lauriereadslohf's reviews
1518 reviews

Hmmm something about this book and myself simply did not mesh. I had it in my Netgalley queue for far too long and tried my best to give it a thorough read but life is too short and I had to throw in the towel at 50% and start to skim because I was bored. There are an abundance of positive reviews and reviews that find it tons of fun but unfortunately I won't be adding another one today.

I will say that I did enjoy the Spanky (gawd, why that name? OF ALL THE NAMES, WHY?!) daemon character. He had charm and an infectious wickedness but the rest of the book was told from the POV of a dullard named Martyn. And I didn't enjoy reading things from his brain. He was boring, and then when his luck begins to change thanks to his new daemon friend, he becomes super arrogant and his thoughts on women grated on every single one of my last nerves. I had to give it a pass when he takes his dream girl (who is way out of his league) out for a meal and muses to himself about how much food she "ferociously" ate. How she consumed far more calories than her slim body must require. F*cker you should be thankful she sat down with your boring ass at all! He can go walk into the sun now.

This was written in the 90's and it does show its age pretty badly but I'm usually fine with that. This guy though was just far too bland and annoying to carry the story for me and I found none of it amusing so I quit because I have too many good books sitting here that I'll probably love and I'm far too short-tempered for a book that isn't doing it for me.

No rating because I only read half of it, and skipped around to see if it could engage me. When it didn't, I slammed it closed and called it a day. 

This was a cute and not too taxing on the brain or emotions sort of read for me. Two friends struggle to figure their shit out and heartache and angst creep in and threaten to ruin their perfect friendship. But no worries here. The angst won't break you. I wouldn't lead your heart astray like that. There is fun banter and genuine friendship and love that oozes off the pages. I don't think you'll be sorry if you decide to give it a read! I'd call it the perfect beach read but since I haven't seen the beach in two years I'm not doing that *cries* 

Children of Demeter is the third work I’ve read by author E.V. Knight. Dead Eyes was fast-paced and fun and full of eyeballs, The Fourth Whore was an epic and brutal rage-filled tale of Lillith, while Children of Demeter tackles cults, strange goings-on, and a house full of secrets. They’re all unflinching reads with strong female characters and if this is your idea of a good reading time (and how couldn’t it be?!) you’re going to love her writing.

Sarah’s running from her life which imploded when her wayward husband died in an auto accident leaving her reeling with both grief and betrayal. She’s taking a much-deserved sabbatical and buys a home sight unseen with the insurance money. A home rumored to have once housed a cult of women and children who mysteriously disappeared in the ’70s. They were once bountiful farmers with a lush and fruitful harvest but when they disappeared so did any signs of life on the property. The house is in sad shape because no one has been able to live there for very long without fleeing for the hills and the grounds are completely barren of all life because it’s supposedly been cursed by the cult but Sarah doesn’t care. She feels an instant kinship with the run-down house.

“She could only offer it co-misery as she was also bereft of life “ 

Yikes, that all sounds a little depressing, doesn’t it? But don’t you worry, before long it takes a turn over to creepy-strangeville and never looks back. There’s no time here for dwelling on the sad-making thoughts because there are secrets that need revealing. 

Sarah’s planning on researching the cult and starts to poke around and the locals are not happy about it. A few lively side characters show up and before long it feels like everyone in this town is keeping secrets. And I LOVE me a secret-filled book so this was the book for me! I also love me a character who isn’t afraid to do some aggressive snooping like Sarah here. She is my kind of nosy as hell heroine. She doesn’t let strange circumstances, naysayers, party-poopers, and grumpy old men shut her down. Loved it. These secrets aren’t the milquetoast lame ones that fill so many books either so prepare thyself.

The Children of Demeter is unsettling, weird and mysterious and wild and all those great things that'll keep you reading and it’s just the right amount of disorientating. Do yourself a kindness and forget this messed up world for a few hours by spending some time with this book!

Thank you Erin Al-Mehairi & RDS Press for sharing this copy with me.

