“Spitting gold” Carmella Lowkis

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria Books (Simon & Schuster). To be published May 14, 2024.

It was April of 1866 and, for the past two years, Sylvie thought her former life as a medium was behind her. She and her sister Charlotte had earned their living pretending to banish or raise ghosts for money, learning everything from their parents. After a con gone wrong cost them their business and almost landed them in prison, she married a rich older man who took her away from her drunken, abusive father and the life of poverty she’d led. Though she felt guilty about leaving Charlotte, she needed to save herself and agreed to his request that she leave the life of a medium behind her forever.

One rainy day Charlotte surprised her by showing up at her home begging for help as their father was dying, there was no money, and she needed Sylvie. A rich family was eager to dispel a ghost who had been haunting them and, if successful, the payout would help Charlotte and her father. Sylvie knew what her husband had forbidden her to do but her love for Charlotte overcame her reluctance. Unfortunately, she’d soon find out that ghosts, as well as the living, can be revengeful. The peaceful life she’d led for the past two years was about to forever change.

I LOVED this book! I voraciously read it from cover to cover, eager to see what would next befall the sisters. The author’s research into life in 1866 France for the rich and those living on the outskirts of acceptable society was eye-opening.

Highly recommended for Adults.

 I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

“A better world” Sarah Langan

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria Books (Simon & Schuster). Published April 9, 2024.

In a world set 70 years in the future, Earth’s resources have been destroyed by mankind’s many interferences. Air has become barely breathable, jobs and food are scarce, the weather doesn’t make sense, and people are constantly angry. Linda knows she and her husband can’t raise their fifteen-year-old twins much longer in this environment, so it seemed like a miracle when they were accepted to live in Plymouth Valley, a private, invitation-only company town where they will have a clean, healthy, and safe life. All they must do is follow the rules.

At first, they struggled to adjust but soon became regulars with strange rituals practiced by residents. As Linda began to investigate these rituals, she soon realized Plymouth Valley’s yearly Winter Festival held a frightening significance for the town. Though she begged her family to leave, no one was allowed to leave. Linda will have to do all she can to save them from the horrors she suspects before it’s too late.

This seemingly omniscient view of Earth’s future is appallingly on track based on how Earth’s resources have been abused over the centuries. One can only hope towns like Plymouth Valley don’t come into being, or our future as humans is forever lost.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

“Dead girls walking” Sami Ellis

Rated 3 stars *** ARC. Amulet Books (ABRAMS). 362 p. To be published March 26, 2024.

Temple grew up with a serial killer father and a mother who disappeared after she heard her screaming. He taught her to play baseball and climb trees but would never tell her what happened to her mother. He taught her what a dead body looks and smells like, and what the symbols looked like that he carved deep into the bones of his victims. She spent years half starved, living in a leaf filled tub in a filthy home, listening to the screams of those he murdered. At the age of twelve, she called the police, and he was sent to prison while she spent years coping with the infamy of being his daughter.

On a recent prison trip her father convinced her he’d killed her mother and buried her at their former home. Since the woods where she’d lived were not accessible Temple volunteered to be a camp counselor for LGBTQIA+ African American girls obsessed with horror. The horror camp was in the woods near her former home, where she was sure she’d find her mother’s body and satisfy the wound in her soul.

Instead, Temple found herself involved in a ritual of death that resulted in the murder of more people than her father had killed. The murderer is still busy killing new victims since the horror camp offers it new blood. It’s up to Temple to stop its murder spree, but time is running out for her and the rest of the girls.

I had never read a book like this as it seemed to be filled with every trope available for the horror genre including spooky woods, rundown homes, serial killers, ghosts, zombie-like bodies, blood, gore, and more. If horror is your thing, “Dead girls walking” is right up your alley. Since it’s not my thing I’ll stay alive and keep walking.

Recommended for horror fans aged 16 and older.

“The daughters of Block Island” Christa Carmen

Rated 5 stars ***** ebook. Thomas & Mercer. Published 2023.

Blake had grown up in an orphanage, and felt abandoned, so used drugs and alcohol to forget her past. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she was able to trace her mother to Block Island. Though she had been struggling to stay sober for years, she was determined to find her mother. Blake headed to the island where she booked herself into White Hall, an ancient mansion with a history of murder and intrigue which was also a B&B. That night she was haunted by a long-dead relative of the owners and, as the days passed with more hauntings, Blake was terrified. Despite the ghost, constant rain, and gloomy atmosphere, she had leads on her past from a friendly local. She didn’t know her time on the island would be cut shorter than she had planned.

