What Lies Around The Bend...

"Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the ex...

  "A mysterious book that promises unlimited power and unrivaled sexual pleasure. A down-on-her-luck book dealer hoping for the sale of a lifetime. And a twist so shocking, no one will come out unscathed. After a tragedy too painful to bear, former novelist Lily Albrecht has resigned herself to a dull, sexless life as a rare book dealer. Until she gets a lead on a book that just might turn everything around. The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a 17th century manual on sex magic, rumored to be the most powerful occult book ever written - if it really exists at all. And some of the wealthiest people in the world are willing to pay Lily a fortune to find it - if she can.  Her search for the book takes her from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, searching the dark corners of power where the world’s wealthiest people use black magic to fulfill their desires. Will Lily fulfill her own desires, and join them? Or will she lose it all searching for a ghost?' Review: Wha...

  “Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story. One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom? Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks—and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought." Review: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??????? Worst scooby-doo, half-assed mystery. AND THEY HAD ME! I was so down for a group of people brought together by nicotine (although for people who can only smoke at a graveyard, ya'll be smoking everywhere),...

 WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE ALEX STERN SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT NINTH HOUSE FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! "Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory - even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale. Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness ...

“In Cambridge, four children have been murdered. Wrongly accused of the crimes, a small community of Jews threatened by Catholic mobs is given sanctuary by Henry II. To assist in proving their innocence, he summons an expert in the science of deduction and the art of death. She is Adelia, a prodigy from the Medical School of Salerno, and an anomaly in a medieval world, who is forced to conceal her identity and her purpose from England’s grave superstitions and condemnation. One man willing to work with her is Sir Rowley Picot. His personal steak in the investigation makes him an invaluable ally - and in Adelia’s eyes, a suspect as well. From navigating Cambridge’s perilous river paths to penetrating the dark shadows of the Church, Adelia’s investigation will not only reveal the secrets of the dead, but in time, the far more dangerous ones buried in the living.” Review: Okay, let me start by being honest. I honestly thought this was going to be a lighthearted kind of whodunnit murder my...

  “Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie — when his reality shatters. “Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying ...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE CARAVAL TRILOGY, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 3. CHECK OUT  CARAVAL  FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1, AND LEGENDARY FOR BOOK 2! "It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist. With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him. Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything. Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…" Review: This final installment I was scared to start, I won’t lie. From bei...

" The sea holds many secrets. Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he’s one of the sirens’ victims. Moira isn’t so sure. Certain that someone has framed the boy’s death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer, rekindling their friendship in the process. With townspeople itching to hunt the sirens down, and their own secrets threatening to unravel their fragile new alliance, Moira and Jude must race against time to stop the killer before it’s too late—for humans and sirens alike." Review: I’ll give this book one thing, and that’s atmosphere. What a very middle of the road book. The prose...

" We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we? Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of re...

  WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE DIVINERS SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 4. CHECK OUT  THE DIVINERS  FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1,  LAIR OF DREAMS  FOR BOOK 2, AND BEFORE THE DEVIL BREAKS YOU FOR BOOK 3! "After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows. While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows - but, she will need the Diviners' help to do it. Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow's plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to sto...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE SAINT VIEW PRISON SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 3. CHECK OUT  LOCKED UP LIARS   FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1, AND  SOLITARY SINNERS  FOR BOOK 2! “When a judge declared Heath guilty and sentenced him to death row, everything we'd been fighting for went up in flames. We have no excuses. No appeals. No freedom.  Now, there's only one way out. One way left for him to avoid a lethal injection in his arm.  Escape.” Content Guidance:  This series contains explicit content that is not suitable for readers who are under 18. This book also contains dark themes that may trigger some readers. Please read with care. Review: Wow, what a fantastic way to wrap up this story. Being on the run has never been so peaceful frankly. Doesn't everyone want to live the rest of their days in a cabin in the woods with three hunky gentlemen all in love with you?????? My only quarrel is the very very end of t...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE SAINT VIEW PRISON SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT  LOCKED UP LIARS  FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! “In the middle of a prison riot, the psychopath who  murdered my sister holds me hostage. Soulless eyes  black, bloodied knife in his hand, my name a  whispered threat on his lips. My only hope is the  three men fighting for my heart…and their lives. Separated in the chaos, flames surround Rowe, the  growly prison guard who acts like he hates me but  always has my back. Liam, my lawyer on the outside.  I've only just realized the depth of my feelings for the  boy I once despised in high school. I dragged him  into all of this and now I need his  help more than  ever. And cornered by violent criminals is Heath, the  prisoner I've fallen for more with every day he's been  incarcerated. I know he's innocent and I'm here to  prove it...

“Nothing prepares you for finding your sister's lifeless body covered in blood. But when the police arrest her ex, a man I know is innocent, I can't sit by and do nothing. Not when I've been secretly in love with him for years. Heath may not want my help, but I won't take no for an answer.  To catch a killer, I'm forced to take a job at Saint View Prison. Maximum security. The place they send the worst of the worst. But it's not just Heath who doesn't want me there. Rowe, the sinfully sexy head guard has made it clear I don't belong. I'd tell him where to go with my middle finger up, if my skin didn't prickle with awareness every time he touches me.  Then there's Liam, hotshot lawyer and my old high school enemy. All that tension and chemistry is still there, burning between us like flames. I need his help, but I'll be damned if I beg for it. With every lie we uncover, every secret we expose, the danger mounts. Until there's only one ...

“Seventeen-year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, a legendary bounty hunter—that is, until her father is murdered. The alleged killer is none other than Cohen Mackay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart.   She must go on a treacherous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.” Review: This was an enjoyable read. For the most part, I enjoyed the friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers storyline. The relationship between Brit and Cohen was the center of this entire book. Was it the best romance I've ever read? Absolutely not, but that might just be because friends-to-lovers is not my favorite trope. Here'...

" Seven months. That’s how long I was kept captive. Locked in a room with a bed, refrigerator, and adjoining bathroom, I was instructed to eat, bathe, and behave. I received meals, laundered clothes, and toiletries through a cat door, never knowing if it was day or night. The last time I saw the face of my abductor was when he dragged me fighting from the trunk of his car. My only solace was Mason―one of the other kidnapped teens―and our pact to one day escape together. But when that day finally came, I had to leave him behind. Now that I’m home, my parents and friends want everything to be like it was before I left. But they don’t understand that dining out and shopping trips can’t heal what’s broken inside me. I barely leave my bedroom. Therapists are clueless and condescending. So I start my own form of therapy―but writing about my experience awakens uncomfortable memories, ones that should’ve stayed buried. When I ask the detectives assigned to my case about Mason, I get an an...

 WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE CARAVAL TRILOGY, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT CARAVAL FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! "A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win. After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name. The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more―and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and d...

  “Sixteen-year-old twins Madeline and Catlin move to a new life in Ballyfrann, a strange and isolated Irish town, a place where the earth is littered with small corpses and unspoken truths. A place where, for generations, teenage girls have gone missing in the surrounding mountains. As distance grows between the twins - as Catlin falls in love, and Madeline begins to understand her own nascent witchcraft - Madeline discovers that Ballyfrann is a place full of predators. And when Catlin falls into the gravest danger of all, Madeline must ask herself who she really is, and who she wants to be - or rather, who she might have to become to save her sister.” Review: This read was so much more interesting than I had anticipated. This was an Irish horror story with monsters and witches and more herbs than a horticulturist would know what to do with. Two twins in a town even more creepy than ever thought possible, and sacrifices so gruesome, no one would have ever agreed to come.  Thi...