.

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Review: Tiny Threads by Lilliam Rivera

~ megs14malloy

Tiny Threads: A NovelTiny Threads: A Novel by Lilliam Rivera
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

Tiny Threads. I’m sad about this. I wanted to love it, as it explores the dark-side of the fashion industry and that’s something that truly interests me. While I can recognize there’s a good story in here somewhere, I just didn’t feel the execution pulled off what the author was hoping.

Sadly, it felt very mid to me, with no real memorable qualities. The overall story was quite bland, and I walked away wanting more. More of everything, more character development, intrigue, horror and plot.

Our main character is Samara, who leaves her home in New Jersey to pursue a job in Southern California with legendary fashion designer, Antonio Mota.

Samara is out of her element, and struggles to regain her bearings in her new home. Her coping mechanism is vodka, which I was told very, very, very, very frequently that she was drinking copious amounts of.

That was one of the first issues I had with this novel. How frequently I was told how much Samara was drinking. I would have preferred to have been shown her bad coping mechanisms and decisions in some other, more varied, ways.

I get it, she’s an unreliable narrator. I love an unreliable narrator, particularly those that drink too much, but I need a bit more depth to their character than what I feel I was delivered here.

I also liked getting the inside peek at this fashion house. I love stories that incorporate the business-side of things, and Rivera was doing that, I just wish she would have leaned even further into that exploration.

There were also some hints of some interesting horror elements, particularly those revolving around the nearby slaughterhouse, but again, I wanted her to explore that even further. To give me more; more history, more disturbing visuals, more substance.

I think Rivera has creative ideas. I liked how she brought the cultural identity of our MC into the story. That was the strongest aspect to me. I just wish, overall, it could have been a more well-rounded reading experience.

At the end of the day, I can see the good elements of this, there just weren’t enough to pull me through above a 3-star rating. I would be interested in picking up more from this author in the future. I know she’s a talented, this just didn’t work for my tastes.

I would still encourage anyone who thinks this sounds interesting, to pick it up and give it a go. Just because it didn’t work for me, doesn’t me it won’t work for you.

Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m happy I gave it a shot.

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Review: Another by Paul Tremblay

~ megs14malloy

AnotherAnother by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚🖤💚

Another is beloved Horror author Paul Tremblay’s Middle Grade debut, and it was such a delight to read. I found the concepts fun, well-imagined and eerie. There were some genuinely creepy moments that got under my skin.

I would have been obsessed with this as a kid!

In this story we’re following Casey, a middle school boy currently living with Transient Tic Disorder, or TTD. The disorder first presented itself, unfortunately, when remote learning was a thing during the Covid pandemic.

All of Casey’s classmates witnessed his tics during a Zoom session. Casey has since been treated like a social pariah, and he has started isolating, keeping to himself a lot more.

When his parents receive an odd phone call one day, and then report to him that he has a friend coming to the house for a sleepover, Casey is confused. Who could it be? What friend? He knows nothing about it.

When Morel shows up, Casey is even more confused. He’s never seen this kid in his life. And what’s going on with his skin? It looks like clay and Morel doesn’t speak.

In spite of the oddness of Morel’s appearance and behavior, Casey’s parents act like nothing is off. In fact, they seemed charmed by him, and Casey is certainly in no position to turn away a potential new friend.

The longer Morel is there though, the more unsettled Casey becomes. Morel is evolving the more he interacts with the family, and Casey is left scratching his head about the nature of his new friend.

Another is an extremely well-crafted story. I didn’t know what to think when Morel first arrived. The whole circumstance with him being there, it felt dangerous, before I actually knew whether it was or not. It left me unnerved.

This story definitely channeled the nostalgic feel of classic kids horror from my own childhood, but done in a modern, more thoughtful way.

I feel like Tremblay put a lot of care into these characters and Casey is so well-developed and empathetic. He’s a character you can get behind and I felt like I went on this wild and crazy journey with him.

Morel’s presence was entirely unsettling. Particularly, because it felt like Casey was so on his own in this. His parents were captivated by Morel’s presence, they could see no wrong, leaving Casey to navigate all the mysterious happenings on his own.

I did enjoy Casey’s relationship with his older sister, Ally, but she was away at college, so couldn’t be much help to him in this situation.

