Book Review l The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man

C. J. Tudor 

Horror / Thriller / Mystery
7 Stars
Easy Reading

This small town hides a dark and terrible secret. Murders from the past come back to haunt the present, someone has the answers and it is all tied to a small group of friends. Some of the kids who are now adults  left this little town long ago and some never escaped. As their worlds collide once more, death comes to visit.

I loved this book but I am still conflicted about it, it reminded me so much of the Losers Club (It) and the Neighbourhood Gang (Jack Ketchums, Girl Next Door) in ways that seemed more like a rip off than just inspiration. The plot was excellent though. You can really see the potential this author has as they find their own style a little bit more.

I can't wait to pick up more of Tudors novels. I can see great things in her future.

Book Review l My Best Friends Exorcism

My Best Friends Exorcism

Grady Hendrix

YA / Contemporary / 1980's / Highschool / Horror
8 Stars 

I judged this book by its cover, and I am proud to say I judged right!

I had been told a lot about this author, seeing him pop up from time to time on goodreads, book tube ect. for various books, not just this one. But this book specifically did show up as well, so I had a pretty good idea that I was going to like his writing style and that this book in particular was going to be great, possibly even amazing.

It fell somewhere between the two opinions.

Summary

Abby and Gretchen are BFF's. Going into their grade 10 year in 1982. After a variety of teen drama and some epic references, Gretchen gets possessed by a demon, but is it really possession? Abby doesn't believe in all that, and while her homelife sucks, Gretchen's isn't all sunshine and rainbows either. As the little mysteries add up, Abby will be the only one left in Gretchen's corner and really, what is she supposed to do?

Book Review l Asking For It - Kate Harding & Missoula

Asking For It
Kate Harding

Rating : Great

Missoula 
John Krakauer 

Rating : Good

Non-Fiction / Feminist / Culture / Sexual Assault / Legal

*** quick note before I get started : this is my first time rating non-fiction (particularly sensitive topic non-fiction) just want to make it clear that I am NOT rating the topic. That is all about the writing / read-a-bility

I am going to try and merge these two reviews together, I picked up both of them for the same reasons. April is sexual assault awareness month.
I meant to get to a bunch of these non-fiction rape culture / sexual assault awareness texts read last year, and it just didn't happen. Like so much else these ended up on my TBR for next year. Both books address the issues surrounding rape culture; Missoula focusing on the town of the same name, where date rape and college rape were really mismanaged by officials (on all kinds of levels) and not only on how rape culture effects the victims but how it can really benefit the predators (specifically football players).
Asking For It; a reflection on the sum of rape culture, rape myths, and the domino effects of the whole rape situation. It was the perfect follow up read, to Missoula, because most of the problems I had with Missoula where "fixed" or addressed in this novel, it reflected positivly back onto Missoula and raised my opinion of the text.

Book Review l The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis
Frank Kafka

Classic / Contemporary / Metaphor / Analogy

This is part of the Rory Gilmour reading challenge, and it seemed like a good place to start on that TBR list. With only 55 pages or a 2 hour audiobook ( I ended up going with the audiobook), this short text amazed me - now that I have gotten into reading classics, they are just getting easier, more fun, more relaxing, overall more enjoyable.

Summary
We meet our protagonist as he wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant bug of some kind, his family seems to know that it is him, but because he is unrecognizable they fear and avoid him. The start off by imprisoning him but taking care of him in their own way (observing his family now as an outsider, our bug gets some insight), slowly the conditions which the family was in (realitvily static conditions may I add) change, we watch this new dynamic, which plays itself out quickly and generally into the end of the story - where the family moves on 

I am going to bet if you really looked at the text and annotated as you go, you could find 55 themes for the 55 pages. Kafka really crammed them in there and for the sake of it, il list a few.

• Metamorphosis = Change - literally in text to a bug but this could be any major change really
• Change in physical health (which here could open all kinds of possibilities)
• Change in sexuality
• Change in mental state etc.
• Caregiving, Family Dynamics, Perspective, Expectations, Death, Moving On, Finical Status. 

Again another classic I never came across at school, but how easy would it have been to 1. read and 2. to write s*** about? like really you could write almost anything and tie it into a theme from here!

Book Review l Jaws

Jaws 

Peter Benchley 

Horror / Creature Feature / Fiction / Contemporary
9.5 Stars

For years this has been one of my favourite movies, I was under the impression it was thought up and fully designed by Spielberg, but I just signed up for Hoopla (which book lovers everywhere should check out) and what was my first recommendation? Jaws! I read this book twice over in about 3 days and it is something I can see myself rereading again and again in the future.

