SYNOPSIS: Tananarive Due, a winner of the American Book Award and an Essence and Los Angeles Times bestselling author, brings you her debut short fiction collection! The title novella, Ghost Summer, won a Kindred Award from the Carl Brandon Society (originally published in The Ancestors). This collection includes Patient Zero, The Lake, The Knowing, Herd Immunity, and many other stories.
This book is such an amazing, perfect way to kick off Women in Horror Month. My favorites are the ones set in Gracetown, but none of the stories left me with a 'meh' reaction. ((special mention to Free Jim's Mine, because I started that one, had to get the kids to bed, and then woke up the next morning having somehow sprained my wrist. Couldn't write notes on it, but I *had* to finish it anyway and then read it aloud to anyone who'd hold still long enough)) There's a theme running throughout so many of the stories of children forced to grow up before their time, sometimes to the point of parenting the adults in their lives. The kids in these stories, god; I love all of them. Quotes/Lines (spoilers below!) THE LAKE -- Abbie is very much striking me as the 'too much money and too little sense' type. Who drops $150,000 on a house on a whim?? -- 'But there would be boys at the school, strong and tireless boys, who could help her mend what needed fixing. In her experience, there were always willing boys.' UM. This is setting off creeper-bells. -- 'In retrospect, she was foolish. But in all fairness, how could she have known?' There's just a subtle skin-prickling wariness to the tone of this story that I love. -- 'No rows of desks would mar her classroom' *how do you do, fellow kids gif* -- Dismissing the girls immediately and being way too studious of the boys. The way she's thinking about Derek-- he is sixteen. He's a kid. Hire a goddamn contractor like the rest of us lady -- oh no he's fifteen even worse -- "But you know, Derek, it's easy for people to get the wrong idea if you say you're going to a teacher's house..." His face was bright red now. "Oh, I wouldn't say nothing. I mean...anything." RED ALERT HELL NO I HAVE READ 'GIFT OF FEAR' THIS IS GOING NOWHERE GOOD this kid better make it through okay i stg -- "It's all right if you don't have trunks," she said. "My back yard is private, and there's no harm in friends taking a swim." Where's a gator when you need one -- 'That was what she and Mary Kay had always believed. Anyone who thought differently was just being politically correct. In ancient times, or in other cultures, a boy Jack's age would already have a wife, a child of his own.' The hell is wrong with you?? Is your friend Mary Kay Letourneau? -- HOLY SHIT IT IS -- oh god this ending. GAH. **full-body shudder** SUMMER -- 'Grandmother had passed three summers ago after a stroke in her garden, and now that she was gone, Danielle had a thousand and one questions for her. The lost questions hurt the most.' My grandma passed from Alzheimer's last year, and the truth in this. -- 'Danielle wasn't sure if she was patient and wise, or if she was a tragedy unfolding slowly, one hot summer day at a time.' This LINE. -- 'The baby's legs banged against the crib railings, but Danielle knew her wailing was only for show. Lola was thirteen months old and a liar already.' ...okay, you absolutely need some help before you do something unforgivable. That is PPD rearing its ugly head. -- So her husband suspects she might have it, but she's determined she's too strong for such a thing to affect her. That's such a common, awful trap. -- "Only a fool would buy one of those plots." I love connected short stories. -- *thank you* for calling Odetta. Also hooray for horrifying mental imagery that will never go away, I have never been more glad that my kids are past infancy -- "I bet there's some folks who see it as a blessing in disguise, even if they'd never say so." I had PPD, and I would have. Ohhh, this is gonna unsettle me for *days*. Just picture me holding the book at arm's length as I keep reading. GHOST SUMMER -- 'Later, Davie would wonder why he hadn't realized right then that something was very, very wrong. Had known, maybe, but hadn't wanted to.' Poor kiddo. -- 'Not 'Mommy', he reminded himself. He was twelve years old now. He was going to middle school in the fall, and he'd heard enough nightmarish stories about middle school