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.