UNMASKED
BY CANDACE NOLA
"Broken and damaged, recognizing their own, they exhale, they tremble, no longer alone.
Holding on to hopes quite dark, too damaged to make it, too burned by their spark.
Soul mates bound by eternity's mark yet destined for a life apart."
I don't read poetry collections that often, even though I have written some myself, and understand the therapeutic sensation you get from letting all that suffering and pain out. However, I am absolutely glad I took the time to read this collection. Unmasked is a journey through the mind of Candace from her teen years into adulthood and now gives us a look behind the veil or mask as the title would suggest.
There is raw emotion and pain in each line and each word that will invoke some type of feeling out of you whether you yourself have gone through such struggles or know someone that has. The vulnerability displayed in this book is unlike anything I've seen before and captures the author in snapshots of her life and dealing with it through words as only she can.
Grief, love and pain are the words that stick out to me the most reading this and each poem has a little bit of all 3. I highly suggest you take a chance and read something out of your comfort zone from an amazing author! 5/5
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HYDE COVE
BY JOSEPH PESAVENTO
"Good Evening, people of Hyde Cove" Brother Sight said, "are you all enjoying your evening?" We're certainly about to. Tonight is a very special night for all of us. "First, let's all congratulate Officer Noah on his promotion again." He leaned toward the camera. "That's right. We can see and hear all of you. We're going to keep this short and sweet," Brother Berserk informed them. "We're here to bring back the Kirk name and reclaim Hyde Cove. You imprisoned our father and murdered our brother. We deserve retribution!"
There's tales of revenge and then there's Hyde Cove tales of revenge and let me tell you this revenge tale is everything you could ever ask for. The peaceful small town is gearing up for their annual fair unaware that danger is lurking in the shadows. Three brothers dead set on inflicting as much pain and death on the people of their hometown for how their family has been villainized even if they brought it upon themselves. As the body count rises and the way these brothers torture the residents of the town without remorse we get to the climax where all will be revealed.
This is my first read by Joseph and certainly won't be my last. He had a voice that is suited for horror and fits like a glove intent on causing as much death and destruction as his characters. I literally could not put this book down and had to message him to say WTF because the things the poor inhabitants of Hyde Cove went through are horrific in the best way possible. I definitely have another new favorite author and highly suggest you all add this one to your summer read list!
4.5/5 ⭐️
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GREY NOISE
BY MARCUS HAWKE
"His vision, kaleidoscope and ringed with churning pinwheels. Toxic flowers offered up to him, courting his destructive lust. Skewed forward. Narrowing to points. Strobing. Honing in on what they sought.Evan, or whoever--whatever--he was now appeared in the doorway. As he wound back with the crowbar and pivoted forward into the room, he let loose a savage yell, crackling with the dirty connection of an industrial speaker."
Have you ever felt so alone, so lost within yourself that you feel like nothing can ever go right? I'm sure that's something a lot of people can relate to. Our main character Evan sure can, as he waits for the grand opening of his VHS store Rewind Video, he goes through all the emotions of self-doubt, worthlessness, failed love and a failed life. However, he happens to find an old school tube television in perfect condition just sitting on the curb. It's like fate has smiled upon him, it'll be that perfect missing piece for the new story. However, some things are way to good to be true and this television will send him down a trail of despair and torture unlike he's ever known before. The Grey Noise has you now.
Marcus has an incredible writing style that just leaves you wanting to crawl into his brain and setup camp there. This book made me very uncomfortable and gave me a first-class seat into this man's descent into madness as only Marcus knows how. It's not full of jump scars but the despair and hopelessness the MC experiences is what is truly frightening. Marcus also writes of his own fears and what he's afraid of in the afterthought section of this story which makes me love this book even more and really puts me into his thoughts while he wrote it. You all must read this book or else the grey noise may come for you.............Kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....
5/5⭐️
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