Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity

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My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

This atmospheric gothic fantasy was sooo good I just ate it up!

Leena Al-Sayer can see the dead, a secret she keeps mostly between herself and her brother so as to stave off all the trouble it can bring. Until she has to "sell" that secret to the Saint of Silence in order to procure some pricey meds for said brother. But letting the Saint in on her little secret comes with a whole bunch of trouble! Including a deadly contract which she must fulfill.

Leena and St. Silas head to the living, breathing estate of Weavingshaw to attempt to track down the ghost of Percival Avon, whom St. Silas, secretive as he is, insists must be found. But once the house has them in its clutches, will it ever let go?

This story was full of suspense, mystery, intrigue, and a dash of romance. Sentient houses always spook me out (in a good way) and this one didn't disappoint! It ends on a little bit of a cliffhanger so I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray for sending me an Advance Readers Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

#Weavingshaw #NetGalley

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REVIEW: Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Don't Let the Forest In is a haunting exploration of love, identity, and mental illness. The story centers around Andrew, a young boy haunted by his inner demons, whose intense connection with his twin sister Dove and deep infatuation with his best friend Thomas shape much of his world. Both Andrew and Thomas channel their complex emotions through creative outlets—writing and artwork, respectively—adding layers to their relationship and underscoring the novel's exploration of artistic expression as a form of self-discovery and coping.

Writing this review was a challenge, but only because the book left such a profound impact that I needed time to process it. The author’s poetic and evocative prose creates an eerie, haunting atmosphere that resonates long after the final page. The sensitive treatment of mental illness and sexual identity offers a raw glimpse into the struggles faced by both boys, portraying their experiences with honesty and depth.

And then there’s that ending—a masterfully executed twist! No spoilers here, but I found myself rereading certain sections, marveling at the subtle clues the author planted along the way. The conclusion is as satisfying as it is mind-bending, drawing everything together in a way that both shocks and satisfies.

If you’re drawn to slow-burn stories that lead to dramatic, unforgettable conclusions, Don't Let the Forest In is a must-read. This is a tale that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advance Readers Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#DontLettheForestIn #NetGalley

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REVIEW: The House at Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Poor Zo Gray—after the tragic death of her mother and the strain of juggling three jobs to support them both, she suddenly finds herself the recipient of a bizarre inheritance in a quaint, magical town called Divinity. Sounds like a stroke of luck, right? But with the inheritance comes a long list of challenging contingencies. The real question is, can Zo survive them all?

Where do I begin with this review? The story—LOVED IT! The blend of gothic mystery, paranormal intrigue, and witches (LOVE!) kept me absolutely hooked. The plot had my heart racing, and I especially appreciated that the romance aspect was kept to a minimum—refreshingly light on romance and the occasional hint of passion, without overwhelming the main storyline.

The author’s use of poetic, almost flowery language added to the atmosphere of the story, but I did find myself relying on my Kindle dictionary more than usual. The complex vocabulary, while beautiful, could be a bit challenging at times, though it fit the gothic tone well. Honestly, I can’t imagine reading this without the handy lookup function that comes with ebooks!

One thing that threw me off initially was the use of past tense, which is something the author did in the Fever series as well (at least in the first book). It took some getting used to, but once I adjusted, I was completely immersed in the world-building and the unique writing style.

Overall, this is a captivating start to a trilogy that I’m so excited to continue. It cannot end on that cliffhanger! Fans of gothic mystery and paranormal fiction will want to dive into this one, and I’m eager to see where the next book takes Zo and her wild journey.

I want to thank NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me ARC access to this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
#TheHouseatWatchHill #NetGalley

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REVIEW: A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

A Dark and Drowning Tide was an entertaining read that held my interest with it's sense of mystery, combined with fantasy, folklore, and dark academia.

Lorelei is a sharp-tongued folklorist leading a mission to find a magical river for the current monarch. But when the mission goes awry and dead bodies start turning up, she turns to her arch nemesis for help, only to discover there's so much to unravel, including her feelings.

Honestly, I had a hard time warming up to Lorelei for about half the book. She's extremely acerbic and quite scathing in her conversations with others most of the time. As the story goes on however, you begin to understand why she is the way she is, and feel for her a little bit. I was happy to finally see her snide outer shell cracked. In my own life however, I would probably just end up writing someone like that off... but I suppose if she were your boss, you wouldn't have a choice, right?

I loved Sylvia and her wild, impetuous demeanor. But beneath her carefree attitude are multiple layers overlying a heart of gold. She was definitely one my favorite characters—her and Ludwig. He was so open yet outrageous—the perfect best friend. I wish we got more of him.

Overall the story, the mystery, and the world building kept me engaged and intrigued. So what that I didn't like the MC so much... Sylvia and Ludwig more than made up for it. :)

This book releases September 17, 2024, but you can preorder it at Amazon now.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy of this book. The contents of this review are entirely my own.

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REVIEW: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

A spooky gothic tale about a sinister, old house, and the secrets it holds that haunt a small, down-on-its-luck Kentucky town.

