Thursday, November 10, 2022
Mini-Review: White Horse by Erika T. Wurth
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Can't-Wait Wednesday: Empire of Ice and Stone by Buddy Levy & The Light Pirate
Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.
Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy
Publication: December 6th, 2022
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover. 432 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Publication: November 29th, 2022
Tordotcom
Paperback. 176 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Need to Catch Up On
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!


A Memory Called Empire was a really interesting space opera that left me really curious about the sequel, so hopefully I can get around to that sometime. I'm actually thinking of trying the audiobook for the sequel this time, but we'll see
What I've Read: A Memory Called Empire (#1)











5. Shadow School by J.A. White
What I've Read: Archimancy (#1)


6. Contagion by Erin Bowman




7. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
What I've Read: The Eye of the World (#1), The Great Hunt (#2), The Dragon Reborn (#3), The Shadow Rising (#4), The Fires of Heaven (#5)



8. Ascendant by K. Arsenault Rivera
What I've Read: The Tiger's Daughter (#1)


9. The Divide by J.S. Dewes
What I've Read: The Last Watch (#1)



10. Rampart Trilogy by M.R. Carey
What I've Read: The Book of Koli (#1), The Trials of Koli (#2)
Monday, November 7, 2022
Review: The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson
The Hollow Kind follows generations of the Redfern family as they find themselves haunted by an otherworldly evil. The story is split into two timelines: one timeline follows August Redfern, grandfather to Nellie, starting in 1917 and spanning several decades; and the second timeline takes place in 1989 and follows Nellie and her son Max as they move into their inherited family estate.
In 1989, Nellie has recently discovered that she was left as sole heir to the family turpentine estate and sees this as her opportunity to take her son Max and leave her husband/Max's father and start life anew somewhere else. Upon arriving at the estate, however, Nellie and Max both slowly begin to realize that something at the house holds a dark and discontent feeling that threatens their attempts at a new beginning. The earlier timeline follows August Redfern's life on the turpentine estate and the many perilous ups and downs that occurred during his lifetime. I found it really interesting and helpful to get this insight in August's life, including meeting his wife, children, and the other important people in his life. There is an ever-present eeriness in both timelines, but the earlier timeline definitely shows more origins of that and feels somewhat more mysterious and terrifying in its own right.
I found myself much more engaged in the 1989 storyline because Max and Nellie were personally more compelling and I liked seeing what was going on with the house at this later time. I also really liked seeing Nellie and Max as a team trying to get by. Nellie is a tough character who comes across as someone who doesn't like to show a lot of her feelings to just anyone, but rather works hard to appear strong and prepared, especially in front of her son. This doesn't make her closed off to him, however, and in fact I really liked seeing the moments when Nellie was very straightforward with Max and didn't shy away from realities just because he was a kid, all without burdening him too much with things because he is, of course, still a kid. Max is very perceptive and immediately sense that something about the house is not right, but seeing his mom's hope for this new place causes him to give it a chance.
There are so many creeping elements that make this book such a strong horror pick, including an mystifying woods and an otherworldly sense of something wrong. In addition to this type of horror, however, are plenty of characters in this book who have done terrible things and are capable of doing terrible things. It's these characters that really help build an overall sense of unease and terror throughout the story.
Although this story is meant to be unfolded at a slower pace that worked really well and excelled in developing a gradual unveiling, I did think that there were some parts that dragged on just a little too much. I found this occurred more often in the older timelines than the 1989 one–which is possibly why I was more drawn to the 1989 timeline–and these are the times when I found my attention waining ever so slightly. This happened the most right around the halfway points and a little after; I found the beginning and ending of The Hollow Kind to be very strong.
Overall, I've given The Hollow Kind four stars! I really liked this atmospheric epic horror that covered multiple generations of a family story and will be checking out more of Andy Davidson's work.
*I received a copy of The Hollow Kind courtesy of MCD in exchange for an honest review.*
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
Friday, November 4, 2022
Month in Review: October 2022














Blog Tour + Excerpt: Miss Del Rio by Bárbara Mujica
Blog Tour + Excerpt: If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang
Double Fall Middle Grade & YA Book Spotlights: The Restless Dark by Erica Waters & Monster Club by Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel
Blog Tour: Strike the Zither by Joan He
10/12: The Stars Undying by Emery Robin, The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman, & White Horse by Erika T. Wurth
10/19: Wayward by Chuck Wendig, The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton, & To Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda