HEX

I'm confused on why this book was hailed as being so chilling.

It was ok...in places. It wasn't scary at all. The idea was great, but honestly I don't get the hype about this book. It's basically just fine.

The fact that you can cover a witch with a dishtowel while she's standing in your house is just dumb. There is no scare factor there, and it took me awhile to really get where the author was going with the curse, since apparently no one is scared of the witch at all. Until that is until the stupid boys begin tormenting her.

Team #witchtit anyone?

Then all hell starts to break loose. The witch finally gets angry and starts to sort of do things. Mostly it's the town population that do the terrible things to each other, not the witch herself. She stands there, waiting to be covered up by the next towel or something.

Honestly the thing for me about this book was how often this author talks about hurting animals in some way or another. I can't deal with that. It's unnecessary and made me skim more of this book that I would have wanted. To whip a calf that's tied down for practice made me sick. That was so unneeded. Hurt people all you want but I never see a reason to hurt animals. I definitely will not be reading this author again. Why he is so decorated is beyond me.

2/5 stars

Baby Teeth

This was so not good.

I don't give many bad reviews...but this one I just couldn't. The premise sounds so good; and it could have been. Instead it's predictable and maddening.

First off, the father is just frustrating as hell. I caught myself saying a few times out loud that I hated him. He's completely clueless; the typical dad who works and only spends fun quality time with his child; thus the child only shows her sweet side to him. He dismisses the mother's concerns about his daughter and her actions toward her mother. He irked me to no end throughout the book; all he did was turn a blind eye and act like the mother was an idiot and is not allowed to have negative opinions of her daughter, when she is the one who is with her the most.

The mother character is ok. Not great but a little better than the father. I did think however that she came off as very weak when facing off with her daughter. She caved way too easily and did not take the necessary precautions one might when actually fearful of a person, even if that person is a little girl. If my daughter obviously hates the ground I walk on, I'm going to lock doors and be alert and very cognizant of my surroundings. But I guess if don't want to believe what's right in front of you then you do none of those things.

As for Hanna....well....I felt like the author was trying too hard to make her awful. It didn't seem believable. I was not a fan of Hanna's point of view; I felt as though it gave away too much of the story. If it was through the point of view of only the mother (or even the father as much as I did not like him), it would have been constructed much better. There would have been more tension; the reader wouldn't know why the child was starting to act out and getting worse and worse, it would have been more surprising and creepy.

The story did have good parts, but they were few and far between. I was really looking forward to reading this and I'm really disappointed. I get this book is the publishers baby and they are pushing it as much as possible, but they should have read it first.

Cover art is on point though. I wouldn't change anything about that!

2/5 stars

The Black Spider

I really enjoyed this novella. It starts out serene in a nice Swiss village; people are celebrating and there is some of the best sounding food I've ever heard of being served. However it begins to become darker and darker as the peasants of the village are forced to do favors for the knights in the castle, and a deal is struck that will put their lives in jeopardy.

This was written in 1842 and it holds up well. The Christianity theme is quite obvious throughout, but being written by a pastor that's not surprising. It does not come off as preachy, rather as a parable about what can happen if you do not have faith and do not treat others well. 

This translated edition was done very well; I have heard the earlier editions of this translation were not done as satisfactorily, but this one flowed smoothly. This story was engaging and would recommend it for a good gothic horror story.

Solid 4 stars.

The Breakdown

Book received from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review, thank you.


I loved "Behind Closed Doors", and I was so excited to read this book as well. This story is more along the lines of a traditional mystery, which in my opinion is a nice change from the twisty-turny stories as of late, such as "Gone Girl".

"The Breakdown" begins with the main character, Cass, taking a shortcut down a dark road against the advice of her husband. She sees a car by the side of the road with a woman inside. After considering stopping to see if the woman is alright, Cass decides not to and goes home instead. Later on, the woman turns up dead.

Feeling guilty about her decision not to help the woman, Cass then starts to receive phone calls from someone who does not say a word, and she notices a man watching her outside her window. Cass also begins to have trouble remembering things that she does, and she is concerned that because her mother died of early-onset of Alzheimer's, that her memory problems are possibly more significant.

With everything that is going on, Cass just wants to know who killed the woman in the car? Things begin to fall into place, Cass begins to untangle the mystery that she is now apart of.

"The Breakdown" was an intense story that you want to read until the very end. It is enthralling and even though I thought I had it figured out, I still kept reading to see if I was right. I would definitely recommend this book!

4/5 stars

Daughter of Heaven

Book received from Netgalley and Endeavour Press in exchange for an honest review, thank you.


I wanted to like this book more than I did. The subject is fascinating: Wu Chao was a commoner in 7th century China and became the only female emperor China has ever had. This time in history was bloody with not only countries, but families were fighting for power and positions. Within the families there were power plays and hostilities; some committing suicide while others were sent into exile. With all of this being such an important and tumultuous time in history, I was excited where the author would take this. 

In truth, I had a difficult time getting through. There is a lack of organization throughout the book as it wanders from one topic to another, seemingly unaware of the main focus of the narrative for awhile before coming back to its senses and getting back on track. There are many tangents, and the author seems to have the need to follow every one of them. That being said however, it is quite obvious that the research for this book is extensive and includes a lot of outer history and is very detailed. The amount of outer history may be the reason the author became so sidetracked, and he could have very easily done without it. I feel as though the author relied too much on other people's sources (meaning I feel as that he took exactly what they said in a cut and paste fashion), so the story does not feel as though it is his own work. 

For being such a captivating topic, I feel the author could have done much better. This biography does not do the historical figure justice. I would not recommend this book, unless you are a history student that is in need of sources for a paper about Wu Chao.

2/5 stars

The Bone Witch

Book received by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you. 


First and foremost: I love this author. I loved "The Girl From the Well" and devoured it in two days. It was so original that I could not tear myself away. "The Suffering", the sequel to "The Girl From the Well" was just as mesmerizing as its predecessor. Needless to say I was thrilled to have been chosen to review this book.

What I loved about "The Bone Witch" is the geisha element that was tied into it. I thought that was an interesting take and it worked in my opinion. It was creative and different enough to hold its own. I don't think there are any other books out there that have geishas (ashas in the book) that are amazing fighters with magical powers. If there are, I would like to know about them immediately. 

The main character is Tea who does not realize her potential to be an asha. Tea discovers her powers after accidentally resurrecting her brother at his funeral. As luck would have it there is a powerful bone witch that is in Tea's community when Tea conducts this feat, and becomes a teacher and mother figure to Tea while teaching her about the duties of a bone witch. This puts Tea on the path for herself to become a powerful asha. 

The bond between Tea and her brother is awesome to read. I hope in the next book the author expands on this and how they are both affected. 

This book is so wonderfully creative you forget everything else around you for the moment. The settings are gorgeous and although there is A LOT of descriptive writing, I definitely enjoyed it. I think the reason for so much description in this book is because it is setting the reader up for the book to follow. I don't know if this will be only a sequel or a trilogy, but I will for sure read whatever ones that come after this. 

This author has become one of my favorites. I love how she writes and how vivid she makes her settings and characters. I really enjoyed this book. 

5/5 stars

Long Black Veil

I received this book from Netgalley and Crown Publishing, Penguin Random House for exchange for an honest review.

When I began this, I wanted to put it in my DNF pile. The cast of characters is very large and is presented right away. It was a bit confusing, especially since gender wasn't evident by the names given. However, once I got past this and read on I couldn't put this book down. 

I loved it.

This is the story of a group of friends that first met in college. On a dark and stormy night (of course) the stumble into Philly's own Eastern State Penitentiary. It's old, abandoned, creepy, and the group is locked inside. During the night one of the friends, a recent bride, disappears and is not found for a long, long time. 

Years later a skeleton is found stuffed into a tunnel of the prison, prompting the case to be reopened. 

In a separate narrative, Judith Carrigan reveals that she has been keeping a secret from everyone she knows, one that she's terrified will cause her to lose all those that matter to her. She is the only one who can save the suspect in her friends murder from all those years ago in the Penitentiary, and is weighing whether or not to take the risk to do so.

The characters in this story are extremely complex and well drawn. It is written vividly and does not disappoint. The viewpoints go back and forth between the past and present, and Judith's secrets start to fall away one by one. 

This story is original and filled with twists and turns. I thought I had the ending figured out, and was very surprised when I was proved wrong. When I began reading I wasn't sure what I was going to be in for, and after my initial reluctance I'm so glad I kept going. This is one of the better books I've read in awhile. I absolutely would recommend this for anyone who likes a good mystery!

4/5 stars