kayleighosaur's reviews
82 reviews

Mewing by Chloe Spencer

dark informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

For the first 1/3 of this book I felt like I knew where the story was going but the rest of the book was full of so many fast pace twists and turns that had me with my eyes bugging out of my skull and fervently turning pages to see just WHERE and WHAT was going to happen because GOOD LORD did Chloe Spencer go off with this one (and we love to see it 👌🏻). Not to mention in the last third of the book I was taken aback by some weirdly triggering (for me) gore that had me REEEEEEELINGGGGGGG. This book was lots of fun and served a Mean Girls meets Bodies Bodies Bodies kind of vibe and it was a bisexual demonic influencer romp!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Body horror

The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This one is for the grown up muppets. The Henson heads with heart. The ones who over time the world may tried everything it could to snuff out our lights and make us products of our circumstances. But as long as there is always someone out there willing to believe, willing to do the crazy, be the crazy, love the crazy, there will always be joy, love and hope. There will always be chances. There will always be opportunities for tomorrows. This book was a beautiful testament to that. And my GOD I’m so mad at myself (especially as an over grown muppet myself) for sleeping on it as long as I did. This one will definitely go down as comfort reread material for me and will be a book a eagerly look forward to passing onto my daughter when she is ready for a story with a grand adventure with a reluctant hero and lots of heart 🦊🪞💙

Bad Dolls by Rachel Harrison

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m usually not a big short story fan but I unabashedly loved this collection. Rachel never ceases to amaze me at how her stories always resonate so strongly with my own life experiences and the way she teeters the lines from girlhood/womanhood and horror so seamlessly. If you don’t like the dirty or darker things she has to say in these stories, than it just means you might now be ready to confront some of the more vulnerable/darker truths lying within yourself 💅🏻 

(Personal fave in the collection is Bachelorette seeing as that hit WAAAAY too close to home 😅) 

Lute by Jennifer Thorne

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“The closer you looked at something, the harder it was to see simple clear lines…” 

Ananda Lima’s Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil was a powerful thought provoking debut from a bold new writer and quite possibly one of the greatest executions of short fiction I have ever seen. 

In Craft a writer has a one night stand with the devil and the following stories are the various ways he reappears throughout her life. Through hauntings, longings, viewings of Gremlins 2, and a life remembered through Triptychs and Hasselblad’s Ananda’s Craft asks you to look at all the ways we invite the Devil in and how hard it is to let our grip on him go. 

Absolutely beautiful. A piece I look forward to revisiting time and time again. 

American Rapture by C.J. Leede

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Wow.. yeah this one… this is one of those rare books that come a long once in a blue moon and really make you not only challenge what you’ve believed your whole life through merciless feats it also gives some of the most unapologetic hope I have ever experienced. 

At the end of the day this story is about self discovery, and found/finding family and true love in its purest forms. CJ Leede holds up an amazing mirror to Dante’s inferno and asks the reader to look deeper and see what each circle maybe bring and what each of us hold within ourselves to climb our ways out (even if it’s kick and screaming and by the skin of our teeth).

The religious content is HEAVY, the deaths are ROUGH, and the emotional turmoil is GRUELING, but… somehow still… you manage to come out the other side. I hope those who read this book take what they need from it and choose to carry themselves forward in this world like a bird on the wind. 

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

In this haunting little novelette, one woman has to come to terms with the aftermath of the hurricane that just came through and took everything in her life from her except her daughter and the towns old broken down phone booth. 

In just a mere 50 pages Clay was able to take me on a heart-wrenching journey that had me falling in love, grieving, and by the end frantically screaming and holding my breath as I followed our narrators story. 

While ultimately being a story about grief and the lengths humans will go to be with/bring back our loved ones it still manages to be one HELL of a creature feature sure to leave you side eyeing any abandoned phone booths you may see for the rest of your days. 

Reach out…
…and touch someone.

Thank you so much Shortwave Publishing for sending me an advanced copy to be able to read and share my thoughts on. 

Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This was my first Pelayo read and MAN, did I devour this. You ever find a book that scratches JUST the right itch during a book slump? This was the one for me. This book is for the readers who cling to their fairytales with a death grip, while they listen to Florence + the Machine and fall asleep watching true crime. I’m sure that sounds chaotic, but the ones who get it, GET IT and if they haven’t read this yet, then they need to finish their current listen through of TTPD and pick up a copy. (I listened to the audiobook and it was superb 👌🏻)

Also, I won’t elaborate but this book and Looking Glass Sound complete each other. (That’s another the ones who get it get it ✨)

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Wow. NEVER have I been a Sci-fi girl before, but hot DANG did S.A. Barnes make me a fan of THIS. It gave me EVERYTHING I loved about two of some of my favorite video games I’ve gotten to play within the last five years (Dead Space and Man of Medan) while STILL managing to give me surprises, thrills, chills and a “will they won’t they” romance in between 🤘🏻 Dead Silence rocked and I can’t wait to read Ghost Station. (Also, the audio???? KILLER. SO GOOD. The drama was 👌🏻)

April 2024 DFCC Crypt Pick