4/5 stars The Hounding, by Xenobe Purvis (2025) In the small English village of Little Nettlebed in the eighteenth century, everyone loves to hate the Mansfield sisters, who range in age from about six to seventeen. Having lost both of their parents, and, more recently, their grandmother too, they live with their aging grandfather, who is losing his sight. The sisters are Anne - the eldest, Elizabeth - the pretty one, Hester - the tomboy, Grace - the quiet one, and Mary - the

3/5 stars The Blue Hour , by Paula Hawkins (2024) TW: Domestic violence When I picked up this book I couldn't remember what else Paula Hawkins had written, but thought I remembered liking her. As it turns out, I was half right. Hawkins wrote Girl on the Train , which I loved, but also Into the Water , which I was pretty luke-warm on. My biggest complaint with that book is that while I enjoyed the mystery while reading it, it was utterly forgettable. With Blue Hour I feel si

5/5 stars A Sorceress Comes to Call , by T. Kingfisher (2024) TW: Emotional/psychological abuse I didn't realize when I read this that it is sort of a re-telling of a Grimm's tale called "The Goose Girl," which I'm not familiar with. But having read a bit about that story, I can pretty confidently say that this is a very loose interpretation, and that for all that the Brothers Grimm fairytales are dark and often disturbing, I think A Sorceress Comes to Call takes the creepy

3/5 stars Play Nice , by Rachel Harrison (2025) I think I really like books about haunted houses - but I don't mean, like, a house that is haunted by a ghost. I mean like the house is haunted. The house wants things and does things and may hurt you. Play Nice is horror-lite, with a haunting and, even more so, a very dysfunctional family. Clio is a social media influencer living in NYC. Her two older sisters, Leda and Daphne, are also off living their lives, and they all h

4/5 stars The Writing Retreat , by Julia Bartz (2023) This is one of those books where it’s best to go into it knowing only the very basics - like, what’s on the back cover - so I won’t say too much. But I really enjoyed this literary murder mystery / thriller / haunted house story! Rosa Vallo is a famous author known for her feminist horror novels. She lives a reclusive life in a large estate in the Catskills, but once a year she invites a small group of female writers to h

2/5 stars The Staircase in the Woods , by Chuck Wendig (2025) I cannot recommend this book because of all the needlessly disturbing content. Honestly, if there's a trigger, this book has it. TW: Blood & gore, Extreme violence, Sexual abuse, Pedophilia, Self-harm, Drug & alcohol abuse, Death of a child/parents, Torture, Rape, Incest, Addiction, Domestic abuse .... you can view them ALL here: Storygraph - Content Warnings . With that in mind, it's hard to review this book beca

3/5 stars Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil , by V.E. Schwab (2025) This is a story about three women. In 1532 in Spain, Maria, a young tomboy who has begun to blossom into a beautiful young woman, is forced to marry an older man who cares nothing for her. She dreams of escape, and finds that dream realized when she meets a mysterious, seemingly immortal widow, Sabine, who shows her a way out. Maria accepts, and, in so doing, takes more from Sabine than was on offer. In 18

3/5 stars Strange Pictures , by Uketsu (2022) Translated by Jim Rion This is an unconventional little murder mystery that has the feel...

3/5 stars The Only One Left , by Riley Sager (2023) Kit McDeere is a home health aide, currently living at home with her father after...

4/5 stars I Have Some Questions For You , by Rebecca Makkai (2023) Bodie Kane is a film professor and true crime podcaster in...

4 & 3 out of 5 stars What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night , by T. Kingfisher (2022 & 2024) 4/5 stars What Moves the Dead A...

3/5 stars Graveyard Shift , by M.L. Rio (2024) I absolutely loved Rio's If We Were Villains , which I have read twice. So I was excited...

3/5 stars Rubbernecker , by Belinda Bauer (2013) Patrick Fort has Asperger's syndrome (I know it isn't referred to that way anymore, but...

5/5 stars A House With Good Bones , by T. Kingfisher (2023) To me this was reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the...

3/5 stars You'd Look Better as a Ghost , by Joanna Wallace (2023) TW: Child abuse, elder abuse, and. a lot of murder I'm very on the...

4/5 stars An Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder , by C.L. Miller (2024) Freya Lockwood was an orphan when she went to live with her quirky...

2/5 stars None of This Is True, by Lisa Jewell (2023) TW: Pedophilia, Sexual abuse, Abuse of the mentally ill, Alcoholism, Victim blaming...

4/5 stars Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell (2017) I've read two Lisa Jewell books before and really enjoyed them (The Family Upstairs...

4/5 stars The Parliament, by Aimee Pokwatka (2024) "First it was one girl, then a second joined in. It felt good to scream - little girls...

3/5 stars Gallant, by V.E. Schwab (2022) I really love the worlds that V.E. Schwab creates - while also recognizing that all of her plots...