beau_reads_books's reviews
203 reviews

Bullet out of the barrel, I was trembling when I opened it. Reading the first lines of dialogue was like pulling up a chair at the table, waiting for Ron to fill my glass to the brim. I cleared my schedule, made myself comfortable. True immersion. After the very first chapter, pages five to eleven, I slammed the book shut, leapt in the air pumping my fist and yelled, “Let’s fucking go!” Then I sat down, winded, and opened the book again to be magically transported to a retirement village in Britain somewhere.

Anything I need to say about this series I already left in my review of “The Thursday Murder Club” but I can try and elaborate. Richard Osman could take me by the hand and lead me into traffic and I would go, as simple as chasing butterflies. I hang on to every word as if my life depends on it, mesmerized. You’re halfway through the book, thinking you know something about anything, and Richard takes your head in his hands, kisses your forehead, and whispers, “No, you beautiful idiot, you know nothing.”

It’s so hard to rely on series, or sequels, or three-quels and then on. So often you’re let down by a hot debut followed by a real clunker. But not here, no no: I am alive for the second Thursday Murder Club mystery! Dare I say, it thrums with a different speed and energy than the first, but does so with the same heart. Glorious! The third in the series awaits me, safe in my library bag, but I will hold out, play coy, read something in between, but I’ll always come back to you, Richard.

5/5 Absolutely no notes, Richard’s done it again the wild man

“Maybe, Vera thinks, this is just what love is like.”

Now, that’s a cover you can really sink your teeth into. I am no stranger to picking up a book simply because I like what it looks like and I’ve lucked out this far with enjoying what’s inside it. In saying that, “Just Like Home” definitely threw me for a loop and unraveled into something I was not expecting at all.

Let’s get this out of the way: this book is as slow as molasses. I’d say for the six days I read it, I was tied up in the first 2/3 and then completely housed the final third in one go. There’s a lot of over-writing: dense repetition had me putting the book down a lot, I got tangled up in the pace. Over-explaining details while simultaneously being frustratingly vague is an aggravating accessory to this plot, but in the end it did spur me on to finish.

The author had a good, strong grasp of an odd and eerie story arc. In those aforementioned very dense details, there was some truly bizarre and captivating imagery. They were able to finesse in some metaphors about love and family and personhood while also being tangibly creepy. Who doesn’t love that? I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is an immaculate, big-thinking blaster but I did go, “Ooo love that” a few times.


3.5-4/5 I have complicated feelings but I would read another horror from this author

“Something here has taken part of me and won’t give it back.”

Johnny Compton’s “The Spite House” is a little bit “Us,” a little bit “Insidious,” and a lotta bit fun! A small town in Texas seemingly ran by an eccentric old lady with a family curse/death complex, twin jet streams of generational trauma, and ghosts—oh my! Pick this up if you’re a fan of the aforementioned movies and if you like your spooky books with a forehead kiss of emotion.

I’m always a fan of a big story tucked neatly into 300~ pages or less, and Compton definitely delivered. This is a quick, concise read and it did not feel lacking, story wise: concepts are fleshed out and character dynamics work in a well-oiled machine.

I did wish there were more signifiers to clarify time shifts within the narration but Compton more than made up for it with some clever chapter segues. More consistent and elaborate descriptors of the haunties themselves would have added a sharper edge to this debut novel. I was happy with what I got but I’m a Regular Degular Ghost Glutton.

3.5/5 I’m excited to see what else comes outta this guy’s noggin

Yeeeaaah, I’m not so sure about this one. It reads as problematic Amelia Bedelia but with murder? I was excited to grab this from the library because I see it vanish off of our mystery shelves at work. Ended up being less entertaining and more… mean? I have no idea how this hit top place on Goodreads Thrillers list of 2022 and I feel like someone should probably be in trouble for that.

Portraying what seems to be a neurodivergent protagonist, and laying those pretty trope-y details on terribly thick, felt like a weird creative choice from the author. I understand there are mixed reviews on the strengths and weaknesses identifying Molly as ND or spectrum aligned, but the absence of any meaningful discourse (which I think was maybe the intent) felt really hollow and, at some points, malevolent. Also, the racial stereotypes?? Lot going on here and none of it was good.

I don’t think it’s fair to place “Maid” in the locked room mystery category: the plot began there but really derailed in a distracting manner. It’s muddled, flimsy, and, honest to goodness, batshit bizarre in places and not in the fun way. Even the “big reveal” felt disingenuous.

1/5 This didn’t feel very good to read at all.

