We’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. This meme invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.
This week’s book is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. I surprisingly only added this book to my Goodreads TBR in 2018 but I first heard about it back in 2006/7! So while it hasn’t been on my GR TBR for long, it’s been a known entity for a while! It’s a historical fiction, horror and thriller that has 4.02 stars with 286k+ ratings and 12.9k+ reviews. Pretty good ratings, I think!
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.
Ever since picking up Neverwhere two years ago, Gaiman quickly climbed to the top of my favorite authors list. So when I picked this up and really struggled to get into it, I felt just a little bit disappointed. But then I saw it on Audible as narrated by Gaiman himself, and with a credit to spare, decided to try it out—after all, who wouldn’t love to have him read to them? His voice is so soothing!If you tried or try to read this and can’t seem to get into it, I’d highly recommend giving the audiobook a chance. But with that said, this was truly one of the stranger and more horrifying tales that I’ve readand while it was…an interesting journey, it’s safe to say that it’s not my favourite book by Gaiman.
“Grown-ups don’t look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”
Goodreads:Rules for Vanishing Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers Publication Date: 24 September 2019 Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal Fantasy, Mystery
Panda Rating: (4 pandas)
In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.
Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?
It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.
It’s time for another Top 5 Saturday, a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and this week’s topic is: books with the scariest covers. If you don’t know me by now I’m letting you in on a not-so-big-secret: I’m a BIG chicken. Like, all the ghosty-spooky things are really not my jam! So it should come as no surprise that I have few to no books with scary covers on my shelf. I actually just acquired one today and since figuring out what’s on the cover, I’ve been sufficiently freaked out 😂Just to be clear, I had to look up some scary covers for this one and I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be sleeping with the lights on tonight 🙃Also, I totes realize that what’s scary for me probably won’t be that scary for others; I’m really that much of a wuss! LOL (and of course a dog starts barking loudly and abruptly while I’m writing this post, shattering the complete silence of the evening. How am I getting to sleep tonight?!)
Rules for Vanishing by Katie Alice Marshall I honestly didn’t figure out what was on this cover until I saw it about six times. When it clicked I just went: OMFG and closed the tab. Of course when I saw it at the bookstore today I went ahead and picked it up anyway — my excuse is that I’m challenging myself to read outside of my comfort zone this month? I’m really just a masochist who loves to torture herself by getting even less sleep than usual!
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson I haven’t read this book but I’ve seen the movie and all I can remember from it are the dogs that die and that absolutely broke my heart 😭This cover is sufficiently creepy though! Especially with that red background!?
Unwind (Unwind Dystology #1) by Neal Shusterman The whole silhouette of the hand pressed up against a barrier is one of those ‘iconic’ creepy pictures that never fails to have goosebumps breaking out over my skin. It’s just CREEPY AF.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Graham-Greene and Jane Austen I remember how shook I was the first time I saw this cover. I almost dropped the book in shock and immediately looked away. I came back to it after mustering some guts and found myself oddly repelled and fascinated by the zombie half of such an iconic image 😂
Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps #7) by R.L. Stine Look, I know this is kids book, but can you tell me you don’t get at least a little bit freaked out when looking at that cover? I mean… DUMMIES. CREEPY DUMMIES. I honestly can’t believe I ever checked this book out of the library as a kid (let alone the countless other Goosebumps tales I devoured). Pretty sure that I already hated dolls/dummies by the time I picked this one up LOL
Alright, that’s it folks. I’m now off to read something HAPPY AND FLUFFY to get these images out of my head! We’re totally fine. What are some of the scariest covers you can think of? Are you a lover of things that go bump? Maybe come let me know in the comments and let’s chat? 😂
It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: books I enjoyed outside my comfort zone. If you’ve been following me for a little while, then I’m sure you’ll have come across my mentions of the genres that I don’t read often or are out of my comfort zone: non-fiction, horror and magical realism (I know that last one isn’t a genre, but never mind that lol). As I don’t read these genres often I don’t have that many books on my lists to list. I’m always trying to read more NF though, and I’m not entirely opposed to more magical realism if it’s the right book for me!
