lauriereadslohf's reviews
1518 reviews

 

This was such a strange installment in the “You” series. Joe’s always been - well, he’s always been a bit different than your average lovestruck fool but this time around he’s even stranger and his quest for love in “You Love Me” felt a little extra misguided. And maybe it’s me and my bad memory (quite possibly) but I don’t remember him using terms like “mothball” for older folks and “lemonhead” for a certain part of a woman’s anatomy and it made me cringe every time he said it. And he said it too much! I know it’s a dumb thing but there it is.

Anyhow, this is a Joe book and it’s entertaining and cringy and hard to stop reading but it’s not my favorite of the three. The love interest this time around was too “meh” and I know that’s all a matter of taste but I couldn’t figure out why so many men were falling all over themselves for her because 1. she’s unavailable (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here) and 2. she’s kind of dull but maybe the pickin’s were slim or maybe I’m just being grouchy because I didn’t feel their chemistry at all. It also goes a little bit off the rails in the last act but I’m unsure if that’s part of the charm about these books. They’re wild and that’s why we like them.

So, I guess with all of that said, I have to give this installment a three. I liked it but I didn’t love it but I’ll definitely read another one.

 

I read S.H. Cooper’s book The Festering Ones last year and enjoyed it quite a bit. It featured a strong protagonist who is fearless and determined to get to the root of the mysteries - even if she has to put herself at risk to do it. Inheriting Her Ghosts has another great heroine and it is very mysterious and ghostly and full of the gothic atmosphere that I adore! And it has dogs! Two of ‘em!! 

Okay, now that I’ve almost used up all of the exclamation points, I’ll tell you a little bit about the story. Eudora Fellows lives in a time when women have to act a certain way. Women are expected to wear dresses, get married, obey their menfolk, cook every dinner, iron the undies, have lots of offspring, all that crap and all without contemplating murder. Eudora, though? Eudora doesn't do any of those things and instead lives quite happily with her two faithful hounds and her books in her childhood home. When she gets news that she’s inherited her great aunt’s estate in the country, a place so fancy it has its own name “High Hearth”, she leaves the city and is relieved to walk away from all of the gossipy hens who surround her in the city. 

“Truth be told, I’d never much cared for the male species. Or, more accurately, the human species as a whole.”

Who can blame her for wanting to move out to the boonies? Not me. Anyhow, High Hearth is HUGE and most likely haunted, rumors surround her deceased aunt and they’re all rather creepy and grown-ass men are afraid but Eudora thinks it’s all ridiculous until she starts to experience some unexplainable and skin-crawling things within the house for herself. Has auntie tainted the house with darkness forevermore? What secrets are hiding behind the locked door with the missing key? Will the dogs be safe?! Oh, my heart. The suspense and worry nearly did me in on this one but I’m not going to go and ruin anything because all questions were answered in the end and answered in the best way imaginable and you all need to experience the experience that is this story for your own selves. 

Inheriting Her Ghosts gets all five of my stingy stars! It is a gruesome gothic-tinged mystery with an edge of revenge, despair, and a few perfectly placed moments of wit and humor that balance out the stabs of grief the author throws at you. I loved it and I love that it’s going to haunt me for a bit and I think a lot of you horror fans will enjoy it very, very much!

I liked this. It’s a very solid three for me. I figured out the biggest aspect of the mystery which was a bit disappointing seeing as I’m bad at this shit but I enjoyed the character interaction and their tumultuous relationships as they maneuvered their way through a great big mess. Nate, the broken boy with the terrible home life, felt the least cliched and genuine to me because I like the wounded ones who are actually the sweetest ones and he made up for some of the others who might’ve aggravated me a little bit with some of their nonsense. 

This started out so interesting and fantasy-like and fun. The setup is completely ridiculous and I loved it. A woman on the cusp of losing her mother’s legacy makes a deal with a handsome devil. He’s willing to pay her debts (and then some) for the ownership of her body once a month or so. No boundaries, no safe words, no complaints, and anything he wants goes. Sounds good to me but somewhere along the line it started to lose me and I think I can safely blame it on the fact that we learn little but the shallowest of details about the two main characters and there is very little relationship growth and also because I’ve read too many Black Lace novels in my past and nothing here was exceptionally shocking to me. This is not a romance and I wasn’t expecting an in-depth love story or anything like that but I would’ve been less bored in the latter half if there were a wee bit more of something outside of the sexual encounters, maybe some fun, witty banter perhaps? Yeah, that would’ve gone a long way to hold my attention better. But maybe I ask for too much. I also felt weirdly distanced from the characters. They seemed a little stiff (don’t <i>even</i> @ me because I say what I say, haha) and formal. 