Summary
The small coastal town of Amity is plagued by a man eating shark over the July 4th long weekend, if they close the beaches the town's economy will crash and the money situation will like be unsalvageable for most of the small towns shops, bars and residents. But is the shark still lurking in the depths? what is an appropriate cost?

If your a reader and you liked the movie you should check out the book, its a quick and easy read. It does stick to a lot of the movie, the plots are very close but it has all the depth that you get from a great novel. There are some nice little additions too, focusing on that capitalist mentality - money over people - that peoples financial situation and protecting the statue quo can be considered acts of public safety.  Of the playing the odds, taking risks. It is way more about the people than I would have guessed, the shark is just the catalyst.

Book Review l Dracula & Frankenstein

Dracula

Bram Stoker 

Classic / Horror / Vampire /
8 Stars

Summary
We follow count Dracula from Transylvania to London, were the vampire wishes to start a new life and new reign of terror. The fiend is driven from the city, hunted by a trio of well informed and connected men lead by Dr. Van Helsing. Chasing the count back to Transylvania for the final encounter.

I read the first half of this book countless times, I could never make it past Mina Harkers entrance. I am so glad that I finally pushed through that, because this is one of the classics that I really enjoyed, right to the end. The last 1/4 of the book just flew by. I found myself comparing this again and again to Salem's Lot by King, pretty sure it was Dracula that inspired the book. But I think King did it better.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Summary
Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with reanimating the dead, he finally succeeds, but is horrified at the result. He flee's his laboratory, leaving the monster behind. When murders and mysteries begin to plague his family he wonders if the fiend is not to blame; which means that he, as the fiends creator is equally to blame. As the doctor sets out to hunt the monster, the reader confronts the nature vs nurture aspects of mankind. 

I read a part of this in high school, but I was never really motivated to pick it up again. But between the Netflix, Frankenstein Chronicles (which I binge watched) and that it was for free on audiobook (love librivox) I did finally read it.

It was a lot better than I thought it would be, and it was a lot different. Much more, short sweet and to the point than I had anticipated. The plot was different from what I was expecting - I don't really know what I was expecting - but I related much more to the monster, despised the Dr and disagreed with the "mankind" in the story. For a classic it really was a thought provoking piece.

Book Review l I Was Here

I Was Here
Gayle Foreman

Fiction / YA / Contemporary
6.5 Stars

Summary
How could your best friend be suicidal and not tell you? Cody has to come to terms with her best friends death, going to pack up her room at college seems like the last step, bringing the last few pieces of Meg home for closure, but is it really the first step in understanding?

I read, If I Stay and Where She Went, back when they where both incredibly popular and I liked them so when I saw this on the library shelf, I figured I would give it a try. I pretty much went into this blind. But considering I had only taken a peek at the dust jacket, I did jump to quite a few preconceived notions that where way off. That really threw off reading the book initially.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a little bit like Wintergirls, where both of the girls had issues and it was just a matter of luck that one died instead of the other. Which really was not the case, and then once we got into the story and I had figured out where my characters stood. I jumped to Watcher in the Wall and was thinking action, police, mystery stuff. Which was again, jumping to conclusions way to fast (and totally out of character for the author).

Foremans writing is very raw and emotional, it really taps into the age of the character. The thoughts the feelings its all very real. Personally I was a little bit annoyed by Cody, she came across as whiny sometimes, made incredibly bad judgement calls, and I felt like there was this emphasis on her family situation - where she has a less than perfect mother and she was supposed to be responsible for herself ect. - that didn't reflect in her actions. I also wasn't happy with the ending, while it had a genuine feel to it. It was a bit of a cop-out ending.

Contemporary is not one of my favourite genre's admittedly which probably plays into my opinion, and YA is not one of my stronger areas particularly lately. So grain of salt with all this.

Book Review l Rituals

Rituals 

(Cainesville #5)

Kelley Armstrong

YA / Fantasy / Supernatural / Paranormal
8.5 Stars

I loved these books, and they were some of the first books that I annotated, for sure the first everyday kind of books I took notes on.  When I finally got around to this last one, I was so happy with how much of the previous books I remembered -  its been over a year since I read the  first 4 and I binge read them - Armstrongs stories tend to be great when I am reading them but the details fade really quickly (but not this time!).

