Book Review

Book Review: SO THIRSTY by Rachel Harrison

| Jessica Crawford

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison is a 304 page standalone novel published by Berkley in 2024.

Genre

Horror, Paranormal

Opening Line

Sunlight severs me from sleep.

My Thoughts

Sloane and Naomi have been friends for a long time despite their differences. Naomi likes to live in the moment, to do what feels good, consequences be damned. Sloane prefers to be practical and cautious, and likes the comfort bred from familiarity. The two stay at a Finger Lakes resort for a long weekend to celebrate Sloane’s 36th birthday when things take a wild turn at a party with an eclectic group of mysterious strangers. Will they continue sticking to the paths they’ve each chosen for themselves now that “lifelong” might very well mean eternity? Can their friendship survive now that their new circumstances have changed everything?

I really enjoy Harrison’s writing – I find her work so eminently readable. And so for a good portion of this book, I thought it might wind up being a 5 star read for me. But over time, I got so annoyed with both Sloane and Naomi. There were times when they were both just the worst. (Sloane would be into staying in the cottage wrapped up in cozy robes and enjoying some girl talk for her birthday, but Naomi plans a surprise for her – dragging her along to a big sexy party at the house of the guy she just met at the bar the night before, and then has the audacity to be all like, “Try being more grateful, I did this for you!” No, girl, you did not.) And while I was into the romance bit, it was definitely too “insta” for my liking.

There was a lot here about living a meaningful life versus settling, the trepidation of approaching middle age, vampires and blood lust, but mostly it was about friendship during a time of crisis. The story didn’t quite take it home for me, but I (mostly) enjoyed the ride, and look forward to reading more of this author’s work.

🔥🔥🔥🔥 This book includes some descriptions of group sex, although from the viewpoint of a bystander

🔪🔪 There is definitely some violent and gruesome content in this vampire novel, although nothing that made this reader uncomfortable

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Book Review: HYDE by Craig Russell

| Jessica Crawford

Hyde by Craig Russell is a 352 page standalone novel published in 2021.

Genre:

Mystery, Historical Fiction, Horror, Retelling/Reimagining

Opening Line:

He looked at his friend and wondered how he still lived.

My Thoughts:

Ancient Celtic mythology, ritualistic murder, Scottish nationalism, the duality of human nature!

This story is a reimagining of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The conceit is that in the prologue, Stevenson is looking for inspiration to write a story about the duality of human nature, and his friend Captain Edward Hyde says, “Boy, do I have just the thing!” and proceeds to tell him his own story.

Hyde is a police detective with epilepsy, suffering from absence seizures during which he “loses time” and cannot remember what he did or how he got to wherever he was when he comes to. As he investigates ritualistic murders in nineteenth century Edinburgh, he begins to fear what it is he gets up to when he’s not aware of his actions.

All of the keywords used to describe this book (atmospheric, haunting, Gothic) are ones that are usually homeruns for me. In theory it sounds like a good fit for me. But honestly the way this book was written had me kind of bored and flipping pages just to be done with it already. It was still good, but not great for this reader. 3.5 stars.

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Book Review: STRANGE BEASTS by Susan J. Morris

| Jessica Crawford

Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris is a 384 page novel published in 2024 by Bindery Books.

Genre:

Mystery, Gaslamp Fantasy

Opening Line:

Samantha Harker’s heels rang on the fine marble floors as she hurried past plaster reliefs of scenes torn from myth.

My Thoughts:

Are you interested in stories about government organizations dedicated to investigating supernatural phenomena? Are you curious what a partnership between the daughter of Mina and Jonathan Harker from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the daughter of Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes series would look like? Did you like the idea of the bookish researcher (with an academic and personal interest in the occult, like Ninth House) taking to the field like in the Emily Wilde books? The possibility of a quasi-religious/political group being behind horrific beastly attacks like in The Brotherhood of the Wolf? The scheming to trap a potential werewolf at the opera like in Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within? Do you appreciate queer representation in the books you read, with a gentle romance arc that takes a backseat to the adventurous and mysterious plot? Do you like your feminist rage to have actual, literal bite?

If you said yes to any of the above, then do I have a treat for you!

