Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

The blog Stainless Steel Droppings has hosted this reading challenge for the past 6 years. This reading challenge asks you to read books that fall into the following genres:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

 When this all started I chose Peril the First, which asked me to read 4 books. And I’m proud to say I finished them all! Just in time too, given this last post is happening on Halloween. I found that I really enjoyed all of my reads and I’m super happy that it pushed a scaredy cat like me to read a few things outside my comfort zone. Though I’ll admit I’m happy to get back to my normal fare…as well as a few Christmas reads to get in the mood for the next season.

So, Without Further Ado, My 4th Book…Anna Dressed in Blood

BookTalk

Theseus Cassio Lowood has inherited his father’s job. His duty is to rid the world of ghosts that kill humans. Note: the word “rid” Yep, you can’t “kill” a ghost, they’re already dead. And don’t even think about calling Cas something as demeaning as a Ghostbuster. The kid has killed over 20 ghosts in a few short years. Traveling across the country to perform his duty.

And while everyone agrees that Cas is doing an excellent job of banishing ghosts, it’s something that’s left him friendless and fatherless. But all of this is about to change in Thunder Bay. Cas is about to find an unlikely group of friends including a Prom Queen and a geeky wizard. He’ll witness terrifying ghosts, at least one murder, and the very being that killed his father. And not everyone will make it out alive…

Review

This was not the scariest of all my reads. At points it freaked me out a little…like the final ghost or when Anna scares up all of her previous kills to drive Cas away. There were times where I could just picture the image of this terrifying being *shiver*. But Cas is so calm and collected about it all. Constantly reassuring the reader that it’s all under control. So this book never really built up the suspense to become truly terrifying. Not that the book needed that extra element. Nope. This read is all about Cas facing his fears…like making friends, falling in love, and taking down the demons of his past. The way the plot flowed offered up surprises. Super surprises. Like Holy killing Batman! Someone dies in the beginning of this. Did not see that coming. Honestly read it and thought I was going to wake up from a dream of some kind.

I think at this point I need to say a thing or two about the cover of the book. First, Love It. I love this cover, it has so much movement, it’s pretty and creepy all at the same time…and is it just me or does it fade in lots of red/little red/lots of red? Just me? *sigh* I stare at computer screens for too much of my day! But, I want to yell at the publishers…”This book is about a boy! Do you know how hard it is to get a guy to pick up a cover like this?!” It’s like 13 Reasons Why all over again. It’s hardest to get boys to read and then we have to stymie a perfectly acceptable boy protagonist with a beautiful dress cover. Yep, this is the world of Librarianship.

However, I really should get back to my love of this book. I read the bulk of it in about 2 hours or so. Once I really got into the story I couldn’t stop! What’s great is that one of the major plot points end roughly 3/4 of the way through the book…opening up that last fourth for a surprise plot ending you didn’t even realize was going to happen. And it all flowed so well, not nearly as awkward as I’ve just made it sound.

Also, this book is the beginning of a series. Though, I’m not quite sure where it’s going. There seem to be some mortality issues in succeeding with Cas’s desires. But my doubts aside I’ll be standing in line for the next installment. I have to see where all this is headed. The ghost killing, the friendships, and the romance. Sooo obvious that this book was just the beginning.

Rating: 4/5 Ghost story full of Ghosts but not scary enough to sleep with the light on. 

 

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The Shining by Stephen King…(R.I.P. 2)

The blog Stainless Steel Droppings has hosted this reading challenge for the past 6 years. This reading challenge asks you to read books that fall into the following genres:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

 If you’d like to join up just click the image above to find more info. Know that if you’re new to challenges (or just really busy reading other things) this challenge comes with levels. Including one that asks you to read just one book. I’ve chosen Peril the First, which means I’ve signed up for 4 books! That’s a lot of scary for a scaredy-cat like me, lol.