Talia had grown up on Block Island and left many years ago. She and her mother had a toxic relationship and she found island life stifling. One day she received a letter from someone who claimed to be her sister, found dead on Block Island after mailing it. Despite misgivings, Talia was anxious to talk to her mother and find out about this sister. After booking herself into White Hall, Talia soon found out its ancient secrets were tied in with very modern ones. Someone didn’t want her finding out about them and, if she wasn’t careful, there would be another body in the B&B.

The more I read the more I couldn’t put it down, reading in one sitting until 2:30 A.M. to find out what was going to happen. Though it was night, and the book was getting creepy, the suspense was killing me. I couldn’t sleep until the mystery was solved. The author did a great job hiding the murderer’s identity, throwing in red herrings to keep readers off the track. Well done, Christa!

Highly recommended for Adults.

“Courage to dream: Tales of hope in the Holocaust” Neal Shusterman; ill. by Andrés Vera Martínez

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Graphix (Scholastic). 245 p. (Includes “Author and Illustrator notes”, “Bibliography”, and “A note about the Hebrew letters in this book.”) To be published October 31, 2023.

Legends from European storytelling (such as Baba Yaga and the Golum) are intertwined with narratives from the Holocaust to educate readers on what happened during this terrible time in history, as well as with thoughts of what could have happened if magic existed to lend hope to those burdened by hate. Andrés Vera Martínez’s rich illustrations lend historical authenticity to Shusterman’s words, bringing each tale to life.

Facts, figures, and photographs from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well as from Israel’s Yad Vashem, are interspersed to remind readers that parts of the stories contain magical elements but are based on real events that happened to real people. Questions such as “What would the Holocaust have been like if happened today and not during World War II?” or “How many more Jewish people would have been killed if ordinary people didn’t step up and protect them from harm?” will keep readers thinking long after they’ve turned the final page.

Think of today’s Holocaust deniers, and don’t stay silent in the face of hate. Remember what the citizens of Denmark did to save their Jewish citizens from death camps. Be courageous.

Highly recommended for ages 16 and older.

“Beholder” Ryan La Sala

Rated 4 stars **** ARC. Push (Scholastic). 340 p. To be published October 3, 2023.

Athanasios’ parents died in a fire when he was six years old, so he grew up with his yiayia and her superstitions. His Greek grandmother spent her life whispering into a hand mirror, warning him about an evil eye coming after them. Though yiayia cautioned him against looking into mirrors he disobeyed, discovering they allow him to see into the past. Whenever he glances into a mirror he is mesmerized, as he feels something evil rushing towards him.

Years passed and Athan has become weary of his grandmother’s delusions. When he is accused of murder after everyone is killed at a party he attends and yiayia disappears, everything begins to unravel. Dom, a boy who hid him during the party and with whom he’s fallen in love, is the only one who can help him find her and make sense of what turned his life upside down. Can they stop a monster that has killed many over the years and is hungry for more blood?

Those of you who’ve read anything by La Sala know he has a very imaginative writing style that makes you leave all the lights on while reading at night. Prepare for a large electric bill with “Beholder.” Cue an evil laugh, eerie music, lightning flashes, and thunder rolls. Don’t say you weren’t warned…

Recommended for ages 17 and older.

“The cursed moon” Angela Cervantes

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Scholastic Press. 211 p. Published September 5, 2023.

Rafe and his younger sister Brianna live with their grandparents because their mother is in jail. One night his eccentric neighbor warns him against telling scary stories during a blood moon. Rafe loves writing and telling scary stories but disregards the warning and regales his friend with a story about a girl who convinces a boy to jump into a pond to get her notebook. The boy disappears, and she warns his friend that the Caretaker is coming to get him too.

Soon after telling his story Rafe starts to see ghosts and learns the Caretaker has always made an appearance during a blood moon when someone told a scary story. Each time he came, a child disappeared. Rafe is frightened because he has begun to receive warnings that the Caretaker is coming. He need to protect Brianna but will first have to figure out how to stop the Caretaker.

