Welcome to What I’ve Been Reading Lately, a feature where I’ll be giving short reviews of what I’m currently reading:
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve.
In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers-the ruling elite, have indentured Koral’s family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winning contender receives gold and glory. The others-if they’re lucky-survive.
When the last maristag of the year escapes and Koral has no new maristag to sell, her family’s financial situation takes a turn for the worse and they can’t afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral’s only choice is to do what no one in the world has ever dared: cheat her way into the Glory Race.
But every step of the way is unpredictable as Koral races against contenders who have trained for this their whole lives and who have no intention of letting a low-caste girl steal their glory. When riots break out and rogues attack Koral to try and force her to drop out, she must choose-her life or her sister’s-before the whole island burns. (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
I wasn’t not a big fan of The Hunger Games but from what I am reading so far, it is very intriguing and definitely more exciting than the former. I will have a lot to talk about on my author talk this Friday!
Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis
Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker–she thinks nothing can scare her. But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she’s quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she’s never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father’s most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map–and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away.
And there’s someone–or something–stalking her every move.
The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes– because Lola’s got secrets of her own. And if she can’t find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her. (Credit: Dial Books)
Loved Burden Falls so I am excited to dive into this one! Slasher films and 80s nostalgia…there is just so much packed into this spooky book!
Lost Lad London Vol. 1 by Shima Shinya
The whole of London is shocked when the mayor is found dead on an Underground train, but perhaps none more than university student Al Adley. Though he took the Tube at the time of the fatal stabbing, he doesn’t remember seeing anything unusual–certainly nothing to explain how a bloody knife found its way into his pocket that night. However, in spite of this damning evidence, Detective Ellis believes Al’s claims of innocence. Now the two must work together to conceal Al’s involvement and clear his name in the face of shadowy forces working to see Al take the fall for a crime he didn’t commit… (Credit: Yen Press)
I have to be honest, I picked up this title because it had the word “London” in the title and it took place in the city😅 but this is one intriguing mystery that is just as captivating as any prose novel! So my love of everything British wins again in this case.
Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo
In the days leading up to Samhain, the veil between the world of the dead and the living is at its thinnest.
One day, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. And the next, the closest thing Abby ever had to a sister, Noreen, was just… gone.
Distracted by the annual preparations for the Samhain festival, Abby’s classmates are quick to put Noreen’s disappearance aside. The Coven will find her, Abby’s friends say. They have it under control.
But Abby can’t let it go. Soon a search for answers leads her down a rabbit hole that uncovers more secrets than Abby can handle. As mounting evidence steers her toward the off-limits woods that surround the academy, she begins to see that Noreen’s disappearance mysteriously has a lot in common with another girl who went missing all those years ago…
Island In A Puddle Vol. 2 by Kei Sanbe
NO SECOND CHANCES
Tension mounts as Minato, who’s mind was mysteriously swapped into the body of a wanted man on the run for murder, tries to figure out his next move. Stranded, alone, he starts to formulate a plan to get to his younger sister, who’s now in the care of the man whose body he swapped with, without suspicion. However, it’s not only the police after the man whose body he now occupies–a shadowy organization called the Dodokai is closing in, too… (Credit: Kodansha Comics)
I LOVE Kei Sanbe, especially his last series For The Kid I Saw In My Dreams! So it made sense for me to pick up his latest and after reading the first volume I’m already hooked. If you haven’t read anything by Sanbe, this is the perfect series to pick up!
What I Plan to Read Next:
The Society For Soulless Girls by Laura Steven
Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors.
Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless student Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim.
Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And can they stop flirting for literally fifteen seconds in order to do this? (Credit: Electric Monkey)
The Master Key by Masako Togawa
The K Apartments for Ladies are occupied by over one hundred unmarried women, once young and lively, now grown and old–and in some cases, evil.
Their residence conceals a secret connecting the unsolved 1951 kidnapping of four-year-old George Kraft to the clandestine burial of a child’s body in the basement bath-house. So, when news comes that the building must be moved to make way for a road-building project, more than one tenant waits with apprehension for the grisly revelation that will follow. Then the master key is lost, stolen and re-stolen–and suddenly no-one feels safe.
Fiendish intrigue, double identity and an ingenious plot make this a thriller worthy of comparison with the work of P.D. James. (Credit: Pushkin Vertigo)
The Retreat by Sarah Pearse
Most are here to recharge and refresh. But someone’s here for revenge. . .
An eco-wellness retreat has opened on an island off the English coast, promising rest and relaxation–but the island itself, known locally as Reaper’s Rock, has a dark past. Once the playground of a serial killer, it’s rumored to be cursed.
Detective Elin Warner is called to the retreat when a young woman’s body is found on the rocks below the yoga pavilion in what seems to be a tragic fall. But the victim wasn’t a guest–she wasn’t meant to be on the island at all.
When a guest drowns in a diving incident the following day, Elin starts to suspect that there’s nothing accidental about these deaths. But why would someone target the guests, and who else is in danger?
Elin must find the killer–before the island’s history starts to repeat itself . . .(Credit: Bantam Press)
The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley
How far would you go to protect the ones you love?
Jamie and Victoria are off for a last quick vacation before the arrival of their first baby. The remote country guesthouse Victoria chose seems like the perfect retreat–miles away from the distractions of work and their regular life. And the older couple that run the establishment, Barry and Fiona, are more than accommodating.
But when Jamie and Victoria awake on their first morning, they find the house deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked. And their cell phones and car keys have disappeared.
They have no way out and no way to call for help and the contractions are getting stronger.
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
Some doors are locked for a reason.
When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But pregnant and widowed just weeks after their wedding, with her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her late husband’s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure–a silent companion–that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of the estate are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition–that is, until she notices the figure’s eyes following her. (Credit Penguin Books)
cup of tea with that book, please 