I also enjoyed the real world issues that Trembay explored, such as the challenges of remote learning and isolation. I don’t tend to enjoy any stories that touch upon Covid, but I feel like it was done well here, and in a way that didn’t feel overwhelming to the rest of the plot.

I would highly-recommend this to anyone who enjoys Spooky Middle Grade stories. This has such a vibe and was so much fun to read. It’s fast-paced and engaging, with an excellent audiobook to boot.

Thank you to the publisher, Quill Tree Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m hoping to see a lot more of Tremblay’s work in the Middle Grade space!

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Review: You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

~ megs14malloy

You Will Never Be MeYou Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jesse Q. Sutanto is one of my go-to authors. I try to pick-up everything she writes either as soon as it releases, or even prior to its release, when I’m lucky.

For this one, even though I had an ARC in my hot little hands, and was anticipating it, I never ended up picking it up, and then it just got buried in my stacks and my mind.

Recently, while stalking Jesse’s author page to see if there was a new Vera Wong book listed, I noticed this one and snapped to attention. I needed to read it immediately.

I ended up getting the audiobook from my library and listened to it over the past couple of days. I loved the dual narration from Eunice Wong and Risa Mei, and am glad I ended up taking in the story via the audio format.

This story follows two up-and-coming social media influencers, so having the audio narration for them, it really added authenticity to those influencer personalities. I feel like both women channeled what I would anticipate these characters would have really sounded like.

In this story we follow Meredith and Aspen, best friends, who are both in the influencer space. Mer started out as a fashion and beauty influencer, and ended up teaching Aspen all she knew.

After Aspen got married and had kids, she turned more towards the parenting space and became a Momfluencer. It was at that point, with her handsome husband and adorable children, that her content really started taking off, leaving Mer’s numbers in the dust.

Their friendship was strained by this shifting dynamic and the two ended up having a falling out. By the time we meet them, they’re no longer speaking, but the story catches us up on all we need to know in regards to their messy friendship break-up.

I loved the back-and-forth between the two perspectives as all the details of their relationship were filled in. I also liked how we were shown the truth behind their lifestyles. Sure, online all was beauty, grace and stress-free days, but behind the scenes, it was anything but.

I like the exploration of that topic. Social media influencers have such sway over the way many of us see our own lives in comparison and I thought it was interesting to get a bit behind-the-scenes, even in a fictional capacity.

The 1st-half of the book is building up these characters and developing the drama between them. At the mid-point, it does take a turn though and suddenly we’re thrust into a dark world following Mer’s disappearance.

Things get really crazy from there. I haven’t read any reviews yet, but I was surprised after completing it to see that the overall rating is only at a 3.63 currently.

I think perhaps it may be due to the slower nature of the 1st-half, and the fact that neither MC is particularly likable. They’re more like characters you love to hate versus just love. You’re prob not rooting for either of them.

I tend to enjoy stories that follow influencers, or really any type of celebrity, so this worked for me in that regard. Additionally, I loved how messy and twisted the drama was. I always enjoy digging into a toxic friendship, and this definitely was that.

Overall, I feel like this is another really solid showing for Sutanto, who seems to have no issues jumping amongst various genres and age-ranges with her stories.

This is the 12th-novel that I’ve read from Sutanto and I’m always impressed with how easily I get drawn into her stories. I found this riveting. Her characters are well-developed and the drama is always delivered.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. I had so much fun with it and definitely should have picked it up sooner!

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Review: One Bad Night & Other Stories an Aardvark Original Horror Anthology

~ megs14malloy

One Bad Night & Other StoriesOne Bad Night & Other Stories by Isabel Armiento
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One Bad Night & Other Stories, a Horror Anthology, is an Aardvark Original developed to celebrate Aardvark Book Club’s 3-year anniversary in October.

I knew immediately upon seeing the cover that I had to have it, but then I read the list of authors and was doubly-sold. Those authors are Kay Chronister, Del Sandeen, Kylie Lee Baker, Rachel Harrison, CJ Leede, Jennifer Marie Thorne, S. A. Barnes, and Stephen Graham Jones, all of whom have had previous novels offered via Aardvark.

If you are unfamiliar with Aardvark, they are an online book subscription service offering new and varied releases each month. The quality that makes Aardvark my favorite service is the amount of new Horror they offer, my favorite genre.