 

Hmmm, I’m going to have to be the star giving Grinch today and give this one 2 and ½ stars because it didn’t engage me and I pushed through only because I’m nosy and wanted to know the deep dark family secrets. It’s my fault and only mine that I ended up feeling disappointment in the end because this should’ve been a book I quit at the 25% mark when I discovered it wasn’t working for me. Doesn’t mean it won’t work for you, however.

A good chunk of the story sorta plods along with nothing much of interest happening. Finally, after being completely non-curious kittens and non-snoopers for a third of the book, one of the young characters declares:

“We shouldn’t just sit back and wonder what’s happening. We should do something.”

Yes! Finally!! I was excited for things to start getting interesting but that didn’t really happen. There’s a chemistry-free little romance that takes up WAY too much time for my liking but I’m a grouch who needs to feel the connection in my very bones so you may not feel this way. I also do not enjoy it when a writer decides to name all of her characters very similarly. I am easily confused and rarely get to read a book in one sitting so naming your people Adam (or was it Alan?), Archer, Aubrey, Anders & Allison hurt my brain. Who is who? Don’t ask me.

I freely admit that I was taken in by the blurb which sounded pretty amazing and a little VC Andrews-like but the execution fell flat for me. The characters weren’t awful but they also weren’t exciting enough to carry this book for me either. And the secrets weren’t nearly as lurid as I’d hoped (but that’s on me - I’ve been spoiled by other books) but it was the ending that came out of absolutely nowhere that knocked off an entire star and I’m not going into that because it will be a spoiler and this will no longer be a review but a rant and none of us need to be subjected to that. 

Anyhow, these are my thoughts. You may feel differently and that’s perfectly ok..

 

 

I didn’t know a thing about this story before going in, which is probably for the best because it’s about a plague that changes the landscape of the world. I’m not so sure I would’ve been down for all that right now had I known . . . 

But saying that it is also fascinating to read this story during Covid times. It was written before the current pandemic but there are so many eerie similarities here that makes the reading all more chilling. Some things are, of course, taken to whole nother level, but some of it is spot on commentary considering what’s going on in the world today.

The set-up features a mother whose young son is near death from the J5X virus, a virus that is not kind to children. Billy miraculously recovers from the brink of death but he returns with an imaginary friend named Delfy. Everyone believes Delfy is a coping mechanism Billy develops to deal with the trauma of his near-death experience but soon enough Delfy’s influence begins to take a very sinister turn . . . 

And that’s all I’m saying about any of that! 

The story and where it was leading fascinated me. It was just terrifying enough to keep me hooked even when things slow down a bit in the middle. And things did slow down. There was a bit too much extra day to day stuff going on in there for my personal taste but the last third or so picks back up again and it’s worth sticking to, if you ask me.

I liked the family and the storyline and would definitely recommend giving it a read if you’re up for it at this point in time.

 

These Ladies of Horror Fiction are killing it with their new releases! Check it out, it's hard to put down once you start. I loved the friendship here I think as much as the horror. And trust me, there are all kinds of horrors in this story.

Goddess of Filth is a story about a group of friends who drink a little booze and perform a séance. What follows is a bloody, ugly, rage-filled and also hopeful story about expectations, perseverance and a refusal to let others determine your future all amidst an unthinkable horror inhabiting their lives. It mostly follows two of the friends as they deal with the consequences of that fateful drunken night.

It's one you shouldn't miss and that's all I'm saying. 

 Dreams for the Dying is a well balanced collection of horror short stories. A few of them made me long for Halloween to hurry up and get here already. The author also kindly includes notes at the back end of every story and I’m super nosy so I loved reading those! It gives you insight into how many of them came to life and I always find that fascinating.

I am a terrible note taker but I tried my best to take notes on every story here. I *think* I got them all but I also think I do a lot of things that I don’t actually finish so I can’t make any guarantees. Anyhow, I’ll try not to say too much because these are short stories and you should enjoy them without someone on the internet blabbing on about every little detail.

