Genre: Supernatural

The second entry in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series, What Feasts At Night is another atmospheric novella that prioritizes its foreboding tone paired with its vaguely historic 19th century setting. Unlike What Moves the Dead which was a modern retelling of the classic short poem the Fall of the House of Usher, What Feasts At Night is an original story set in the overgrown woods of the fictional country of Gallacia involving a local superstition in the area affecting Alex Easton’s inherited hunting lodge. While the general tone is carried over from the first novella, the actual plot felt considerably slower paced and lacked the tense buildup that I previously reviewed and appreciated. The “horror” elements were also quite brief and left me a bit underwhelmed despite the appropriately balanced prose and Easton’s signature sarcastic soldier humor. Carrying over majority of Kingfisher’s original cast characters outside of Edgar Allen Poe’s (with the exception of Dr. Denton who is apparently featured as a main character in the upcoming 3rd novella due to be published next year), What Feasts At Night benefits from all of the exposition and Gallacia world-building that was previously introduced in the first book. I had previously critiqued how the first book’s start felt too slow due…

Cute, cozy, hints of the supernatural, and a habitual schemer, Happy Medium had a genius premise and all the elements of an amazing romantic dramedy. I had previously read Mrs. Nash’s Ashes so I had an idea of what I was getting into, and I had hoped that Sarah Adler’s sophomore novel would be able to improve on Nash’s disappointing and contrived climax/conclusion. Despite being paced more evenly and feeling more refined page to page, overall I found Happy Medium to suffer from similar issues of dumb character logic (2nd half only), melodrama that doesn’t have sufficient build-up (again 2nd half only), and a concluding plot twist that ruins most of its intriguing plot potential. On the plus side, I quite enjoyed FMC Gretchen’s spiky personality and devious wit. Constantly trying to plan out her moves, both to convince Charlie that his farm is haunted and to safeguard her investment with her spirit medium client, I thought the first half of the book worked quite well; albeit feeling a bit slow for my taste. Although her sparring and enemies to friends to lovers arc with Charlie was good, her enemies to friends banter with the ghost Everett was the real…

I’m starting to detest the genre and book descriptor “thriller” or “horror” as it sets an unfair expectation for a twisty, fast-paced, intense reading experience which doesn’t fit many books classified under it. And to be frank, Riley Sager’s Middle of the Night is NOT fast-paced nor intense (by my standards anyway), and even calling it slow burn might be a stretch at times. However, despite the slow pacing for almost 60% of the book (slow even by Riley Sager standards), I still found it to be a rewarding and surprisingly sophisticated read! This is my 3rd Riley Sager novel that I’ve had the pleasure of reading and it’s definitely not one that I would recommend if someone has never read any of his other books before. The pacing is deliberately slow and there’s a decently large ensemble cast of characters to keep track of. Constantly jumping between two time perspectives, the bulk of the story is told from the present day perspective of Ethan Marsh as a grown 40yr old, thirty years after the disappearance of his friend and neighbor Billy. Despite much of the past perspective taking place over the course of a few days and the present…

Described as an urban fantasy (or rather urban supernatural?) novel with a polyamorous setup between the main characters, I spent the entire first half of the novel baffled at what I was reading and what the book was trying to accomplish. Despite an intriguing synopsis detailing a plot with a demon contract, the occult, and a secret society, all of these seemingly interesting plot elements felt sidelined for character relationships and drama. I had to ask a friend who also read this to see if this would be considered romantasy or rather, romance-supernatural since it kept making bizarre relationship-focused choices that sacrificed time that could’ve been spent on the main plot. That’s fine if a book commits and does a deep dive into that, after all the romance crossover genres are thriving. However, despite spending almost all of its time on its poly relationships, Evocation unfortunately fails to make that focus interesting to read or care about. I will be the first to admit that I am not well-read in the dynamics or structure of polyamorous relationships (watching a few Anthony Padilla interview videos on the matter probably isn’t enough to count). However, my problems and disinterest with the content…

Immersive, atmospheric, imaginative and of course gothic, Alix E. Harrow is an amazing storyteller and it’s immediately clear to me why Starling House has its following. The estate’s vivid descriptions and Eden’s somber setting set a distinctive scene that envelopes the reader in its quiet and character-focused narrative. The book’s is also full of elements that feels specially catered towards millennial/gen z contemporary readers; excessive footnotes (this one peeved me though), heavy emphasis and themes on mental health, stigmatism and judgement against those who are different, cynicism of the American dream/working economy), and several LGBTQ+ characters (though one character’s bi/pansexuality feel randomly tossed it and has nothing to do with anything apart from checking genre/bookTok boxes). Despite the cover and synopsis heavily focusing on the title house, the story is mostly a character-driven one focused on the world and people seen through Opal’s eyes as she struggles to make ends meets for her brother Jasper’s sake. Unfortunately, this novel lives and dies by Opal’s character and both her character and the tone of the story were not for me (subjective opinions, objectively this book is well-written). The majority of the book heavily hinges on Opal’s feeling of being judged, neglected,…