GhostVeil - Books

Title: The Salt Grows Heavy

Author: Cassandra Khaw

Summary: On the run, a mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them. The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.

Score: ★★★★☆

Review:A tale of horror, as a self freed mermaid and a mysterious plague doctor travel together until they cross paths with children playing a grotesque game, and an ever darker secret lies deeper in the woods. This short novella I’ve held off for a while, but did enjoy. The main characters and their mature development to understanding on another is what glues their connection to the world very well. Warning, this book is very bloody, violent, and descriptive in its gore and monstrous actions. It is not for the squeamish nor those that do not like body/medical horror. It is a dark and gritty world and does not hold back in it. The only downsides are the plot structure and writing style. The main meat of the story seems to come across as a happen-stance side mission when it’s supposed to be the crux/majority. But our characters do get wound deeply into it in their own accord so it’s not too hard to see. The pacing is also a little disjointed sometimes, with no real chapters, just event beats, that, with the wording, can get confusing to follow especially on an audiobook (as I was). The writing is what makes the above worse than it truly is. It is dense and a thesaurus was used for almost every descriptive word, every other sentence (apparently that is the authors style). I had to look up many a word and sometimes it still did not seem fit, and because it was so flowery, it was extremely easy to lose what was happening in the moment. But if you can stomach gore horror, have dictionary.com bookmarked, and want a quick actual dark fantasy read, this book will be right up your alley
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Title: Broke Witch

Author: Jessica Bonder

Summary: Fern's insecurity plagues her identity: is she a good witch or a bad witch? Living as unemployed, on social assistance, and the only witch in proximity within the community, Fern attempts to cope with the recent loss of her mother, until things get worse. After a tragic accident, Fern feels the heat of the community's torch. A witch is always the first suspect after all, right? Enter her sister, Mabel, a wife, mother, and a witch led astray by wealth. Fern is unsure if she can be trusted, but the only thing missing from her cauldron's welter is money.

Score: ★★★☆☆

Review:A very artistically told short story about a broke witch, in more ways than one, finding their way in the midst’s of life. I did enjoy this book for the most part, but its writing technique, a very stylized choice, a little hard to navigate while reading at times, with chopped sentences, flashbacks and present day, and somethings left unsaid that i wish were spoken (but somethings I liked being left to feel personally and discover). The witchy parts and resolution happened quickly, and I personally wanted more but for a short story it was good. If you’re looking for a book to get you kickstarted out of a reading slump, and/or enjoy some artsy, witchy existentialism then this is a nice pick up!
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Title: How Far The Light Reaches

Author: Sabrina Imbler

Summary: A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a shimmering, otherworldly debut that attunes us to new visions of our world and its miracles.

Score: ★★★★1/2☆

Review:I am a sucker for learning about animals & oir human copanionism. This book is a well written correspondence between 10 awesome sea creature's lives, selves, and death and the authors own personal and human connections in experience, being, and intimacies. Each chapter focuses on one creature and one-two sociological, physical, or human experience attributes, woven perfectly together as you ebb and flow between reference points. The authors history is full of life, and told wonderfully to not only empathise but also understand and connect to (even if I myself am different); juxtaposed against fascinating scientific information, discoveries, and events, the author spends a good amount of time teaching us about each creature and connection to it on a direct and metaphorical level.

I would love to dive deeper, but am afraid to spoil the next readers experience. If you are of any origination, or race, or looking to learn more about some amazing creatures and how our lives have such an amazing connection I highly recommended this short read.
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Title: Warbreaker

Series: Cosmere

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Summary: Each person is born endowed with the power of one Breath―which can be sold and collected by others, then used to Awaken objects and even corpses to do their bidding. A few individuals who die in glory return as gods and are enthroned in the Court of Gods in Hallandren’s capital. To Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris, the abuse of Breath is repugnant blasphemy. But with one princess wed to the God King of their nation’s enemies, the other finds she must rely on Breath to rescue her sister from her monstrous husband.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:I was super hyped to read Warbreaker. The magic system of breath and colors, and plot summary was super intriguing! Sanderson's ever descriptive world and characters truly shown, like they reached the 2nd heightening, but the deep backstory and main plot sell short, like a lifeless.
--
The main plot seemed so interesting and as each character was introduced and slowly intertwined it seemed like such a big story. The past wars, the villains and heroes, and reasons to how the characters got to where they were today, the abilities and powers, their reasoning functions, etc. seemed so rich; but when it came down to it, most of it was just plainly explained in a characters conversation, at surface level, or mainly bypassed. Although most of itnwa said, it was just underwhelming. Side characters got forgotten about, things that were spent so much time explaining / focusing on didn't even really matter (I'm not talking about the plot points to distract you either - one example is a main chacter trying to figure out who they are, spending chapters on chapters about a little event that occurred, uncovering a slight secret, and it basically really didn't mean anything except for character development that honestly could have been done a shorter way). The amount of deux ex machina was also more him drum, like what do you mean one character finds out a secret only known to the inner circle of the kingdom, in 1 paragraph, off screen...like dude.

