This book feels like a debut, in the sense that it’s raw and somewhat promising, but ultimately it ended up being unpolished. I was truly shocked to find out that this is one of seven published works for Brinn. There’s a lot here that caught my attention at first: an incredibly dark premise, graphic and…
Tag: thriller
“Hungerstone” Kat Dunn
This book had such a strong foundation of gothic atmosphere, eerie pacing, and an emotionally layered approach to horror, but it ultimately didn’t land for me in the way I hoped. I loved the moodiness, the slow burn, and the ghost-drenched tone of it all. Kat Dunn is clearly talented when it comes to building…
“Black Leopard, Red Wolf” Marlon James
Just wow. This book is a fever dream in the best, boldest, and most bewildering way possible. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s a hallucinatory epic, a brutal reimagining of African mythology and folklore that feels both ancient and startlingly new. It demands your full attention. Marlon James writes with…
“Hunting Adeline” H.D. Carlton
This one hurt. After being such a fan of Haunting Adeline, I went into Hunting Adeline with high hopes and an eagerness to see how Zade and Addie’s story would unfold. Unfortunately, what I got instead felt like an exhausting, overdrawn trauma reel that pushed boundaries for shock value rather than plot. It’s not that…
“The Girls in the Snow” Stacy Green
A chilling, atmospheric thriller with just the right touch of horror, The Girls in the Snow is a solid start to a promising series. It’s gripping without feeling overly dramatic, eerie without relying on cheap scares, and paced in a way that keeps you engaged without feeling exhausted by the tension. What makes this book…
“Phantasma” Kaylie Smith
Phantasma is a book that pulls you in with its lush, gothic atmosphere and unique premise, but doesn’t quite deliver the punch I wanted it to. A solid 3.75-star read that I’ll round up to 4 for the sake of its ambition, it’s a novel that thrives in aesthetics but occasionally loses its grip on…
“The House in the Pines” Ana Reyes
The House in the Pines keeps you intrigued enough to turn the pages, but leaves you wondering if it could have been something more. Ana Reyes builds an atmospheric mystery that teases psychological depth, but in the end, doesn’t quite land as powerfully as I wanted it to. The premise is strong…. there’s an eerie,…
“The Girls in the Garden” Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell has crafted a story that feels unsettlingly real. Set against the backdrop of a seemingly idyllic London communal garden, this novel weaves together the lives of its residents in a way that is both mesmerizing and quietly sinister. What truly shines in this book is the atmosphere. Jewell’s writing is lush with imagery,…
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
There’s something irresistible about a thriller set in an isolated location, and In a Dark, Dark Wood delivers exactly that. Ruth Ware takes a seemingly harmless hen-do weekend and transforms it into a tense, slow-burning nightmare where nothing is quite as it seems. The writing is atmospheric and immersive, pulling you straight into the cold,…
“The Wife Between Us” Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Psychological thrillers can be hit or miss, but The Wife Between Us is an absolute hit. From the first chapter, I knew this wasn’t going to be a predictable, paint-by-numbers domestic suspense novel. It’s smart, unsettling, and packed with the kind of twists that make you question everything you think you know about the story….
A Tempest Storm 