to know that if any of the other kids heard him call his mother Mommy, he'd come home with a bloody nose every day.' He's not wrong. Middle school = hell on earth -- 'Watching, Davie remembered that Dad hadn't always been a grown man. He'd been a little boy once, just like him, and he looked like a boy again, clinging to his mother in a way he always warned Davie not to cling to Mommy. Mom.' I'm fascinated by whatever ghosts he's looking forward to seeing, of course, but even without the supernatural elements, the human narrative here, this little boy navigating his way to adulthood, is just captivating. -- 'Ignorance was the only mercy he could still do for them.' Bless his little heart he's trying so hard and needs a hug -- 'Neema wasn't just a ghost hunter-- Neema, it turned out, was a kamikaze.' I love this kid too. -- 'She knows, Davie realized. She wants to know if I know too.' *sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces* -- 'But he lay that shotgun on his shoulder and walked away. That's the part everyone forgets.' I'm gonna cry -- 'The secret weighed heavier with each passing moment. But the Timmons boys carried it. They were stronger than anyone could have imagined.' Babies what happened to you oh god -- 'If the three boys weren't hurting, they wouldn't be trying so hard to be heard. But Neema didn't need to have that spelled out. Like all ghosts, they just wanted their story known.' <3 -- "This one time Davie. I need you to grow up very fucking fast." THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEART RATE -- 'Combined, their feet sounded like an army, and Davie hoped they were.' FREE JIM'S MINE -- so this was where I sprained my wrist and took no notes but just know this story absolutely kicked my ass and it's amazing THE KNOWING -- 'I guess she fells like she'll be all right if she just runs away from it, as if you could run away from your own head.' What a situation. :( -- "Mama, it ain't you. Knowing ain't the same as deciding. TV Guide don't decide what's on TV." This kid is amazing. -- "Telling to hurt somebody is the worst thing a person can do. Even the devil couldn't do nothing worse." ... 'I don't think she can help it. I was only six when she did it to me' Oh look all my sympathy for the mom just evaporated -- 'When you grow up around someone like Mama and you hear about it all the time, you know everybody has a turn, and you just try and find something interesting every day to make you glad it hasn't happened yet.' Ohhh, hon. That's so mature and a position you never should've been put in. I wish you could've stayed with Rosa. LIKE DAUGHTER -- 'So, yes, I understood why Neecy needed looking after. No one else was doing it.' This entire situation is infuriating and heartbreaking. -- 'Neither of them had learned, after two divorces, that people can't be applied to wounds like gauze.' DAMN. AFTERMOON -- werewolf story ahhhhhhhh -- "How did you know about me?" "The music. If you didn't have the genes, all you'd hear was Muzak." Worldbuilding adoration ahoy. (also the doctor's sense of humor is perfect) TRIAL DAY -- 'Bernadette never said these things aloud like an evil stepmother in a fairy tale, but she didn't have to. Letitia knew words were only part of who people were, and usually the least important part.' *fills out adoption papers for yet another fictional child* -- No wonder he shrank in her eyes. Also, the sheer toxicity of her father's relationship... -- "This is one o' them times you got a choice, Letitia. You can do what you want and hope things don't turn out wrong, or you can do what you know will make things right." 1) that is a hell of a line 2) I had a cat named Midnight so I'm just gonna skim from this point on thanks -- OH thank goodness -- 'The sound of that purring engine as it drove away was as sweet as the memory of Daddy's laughter with Brother on the porch that night.' my goddamn HEART help PATIENT ZERO -- 'But Veronica told me the NFL people had a meeting and decided not to have football anymore' This story is going to hit SO hard right now isn't it -- 'I've been staring at my Dan Marino picture all day, and I think the handwriting on the autograph looks like Dr. Ben's. But I'm afraid to ask anyone about that.' Ohhhh kid. -- "People are giving it to each other. They don't usually know they're sick for two weeks, and by then they've