Like most of Sanderson's stories, the last 1/4 of the book is truly where things ramp up and finish strong, but unfortunately the ending was far more anticlimactic than I was hoping for. This book felt like it should have been a duology at least, in order to fully explain the past, give more hints/discovery to the main plot, allow the characters to learn and plan more; but it felt glossed over and condensed to be one novel.
I still really enjoyed the book, its magic system, characters and premises. I just wish the plot had gone a bit deeper
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Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl #1

Author: Matt Dinnamin

Summary: You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Score: ★★★★1/2☆

Review:"Goddamn it"(tm) I had so much fun reading this book! Action Packed, Funny, Raunchy, Moving all wrapped into one! The audiobook production was great as well (phenomenal VA & VFX). Carl and Princess Donut are amazing characters that have such good banter/chemistry as they, and the world as we know it, get thrown into a deadly, alien controlled, televised broadcast, AI run dungeon! This DnD inspired novel thrusts our MCs and us into a crazy, constantly at edge of your seat, action filled campaign where the risk of death is final and the obsession with feet is plentiful. But despite it all, Carl and Donut continue to show just how important humanity and indomitable human spirit can be. The only issue I had was the pacing. Granted I completely understand how difficult it is and grasp the necessity of needing to jump through time as the characters openly explore, level up, and learn. It was just sometimes we would spend chapters with certain enemies, abilities, and equipment but then jump over others (I wanted Carl to actually use his gauntlet more, but it got acquired, used once, and that was it / or some mobs despite being on a lower level were defeated so much easier than the ones above), a few levels, and it caused some periodic but nessesary info dumping segments. Overall, for anyone that's looking for a great laugh, loves action packed fantasy, or is a DnD nerd like myself - I highly recommended this series and I can not wait to read the next.
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Title: Strange Practice

Series: Dr. Greta Helsing #1

Author: Vivian Shaw

Summary: Greta Helsing inherited the family's highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills - vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's been groomed for since childhood.
Score: ★★★☆☆

Review:A quaint and pleasant read on what it would be like if a helsing took care of monsters instead of hunting them. Set in present day London, murders suddenly being but for the humans and surprisingly the monsters of fiction (which are real). It is up to Greta Helsing, a doctor of the supernatural, and her powerful friends and unlikely acquaintances to get to the bottom of things, which may be bigger than they first think. The writing is simple, easy to follow, and over arching plot was interesting. There were not really and b-plots besides learning about 'the past' of characters/setting which it more or less directly came out and said/characters questioned. I did find myself able to set away and return from reading it in some slow parts but that didn't make it bad. Like side character groups being brought into the story and not mentioned until needed as a plot device for the mcs. There were a few deus ex machina events that while fine, more or less just happened to move the plot along or finish an event quicker. The romance seemed just fairly shoehorned in just to have it included, and didn't truly need it. Overall, it was a nice read and I may continue the series. - Recommend - If you enjoyed this book you will like The London Charismatics Series even more (or if you wanted more of something like TLC, then this will fill the void). It has a similar setting, supernatural in the sense of powers (instead of monsters), but with a better slowburn romance. - Misc - I listened to the audiobook version. It was slightly difficult to keep track of the characters/scenes as the scene breaks are not but a second of silence and some characters have unique names that go in and out of the story.
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Title: The Stuff Of Dreams