The Ocean At the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman I think Gaiman treads a very fine line between fantasy and magical realism and sometimes I honestly don’t know which to classify his books by. Most of the time I just say it’s fantasy though because the stories are too fantastical to be otherwise. I think The Ocean falls onto the magical realism side of the spectrum. Set in the English countryside, this is one of the eeriest children’s stories I’ve read!
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell I’ve tried reading Cloud Atlas a dozen times but have struggled hard to keep going. I didn’t think Mitchell’s writing was for me, so I don’t know why I picked up The Bone Clocks. I think I was looking for something outside the box and this fit the bill. It was incredibly weird, but Mitchell’s writing quickly sucked me in and I found myself growing very fond of the characters! This has a heavier dose of magical realism than I normally enjoy, so I’m surprised that I absolutely loved it!
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned this book a million times by now but it’s honestly one of my favorite non-fictions (disregarding the fact I hardly read NF so the list is short). It read like fiction and sucked me in completely. Never did I think I’d read a NF so fast (one night) but I couldn’t put it down!
Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan I read this e-ARC earlier this year and it was a joy to read! It was a bit like chatting to a friend and listening to them regale their mishaps and triumphs over the last year that you haven’t seen them. Pan is absolutely hilarious, and I found myself clutching my stomach with laughter at the situations she found herself in and most especially, the thoughts that ran through her head (because same). As a (sh)introvert I related to this so much and would 100% recommend it! Check out my review.
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan I really don’t know how I didn’t realize this book had magical realism in it but I’m glad I didn’t because otherwise I would’ve put off reading it and I would’ve missed a beautiful & heartbreaking story. I loved the Asian representation, and the exploration of grief, acceptance and healing. It was touching!
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay This book… Was just. This book! It’s an uncomfortable and difficult read as Gay is brutally honest and doesn’t hold back in the telling of her story. But so many of her words felt like a punch in the gut with how much they hit home. Really one of the best I’ve read this year! Check out my review.
Naturally Tan by Tan France I love Queer Eye. Like, I would do things for that show! It’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it’s like free therapy and I’m HERE FOR IT. With that out of the way, I’m so glad that I read Tan France’s memoir. It was funny AF and pretty inspirational. If you’re curious about Tan and want to know more about how this Brit came to be in America in QE or if you’re just looking for a light NF read, go to the bookstore and get this one now!
Born A Crime: Stories from A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah This was my first audiobook and it blew me away. Everything about listening to Trevor Noah tell his story was perfection. I love his comedy so deciding to listen to his book wasn’t a hard decision. His stories were terrifying, hilarious, and astounding, and it was very inspiring to see how far he’s come!
Sourdough by Robin Sloan This book brought me a surprising amount of joy! I loved Mr. Penumbra’s, my first Sloan book, but I didn’t have (m)any expectations about this one. I didn’t think I’d fall in love with the incredibly quirky characters and events, or with the weird but oddly charming elements of magical realism!
The Ruins by Scott Smith This book was bloody terrifying. Like, I didn’t look at nature the same way again for quite a while. Despite knowing I’ll be shit scared, I’m a sucker for stories set in Mexican jungle cause you just know bad shit is gonna happen. This was gruesome and horrifying and while it’s maybe not a favorite, I can’t believe I still managed to enjoy it (while being simultaneously super duper creeped out)!
What are books you enjoyed outside your comfort zone? If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! 🙂
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life. Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
This book has received a lot of love in the community and I think I had pretty high expectations going into it, so I was little bit flummoxed that it ended up being very different to what I expected. That’s not necessarily in a bad way, but I think this might be a big case of it’s not you, it’s me. I mean, I liked it well enough but I didn’t love it. I read this as part of a big group read on Twitter, and they’re continuing on with the series throughout the month but I think I’ll put off continuing it for now.