passed it to a lot of other people." ...so when was this written again -- Just the little hints of how *badly* things are falling apart outside, brrrrrrr -- 'She said it was the security code for my door. She said she wanted to give the code to me because my buzzer wasn't working, and I might need to leave my room if she overslept and nobody came to bring me food.' This amazing woman, trying to give him comfort and normalcy as best she can. DANGER WORD -- ZOMBIES!! ((normally not my thing, but at this point I would buy a copy of a restaurant menu if Tananarive Due wrote it so I am curious)) -- 'He'd done what he had to do to save the boy, then shut the memories away where they couldn't sneak into his dreams. Then drank enough to make the dreams blurry.' I love you so much sir -- 'Daddy, she'd called him. She hadn't called him that in years.' Oh okay so this is going to be a multiple-tissues story -- His love and practicality with this kid even when he knows the worst is coming I *cannot*. Also going to pick up the two YA zombie novels she mentions in the afterword; neverending TBR list! REMOVAL ORDER -- oh NO not fleas visible like that. We had a regular at the donut shop and you could see the fleas crawling on his white socks when he came up to the counter. -- My grandma was fortunate to never get bedsores, but all the rest of this, having to move her and her screaming in pain and just not understanding why any of it was happening... worst memories. -- 'A gunshot exploded inside the house.' Yeah, I thought that was what he was going to do. Jesus. HERD IMMUNITY -- 'He left a trail of candy wrappers. Chocolate bars mostly, always the minis.' My apocalypse counterpart. -- "People who were careful," he said.' Yeahhh, because everyone else who got sick just wasn't as dedicated to their safety as you are. Jackass. -- Taking the stuffed elephant from the fair, bless -- Ohhhh, I don't want to know what's inside the Rescue Center please do not open the door thanks. -- 'Make sure everyone in your party takes a full cup. Parents, watch your children drink before drinking yourself.' oh god no -- 'Kyle slept on as Nayima pressed her lips to his.' WHAT the HELL. He SAID he wanted you to stay back. No still means no in the middle of the apocalypse, lady-- and what if he actually did get lucky instead of being naturally immune? Slim chance, but not for you to decide. -- 'By dawn, Nayima awoke to the sound of his retching. ... Nausea came first. Nausea came fast.' oh christ, this was told in such a sweet way, trying to find connection in a destroyed world, but really you stalked and murdered a man. Go to hell. -- 'The man didn't turn to look at her as she stood over him and picked through his things.' Go to hell *faster*. Also, I like how he's back to being 'the man' instead of Kyle or someone you absolutely 'can't' live without now that you ignored his explicit wishes and killed him. CARRIERS -- 'Naymia's sleep had turned restless as she aged' Oh, so happy to see you got to have a long life, asshole -- 'She fired once into the dark and hoped she'd hit him. Fucking cats.' I remember you being so happy to see Tango after your grandmother was killed. Is that part of you entirely gone, after everything you went through and everything you *did*? -- ...she named one of her pet cats Tango. I am feeling things against my will here -- 'Of course he did. Toys and gadgets. That was Raul.' Yeah, god forbid the guy like the read, or remember his family and happier times and want to talk about them. Just awful. -- 'She jacked a shell into the chamber. "You could've shot me before I did all that work," Raul said.' Pffffft. -- "She doesn't have one," he said. "What?" "Nobody bothered to name her. In the records, she's called Specimen 120."' noooo, poor baby -- 'Makeup had yet to make a comeback, except the enhanced red lips favored by both men and women. Full of life.' I love this little worldbuilding snippet. -- 'the anecdote about her extracted tooth violated guidelines' Oh, well, we obviously can't have THAT. I wouldn't go anywhere near that place either. -- 'dear Jesus, this angel had Gram's nose and plump, cheerful cheeks' **cries** SENORA SUERTE -- You seem pleasant. Eesh. -- I love the story of how this piece came about. VANISHINGS -- 'A mother should see it first, not last.' So much denial and pain, all through this story.