*** No Summery because it will give away to much from books 1-4

I am still amazed at this series, I just loved it so much. It is a mix of Celtic, Irish folklore. A YA - teen version of American Gods. It does the predestined characters in the perfect way, its avoids most cliches. Gabriel was / is amazing, I have the biggest crush on him. Armstrong played him and Ricky against each other, but together, and to the reader in such a clever way. I love Ricky but I never rooted for him, but I wanted him to be happy. I didn't always like Gabriel, he was always sexy, dark, mysterious, and I always wanted him to end up with Liv. Even when I was sitting there hating him for being slow, distant, reluctant. I contracted myself over and over reading these. I am so happy with how it all ended, it felt a little anticlimactic at times, but then it just fits perfectly.

Amazing amazing amazing, would make a phenomenal TV show.

Book Review l The Lost Girls

The Forgotten Girls

(A Bella DeFranco Mystery #1)

Alexa Steele 

Mystery / Detective / Murder / Fiction
4.5 Stars

I got this book for free off iTunes and for a free book it wasn't bad. In fact for a free book, it was good. But compared to most books, it falls a little bit short.

The writing is underdeveloped and immature, falling into all the common "young or new author" traps. The characters were very cookie cutter,  I had a pretty strong sense of dejavu, the story could have come come right from Law and Order : SUV or even with minimal tweaking Criminal Minds. Another issue was that the characters are unlikeable or give off a detached feeling. When I am reading I like to be able to pretend that the characters have been, are or could be real. I am reading a persons story. This was really missing. It read in a high school essay kind of tone. I am having a hard time explaining, but I pretty much feel no commitment to the series. So needless to say I don't think il be checking out any of the other books unless they free too... and maybe not even then.

She did throw in a pretty good plot twist and then ending wasn't bad. But I am going to guess this shocking 180, and the story going far left field is going to be her "signature". Which will make things very predictable, predict that the first 3/4 of the book will have nothing to do with how it turns out. Which is maybe where some of my "I don't care" feelings are stemming from.

Book Review l Feed & Deadline

The 

Newsflesh

Trilogy

by

Mira Grant

Book Review l The Scarlett Gospels & A Hell Bound Heart

The Scarlett Gospels 

Clive Barker

I got into Clive Barker on a vacation in Mexico where I read all 4 volumes of The Books of Blood. I had to check out more of his work and after some googling found out he was the inspiration behind the Hellraiser movies.  This is of course the HellBound Heart (which I have read again and again ever since) 

It took me a while to pick up the Scarlett Gospels but I am so glad I did. It was action packed, gory, graphic, interesting, everything I was looking for and a few things I wasn't expecting. 

Super Short Summary

Harry D'Amour is a supernatural detective he squares off with Pinhead and Hell in an epic battle for earth and the souls of all humanity. 

I don't want to spoil anything, and less is more in this case. I think Harry is one of the main characters in some of Barkers other novels and I found out there are other short stories to go with specific Cenobites (there are action figures as well) I would love to read those and I think that some of theses stories would make amazing comic books so fingers crossed that someone makes one!

<--- The Hellbound Heart is a short story about the Lament configuration (doorway to hell and summoning box of the Cenobites)

If your a horror fan and haven't read Barker's work you have to check it out
Looking for spooky October reads? check these out
and don't forget about Spring into Horror which is in April!

Book Review l The Picture of Dorian Grey

The Picture of Dorian Grey

Oscar Wilde

Classic / Horror /
7 Stars

Summary
If you could live a life free of any repercussions what would you do? Dorian Grey must answer this question for himself. 

Classic books; I recommend always watching the movie before, you read the book. For me anyways, it helps to organize what I am listening to - particularly if the language is difficult, it's one less thing to try and puzzle through - that and unlike most modern texts, there aren't any spoilers or big secrets to ruin. I normally know most of the plot going into the movies and then same thing again for the books.

 It was a little bit unnecessary in this case as the characters were straightforward and the plot was pretty simple and easy to follow. For a classic the language was pretty easy to understand as well which was nice. As with most of my classics I picked up the audiobook.

This is one of the cases where the movie is better than the book, I think the acting is spot on and the actor who plays Dorian is beautiful.

*** Side note : Why is it that only classic novels get these amazing beautiful covers, and you can buy whole sets of matching books? YA series everywhere start taking tips from these publishers!

