Recent Reads #79

As ever, today I will be briefly reviewing all the books I’ve read since my last post in approximately fifty words.

I want to share my full thoughts on some of these books in the future, so I’ll share a brief idea today with the full review to come.

The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

⭐️ 🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, blood, self-harm, violence, sexual assault, mention of SA of minor, suicide, depression, harm to animal, mentions of grooming, strangulation, gaslighting

This was a fantastically stabby dark academia story meets a gorgeously sapphic retelling of Jekyll and Hyde. The pacing, atmosphere and tension were all top-notch. I was so eager to uncover the truth of what happened. The mystery was well-constructed, with plenty of twists, turns and layers to the overall story. In particular, I adored how Steven wove in elements of the original classic but flipped it on its head.

Full review here.

The Gathering Dark

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: suicide, overdose, violence, murder, death, gore, grief, cheating, self-harm, mention of attempted murder, murder, sexual assault, fire, arson, classism, cancer, abuse, parental abuse, physical abuse, slavery, blood, dismemberment pedophilia, car crash, bones, suicidal ideation, drowning

The Gathering Dark is an incredibly strong anthology, with every story adding another layer of fear and intensely atmospheric writing. This is a must-add for every horror lover’s shelf. This folk horror anthology offers thirteen distinctive stories, with unique voices and characters. They are all rooted in some sense, be that to a community, isolated setting or character.

Full review here.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: rape, child abuse, death, violence, murder, sexual assault, drugging, trafficking, mutilation, parental abuse, body horror, gore, violence against children

This is a book that demands your very mind and soul. From those first few pages, Dean had me entirely in her grasp. I could not stop reading this incredibly inventive, original and all-consuming story. That plot shift at the end of the first chapter was like an anvil hitting you. Right from then, you know that you are in for a murderous, gory treat, with an all too human heart. Dean’s writing style was gorgeous, feeling very literary and descriptive but also super intriguing and with a real spark of ingenuity to it.

Full review here.

Friends Don’t Tell by Nadia Mendoza and Grace Francis

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, grief, mental health, suicidal ideation, death of a child, trauma

Lexi and Jade are such fantastic protagonists and it was a delight to follow their viewpoints. I loved how realistic they felt, like they could really be teenagers in my local town. Their dialogue was spot-on and felt refreshingly authentic. However, they are struggling and I loved how their issues were treated with respect and importance. Their friendship was the beating heart of this book. You could feel their sheer joy and settled comfortability with one another, but also the growing pains as they grew up. This causes fractures between them and within themselves, as their past trauma hangs heavy on their shoulders.

Full review here.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: suicide, death, gore, attempted murder, intentional deadnaming, transphobia & homophobia, tumor, cancer, physical violence, attempted immolation, bullying/harassment, slutshaming & misogyny, attempted sexual assault, body horror, bugs & larvae, revenge porn

This is the type of book you cannot stop thinking about. You are thrust straight into a terrifying situation laced with death and from there, you are enmeshed in this beautifully bizarre gem. This is truly the stuff of nightmares. Mars’ experience as a queer person in a heternormative world is suffocating and incredibly dangerous, experiencing horrific levels of violence and abuse for simply existing as themselves.

Full review here.

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death of children, violence, sacrifice, death, body horror, violence, discussion of medial procedures without consent, blood

Kate had me utterly hooked from that first line. I mean, introducing elements of lies and unreliability in our narrator straight away always works for me. It instantly sets the tone for the book – where you will have to pay attention and question everything around you. Even the last line of the first chapter is such an ominous yet completely gripping one. You can sense the impending destruction and doom, yet you cannot look away. This book is like a lit match, about to blow everything up.

Full review here.

It Looks Like Us by Alison Ames

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, murder, blood, violence, gore, panic attacks, suicidal ideation

Alison Ames became an author I had my eye keenly fixed on after the fiendish To Break a Covenant. She cements her status with this insidious, intense and claustrophobic story, combining cutting social commentary with a story with shades of the staple of horror films: The Thing. Trust nothing and beware everything.

Full review here.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: poisoning, blood, death, death of a parent, grief, medical trauma, injury, terminal illness, torture, violence, vomit, sexual harassment, animal harm

Firstly, any book with a magic system based on tea has my whole heart. Lin has created something so unique, intriguing and thoroughly gripping. This is well-plotted, with plenty of narrative twists and shifts that kept me guessing. Most of all though, I loved the detailed character work and these three-dimensional, flawed and lovable people that resulted from it.

Full review here.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

🧠

TW: rape, sexual assault, misogyny, graphic violence, torture, blood

Natalie Haynes has done it again.

She is one of the defining Greek mythology retellers for me. The way she fleshes out the entire context around a story, fully forming the characters, histories and legacies of each strand until they come together in spectacular fashion is beautiful to witness. She also always takes the story into unexpected territory, placing her distinctive twist on it.

Full review here.

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, murder, gore, sexual harassment, abuse, torture, violence, blood, human experimentation

Chloe Gong has my whole heart and she crushes it with every book she writes.

This book totally consumed me for a day and has stayed in my thoughts since. It transported me to 1930s Shanghai and the complex political machinations of various groups there. You are dropped into this shadowy world of spies, secret identities and constant betrayals. Right from the start, you know this book did not come to play.

Full review here.

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: racism, colourism, sexism, transphobia, queerphobia, misogyny, infidelity, slurs, car accident, gaslighting, alcohol, classism

McLemore takes one of my favourite classics and makes it ten times better. It is so wonderfully queer and digs into issues surrounding sexuality, race and colourism. While honouring the original, it adds so many more elements that compliment and elevate it for a modern audience.

Full review here