In 1903, Sam and Hel are agents of the London Field Office of The Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. Ostensibly, the group hunts dangerous monsters of the paranormal variety. Our two heroines are sent to Paris to look into a spree of brutal murders thought to have been committed by some kind of Capital B Beast. Their investigation takes them to illicit salons, the catacombs, the opera, and many other places besides.

The two women must learn to trust one another, which does not come easy. Sam is used to keeping her ability as a channel secret, as most people believe this means she will inevitably fall under the sway of monsters and is therefore a danger herself. Conversely, everyone knows the identity of Hel’s father, but what they don’t know is that by making the choice to free herself from his influence, she guaranteed that he will always target people she gets close to.

My one complaint is that it seems like this book tried to be and do a little too much. There’s Sam channeling, false visions, a hidden rage, Jakob Van Helsing (son of Abraham) foiling her wherever she goes in a bid to save her from her own inexorable descent into monstrousness, the men in the Royal Society discounting the abilities of the women, personal agency, the question of monster versus victim, alchemy, religious and political motivations, the potential for Moriarty to be manipulating their investigation, covert ciphers, messages sent via bees…all on top the of the basic premise of uncovering who is responsible for the murders and stopping them.

(And one extremely niggling issue: I understand that “wills o’the wisp” is probably the proper plural form, but it still sounds off enough to kick me from the immersion in the story, and it is a term that gets used SO. MUCH.)

Even with being a bit extra, this is a 4.75 star book for me. I really liked the characters, the early twentieth century Paris setting, the paranormal elements, and the investigation into the Beast killings. It was a lot of fun, and I wasn’t bored for even a moment. It does leave the door open for another adventure to come. I will be keeping an eye on this author, and this publisher, for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bindery Books, and Inky Phoenix Press for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Book Review: THE BOOK OF WITCHING by C. J. Cooke

| Jessica Crawford

The Book of Witching by C. J. Cooke is a 384 standalone novel published by Berkley in 2024.

Genre:

Horror, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Supernatural, Witchy

Opening Line:

It’s almost sunrise.

My Thoughts:

In sixteenth century Scotland, wife and mother Alison Balfour is a spaewife whose charms have helped her remote community with various ills and injuries many a time. But she must be careful, as it’s a time when the king has a mind for hunting out so-called witches and eradicating them. This part of the book is written in first person present tense.

In 2024, Clem’s daughter has been horrifically injured in a fire, a blaze that killed the young woman’s boyfriend, who was found with his hand’s bound. The third person who had been present at the time is missing. What were the three of them doing on such an isolated beach? How did the fire start? This part is in third person present tense.

This book answers these questions, and explains how these events 400 years apart are connected to one another via a black book of dark mysteries.

The historical fiction aspect of this book is based off of a true story, but that doesn’t change the fact that the book world has been flooded with stories of women who dabble in natural remedies getting accused of witchcraft, and that portion alone does not do much of anything that these others haven’t done already (although the writing is certainly a step or two up from Weyward). But it was the current day part of the tale that I found myself most invested in. Learning along with Clem how exactly Erin and her friends wound up in that fire in Orkney, and how it related back to the events in the other part of the story, was what kept me turning pages.

This is a witchy mystery story that is part historical fiction, with an element of horror introduced by the black book that is definitely supernatural and won’t let itself be easily disposed of. There is some violence on the page (executions sixteenth century-style), and some descriptions of serious burn injuries. Any sex occurs off page, except for one scene in which it is glossed over quickly as you are told it happened without being subjected to any descriptors.

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Book Review: A GRIM REAPER’S GUIDE TO CATCHING A KILLER by Maxie Dara

| Jessica Crawford

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara was published by Berkley in 2024, and is the first in the SCYTHE Mystery series, although this story works as a standalone.

Genre:

Mystery

Opening Line:

I tapped the address in my file with the lid of the pen I’d been chewing on.

My Thoughts

I took this delightful mystery in via audio (the narration was fantastic!)

Kathy works for a company called S.C.Y.T.H.E. as a collector–she goes to the scene of a death and transports the person’s soul to the appropriate location for processing into the afterlife. But the soul of 17 year old Conner convinces her he was murdered by someone in her organization. They must investigate what really happened and why it was covered up, all before Conner’s soul becomes fated to be stuck on Earth forever as a ghost. All this while 42 year old Kathy is going through a divorce and pregnant with her first child.

