Book Reviews 2024 (New!)

Hello! You have landed on my book review archives.

This page is dedicated to all my book reviews for 2024. Click on “more” for the full review. These reviews are in order, starting from the most recent.

My Heart is a Chainsaw
by Stephen Graham Jones

You won’t find a more hardcore eighties-slasher-film fan than high school senior Jade Daniels. And you won’t find a place less supportive of girls who wear torn T-shirts and too much eyeliner than Proofrock, nestled eight thousand feet up a mountain in Idaho, alongside Indian Lake, home to both Camp Blood – site of a massacre fifty years ago – and, as of this summer, Terra Nova, a second-home celebrity Camelot being carved out of a national forest… [More]

Home Is Where The Bodies Are
by Jeneva Rose

This story hit home for me because it deals with the death of a parent (my dad passed on May 2nd) and the difficulties adult children face when giving up their lives to care for a loved one to slowly watch them lose the quality of life they once had.  Already, this book was keeping pace with me.  The details gave me context to understand the story as it unfolded and where you knew something was off but couldn’t place it… [More]

The Kind Worth Killing
by Peter Swanson

I was surprised by this title because the premise is simple. This is a story about killing. Several killings, to be exact, and how the killings were formulated from a simple plan. It’s like ring-around-the-rosy for killing. For example,… I plan to kill you, but you were already probably planning to kill me, but now your friends know, so I have to kill them too, so yes, folks …this story is titled just as it reads. It’s about the kind of person worth killing. A liar, adulterer, a cheating boyfriend … which one is worth killing.. [More]

Murder Your Employer, The McMawsters Guide to Homicide
by Rupert Holmes

Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then, you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. [More]

The Wishing Game
by Meg Shaffer

What a delightful story and a break from the horror and thriller novels. Part mystery, part fantasy, this story is about the author of a beloved children’s series called Clock Island by the famed author Jack Masterson. His books gave life to a child’s imagination and created a world where wishes came true. [More]

The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar
by Robin R. Means Coleman, Mark Harris

“The ’80s are known as the Greed Decade, then for Black people in horror, it was the Bleed Decade, with almost every major Black character in a major studio horror movie biting the bullet… or the axe… or the machete… or the impossibly sharp ceiling fan.” [More]

The Black Girl Survives in This One
by Desiree S. Evans

All of the female characters throughout these stories are smart and sharp. They are forward-thinking; they have their head on straight. They understand the perils of what’s happening within their existing environment and don’t enter these situations blindly. There is danger; some of these things aren’t possible in the natural sense, but still, they press on. [More]

The Sun Down Motel
by Simone St. James

Another St. James title I truly enjoyed, the Sun Down Motel, has been on my list since I read her last title, “The Book of Cold Cases.”  This was a Libby read. It’s about 327 pages, so I got through it as quickly as I could. [More]

We Lie Here
by Rachel Howzell Hall

This novel is a mystery crime-thriller, which is typical of this author, and I’ve only read one other title in her collection.
The novel centers around the family and the planning of an anniversary dinner. Yara [Ya-Ya for short], our protagonist and the eldest daughter, is planning this event for her parents (but mainly her mother).  [More]

The September House
by Carissa Orlando

What to say about September House…plenty. All the damn ghosts.

This story starts out simply. It centered around a devoted couple who got married and struggled like most of us do. After their daughter was born, Hal and Margaret wanted a good home where Catherine could grow up and someplace to call their own. [More]

The Echo Wife
by Sarah Gailey

The Echo Wife was originally an ARC book that I never got a chance to read. Sometimes, there’s not enough time to sit down and read a book, so I’ll opt for an audiobook to listen to that allows me to get through other tasks. [More]

The Cousins
by Karen McManus

Every year, I add at least 2-4 YA novels to my Good Reads challenge because they are (in a word) entertaining. The Cousins by Karen McManus didn’t disappoint. This was a quick, fun read. Family …you can’t pick em’ …[More]

Leslie F*ucking Jones
by Leslie Jones

Wow, what to say about this novel? First, I listened to the audiobook because there was no way I just wanted to sit and flip pages.  I mean, It’s Leslie F’ucking Jones. (lol) The only drawback is that it’s Leslie F*ucking Jones, so after several chapters, I did get the sense that this audiobook veered away from the actual book. Be warned that this book has STRONG language, so if you’re offended easily, it won’t be something you’ll enjoy... [More]