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SYNOPSIS:
Strang isn’t the small, quaint town it appears to be. It’s haunted every night by a creature the townsfolk refer to as Halloween. Once the sun sets each day, Halloween emerges to collect its treats: a small, live offering from each household. The residents comply because no one wants to be the target of Halloween’s tricks. But the nightmare of residing in Strang is nothing compared to the yearly ritual Halloween demands of the citizens on All Hallows’ Eve. There are some books that are well-written, have a great premise, but for whatever reason just don't click with me, and this is one of them. A lot of people really enjoyed it, and I can absolutely understand why-- the setup is original and fun, the writing style is good, but I just didn't feel much for the main character and that made it hard for me to be really invested in the book. That said, give it a try-- more people like this than not, and maybe I just hit it at the wrong time. (also, the cover is freaking gorgeous and that's always a plus) ;) Reactions/quotes ((spoilers below)): -- I love the skeletal rabbit sketch at the start of the chapter. -- The blurb makes me think animals are gonna die and I really hope that's told subtly rather than dwelled on. -- 'The thing itself shifted again and again to something human then something with possibly tentacles then to something winged or wide, I couldn't be sure. It confused the mind to look directly at it. The shadow was what you had to pay attention to. As it devoured the cat Janice offered, the shadow turned its head toward our house.' That is an aces creepy description. -- '...back when there were children in Strang.' Um. -- "How were they going to deal with a group of people from out of town?" Hopefully they're not bringing them in for a sacrifice but I don't know with this place. Wouldn't surprise me. -- "You can't wait for the meeting. You want your old man to get the dot, don't you?" Ohhh, we've got The Lottery vibes going on now. -- 'You had to learn to keep emotions separate early on because the moment you grew an ounce of empathy for anyone or anything, the night Halloween paid a visit you would end up in a constant state of grief and sorrow and depression.' There's probably a good "so by this point, who's the real monster" essay to be made here. -- "I'd leave it alone if I were you. You'll end up like your mother." Ohhhh. -- 'She'd begged and nagged dad almost every day to pack up and leave.' I can't imagine why. ((no, seriously, why don't people GO? There's apparently no problem with going to the neighboring town for groceries, etc., why not get the hell out of Dodge? Barry's situation is explained: no car/money and the creepy policeman stalking him, but everyone else?)) -- "They pack up and move in the middle of the night without givin' a lick about anyone but themselves. Leave their property taxes unpaid. Funeral expenses unpaid. End up leavin' the townsfolk involved high and dry. You get what I'm sayin', Barry?" Uhhhh-huh. I think I'd say 'screw property taxes' and be out of there so fast I'd leave a smoke silhouette behind like in the old Looney Tunes. -- "We plan to play it off as a raffle of sorts." Old Hurly said, "Might be kinda difficult if the person doesn't go quietly. Don't think anyone forgets how Timothy carried on." Doris grew aggravated and almost shouted into the microphone. "It's not going to be a problem. We all know what's required of us. Anyone who would make a scene is a coward." Spoken like someone who's probably rigged this so she never draws the dot. -- I like Old Hurly. -- "How much does your life blow?" Okay, 99% of the time this creature is terrifying, but when it's using slang I used to hear with friends at the mall, not so much. -- 'I took to watching Addisyn's every move.' You're already kinda pinging my creeper meter with Rhonda cut it out -- 'I could feel my face reddening when I was caught watching her. There was something wolfish about her. As if she was observing the area to find her prey. It made me feel vulnerable for some reason, as if I was the prey she was looking for.' You're SO. CLOSE. to an understanding here. -- 'Once he was out of earshot, Addisyn said, "What an asshole." Indeed. (and what is up with the severe animosity between him and Barry? It feels like there's a deeper story there that's never explained) -- 'She sat menus in front of each of us. I tried not to stare at her cleavage as she bent forward' Lesson not