Taken starts things off. It’s about a long-haul trucker doing his best to appease the love of his life. And by “appease” I don’t mean she wants him to bring her home a box of chocolates. Her request makes him nervous but the lovestruck fool makes an attempt and well you’ll have to read the rest - just know that sometimes things work out just fine for all. There’s a dark thread of humor through this story and if you have a twisted sense of humor I think you’ll like it a lot.

Tommy Rotten is a story I read in the anthology Bad Apples 2 🍎 I gave it four stars then and give it the same now, several years later. Tommy “Rotten” longs for a new friend and hopes this Halloween will bring him one. This is fun with a heartwarming ending if you’re (again) the twisted sort.

Vengeance by the Foot is a gruesome little nightmare of a tale! At turns grisly, disturbing and gruesomely comical. Fun stuff. You should read it. Get yourself good and grossed out. We all need that sort of fun in our lives.

Gone You’ll likely see where this one is leading long before the protagonist does but it’s the journey, right? And this is a sad journey one. I probably wouldn’t reread it again because I don’t like sitting in the sad feelings most days but hey you might like the sadness. I’m not here to judge.

Ghost Light Road This is another story I read previously in the Bad Apples anthology a few years back. It a fun tale with bits of gore and dumb young people who are always excellent horror fodder.

Here are my original thoughts which still stand a few years later: Billy was planning on spending Halloween avoiding trick or treaters, watching horror movies and drinking beer but his little sis calls and screws with his plans. Now he and her two friends are off to Ghost Light Road so they can spy a ghost, despite the rumors that people often do not return from their little visit.

These four dummies decide to drink some concoction of booze which may or may not be laced with some magickal mushrooms and, as young drunkards will do, proceed to make some truly dumb ass moves that have them discovering the reason why some folks never return from their trip to Ghost Light Road.

The story takes a bunch of horror clichés and mashes them together into something new. It was fun and a little gory and left me pretty happy with the outcome.

Serving Spirits Natalie’s dad has gone missing somewhere in Haiti while researching his latest novel but he sends her a creepy little something to keep her safe. Ugh, this one made me so ANGRY at the man who was Natalie’s jerky husband but that was the point so well done, haha. This was a little Creepshowesque and I love me some Creepshow so I loved this story too.

Way Out Of Here takes navel gazing to an entirely new level when a lottery winner exhausts all the fun out of life (oh, boo-hoo-hoo) and his never-ending pursuit of fulfillment leads him into an odd predicament. Maybe just be happy with yer life, eh? Because, damn man, things can always be worse! This short story was super strange.

Valley of the Dunes was a fun story about a woman whose dates always exhaust and disappoint. Why must she always be the bad guy and end things? Why are these men so insufferable? So boring? Why, oh why, can’t they just shut up and take a hint? I found this story darkly humorous because I am the way that I am. I don’t know if it was supposed to be funny but I do know that it was a joy to read and I have no complaints here.

The Continuance Agency Hmm, this one felt a bit dreadfully unfinished to me. It set up some good concepts but I felt a little abandoned at the end and things moved way too fast for me. After reading the author notes and doing some 30 seconds of internet research I realized it was supposed to be a serial novel that maybe never happened and now it makes more sense to me.

Trick ‘Em All A lonely, angry, psychopathic teen spills all of his rage out into the pumpkin he’s carving and chaos ensues. This one is grisly! The perfect thing to get you in that Halloween spirit even if it’s still August.

Panacea Ooh this one would fit right in with The Hot Blood series (PLEASE SOMEONE BRING IT BACK how many times must I beg?). This one kicks you right in the heart. Get ready.

A man is watching helplessly as his beloved wife of many decades dies a painful death from cancer. One sleepless night this poor fella succumbs to a miracle cure ad and orders something called “Panacea”, a miracle elixir that claims it can cure cancer. Who can blame a guy for trying? Anyhow it arrives and has a side effect but there’s no way in hell I’m spoiling this one. It has many of my favorite things all wrapped up inside this one little story and it was the perfect ending to this collection.

Sorry for all the words but I hope you give this one a go. There are some real gems inside this here book and I highly recommend it. 