After her mother dies in a horrific accident, Opal puts her own dreams on hold to try to make a better life for her younger brother, Jasper. Even if that means leaving her low-paying dead-end job to take a housekeeper position at Starling House, the secluded, ominous house that has been calling to her in her dreams. As she's "welcomed" into the run-down house by the strange, eccentric Arthur, the house starts to take on a life of its own, gradually revealing its secrets that have terrorized the town for ages. Can Opal and Arthur can get to the heart of the house and take down the sinister forces to save the town?

The story was fast-paced and engaging, with just the right amount of creepy. The world was unique and unlike other "haunted house" stories. I loved that the house was sentient and the way it attempted to communicate. I would've enjoyed getting to know it better. ;) Overall, a really good read that kept me engaged throughout.

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REVIEW: The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Witchwood Manor is definitely more than it appears. For starters, it's inhabited by faeries in addition to humans. Winifred Hall comes to Witchwood Manor to be governess to the young Master Robert Murray, heir to Longfell, and to protect him from their otherworldly inhabitants. But Winifred holds secrets of her own, ones she must give up if she wishes to find the answers she seeks.

This is the first book I've read by Olivia Atwater and it definitely won't be my last! The world of Faerie portrayed here is dark and chilling; perfect for the spooky season over which I read it.

Before I even opened it, I have to say that the book cover is simply gorgeous. As an avid fan of the gothic, spooky, and anything to do with the Victorian era, it definitely called to me! The story telling was frightfully atmospheric and imaginative, while the characters were mysterious enigmatic. It was like peeling back the layers as I read.

While the main characters are different from those in her Regency Faerie Tales series, the world is the same. And while I didn't feel it was required to read those first, for those of you that did, the additional detail provided may have given you a bit more context on some of the characters mentioned here, along with more a more fully-fleshed background on the world itself. Am I going to go back and read the Regency series now? Most definitely! But not because I feel it necessary, only because I was deeply engrossed and taken in by this world and want to read more while I wait for the follow-up to The Witchwood Knot to be released.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#TheWitchwoodKnot #NetGalley

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REVIEW: Affinity by Sarah Waters

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Margaret Prior is a proper lady in 1870's Victorian England. After her Pa dies, she becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank women's prison to help deal with her grief. And while visiting the various inmates there, becomes quite taken with a spiritualist named Selina Dawes, whom she comes to feel was wrongly imprisoned.

The atmosphere was very dark and gothic, and Ms Waters has a great talent for writing that really pulls you into that place. While the first 50-60% of the story was rather slow and plodding, the next half, once Selina began to pull Margaret in, began to pick up the pace. Unlike one of my other friends who reviewed this book, I didn't see this ending coming and was quite surprised and distraught by how things turned out.

If you like dark tales of Victorian England, then you'll probably like this, even the slower beginning which help to build a very strong atmosphere. While I didn't like it as much as some of Waters other novels like Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, I still found it quite worth the read.

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REVIEW: A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

A Conjuring of Light is an action-packed conclusion to the Shades of Magic trilogy. Unlikely heroes come to light, while some previously favorite characters started to become a little bit annoying... for me at least. While I adored the first two books in the trilogy, this one took a little bit longer to really gain its wings, which is why I rated it slightly lower than the first two. At 600+ pages, I felt the author could've dispatched with a little of the brooding and some other superfluous stuff and left us with a juicer book that keeps the action going non-stop.

Suffice to say, if you enjoyed the first two books in the series as much as I did, you'll definitely want to read this one since A Gathering of Shadows ended on a cliffhanger. And I'm sure you'll be just as happy with the ending as I was. I just wish the journey was a little less arduous.

If you're interested in this trilogy, do check out my reviews for the first two books here:
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab


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REVIEW: A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

It's been four months since Delilah Bard left Kell and Red London behind to sail the high seas. But she's baaaaack... and just as much a kickass as before!!! Whereas Kell took center stage in the first book, I'd have to say this one focuses a great deal on Lila and follows her high sea adventures in great detail. Don't worry though, Kell, Rhy and the rest of the gang are still here too, and the author moves smoothly between Red London, White London, and the high seas.

While the royal family is preparing for the Element Games—an extravagant and entertaining competition of magic among the various nations—a London from another world is stirring back to life... and bringing some dark magic along with it.

If you enjoyed the first book in the series as much as I did, you'll definitely want to pick this one up next. Warning, it ends on a cliffhanger though so be prepared with the third and final book waiting in the wings.

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REVIEW: A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★


Kell is one of a dying breed—an Antari magician with the rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There's Red London with it's opulence and benevolent rulers—its magic in a healthy balance. Grey London contains no magic at all, and most people aren't even aware of its existence. In White London, magic is used to control, and power is seized and stolen by power-hungry rulers. And finally Black London, which has long since fallen into oblivion, where magic rules, corrupts, and overtakes. Intrigued yet?

The doors between the worlds are sealed and only Antari can travel through, so when Kell inadvertently smuggles a forbidden item back into Red London, some precarious magic is released, and he suddenly becomes a hunted man. On escaping to Grey London, Kell meets a street smart thief named Delilah Bard, who's determined to help and is ready for a proper adventure. But now, the wild, treacherous magic is leeching through Red London, seeping into all corners... and if Kell and Lila plan to stop it, they must first save themselves!

