Most Anticipated Reads of Fall 2021

We are in the best time of the year! Time for the Fall 2021 book releases!

These are just a few of my most anticipated reads coming out between August and December, and the best part of all is that I'll be reading and reviewing ALL of the books above. So keep an eye here and on Instagram for review posts. If they make it to other blogs, I'll be sure to keep you in the loop!

Review: Twisted: Tainted Tales by Janine Pipe

 Janine Pipe’s freshman short story collection, Twisted: Tainted Tales is a wild, fun, gory ride from start to finish. In it, you get a taste of all sorts of horror tropes with an 80’s twist. I loved the range in subject matter, you get vampires, werewolves, cautionary tales of human predators, sinister imaginary friends and so much more. I especially loved that this is a Splatterpunk novel written from a female perspective, something I haven’t encountered very much of since I’ve been reviewing.

To give the novel a little something extra and unique, the stories are listed as tracklists. At the end of the novel, Janine thoughtfully included the playlist she based the stories on, so you can get the full experience.

 

4/5 Stars

Thank you to the author who provided me with an eARC of the anthology to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Reviews: Born to the Dead (The Daoloth Trilogy Book 2) by Ramsey Campbell

 

Thirty years after the events in The Searching Dead, forty-year-old Dominic Sheldrake has long put the days of his childhood investigation of Christian Noble and his practice of spiritualism behind him. Now a husband and father, as well as a university film professor, Dominic is worried about his son Toby’s nocturnal seizure disorder and finding a treatment that will cure him. When Dominic’s wife Lesley learns of the Safe to Sleep program from a pediatrician that will cure Toby of his seizures, they are elated.

Almost immediately after sending Toby to Safe to Sleep, Dominic overhears him and another child playing strange games and learns that Toby has been telling outlandish stories in school. Stories that Toby has learned by reading Dominic’s old copies of Christian Noble’s journals. Toby begins to tell his parents about dreams of traveling the universe and drawing pictures that remind Dominic of Christian Noble’s sermons from his church. Trying to learn more about the Safe to Sleep program’s mysterious origins and the widespread seizure disorder affecting numerous children in the area, Dominic begins to wonder what became of Christian Noble and his precocious daughter Tina. With the help of his old friends Jim and Roberta, Dominic seeks answers to not only the motives of the Nobles, but also to save his family.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to read the first book in The Daoloth Trilogy, The Searching Dead thanks to Flame Tree Press. I wasn’t initially sold on the first book, but Ramsey won me over with his world-building and fleshed-out characters. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since I finished the first in March, and I wasn’t disappointed. If it at possible, I think I enjoyed Born to the Dark more than The Searching Dead. Just as in the first book, Ramsey nailed the character development. Grown-up Dominic was just as compelling as he was a kid. I loved seeing the nods to his past in his relationship with his father and seeing his friends Roberta and Jim again. Yes, The Tremendous Three are still friends! Most of all, I loved the character of Toby, Dominic’s young son. I cannot wait to see what happens in book 3 when I get it.

 

4/5 Stars

Thank you to #NetGalley and #FlameTreeBooks for providing me with the eARCs to both this novel and its predecessor in exchange for my honest reviews. All thoughts and opinions are my own.