Series: Vampire Hunter D #5

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi

Summary: In a world where even the smallest and most remote village is being terrorized by the monsters that stalk the night, there is a hamlet, prosperous and peaceful, where mortals and vampires have lived in harmony for years. It is there that seventeen-year-old Sheavil Schmidt has slept, neither waking nor aging, for thirty years since first receiving the vampire's immortal kiss. The mysterious Vampire Hunter D is lured to the tranquil oasis by recurrent dreams of the beautiful, undying girl bathed in an eerie blue light and dancing in a ghostly chateau.
Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:This story had a more low stakes setting and feel, but was definitely a bit more confusing and less engaging as a whole than the previous adventures of our favorite D. Side characters, main antagonists, and some actions didn't feel like they paid off, despite the nice action scenes and premise, because once the twist in the story occurs it mostly takes too sharp a turn of focus and gets confusing to keep track of: characters reasonings, desires, why some things happened over others, etc. The story concludes rather quickly as you grasp at the thin line of plot left to follow as D's basically navigating Inceptions on Inceptions. I did enoy the quickness of the read, I just was hoping for something different.
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Title: Elantris

Series: 20th Anniversary Ed.

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Summary: Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:As Sanderson's first novel written in the Cosmere universe it is easy to get a feel for his writing style, but also see how this is his first. The setting and characters are written so well, but many main plot points are sometimes sped through and deus ex machina'd for convenience / getting back to the other plots, while other points of interest are quickly glazed over and barely mentioned just to explain when time should have been taken more to showcase it/prep the reader so it wasn't as mating (the best I can explain without spoilers); Many side characters get a sub plots/chapters of focus, to then barely be used, or in a scene later; its not that there isn't a payoff for some things but their impact wasn't as much. In that way, it does feel like a first writing, but still strong enough to be enjoyable, albeit long and jumpy (especially in the later half). The Elantis blessing and curse is an 600+ page episodic story, with political and religious influxes, curses of never ending death, morality and hope vs control and sacrifice. The settings are described perfectly and constantly throughout to truly keep you feeling the disparity and grime of fallen Elantris to the lavish Kingdoms and worsening cities of Ayrelon. A truly memorable main cast of characters, although a little one trait personality tropey at times unique and individual enough to be well remembered. If you're looking to starting in the Cosmere, I do recommended starting with the more polished Mistborn series, then this book, and reading chronology that publication (it will get you used to the writing style w/o being too off putting).
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Title: A Prayer For The Crown Shy

Series: Monk & Robot #2

Author: Becky Chambers

Summary: After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:The second book in the duology finds itself on the trac as the first. A nice continuation picking up right where the first left off, the same but new surface level philosophy topics written in beat by beat storyline structure. As usual, time jumps from philosophy point to point, they grow to understand people and themselves because of their meetings and interactions, and the topic points are great for people wanting to dip a toe in. If you enjoyed the first, and you wanted to dive into more of the same, you will definitely enjoy this second book! -- {not really spoilery, but warning} For me, the changes I was hoping for did not happen. The same deus ex machina'd happen all the same, Mosscap either does or doesnt know what it does/doesnt need to know in order to give a deeper philosophy discussion with Dex. Mosscap recalls observing bears fish (which, nature can be brutal), but had to have a whole, sad, chapter end about it watching a caught fish for food die like it was the first time for a philosophy point? I know it is a very short book, but I feel the world building was on all the things I didn't want. I wanted more showcasing on how the world is solarpunk(?? it might not even be), now the world continued on and thrived since robots left, etc. but instead we get paragraphs on what the house, and what outside the window looked like, when Dex has a one night stand (including a crane out the window dipping it's head under the waters surface to come up and sake its head empty handed) - but not any, or glossed over, explanation oh how the environment deals with technology after letting robots go free and not proceeding to replicate it; is it solarpunk? is it the same? Dex's Ox Bike is considered "tech" but he rides and pedals like a normal bike is it only b/c of the electric kettle - how does it get power when on the road? Also, in this world people do not go into wilderness, b/c of the robot agreement, and apparently this includes the shore line "human footsteps are minimal to non existant" to not disrupt things - except for the fact a faction of people who wanted to obstane from all technology, live in said wilderness and shoreline? And, although Dex never went, he knows of a Festival of food, and stuff for kids, to watch sea turtles hatch that takes place along the shoreline every year, so they go to an out of the way place to have another philosophy topic moment time jump.

