ARC REVIEW: BAT EATER | KYLIE LEE BAKER

Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker
My rating: ✨✨✨✨✨

I'm going to begin this write-up by saying something decidedly controversial: Bat Eater might just be my top book of 2024.

As is expected of me, this one was chosen based on its cover and a small blurb on NetGalley, and I was rewarded with an incredibly vivid tale that had tension, horror, and plenty of disturbing scenes. But Bat Eater is also incredibly poignant, emotional, and beautifully melancholic. 

We all remember life in 2020, when COVID was fresh and the world stood still. For me it feels like a distant memory and yesterday all at once. Sure I didn't experience it in New York like Cora does in the book, but the descriptions of deserted streets, unattainable toilet paper, and the downright mindfuck of a time it was to live through brought it all right back.

ARC REVIEW: LIE OF THE LAND | KERRY HADLEY-PRYCE

Lie of the Land by Kerry Hadley-Pryce
My rating: ✨

Lie of the Land.

Lie of the Land.

I've got to be perfectly honest here; I'm not exactly sure about what I've just read. This book is like the literary equivalent of 'no thoughts just vibes', and didn't really give me the mysterious thriller I was hoping for...more like a constant feeling of 'eh?!' with barely any clue on what was going on from page to page.

The narration style and lack of chapters being properly laid out didn't do it for me, and any hope of tension being built simply didn't happen. It felt dirgy, like wading through treacle, and barely anything of note occurred. Then when things did occur it was so outlandish and not fitting with the tone of the book it was what I imagine a psychotic break feels like. Perhaps that's actually the point of the book and I've accidentally experienced it as intended.

ARC REVIEW: A SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE | ASIA MACKAY

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
My rating: ✨✨

I did that thing again where the title and cover of a book drew my attention on NetGalley, and I didn't do any plot reading until I'd already sent the request through. Happily, A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage sounded like a book I'd be glad to read. Somewhat unhappily it turned out not to be.

Hazel and Fox are married and they're both ex-serial killers. Fox is from a wealthy American family, and the pair enjoyed a lavish London lifestyle until their daughter came along. Swapping the swish for the suburbs, they both struggle with the reality of leaving certain aspects of their old life behind.

ARC REVIEW: CHAINED BIRDS: A TRUE CRIME MEMOIR | CARLA CONTI

CHAINED BIRDS: A True Crime Memoir by Carla Conti
My rating: ✨✨✨✨

True crime has long been an interest of mine. From watching documentaries with my mum as a kid, to discovering a massive interest in serial killers in my teens, and then developing a wider interest in all areas of criminality as I've grown up, it's always been in me to find intrigue in the illegal. Hell, even my job is in criminal justice...so it all goes without saying that Chained Birds was undoubtedly going to scratch a scandalous itch.

Following the ten year advocation for Kevin Sanders, a federal inmate in America's prison system, Chained Birds exposes flaws, danger, and mistreatment on multiple levels. Horrific conditions are detailed, and the fight to help get Kevin back into society eventually culminates in the closure of an experimental program at FCI Lewisburg in Pennsylvania.

ARC REVIEW: I BET YOU'D LOOK GOOD IN A COFFIN | KATY BRENT

I Bet You’d Look Good in a Coffin by Katy Brent
My rating: ✨✨✨✨✨

Kitty Collins is back! What better way to celebrate spooky season than with a bad bitch who completely justifiably murders awful men? This highly anticipated sequel sees the return of my favourite antiheroine, and this time she's gone international.

I accidentally stumbled upon Kitty's first outing in How to Kill Men and Get Away With It last spring and have been wanting more from her ever since. Katy Brent's second novel - The Murder After the Night Before - was my first review of this year, and she's quickly become an author that I will jump at when news comes of further releases. If there was a Guinness Record for fastest NetGalley request I would be the holder purely for the speed with which I submitted my request for this one.

ARC REVIEW: WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS | GRADY HENDRIX

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When it comes to modern horror writers, Grady Hendrix is pretty high up there on my list of go-to authors and every book I've read by him so far has been thoroughly enjoyable. Seeing that Witchcraft For Wayward Girls had become available had me smashing the request button like an impatient boomer on a hotel reception bell.

I went in completely blind to this book with absolutely zero clue about what the plot might be, where it'd be set, or what kind of characters I'd meet along the way. In my mind I had a vague inkling that it might be centred around a school for witches, so I guess I was just a little off on that score.

BOOK CLUB 10: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? | NICCI FRENCH 🎧

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

October's pick of Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? piqued my interest immediately. Instead of reading I plumped for the option of listening along on Spotify, and I finished it within two days!

Laid out in a Then and Now setting, the book happens across three parts, and I couldn't help but imagine each one as a standalone TV episode. I'm unsure if this notion was enhanced with it being listened to rather than read, but it was a book that was brilliantly brought to life full of genuine intrigue. The scenery was beautifully descriptive, the characters were well fleshed-out, and the air of mystery ran along a strong undercurrent throughout.