learned. -- ...won't Janice see something out the window she's *always looking out of* and then you'll all three be screwed? -- "Hey asshole! Got some people here who want to see you!" WOW you're a dipshit. -- "Goddammit, Janice," I whispered.' Janice? You were the one who yelled for the thing and made sure to do it at one of the windows she could plainly see from her house. -- 'I hope when it eats me it gets sick and dies.' <3 -- So has it been rigged every year, I wonder, or just this one? -- The moving skeletons are great. -- Last. Line. All in all, I wish it had been longer-- more elaboration on the townsfolk's history with this thing and with each other, and maybe a pov other than Barry's sometimes (I would've really liked to 'hear' from Rhonda). I got a freebie from Hunt in an earlier Night Worms package, and I'll have to check it out soon; there was so much to like here but it just didn't do it for me. SYNOPSIS:
Aerial View: A suburban town in Texas. Everyone's got an automatic garage door opener. All the kids jump off a perilous cliff into a shallow river as a rite of passage. The sheriff is a local celebrity. You know this town. You're from this town. Zoom In: Homecoming princess, Lindsay. She's just barely escaped death at the hands of a brutal, sadistic murderer in a Michael Jackson mask. Up on the cliff, she was rescued by a horse and bravely defeated the killer, alone, bra-less. Her story is already a legend. She's this town's heroic final girl, their virgin angel. Monster Vision: Halloween masks floating down that same river the kids jump into. But just as one slaughter is not enough for Billie Jean, our masked killer, one victory is not enough for Lindsay. Her high school is full of final girls, and she's not the only one who knows the rules of the game. When Lindsay chooses a host of virgins, misfits, and former final girls to replace the slaughtered members of her original homecoming court, it's not just a fight for survival-it's a fight to become The Last Final Girl. There was a lot to love about this book (it began with a quote from Heathers; I was predisposed to adore every word). The style was half-screenplay half-novel, and though it took a little getting used to I really enjoyed it. If you've seen the story prompts on Tumblr that just get filled in bullet-point format, hitting the high points of a would-be story, that was what this reminded me of. ((not that this wasn't a full story, but that it always felt like it was jumping from action point to action point. Introspective horror this was not, but that's never what it pretended to be, either)). Scream is mentioned on the cover, which is appropriate, since the book constantly refers to other horror novels/movies and their tropes. Two minor characters are even 'fancast' as Robert Englund and Tony Todd. Most of the characters weren't people I could get attached to. And unlike in Adam Cesare's Tribesmen, where characters were playoffs of Cannibal Holocaust exploitation types, it felt like we were supposed to really care for, and that didn't ping for me. Absolutely worth a read, though; it's a fun take on the genre. Quotes/lines: ((spoilers beyond this point)) -- thank god, the horse lived. But OW -- 'something about his posture confirming for us that, yes, he was born with his shirt tucked in' -- "Don't you get an automatic A if a maniac killer stalks you for forty-eight hours of terror?" -- "Psycho cleanup, stall two," she says. Yes, Izzy, someoe who survived a suicide attempt not wanting you to glorify/wish for violence is completely psycho. -- "I was acting out earlier," Izzy says. "I can't, it's like I can't process it, all the violence. Maybe I didn't know how to cry, so I cried the only way I could, by trying to make everybody laugh?" I kinda hate you -- You know, Jamie, you could've just traded those kids the cigarettes without going into detail about the breasts of a near-murder victim, you creep -- "I knew she was fucked up," Izzy says, taking a pull off the bottle they seem to have as well. 'But this is beyond, right?" Okay, no more kinda, I 100% hate you -- "Tell me your middle name's Lee." <3 -- "You know better than to provoke him" ewwww go to hell Izzy's mom -- "You understand of course that doing all this, it gives me a pass on any future carnage, right?" **unending laughter** -- "Go!" Izzy yells, instead of what we expect: for her to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.' ...what part of making fun of a wounded victim, stealing a classmate's file, and helping a serial killer stay hidden would lead the audience to expect anything but this? She didn't hand over all the info to Jamie, but...yeah. A heroine this does not make. -- "Is this the--the boy's one?" she says, holding it up and away, trying not to touch it. "Your knee hurts, doesn't it?" the nurse says, satisfied with herself.' HA -- oh SHIT stuart -- "They're all asking for it," Izzy says, about the naked girls moving through the steam. "You're in here, too," Brittney says back. Thank you, Brittney -- 'pulls it up into the open air like a sacred golden statue. Meaning this is that moment before that boulder starts rolling.' Nice. -- 'And- is that background kindof shuffling? Are those leaves waking up?' I swear if these kids die because Izzy didn't turn the creep in... -- "How can it be poor taste if I turned it in before they traipsed off into the woods with targets on their backs?" Be more annoying -- Mr. Pleasence. But of course. :) -- "Then make Jane Austen your friend." "Frankenstein?" "Dickens." "God. Prick me, do I not bleed?" "Good, good, more like that." "I saw it in a Ron Jeremy movie," Izzy says. Yes, we get it, you are Edgy -- "It's Crystal," Brittney shrugs. UGH -- Can do without the slut-shaming, but I do love that April doesn't go for Izzy's "we're sisters now!" manipulative bs -- "You remind me of another seventeen-year old girl I used to know." "Oh yeah?" "Me," the librarian says, and walks away, Izzy wordless, pinned to her seat. YOW. -- 'They're all final girls.' <3 <3 <3 -- 'but real tragedy avoids the pure of heart, as I've learned' BARF -- "Can we please get this over with already," Izzy interrupts. For once I'm 100% in agreement with you -- "And you still don't have a date?" They just saw a guy burn in front of them wtf -- "The sheriff's dead, mom, and the janitor's dying, and we just buried six kids last week. Do you really think my having a date for a stupid dance is really the key issue?" "Or is somebody trying to deflect?" her mom says.' Izzy, I currently find you largely insufferable, but your mom is COMPLETELY insufferable, so congratulations you're an improvement -- "Billie Jean is coming back for her. With a little help from his friends." ... "Know what that take-home message is? Don't fuck with Izzy Stratford." what the hell is WRONG with you -- Kids making a sword down at the creek. This is fine. (("Will you come back more powerful than I could possibly imagine?" Ben you nerd)) -- "If you look under the mask, that means the fun's over." People are dead? -- "You've got the rest of your lives to be this stupid, and I trust that you're going to take full advantage no matter what I say." in this moment i love you -- Stratford is forever associated to me with 10 Things I Hate About You because it's Kat's last name and in short I want to like Izzy so much -- Crystal is my forever girl. -- This scene with Izzy and Ben is lovely. When Izzy's with most people, she seems like she's trying way too hard (or, like with the killer, just plain creepy) but I love her when she's with her little brother. -- "I thought you were cool now?" "Really? I never thought you were." There you go, April, tear out his heart and eat it in front of the entire party. -- 'is this really the image we want to project' shoo Lindsay -- No seriously April, I adore you. Nun-slash-assassin indeed. -- Team "two guys in the shower". Get out of there safely my queer children -- also this party. Gaaaaaah. Horrifying -- "Seriously?" she says, as if completely disgusted by who this is' I have to say goodbye, but just know that I still adore you. -- oh gee, did the serial killer you were hiding get away? Who could have predicted this could happen? ((seriously half your characterization is Horror-Loving-Girl; how did you not see this coming)) -- "Characterize this." ilu dante -- 'taking extra care to accidentally grind his camera into more pieces than it already is' Good. Creep. -- "Still wish it was you, brave girl?" Damn. Also if Crystal doesn't live I'm gonna riot. -- Ben. You brilliant darling. The stuck cars are genius and so very needed. -- "Everybody loves a good donkey show." pffffffffffft -- ((seriously, Wildfire should still be at a vet, not being paraded around as Lindsay's prop)) -- Brittney! You're alive! -- OH FUCK -- 'Izzy pulling anyway, still trying to save her' :( -- 'Wildfire screaming, blind, blood foaming at his nostrils' I told you this poor baby needed to be at a vet -- NEVER TRUST THE CREEPY REPORTER -- "How high's that vest