• Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

I never read this one because I had the twist spoiled for me, but decided to read it anyway and liked it a lot! Even with knowing the wife set up the husband herself, there was still plenty of surprising moments and overall I enjoyed how it was written and how it ended. I will always like Flynn’s more fucked up books (like Sharp Objects) but this one definitely deserved to be read.

• Near the Bone - Christina Henry

Re-read this one on my Jan trip to Disneyland. Great story and super fun to read again. I hope she comes out with a new book soon.

• Little Star - John Ajvide Lindqvist

This one started so strong and then ended pretty strongly as well, but had a huge section in the middle that I really had to slog through. I wish that there was more detail on Theres and what exactly she was then all the focus on Theresa and her teenage angst. The end was juicy though and I liked how he wrote from different audience members perspective as the chaos broke out. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this one though because so much of it felt unnecessary and then we are left with so many unanswered questions.

• The Vessel - Adam Nevill

A tasty little bite of a story. Almost too short to be classified as a book on its own, but at about 150 pages, I will let it be classified as such. I found the descriptions to be a bit too fruity and long-winded, and the “scary stuff” felt a little like I was reading a movie script instead of a story…but even still, I enjoyed it. I knew immediately that the neighbors were members of the coven, so that didn’t surprise me. But I was surprised that Jess’s coworker/boss was involved and also that the story would end so happily. I genuinely prefer some kind of happy ending, especially if it involves killing a fucked up abusive man to get there.

• The Bone Mother - David Demchuk

When I finished this one the first thing I thought was “yuck”. Honestly I regret pushing through to finish this one. It was described as the final mythical creatures of Eastern Europe telling their stories as a war threatened to eradicate them. But the stories were so quick and many without any sort of bite at all. They didn’t explain what kind of monster they were, nothing was explained about the war trying to erase them…it just felt like a weak collection of short stories. They were so bland that I can only really remember like three of them now that the book is finished. An absolute waste of time.

• Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield

So freaking pretty and sad. I was worried at first that the writing felt too much like poetry but I got used to it and it was very much worth it. I cried at the ending of taking her wife to dissolve into the ocean and didn’t mind that the horror stuff that happened was spaced out and left a lot of questions unanswered.

• Tell Me I’m Worthless - Alison Rumfitt

Wow, that was an intense one. Very gross but also filled with passion and important perspectives. Some of the parts were stream of consciousness style and that got a little tedious to read, but overall this was interesting and intense and I’m glad I read it.

• This Delicious Death - Kayla Cottingham

I somehow missed that this was a YA book until I was a couple chapters in. I maybe could have stopped reading it once I realized, because it didn’t have any bite at all and got eye-rolly a lot. I liked the queer romance, always, but the plot wasn’t interesting enough and the whole thing was mega tame - even for YA.

• Clown in a Cornfield - Adam Cesare

I don’t normally read books that are categorized as “slashers”, but this one was on multiple “best” book lists so I gave it a shot. I’m super glad that I did! It was fast faced and I really was on the edge of my seat, worried about my favorite characters. The wound descriptions were just gory enough and I actually gasped aloud at the gay reveal at the end.

• Bunny - Mona Awad

It’s funny because a large part of this book is the protagonist complaining about fellow writers being pretentious and long winded and then the prose itself kind of reads…pretentious and long winded. There were definitely parts that I enjoyed and liked the twist of Ava being a creation but like…definitely missing some crucial element needed to make the narrative great. There should have been more nastiness and brutality especially for the “bunnies”. Meh vibes overall.

• Bird Box - Josh Malerman

I reread this one because I finally got the sequel, Malorie, from the library. This read was just as good as the first. What an amazing story. The best Malerman book out of all of his that I have read so far.

• Malorie - John Malerman

It was rough going from “bird box” to this one because I knew re-reading the first one that everything would end with them making it to safety. “Malorie” starts two years later literally as all hell is breaking loose in the school. No period of happiness and safety, just dropped right back in the middle of chaos. I enjoyed it but not as much as the first. I didn’t want there to be such tension between Malorie and her kids. Also, while part of me loved the Gary twist, the other part felt like it wasn’t believable that he could be sneaking around them for years and years and no one ever heard or saw him. Worth reading and I did love the ending, but wasn’t quite perfect.

• Maeve Fly - CJ Leede

I was genuinely so into this book until the very last few pages. I do not like romantic tragedy. I really think the author fucked up by having Maeve kill Gideon. It actually makes me mad. It’s lazy writing to just end on a surprise tragedy and nothing else. No explanation of what happens to Maeve later just BOOM kill the love of your life over a misunderstanding. Boo.

• Camp Damascus - Chuck Tingle

Absolutely adored this one. Fantastic creepy premise, wonderful description of the demons and tortures they dole out, super cute queer romance. Just tens across the board. The end was predictable and I do wish that there had been one more interaction with Rose's parents that was more satisfying, but the good elements way out weighed anything disappointing.