lacisrambo's reviews
46 reviews

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

41 pages in and I have my first, “Oh sh*+” moment. Jaw dropped, thoroughly creeped out. This “other mommy” is terrifying and reminds me a lot of Pennywise and how he can become anyone you know and trust, just to get you close enough to scare the hell out of you. This book was something else dude… what a great, terrifying read. The ending was not what I wanted, but… yeah. Great book. 

The Remains of Christmas: a Spicy Holiday Romantic Comedy by Megan Montgomery

medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy CRAP, this book!!! Ugh… I literally felt like giggling and kicking my feet through most of it. What a great seasonal, spicy read. & the spice is SPICING!!! 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️  I will be recommending this to everyone. I freaking loved it. 

Secrets of Cinderstone by Amity Grey, Amity Grey

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

“If you could handle the occasional death or mass murder, then welcome to Cinderstone - where nightmares became reality.” 

 

A group of college friends decide to stay in a murder cabin in the woods during Halloween, what could go wrong?! I LOVE books like these. Very cliche, but so comforting in a way. I enjoyed this book a lot. I’m giving it 4 stars only because the FMC was a bit redundant at times and that kind of got on my nerves. This is a perfect book for spooky season though! 

Slashed by Thalia Sanchez

dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

If you’re looking for a quick and spicy, spooky season read, add Slashed to your TBR. It has an awesome playlist, awesome storyline, and awesome spice. I really enjoyed this!

The Taste of Tiny Bones by Vincent Heselwood

dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The first paragraph in the first chapter had me pulled in. This book is playing on everyone’s childhood fears of something scary and monstrous lurking in the dark of our bedrooms at night. In this instance though, it’s reality. The Taste of Tiny Bones, dabbles in Folklore Horror and I am loving it. I can visualize myself experiencing these things in my own house and it’s bringing back all of the irrational childhood fears and giving life to them as an adult. “The Bogeyman is the only monster that your parents ever said was real.”. Belief can be used as a weapon against you, wielded by the creatures we conjure up. We can take back our power and create new belief systems that work against what we created. There’s power in belief and intentions. Use that power wisely. 

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

fast-paced

2.0

This book was very dysfunctional. There were a lot of times where I had no clue what was really going on. It’s a short story, so it’s all fast-paced. It’s a messy plot, and I wish it all was organized a bit better. Overall, it was an okay book. I kind of pushed myself to finish it just because it was so short. I’m left thinking, “Okay, what was all of that about really?” The only things I can really say are, it’s about magical revenge, sea myths, plagues, and a peculiar set of men set out to work around these things. If you don’t like reading about MM love interests, don’t read this. 0 spice, but it’s enough to leave a homophobe uncomfortable. lol I’m giving this book a 2 just because it didn’t grasp anything from me and I’m left confused and a little disappointed. 

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

• 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

S. T. Gibson has wrote such a beautiful book that feels so regal and proper, but also dark and glamorous. The way she composes this story is just… I can’t think of a way to describe it. S. T. Gibson holds a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and a Master’s in Theological Studies and it definitely shows in the way she writes. This story was just so old-school, dark and gothic, and I felt like I was reading a literary classic. 

 

Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (not written in a way that modern romance books are, but don’t be fooled, it’s there and fits in perfectly with the way the book is written) 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

3.5

Prologues get me man… if you have a good prologue, you’ve got me hooked. The Paris Apartment has a good one. This reads from multiple POV’s and it’s very quick in the beginning and then begins to slow down throughout the middle just to pick back up towards the end. We start with short chapters with quick tidbits of information from different people. They’re short enough to gain interest, but hold just enough information to already have you guessing if that person is good or bad. The FMC gets on my nerves a little bit because of how socially unaware she is as well as just plain rude and imposing. I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be though considering her upbringing and background. At about 70% through, I started to get a little bored because not much was happening and questions weren’t being answered. It was just a lot of assumptions and theories and suspicious people. I guess we’re using this time to really find out who Ben was and what he was doing and also who he was to everyone else. The spice level would probably be at a 🌶️🌶️. There’s a lot of talk about it from different people in regard to relationships, but nothing is described and there’s certainly not whole chapters dedicated to diving into every detail. I was expecting the end, but it was still a good finish. 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

“I want a pain I understand instead of the one I don’t.” 

 

I know I’m going to be put through an emotional roller coaster reading this book. The dedication alone was enough to warrant that. The prologue solidified it.  This is a Historical Fiction novel based on the real life, Tennessee Children’s Home Society, and the child trafficker who ran it, named Georgia Tann. This is a powerful, dual POV that switches between a girl named Rill (in the past) and a woman named Avery (present day). I also learned that Ric Flair (the wrestler) was a victim of Georgia Tann and was adopted out of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. That tidbit is completely unrelated to the book. Historical Fiction books like this aren’t binge reads for me, simply because the topic is too deep and I need to pause and process a lot. It’s challenging to say the least. This was such a great read though. It was emotional for sure, and a few tears were shed, but nonetheless, a read that everyone needs to absorb every now and then. I never would have known about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society if it weren’t for this book. 

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne

slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a morbid, slow-burn, romance. I’m used to fast or medium paced books, but I did enjoy this read. Some might consider this boring, so I wouldn’t suggest picking this up if you’re in a reading slump. The characters are very likable though. I’d give it a 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 spice rating because it’s a closed door romance up until almost 80% through. Like I said, slow-burn. I’d also rate it at a 4. I originally had it at a 3.5, but the end solidified a 4 from me. I almost cried tears of joy because *spoiler*, they all lived happily ever after. 🥹 I absolutely LOVED the authors letter to Mary Shelley at the end AND how she wrapped up the ending of the book. 😉 This was such a fun ending to a real slow-burn.