I also have to say, I loved this dude's honesty. I mean, really:

“You won’t do anything perverse to me?

I’ll do everything perverse to you.”

Anyhow, everyone else seems to adore this one so don’t listen to my grouchery. Go and read it for yourself. You may love and adore it. Glass bottle, riding crop, minotaur and all!

I’d give the first half a 4, the second half closer to a 2 so I suppose I’m giving it a 3. Don’t make me do the math.

The Beautiful Ones is a historical romance with a wee little side of magic. I’m a fan of both but not so much a huge fan of the dreaded love triangle, if I’m being honest here, but it’s been a while since I’ve read one and these characters both engaged and enraged and never bored me so I’m likely going to be more forgiving here than if I’d just read a bunch of them.

It’s a story set in historical times amidst the wealthy, the supposedly well-mannered, and the super snooty. I believe it takes place in France in a place called Loisail but don’t hold me to any of this because my brain is a flighty thing. Just know that it’s a story of manners and reputations and false faces, set in a place and time where appearance and old money rule the day. Anyhow, into this world comes a showman named Hector who is friendly with the “Beautiful Ones” but who doesn’t really fit in. He has returned to attend a fancy soirée hoping to rekindle the flames of an old lover who tossed him away a decade ago. Ohhhh Hector, you lovestruck fool, this is not at all a good plan but you can’t tell a man that . . .

At the ball, he meets Nina. She is a young woman experiencing her first taste of society. She is there to snag a suitable husband but instead finds herself entranced by Hector. Apparently, she has powers of telekinesis and people whisper that she’s a “witch!” but not Hector. Nina is open and honest and she charms him a little. But he’s not there for her. No, that would be too easy and there is nothing easy about the road to romance in this story.

I’m not going to carry on too much about the plot, the love triangle, and the machinations, the betrayals, secrets, and the perfectly evil, insufferable villain who needed someone to sprinkle some arsenic on their cookies because I hate it when a review tells me everything. Just know that there was more than a time or two that I almost hoped that Nina would pull a Carrie on some of these folks!

From the moment Nina appears I loved her character. Unlike many of the people in this story, she isn’t overly concerned with society’s rules and if it weren’t for Nina being such an appealing character this book might’ve been a struggle. At times it gets a bit melodramatic and if you’ve read a few too many historical romances (as I have) you will recognize some of the dramatics in play here but I kept reading to see how Nina was going to maneuver all of it. It’s most definitely a romance and if you go in thinking it’s a story filled with magic or a straight-up fantasy you may be disappointed. But if you like character-based tales of friendship and devotion and complicated relationships this may be your new favorite.

The Beautiful Ones kept me entertained which is all I ever ask for out of a novel. 3.75 rounded up to a four for Goodreads.

This book is heavy but I wasn’t expecting a light-hearted monster fest when I started a book written by Mark Matthews. He writes about the realistic heavy shit infused with the horror-fantastic. I’ve read  Milk-Blood, On the LIps of Children, and Garden of Fiends: Tales of Addiction Horror, and they’ve all been solid grueling reads. The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is not an exception. 

This time Matthews tackles lycanthropy and mental health - specifically bipolar and melds the two into a compelling, painful, imaginative journey. If you’ve struggled and/or have family and friends who’ve struggled you know this is going to be a heavy hitter. I don’t even know how to get this review started so I guess I’ll say a little bit about the plot.

Kori grew up with a bipolar dad who has been missing for years. Her mother is screwing off to another state with a new man and Kori isn’t quite ready to let her dad go forever. She visits the Northville Psychiatric Hospital before it’s demolished because it was the last place her dad was seen. What she finds there isn’t at all what she expected. I mean, really, what she finds is a nightmare hellscape and something NO ONE would ever expect. That’s where the horror-fantastic comes in.

