eggcatsreads's reviews
454 reviews

A delicious Southern Gothic horror that traps you from the first page and makes you really question what you would make a deal with the devil for. 

This book ensnared me from the first page, and didn’t let go until the ending. We follow four teens as they become more and more entangled in the lore and danger of the town they live in - Carrion, the poorer area; and Lake Clearwater, right next door for the wealthy. With a strange intensity every 13 years when the cicadas arrive, everyone knows that people go missing around this time - and no one knows why. 

Sam is the daughter of a man who no one will acknowledge is the hidden violent power behind the Langleys. Reid is a Langley, the most powerful family in Lake Clearwater and the center of the local legend surrounding the town. Neera lives in and works for her grandparents' hotel, but dreams of escaping Carrion to be a musician. And Isaiah is a true crime podcaster who gets an email from someone who went missing, but investigating would require him to look into his own hometown. Brought together during the 13 year cicada emergence when strange things begin to occur, they might discover something happening even deeper under the surface of their town. 

One thing I really loved was the inclusion of the folk legend about Lake Clearwater, as well as the song people sing to warn their children about making deals with the devils. The occasional refrains, and mention of the legend during the book really brought home the insular feel of the town, with the feeling that everyone knows that there’s something lurking further beneath the surface - but other than a select few chosen, they only know enough to be wary about it. As I was reading I was trying to connect the dots about everything that was going on within the town, and while I was able to figure out a few, some were a legitimate surprise to me. This book kept me interested until the last page, and I had to know how it ended before I could stop reading. 

If you love tense and atmospheric creeping Southern Gothic, complete with cult activity and living folklore, then When Devils Sing is the book for you. A phenomenal debut, this novel captured the feel of the south - and the local legends that everyone knows about, but won’t admit to being true. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing this e-ARC.

 

A light campy cozy horror novel where the nearest eldritch horror might just be your neighbor, and a town where the god is very real - and all you need to do is make a sacrifice for it!

Direct Descendant fits right into that campy semi-serious horror genre that fits podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale and novels like The Stranger Times, and once the story took off I could see the charm. 

My biggest issue with this novel was the beginning simply dumping you into the story with no buildup or anything to make the reader understand anything of what was going on - or who any of the characters were. Several times I re-checked to ensure that this actually was a standalone novel and not a “standalone but connected to another series” novel, because in many ways it felt like one. Rather than introducing the reader to the story, the location, or the characters - we are instead starting in the middle of the story, and we (the reader) have to slowly piece together who exactly everyone is, and what exactly is going on. Once this footing was found I enjoyed this novel a great deal more, but the rough start seriously made me consider DNF’ing as it was just very difficult to get into the story. 

However, I did find this novel to be cute and charming, and I always have a soft spot for stories that add the aspect of “cursed town but everyone is fine with it” into it. I love stories that focus on a small group of people having insider information, where the world at large is ignorant of whatever is “actually” going on - and this town fits the bill perfectly. 

When a stranger Sacrifices himself and vanishes, it sets off unexpected consequences throughout the livelihoods of everyone around. Suddenly, the agreement they have with the strange eldritch monster is falling apart, and things aren’t working as well as they used to. Compounded with the grandparent of the man who vanished, hiring a schoolteacher to nose around the town to figure out what, exactly, happened to her grandson - and the secrets of the town are about to fall apart entirely. 

The romance between our two main characters I thought was cute, but it was very “lust at first sight” that made both of their insistence that this was, somehow, a relationship that they’d be together for years to come seem…unrealistic. I can understand them liking each other, and forming a bond and wanting to see where their relationship goes, but the sudden idea - after they’ve slept together once - that they were the true love of the other felt a bit shoehorned in to give romantic tension when there otherwise wasn’t any. 

