Review: Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

~ megs14malloy

HexHex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

A town cursed by a witch or a woman cursed by a town?

This was an odd book that has certainly provided me with a lot to think about.

Welcome to Black Spring. A charming little village set in the Hudson River Valley. As picturesque as can be, an outsider would have a hard time imagining the horror that this town’s citizens endure every day.

The Black Rock Witch, a 17th-Century woman, murdered by her contemporaries after having her mouth and eyes sewn shut, lurks amidst the townsfolk to this day. Not a hazy apparition that only certainly people sense or see, she’s there, in the flesh. They can touch her and even harm her if they choose.

No one ever does though as they anticipate her vengeance would be swift and brutal. Why don’t they just move away, you wonder?

Well, that’s just it. They can’t. No one can. Once you are settled in the town and privy to its secrets, you can never leave. As in, a supernatural force literally blocks you from escape.

This was a really unique take on a haunting. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I also really enjoyed the way the town dealt with it. They had developed, as town, a great system for tracking and monitoring the spirit. They used high tech surveillance to make sure all was well with her, but in turn, ending up tracking a lot of the citizen’s actions as well.

When some of the teenagers become frustrated with living under strict regulations they start acting out towards the spirit. Their cruel actions ultimately cause all hell to break loose.

Although, I was never able to fully sink into this one, I still decided to round up to 4-stars due to the unique nature of the overall story. Haunting stories have been done numerous times but this one did offer up something new in my opinion.

Also, I am wondering if the difficulty I had connecting to the story was more due to the fact that it is translated from the original Dutch than the actual story itself. The writing style seemed very blunt. I was always aware I was reading a book instead of being told a story, if that makes sense.

Overall though, I would definitely recommend this to horror lovers. Especially people who are looking for something out of the ordinary. This story is definitely worth giving a shot!

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November Reading Plans

~ megs14malloy

Hello, my beautifully bookish friends!

Let’s chat about November reading plans. As many of you may know, beginning in August I started a themed reading month plan for a full year. Basically, I have a set theme per month and I try to read ten books within that month that match the theme.

Thus far, I have been successful two out of the three months. This month’s theme is: NEW RELEASES!!!!

I am classifying ‘new releases’ as anything published from January 1, 2019 forward. This will include books that haven’t yet released. I have a ton of books to choose from that will fit this theme so I am fully anticipating another successful month.

I am participating in one readathon this month, the Buzzword Readathon, but I will post more info on that, including my TBR, closer to the start date.

What are you planning to read this month? Do you have a theme or are you participating in any readathons or readalongs? I want to know. Drop a comment down below or contact me through any of my social media links!

Until we meet again, cheers & happy reading!

Themed Reading: Spooktober Wrap-Up

~ megs14malloy

Greetings, Geeks and Ghouls. Alas, the most wonderful month of the year has come to a close. Now…

Before he arrives however, let’s go over my October wrap-up!

For the second month in a row, I completed 15-books total. Not too shabby considering I had a lot of personal things going on this month, including starting a new job. My theme for this month was Spooky reads and the goal was to complete 10-books that coincided with this theme. I am happy to report, I met and beat that goal by completing 12 Spooky books!

Without further ado, let’s get into the books I completed this October. Please note, if there is an * next to the title of a book, it means I am counting that as meeting my Spooky Reads goal:

  1. The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu, 4-stars, YA Dark Contemporary Audiobook
  2. *Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1) by Justina Ireland, 4-stars, YA Historical Fiction with Zombies Apocalypse elements
  3. Ten Blind Dates by Ashley Elston, 5-stars, YA Contemporary Romance (ARC from publisher)
  4. *American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan, 5-stars, Non-Fiction True Crime
  5. *Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, 3.5-stars, Adult Horror Audiobook
  6. *One by One by D.W. Gillespie, 4-stars, Adult Horror (ARC from publisher)
  7. *The Furies by Katie Lowe, 2.5-stars, I’m not sure if this is technically YA or Adult, I would categorize it as Adult Thriller (ARC from publisher)
  8. *All the Bad Apples by Moira Fowley-Doyle, 5-stars, YA Magical Realism Audiobook
  9. *The Line Between by Tosca Lee, 4.5-stars, Adult Apocalyptic Thriller (ARC from author)
  10. *Campfire by Shawn Sarles, 3.5-stars, YA Slasher Horror
  11. *The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco, 4-stars, YA Japanese-Inspired Horror Audiobook
  12. *There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins, 4-stars, YA Slasher Horror
  13. *Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, 4.5-stars, Middle Grade Mythological Fantasy (ARC from publisher)
  14. *The Institute by Stephen King, 5-glorious stars, Adult Horror/Thriller
  15. *Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero, 4-stars, Adult Comedy Horror Audiobook

I also would like to give an honorable mention to a fantastic short-story  that I read this month called, The Town That Feared Dusk by Calvin Demmer. I have read from this author before and absolutely love his work so I wasn’t surprised to give this 32-page tale a full 5-star review. Although this is a horror short, I didn’t count it toward my Spooktober goal as it was just 32-pages of content. Demmer definitely knows how to pack a punch in that short of time though, I will tell you that.

As far as my monthly TBR Challenges go, which I set for myself at the beginning of 2019, I have been slacking off here a bit towards the end of the year. I started out with 5-monthly challenges and then dropped down to 4. This month, I only ended up completing 2. I read a ‘New Release from 2018’ by reading Dread Nation, and I read a ‘New Release from the Current Month’ by reading 10 Blind Dates. I failed to read a ‘New Release from Next Month’ and to ‘Read a Sequel’.

How did you October reading go? Did you meet all the goals you set for yourself? Did you discover any new Spooky read favorites?

I want to know! Leave a comment here or contact me through any of my social media links. I love hearing what y’all are reading and am always open to new recommendations. I hope to post soon about my November reading plans!

Until next time, cheers & happy reading!

Review: The Light at the Bottom of the World (Light the Abyss #1) by London Shah

~ megs14malloy

The Light at the Bottom of the World (Light the Abyss, #1)The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Debut novels have really been impressing me lately and this one is no exception. Man, what a captivating story. I don’t think I have ever read anything quite like this.

Set at the end of the 21st-century, the world is now underwater. Our protagonist, 16-year old Leyla McQueen is living on her own in London.

Her Father has been arrested and spirited away by government officials, although no one will tell her exactly where.

Leyla knows he is innocent of the crimes for which he is accused and now her whole life is focused on trying to find him and get him back.

When the opportunity arises for her to compete in a government-sanctioned auto race, with the prize being anything the winner desires, she puts her whole heart into winning.

The marathon doesn’t turn out to be what she expected, however, and Leyla finds herself fleeing the perceived safety of London and heading out to lesser chartered waters for the first time in her life.

Now in her own submarine with her sweet pup, Jojo, virtual domestic help, Oscar, and a new body guard, Ari, she sets out to finally solve the mystery of what happened to her Father.

This book is so intriguing, you guys. Once I got into it, I could not put it down and pretty much read it in two days. There is a an enemies-to-lovers plot element which I enjoyed. It was very mild though so if romance isn’t your thing, I would just say that it never overpowered the rest of the storyline.

For me the elements I was picking up the most were the great bits of politically-charged social commentary. That may not be the greatest way to describe it. The story itself isn’t of a political nature but the topics explored definitely were and are poignant for a lot happening in the world right now.

Topics I noticed would include the idea that it is okay to question authority, to question the official story. It explored the idea of governments molding citizens viewpoints on ‘others’ and how individuals can be punished if they speak up or against such sanctioned ideas. There were elements of ‘terrorism’, domestic and otherwise, explored, as well as an us-versus-them mentality.

While all these topics were threaded throughout the narrative, to me, they never felt forced or like the author was championing an agenda. It was all very natural and organic to the plot progression. I was impressed with how the author was able to do that.

It’s also important to note this is Own Voices representation for a Muslim main character. Both of Leyla’s parents were of Afghan descent. So if you are looking for more stories with Muslim main characters, I think this would be a great one for you to check out!

I thought the scifi elements in here were excellent. Very forward thinking and unique as far as the whole world being underwater. I think the concepts are very approachable for all readers, so even if you don’t read a lot of scifi, maybe you are afraid you won’t necessarily understand it all, I don’t think that would be the case here.

Finally, there are very cool ‘monsters’ in this story! They were honestly one of my favorite parts. They are called anthropoids and are basically genetically-modified humans that can breathe underwater. So, think the evil mermaids from Harry Potter — very well done.

Thank you so, so much to the publisher, Disney Book Group, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I was so impressed and cannot wait for the next book to be released!

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Review: Tristan Strong Punches A Hole In The Sky by Kwame Mbalia

~ megs14malloy

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Holy smokes!!! That was a debut?

Y’all, Tristan Strong is a hella ambitious first novel that felt like an entire world being built in front of your eyes. I am really dang impressed with this!

Okay, now with the initial swooning out of the way, let’s get into it.

Tristan Strong is a 7th grader who has had a tough time of late. After losing his best friend, Eddie, in a horrific bus crash, Tristan is struggling with his grief and feels like no one understands him.

His parents decide to send him to Alabama for a month with his grandparents to help with his recovery.

Yeah, he’s not super crazy about the idea either. Nonetheless, he heads off with them with only his best friend’s journal to truly remind him of home.

On his first night there, the most bizarre thing happens. Some sort of little doll baby thing steals Eddie’s journal from him and takes off.