SJTR was told through the perspective of Audrey Rose Wadsworth, who was smart, fiercely independent and very ahead of the times for that period, and she wasn’t at all shy to show it. I found her rebellious and spunky character refreshing. I love that she was a bit of a nerd, who just wanted to do cool things like autopsies and solve murders, but that she also loved fancy clothes and dressing up. She spends the majority of the story with her uncle, a famous doctor who people think is insane, and Thomas Creswell. Everyone who has read this book seems to have loved Creswell’s character the most. He definitely gave me Sherlock vibes, with his observant deductions and brilliant mind, but I liked that he was also sassy, sarcastic and bold. I felt a little like the romance between Audrey and Thomas was a little insta-love and I wasn’t actually here for it (sorry, please don’t kill me)! I just didn’t feel any spark between them and because of that their romantic interactions fell flat and felt forced! With how quickly the romance evolved between Audrey and Thomas, it was easy to forget the period which this was set in. If it was realistic, half the things that happened with Audrey traipsing around on her own, and especially alone with men, would not have happened. I mean, we’re talking the late 1880s here, so it’s a bit unrealistic. While the more modern tones of the story made it a much easier read than it would’ve been otherwise, I think it also detracted from the whole vibe/setting of the story.
I’ve always had a morbid fascination with the ‘legend’ of serial killers and murderers, and Jack the Ripper is one of the most infamous even until now. While reading, the names of his victims were familiar, but since the last time I went into a spiral binge of reading up on The Ripper was over a decade ago, I didn’t actually remember all the details of what he did to them. So I really enjoyed the fictional liberties that Maniscalco took to develop this story around his legend, while still remaining as close to what happened as possible. I also appreciated Maniscalco’s author’s note that detailed what she took liberties with. That said, I was a little shocked by how easily I deduced who Jack the Ripper was. I won’t say that I figured it out from the very beginning, but it was like a lightning strike moment when I figured it out and I was a little upset that Audrey didn’t see the <b>very obvious</b> clue that was like a big, bright red waving flag in front of her. I ended up wanting to shout at her for the rest of the book because it was SO OBVIOUS and the fact that Thomas didn’t pick up on it when he’s supposed to be a genius who sees everything, was kind of disappointing. I thought the ending was also a bit too rushed, and I was a little disappointed with how it was so… easily resolved and a little too picture perfect happy for such a horrifying story!
Another thing I appreciated was the detail of added photos to some of the chapters. I always find black and white photos a little creepy, even when they’re innocent, and these fit so well with the content of the story. I think only one of them, which I wasn’t expecting at all, gave me a right fright when I was reading this at around 3am on Friday/Saturday, and so I made sure to check the photos ahead of time (during the day!) so I wouldn’t get another shocker. I will say though that this book was a lot darker and more gory than I anticipated, so a word of caution if you’re looking to pick it up and aren’t so good with gore!
I was thinking about going straight into Hunting Prince Dracula, but I’m glad that I didn’t because it would’ve been too much for me. Apparently as I get older my constitution gets weaker LOL I am interested in continuing the series eventually though. So while I did enjoy this thrilling historical fiction, I felt a little too detached from the characters to really fall in love with the story. I’d still recommend it to anyone who likes a thrilling mystery, historical fiction, quirky characters and great banter, as well as a strong female lead ahead of her time.
Have you read Stalking Jack the Ripper? Did it live up to the hype for you?Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!
It’s time for another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!
There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy. Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter’s idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite. Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter will say I’m a villain, that I wronged him, that I never was his friend. Peter Lies.
Why do I want to read it?
The story of Peter Pan wasn’t necessarily my favorite growing up (because I remember it scared me a little lol) but I always found myself drawn back to the many movie adaptations of it over the years, even until now. Hook used to always creep me out a little but as I grew older, I became more curious about him. Where did he come from? Why did he hate Peter so much? And of course, his history with that croc! The movies don’t really cover it all that much, but also, they always show Peter off in the best light. The book blurb sounds like Henry exposes a sinister side to Peter Pan that I’m actually really interested in seeing. The Lost Boy sounds deliciously dark and I’m excited to read from a traditional ‘villain’s’ POV.