Without Further Ado, My 2nd Book…The Shining

BookTalk

Have you ever known a person who was special? Someone who always seemed to evade trouble? Always seemed a step ahead? Maybe they always knew what mood you were in? They just seemed to Know something the rest of us miss…

An unexplained 6th sense perhaps? Some call this gift The Shine. People with shine just seem to be aware of things others aren’t. Not everyone is capable of predicting lottery numbers or if it will rain tomorrow…no…most are simply ‘touched’ by The Shine. Walking through life unaware they posses this gift.

But not Danny. Danny is more than ‘touched’ by The Shine. Danny radiates The Shine. He is the boy who doesn’t just stumble upon his luck. He can call forth visions of the future and answers to his problems. At five, Danny is just beginning to realize this is an unusual skill. He’s also beginning to realize that his visions aren’t always happy and helpful…

Lately Danny is dreaming of a place…A hotel…The Overlook. It is a place filled with death, with secrets, and with Redrum. Danny has been forewarned of the dangers of The Overlook. As much as Danny wishes to avoid the horror he’s about to find that it may not be for him to decide. You see, The Overlook wants to keep Danny within it’s walls…Dead or Alive…

Review

I don’t know how scared I was by this book. I mean it has all the elements. Kid with paranormal connections, Father who goes crazy, Creepy hotel full of ghosts…lots of death and murder…not to mention those moving topiaries. Yep, nothing scarier than a hedge in the shape of a bunny.

I do kid. This book really was freaky. I think I’m just more scared by things that chase you, by stuff like the apocalypse and a deadly virus taking over the world. I also think I was distracted by the bits and pieces I knew from the movie. While I’ve never seen the film through general culture I knew what Redrum meant, and knew that Jack Nicholson went crazy in a hotel during winter trying to kill everyone.

But I was also expecting those creepy twins. While in the book, they played a smaller and completely uninvolved role. They were not the ghost hiding behind 217. The biggest surprise from my read was how well written a book this was. I’m not a reader who thinks that in order for a book to be good it needs to be “well written” in an old-school literary canon kinda way. I’m just as ‘in awe’ of a writer who is a good story-teller or one who can create tension and play on my emotions. But as a former English major, and a general literary devotee I do appreciate a man who has full command of his writing skills.

King manages to combine horror, paranormal, and a bit of rawness while still showing masterful writing chops. Sometimes I found myself enjoying the read, not because I was so into the story…but because I loved the way King was playing with his words, with his use of punctuation. Very well done, and still accessible. Bravo.

I’m not going to reveal too much about the plot. It’s not my place to ruin the mystery for the next reader. I liked that the book delved into the history of the characters. Showing how the experiences that formed them was twisted and used by the hotel. And I loved Danny. I really liked the kid, and for all of his 6th sense abilities he didn’t creep me out. And finally the end was slightly happier than I expected. Don’t get me wrong…it’s all super-horrific and gory…but it ends with hope. Didn’t see that coming…

Rating: 4/5 Well written tale about a Hotel that comes to life and a family that falls apart.  

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Library Musings: R.I.P. …Or TheLibrarian gets Freaky

I love the Fall. It’s one of the things I miss most living in Southern Florida. No crisp days built for sweaters, no apple cider, no houses decked out in mums and corn stalks. It just doesn’t look right when it’s still 90 something out. So right about now I’m yearning for a little Fall theme-y-ness. Something to put me in the mood.

Then poof!

What did I stumble across but this Halloween themed Reading Challenge:

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge

(affectionately known as the R.I.P. Challenge)

Ooooh, I do love me some horror, some scary, some things-that-go-bump-in-the-night stuff around the month of October. In the past I’ve done Frankenstein, The Crucible, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during that urge to read some Halloween-esque books. This Reading Challenge asks you to read books that fall into the following genres:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The blog Stainless Steel Droppings has hosted this reading challenge for the past 6 years. If you’d like to join up just click the image above to find more info. Know that if you’re new to challenges (or just really busy reading other things) this challenge comes with levels. Including one that asks you to read just one book.

I’ve chosen:

Which means I’ve agreed to read 4 scary books between now and October 31st.