go?" AUGH -- Ben. Please do not die. -- Crystal saved the goddamn day by flashing the serial killer I AM IN AWE -- "Is it, is it over?" Ben asks, a kid now, again. Like he should be. sweetie -- 'Crystal inserts her heel into Jamie's eye anyway, and pushes in' *end of Death Proof flashbacks* -- Dante is officially Chief Hopper in my mind I don't make the rules -- Izzy, I am just starting to like you. WTF ARE YOU DOING -- "He'll just be expecting you," she says. "Not me. That's our advantage." You need more backup than that!!! -- "It's not shoplifting if he's family." *nervous laughter* -- this is why you needed backup izzy -- Wildfire nooooooo (and what the hell is with the 'what you were wishing to see at the beginning' stuff? Narrator, you have issues) -- "Who says I'm into girls?" DANTE. MY LOVE. All in all, a fun little read. If you like this book, I'd recommend the movie Tragedy Girls (if you don't like it, I'll still recommend it, because that movie is amazing) ;) SYNOPSIS:
The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? This review took a bit longer than I expected because I had to take an Intensity Break (I was *not* expecting a book with a Top 80s Hits playlist at the front to go quite this hard). I'm not exaggerating when I say I found this to be scarier than The Exorcist. At least in that one, the adults realize something is deeply wrong and find the best people they can to help. Here, it's just one terrified kid who knows the truth. Brrrr. (on a related note, I wanted pretty much every adult in this book to eat glass) Reactions I wrote while reading (spoilers ahead): -- I'm pretty sure I own all the songs in the chapter titles. 😄 I love the playlist and the yearbook quotes are so spot-on and equally parts nostalgic and cringey. -- 'For Abby, "friend" is a word whose sharp corners have been worn smooth by overuse. "I'm friends with the guys in IT," she might say, or "I'm meeting some friends after work." But she remembers when the word 'friend' could draw blood.' Just beautiful, and so accurate. -- "That's the day of my birthday party." "Oh, right. But you can move that." Whenever the demon arrives, I want it to eat Mrs. Link. -- Abby, sweetheart, I wish I could hug you. ((I wrote this about ten pages in, but upon finishing the book, just assume it is always my mindset)) -- "Abby's invitation was first," she said, eyes blazing. "So you're the rude one. And she's not a liar. I saw it." I would officially die for you Gretchen -- 'The la-di-da part of Mt. Pleasant where all the houses were dignified and either overlooked the water or had enormous yards, and if anyone saw a black person walking down the street who wasn't Mr. Little, they would pull their Volvo over and ask if he was lost.' ...yow. I am ALL for nostalgia that doesn't indulge in rose-colored glasses. -- 'One of her rules was that Gretchen could only have six magazines and five books at a time.' okay only a demon could ever be scarier than *that* -- 'an eternal process of self-classification' is my new favorite description of the teenage years -- Of course Gretchen's parents are Reagan Republicans -- Oh *hell* no her parents need to disappear -- "I'm going to kill her," she whispered. Then she wiped her nose and looked up at Abby. "Don't ever tell I said that." I fully support you and will provide an alibi, go right ahead and kill that abusive creep. -- I adore the little extras throughout: the newspaper article, the postcards... -- Weird Al mention! <3 -- Oh man, those tense, short, hurtful teenage fights. -- Dearly But Not Queerly. Ah, early 'no homo' slang, how I do not miss you. -- The 'she didn't have to help, but she *could*' section is so lovely. -- I want to believe the whole "Satan is your Roommate" pamphlet is fake for the book, but after seeing Chick Tracts, I just don't know. -- Riley needs to die horribly -- Shop smart. Shop S-Mart! -- Ah, AIDS jokes. Thank you 80s -- "Cool beans," Gretchen said. "Let's go fry my brains." I LOVE THIS KID -- Glee doing her homework while she's waiting for acid to kick in is pretty much me at any party ever -- okay Gretchen never mind providing an alibi I'll just go ahead and kill your parents *for* you HOW DARE THEY -- "No matter what happens," she said. "I'll never hurt you." i'm mildly freaking out -- 'Margaret talked in a way that made Abby feel helpless. Everything was the way Margaret said it was, and if you didn't agree you were a moron. Arguing was useless.' I've had friends like that. -- "I'm not an idiot. I know what