connorjdaley's reviews
1154 reviews

A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the audio ARC! Saskia Maarleveld did a great job and brought the story to life, giving the character voice kind of a Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne vibe. 

After a traumatic experience as a child, in which she and her mother were forced to flee their little cabin, Anne turned to a life of crime to make ends meet. Always the professional, Anne had so far gotten away scot-free, only agreeing to one final score. However, after a bank robbery gone wrong, she may be forced back into things she’d been running from all her life. 

This was a really unique blend of crime and supernatural. It really does feel like bits of It Follows, The Evil Dead, and even Smile meshed together with a criminal on the run. As Anne dodged police and public recognition, there is something eerie and slithering following her all throughout the background. 

With an almost whiplash pacing, I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns in this one, only wondering how things would pan out when the climax seemed to happen too soon (it doesn’t). And of course with such a pace, it does go a bit too fast for the eerie suspense to build up, however the scenes the entity appears in were incredibly creepy, particularly the police station scene. 

The only thing that stuck out for me was the police officer as a side character. Anne specifically shoots his partner in the knee, injuring him, but stating several times she did not kill him. But then the kidnapped officer says that no one will believe him that he wasn’t involved and therefore he decides to help her? It just seemed odd to me a kind of a really weak reason for him to be there. Although I did enjoy Anne being multilayered and pulling almost everyone that meets her into her orbit because she wasn’t wholly bad. 

Overall, this is a very good one!

Priestess of Moonlight by K.E. Andrews

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Grabbed this a bit ago on kindle, and needed a short read for slow bits at work, so this fit perfectly. 

This is a story of enslavement and loss. The ancient protectors of the land, the Chiroluna, the masters of moonlight, oversee the land, bringing their bats with them to pollinate the land and keep down the insect populations. However, they’ve been attacked, and one, Aysel, has been forced to remain in her human form for decades. The king, smitten with her human beauty, has effectively clipped her wings, forcing her to wed him, to attend him, to dine with him, but never to enjoy the moonlight again. 

However, there are those that still believe in the old ways, seeking the other lost Chiroluna, and painstakingly waiting until the time is ripe to free the Queen. So while this is a dark and abusive tale, it is also one of hope, strength, and eventual freedom. 

I’m impressed that in so few words the author was still able to paint multilayered characters. The King, though mislead (and manipulative) is not wholly evil. His love for his Queen is such that he can’t even see the damage caused to his lands by the absence of the Chiroluna. I truly believed that HE believed he was keeping her safe. The author makes a point to state that he used to be kind, gentle even. Perhaps the impending loss of the Queen was a gut feeling for the King, turning his anxiety to cruelty. But, giant mutating bat women have got to fly… and the Queen was a great example of persistence and strength. 

This was a quick and well written read, I’d definitely suggest it! 

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

adventurous medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Huge thanks to Saga Press for the physical arc! Getting to be a part of their program is fantastic and I can’t wait to get into more books. 

This is a fun mix of classical feeling fantasy, with notes of historical, epic, and even high fantasies. The younger cast has something fun and almost middle grade to it, while the action itself definitely reads as adult. It also packs all the necessary beats to be its own fairytale, with dragons, wizards, love triangles, happy endings, et al. 

The King and Queen of Bellemontagne are receiving princes left and right, all in pursuit of their daughter, Princess Cerise’s, hand in marriage. Meanwhile, Robert, the kingdom’s dragon exterminator, clears out the walls of the castle to ensure it’s at its best for the arrival of a certain prince. Robert hates his job, believing that dragons are more than the vermin they are considered to be. Prince Reginald is a coward, always wanting less than his station as Prince. His father, King Krije, is a powerful and imposing figure, wanting his son to prove his worth to the realm. Fate intertwines the three, drawing them in and forcing their hands as they seek to protect their desires and each other. 

Robert proves to be quite the main character. He is brave and carries strong morals. He is heroic and sacrifices, all while not wanting to be the hero. He is in essence, an iteration of the farm boy meant for so much more, and his power is required for the survival and betterment of others. 

The action is at points dark, with dragon fire leaving only the bleakest hope of survival. However, when the wizard Dahr gets officially involved, I found some of the final bits to be a bit confusing, and if not confusing, just less enjoyable. Still a worthy read by all means, just some further clarity on those beats would have heightened it all! 

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve been eying this one since I got in as a BoTM pick, but got so busy that I only just now got to it when I saw it on sale from Audible. I’m glad I did. Gabino does a lot of work to get a light shined on indie works, so I’m glad to read his work finally. 

Dark, dangerous, and absolutely beautiful; this novel is a deep dive into loss, grief, the lengths any one human can go, and striving to accept what’s happened. 

