It appears this is going to become the norm at this point. I am hoping to get some longer reviews shared starting in November again – or hopefully the end of this month. I think a lot of people prefer the easier to digest and straight to the point reviews. I know I can sometimes skim the really long reviews some people share. While I appreciate their detail and effort, there are days I just want to know the basics. Some reviewers I love and have similar book interests, so I’ll take the time to read theirs all the way through so I can decide if it’ll be a good one for me to read.
On to the first round of reviews! These are all from the very beginning of October, and before I got my new Halloween nails done. I can’t stand when the photos aren’t cohesive and flow with when I get my nails done. I don’t like posting things out of order.
Mini Reviews – October 2023:
THE TAKEN ONES – Jess Lourey (Released September 19th, 2023 – Thanks to MBC Books for the gifted copy)
Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes—decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.
Summer 1980: With no fear of a local superstition, three girls go into a Minnesota wood. Only one comes out. Dead silent. Memory gone. No trace of her friends. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.
Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide—a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. Their common ground is the need to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.
As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood—and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.
Mini Review: 5/5 stars – This is what I want in a thriller/mystery. The pacing was perfect, and I couldn’t get through it fast enough. The flashbacks mixed into the story and the crime fiction/investigation elements are prominent. That being said, this does not read like a procedural and is all suspense as the story progresses. Clearly, I need to pick up more from Lourey (thankfully, I have one of her books on my shelves). I think October started out strong, and I’m hoping to keep this momentum up!
THE WITCHES AT THE END OF THE WORLD – Chelsea Iverson (Released October 17th, 2023 – Thanks to Sourcebooks for the gifted copy)
Rage burns brighter than any spellfire… Deep in the birchwoods of Norway, magic courses through the veins of two sisters. For years they’ve been alone, but sweet-tempered Kaija is tired of living in shadows and longs for a life filled with community, even if it means stifling her magic. But Minna is a witch through and through, with wrath always simmering just below the surface.
Different as they may be, both will never forget the day they were driven from their village. The day their mother burned. When Kaija leaves to pursue a new life, Minna is left alone in the darkness of the forest.
Devastated and outraged at the betrayal, Minna casts a curse to punish those who took everything from her. What she doesn’t realize is that this act will incite a deadly chain of events. Soon it will destroy everything, including the life Kaija has lovingly built. But once a witch’s rage boils, regret means nothing—she can’t take back what’s already done.
Someone will have to burn.
Mini Review: 4/5 stars – Two witches live alone in the birchwoods and find themselves feeling lost after the death of their grandma. One sister longs for comfort found in a community, and the other is consumed by the need for vengeance. This is less a creepy horror like novel and more a character driven story about finding yourself and the bond between sisters. And of course, magic. This is beautifully written, and I loved seeing the different paths the sisters take and having their separate POVs. Highly recommend for those who want a good witchy read without the horror!
THE NIGHT HOUSE – Jo Nesbo (Released October 3rd, 2023 – Thanks to Knopf Books for the gifted copy)
In the wake of his parents’ tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Black Mirror Wood. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . .
You know who I am. She’s going to burn. The one you love is going to burn. There’s not a thing you can do about it.
When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence–and preserve his sanity–as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction.
Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . .
Mini Review: 3/5 stars – I wanted to love this more than I did. I really enjoy the Harry Hole series from Nesbo, so I was ready to see what he would do with a horror novel. All the pieces and elements are there, but things felt a little disjointed and all over the place. I loved the concept, the characters were great, the eerie atmosphere, but the final product just felt rushed in places. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll continue to read Nesbo, and I would 100% try another horror novel from him. I know I’m in the minority for this book, so give it a try if it catches your attention!
STARLING HOUSE – Alix E. Harrow (Released October 3rd, 2023 – Thanks to Tor Books for the gifted copy)
A grim and gothic new tale from author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can’t stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.
Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland–and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.
Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.
As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.
If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.
Mini Review: 5/5 stars – Eerie and creepy but low on the big scares is how I would describe this haunted house story! This is perfect for those who want a good haunted house book but don’t want extreme gore or horror.
I’ve read and loved Harrow’s fractured fairytale books, so I was curious to see how this would be. Well, if you want gothic vibes and a house with a personality of its own, then you need to pick this up! Would you accept a job to work at a house the town has deemed to be haunted? A house whose namesake had mysteriously disappeared? Opal finds herself in this situation – but the job will help her get her brother out of the dying town.
Of course, some sinister stuff goes down, and evil is lurking, but with the help of the remaining Starling heir, Arthur, they must dig up the past to save the town and the house. This is a quick read that’s perfect for the Halloween season! Highly recommend
Jessicamap Reviews 