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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked the characters quite a bit but felt myself zoning out a few times.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did not looooove this book but enjoyed it enough to read the second half of it quite fast. While there are a few too many similar-ish characters which makes it hard to remember who is who at first, I’ve really grown to love the main set of characters. It was a different take on vampire media than expected, but I didn’t hate it; even if it was more zombie than vampire.
My biggest complaint is probably around the speed of the story where 3/4 of the story feels quite slow and then suddenly boom, everything ends in 3 or 4 chapters.
Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.
My biggest complaint is probably around the speed of the story where 3/4 of the story feels quite slow and then suddenly boom, everything ends in 3 or 4 chapters.
Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.
Loveable characters:
No
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was so frustrating. While the writing and POV switches kept me engaging and wanting to read on, I am ultimately left feeling like I was misled by the premise. The cover and blurb lead you to believe this is going to be a humorous, tonge-and-cheek play on the vampire trope. Whereas, it ends up being a quite serious and humourless zombie flick, where the main family (who have a poorly developed history of monster hunting in their blood) do almost nothing to stop the killings once they’ve started, despite being the only ones who know what’s really going on. I was also desperately hoping for more of the family dynamic to be explored, but this also felt underbaked by the finale, where we see a rushed fight between the main baddie (who has only revealed themselves in the last 10 pages or so) and the Evans’, which sees 50% of the clan taken out in a couple of paragraphs and then their deaths brushed over within minutes. Overall, I had such high expectations for this book and was left disappointed with the execution.
The Evans women are the owners of the only funeral parlor in town. When the dead die, they busy them. The end. That’s how it’s always been.
But when town gossips Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead, its clear that the original vampires are back. Good thing the Evans women are there to fight to put them back.
As more folks in town end up dead, the deputies begin asking questions and the Evans women must figure out who’s behind the vampires return. As the saying goes, what goes up, must go down. As secrets are revealed, the Evans family must face that sometime, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
This was a quick and interesting read. I thought that it was a fun take on a horror story, though it wasn’t exactly dark horror, more lighthearted horror or horror adjacent. The Evans family was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed getting to know their characters, but I felt that this book was a little bogged down. There were so many points of view in the book I don’t think that we got to know any of the characters on a deeper level. I wish that that this one would have been told through maybe 2 to 3 points of view and we could have gotten to know them on a deeper, less superficial level. The story itself however was rather compelling and kept the story moving. I do feel like this book was a little slower than I would have preferred, it took a while for things to pick up and take off and I would have preferred we got to the meat of the story a little quicker. I felt that by the time we knew what was going on the book was almost over and there wasn’t time to finalize things nicely, and therefore I felt the ending was a little rushed. I do think that this book had a lot of potential, and it was a fun quick read. I would recommend it to some looking for a lighthearted horror read.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St Martins Press @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
But when town gossips Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead, its clear that the original vampires are back. Good thing the Evans women are there to fight to put them back.
As more folks in town end up dead, the deputies begin asking questions and the Evans women must figure out who’s behind the vampires return. As the saying goes, what goes up, must go down. As secrets are revealed, the Evans family must face that sometime, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
This was a quick and interesting read. I thought that it was a fun take on a horror story, though it wasn’t exactly dark horror, more lighthearted horror or horror adjacent. The Evans family was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed getting to know their characters, but I felt that this book was a little bogged down. There were so many points of view in the book I don’t think that we got to know any of the characters on a deeper level. I wish that that this one would have been told through maybe 2 to 3 points of view and we could have gotten to know them on a deeper, less superficial level. The story itself however was rather compelling and kept the story moving. I do feel like this book was a little slower than I would have preferred, it took a while for things to pick up and take off and I would have preferred we got to the meat of the story a little quicker. I felt that by the time we knew what was going on the book was almost over and there wasn’t time to finalize things nicely, and therefore I felt the ending was a little rushed. I do think that this book had a lot of potential, and it was a fun quick read. I would recommend it to some looking for a lighthearted horror read.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St Martins Press @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Evanses have history in their Texas hometown. Generations of Evans women have run the funeral home, but that is not their only obligation to their neighbors. Evan’s women also hunt the restless dead.
I loved this book. I loved the way Ryan teased out the history of the Evan’s women, their grudges, their obligations and their tics and tensions dealing with their generation trauma.
The restless dead are ghouls, whose power is tied to the women and their hometown. And they are truly terrifying.
Ryan deliciously balances a sassy southern Steel Magnolias-type of mother/daughter novel with a gory, scary nightmare inducing horror novel.
So gotdam fun!
I loved this book. I loved the way Ryan teased out the history of the Evan’s women, their grudges, their obligations and their tics and tensions dealing with their generation trauma.
The restless dead are ghouls, whose power is tied to the women and their hometown. And they are truly terrifying.
Ryan deliciously balances a sassy southern Steel Magnolias-type of mother/daughter novel with a gory, scary nightmare inducing horror novel.
So gotdam fun!
4.25 ⭐️
TW: Death, resurrection, gore, bullying, f*g slur, homophobia
For the Evans women, death was a family business. As the Evans women say, “A funeral parlor isn’t all that different beauty salon.” It’s feminine.
This book was a hoot! I loved the narration and commend the narrator for her many voices.
One of my favorite lines in the book is, “Bury me with my brassiere on and I’ll haunt you!” I thought I was going to keel over and die from laughter.
I had two major concerns. There were too many points of view which made the story difficult to follow along in the audiobook. Second, I had confusion over what vampire term we were using and if there were any differences.
Read if you love a spooky storyline, and stay for the humor and twists! I’ll definitely read another book by Lindy Ryan!
TW: Death, resurrection, gore, bullying, f*g slur, homophobia
For the Evans women, death was a family business. As the Evans women say, “A funeral parlor isn’t all that different beauty salon.” It’s feminine.
This book was a hoot! I loved the narration and commend the narrator for her many voices.
One of my favorite lines in the book is, “Bury me with my brassiere on and I’ll haunt you!” I thought I was going to keel over and die from laughter.
I had two major concerns. There were too many points of view which made the story difficult to follow along in the audiobook. Second, I had confusion over what vampire term we were using and if there were any differences.
Read if you love a spooky storyline, and stay for the humor and twists! I’ll definitely read another book by Lindy Ryan!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Incredibly predictable. There was nothing surprising in this book. It had potential but was ultimately a let down
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No