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hannah_greendale 's review for:
Bless Your Heart
by Lindy Ryan
medium-paced
Small town murder mystery meets graphic horror in this story of the Evans women, who keep the undead in check.
"...every now and then a body would rise, unfinished and hungry for a second bite at the life it had left behind."
I learned the hard way that I shouldn't read this mystery-horror novel right before bed. When I say that's it's graphic, I mean Gory with a capital G (which I loved; chants: bring on the gore!). Think faces eaten off, brain matter splattered, and internal organs spilling out of razed corpses, etc. Lindy Ryan is so adept at crafting these scenes that I saw these bleeding bodies in my dreams nightmares. 😱
I enjoyed the hints of Southern charm throughout this book, and I loved seeing four generations of women work together to keep their town safe. I was less interested in following Deputy Roger Taylor, who arrives after the victims' bodies have been eviscerated. Since we already know what's tearing these people apart, the deputy's repeated speculations that it might not be animal attacks and may have something to do with the Evans sisters felt superfluous.
I felt the same way about Ducey Evans' love of butterscotch candies. She pops so many into her mouth throughout the book that I began to feel resentful of those little hard-candy sweets. I hoped they would prove significant in some way (e.g., maybe Ducey would turn out to be an undead and the candies were a way to mask her foul breath), but alas, she just really likes butterscotch candies. Like, A LOT.
I was also under the impression that the Evans women would get out and actually hunt the undead, but they mostly stay in their funeral home and stab things at a leisurely pace. But Ryan does eventually deliver some satisfying slaying, which I was pleased to see. 😎🔪
Finally, if I'm being completely honest, I don't fully understand the ending. I think I know what Ryan is hinting at, but not with certainty, and that's disappointing. But a lot of people seem to really like the ending, so this is probably just a me problem.
Overall, I found Bless Your Heart a delightfully gory and entertaining read. I'd have loved to pick it up during the month of October when the weather is ripe for haunting reads. And I can definitely see myself giving the second book a chance in the future.
P.S. Why does the cover feature a woman with vampire teeth? There are no vampires in this book. Did I miss something?
"...every now and then a body would rise, unfinished and hungry for a second bite at the life it had left behind."
I learned the hard way that I shouldn't read this mystery-horror novel right before bed. When I say that's it's graphic, I mean Gory with a capital G (which I loved; chants: bring on the gore!). Think faces eaten off, brain matter splattered, and internal organs spilling out of razed corpses, etc. Lindy Ryan is so adept at crafting these scenes that I saw these bleeding bodies in my dreams nightmares. 😱
I enjoyed the hints of Southern charm throughout this book, and I loved seeing four generations of women work together to keep their town safe. I was less interested in following Deputy Roger Taylor, who arrives after the victims' bodies have been eviscerated. Since we already know what's tearing these people apart, the deputy's repeated speculations that it might not be animal attacks and may have something to do with the Evans sisters felt superfluous.
I felt the same way about Ducey Evans' love of butterscotch candies. She pops so many into her mouth throughout the book that I began to feel resentful of those little hard-candy sweets. I hoped they would prove significant in some way (e.g., maybe Ducey would turn out to be an undead and the candies were a way to mask her foul breath), but alas, she just really likes butterscotch candies. Like, A LOT.
I was also under the impression that the Evans women would get out and actually hunt the undead, but they mostly stay in their funeral home and stab things at a leisurely pace. But Ryan does eventually deliver some satisfying slaying, which I was pleased to see. 😎🔪
Finally, if I'm being completely honest, I don't fully understand the ending. I think I know what Ryan is hinting at, but not with certainty, and that's disappointing. But a lot of people seem to really like the ending, so this is probably just a me problem.
Overall, I found Bless Your Heart a delightfully gory and entertaining read. I'd have loved to pick it up during the month of October when the weather is ripe for haunting reads. And I can definitely see myself giving the second book a chance in the future.
P.S. Why does the cover feature a woman with vampire teeth? There are no vampires in this book. Did I miss something?