Overall, I did find this book not be a bad read, but the rough start, as well as the romance and some of the characterization and writing/dialogue, kept it firmly in the 3 star range for me. I enjoyed the worldbuilding of the town, and the people within it, but felt like much of the rest of the plot to be a bit shaky and not very coherent - or concrete. I would recommend anyone who is a fan of the idea of cozy eldritch/cosmic horror to give this book a try, however, and to see if you find something in it that I didn’t. 

 

A tale of righteous feminine rage, revenge, and retribution - with just a dash of romance thrown in - The Queen’s Spade is a historical fiction novel that isn’t to be missed. Inspired by the real tale of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, “goddaughter” and ward of Queen Victoria after being stolen from West Africa, we follow her journey of revenge against everyone who has wronged her since she was captured and brought to England. Forced to adapt and become exactly how the white British society has decided to mold her, she’s still discriminated against for her skin color - seen as a curiosity, and not a person. 

Expected to be grateful for the “opportunity” to be a treasured showpet to the queen, rather than a ruler due respect in her own right, Ina/Sarah begins to enact her carefully crafted revenge against everyone who has disrespected her - and caused the death of her childhood friend on the journey to England. Starting off with a (well-deserved) murder, we follow Ina as she recounts the humiliation and pain wrought upon her for the last decade. We watch as she cleverly gains power and independence in a world that doesn’t wish her to have any, while she uses those same wits to try to crumble the very empire that has entrapped her. With a forced marriage in the works cutting her timeline down significantly, we struggle with Ina as she balances trying to avoid an unwanted marriage, as well as keeping her plans intact. 

I didn’t know anything about this aspect of history, and this book made me want to research further into her life to learn more. While loosely inspired, rather than a wholly accurate account, while reading this novel you can tell a great deal of research went into its creation. 

Perfect for fans of historical fiction and feminine rage, The Queen’s Spade is a journey into British colonialism and hypocrisy, and a woman filled with anger at her unjust treatment and her fight to seek justice. 

 

When two trans teenagers decide to run away from home to escape to California and live free as themselves, they wind up in a fight for their lives when they’re waylaid by a cult who sacrifices girls to a mysterious monster living in their woods. 

The beginning of this book is fairly slow, and in all honesty if I hadn’t known this was classified as a horror up until about the 50% mark, I’d have assumed it was simply a literary novel surrounding the issue of being trans in a world that is unaccepting. However, once this novel picks up it picks up FAST, and once the story finally hits its stride it doesn’t let up until everything is finally resolved. 

Like the debate both Max and Erin ironically have before they realize the danger they’re in - are cryptids transphobic? If the monster only eats girls, who does it go after? Erin - the trans girl, or Max - the trans boy? When the cult tries to answer this question for the monster, the monster responds with something that no one - including the ones feeding the monster - ever expected. 

All in all, this was a fun ride and I enjoyed the horror and survival thriller aspect of this book. Erin fits very well into the Final Girl archetype, while Max is the comedic relief dead-set (perhaps literally) to die while mocking the ones trying - and failing - to kill him. Together, they’ll figure out how to survive this nightmare they’ve found themselves in - and perhaps, eliminate the threat so no one else has to die to fulfill the whims of the men in this town. 

 

A teenager in 1965 gets her fortune read, predicting her own murder. Now, sixty years later it’s come true - and it’s up to her grandniece to solve it before the time limit established in the will runs out. 

An interesting plot for a murder mystery to be sure. Once the plot actually kicked off I found the characters to be fun and just enjoyed the ride. We meet Frances through her journal entries, convinced of her own impending murder. She has spent decades of her life attempting to solve the riddle given to her by the fortune teller, and generally causing a nuisance to all around her by seeing death around every corner. When her grandniece unexpectedly gets a call that she’s to be the inheritor to Frances’ will - a woman she’s never met - she’s confused. She’s even more confused when they arrive to find Frances dead, and the will stating that she’s to solve the murder within a week or that all her assets will be sold off. With the timeline ticking down and only her great aunt’s journal from when she was 17 to go off of, she has to try to solve a decades old murder in the making. 

