B-Horror

Review: Let’s Split Up (Let’s Split Up #1) by Bill Wood

~ megs14malloy ~ Leave a comment

Let's Split Up (Let's Split Up, #1)Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Let’s Split Up is an entertaining YA Horror novel that made me nostalgic for the scary stories of my youth. This is a multi-perspective story that follows a group of teens in the small town of Sanera, California.

Amber, Jonesy and Cam have been best friends for years, and when new girl, Buffy, arrives, led by Amber, they quickly envelop her into their crew.

Prior to meeting our group though, we get a Prologue, where two of their popular classmates, Brad and Shelley, exploring an abandoned estate, Carrington Manor, end up getting brutally murdered.

That’s how this book kicks off, and it definitely sets the stage for what’s to come. The deaths of the two students rocks their local high school, and our main cast is caught up in the consequences of all of that.

Rumors fly around the small town that the Carrington ghoul is responsible for Brad and Shelley’s deaths, but could that really be true? A paranormal entity is hard to fathom.

When they don’t trust the local authorities to figure out what happened to their classmates, Cam, Jonesy, Amber and Buffy decide to investigate themselves, heading to Carrington Manor to dig around.

When things take a turn, and they find themselves in danger, they decide to split up in hopes of getting answers faster, thus breaking a widely recognized rule in Horror.

From there it’s balls to wall craziness as these kids just try to survive their town day-to-day. No matter the danger, they’re determined to crack this case.

Let’s Split Up was a lot of fun. The author mentioned in his acknowledgements at the end that he had wanted to explore what it would be like if Scooby-Doo was scarier, and I think he definitely succeeded.

This gave me all the Scooby-Doo vibes, with a touch of Scream mixed in, making it a truly entertaining YA Horror story. I love that there’s already a 2nd-book set to release in the Spring. I’ll definitely be reading it.

This is super trope-filled though, I do want to caution you, in case you don’t enjoy books like that, but for me, I thought that aspect was so fun.

Personally, specifically in YA Horror, I love to see all the tropes. It makes it feel more nostalgic for me, bringing me back to the stories I enjoyed as a youngster, when I first fell in love with my most favorite genre.

It’s pure entertainment. The characters were fun and I enjoyed their relationships a lot. I think it will be fun to follow them again on different cases. They have so much room to grow, and I wanna be there for it.

Initially, I wasn’t crazy about getting three different perspectives — Jonesy, Amber and Cam — but I did come to really enjoy that aspect. I think as the story continued it started to make more sense for it to be told that way.

Overall, I think this was a really enjoyable read. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but I like how it didn’t take itself too seriously. It was revisiting some of the best tropes in Horror, and I adored the added Scooby-Doo vibes. As mentioned above, I’m looking forward to the 2nd-book.

Thank you so much to Scholastic for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to reading more from Bill Wood!

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Review: Breath In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley

~ megs14malloy

Breathe In, Bleed OutBreathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Breathe In, Bleed Out follows Hannah, a young woman plagued by grief after losing her fiancé on a wilderness excursion.

No one knows the truth of what happened the day Ben died, and Hannah would like to keep it that way. She remembers though, and it haunts her so much she’s finding it hard to function in every day life.

When her friend group gets invited to an exclusive Wellness Retreat by Joshua Tree, and she mentions it to her therapist, he thinks it’s a great idea and encourages her to go.

In spite of her doubts, Hannah reluctantly agrees. Perhaps it’s the fresh start she needs. It can’t hurt, right?

As she joins her best friend, Tess, and the rest of their friend group, making their way to Joshua Tree, I quickly wondered, why are these people friends? Or more specifically, why are they friends with Hannah? Offense sort of intended.

It’s an odd group, but nevertheless, I was along for the ride. When they get to the town abutting the retreat, the real Slasher vibe starts to set-in. Including a run-in with a hostile local, and a potential historical aspect that could lend its influence to future killings.

And even though I was starting to really enjoy these classic Slasher elements, the character work veered quite quickly into eye roll territory. The stereotypes overfloweth, and Hannah was the biggest jerk amongst them, IMO.

I was feeling like I should have been rooting for her as a potential final girl, yet I found myself rooting for her to be the first victim.

Ultimately, those feelings continued for the rest of the book. While it was a fun Slasher story, it felt very uneven in enjoyment for me as well.

I do appreciate McAuley sticking to a true Slasher style, but at times it leaned too heavily into the character interactions and since they were all so annoying, I just didn’t care.

Therefore, I loved the kills and hated the characters. Frankly, I wish the killer would have taken out more of them…

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this one didn’t knock it out of the park for me, I would be interested in checking out more from this author.

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Review: The Cut by C.J. Dotson

~ megs14malloy

The CutThe Cut by C.J. Dotson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

After fleeing an abusive relationship, Sadie Miles, with her toddler, Izzy, in tow, ends up at the L’Arpin Hotel, a historic property on the edge of Lake Eerie.

She’s not there for rest and relaxation though, she’s there for a job. When she’s offered a position as a housekeeper, which includes a free room at the hotel, she jumps at the offer. She’s beyond desperate.

We follow Sadie as she tries to navigate her new circumstance, having to do things that make her uncomfortable, such as leaving Izzy alone with an elderly woman she just met, so that she can get her work done.

It’s not just those necessary actions that are making her uncomfortable though, there’s a lot around the hotel that is odd; including, but not limited to, the people.

Individuals go missing, and there’s definitely something in the water, or the pipes, or food. The higher-ups seem to be covering-up, but what? And what about the man from the power plant, always yelling and carrying on, like she’s done something to him. What is going on here?

Sadie, like many great Horror characters before her, isn’t willing to let any of this stuff go. She’s determined to figure out the truth behind the hotel, even if she needs to put herself in peril in order to do so.

I had fun with this one. The Cut has a great set-up, and it did succeed at keeping me guessing and compelled to move forward with the unsettling narrative.

It reminded me of one of those Creature Feature movies from the late-70s/mid-80s, that had like ants that had grown to the size of houses and ate entire towns.

Were they super logical? No. Did they keep you entertained on a rainy Saturday afternoon? Absolutely. This is the vibe I got and I’m not complaining about it.

This is solid B-Horror, and don’t take that as an insult, because it’s not. I love B-Horror. It’s pure entertainment, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It tells a story, gives you thrills, chills, and keeps you at the edge of your seat.

I will say, Sadie’s daughter, Izzy, drove me absolutely nuts. I would have enjoyed this even more if she hadn’t been in it. I know that seems mean, but it is what it is.

Overall, though, this was a fun ride. It had some issues, but at the end of the day, I didn’t really care. I actually Buddy Read this and it was a fun one to try to guess what was really happening. Which by the way, I was no where near guessing.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copies to read and review. I highly recommend the audio format if you have it available to you. The narration was a great fit for the tone of the story!

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