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Title: A Song For The Wild Built

Series: Monk & Robot #1

Author: Becky Chambers

Summary: Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, and wandered into the wilderness, never to be seen again. Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:Dex, a traveling tea monk, decides to make a change of pace in their life of brewing and listening to peoples problems to adventure into the wild woods not that traveled. Along the way, they cross paths with a sentient robot, Mosscap, who is taking their own journey to learn more about humans. Both worlds had agreed to part, and remain undisturbed from each other out of peaceful respect (no ill-will or war), a long time ago; What the two can learn from each-other, life, and understanding along the trails way fills this short but quaint novel, taking a toe dip into scifi and surface level philosophy. I will continue to the sequel and see how our secondary character fairs in the human enviro and it's philosophy learning. For anyone looking to get into a cozy little book and dip their toe into SciFi / philosophic questions between machine and nature and where we belong. This is a nice quick book to do so. — (slight-spoilery indepth review ahead) /// I did enjoy the book: although I believe its brevity caused the most issues I had with it. I loved the solar punk-ish setting but wish they leaned more into it. The beginning time skips didn't help and, in my opinion, actually took away from the character development, which is a huge part of the philosophical coming of age topic of the story. (An awkward first encounter b/c not much knowledge on tea or comforting people, to immediately finding an herb merchant the next paragraph with a 3 month time skip having already perfected their inventory and making tea, to 2 year time skip in the next paragraph where they are now a loved conversational tea monk amidst numerous towns (within a few paragraphs) - then later on the MC struggles with feeling fulfilled after reflecting on all the hard work they put into their life decision… It's not that its not relatable, I just wish we got to read/be apart of it. If the first part of the book was taken out and we just started on them being an amazing tea monk, it would not have made and less an impact, honestly. It also was written quirky (I have no better way of describing) and took itself a little more serious in the second half. The second half, where we met Mosscap, is were the true meat of the story lies and the true philosophy aspect ramps and starts almost immediately. No real stakes to be too afraid of, such is five for a cozy read, as they continue their adventure, but again because of how short it is, the book kinda jumps directly from one action point to another, each curate a foundation to the small philosophical topic they want to talk about. This writing style did keep the story cozy and short, which is the vibe I got while reading it, buy I won't say that I wasn't left feeling like I wanted more. I've read philosophy books, and they can be boring, and this book does a nice job of trying to keep an engaging narrative and philosophy talks, although they are a but surface level and come fast and convenient. Lastly, kind of deus ex machina-ly, Mosscap just knows, or doesn't know (she with Dex), things about the world/humans/robots (because of their centuries separation) when it's necessary for the next philosophy point they both cross. It's not a bad thing, again keeps the story short and moving, but it gets noticeable when the robot quirkily doesn't really know what a chair/its arms are for, and is bewildered at the experience, because info deemed not necessary by the robot ancestors from the times of their human enslavement separation, was not passed down to remember - but does know the inner workings of the centeries old human spiritual religion and their gods…because.

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Title: Save Our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder

Author: Matthew Pearl

Summary: On December 10, 1887, a shark fishing boat disappeared. On board the doomed vessel were the Walkers—along with the ship’s crew. Their vessel split in two during a harsh storm, leaving those onboard adrift on the perilous sea. When the castaways awoke the next morning, they discovered they had been washed ashore—on an island inhabited by a large but ragged and emaciated man who introduced himself as Hans. Matthew Pearl unveils one of the most incredible yet little-known historical true stories, and the only known instance in history of an actual family of castaways.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:A very well written narrative of the real life castaway Walker family and crew of the Wandering Minstrel⚓ stranded on Midway island🏝️. The research done was indepth, but was written and presented in a way that read like a suspenseful and engaging novel more than just info-dumping, which I greatly appreciated and was what kept me intrigued! The parallels of the family to the classic story of the Swiss Family Robinson was eeirly similar, despite the novel, and other famous castaway stories, having come out years prior, but as usual - real life can tend to be a bit darker and show the worser side of humanity but still showcase the strength and resilience of community and family. The book focused a lot more on a few of main crew members and some people on the mainland that were involved than I would have liked. Those stranded on Midway island, a halfway point between Japan and Hawaii, were stuck for 14 months but it got boiled down to only a few chapters of this 18 chapter book. Although I wish there was more accounts of the Walker family there were so many twists of betrayal, governments evolving, and pieces to cover, its understandable that most of their life is told at the start and near the end of the book after they got off the island. It was amazing to find out that a lot of what the family built and wrote, both on and off the island, still stands and works today. For telling so much, the book is short yet packed full of information and historical recountings. This is a great and captivating story worthy of any sailor or reader interested in an amazing collection of a real life castaways and their story.