In a scene all too familiar, when Mario’s daughter gets sick, the bills start stacking high, and his employer doesn’t want to continue giving him time off. In desperate need for cash, and willing to do anything for his family, Mario is forced to a life of crime in an attempt to make ends meet. After a few successful jobs, Mario is invited to one with a much bigger score. One final job. The path that follows is nothing short of spectacular—supernatural, horrific, nightmarish, and filled with turns. 

The author’s writing is poetic in prose, while to the point, and packs a punch without giving way to too emotional a story. He tackles race and racism in the south, even showcasing what being an ally means through an integral character. It’s one of those reads where you’re like, “oh, that’s not what the book is about, but that’s what the book is about.” Shining a light onto something we don’t all get to experience. 

The major themes of family and regret are prevalent, while the nightmares of our world collide with those of something other. At no point did I know what would happen next, and honestly I didn’t know if I wanted it to end, or continue on damaging me forever. 

“You can wrap a shotgun in flowers, but that doesn’t make the blast less lethal.” 

Someone Else's Blood, Someone Else's Love by Dori Lumpkin

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I received this early to possibly provide a blurb, and that’s just wild to me that someone would allow me to do that??

This is compulsively readable. Concise writing that’s straight to the point and easy to read. I suggest not picking this up unless you know you have time to finish it, because you won’t be able to put it down. 

A little girl prays for the return of her father, meanwhile their prophet knows better than to bother. A young woman prepares for her wedding, though her mind often wanders, thinking back to the strange woman she met by the stream. Her marriage should be heaven sent, but something is off. 

Each section is led by one of the community’s tenets, which brings life to this very small feeling world, and helps to further illustrate just how controlled they all are by their prophet. Jane, the strange woman from the woods, has been biding her time—will the outcome be worth the wait?

The author managed so much in so few words! I’m impressed and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this on my lunch break. I really enjoyed how this could be set during any time period. It’s a struggle of womanhood and religion, and it could be set in a cult-like setting like the movie the Village, modern, but cut off. Or it could be a period piece. Hell, it could even take place in its own world, the story being so secluded. 

While feeling so down to earth and real, this was bloody bloody revenge. 

Curse of the Reaper by Brian McAuley

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was a huge fan of Candy Cain Kills, so when I saw this one in an audible sale, I grabbed it immediately. 

As a debut, I found this to be an incredibly cohesive and well done story. Howard is getting on in years, and although he’s grown tired of signing photos for (less and less) fans, he still feels a sense of pride in being the horror star in the Night of the Reaper franchise. But when he finds out that they plan on rebooting the series, and sowing their fields with some much younger seeds, deep-seated rage grabs hold. Trevor Mane, a recovering addict that’s aspiring to retake his career, is all-too eager to snatch up the role of the Reaper from underneath him. 

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the two actors, both displaying their own end of the spectrum in Hollywood horrors. Howard, once a slasher staple, has been cast aside—the slowing stream of revenue and fans leaving him unwanted. Meanwhile Trevor, struggling with the heavy expectations of childhood acting, has fallen to drugs and alcohol to carry the heavy weight of disappointment. Neither receive the help and care from the industry they deserve, and the recasting of the Reaper has set them both on paths of destruction. Both personal and exterior, no one is coming out unscathed. 

As someone relatively new to horror (couple of years now…) the Night of the Reaper parts still brought to mind the slashers of old, like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and the blurb mentioned Scream. But it also reminded me of some newer ones like Fear Street: Part Two and even last year’s Thanksgiving with its witty, borderline cringey one liners and wacky kills. The blurb linking it to The Shining is of course a great mention, as that kind of creeping psychological thriller is absolutely present with Howard. It also has that kind of The Evil Dead ‘is this really happening supernatural feel’ as well as the typical vibes you get with Cabin Fever. 

What the author delivers is this unique blend of horror. Each part features a reading from one of the Reaper series entries, as well as the climax itself giving way to full blown slasher. Then that psychological aspect meshing in to make you question everything.  It’s very well done. I so curious what a sequel would be like… 

Mega by Jake Bible

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was included on audible, so I have it a go. If you can’t tell in recent years, I’m definitely on an ocean/shark journey (Jaws, all of the Meg series, Megalodon: Bloodbath). 

This was a bit confusing honestly. Where almost all of those I named above feature something other than just sharks, be it the mafia, rich overlords, drug cartels, competitor countries, and more, this novel felt almost entirely about something else. It begins with a focus on Somali pirates, where someone is hired to create a group of people that can rescue hostages. While the first mysterious siting of the beast happens here, it is then gone for such a huge portion of the story as to be forgotten. 

The shark, the meg, is a clone, as of course the original species is long extinct, and while each of these books tend to search for a reason why there’s a killer beast on the loose (especially the extinct prehistoric kind) this one spent so long in getting to the point that it kind of erases the threat. 