The mystery was all well and good, but it was the relationships that made this one so touching. Conner really felt a lack of love from his parents, and Kathy worries she will be a terrible parent. The two of them wind up helping each other out far beyond working together to save Conner from an eternity as a ghost. This found family aspect was so sweet!

The narrative style of this book is super amusing, and I let out some laughs here and there. The story definitely left me with some questions about details (what exactly does Kathy do at her cubicle in the office all day every day for a job as what amounts to a currier?) But it was sweet and funny enough that these things didn’t bother me overmuch. I really enjoyed this one!

🔥 No steamy content

🔪 No on-page violence or gruesome content

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Book Review: HOUSE OF FRANK by Kay Synclaire

| Jessica Crawford

House of Frank by Kay Synclaire is a standalone novel coming October 15th from Bindery Books.

Genre:

Cozy Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQIA+

Opening Line:

“Sing for me,” you whisper. “Please.”

My Thoughts:

3.5 stars for this is a cozy fantasy story with grieving as a major theme throughout, and an LGBTQIA+ romance.

Saika is a music witch mourning the death of her sister. Fiona made her promise to see that her ashes were planted at the arboretum at Ash Gardens, where they will grow into something beautiful. Even after she arrives at Ash Gardens, Saika finds she is not yet ready to part with her sister’s ashes, and she winds up staying on and helping out around the place. She gets to know the others employed there, including cherubs, an elf, a half-gargoyle, and a one-of-a-kind beast. It turns out they are all suffering their own losses, and develop relationships that allow them to help one another navigate through their grief.

This was nice story of love, loss, friendship, and healing. The range of characters was nice, although you only get to know a few of them beyond surface level. I wasn’t really feeling the romance between our two lovebirds, personally–their interactions with one another were more irritating than anything, in my opinion, but it made for a sweet story. This is a slower-paced character driven tale, and though it takes place in a fantasy world, we are only shown this one specific part of it at Ash Gardens (with one day trip into the city). Potential readers should also know the narration often veers into second person, as Saika addressing her departed sister. It’s not like the entire book is written in second person point of view, but some people may be turned off even by a portion of it being so.

Now if I may grumble a little bit – when Saika reads that a dragon laying eggs means it’s trying to start a family and explains this to others, and their response is, “I had no idea!’…what exactly was their understanding of how eggs work?! Also, this is another case of me being taken by surprise by the occasional F-word sprinkled throughout–cursing in books doesn’t bother me (as long as it’s not excessive), but was surprising in what otherwise seemed like such a wholesome story.

But overall this was a decent cozy, emotional yet hopeful read.

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Book Review: THE HAUNTING OF MOSCOW HOUSE by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

| Jessica Crawford

The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore is a 383 page standalone novel published by Berkley in 2024.

Genre:

Historical Fiction, Horror, Gothic, Romance

Opening Line:

If someone from their past should catch a glimpse of the formerly aristocratic Goliteva sisters, they would find two wraiths instead of countesses.

My Thoughts:

…the ghosts wouldn’t have returned unless there was space for them among the living…to let them and the past in, maybe in hope of healing it and themselves.

Irina and Lili were Russian countesses, but after the revolution they are “former people” living at the mercy of the Soviet regime. In 1921 they live in their family’s Moscow estate with their grandmother, aunt, and young cousins, although electricity has long since been shut off and they have had to resort to selling valuable family heirlooms in order to be able to feed themselves. A group of Bolsheviks arrive one day and commandeer their home, forcing the family to move into the attic. But then things start happening in the house, frightening things, and people start dying.

A good portion of this book is historical fiction about post-revolutionary Russia, the Cheka, the Bolsheviks, the American Relief Administration providing former aristocrats with jobs helping to ease the famine. There are two separate romances, which I’m not sure were really needed. The Gothic part is due to the fact that the main characters live in a derelict mansion where spooky things are happening. The horror and folklore parts were by far the most interesting to me.

There is no slow, creeping build up of suspense here, as right from the get go our sisters are confronted up close with footsteps from behind, a growl, an earsplitting screech, something skittering past in the dark, glowing red eyes, an implosion of air throwing them off balance as furniture crashes and things smash, culminating with the discovery of a dead body in their home–all in one go. Well, okay then, you can’t have imagined ALL of that, I guess there’s no questioning an actual haunting going on here, then! (Although actually, Irina sees dead acquaintances sporting their fatal wounds appear before her very eyes at her dining table, and “still doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but it’s growing harder and harder to refute its existence”…ya think?!)

