paulabellman's reviews
699 reviews

The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

5.0

Y'all don't sleep on CJ Cooke. How have I never seen any reviews of her books?  The historical fiction with supernatural twists are 🤌.

The Book of Witching is a fictional story of a real person persecuted and killed during the Scottish Witch Trials. 

As if life wasn't hard enough for women back then, throw in political drama, men's inate fear of women and the power of the Catholic Church to get away with heinous crimes in the name of Jesus and you now have a maelstrom of a story.

I'll be reading the rest of Cooke's collection asap!

A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

What a surprise this book is. Element of The Terror and Heart of the Sea made for a hard look at Arctic exploration and the whaling industry.

From start to finish I was engrossed in this story. The level of real life responsibilities that intruded upon my reading time was so aggravating. I ended up staying up too late to finish this. It was that good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Rape

The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

dark emotional sad slow-paced

2.5

When you read a review by someone you respect for book recs, it more disappointing when you don't enjoy the book.

An entire neighborhood street turned into a haunted house because 2 girls were gay for each other. Dumb premise.

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

4.0

Appalachian folklore, Blair Witch and Celtic fae mingle together in this fast paced novel.  I loved the clever 1st person recount of the events while Mouse was cleaning her hoarder grandmother's house.

The Deep by Alma Katsu

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

3.75

The Titanic holds us captive w/all the different narratives and stories of survival. Imagine if you survived the Titantic only to end up as a nurse in her sister ship, The Britannica? 

Slow, Gothic horror is not really my jam but this one was so full of historical details it was hard to put down.

Bitter is the Heart by Mina Hardy

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

If I could give this 10 stars,  I would!

Almost every chapter had a huge WTF moment. Even right up until the last sentence I never knew what to expect.

I almost feel like I should stop reading this year because all other books will have a hard time beating this 1 out as top read of 2025

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

This was family trauma/drama story flipping between the 60s and 70s at  a summer camp in upstate NY. The story was engaging until the reveal of who the killer was.  Then..meh.

Evil in Me by Brom

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

I loved this story but BROM never disappoints. Ruby was a loveable character but Vutto steals the show.

Bellevue by Robin Cook

dark slow-paced

0.5

I have to admit this was the least thrilling medical thriller/paranormal novel I've ever read. Chapter 1 was 🫣, but after Chapter 1 concluded, the rest of the book was ZZZZZ.

Why were we subjected to the detail of each and every surgery, meal, and explanation of how tired Dr. Fuller was as a new resident?  Who knows.  And honestly, who really cares?  I wanted the lurid details of Bellevue Hospital, not some blow-by-blow of a day in the life of a medical resident.

I'm surprised at how many recommendations I've received for this novel.  I guess just like the name Taylor Swift makes people "love" her music, the name Robin Cook makes people love his medical "thrillers".

Lesson learned!

Cold Snap by Lindy Ryan

dark fast-paced

2.0

I don't even know what happened in this story. Is she crazy or was it a wendingo?