Dr. Zita started out with good intentions but somewhere along the way she became less compassionate doctor and more mad scientist and that’s all I really want to say about that because you should discover this stuff on your own. I spent most of my notes writing “WTF is going on here?” and you should experience that too. Just know she is a captivating villain. You’ll root for her to perish but she’ll also fascinate you with her completely dastardly and horribly disturbing plans.

I recommend but with the caveats that in addition to some spectacular deaths (one that made me laugh, actually I’m still laughing when I think about it) that are gory and disturbing it’s the human aspects that might bother one more. The talk of suicide, of abortion, of depression, of a home that feels unsafe and leaves one feeling untethered, and the effects it has on everyone in that circle of pain. Be warned but do read it if you’re in the right headspace because it is excellent.

“But nothing was safe in this house.”

Ouch. If you feel that ouch, heed my warning.

 

Maple Street looks perfect from the outside. All clean and tidy and perfectly groomed. Well, except for the house purchased by the Wildes. Their lawn is a bit overgrown and everything is a little messier than is acceptable in suburbia.The Wildes themselves are a wee bit messy and imperfect but once this story gets going you realize they’re far from the only ones!

Naturally there’s a Queen Bee, there always is, and this one’s name is Rhea. She takes pity on the new family and befriends the mom, Gerdie. One night Rhea drinks too much and says a little too much and things get weird but even weirder is the sinkhole that opens almost immediately after causing nothing but chaos. Tempers flare, rumors spread and I was completely unable to do anything but continue to turn these pages. It’s infectious and wonderfully terrible and if you start it you probably won’t be able to stop going either. It’s that kind of book. The best kind, if you ask me.

I love books like these. Books with people who are absolutely hateful to each other, books with people who keep secrets, who make the worst decisions and treat each other like hot garbage and who may or may not be completely unhinged. Who am I to say? But what I enjoyed most about this book was the fact that I truly cared about the well being of <i>some</i>  of these characters - others are mostly irredeemable sheeple.  But some are simply messed up, damaged and imperfect and  you can’t help but hope they make it out alive.

If you enjoy these domestic thrillers this is a great one. There aren’t any monsters here besides the human kind but it is relentless and brutal and the author doesn’t pull any punches. Her depiction of small minded, easily swayed people is spot on. The kids here are also perfectly written and never annoying. Highly recommended.

 

This book was a bit of a struggle for me. It’s overlong and had two timelines and sometimes this works for me and sometimes I find myself wanting to stay immersed in one which is the case here. I’ll write an actual review when I sort through my thoughts but for now it’s a low three because I had to force myself to read it and felt a little let down by the end. Maybe closer to a 2.75 tbh. But if I rate a two people will scream at me and I’m not up for a round of that right now 🙀

Serial killing is always dark but when a young child bears witness and thinks it's normal and comforting? That's just wildly disturbing. That's what you'll find here! I will write a real review once I catch up! With even more exclamation points!

Ok, it's later.

When Ruby was a child her daddy told her to stay out of the garage. So at the first opportunity, Ruby snoops in the garage. I mean, come on daddy! What were you thinking?! All you had to do was tell her to go in there and clean it and she would've stayed the heck away from all of <I>that </i>forever, hahaha. But dad doesn’t think things through and Ruby ends up seeing something she doesn’t quite understand as well as a lot of red and because red is her favorite color she is entranced and she stays that way . . .

Ruby is given a diary to help express her feelings and that’s how this story is told. In the beginning, I think Ruby is around 7 or so and her POV is very stream of consciousness and gets a wee bit repetitive. But stick with it because the older she gets, the more interesting the story becomes. Or at least it did for me.

Parts of this book infuriated me. I’m not going to lie. There’s a section where adults talk about Ruby and the tragedy that is her family within hearing distance of Ruby and I just wanted them all to get murdered by the serial killer or by Ruby or a rabid cat who has had ENOUGH. Ugh. Despicable people.  

Anyhow, this is an interesting and intimate look at how parents can make anything seem like the norm and how they can really mess you up. Ruby must not only maneuver and attempt to make sense of her dad’s strange proclivities but she also has to deal with all of the horrible kid and teen bullying BS when one is a little different from the rest.

It’s super dark and I think you’ll enjoy it if you’re looking for something a wee bit different than the standard serial killer novel.

3.5 Stars - that means I liked it!

Review to come when all the stars align,