The last, I don’t know, 15% or so of the book really ramps up on the horror and excitement, and I enjoyed it the most.

The rest I only felt lukewarm about. There were a couple of things about the writing that I didn’t love. It is understood, even mentioned, that except when speaking to the Americans, everyone is speaking Russian and we’re just reading about it in English. So why mix the two languages in some sentences, like with, “Your family, nothing but upyrs” (vampires)? If all of those words were actually delivered in Russian, why present it mostly in English with one word randomly in Russian? It seems just because the author wants to impress.

Also, we are treated to several diary entries, one of which reads, “‘What happened, Marie?’ I demanded in rapid French.” No one would write like that in a diary. It’s like me writing, “Dear Diary, ‘What would you boys like for breakfast?’ I cheerfully inquired this morning”.

There was also a parakeet in the book, a somewhat anthropomorphized one that was never caged but just flew around the estate wheresoever she wished, and I couldn’t help but think, “Gee, there must just be bird shit all over that house.”

For me this was a case of “Come for the horror, stay only for the horror”, because the romances and the historical fiction just weren’t that engaging to me. But that Domovoy sure was!

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Book Review: RAISING HARE by Chloe Dalton

| Jessica Crawford

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton is a 224 page nonfiction book published by Canongate Books in 2024.

Genre:

Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature

Synopsis:

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and snoozed in your house for hours on end. This happened to me.

When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare. Yet when she finds the creature, endangered, alone and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival.

Raising Hare chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for the leveret and preparing for its return to the wild. We witness an extraordinary relationship between human and animal, rekindling our sense of awe towards nature and wildlife. This improbable bond of trust serves to remind us that the most remarkable experiences, inspiring the most hope, often arise when we least expect them.

My Thoughts:

This is really stirring nonfiction about how a singular hare changed the author’s life for the better.

When Dalton found a leveret, a newborn hare, chased out of its hide into the open, she first waited to see if its mother would find it and hide it away safely once again. When that doesn’t happen, she sets herself to learning how to raise a wild hare. After caring for the animal through its infancy, she ensures it is free to make its own choices. The hare comes and goes, roaming the English countryside at nighttime and returning to the author’s garden and even into her home to rest, eat, and play. Dalton tries her best to not anthropomorphize the wild animal, or to make it into a pet. Regardless, the hare is so comfortable with her human associate, she even gives birth to one of her litters inside her home, and keeps her babies hidden away safely there while she forages at night.

A focus of this book, besides the story of the interactions and relationship between woman and hare, is how changing her life to accommodate this animal and watching it thrive led the author to learn a new appreciation for nature and life itself. She slowed down, observed more, lived in the moment, and developed mindfulness that allowed her to take more joy in the small realities of life. Additionally, she became more conscious of how human endeavors affect the habitat around them, as well as the wildlife that depends on it. She was able to effect some change to help alleviate some of these environmental harms.

Beyond being educational about hares, their behaviors and natural habitats (a subject that has apparently historically been somewhat neglected), this was an emotional, meditative and reflective book that was a pleasure to read.

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Book Review: A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL by T. Kingfisher

| Jessica Crawford

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is a 336 page standalone novel published by Tor Books in 2024.

Genre:

Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling

Opening Line:

There was a fly walking on Cordelia’s hand and she was not allowed to flick it away.

After reading and adoring What Moves the Dead and A House with Good Bones, I adopted T. Kingfisher as one of my autobuy authors. Her newest novel, A Sorceress Comes to Call, is a reimaging of Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm, with the inclusion of Kingfisher’s signature humor as well as some additional dark fantastical elements.

Fourteen-year-old Cordelia is the daughter of a ruthless, social-climbing sorceress. She is terrified of her mother, who not only permits her daughter no privacy, but goes so far as to frequently take control of her body. When she sets her sights on the Squire of Chatham and gets to work trying to procure a marriage proposal from him, Cordelia finds allies among his family, friends, and household staff. Can this group of unlikely heroes manage to best a wicked woman with immense power and a demonic familiar?

This is a grimly suspenseful story with great characters, and funny lines sprinkled throughout. This is not my favorite of this author’s work, but it’s still a decent showing. And it makes a beautiful shelf trophy!

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