Scan barcode
findingmontauk1's reviews
900 reviews
Silvers Hollow by Patrick R. Delaney
dark
medium-paced
4.0
I just finished SILVERS HOLLOW by Patrick Delaney. And when I say finished I mean that I tore through this book in a passion-filled rage of pure enthusiasm and wonder. From the first page we are already aware something is not quite right, something is just slightly out of place, and that there is a mystery to solve. But what mystery? What is the question? How do we know what we don't know?! If you ever saw or watched Wayward Pines then maybe it is something like that - you definitely know something is awry, odd, and off but you just can't even begin to imagine what it is that makes you feel that way.
Delaney does a great job at creating this strange fever dreamlike story and we can really feel the confusion and frustration of the main character as she struggles to learn where she is, when she is, and how/why this is all happening.
While reading about the town, I instantly got vibes of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls (which the author confirms in the notes at the end!) mixed with a little Mystic Falls from The Vampire Diaries and whatever the town is in the movie remake of House of Wax. I absolutely LOVED everything about the town!! But even the town begins to spawn questions for the reader and the main character...
This story explores time - past, present, future - mistakes, love, loss, death, family, and so much! As the story unravels and we learn all the who/what/when/where/why facts I could not help but turn those pages even faster just waiting to see what would happen! And the ending was so good!
“Time governs our entire lives, looming over us. It controls every aspect of life. You spend too much time on one thing, it eats away time from something else.”
Delaney does a great job at creating this strange fever dreamlike story and we can really feel the confusion and frustration of the main character as she struggles to learn where she is, when she is, and how/why this is all happening.
While reading about the town, I instantly got vibes of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls (which the author confirms in the notes at the end!) mixed with a little Mystic Falls from The Vampire Diaries and whatever the town is in the movie remake of House of Wax. I absolutely LOVED everything about the town!! But even the town begins to spawn questions for the reader and the main character...
This story explores time - past, present, future - mistakes, love, loss, death, family, and so much! As the story unravels and we learn all the who/what/when/where/why facts I could not help but turn those pages even faster just waiting to see what would happen! And the ending was so good!
“Time governs our entire lives, looming over us. It controls every aspect of life. You spend too much time on one thing, it eats away time from something else.”
We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III
dark
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Well that sure was something - what starts out as a claustrophobic tale of survival horror as one family bands together in their bathroom to wait out a tornado ends in a fever dream of terror! The description of this book is as simple and vague: " A family on the verge of self-destruction finds themselves isolated in their bathroom during a tornado warning." That's it. That's all the reader gets. And that's basically all I am going to leave you with because I want your senses to react like mine did. I want you to feel as stressed, confused, disgusted, and heartbroken as I did. ENJOY! It's going to be okay...
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I'm not totally sure what I just read 🤣 I mean, I got the basic plot premise of the kids being over their parents who seemed to prefer cocktails to them, the games the kids would play, etc. But I never understood/saw.... why? Idk... the writing is smart (maybe too smart?) but sometimes I did get confused at the what/who of a given situation.
The Old Bay King by Donnie Goodman
THE OLD BAY KING is a quick horror story that goes all in from the first page. I like how connected we felt to some of the characters, even some only mentioned and never seen. I can see this all happening in my mind like a movie and it's creepy and bloody and definitely action-packed. I can't wait for more work from Goodman!
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
4.0
THE OLD BAY KING is a quick horror story that goes all in from the first page. I like how connected we felt to some of the characters, even some only mentioned and never seen. I can see this all happening in my mind like a movie and it's creepy and bloody and definitely action-packed. I can't wait for more work from Goodman!
Many Restless Concerns: The Victims of Countess Bathory Speak in Chorus by Gayle Brandeis
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Into The Forest And All The Way Through by Cynthia Pelayo
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
The Tenant by Katrine Engberg
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
THE TENANT is essentially a detective/crime fiction novel with some thriller elements. We have a murder at the beginning and the book follows suit as you might expect. I could not necessarily get into the writing style of this one, and I do not think I am the biggest fan of Nordic Noir. I have seen this likened to Jo Nesbo - so I think fans of that type of story and style of writing will definitely enjoy this more than I did. I did not dislike this by any means, I guess I just did not really know what type of story I was getting into from the synopsis.
True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This is brutal on so many levels. But WOW! TRUE CRIME delivers a story of abuse, identity, death, and so much more. This novella is quite literally packed full of themes and lessons - I believe a whole course could be taught with this story as its backbone. Samantha Kolesnik has put together something so gritty and dark, but at the same time full of many psychological truths, questions, and conversations that are begging to be explored. To tell you that my mind was racing back and forth from thought to thought between paragraphs, pages, or chapters is an understatement.
I am actually quite ready (although NOT ready... if you know, you know) to read this again. Having digested the general story and characters at this point makes going back again more of a quest for understanding and examining the smaller moments. Suzy, our main character, has a head full of intense thoughts that deserve to be unraveled and dissected. Is she the monster or the victim? Is she both? CAN you be both? She has been through so much in her short life that it just makes you think about and question so many things!
Reading this book gave me The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum vibes. And I do not mean that in terms of the plot, but in the raw, bleak brutality of it all. And I hope that comes across as the compliment that I mean for it to be because... WOW! This book may not be for everyone, but I know it will be with me for quite some time. The fact that Kolesnik can write so beautifully about something so tragic and dark is a skill that deserves all the recognition!
I am actually quite ready (although NOT ready... if you know, you know) to read this again. Having digested the general story and characters at this point makes going back again more of a quest for understanding and examining the smaller moments. Suzy, our main character, has a head full of intense thoughts that deserve to be unraveled and dissected. Is she the monster or the victim? Is she both? CAN you be both? She has been through so much in her short life that it just makes you think about and question so many things!
Reading this book gave me The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum vibes. And I do not mean that in terms of the plot, but in the raw, bleak brutality of it all. And I hope that comes across as the compliment that I mean for it to be because... WOW! This book may not be for everyone, but I know it will be with me for quite some time. The fact that Kolesnik can write so beautifully about something so tragic and dark is a skill that deserves all the recognition!