Book Review l Invisible Chains : Canda's Underground World of Human Trafficking

Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking,

Benjamin

Perrin

Book Review and Discussion on the topic of Modern Day Slavery

I think this is a must read book for everyone, everywhere. This doubles for any Canadian, Triples if you are in any faculty of Law Enforcement, Social Services, Health Care Services or if your a parent.

Book Review l A Mothers Reckoning : Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy

A Mother's Reckoning : Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy 

Sue Klebold 

(Mother of Columbine School Shooter Dylan Klebold) 

I watched Mrs. Klebold do a presentation for TED talks and then I stumbled across her book. After reading this I went back through the TED talks and other presentations that she gave, and I recommend those over the book (Il get into why in a second)

The book goes through Mrs. Klebold's personal experiences (taken from diaries, notes, police reports and various other sources) to recreate her mental state in discovering there was a shooting at her son's high school and that her son, Dylan was one of the two shooters. That Dylan was not forced into his role and how he had hidden this side of himself from all his friends and family. 

The false new reporting, the lawsuits, all the aftermath. The coming to terms, the choosing to speak out publicly about her son's actions and then becoming an advocate for mental health. 

When Sue speaks it is incredible, moving, touching, inspiring. Her writing - I should say the book? because there are editing flaws and so many other problems as well - falls way short of the potential and my expectations. 

The introduction to the book was atrocious - boring, longwinded, confusing, I was reading the same lines over and over, getting no clarification. It was jumbled and incredibly frustrating.  I was about to put the book down before I even got into the main body of the text.

Once I got into the first section of the book things got better, but I still had a lot of issues. Sue went into how she received the information and processed everything; from the morning of the shooting, to years later as she went through therapy. The problems I had in this section, where more personal to how I read and take in information. We went through the same points again and again. Sue told us over and over, how she just couldn't believe it, how it couldn't be her son, how Dylan must have been tricked, or coerced. I understand that the way she chose to write the book, made the repetition pretty much impossible to avoid (and as a lot of it was taken from diaries, I am sure she did tell herself those things 1000 times) but that doesn't make me like it. 

The Second Section of the book was what really impressed me; it summed up that intro and the first section (100 pages ish) in about 2 pages, and then we get into more facts about mental health, the warning signs, the lack of warning signs, bullying. 

Overall I would really recommend this book, it did cut through a lot of misinformation about the Columbine Shooting. I know lots of other readers didn't struggle with the first section the way I did (again just a matter of taste), it is very educational and really prompted me to read similar books. 

Book Review l The Trophy Taker

The Trophy Taker

(Detective Johnny Mann #1) 

Lee Weeks

Mystery/Thriller/ Murder/ 

5.5 Stars 

I stumbled across this book in a second hand shop and picked it up because of the cover. 

Summary

There is a prolific serial killer in Hong-Kong, racking up an incredible bodycount over the course of years without being caught on the radar, until today. Body's begin to show up all over the city, but is catching the killer as important as hushing up the press? Detective Johnny Mann, our tall dark, British-Asian, marital arts expert is on the case. 

Book Review l The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold 

YA / Fiction / Contemporary

I have read this book almost a dozen times, it is one of my favourites, touching, haunting, heartbreaking, beautiful, magical and so much more.
I can't believe I have never done a review for it.

Summary
Susie Salmon was brutally murdered when she was just 14. This is the story of her heaven, her family, her friends. How they coped, how they didn't. How the big picture life moves on, even after such a devastating tragedy. We the reader are an omnipotent being standing in the shoes of god. Watching and waiting to see what will happen next. 

I picked up the book for the first time in junior high or high-school, I can't remember which. I know it was on some kind of a booklist, so I fully expected it to be a classic. So I picked up the book expecting it to be a painfully slow, unenjoyable read. It is everything but that.

The writing is classed as young adult, but really it is timeless, ageless. Every-time I read this book I relate a little differently with the characters, I understand more or see something new from another perspective. There is so much I could say about the book, but really it is something you have to experience for yourself. Men, women, boys, girls,  everyone should read this story.

Book Review - Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher

The story behind Hanna Bakers suicide, the 13 people who played a part, 13 events that caused her world to collapse.

This book has been on my radar since 2010 when I first read Wintergirls. With the new TV show it has gotten really popular and I finally got a look at the actual book, seeing how short it is was the reasons why I picked it up and gave it my time. I did read it in two sittings.
I think the book was written in the perfect style, it never explained what had gone on before Hanna moved to town, it never went into the home life or other lives of characters, even Clay we learned very little about other than his ties to Hanna.
I have personal ties to suicides and suicides attempts and the description of their internal self collapsing matched with what I felt from Hanna in an very realistic way.

