vanmeers's reviews
489 reviews

Haunt Your Heart Out is the perfect little wintertime romcom that’ll fit right in as a December - February read (or whenever it snows really!).

It pretty much gives you all the cozy romcom tropes that you can think of with little dash of ‘oh no, miscommunication’ but it all works out in the end — perfect for anyone wanting a stress free reading experience and some feel good moments (with some realistic human emotions too). 

I can see how this will be perfect for some readers, maybe less so for others. I personally didn’t love it as much as I thought I would’ve — I didn’t really feel the connection between the two MC’s and so I just didn’t really feel that invested in the relationship unfortunately. In the book’s defence, I did read this straight after a (to me) 5-star romance mystery and I’m sure it affected how much I enjoyed this. Maybe this would’ve hit different if I’d read it before or later on this year?

I will say that the representation of anxiety was really spot on and something that’s definitely relatable in its description. The way the different family dynamics are shown and the struggles you can have feeling less than others was great too — I did honestly feel like shedding some tears just a little by the end of the book because of Lex and her complicated relationship with her parents and sister. So honestly the author did something right with this part of the story! 

Overall, it’s not a half bad book, even if I didn’t feel the romantic connection it’s still a pretty cute book.

/// ARC courtesy of Alcove Press and NetGalley.

Forgot to finish it before it left audible as a free title — but what I listened to it was just alright. Sort of weird having the actual killer talk about things though 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, maybe I’ll continue with it in the future but for now I’m not gonna spend any money or audible credit on it.

i was super hyped for this as a long time jdate fan but this really did not hit as hard as i thought it would.

the idea of it is great, so is the cover and title, but mostly it felt repetitive in its message on how the internet is bad — if it had been dialled down by 40% my rating would’ve probably been a lot higher. but as it is, it felt mostly like you were doomscrolling on twitter for far too long watching insane internet fights with no meaning (and it would’ve felt more meaningful if pargin didn’t spend every page hitting us in the head with the point on how we need to get off the internet. like i agree, but still).

anyway, it did still have pargin’s familiar writing style and humour. less then loveable characters, but which he still manages to make you like, and so it isn’t the worst book. but it’s not my favourite either. 

what an adorable locked door mystery type romcom to end the year with — it’s positively silly, with just enough suspense and romance to keep you going.

five stars for thoroughly entertaining me 🫶

i’m normally a big fan of anthologies and short story collections but this one felt mostly mediocre and pretty bland.

there’s a lot of big names in there and several authors that i generally enjoy reading, so i don’t think it’s necessarily the chosen authors that made it feel meh to me? maybe it just wasn’t the right fit for me 🤷‍♀️

i do think there’s some stories that stand out more than others and maybe i’m biased because it’s also specifically authors i’ve loved everything i’ve read from them so far — but in general most of the stories with some oomph definitely was in the latter part of the book imo

in general it’s an okay collection of winter horror stories that are mainly depressing and grim to read. if that’s your thing, you’ll most likely enjoy this collection though.

/// ARC courtesy of Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley. 

It’s not easy being a kid during Christmas, especially if you’re not allowed to touch grandmas snow babies lest bad things should happen to you and your family. 

Snow Babies packs a punch in just a few 40 odd pages and it delivers some bloody sucker punches — full of broken ceramics, sliced throats and a really mean ol’ grandma. It’s the perfect little holiday horror for the end of the year 🎄