Have you read The Lost Boy or is it also on your TBR? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!
Goodreads: The Woods (Vol. 1-9) Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Dystopia, LGBTQ+ Panda Rating:
On October 16, 2013, 437 students, 52 teachers, and 24 additional staff from Bay Point Preparatory High School in suburban Milwaukee, WI vanished without a trace. Countless light years away, far outside the bounds of the charted universe, 513 people find themselves in the middle of an ancient, primordial wilderness. Where are they? Why are they there? The answers will prove stranger than anyone could possibly imagine.
I was feeling a little unwell on Monday and so I took a sick day and spent the whole day in bed reading. While I “should’ve” been reading the ARC for Mrs. Everything, I found myself looking at the graphic novels in my collection and randomly started The Woods, unsure of what I’d encounter but I was intrigued enough by the premise and the artwork. Next thing I know, it was late evening, I hadn’t left my bed all day, and I had come to the final episodes of the series. This graphic novel sucked me right in. It’s extremely weird, a lot more graphic than I thought, but really enjoyable sci-fi/fantasy/horror that I just couldn’t put it down. I’m not a big fan of horror but this one wasn’t so bad. Although the art work definitely accentuated the horrifying and gruesome aspects of the story. The art work wasn’t the type that I’m normally attracted to in graphic novels (i.e. modern, clean and sharp lines) but this rough style and coloring really suited the story. The colors and the drawing style really leant the comic a rough, dark air which was fitting with the plot, and it reminded me a lot of the work in earlier comics, especially the superhero ones. **Not that I’m an expert or anything**
The Woods begins 25 minutes after Bay Point has been transported to this alien moon thick with dense woodland, and we go back in time a bit to learn about the main characters in the story, and to find out what was happening prior to the school’s vanishing. From then on a lot happens right away and also the whole storyline moves very quickly. There is a mysterious alien triangle that captivates one of the students, terrifying bloodthirsty monsters start coming out of the woods, and a group of five students band together to journey into the woods and to find out where they are, how they got there and how they can get home.
The characters in this story were so diverse; there were many queer characters, from such a wide mix of race and socioeconomic backgrounds. I grew attached to so many of them along the way! I loved how well we got to know the main characters in the story. We get an insight into defining moments in their lives, including parts of their childhood, and because of that their character arcs were really rich. Although quite a few characters irritated me at the start of the story, Karen especially, I thought their character growth throughout the story was really well done and my perspectives on them really changed by the end. No doubt though, my favorites were Ben and (surprisingly) Calder! I love it when we see softer sides to seemingly indifferent or tough characters and these two wormed their way into my heart!
The worldbuilding of this highly bizarre alien planet was truly spectacular and I loved how there ended up being different towns that we discover along the way that were all so full of history–of the people who inhabited the towns and how long they’d been there–and it’s slowly revealed that pockets of people throughout the history of civilization have been magicked to this moon. I won’t lie–there is a lot that happens in this story that leaves you questioning what you’re reading and wondering whether it’s possible for a story to get even more bizarre than it already was in the beginning (spoiler: it’s possible). I also really can’t get into the specifics about what happens without giving the story away, but I was so invested in the characters and their story. While a part of me would’ve also been satisfied for them to just build new lives and stay on this moon, I was really happy with how the author brought everything together for a satisfying conclusion. But I kid you not when I say it’s really bizarre. 😂
Overall, I was really satisfied with this series and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I won’t say I recommend it to everyone because it definitely won’t be to (probably) the majority’s tastes, but if you’re up for highly weird, sci-fi/horror stories with lots of action, then I’d suggest giving it a try!
Have you read The Woods? Does it sound like something you’d be interested in? Also, do you have graphic novel recs?
dinipandareads 