Tristan gives chase. It’s all he has left of Eddie. He needs that thing back. He follows the doll baby into some creepy woods and around the mysterious bottle tree.

There as he is wrestling to retrieve the journal, he inadvertently punches a hole in the fabric of the universe, opening up a hole to another world, named MidPass.

This is where things get crazy. I can’t even go on to describe all that happens next, you will just have to read for yourself. This story is full of action, African folklore, mythology, African-American history, the power of words, stories coming to life and a boy finding the hero within himself.

I was so impressed with the level of Mbalia’s writing. So detailed, so funny, so engaging. All of the things. You may wonder why I decided to give this 4.5-stars versus a full 5 and really it boils down to the scope.

I think the book was a little long for my taste. I sort of feel like this story could have been broken down into two books. There were moments too, that there was so much going on, I felt a little confused.

However, with that being said, that is such a minor thing and totally personal preference. This is such a fantastic, important story. I urge everyone to pick it up!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Book Group and Rick Riordan Presents, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I greatly appreciate it. Kwame Mbalia is a gift to the world and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

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Review: American Predator by Maureen Callahan

~ megs14malloy

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st CenturyAmerican Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Meg’s advice for October:

Read.
This.
Book.

Me upon completion:

You want to feel this way in Spooktober, don’t you???
Quite honestly, this was by far the most disturbing book I read all month.

American Predator is a nonfiction account of the capture and subsequent investigation of serial killer, Israel Keyes. Fortunately for the reader, this is much more than a droll portrayal of one monster’s heinous crimes. This is a compelling recounting of the investigation of his case, beginning with his final kill and going backward through time.

I thought this was a clever formatting choice by the author. It made the story seem more like you were part of the investigation versus starting at the beginning of his life and moving forward that way.

Reading about Israel was completely disturbing for me. Here was a man, a contemporary of mine, born in the same year, and to walk through his crimes was shocking. The fact that he traveled extensively in the state where I was living at the time was the icing on the cake.

His level of arrogance yet ability to plan and to leave no evidence was bone-chilling. He used his knowledge of surveillance and technology to constantly fly under the radar. One would think his arrogance could possibly make him slip up but it never really did until the final case when it seems things were beginning to unravel a bit.

Making the case even more disturbing was the seemingly random selection of his victims. There’s so much more but I don’t want to give anything away.

In short, read this book.

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Review: The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco

~ megs14malloy

The Girl from the Well (The Girl from the Well, #1)The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When the hosts of the Dragons & Tea Book Club announced this as our October pick, I was genuinely excited. A YA horror novel I had never heard of, I was completely intrigued.

Then I discover people comparing the vibe to one of my favorite horror movies of the early 2000s, The Grudge, and I was sold!

I am so happy to report that I really enjoyed this. I could not put it down once I started. I love this type of horror. It was smart and visceral with great characters and atmosphere.

One of the biggest surprises of this book was the perspective from which it is told. A 300-year old vengeful spirit is our narrator. She becomes tied to our protagonist, a troubled boy named Tark, and we follow along with them as she tries to protect him from others out to do him harm.

It’s hard to talk about this book without giving too much away. It was a very engaging plot with a lot of Japanese cultural influences which I found just so interesting. The cultural perspectives in regards to spirits, the afterlife and all things related to those topics, it was really well done. I seriously would consider reading this again because I am sure that I missed a ton of fine details.

During the course of the story our characters travel from suburban American to Japan. It is there that the creepiness begins to kick it up a notch. We have ancient temples, local folklore and legends, crazy ass doll rituals and Shinto exorcisms.

This story is very graphic and definitely doesn’t shy away from violence on page. Some of the scenes were hard to read. The narrators detachment in the midst of violence, pain and suffering was truly unsettling. Well done on Chupeco’s part. That has to be hard to write consistently from that perspective.

I was really impressed with this overall. It wasn’t perfect. There were some points in the narrative that were a tad confusing or even repetitive but overall, very solid horror story.

I definitely plan to pick up more books from this author in the future!

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Review: Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

~ megs14malloy

Alien: EchoAlien: Echo by Mira Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Okay. I like it.
I’m pleased I read it.

Fun, quick and gory.

Definitely a solid creature feature. If you are looking for a book with monsters this month, this would definitely fulfill that desire. 

ALIEN monsters!

This story follows twins, Olivia and Violet, who have recently moved to a new colony on a distant planet. Their parents are xenobiologists and they travel frequently, getting called to far off places to research new found alien life.

Violet is suffering from a debilitating illness that keeps her secluded in their home and sends Olivia out to navigate the new landscape on her own.

Attending school without her twin, Olivia is just trying to fit in and make the best of things. She has her first crush on a girl in her class so is pretty much dealing with things any teen would deal with.