drugs are. If you're really her friend, get her to stop." Yes, that's so very useful, what an amazing and caring teacher you are -- my heart just *hurts* for Abby's mom -- I am cringing so damn hard at Abby trying to explain to Gretchen's asshole parents what happened -- "You were doing drugs?" I KNEW IT I *knew* that was what you jackasses would hone in on -- "You two don't care about her. You just want to control her. You hit Gretchen! All you care about is that she doesn't embarrass you!" They're going to make your life hell for this, but you're spot-on, kid -- "I'll save you, Gretchen," Abby swore to herself. "They can't stop me from saving you." You should *not* be in this position alone. -- Oh yeah Slave Day isn't horrifying at ALL -- "Don't leave me alone," Gretchen begged. "I can't do this on my own. I can't fight it by myself. I'm sorry for what I did, but he makes me. He's always whispering in my hear, telling me what to do, making me hurt people. He wants me to be all alone, with no one left but him. I'm sorry, Abby. I'm so, so sorry." Just run my heart straight through the wringer why don't you -- oh god no the demon's fully in control now and i might cry -- Margaret that is not safe -- 'not me not me help me not me' So this is me NEVER SLEEPING AGAIN. -- omfg the urban legends being passed around along with the D&D rumors -- oh my damn Abby's mom I adore you -- ...okay I adore you a little less support your kid in private not just in front of the principal -- Oh, Glee. :( -- that scene where they find out exactly what's wrong with Margaret JESUS CHRIST body horror nightmares for all time -- okay no i am not reading the section with Max I know he dies I don't need to actually see the words -- I love that the exorcist just told her to 'stay frosty' -- "Hot damn!" he shouted. "We got ourselves a demon!" omfg Brother Lemon you NERD. ((also wtfffff, were you not sure *before* you did all that?!?)) -- 'The door swung open and Abby turned to see Brother Lemon approaching the bed. In one hand was a steaming teakettle. In the other was the funnel.' oh shit -- "I will mortify the flesh until she gives up the demon," Brother Lemon shouted. "I'm not screwing up again!" UM -- I know you have no idea what you're doing but do NOT run off and leave this child all alone to deal with this aaaaaaand you just did -- well there's a song I'll never be able to listen to again without getting the shakes -- I know this whole scene is creepy but 'old and dried up and thirty' made me snicker -- "And I'm just a stupid little girl!" Abby shouted back. "But I will not stop because you have my best friend and I am coming for her! Do you hear me? I am coming for her and there is nothing you can do, because I will not stop, I will never stop, I will never give up because I want my friend back!" Don't mind me, just over here sobbing. -- ohhhhhh she's using their past as something holy to fight the demon and my heart cannot handle this my *girls* -- "I love you dearly and I love you queerly and no demon is bigger than this!" **crying** -- 'And then the exorcist saved her life.' ohhhhhhhh. -- "You always drove me everywhere," Gretchen said. "I figured it was time to return the favor." GRETCHEN I could not have asked for a better ending. Poignant and bittersweet, it's beautiful and it fits perfectly. Hendrix is officially on my short list of "buy their book the minute it comes out". I love how foreboding this book is. Even when scenes are calm, you *know* something terrible is just about to happen (and you're generally right). The descriptive writing is lovely. "On the lake, a flock of gulls were sprinkled like the ash of a forgotten cigarette." 💗
Which makes it all the more jarring when the author's knack for description is turned to the horrifying. The scene with the cat is gonna stay with me for a long time. Oddly, the ending wasn't as much of a gutpunch as it might have been since I'd been expecting *something* awful to happen to that character in the finale from a few pages in. I wanted the narrator to die instead. That guy was a creep. (Haunted, yes. Still a creep.) The less said about that bathtub scene, the better. I'm kinda tempted to frame this cover; it's gorgeously creepy. |
A WORLD WITH A BLUER SUNMy reviews are set up a little like live-tweets: I write down lines I like/impressions as I read, and then transcribe. Reviews will contain spoilers, but I'll give a warning before they start. Archives
June 2021
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