I listened to this audiobook courtesy of Netgalley. I was excited to give it a listen when I saw it listed in the horror category and the write-up mentioned “echoes of Misery”. But, most unfortunately, I’m rating it a 2 which on my personal scale means I didn’t like it all that much.

There are so many reviews here that are adoring this book and I always agonize over reviewing a book when I dislike it but it’s a NetGalley title and there’s an unspoken promise that the reader provide a review so here it is. Sorry in advance.

Dream Girl is told from the point of view of a 61-year-old man named Gerry. Gerry is a wealthy writer who took a tumble and broke his leg(s) and damaged his back and is now incapacitated in his expensive apartment and at the complete mercy of his daytime assistant and his night nurse. Gerry thinks he’s simply the best. A nice guy who treats all women well. But his thoughts tell you a different story. He’s rude, judgemental, and, well, a pretty damn awful specimen of manhood. He also reads more like a late 70’s man to me with his oldie references and ignorance of technology and his inability to keep up with modern times. Maybe he’s just a terrible old soul. Who am I to say?

Now I know someone is going to yell at me so I have to say that I do enjoy books featuring an awful character or two. I mean, I read horror, so many awful people reside in horror but here are two recent reads if you don’t believe me: (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3867038160?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 & https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3999604942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1)  I love to hate a despicable character as much as most people but Gerry was not only awful, he was boring. It’s the boring combined with the awful that killed it for me. Gerry’s a very unreliable narrator too and I’m sick of that a little bit but that’s not the fault of this book, that’s on me for reading too many of them the past two years. He’s being drugged up and he fades in and out of dreamland and the story jumps around in time to hit the reader up with tales of Gerry’s past which only serve to prove he was boring then too. He was also a womanizer who talked himself into believing he wasn’t. How this man managed to catch himself three beautiful wives and several exes is beyond my comprehension. I know he has money but he also has a terrible personality and an unattractive penis (his ex shared that delightful tidbit!) and he claims they all still adore him. Oh Gerry. I almost felt sorry for him for this complete lack of self-awareness until I didn’t . . . But I suppose that is the gist of this story. We’re not supposed to like Gerry but it would’ve been great if he weren’t such a dull villain.

I don’t want to say too much because this is a thriller and things can be easily spoiled. I’ll only say that it takes a long while for something murderous to happen and when it does things start to get a little confusing and the jumping timelines didn’t help matters out. Just when I was getting excited about a turn it would take, I was thrust back into some random time in the past and often forced to listen to Gerry explain away his sexual inappropriateness or other missteps. 

I guess what I’m saying here in this very long-winded way, is that this book wasn’t meant for me but maybe it’ll be meant for you? The mystery/thriller/horror-adjacent bits were interesting and the book was well written if you like a dreamy, off-kilter feeling but it needed some oomph, or a shared POV featuring one of his many women friends who “adored” him but that’s not what we get and I am disappointed in ol’ Gerry.

The narrator of the audio, Jason Culp, does a fantastic job with the piece and kept me listening and hoping it would take a turn into the unforgettable but I’m pretty certain if I were reading this in a paper version I would’ve DNF’d it at the halfway mark because I just don’t have the patience. 

So it’s a two for me. No poo comments here will change my mind so don’t bother because you’re wasting your breath. I am who I am. I like what I like. Give it a read if you want and I hope you love it!

 The Fly, Dead Ringers, American Mary, The Skin I Live In, The Hellbound Heart by Barker, Skin by Koja, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn - these are some of my forever favorites in the body horror genre and Transmuted will be another added to my most memorable list. If you’re a fan of mad scientists and body horror I feel pretty safe saying you need this book in your life. Even if you’re not a fan of either, you likely need this book in your life if you’re a fan of horror fiction. It’s fast-paced and gruesome and kind of brutally fun in the vein of these Rewind or Die books. You also really get into the head of the main character so when the terrible things begin to happen it makes everything all the more cringe-inducing!