Well, maybe a little more than that. She has always wanted to be more involved in her parent’s work and feels disappointed that they seem to still be treating her like a child. When her parents receive a call to explore an abandoned ship, they again tell her she is not to participate.

Luckily for her, she doesn’t. Things don’t end so well for a lot of others however.

An apex predator is introduced to this colony world via the abandoned ship. Even if you aren’t a xenobiologist, you probably understand that is not a good thing. Before they know it, the girls are literally fighting for their lives trying to escape the planet.

This little book has a lot of action and a ton of graphic gore and violence. Let that fact determine whether or not this book is for you. I personally enjoyed that aspect of it.

I wasn’t as crazy about the length. It was really short. I think the entirety of the book takes place in a day or two therefore I never felt fully immersed. Also, it definitely gets a bit romance heavy toward the end and in a way that was a little jarring, it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the story.

Grant’s writing is excellent though, there is no denying that. Overall, there was nothing outstanding about this but it was a quick, fun read. I think this would be an ideal book to pick up for a readathon because of its length and it could potentially fit a lot of varying prompts.

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Review: Campfire by Shawn Sarles

~ megs14malloy

CampfireCampfire by Shawn Sarles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up because I feel this book deserves a higher overall rating**

((How’s that for honesty?))

When Maddie Davenport heads on a friends and family camping trip she has no idea that it is a trip that will change her life. But we all know what happens when teens go camping.

Y’all, this book is a teen slasher flick come to the page. If you enjoy the campy, bloody, sometimes ridiculous movies like Cabin Fever, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Friday the 13th, House of Wax or Wrong Turn, I think you could enjoy this.

It’s all about the mindset you go into a book with. I was looking for a campy, silly slasher that would make me nostalgic for my Junior High years, devouring every Fear Street book I could get my hands on. This did that. It gave me exactly that.

This does definitely read on the younger side of YA so if you aren’t into Tween reads, I would steer clear. I would put this at a target audience of 7th through 10th grade, which is completely fine. People in that age group deserve to have books too and for a fun, Spooktober read, this is great.

The writing is simplistic and the storyline was easy to follow. There are a ton of flawed characters to hate on so when bodies start dropping, you probably won’t shed too many tears.

If you are looking for a quick read, something to remind you of your younger years, when you first started to learn that scaring yourself was fun, you should probably check this one out. I was laughing out loud to the cheesy lines at the end. It was a good time. Glad I picked it up and I feel like you should too!

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Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

~ megs14malloy

The FuriesThe Furies by Katie Lowe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

A girl found dead on the grounds of a prestigious, all-girls private school. So, the mystery begins.

As a reader, you do not know the identity of the girl. Fun, right? Then begins out protagonist, Violet, telling of her days at the school and the events leading up to the mysterious death.

You grab your popcorn and settle in for what is sure to be an intense murder mystery and then it’s not.

There was so much about this book that should have worked for me. It was described as being set at a private school in a sleepy, coastal town. YES! Give me that.

I love that type of atmosphere and literally seek it out in books. I live on an island out in the middle of the ocean for goodness sake! My life is a sleepy, coastal town. I never really felt that sense of place though while reading this. The atmosphere just wasn’t there for me. It could have been anywhere.

Violet, the new girl at the school, is odd and unsure and desperate to fit in. When Robin befriends her, she is smitten right away. Robin seems dangerous and way more mature than Violet. Two other girls, Alex and Grace, ultimately make up their group of four. This set-up was very reminiscent of The Craft which also should have worked for me as that is one of my favorite movies, EVER.

Again, it just fell flat for me. The relationships were never intriguing or captivating enough. I didn’t believe it. The girls are in sort of a secret group that is headed up by one of their teachers. She teaches them about the classics and the history of the school itself, which was once the setting for witch trials and executions.

Okay, great. That all sounds interesting as well but the school stuff was just so boring to me. Perhaps if I was a bigger fan of the classics in question, of myths and legends, such as ‘the furies’ I would have been more into that aspect. Sadly, I am just not so fear it went heinously over my head.

Then the girls beginning dabbling in occult practices trying to harness magic for themselves. As expected they push it way too far with dire consequences. This was the one aspect of the book that kept me reading but even this, used in their eyes for revenge, I ended up feeling lost amidst all the details.

I’m not sure if it was the format that put me off or the fact that the writing, although using intelligent topics, words, structure, etc., it just felt so technical. It lacked heart. I am not sure if I am expressing this correctly or not, I just felt the entire story lacked emotion. I never, ever connected with it.

I know a lot of people are going to enjoy this as all the basic elements are in place for a solid story. Just personally, it wasn’t for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an opportunity to read and review this book. I know this is a debut for this author and I would be interested in reading whatever she releases next.

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