All my worries wash away as I open the book. I am immediately transfixed, awash with glee. What sort of trouble are my friends in the Thursday Murder Club going to get into this time? I already know this will be the highlight of my week. I could get a job promotion, win the lotto, etc., but this is my peak. I finish the first chapter and I am ravenous.

Action! Rheumatoid Arthritis! Not knowing how smartphones work! Murder! Octogenarians dating! What more do you need? I lost count of how many times I was overtook with giggles, kicking my feet around, full of unabashed glee. And then, just a few chapters later, my eyes well up with sympathy and grief. Something about Osman’s prose, character creation and dialogue just reaches the inner corners of my heart.

I’ve never once picked up a series and liked the following book more than the previous but here we are: the hits just keep coming out of Richard Osman; they just keep getting better. And now I have to wait until September to keep this win train going. Whatever will I do?!

5/5 I talk about these books once a day and I feel like it’s starting to ruin a few relationships but I don’t care.

“You can wrap a shotgun in the flowers, but that doesn’t make the blast less lethal.”

This was a challenging, brutal read for multitudes of reasons. Half crime noir, half supernatural horror, Iglesias nails down the disorienting feeling of reading gritty and dark situations in a very matter of fact tone. Poignant imagery, mixed with shifts in languages, the writing really plays into a very specific brand of tension. And, not beating around the bush here, this book is just all-encompassing, omnipresent violence. It’s clunky at times, and maybe a bit hard to navigate, but it’s pretty easy to see that was the point.

It’s hard to read books with hard endings. It’s hard to read books with choking tendrils of hurt that touch every single character in varying ways. Parts of this book feel like being too close to a big, unfamiliar barking dog and the confusing clarity when it stops.

I think it’s crucial to read any kind of literature, especially horror, from underrepresented authors that are breaking down the hegemonic pillars that keep the art exclusive and inaccessible. The reviewers saying this book is too “woke” are fucking morons.

5/5 for the heart and soul of horror.

“But like I said already, I hunt monsters.
And I got a sword that sings.”

Holy hell what a powerhouse. Visceral, mournful, and courageous. A perfect blend of historical and supernatural fiction, a good choice for fans of “Lovecraft Country” and the like. I am absolutely flabbergasted I did not read this sooner. More than literature itself, “Ring Shout” is a battle cry.

Coming in at just under 200 pages, it is safe and easy to say that I would have inhaled a tome of over 800 just to experience the feeling this book gave me on a deeper level. Novellas are accessible and fun to read but I would gladly have read “Ring Shout” for weeks. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long, long time.

5/5 absolute perfection.

A trans haunted house story? You know I’m there. Startlingly subversive, powerful and transgressive, “Tell Me I’m Worthless” exemplifies the dawning of a new age in horror lit: modern themes built on a tried and true foundation. Gender violence, racism, fascism, antisemitism, gang’s all here.

Rumfitt adeptly crafts multidimensional characters to an eerie level. Very, very good at making me sympathize with people I don’t want to. The personification and anthropomorphism of the haunted house rockets this story right through the ceiling.

A certain drawback of the often looping, stream of consciousness prose style utilized at times in “Tell Me” is a general, yet sticking, confusion. There’s a lot going on here and if you lose your momentum it’s hard to get back.

It’s pretty safe to say I have never read anything quite like this. I’m stoked to see what else this author is going to cook up.

4/5 for one of the most uniquely grisly scenes I will read all year.

Again, I am uncertain that I’ll continue the series but I just keep picking them up. I really enjoy 80% of the plots and twisting reveals in the mystery itself, but the main characters drive me up a wall. I guess it is something to say that they’re complex but it really feels like the author is narrowing all of the strong women characters down to this “when will he notice me” arc. And the “he” in that statement is not a catch! All of the potential in the characters is taken away and it just turns into a slog of weird, patronizing, misogynistic bullshit.


3/5 because the magician mystery concept is still super cool but all the gals fussing over the main detective nincompoop hurts the story.

I do love the “documentary film makers bite off a bit more than they can chew” concept to pieces and “The Lost Village” did certainly tickle that fancy. As the thriller/horror genre is often rife with hidden meanings, this book is about a lot of things. However, I found that if you don’t want to dig much deeper than the surface, the story will carry you just fine.

Saying that, there’s a bit here that readers need to ignore to really immerse themselves. I think the characters could have been fleshed more without it completely detracting from the story. We are given enough for connection and relation but that’s about it. The timeline/time passed from then to now is a bit long for the ending to really feel believable. But, I’m not going to nitpick what is a fine book.

4/5 it’s sort of like a found footage film but not and that vibe just feels right.