Oh, friends. I have read and reviewed some phenomenal books this week! Some we lose ourselves, others we find an ending. We have medical procedures and move to a lighthouse. It’s been an impressive week.
Let’s get into them!
THE PLASTIC PRIEST
By Nicole Cushing
“Do corpses grieve for themselves? Do they mourn the fact they can no longer dream (or daydream)?”
Mother Kaye, as she is known to her congregation, is having a wee bit of a personal and spiritual crisis not to mention the possibility of descent into madness. When Kaye starts questioning everything around her and inside of her, she believes the answers can be found in books, but will they be found in time to calm her fears?
Eerie, mesmorizing, and utterly unsettling, Cushing gives readers everything we need for nightmares to spark. The most relatable part though, is the fear of losing oneself and not being able to stop it. How our brains can sometimes harm more than help us. Slowly feeling our spiritual, mental, and emotional self wither while wondering why no one else can see it or if they do, why aren’t they helping.
Spooky season approved. 5/5.
THE FOLLY
By Gemma Amor
Transitioning from prison is hard for anyone but it’s exceptionally difficult when you were found guilty of killing your wife. Morgan is waiting outside the prison for her dad to start a new life for both of them at the Folly. A nice change of scenery (I mean, it was a prison) is exactly what they need to patch the divide between them. But ghosts have a way of following you - mentally and physically.
I fell in love with everything about this book, the characters, the drama, the descriptions of the coast. The creeping dread and oppressive fear Amor injects into anything that is beautiful is exceptional. I haven’t been that unsettled in a while.
My only complaint is I wish it ended a few pages earlier. BUT the shift in setting and tone makes sense to the story so this is a personal problem, not a writer problem.
No matter, it’s a stellar story by an extremely talented author.
A definite recommend 4.5/5.
OH FUCK, OH FUCK, IT HURTS
By Ruth Anna Evans, Rik Hoskin
Wooooo, this is a tough collection to get through without trying to feel any emotions, but you do. Every story is spectacular in its ability to unnerve the reader as well as cause the reader to question, “What if…”
Lifeline - What happens when you collapse and what’s in your wallet is the only thing between life and death?
Autoimmune - Gio realizes his boss, Neil, firing him is not the worst thing that could happen to him.
FAT - Cara has a few options for weight loss but only one guarantees almost immediate results. But will the side effects be more than she bargained for?
Defective - Brookelynn and Charles “welcome” their new baby, Daniel, into the world but it’s anything but warm and motherly.
Colonoscopy- always remember, the benefits of a colonoscopy outweigh the bad, right? RIGHT?
Side Effects Include - Laura and Scott have been having problems in their marriage but when a bald spot is found on one of them, will their marriage last?
Sixteen - Mick needs A/C - literally. Corrina needs internet. When the power goes out, long forgotten health issues come back with a vengence.
The Visitor by Rik Hoskin - Adam works two jobs to keep his mother in a great long term care facility but he may be working himself into more than son of the year.
Each story is stellar on its own but in a collection, it spectacularly stellar.
A HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND 5/5.
THE ETIQUETTE OF BOOBY TRAPS
By John Boden
I read SNARL by Boden last year and I fell in love with his prose. His ability to make you cry because you feel every word and relate to too much is unmatched.
This is a collection of short stories and poems, each building to the intensity Tinsel, and my friends, that will be forever imprinted in my mind and on my soul. I can’t tell you a favorite as I loved each story and poem equally, but what I can do is share some quotes to entice you to pick it up:
“…remind him that words can be forever - even those never spoken. The only ghosts that cannot be exorcised.”
“One is the loneliest number. It’s barely a number at all. It’s just a line.”
“A loaded service pistol is a skeleton key.”
“Houses are shadows - solid and comforting - but quickly morph to tombs and prisons.”
Boden shows us the blood coursing through his veins and tears on the paper. I have read a lot of collections, and this has to be a top five of all time.
One of my favorites of the year.
A DOUBLE HIGHLY RECOMMEND 10/5.
APARTMENT 239
By Elford Alley
One would think a novel with ghosts, dead bodies, and gore wouldn’t cause you to breakdown and sob uncontrollably, welllll you’d be wrong.
Abe works for the parks department, lives in a shit hole, and is mourning the loss of his family. Oh, and he can see ghosts. They happen to be his roommates. His neighbor is a weirdo, he has to hunt an alligator, and worse, he’s going to die. Abe has a looooot going on. But can he somehow escape death with the help of those already departed?
Gotdamn this book. Seriously. I was laughing, crying, yelling, the whole gamut of emotions. The way Alley writes the suspense is insane! There is so much happening with so many characters that you believe it’s all a jumbled mess, but I promise, it isn’t. Intertwining is almost an art and Alley nailed it.
I’m not OK after reading APARTMENT 239. It hurts, even days after. I miss hanging out in 239. I miss those who feel like they became friends. (Not Rick, that weirdo.)
A STELLAR RECOMMEND 5/5.
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