Isa is a popular game streamer who doesn’t show her face but now that she’s crowd-sourced enough cash to get the facial feminization surgery she’s desired for so long, she’s anxious to get it done and move on with her life. Unfortunately life throws a depressing obstacle in her way and she’s forced to spend the money elsewhere. Now, she’s in a desperate bind. How can she face her fans who funded the surgery she can no longer afford? How can she continue to face her own mirror when the person there isn’t a reflection of herself?

Ahhh, this book was so raw and grounded in such a great character. Isa has familial guilt even though they treat her like shit, she’s trapped in a body she despises and now her cash is gone. When she sees a sketchy ad on Instagram promising free experimental feminization treatments you’ll want to scream “DON’T DO IT” but you can completely understand why she does it. The treatment is strange and what eventually follows is even stranger and I don’t want to give it away by saying too much more. Well that’s a lie, I’d love to tell you about all of the imaginative and disgusting and shocking things that happen here and it’s kind of killing me to be so vague. I’ll only say there was just the right mix of romance, dark humor and what the hell?! It’s a book you’ll want to read in one sitting, if you’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.

The plot is incredibly sinister and absurd and mixes in some elements in the last act that were nightmarishly wild but painted so well I could picture it all vividly in my head. Told from Isa’s point of view, the first half of the story is an intimate look into her daily life. You learn her struggles, her desires, and you meet her best friend and support system before everything you could never imagine happens! I adored the twists and the wtf moments but I especially enjoyed Isa.

 The author includes a blunt content warning at the beginning of this book and also in the blurb and it was appreciated because it told me what I was in for and I was ready!

“This book is for mature audiences 18 +

Triggers: noncon, dubcon, menage, group s*x, abuse, cheating 

Themes: enemies to lovers, dark romance, step-brother, second chance, secret society”

Don’t take that stuff lightly. It’s all in there and some of it is - whew, some of it is quite A LOT to take.

I don’t have to love or even like my characters to enjoy a book if the writing engages me. With that said, I didn’t love or like these two main characters but I could not put the thing down. They’re quite despicable much of the time and that includes both of them! This is more of a hate f*ck sort of book and sometimes that’s kind of what I want to read - as long as I know that’s what I’m getting and I did. Eventually the hate eases a bit and there is some tenderness and reluctant and unavoidable “feelings” but there’s an underlying feeling of self-hatred and self-destruction running throughout most of the story.

The story begins when the two main characters are young adults still living in the same home for a holiday (the summer? I can’t remember now because, ugh, my brain) but anyhow who cares because, yep, they’re step-siblings. Flynn spent a large part of his childhood with his drug addicted mom and he came to great harm because of it and he is filled with “darkness” and “dark urges” and is incredibly damaged. He’s also a high ranking member (the highest? I’m unsure here, shit brain, sorry) of a secret society that has sex orgies but also tries to take down monstrous people by getting dirt on them and their scummy activities and strong arming them in whatever way necessary. Isabella is his innocent step-sister who hates him for breathing and also for constantly causing her embarrassment and frustration. They both treat each other very badly but they’re tied to each other and also, well, very turned on by each other after a game of truth or dare and a forbidden kiss .

The book alternates between Flynn and Isabella’s POV so you get a good dose of both of their pissed off POV’s. There’s a lot of anger in this book and so much hurt. Prepare yourself because I do not exaggerate!

As I said, I had a hard time putting this one down. I was in the mood for a dark story with difficult characters and this one came through for me. Is it perfect? No, it’s not. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ten year jump or the secret society murdery/gangster style stuff especially in the earlier sections but only because it wasn’t as fleshed out as I wish it had been and I had SO many questions (because I’m nosy) but I *think* this story is book one of an ongoing series so I’ll read the next few and see what’s what.  I also thought Flynn’s backstory was absolutely horrifying and I wish it had been revealed sooner because it would’ve made listening to him continually mention his “darkness” a bit easier to understand. I definitely DO NOT recommend it for everyone or for anyone looking for a romance because this isn’t one but I do recommend it for anyone in the mood for a very dark erotic novel because the sexual tension in this one was off the charts. 

The more I “review” the more I dislike numeric ratings but I’m giving this a high three bumped because it captured me and that’s why I read but please heed the warnings before jumping in!