This collection features 8-stories, and below are my brief thoughts/ratings on each story:

1. Two Observers of the Slaughter Rites on Gannet Island by Kay Chronister — ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — This story follows a husband and wife duo embarking on some cultural anthropological field research on a remote island. It was so bizarre and fun and I became completely invested in it.

2. My Lithopedia by Del Sandeen — ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 — This was fun and it definitely got under my skin. Anything involving dolls, or things resembling dolls, which I would categorize the feel of the stone baby from this story as, usually get under my skin. I felt like this had such a classic horror feel, but was also a creative concept, so it played on past tropes, but brought something completely new to the table!

3. Lady Jawbone by Kylie Lee Baker — ⭐⭐⭐.5 — I liked the feel of this as well, but was left a little dumbfounded by it. I feel like, having read other things from this author, this was very different from her other work. I like the description of the setting, being in nearly constant dark, it sort of took away the visual sense, so it made me feel like I was in the dark as well.

4. A Necromancer’s Guide to Reconnecting with an Ex by Rachel Harrison — ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — I love Rachel Harrison’s writing so much. Her MCs always feel so true to life. While this didn’t pack quite the punch as her regular full-length novels, it was still very well-crafted.

5. Red Tide by C.J. Leede — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — This story was so interesting, including some sea-related horror, which I tend to enjoy. There were some super yucky descriptions, which I loved and also enjoyed how full-circle this felt.

6. 47 Pineview Way by Jennifer Marie Thorne — ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 — This was eerie. If it were a full-length novel and I was writing one of my regular reviews, it would be rounded up to a 4. This is a suburban-set story with the feel of the goblin market to it. It was def interesting and I cannot imagine being in the MCs position.

7. A Meditation on the Existence of Certain Cutlery by S.A. Barnes — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — This story was very S.A. Barnes! It almost felt like it contained a whole novel, it was so well-imagined. I don’t know what to believe about the end, I have different theories, and I love that Barnes left it open to the Reader’s interpretation.

8. One Bad Night by Stephen Graham Jones — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I almost didn’t make it through this story, NGL. The topics explored mirror pretty closely things going on in my own life at the moment, and I’ll tell you, it’s wasn’t easy.

I pushed through, skimming certain sections, because a friend read it before me and I sort of knew ahead of time the direction it would ultimately take. I was gutted by this story. It’s written with such raw detail and emotion. So, yeahhhh, SGJ, one of my favorite authors of all time tearing my heart out yet again. I love his writing so much. It’s always so heartfelt and real. What an end to the collection. Wow.

Overall, this was such a fun and well-rounded collection, ending with that gut-wrenching story from one of my favorite authors of all time, SGJ, which spoke to my soul.

Aardvark did a phenomenal job with their selection of authors and works for this anthology. I hope they create more of these in the future. I’d definitely be buying and reading them!

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Review: Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

~ megs14malloy

Blood in the WaterBlood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙

In Tiffany D. Jackson’s Middle Grade Debut we follow 12-year old, Kaylani, a Brooklyn girl headed to Martha’s Vineyard for the summer to stay with some family friends. A trip she’s not exactly excited about.

The family in question, the Watsons, are extremely wealthy and powerful. In fact, Kaylani’s Dad used to be close with them and worked for them, prior to his incarceration for financial crimes Kaylani is positive he didn’t commit.

She doesn’t have time to go to the stuffy ole’ Vineyard, when all she wants to do is study the law and try to figure out a way to free her Dad.

In spite of her hesitations though, both Kaylani’s parents insist she go. She needs to have fun, be a kid and let loose. She’s been so worried about her Dad, and focused on his case, she’s sort of put her life on hold.

Even on the ferry to the island though, Kaylani knows it’s going to be a rough summer. The Watson’s granddaughters, London and Cassie, are also on the ferry and London instantly makes Kaylani feel uncomfortable and judged.

In spite of this, once on the island. Kaylani does start to settle in. It’s beautiful and there are lots of other kids. Maybe it won’t be a completely terrible summer. Sometimes, she and London even get on a little, or at least find ways they can be mutually-beneficial to each other.

The day after the girls attend their first beach party, they’re shocked to learn that one of the other kids from party, a boy named Chadwick, has been found dead.

The circumstances are mysterious, and rumors fly as to whether it was a drowning, a shark attack, or even worse, murder. Chadwick happens to be Cassie Watson’s ex-boyfriend, and suspicion falls onto her.