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Title: Johannes Cabal - The Necromancer

Series: Johannes Cabal #1

Author: Jonathan L. Howard

Summary: Johannes Cabal, a brilliant scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed, in heart and soul, with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not "soul" . . . He hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now Satan, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager: Johannes has one year to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:If you love Monty Python, a touch of dark magic, ambiguous morality, and constant chuckling then I highly recommend Johannes Cabal! - The books chapters play out like television episodes (fill of time jumps, weird side tracks, and devilish antics {all puns intended}). Despite the dark humorish tone and style of writing there are some times where 10+ minutes to a whole chapter will be spent on a random side characters life/back story/etc. and it's not written bad, but I would have hoped to see more of the carnival described, it/his souls # grow, not have time skips that i just have to accept, etc. Thankfully, it wrapped up nicely in the end and I had a great time overall (even if it could have been shorter).

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Title: The Two-Faced Queen

Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings #2

Author: Nick Martell

Summary: In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. Branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father, ten years later he lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:A solid second book in the series. There was a great deal of plot points hints, discussed, and introduced in the story; although I do feel like it spent a lot of time on some things that extended the story where it could have be shorter, and where there was much more to learn it kept it short and less explained. As for the main character cast, despite it being a huge group of characters, I feel the author actually did a great job at spacing and caring for the characters personal stories but at the same time, that's what I think prolonged the story in parts, since things were spaced out it was easy to forget some important information, which in a world where you lose your memories for using magic, I felt just as lost as our MC haha. I wish some more time was spent on the overall magic systems as there are so many, which is great dintnget me wrong; and a few recaps of the main plot alongside the arcs would be nice. But as a second book in a series, it usually is the infodump book so I won't score it hard for that reason. Overall, I think there was just so much, some things just got cut to what could have been a whole other book. This series gives off the vibes of Mistborn (so if you're a fan, you'll enjoy the series so far) --- {not spolier but even still just in case} I also wish a certain reconciliation played out better as it seemed quick with not much reasoning given the constant due hatred, meanwhile another was given a lot of time and reasoning.

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Title: The Kingdom Of Liars

Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings #1

Author: Nick Martell

Summary: In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. Branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father, ten years later he lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

Score: ★★★★1/2☆

Review:An amazing introductory novel and so well done. A unique magic system and great pacing. I thought I wronte a review for this a while ago, but it appears that nothing was ssaved :( Trust me, its a good novel and series so far, i recommend it.

Title: Before The Coffee Gets Cold

Series: Before The Coffee Gets Cold #1

Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Summary: In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

Score: ★★1/2☆☆☆

Review:What happens when a cafe has a magical secret, to allow you go into the past, not to make changes, but maybe to help change yourself... These short stories are very touching, even heart wrenching, and all take place in a mysterious hole in the wall cafe. The rules of the magic, and scenarios, is a unique concept, very quaint, and intriguing. But as much as I enjoied the short stories as individual wholes, there were a few issues that made it difficult for me to rate. There are definitely a few things lost in translation, cultural differences, and the pacing is extreamly slow and tiresome at parts. It felt like each story was purposefully written to just be longer, repeating the same thing different ways, explaining the cafe's rules and environment over and over ( even within the same chapter) and things like that. It really drug the book on unessesarially. Also despite the chapters having differnt little main stories, the narritive would flip to a completely different character, both relavent and irrelevant from the main story it was telling, and it threw off the flow, even the slow one it had at that, of the narrative. --- I think if it was trimmed of all the excess it easily could have been only -100+ pages, not 300+, and a much higher rating. I am almost finished the book, but as of the review im close to DNF'ing it and im on the 3rd of 4 stories. I bought this apart of the audiobook boxset of the first 3 novels (I do not know if I will continue with all of them or use them as a whitenoise sleep aid).

