yourspookymom's reviews
217 reviews

Lions, tigers & bears? More like blood, guts &…the wrath of a mother?

Oh my!

Set in a small town in Scotland where the population has rapidly dwindled. 4 teenagers center the story, with Beth as the MC and her best friend Alice, who has recently become a teen mom. A night of fun leads into terror as Maggie Wall, an expecting “witch” mutilated & left for dead in the 1800s, has awoken.

I don’t believe that the author has kids, but I’m so shocked at how accurate he portrayed the crippling fear, love and mental strength it takes to be a mother. I knew exactly how Alice felt when she looked at her baby - the most love and the deepest fear you could ever imagine. Hats off to David for really nailing these emotions.

The Town Hall scene was written for all of the horror junkies out there. This (very detailed) bloodbath will be etched into my memory forever & I’ll never be able to listen to James Blake the same again. Can’t wait for you to read it.

This story was nucking futs. Another home run for Sodergren - 5/5!

I think this one was uniquely scary because it highlights all of the things we fear the most before death (felt it deep in my millennial bones)…all of the horrors of our current state & how we are inevitably the reason for our own downfall.

I think if I were more down for a nihilistic doom scroll, I would have enjoyed this a bit more. Nonetheless, Marcus Hawke is a beautiful writer and I enjoyed his style very much. Looking forward to reading more from him!

4/5!

The premise of the story is a good one. A woman taken by a serial killer five years ago now moves in with He and his daughter… Aiden is seemingly loved by all in his small town. He has just lost his wife to cancer & is now raising their daughter alone. No one would suspect him of the heinous crimes he’s committed. We have a cute girl in a diner, Emily, who also has a tragic and traumatic past. Possibly another victim or someone that he can love & help him rebuild his family…

What I enjoyed: the various aspects of Aiden’s life being so different from one another & that all crumbling in the end. I also enjoyed the different POVs from the 3 women. I also thought there were some really powerful lines in this book. I read the main premise of The Quiet Tenant as how suffocating, manipulative & destructive misogyny is (I also have Barbie on the mind - IYKYK).

What I didn’t like: This story needed more personality. A lot of the dialogue is stale & monotone. “Rachel” is seemingly incredibly calm in a really tumultuous situation. I did not feel her fear at all & wished there was less repetition & more moments of raw emotion that a victim of daily assault would more realistically feel. Additionally, I am part of the dead mom crew…so Celine’s POV was not like any grief I have experienced. Not to say everyone’s grief has to mimic my own, but the weight of her sadness was lost on me. Lastly, Emily is very caught up in a crush & it was a bit cringe… her view read more like a teenage girl than a grown woman.

Overall, this story was underwhelming and predictable. Read very matter of fact & needed more emotion. This book had a lot of potential and felt like it underserved a bit. Although I would read more from this author. 3/5!

**7/21 edit: it’s been a month and I still can’t stop thinking about this book - changing from 4.5 stars to 5!

I have so much to say - what another amazing book from Sodergren. Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

This book was INTENSE. Willow represents so many different social elements that make her deemed unvalued and easily disposable by society. I love how he touches on very horrific realities through incredible characters. Something I’m quickly seeing is that Sodergren’s books are rooted in one main element: love rules all. Kind of poetic for some pretty horrific, gory, & nail biting scenes.

4.5/5 - sexual violence is incredibly difficult to read & had to skim over some of those scenes. The ending? Nightmare fuel. Looking forward to reading more from David!

I. Have. So. Many. Thoughts. This story is so deeply sad, but it’s very well written, quite beautifully at points. The imagery was incredibly vivid & thoughtfully detailed. I thought the letter writing between chapters was a nice touch that further creeped you the fuck out. Descriptions of the River & The River Man were so awesome. This was a wonderfully unique story.

With all that being said, I don’t know that I particularly enjoyed reading this. Lori’s character definitely makes you question the nature vs. nurture argument… I have a hard time really understanding why she jumps to such extremes. There’s not much justified redemption - it’s depraved, taboo & menacing. Although I felt so badly for Abby, I didn’t feel like any of the characters were really loveable. Well, except for Pete & Buzz - who you just feel such a deep sorrow for. I won’t even get into Lori & Ed more because, lol, what the fuck.

It could have been a hair longer to leave more room for the reader to be inside of The River Man’s shack. There was SO much build up (towards the end I was like just get there already!!); so much potential to only be pretty short lived & tame.

MILD SPOILER/TW: I skipped over chapter 13 entirely & most of 16 because of the rape/incest. 0 desire to experience that.

Overall, Gone to See The River Man is more extreme horror because of the undignified acts of the characters rather than gore. The blood & guts aspect was pretty tame. Or…am I slowly loosing my mind!? Triana does know what he is doing - that is nothing to be slept on. For the genre, this was an incredible story, but for me I am just not sure how to feel. I do plan on reading the second in the series to see if some of the gaps are filled & if we learn more about The River Man’s history/significance.

3.5/5!

I’ve read this book twice now. One of my favorites. A great book for horror fans who also love a period piece. I never thought I’d enjoy this book as much as I did as I’m not super interested in history. Between Two Fires had me instantly and I didn’t put it down the entirety of reading it. The dynamics between the characters compliment each other well. I felt like I could visualize each of their encounters, conversations, pain, etc through Christopher’s writing.

Went into this knowing I just needed a light book from all of the other heavier ones I’ve been reading. The age gap was a little much & so was the abundant misogyny…but the in between kept me reading. Enjoyed it as a break, but not sure I’ll be recommending or reading more from this author. 2.5/5

Idk how Quinn doesn’t have a raging UTI let alone walk after this.

If this had more of a solid plot and build up, it might have worked. I see why the TikTok girlies love it though. 1/5

This is really quite a unique read. I’ve never really read anything like it before. The different levels of descriptions using texts, video descriptions & diary entries was really thoughtfully crafted. There was an interesting plot & overall pretty eerie and scary. If you can look past some of the cringe (esp Claire) dialogue, you’ll have fun.

It was really slow in the beginning and the end was really confusing. I listened to this one instead of reading & I think I’ll go back and read the last 20% to see if there’s more clarity that I missed distracted while listening. I’m finding I’m not much of an audiobook gal. I miss too much getting lost in thought or distracted. This one deserves a physical read. I will re-review then.

2.5/5

I’m…speechless.

"The cobra looks down upon the rattlesnake, yet both are filled with venom."

This was SO much better than the first. Along the River of Flesh was definitely just as sick and twisted as the first, but slightly more fleshed out (pun intended). I loved progressively hating the characters more and more. That ending? Gagging. I did NOT expect that.

This story had the ick factor turned up to 11, so be weary. Great read for horror lovers, but definitely need to cleanse my brain with a Scrub Daddy. Although I liked this more than the first, this story was pretty bleak. No joy whatsoever. Looking for a break from this type of horror after this one.

Overall, 3.7/5 rounded up. Glad a lot of my questions were answered from the first.