Now for the books…Hmm…I’ll admit I’m not really a Scary Story buff…

I may or may not have nightmares after watching/reading scary stuff and may or may not wake up in the middle of the night and have to open every door and space big enough to hold a person in my house so as to unmask the killer…before he finds me but kills my little white dog first. Killers are always doing something mean like that…making the victim watch their dog die so they feel sadness as well as horror at their own death. And I am completely convinced that this will happen to me around 3am some morning. Yep, that’s about the same time of night I also think the pillows on my couch have turned into a ghost…or perhaps a skeleton wearing a top hat. Skeletons are fancy you know.

So…Knowingly risking a few good nights of sleep, I’d love some book suggestions. I’m currently considering:

The Poisoned House

The Shining

Dark Souls

Again, if you’re a kind reader and want to suggest some spine-tingling tales the criteria for the books are as follows:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Wish me luck! And hope I don’t keep the hubs up at night with my killer-prevention-tactics 😉 I swear, I check the guest room closet too even though I couldn’t fit in another shoebox…you can never be too careful, lol

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Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski

I am on Vacation…So it’s Beach Week here on the blog.

Granted I live less than a mile from the ocean in Southern Florida, so really every week is beach week for me, but there is just something special about being on vacation at a beach. Even if you’re a year round beach bum a week’s worth of no work and all play is still pretty awesome. So in honor of my time at the shore every post this week is vacation or beach related. For those of you grumbling about my beach fortune don’t worry…This week starts with a group of vacation stories you might rather avoid…

BookTalk

“You know that prickly feeling you get on the back of your neck? The one hat makes you scared to turn around? Pay attention to that, Holmes. That is a Me-NO-Likee signal creeping up from the lizard part of your brain – some primal DEFCON center of your gray matter left over from the very first ancestors that hasn’t been destroyed by gated communities, all-night convenience stores…,and a half dozen fake Ghost Chaser shows on late-night cable. I’m just saying that lizard part exists for a reason. I know that now.

“So if you’re walking down that unfamiliar path and the mist rises up out of nowhere and slips its hands over your body, turning you around until you don’t know where you are anymore, and the trees seem to be whispering to you? Or you think you see something in the dark that shouldn’t exist, that you tell yourself can’t possibly exist except in creepy campfire stories? Listen to the lizard, Holmes, and do yourself a favor.

“Run. Run like Hell’s after you.

“Because it just might be.” (pg. 116-117 ePub edition)

Review

This is a collection of short stories about what happens when your vacation goes wrong. Because really, who wants to hear about a trip where someone sat on a beautiful beach? I only want to hear about that trip if I was on the trip, or I’m about to go on that trip. However, if I am sitting on my couch…amongst my laundry and a carpet that needs vacuumed…I want a vacation where something goes wrong. Like, vampires-on-your-cruise wrong, a curse-in-the-French-countryside wrong, spell-gone-wrong, wrong. Types of wrong that will make that summer sunburn look like…well…a day at the beach.

These stories were fluffy and fun. The perfect combination of teeny-bopper hair flipping and sleep with the light on scary. Not all the tales were scary scary stories, but all do contain a twist you may not have seen coming. I was personally taken by surprise in the first story Cruisin’ by Sarah Mlynowski. It’s the perfect tale to start this collection off, seemingly fluffy with a game-changing plot move 3 pages from the end. The story gave me a smile and a chilly surprise. The rest of the collection didn’t disappoint. Law of Suspects by Maureen Johnson in the middle upped the horror factor with a cursed story and a lonely French manor. Then Libba Bray drives it home with the most classically paranormal/scary story Nowhere is Safe. A gothically creepy, superstition-ridden romp in an Eastern European hill town. Very few survive that blood bath…be prepared.

In the end this was a great beach read…or couch read depending on your summer plans. For those choosing a ‘staycation’ over the traditional summer travel, know that you’ll experience very little envy from these travelogues. In fact you may feel a little smug, safe in your house…alive. Now, if only someone could come fold the laundry…

Rating: 7/10

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