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dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just finished reading Breathe In Bleed Out by Brian McAuley and WOW! What a ride! From the startling first page, he had me hooked and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Brian really kept me guessing all the way through… and the twisty ending did not disappoint! 👏 The author’s note at the end of the book was also a pleasant surprise! It was such a treat learning more about Brian‘s background and writing inspiration after the rush of the story. Definitely one I’ll be recommending to fellow thriller fans! ⛏️📚 Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity!
WOW! THE DEATHS!!! EPIC
This book was such a good take on the slasher genre! It's a vivid book that made me feel like watching the movie. The characters also felt like they were more developed as people, than just characters to kill (which is an infamous complaint about slasher media.) I found each character really compelling but none more than our protagonist, Hannah. Her growth as a character and her trauma as a survivor was real and cinematic (not gonna lie if this turns into a movie, I want to audition). Oh, and not to mention the setting!! Loved it all around, but I also just love a good slasher piece!
WOW! THE DEATHS!!! EPIC
This book was such a good take on the slasher genre! It's a vivid book that made me feel like watching the movie. The characters also felt like they were more developed as people, than just characters to kill (which is an infamous complaint about slasher media.) I found each character really compelling but none more than our protagonist, Hannah. Her growth as a character and her trauma as a survivor was real and cinematic (not gonna lie if this turns into a movie, I want to audition). Oh, and not to mention the setting!! Loved it all around, but I also just love a good slasher piece!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Our protagonist is a valley girl doctor-in-training with PTSD after her fiancé died on a hiking trip they took together the year before. She's addicted to benzos and almost killed a patient after getting a little too high at work. Her escape from her shitty life and possibly losing her job comes in the form of a spiritual retreat in the desert with her college friends: a Wiccan Instagram influencer, a professional DJ, a new age yoga instructor, and a frat bro. It's just them, a white "guru", and his Native American assistant out in the desert with no cell service when things start going very wrong...
I struggled with this book. An early falsehood threw me out of the story within the first few pages, and I kept noticing little mistakes like that throughout the whole book. (Fun fact, like all New World vultures, the California Condor does not have a voice box and can only hiss and grunt.) Eventually I realized I'm not supposed to care about any of these stereotypical LA assholes, I'm supposed to watch them be murdered with with an ice pick. My main source of entertainment became trying to figure out who the killer was and if there something supernatural was happening or not. It's also clear from nearly the start that Hannah has not been completely honest about the events surrounding her fiancé's death, and I enjoyed speculating about the real story.
Unfortunately, I found the answers for two of the three questions to be really disappointing. I felt the final reveals jumped the shark and I found myself going "that's SO lame" for the last several page turns. I also thought at least one of the kills was extremely silly, but I'm not an experienced slasher fan so who knows, maybe other people would love it.
The worst part to me is that the book concludes with an author's note, and it's really good! It's a beautiful ode to the horror genre and it makes me feel worse about my low score. And like, I had to drop the audiobook of Curse of the Reaper because it was too damn scary for me to handle at the time. I know McAuley is a good author! I just couldn't connect with or enjoy this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I struggled with this book. An early falsehood threw me out of the story within the first few pages, and I kept noticing little mistakes like that throughout the whole book. (Fun fact, like all New World vultures, the California Condor does not have a voice box and can only hiss and grunt.) Eventually I realized I'm not supposed to care about any of these stereotypical LA assholes, I'm supposed to watch them be murdered with with an ice pick. My main source of entertainment became trying to figure out who the killer was and if there something supernatural was happening or not. It's also clear from nearly the start that Hannah has not been completely honest about the events surrounding her fiancé's death, and I enjoyed speculating about the real story.
Unfortunately, I found the answers for two of the three questions to be really disappointing. I felt the final reveals jumped the shark and I found myself going "that's SO lame" for the last several page turns. I also thought at least one of the kills was extremely silly, but I'm not an experienced slasher fan so who knows, maybe other people would love it.
