Recent Updates and Currently Reading | November 6

The Astros won the World Series. It's been a rough few years for Astros fans, and that was a hell of a series.

Is anyone participating in National Novel Writing Month? I am, and it's going so-so this year. I love participating, though. My writing tastes have changed a lot over the years, and it's kind of fascinating.

I managed to post some reviews last week, and I'm still reading - so that's good news on the book front! I have a little bit of a freak out every November because the year is about to end and I've read a fraction of the books I had planned to read. My reading probably always picks up this time of year especially once Goodreads announces the Goodreads Choice Awards. I like to squeeze in a few more new release books before I vote.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca ⭐⭐★★★

Unlikable Characters That I Love to Love

Book Review | The Doll in the Garden by ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Finished Reading

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This was my first Sarah Gailey, and I loved it. Just Like Home is the Horror Spotlight November readalong pick if you want to join us on the Horror Spotlight discord.

Currently Reading

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - Getting back to this one today!

Added to the TBR

Glassheart by Kate Alice Marshall - This is the final book in Kate Alice Marshall's Thirteens trilogy. I still need to read book 2 as well. I'm hoping to read them by the end of the year or early next year because I adored book one.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Review | The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

The Doll in the Garden is a middle grade horror book by Mary Downing Hahn.

From ghost story master Mary Downing Hahn, the haunting tale of a mysterious doll discovered in a young girl's garden, and its owner, a girl from seventy years in the past, who wants it back.

A suspenseful story of unexpected connections between present and past. Ashley and her mother need their new apartment to work out, but everything Ashley does seems to upset the irritable and unforgiving landlady. When Ashley makes friends with the girl next door, Kristi, they uncover a wooden box containing a well-loved turn-of-the-century doll. Ashley wants to keep the doll for herself, but Kristi has other ideas. So does the doll's original owner, a girl who died decades ago, but whom Ashley meets when she follows a mysterious white cat through a hedge. Can Ashley bring peace to the girl and resolve her own present-day challenges?

My journey through Mary Downing Hahn's books continues with The Doll in the Garden.

I adored The Doll in the Garden. It was emotional and wonderful and a ghost story I would have really loved as a kid. It's a ghost story I really loved as an adult.

One thing I am noticing about Mary Downing Hahn's books is the parents are present in her stories. I mentioned in my review of Wait Till Helen Comes that all of Hahn's characters are generally annoying – including the adults. But I loved the main character's mom in The Doll in the Garden. She was wonderful, and her relationship with the main character Ashley was wonderful.

Ashley's dad passed away from cancer, and she and her mom moved from Baltimore to Monkton Mills to rent the top floor of a grumpy old lady's house. After Ashley and her new friend Kristi discover a doll buried in the garden, a white cat takes Ashley on a journey to discover the original owner. I absolutely loved the magic that was used with the ghost elements. It was creepy and imaginative, and I can't get enough of that.

The Doll in the Garden packs a lot about death and grief and regret into this one little book. There are so many parallels between the ghost and Ashley's father. The Doll in the Garden really got me in the feels. It also has me excited to read more from Mary Downing Hahn.

I never see or hear anybody talking about The Doll in the Garden. If you or someone you know is a fan of Mary Downing Hahn, this is a great book to put on your radar. Honestly, the cover isn't that great, but the story is wonderful. Just be sure you prepare your heart for this one.

 

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

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Unlikable Characters That I Love to Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I love this topic because there is a difference between an unlikable character and characters I don't like. I see authors complaining all of the time about readers wanting all of their characters to be likeable. No we don't! But we do want our characters to be interesting, to have depth, to be relatable in some way. They don't have be likeable - we just have to like them as characters... the way people like Darth Vader or The Grinch. No one likes a present stealer, but we like stories about present stealers if they are well developed. (Salty statement: stop complaining about your readers and start developing your characters.)

Here are some books with unlikeable characters that I love to love.

You by Caroline Kepnes

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

The Widow by Fiona Barton

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Review | Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

Source: review copy provided by the publisher. This is a review of my reading experience.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes is a collection by Eric LaRocca.

Three dark and disturbing horror stories from an astonishing new voice, including the viral-sensation tale of obsession, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. For fans of Kathe Koja, Clive Barker and Stephen Graham Jones.

A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s—a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires.

A couple isolate themselves on a remote island, in an attempt to recover from their teenage son’s death, when a mysterious young man knocks on their door during a storm…

And a man confronts his neighbour when he discovers a strange object in his back yard, only to be drawn into an ever-more dangerous game.

From Bram Stoker Award® finalist Eric LaRocca, this is devastating, beautifully written horror from one of the genre’s most cutting-edge voices.

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes combines three of Eric LaRocca's stories into one volume. I was excited to get this collection because I had heard great things about the titular novella Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. I was wanting to read that one, and the other two stories were a bonus.

THINGS HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE WE LAST SPOKE

Unfortunately, I felt like the horror in Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was there just for horror's sake. It wasn't developed or believable - it was just horrific.

Lots of people have enjoyed Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. That's why I wanted to read it in the first place, but in this story two strangers meet over an ad for an apple peeler and a few emails later things go completely off the rails in a way that I couldn't manage to suspense my disbelief, and I had absolutely no reason to care if any of this stuff was happening or not happening. Who were these characters anyway? They were agnes_in_wonderland_76 and crushmarigolds. You, dear review reader, now know almost as much as I do about these characters. I think the horror was supposed to shock me, but I had no emotional investment whatsoever.

Go into this one expecting horror - people horror, not supernatural horror - as the purpose of the story. You may love it. It's a fast read. I would have read it in one sitting if I hadn't required pizza. I'm intrigued enough to continue to the next story.

animal abuse, suicide ideation

THE ENCHANTMENT

Like Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, we are trust into a story without knowing anything about the characters. After making it more than halfway through The Enchantment, I'm going to put this aside and declare I'm not the target reader for this collection.

suicide, suicide ideation

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Recent Updates and Currently Reading | October 30

I feel like I'm back, friends. I've read all weekend. I've been writing reviews lately. I have a bunch of posts scheduled... I hope it lasts.

Here's the latest on my puzzle. I will be so glad when I finish this challenge.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - Recommended for fans of Becky Chambers and Travis Baldree. Go read my review to find out why.

Finished Reading

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca ⭐⭐★★★ - My full review will be posted tomorrow, but I have a hard time with horror when there's no character development.

The Clackity by Lora Senf ⭐⭐⭐★★ - This was creepy and imaginative, and I recommend for fans of Coraline. I'll post my full review next week.

Currently Reading

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - I started this last night, and I'm hooked. I will probably spend a lot of time with this one today.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King - I've been listening to this one on audio, and I finally got to pick up a print copy from my library. Even when I'm listening to a book, I still need to go back and forth to print. That's just how it is for me.

Added to the TBR

Sign Here by Claudia Lux - This was my Book of the Month pick. It's a horror comedy, and I can't wait to read it! I have high expectations for this one.

Currently Watching

Anyone watching the World Series? The Phillies stole game one from the Astros. Hopefully we can steal one back this week!

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.