A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book in the Shades of Magic trilogy. It falls into what's called Gaslamp Fantasy—a magical version of the 19th century. Think Steampunk's more magically-inclined relative... The name was new to me too so I googled it. There was little to no romance here, which I appreciated since I don't like that swooning ooey gooey stuff. ;)

But WOW! This was a great read I had a hard time putting down! The magic, the parallel Londons, the Victorian time period... thieves, royalty, and a kickass female lead! Awesome sauce! I fell in love with Lila! “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.” Words to live by girl... words to live by! <3 I'm anxiously looking forward to reading A Gathering of Shadows, the next in the series, which I actually started before I even completed this review! LOL

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REVIEW: The Dark Victorian: Bones (Volume 2) by Elizabeth Watasin

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My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

The second installment in the Dark Victorian series finds Secret Commission agents Art and Jim Dastard, a reanimated artificial ghost and animated skull respectively, on the hunt for a black market doctor removing the bones and organs from particular individuals and transplanting them into others. Known as the Bone Stealer, this doctor of highly questionable morals is literally taking from the poor and giving to the rich, those wealthy enough to afford his services.

This was a highly entertaining read, which I finished back in 2015, but for some reason never completed a review for. For that reason, I can't really comment more specifically beyond the original blurb I wrote above. However, I do recall liking it just as much, if not more so than Risen, the first in the series.

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REVIEW: Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran by Marion Grace Woolley

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My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Wow what a great read! If you love The Phantom of the Opera as much as I do, then I strongly suggest you pick this one up!

In this Phantom-inspired tale, we meet Afsar, eldest daughter of the Shah of Iran, actually Persia at that time. It's around 1851 and Afsar is 10 years old when her father offers to bring the circus to their palace for her birthday. For within this traveling circus, there is talk of a conjurer with a face so ugly but with the voice of an angel, and the Shah decides that he simply must meet this man for himself, on the pretense of his daughter's birthday of course.

It is a year or so later when the circus finally arrives at the palace, and it seems that everything the trader has said is true. Afsar is quite taken with the conjurer—who is known by many names: the Comte de la Mort Rouge, Vachon, and eventually Eirik. Eirik makes a striking impression on both the Shah and his hauntingly beautiful daughter. As a man of many talents—quite useful, he claims, in overcoming the hideousness of his appearance—Eirik is charged with building a grand place for the Shah, opulent and lavish in design, yet full of secret rooms, passageways, and trap doors, and he also becomes the Shah's favored assassin. His extended presence at the palace allows Afsar to spend more time in Eirik's company, reveling in his darkness and trickery, all the while exploring and embracing her own dark side. For what she learns about herself and the world around her whilst in Eirik's presence is more valuable than any other life lessons she's learned at the palace thus far.

Though Afsar is only a young girl when this story begins, she grows to about 15 years old at the time of it's conclusion. Though that may seem young for everything she's experiencing, the time frame within which this novel occurs places her at a quite marriageable age, women of this time often marrying as young as twelve or thirteen years of age. And the future Opera Ghost, at only nineteen himself, is already quite cultured, having traveled extensively and this only adds to Afsar's wonderment of him.

The writing was superb, written a bit like prose, yet fully descriptive and engaging at the same time. I truly immersed myself in this book, forgetting where I was and feeling myself walking through the sumptuous palace, the streets of Sari, or wherever else the author happened to be describing. Though the the juicy bits didn't really start until about 1/4 of the way in, all the foreshadowing began much sooner, and once Eirik arrived with the traveling circus, you just knew things going to get sinister real soon. This book will definitely be classified as one of my favorite reads.

Since I'm going to see the stage production of The Phantom of the Opera in September, it was a perfect time for me to read this, and I'll probably reread The Phantom of the Opera book before then too. This will actually be my third time seeing the stage production, but I will never get tired of such a spectacular show... so beautiful and haunting! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Dark Victorian: Risen (Volume 1) by Elizabeth Watasin

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My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

A rogue re-animationist is causing mayhem in the streets of 1880's London, reanimating the dead to all sorts of deadly, nefarious deeds. But the Crown has their own weapon to fight back. The Secret Commission, an arsenal of supernatural beings, has been established exactly to help fight such crime. Artifice "Art", a very recently reanimated Quaker, and her partner Jim Dastard, a talking skull, have a job to do if they're to stop the string of recent murders plaguing the city.

Having only been recently reanimated, and remembering nothing of her former life by design, Art's journey of self-discovery is endearing, warming me to her character even more. For we as the reader get to discover and learn more about her as she does herself. And her partner Jim, a reanimated skull with no other living organs or parts and fueled by fire and smoke, is chock full of witty remarks and simply darling as well.

I truly enjoyed this supernatural romp through the streets of Victorian London. The author tells a lively, animated story, full of mystery and intrigue, and the characters of Art and Jim are simply awesome! The world building puts you right in the middle of the action, the author's descriptions giving just the right amount without bogging things down... a perfect balance. I very much look forward to reading the following titles in this entertaining series.

Many thanks to the author and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.