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Title: Graveyard Shift

Author: M.L. Rio

Summary:Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper. One dark October evening, they find a fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Score: ★★★★★1/2☆

Review:When a group of insomnia ridden acquaintances stumble upon a grotesque secret in the graveyard by their local churches anchorite, each must put their skills to use to uncover a closer and darker secret not only plaguing their town but maybe themselves. Each character plays an important role in the unraveling of their creepy mystery, and to eachother (in more ways than one); distinct personalities and diversity, each causing, if even a little, change in each other. In an unsettling and eerie, more than scary horror, small town setting - the midnight hours of the main characters insomnia will keep you in your own state of sleeplessness as you stay up to finish this novel. It does a great job of quickly moving the story along at an even pace for a short read although I do wish the author spent maybe half a chapter more finishing off one thing instead of just saying it happened in the background (I won't spoil). For being a short read, it actually felt like a lot of time was spent with each character to get to know and care for them, as the chapter naratives switch between each as the story unfolds. And in the style of an old 80s horror film, we're given a final shock fading to black, letting us sitting with that unsettling feeling and wanting of more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone that likes short reads and a fan of getting a little heebie jeebies.🍄🐀🚬🌑

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Title: The Sleep

Author: Chana Porter

Summary: Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence—until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn. Using Seep-tech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence. Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina chases after a young boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest as she will confront not only one of its most avid devotees, but the terrifying void that Deeba has left behind.

Score: ★★★☆☆

Review: I did enjoy the book, for its boundary pushing of existentialism and whether utopia and connection really for the best when it comes to everythign or is sense of self and living worth it in the end? Is one better, or both in its own unique takes rought with their own problem? It was written well for the many existential and social arugments it brought up, in a world where an alien entity connects everyone and can change anything, albeit it was cringy throughout with the rest of the writing, and easy to miss the time skips, which there are a bit off. The sifi setting was told vividly and well, as things rapidly advanced and changed while some wish for stagnation and what it means. Definitely an interesting premise and recommend it for a quick read. Audiobook puchased through Libro.fm, and was my choice for #trr25.

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Title: Tale Of The Dead Town

Series: Vampire Hunter D #4

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi

Summary: When a floating city becomes the target of a rash of vampire attacks, only one man can restore the oasis. A paradise shattered when an invasion of apparent vampires threatens the small haven, while the Vampire Hunter known only as "D" struggles to exterminate the scourge, a former denizen of the city, the attractive Raleigh Knight, and the brash John M. Brassalli Pluto VIII seize control of the city lurching it onto a new and deadly course.

Score: ★★★1/2☆☆

Review:Another great installation of Vampire Hunter D. Although not as eventful and action packed as previous ones.

Title: Artificial Condition

Series: The Murderbot Diaries #2

Author: Martha Wells

Summary: Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue

Score: ★★★★1/2☆

Review:A nice continuation of the adventures of our murderbot 🤖 friend, but it definitely felt more bland. Our MC is still just as relatable, if not more funny in this installment as he encounters new constructs, humans, and missions. Without spoilers: We unearth more about Murderbots past, but there was also the books 'side/main' mission that did appeal and expand on his human aspects (to learn and experience). But it did feel like it was just written in solely for that purpose. Let me preface by saying it's not a bad story line, I did enjoy, but there were times where I felt more interested in what he's really there for, and the side line felt a little predictable or 'okay, now this'. The book ends on not as a satisfying note/cliff hanger as I was expecting. I still love the series so far, and know there are more books so I know it gets better and can't wait to see where things go!

Title: Project Hail Mary

Author: Andy Wier

Summary: Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Score: ★★★★★

Review:As a lover of science 🔬 and space 🌠 this book was such a fun read! It was comedic, joyful, sorrowful, had some susspense and was very scientific - yes, it did take time to explain everything it mentioned but that's what prolonged the book mostly (so it you don't like that then you may not like a lot of parts), as a new and unique sci-fi apocalypse story about one kind man's mission to save humanity from a new amoebic threatening the Sun and the unlikely encounters, discoverys, and uncovered past along the way. Many small twists and ever rooting for the underdog will keep you centripetally forced in your seat and you'll be finishing the book close to the speed of light! A must read for any sci-fi lover, dungeon crawler carl enjoyer, or want to break into something new! Read my review on Fable

Title: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Author: Timothy Snyder

Summary: A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism. Twenty Lessons is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.

Score: ★★★★1/2☆

Review:If you are currently living in the USA, add this to the top of you're reading list now! The author goes through the 20 Points/Lessons of tyranny/facism through history - how to spot it, how it was done in the past by people and countries, and what it can look like now - Most importantly - how you can fight against it (in each lesson learn what to teach and what you can do). Despite being writteh a few years ago, the information is currently relevant and actively happening under the current USA administration (2025). I hope things do not end up like how they have for America. Stay strong and fight against Fascism!

REVIEW COMING SOON