I would not recommend this book to everyone, I feel like it could really affect peoples mental state. I think we can all judge by reading the synopsis if this book would be for us.

Similar novels 

Book Review l Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby

Ira Levin

Audiobook by Unknown

I got this book ages ago as an October read, but I never got around to it until this years "Spring into Horror"; where I tried to get through a few longstanding TBR books... I don't how this novel ended up among the books that I just didn't get around to reading, because when I bought it, I couldn't wait to pick it up.

It is in a writing style I class as "short and sweet"; easy to read, lots of character, plot, action.  I saw the movie ages ago (which gave me the general premise) and I knew the book would be so much better than the film (which it totally was). I can't wait to reread this, I wish I had grabbed the audiobook sooner (it was only 4 hours long I think? which makes it perfect for an October afternoon).

Summary
Rosemary is newly married and moving into a classic style apartment building with her husband Guy. They are pre-warned by a friend about the buildings sinister past of suicides, murders and involvement with a creepy cult (they of course pay no attention because a building is just a building right?) then they meet the strange neighbours, then they get pregnant and then for poor Rosemary, things start to go sideways. Is she going insane? or was there some truth to the dark rumours about her home?

***I spent sometime, googling the Bamford, and wish that it could be the setting for some other novels. Because the backstory was so interesting (that could be a book in itself). I know that this is the first book in a duo-logy and I might get around to that second novel but I am not sure.

Book Review - American Psycho

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis 

6 Stars
399 Pages
Satire/ Thriller / Horror / Murder /

*** I actually didnt end up finishing this book, I do plan on rereading it and completing it but I had about a fifth of the book left to go when I stopped. Decided to publish this anyways because it sums it up regardless.

So when I first started this book I was breezing through it and then it all just got to be too much, I started to stop and start and it just got slow. The "turning point" was the dry-cleaners scene, it starts to get kind-of confusing. Let me explain; you know that what is honestly going on does not match the narration, that we have an unreliable, unstable narrator and that throughout his perceptions have been warped. Then we go beyond and he seems to totally break from reality - which in the movie is easy to follow along because of the visual  but is impossible to comprehend from a readers perspective - I think it is something people should read, or at least read excerpts from. I thought of it as a horror novel going into it but it is so much more and much akin to Orwell or Huxley.
Along the lines of the authors just mentioned, as a book it is a despicable read. Sarcastic, satire, condescending... just horrible. There isn't a single likeable character, there is very minimal slowish plot, lots of development and detail compared to the action (there is murder and mayhem but in a smaller supply that I had pictured and in a much different format). Published in 199,1 I think the topics have gotten more rather than less relevant,  which is unfortunate. The themes are : the doom of man, the stupidity of humanity is infinite and consumerism is all...

So overall I would recommend this for academic purposes but not for a pleasure read and you might want to watch the movie before or after just so that it makes some sense.

Book Review - The Empty Chair

The Empty Chair

(Lincoln Rhyme #3)

Jeffery Deaver 

7.5 Stars 

Pages

Fiction / Crime / Mystery / Thriller 

We leave NY and head down into North Carolina, hunting a 16 year old boy who is a murderer several times over and has now turned into a kidnapper, hoping to get the two girls back alive they race against the clock.  The small town inexperienced police force is ill equipped to handle such a situation, and is as much a hinderance as a help. The town is ready to lynch the boy but if he is killed instead of captured those girls will die slowly of starvation hidden in the wilderness, if they are even still alive that is. Lincoln is like a fish out of water in this new place, uncertain of where the evidence is leads and as Amelia puts herself in Garrett's  shoes she finds a soft spot for the boy. Will this give our killer the edge he needs against our heroes?

The fourth Deaver book I have read and I was not disappointed. This was the most predicable book so far, although there are still several twists, I have been reading a lot of his work as well so I might just be falling into the pattern. The bugs were seriously creepy, and reminded me of so many horror books and novels I couldn't stop making comparisons! I was not drawn into Amelia and Lincoln's relationship as much with this one and I can't decide if they supporting characters where perfect or annoying. I was incredibly frustrated at many points because of how real it got with the law enforcement. I wanted the small town dynamic to be so much fiction but I have read a few true crimes highlighting small towns and how public opinion, meddling bystanders, inexperienced cops and ill-equipped cops handle cases terribly... it was sad because it is true kind of thing. 

Overall another fantastic read and gripping novel by Deaver.