This book will hook young, reluctant male readers as they eagerly turn the pages to see if the Caretaker will come for Rafe. Be sure not to read this at night, and keep your lights on…

Recommended for ages 11-15.

“The Reformatory” Tananarive Due

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Saga Press (Simon & Schuster). To be published October 31, 2023.

In 1950 Gracetown Florida twelve-year-old Robert Stephens could sense his mama’s spirit, but his older sister dismissed this as nonsense. They were alone after their mama died and their father was run out of town for trying to help Black men strike. Robert knew he was supposed to be careful around the Whites who were angry about his father, but his temper took over when one disrespected his sister. Since he kicked a White boy, Robert was sentenced to the Gracetown School for Boys for 6 months. There he and other boys would endure horrific beatings and slavery work in the fields and could face being locked up for days without food, water or light, as well as other abuses from the Superintendent and his men.

Robert found it hard to be in the presence of the ghosts of boys who’d been murdered there, but one wouldn’t leave him alone. Robert could help him get revenge on the Superintendent but, if he got caught, he would end up in the cemetery with all the other boys who had never made it home. Robert just wanted to make it home to his sister, but to do so he would have to appease the ghost.

Based on true horrors at Florida’s Dozier School for Boys, Due dedicates the book to Robert Stephens, her great-uncle who died there in 1937 when he was fifteen years old. “The Reformatory” is gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat. I looked up information on this school after reading Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys” in 2020. I still find it reprehensible that it was allowed to stay open for 111 years, despite numerous deaths, complaints and violations over the years.

Though the Florida legislature apologized in 2017 for atrocities committed at the school, it has not made any financial reparations to the hundreds of boys (now men) who still feel the pain of their incarcerations. It’s time for Florida to do the right thing for those who grew into manhood with the chains of Dozier still hanging around their necks.

Highly recommended for ages 18 and older.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The Getaway” Lamar Giles

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC.  Scholastic Press (Scholastic). 400 p. Published September 20, 2022.

Seventeen-year-old Jay, along with his friends Zeke, Connie and Chelle live in Karloff Country. Soon after moving there they met Chelle, the half-Black heiress of Karloff Country, who was looked down on by her grandfather because of her race. Their friendliness helped ground her when being the half-Black granddaughter of the richest and most racist man around became too much to handle. From then on the four of them were inseparable.

People come to Karloff Country to enjoy rides, costumed characters, themed park areas, restaurants, resorts and more. Those who live and work within its protective walls are safe from the food shortages and hunger they experienced before moving there with their families. Everyone’s needs are taken care of while AI technology keeps everything running smoothly. Life is good, until suddenly it’s not.

Things started to go downhill when Connie and her family disappeared. Then jet planes started to land, followed by everyone getting locked in their homes for a few days. The world outside the walls of Karloff Country had collapsed into chaos, and no one inside was allowed to leave. Life inside Karloff Country was expected to continue as usual, with one change. The billionaires and millionaires who had flown in were now considered Trustees, so everyone who worked at Karloff Country is at their beck and call for ANYTHING they want them to do. If any worker dares to resist, the Trustee’s real fun begins and their lives might end. Welcome to Karloff Country, “the funnest place on Earth.”

Though this is a dystopian novel, taking place many years in the future, it was very scary to think our world could end up in the way it was described. The workers unable to leave Karloff Country reminded me of lyrics from the Eagle’s Hotel California song: “You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.” Cliffhanger endings make this a quick read, and teen readers will stay hooked until the last page. I think a sequel might be in order, and look forward to reading it.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

“My dearest darkness” Kayla Cottingham

Rated 5 stars ***** Sourcebooks Fire. 2022. 350 p.

Finch desperately wanted a scholarship to attend the music program at Ulallume Academy, a prestigious boarding school. Her exquisite piano playing was enough to eventually get her in, but it was a bitter pill to swallow because her supportive parents drowned when their car went off a bridge after an eight-eyed stag appeared in their path. Finch had also been trapped, but miraculously survived with a drastically changed appearance.

Soon after arriving on campus Finch felt a strange pull leading her towards Ulallume’s forbidden tunnels, where a dark void appears and a voice pleads for release. Finch has no idea Nerosi, the woman she releases, is really a wicked monster with plans to kill everyone in the world.

This sapphic and sinister book will draw in fans of mysterious, deadly creatures that will haunt their dreams.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review