Told between two timelines - Frances’ journal and current-day Annie attempting to solve the case - this book presents an interesting premise. I did have fun reading this, and I believe any fan of cozy mysteries will have fun with this book. There were a few aspects I found difficult to get into that I tended to gloss over during my reading - the almost no investigation of Frances’ death, the handling of evidence, and in all honesty - how the mystery was solved at the end. However, I had a fun ride on this adventure and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a relatively low-stakes murder mystery in the drowsy English countryside. 
 

(Also, not related because these are young men/teenagers in the 1960s, but why was literally every single male love interest to Frances the worst? I hated them both? They both slept with the same woman, and then blamed that woman for being the reason they did - plus with a small uncomfortable level of slut-shaming/purity culture leveled at both her and Frances, where Frances is seen as the “morally” better choice because she was a virgin. I understand that this was most likely included to fit the era of the journal entries, but I didn’t like the almost implication that the girl who slept with both of these men were the sole aggressor - as if Frances’ boyfriend couldn’t have simply. Not had sex with her and didn’t cheat.)

 

A novel set in the Wild West with teenage serial killer Belle King telling her story from prison - despite her dead husband showing up to claim that it’s all a lie.

The premise of this book sounded right up my alley, and I was right. “Belle King” is exactly my kind of character - cold, unflinching, and sure of herself. Forced in many ways to grow up faster than she should have had to, she claws her way out of an insane asylum, away from an abusive husband, and into the spotlight as the most wanted performer in the Wild West. 

Recalling her sordid history and confessing her crimes, her plans to hang for them are cut short when her husband - the man she killed to escape - shows up to reveal that nothing she says is the truth. Forced to do anything she can to stay away from him and to ensure her own death, she’ll have to resort to all her skills in her arsenal to do so. 

I’m unfamiliar with the story of Belle King, or the story for which this book takes its title from, but I feel like neither are necessary to enjoy this book. I was hooked on her story from the very start, and was eager to see how her confession would play out. Her past is haunting and dark, and forces her - in a way - to either embrace the tiger within her or be crushed by it. And rather than simply survive the hand life had dealt her, she had thrived. Even when inklings of her crimes were starting to come to light, men would still flock to her for a chance to be with her, finding the risk worth the potential reward. 

Told in both flashback and current day jail time confession, Alice recounts her life leading up to this point - and why she is so insistent on ending her life on her own terms. Despite her having committed all these crimes, you - as the reader - can’t help but to also be swayed to her side and rooting for her until the very end. 

A supernatural thriller where a literal haunted house might not be the deadliest thing new homeowner Ronnie must survive. 

This was a fun read - told in two competing timelines of the current day and the 1930s -  where we can slowly piece together how this decrepit house became the way it is - and how, exactly, it became haunted by ghosts. Ronnie, still struggling after the death of her brother and fighting her own OCD, uses the insurance money to purchase this (extreme) fixer-upper of a house. She’s told it might be haunted, and given many warnings about such “dangers” of the house - but, she’s determined to see her project through. 

While renovating she finds the diary of silent film star Venita Ross, who chronicles her life up until the tragic death of her daughter. With both her and her daughter’s killer trapped in the house for the rest of eternity, Ronnie might not be able to trust anyone (or any ghost) she meets - lest she meet the same fate as every previous owner of the house. Coupled with someone whose interest in the house seems a bit more than natural, Ronnie has to depend on herself - and maybe even the ghosts themselves - to save both her and the house.

This was a fun read, and I loved how the story uses both timelines to slowly tell the full picture. A combination of a historical fiction and a supernatural thriller, this book ticks off many boxes of genres I really love and enjoy. Many aspects of this book reminded me of both Laura Purcell and Anna Mazzola, and I believe any fan of supernatural gothic horror would love this novel. My only issue is that I wish there was a bit more explanation about the deal and entity that Sloan made, but I understand the ambiguity being necessary to tell the story in a realistic way. 

Combining the brilliance of Yellowface, the horror of Bat Eater, and the oppressive underlying cultish power of those at the top - Julie Chan is Dead is a fast-paced and climatic powerhouse of a novel that doesn’t let up until the last page. 

Julie Chan isn’t anything special - that is, until her twin sister dies and she’s the only one to find her. With everyone around her assuming it was Julie who died, she decides to take Chloe’s place and embrace the life of a rich influencer and to leave her old life behind. However, when she begins to get too close to the top of the food chain, she discovers there are much more nefarious things controlling her new life than simply just a bad brand deal. 

I especially loved how the life of influencers was portrayed in this novel - with only Julie (as Chloe) being aware of how ridiculous it is that everyone around her is complaining about how “hard” their jobs are - while also taking advantage of every bit of emotional clout she can and monetizing it for her own gain. I thought the knock-off name brands were also hilarious (especially “BetterTherapy” as opposed to “BetterHelp”). And it was fascinating to see how shallow the “friendships” Julie/Chloe had as influencers truly was - and the climax ultimately making her choose her morality or this new rich life that fell into her lap. 

This book was a rollercoaster, and I could never be certain where exactly Julie would end up at the end. 

 

With three conflicting narratives, each with their own unreliable narrator, figuring out which sister the voice of the killer in this novel is will be a challenge. 

Trigger warning for: CSA, animal abuse/mutilation (only discussed, no actual animals are harmed in this novel), body mutilation, killing, rape (mentioned), medical gaslighting 

I enjoyed the beginning of this book, as we learned and explored each of the women’s perspectives and histories, but as the story progressed I felt at times that the author was intentionally muddying their narratives to try to make the resolution at the end more “dramatic.” I kind of figured out which was the voice of the killer from the start, if only because only one character didn’t have so many red herrings that made me mentally go “well it can’t be that one it’s too obvious,” but even with the ending I felt like the timeline and explanation kind of fell apart at the end. 

By the ending of the novel I was confused about both the timeline, as well as the actual crimes committed when they were children, as so much of this book focuses on hiding specific details to keep the reader guessing that I think the author forgot that we (as the reader) aren’t privy to the same information if she hasn’t written it down. As we follow each sister - one, with false memories of being abused by her grandfather, one obsessed with her grandfather’s house and needing to purchase it, and the other with fond memories and hating their sister with the memory issues - we are slowly able to piece together the entire story of their past. Except…each of them has some conflicting narratives, memory lapses, and pieces that don’t add up. 

And then by the ending, we’re still left with some questions about their actual past. We find out where the one sister’s false memories come from, yes, but we’re never given answers for questions that are even explicitly asked in the novel. Why do they spend so much time at their grandfather’s house? What exactly is going on? We’re given some nuggets of information in the literal last chapter or so, but nothing that fully closes the holes in the narrative during the rest of the novel, and that made the ending feel incomplete. 

(Also. Not fully related, but, uh. An “intact hymen” isn’t an indication of virginity, nor do you need to bleed during your first sexual experience to prove you were a virgin. Strange inclusion to have in this book.) 

 

A psychological horror novel that in many ways feels like playing a grown-up version of Corpse Party, with a fascinating premise and a trapped-location feel.

Trigger warning for: Self-harm, self-mutilation, CSA, child abuse, body horror, negative self-image, suicide

Unfortunately, like when I read The Book of Accidents, this book just wasn’t for me. I am a huge fan of the staircase in the woods phenomena and r/nosleep story, so I decided to give this book a chance before deciding that this author wasn’t one for me. However, while the title of this book does focus on the penultimate staircase, and there are a few other staircases scattered throughout - in all honesty, this book is barely about them. This book focuses much more on interpersonal relationships and traumas - and the house they all wind up trapped in - than staircases at all! I would honestly say this book has much more in common with the No-End House creepypasta and some similarities to the game Corpse Party, and that the staircase motif was more added so the author could have an exciting title to catch readers familiar with the concept. 