The end itself does have some of the desired killer shark energy I was so invested for, so at least I got that. It is however, kind of outlandish (even for a megalodon) in a kind of almost ‘original idea for Jurassic Park 4 plot’ way—think militarized dinosaurs… 

Although it mostly lacked what I was looking for, it does have some strong characters, as well as character development, within the crew of navy seals, and it was fast paced enough to enjoy. 

Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before a Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

dark informative tense

5.0

300 Years Before A Game of Thrones, this tells the Targaryen history from Aegon the Conquerer to Aegon III. It is both the rise of the dragons in Westeros, as well as the beginning of decline. 

Honestly I picked this up simply to stop having stuff spoiled for me online after each episode of season two of House of the Dragon. If I can see it online, or google the answer myself, I might as well just read the story. 

The writing in this is just simply so superb that it blows my mind. It is so well done, so meticulous, so real. Each page is like a section of a textbook, each sentence like a piece of history. And with that, it has its climactic moments, as well as its tiring ones. The conquering of Westeros, while interesting, was one of the drier parts. I’m not sure if he was just getting started, or if that just wasn’t his focus. I’m not sure how that’ll become its own show, as the burning of Harrenhal, a part that seems so extreme, actually happened in a single night. I did like that he addressed the clash of religion with the Targaryen’s incestuous nature though. 

At about 50% into the story, you finally get to the crowning of Viserys and to his children. Aka the start of HotD. At about 25%+ of the book itself, this is the largest story it has to offer. The dance of dragons is long, bloody, and absolutely spilling with betrayal. Truly the amount of times Rhaenyra gets betrayed is mind blowing. And while the show seems to want to drag out every single line of dialogue possible, the book has an awful lot of dragons flying into action and fighting. I won’t say more for spoilers-sake but the fact that the show writers keep changing things for no reason doesn’t make any sense to me. Same with their desire to connect so heavily into GoT itself. The two are not really related whatsoever. 

While I really enjoyed this, and I get that he’s going for a ‘time-period based’ fantasy, I just wish he spent more time on the story than on caring so much about girls’ virginities. 

Wild Flowers, Electric Beasts by Alina Leonova

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read this to rate for the Indie Ink Awards and I’m glad I was able to reserve it. For some reason it took me over a month to cut through, no idea why, but I’m glad to have read it. 

This is a fantasy novel that takes place on a planet that has two separate species of humans on it. One lives close to the earth, hunting and surviving off the land. The other is more technologically advanced, living in a society further along than ours. Balika, an outsider, is thrust out of the only comfort she’s ever known. Sammah, also an outsider, is thrust out of his comfort zone when a friend starts getting close to him. 

I loved that the two main characters mirror each other throughout the entirety of the novel. Their journeys may not be identical, but their struggles, their internal turmoil, as well as their outcomes, mirror, intermix, and come together in a really special way. And I especially appreciated the author’s ability to write the character of Balika as different while not making her seem inferior. While her people might have thought the construction machines were giant beasts, not understanding technology, there is nuance and intellect described throughout that highlights very well as just different, not dumb. 

In a sense, I will say that the two storylines did not mesh all that well for me. As in, they just didn’t gell for me, and for most of the novel, I wasn’t sure where the build up would take me. It certainly pays off in a big way, it just took a while for me to catch up. 

As much as this is a scifi fantasy, it also has notes of eco-horror too. Protecting the world from destruction, as well as repairing what’s been done. There’s also all the necessary dystopian scifi notes of a world that’s too attached to the simplicities that technology bring. All in all a solid mixture. 

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this one. The audio by Imani Jade Powers was well done and a part I definitely enjoyed. 

This was a unique story and take on the vampire. Not your conventional vamps, I really liked that the author mixed historical lore on vampires, demons, devils, and also just made up some of his own stuff. Overall they were the driving force that kept my enjoyment. They are brutal, commanding, savage even. And described in a way I’ve never experienced. 

The novel itself though, features Sarita as the main character—oh and her hulking protector, called Angelo. He has saved her from drowning, from party kids getting a little too drunk, from going to the wrong places at the wrong times, and of course from someone she loved very much? Although later there is a reason given for why this happened, it just felt too random/weird too fast, and the description of why just never really caught up for me. 

This was a little too all over the place. The pacing of which, with its horrendously repetitive pondering of why this was happening to Sarita, was far too slow, and then the sprinkling in of hyper-violence, just didn’t make sense for me. I was bored, then really engaged, and then it’d dissipate again. The big bad was described as this all powerful being, just to really not be all that climactic. It just had some unfortunate shortcomings. 

With such a cool cover, I really wanted to love this one, and while I was kept on the line with the vampire stuff, the story was a bit of a loss for me.