Kaylani’s innate curiosities are triggered and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. She’s confident Chadwick’s death was no accident, but how can she prove it?

Blood in the Water was really fun and so cute, with a great MC. Kaylani is a character you can connect to instantly. She’s smart, determined, she loves her family and she’s just an all-around good kid. She’s someone you want to see succeed.

I love the setting on the Vineyard. I live on the neighboring island of Nantucket, and appreciated all the true-to-life details that Jackson brought to the story. It made it feel extra special for me and helped me picture everything perfectly.

I also loved having a true murder mystery where the majority of our main players were kids and teens. Kaylani getting her sleuthing on, and making friends to help along the way, was such a delight. Additionally, I loved Kaylani’s relationship with both of her parents, but her Dad especially.

My only complaint was that I wish it had been like 30 to 40-pages longer. I wanted to know even more about the characters, and to get more details on Kaylani’s stay on the island. Overall though, a great MG debut for Jackson.

Jackson is such a talented writer, definitely one of my all time faves and I loved seeing what she could do in this new age-range. Thank you so much to the publisher, Scholastic, for providing me with a copy to read and review!

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Review: Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson

~ megs14malloy

Coffin MoonCoffin Moon by Keith Rosson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Coffin Moon centers around Duane Minor, a Vietnam Vet working as a bartender in his wife, Heidi’s, parent’s bar, and his 13-year old niece, Julia, who the couple recently took in.

Duane is struggling with his sobriety, while Julia is struggling with some very traumatic events in her home life that has left her separated from her mother and brother.

When Minor ends up crossing the baddies that try to pull some shady sh*t at the bar, it changes all of their lives forever. Leading the charge for the bad guys is a man named John Varley, not your average killer, who sleeps during the day and whose teeth grow extra long at night.

After Heidi is killed in retaliation for Minor’s interference, he is wracked with guilt, while Julia is filled with rage. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game of pursuit across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Their goal is to root out John Varley and make him pay for all he’s taken from them.

Will any amount of blood be able to sate their grief and guilt?

This was devilishly good. Set in the 1970s, I feel like Rosson did a fabulous job channeling the gritty Crime Fiction vibes of that era. The tone of it, it’s morose, devastating and heavily vengeance-focused. We love to see it.

I’d love to read this again and take more time with it. This time through, I went rather quickly, so focused on what was going to happen. In future, I think it would be worth a revisit to focus in more on the character work and relationships.

I loved both Minor and Julia. Their interactions together and the way their bond evolved, it felt so natural and it truly tugged at my heart-strings.

Additionally, John Varley was fascinating. We learn quite a bit about him and his history, and those are some of the moments that I would like to revisit the most. There was something sweeping and epic-feeling about his story that brought even more to the historical meat of this story.

There were so many devastating moments in this book. Moments where I would read it and think, OMG, how would you get over that? But Minor and Julia just kept on going on, and I love that resilience and even if it was driven by rage in Julia’s case, I respected the hell out of their strength.

It felt like Rosson poured a lot of emotion into this one. It hurt my heart a bit, not gonna lie, but it was so worth it. I was sad about much of it, but impressed with the fact that Rosson could make me feel so much for these characters in such a short amount of time.

Overall, I found this to be such a unique and classic-feeling Horror story. I have never read anything from this author before, but I will be reading more in the future.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I think this will definitely be one of my most memorable reads of 2025!

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Review: Murder on the Marlow Belle (The Marlow Murder Club #4) by Robert Thorogood

~ megs14malloy

Murder on the Marlow Belle (Marlow Murder Club, #4)Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Murder on the Marlow Belle is the 4th-installment in the Marlow Murder Club series. I’ve had a lot of fun with the previous 3-books in this humorous Cozy Mystery series, so had been anxiously awaiting this latest.

This series follows Judith Potts, a widow in her 70s, and her two best friends, Suzie and Becks, as they tackle mysteries in their local Marlow community.

This mystery begins when Verity Beresford contacts Judith asking for help locating her missing husband, Oliver. Verity, like most residents of Marlow, is well aware of Judith’s superior sleuthing skills, and she believes Judith maybe able to help her find Oliver faster than anyone else.

Oliver’s only been missing overnight, but the circumstances are concerning. Oliver, the founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for a party cruise for his committee members, but no one remembers seeing him disembark.

Of course anytime someone goes missing upon the water, there’s cause for concern. In this case, it’s more than warranted, when shortly thereafter Oliver’s body is discovered, having washed ashore with two bullet wounds.

As it turns out, Oliver was a complicated man, with no shortage of enemies. Nevertheless, Judith and her friends are confident they can weed out the killer.

Unfortunately, the task proves more difficult than they’d hoped when they discover what a twisted web the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society actually is.

Will the ladies be able to find Oliver’s murderer before they’ve flowed out of their grasp like the River Thames?

Overall, I thought this was a really fun installment to this Cozy series. I love books set at a theater, or involving a theater troupe, so this was perfect for me in that regard.

I’m fully attached to this charming cast of characters at this point, so find it hard to believe that I would dislike any of these books. Judith is plucky and resourceful.

I love that she’s found these two friends at this stage of her life, and though they’re all very different, they’re so supportive of one another. Squad goals!

I’m in for the long haul with this series. I have no clue how long it is slated to be, but I’ll be reading each and every one.

I would highly recommend this series to all Cozy Mystery fans, in particular if you enjoy friendship groups solving mysteries together, or elderly amateur sleuths. The small town vibes are on point as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m excited to solve more cases with Judith, Suzie and Becks.

The 5th-book in the series, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts, is set to release on January 15, 2026. I’ll be marking my calendar, and so should you!

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Review: 13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano

~ megs14malloy

13 Months Haunted13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

13 Months Haunted follows Piper Lowery, a public librarian, who meets a strange young girl while volunteering at the local middle school.

The events of Piper’s tale take place in the 1990s, but the set-up of the story itself, is Piper actually relaying these events to an interested relative. I did think that was a fun and slightly-different way to present this story.

The young girl’s name is Avery and she is new to the school. She does have some odd behaviors, but the oddest thing about her is the fact that her mother attends school with her, sits in all Avery’s classes, and literally tails her daughter like a shadow, even to the restroom.

Piper begins hearing rumors about Avery and her Mom. They’re sort of the talk of the town. People say the Mom is a witch, that they fled their old town after Avery’s sister and father were killed by a supernatural force.

While Piper finds this a bit extreme, there is something off about the mother-daughter duo. Through multiple interactions, Piper ends up befriending them and the rest proceeds from there.

This book started off great. It captured my attention early and I loved the small town setting, and the fact that the main action takes place in the 1990s; definitely a nostalgic period for me.

I was about the same age as Piper was during this same time period, so I could relate to a lot of what she was experiencing starting out her life as a young adult. There’s also a lot of focus on the new, popular use of the internet.

For people who grew up using the internet from the time they were small children, let it be known, it was very different for those of us who never really had access, or even email, until around college-age. It was like a wild-west landscape. Unless you were in IT, you didn’t really know what was going on, or how it worked.

Piper has a blog and she shares a lot on it. It was really more of a diary for her and she does relate the odd goings-on after she meets Avery for the first time.

So, there are some fun details involving that whole aspect of her life as well, particularly after she starts getting comments on what she’s posting. It added a bit of a mixed media element, which I do tend to enjoy.

I loved the mystery surrounding Avery and her Mom as well. I really wanted to know the truth about them, and their past. Was something supernatural actually at play?

Even though the rumors circulating about them were fairly vicious, Piper comes to learn that there may have been some truth to them, but how much? She starts digging in with force, really out of an effort to try to help Avery, and I enjoyed those amateur sleuthing components.

Unfortunately for me, eventually the intrigue started to wear off. I’m not sure exactly why, but the plot just seemed to drag for me after about the halfway point.

I had theories, none of which I was particularly confident in, but it did start to seem repetitive and took me over 2-weeks to finish. I can’t explain why I felt this way about it.

I just think once the initial mystery of what was going on with Avery was out of the way, it sort of lost it’s main excitement factor. I did like the way it wrapped-up though. I felt the conclusion interesting to contemplate. There were some real repercussions there at the end.

Overall, I did find this to be an interesting and unique story. Although some of it did seem a little drawn out to me, I did love the ending and overriding premise. Additionally, the mysterious elements were solid, as were the details of Piper’s amateur investigation.

Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Juliano is very talented. I love his concepts and will continue picking up his work for a long time to come!

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