The worst part to me is that the book concludes with an author's note, and it's really good! It's a beautiful ode to the horror genre and it makes me feel worse about my low score. And like, I had to drop the audiobook of Curse of the Reaper because it was too damn scary for me to handle at the time. I know McAuley is a good author! I just couldn't connect with or enjoy this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation
Minor: Genocide
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Genocide, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This sort of horror— set at wellness retreats, health spas, etc.— isn’t the sort of horror I usually go for. I actually tend to not go for it because all of that makes me roll my eyes and makes the story less enjoyable. That being said, I decided to give it a try this time.
It was definitely still a struggle sometimes, I hated every second of the actual wellness activities being played out, but the fact that Hannah started waking up to the bullshit, too, made it more tolerable. That being said, the deaths in this book were gross, they were gory, they were memorable. Exactly the kind of deaths I love in slasher films.
Is this a deep book that’s going to answer life’s questions? No. But is it fun? Absolutely. And sometimes that’s all I’m looking for, is a fun slasher with a pretty good twist and a badass final girl.
It was definitely still a struggle sometimes, I hated every second of the actual wellness activities being played out, but the fact that Hannah started waking up to the bullshit, too, made it more tolerable. That being said, the deaths in this book were gross, they were gory, they were memorable. Exactly the kind of deaths I love in slasher films.
Is this a deep book that’s going to answer life’s questions? No. But is it fun? Absolutely. And sometimes that’s all I’m looking for, is a fun slasher with a pretty good twist and a badass final girl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood
This book couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I’ve begun doing yoga again. THIS is how you do a fun, campy, gory slasher book! I will definitely be reading more of this authors work, his humor style is perfect for me and the plot was so fast paced and the kills were chilling. Brings a whole new meaning to shavasana, corpse pose.
I really loved the psychological aspect to this book too. You really couldn’t tell what was real or imagined by the main character in certain scenes which added to the intrigue and spookiness. Read this if you like slasher movies, essential oils, messed up local legends, and making fun of pretentious Cali yogis.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really loved the psychological aspect to this book too. You really couldn’t tell what was real or imagined by the main character in certain scenes which added to the intrigue and spookiness. Read this if you like slasher movies, essential oils, messed up local legends, and making fun of pretentious Cali yogis.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hannah is still grieving and struggling with the death of her boyfriend, Ben, and is haunted by his memory. When her friend comes to her with a plan to take her on a retreat in the middle of nowhere in hopes to help Hannah move past her trauma, Hannah reluctantly agrees. It is on this retreat where everything goes wrong. One by one, members of their friend group start to disappear.
Breathe In, Bleed Out is a fast paced thriller with an unreliable narrator and a mix of lovable and extremely annoying characters. I really enjoyed this slasher! I thought Hannah was an excellent unreliable narrator. I could never really tell if something was truly happening or if she was just imagining it. The whole plot gave me subtle Midsommar vibes
I will admit I was a little disappointed in the reveal of who the killer was. I just thought it could have made the story more interesting if the author had gone in a different direction. I felt as though the actual killer was a little cliche.
Huge thank you to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Breathe In, Bleed Out is a fast paced thriller with an unreliable narrator and a mix of lovable and extremely annoying characters. I really enjoyed this slasher! I thought Hannah was an excellent unreliable narrator. I could never really tell if something was truly happening or if she was just imagining it. The whole plot gave me subtle Midsommar vibes
I will admit I was a little disappointed in the reveal of who the killer was. I just thought it could have made the story more interesting if the author had gone in a different direction. I felt as though the actual killer was a little cliche.
Huge thank you to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A love letter to the slasher genre, this is a must read for fans the Scream movie franchise and readers who love to watch the characters fall one by one while they try to guess the killer. Cinematic writing immerses the reader in the bloody carnage and the fast pace keeps the reader flipping pages to the gory conclusion. A good beach read for people who would rather be putting up their Halloween decorations. The setting at an isolated healing retreat near Joshua Sands incorporates great desert scenery as well as a Californian combination of greed. Could the murderer be a man driven insane by gold rush greed, a silicon valley programmer with a god complex, or a new-age guru messing with forces he doesn't understand? The reader is left questioning until the final reveal and the final girl walks off into the sunrise. Readers who don't mind a bit of blood and gore will stay for the creative kills and stay for the campy horror puns.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail