The Bookish* Newsletter! | April 2026! [Web Edition]

Hello Friends! Welcome (or welcome back) to the blog.

** Quote **
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

My bookish peeps, how are you? I hope you’re taking advantage of the nicer weather with a few activities. Make sure to stay hydrated. And for the love of all things …” put down that phone📱!” (LOL)

You already know… end of the month = bookish business. The April Edition is here, and we’ve got my latest ARC review, approvals, latest reads, and so much more.

With that, let’s get into the newsletter!

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VOL. 2 | Issue No. 14| APRIL 2026| Blog Version | PDF

LATEST BOOK REVIEW

Nothing Tastes As Good
Luke Dumas
[HORROR, THRILLER, LGBT]
✨3.91 Goodreads Rating

“When food can’t sustain you, what comes next?”

THANK YOU! Net Galley and Atria Books for the advance copy of this title.

WOW! That’s the first word that comes to mind.

When I think about obesity, I often think about our own personal struggles. Granted, I’m not morbidly obese, but I do live with Type 2 Diabetes, so issues surrounding weight and health hit close to home. Unfortunately, these things tend to go hand in hand.

Within the first few chapters, I felt a sadness for Emmett that’s hard to explain. I know how easy it is for people to judge someone based purely on appearance. Simple everyday things—getting on an airplane, visiting an amusement park, or even grocery shopping—can bring discerning looks from strangers who don’t know your story.

Emmett had a loving family, but the parenting wasn’t always there. It felt like they tried to compensate for that failure with food. Later, when Emmett’s mother married Hank, things took a darker turn. Hank’s attempts to control Emmett’s eating crossed into outright abuse. Reading some of those old-school methods meant to curb Emmett’s appetite was genuinely cringeworthy. You can’t satisfy what the body believes is hunger with a glass of water or a piece of fruit when someone is used to gorging. Changing that kind of relationship with food takes time, patience, and a complete retraining of the body and mind.

I also found myself placing some blame on the pharmaceutical company behind the new weight-loss drug, “Obexity.” Western medicine often treats symptoms rather than the underlying problem, sometimes creating a cycle where people feel trapped, relying on medication instead of exploring deeper or nontraditional solutions. Of course, medicine exists for a reason and can be life-sustaining for many people—but others may need a different kind of rewiring altogether.

The fact that this drug promised results without requiring any lifestyle changes should have been a red flag for Emmett. But desperate people do desperate things. When food could no longer sustain him, other alternatives stepped forward—and that’s where things begin to spiral.

It’s not as though Emmett didn’t try. He attempted diets, exercise, and various other strategies to lose weight, but nothing stuck. His real struggle was binge eating—consuming so much food that it would literally make him sick. Over time, his body simply adapted to that cycle.

In the end, it’s a sad story. As the pieces come together, you’ll likely find yourself searching for someone to blame. The story is filled with strong supporting characters—and a few truly terrible ones—because every good narrative needs tension, conflict, and emotional weight to keep things moving.

I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it. Does it contain potential triggers? Yes. But if you’re reading horror 💀, that comes with the territory.

Rating: 4.5 stars ✨

Great Book Sources

✯ BookTrib ִ✯
✯ Good Reads ִ✯
✯ Book Riot ִ✯
✯ Literary Hub ✯
✯ Booktrovert ✯
✯ Fable ✯

➢➢➢APPROVED➢➢➢

REVIEWS
TRACKER

THE SUMMER FUN MASSACRE
Craig DiLouie
SUMMER, HORROR, SUSPENSE

Release Date: June 16, 2026

SUMMER 1983. A blood-soaked summer camp counselor is found staggering down a country road. The sole survivor of a horrific massacre, Mary tells a nightmare of a masked maniac wielding an old skinning knife. Arriving too late to help, her boyfriend, Tom Bailey, is plagued by guilt.

SUMMER 1992. The camp reopens as Camp Summer Fun. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Tom doubts this is a good idea, but the camp has been refurbished, the counselors hired, and the little campers are on the way. Responding to reports of a blood-curdling howl near the camp, he again arrives too late to save anyone except a single brutalized teen. The killer nowhere to be found.🍵 📖

THE FILM YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE
Haley Newlin
HORROR, NOVELLA, HALLOWEEN

It’s 1959 in a rural Indiana town, and the local drive-in is hosting its first-ever Dusk Til Dawn Spooktacular!

And they’ve got a Percepto surprise in store for the audience, complete with vomit bags, nurses on staff, and a hearse parked just beneath the monsters onscreen.

But June has a strange sense about things. Always has. And as the screams spread through the parking lot, reality and theatrics begin to blur for her and her friends. Is it just a gimmick, or is something lurking amongst the moviegoers? The relationship? Or is there more that Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?🍵 📖