The first about 30% of this book was a chore to read. I’ve heard people complain about the politics being included in this book, and hilariously I would almost agree - except from the opposite direction. If I wasn’t so sure the author was leaning anti-Trump, I’d have believed him to be conservative. The ONLY openly queer character in this book is such an open stereotype that despite me also being nonbinary, agender, and aromantic I felt like Lore was almost a strawman so readers could point and laugh at how “ridiculous” a nonbinary aromantic pansexual would be as a person. ESPECIALLY when her introduction is made by harassing the “normal” seeming pro-Trump character in this novel - and this character is never given the same stereotypical treatment, and is instead seen as the “straight” man to offset how “insane” the other character is being. We’re supposed to find it funny that Lore accuses him of “hating” her because he voted for Trump - as if it’s ridiculous to assume someone voting for someone who has openly been racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic and has created legislation to make being anything other than “acceptable cishet” a crime would - maybe - not be someone a queer woman would be comfortable around. 

This uncomfortable feeling of homophobia never fully leaves the novel, as while Lore is openly attracted to both men and women, and is supposed to be aromantic - she still ends the novel in a relationship of some sort with a character who had been in love with her as children. A relationship that she, herself, had decided then to not pursue because she wouldn’t be able to give him the same kind of devotion he would give her. And at no point do either of these characters discuss what being in a sexual queerplatonic relationship would look like, and so I can only assume this is her “proper” ending to her “wildness” she had before - she’s been tamed into a relationship that she had never indicated wanting or desiring. And granted, I’m very much projecting here, but since I - once again - am ALSO aromantic it seems like an uncomfortable throughline. (Also, the author very clearly states that she can have sexual relationships but not romantic because she’s aromantic, NOT asexual, and as an asexual myself that’s…not true? Aros can have romantic relationships and aces can have sexual ones - and I’m not saying that Lore ending the book in a supposed romantic relationship is a bad thing, just that - with no discussion in the book to imply any kind of discussion about it - it feels a bit heteronormative to read.)

[Also, the character Lore ends up with I felt like had a much clearer romantic throughline to one of the other men in the story, which I feel would have done a lot to counteract the (hopefully) unintentional homophobia present in this novel.]

After I forced myself to continue past the first 30%, the book itself did improve - but that could be in part because it no longer felt like a flashlight was being pointed at my face and going “haha aren’t people like you so weird and confrontational!” 

Rather than staircases, this book instead focuses on the broken friendships of these characters and the traumas each had faced growing up. And, well…some of these could have been included more tactfully - or, not at all. One in particular felt like it was added simply for the shock value, and then each character winds up in a sort of “trauma Olympics” with each other to try to one-up everyone - even if that’s not how they intend to come across. (One scene even felt like in Jenny Nicholson’s video on Split, where she criticized self-harm scars as the only way someone with depression or suicidal thoughts could articulate it, and that these scars are the only way to help save themselves.) 

Finally, I found the ending to be a tad annoying as - while generally I enjoy open-ended stories - the way this one did felt anticlimactic, as it very clearly set up something that would have ruined the emotional feelings the reader (and these characters) felt about this character throughout the story. Also, I felt like this book kind of took a sharp left turn when we left the staircase mystery and motif, and instead entered into “evil sentient house” where…the motivation to do things just…fell apart? As the story progressed it slowly made less and less sense - especially with the climatic reason for the house to have become evil and sentient in the first place. (No spoilers, but really? That’s the evil that started this mess? That’s it??) I felt like having an actual root cause we could explore almost made the story less believable, and by the time it was revealed I was simply reading to finish this book. However, I know I’m not in the majority of my feelings towards this book, so I would recommend you check it out if you are a fan of horror and being trapped in a single location that is actively trying to break you down. 

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Worlds for providing this e-ARC.