Tag: msytery

Japanese Gothic by. Kylie Lee Baker | ALC and ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Japanese Gothic

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Narrator(s): Natalie Naudus

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: Harlequin Audio

Categories: Horror, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Harlequin Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!


October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

Content Warning: abuse, torture, gore, murder, self harm, drug use

World Building: This story follows two characters: Lee in 2026 and Sen in 1877, both live in Japan in the same house. Lee’s account of his life almost feels like a fever dream, almost like it’s hard to believe his story and what is happening. He moves in with his dad and his girlfriend in Japan, in a old house. Whereas Sen’s life is very interesting, her dad is a samurai and she does everything to prove to him that she can be a Samurai too. I thought the Samurai culture portrayed in this story was very fascinating. The stories merge together, which I thought was interesting.

Characters: Lee is strange, and he really believes he has murdered his college roommate back in the US, but he can’t remember how, or why he killed him. He has missing memories, but he also takes a lot of Benadryl to sedate himself. What’s evident as the story goes on is Lee is grieving his mom, missing his mom, wanting to know where she disappeared to. He has memories of his mom, and the day she went missing, but it’s all very confusing. Sen on the other hand is so strong. She wants her dad’s approval so bad though and he abuses her, it’s part of her training but I hated him. I don’t care if it was part of the Samurai training, he was a hard man and all she wanted was his love.

Story: I feel like the beginning of this story was slow, and I only started to really get into it at the 35% mark. I get it’s slow because it’s setting the scene and building the story, but Lee felt like an unreliable narrator and I couldn’t quite piece together his grief for his mom, and the murder he thinks he committed and then what role Sen has in his life. But there is a big twist at the end of this story that explained everything but kind of made me even more confused. Although I was confused, with some of things going on in this book I do have to give credit to this author for always pushing the boundaries of her writing – this story is quite unique and the ending, unexpected.

Narrator(s): The narrator did a wonderful job in drawing me into the story and did a fantastic job doing all the character voices.

Vibes: There is horror, it’s bloody. I thought we were following the life of a young man gone mad and having a taste for killing but Sen’s story is what drew me in. So though there is horror, lots of mystery, a bit of a fever dream on Lee’s part and even a little bit of mythology.

Final Thoughts:

I love how this author always pushes herself to write in different genres. She’s a must read author for me. Bat Eater was one of my favorite horror books to read in 2025 but she also wrote a young adult at the end of 2025 which featured traveling through time. So I feel like Japanese Gothic is kind of a really cool and clever mix of both horror and time travel but also mixed in with mythology. I did get confused because it’s so hard to believe Lee since his memories are missing or he’s sedated – but I loved Sen’s story though it was hard to see her go through samurai training at her father’s hand. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great, but it did start off a bit slow. Overall, I think if you like horror and unreliable narrators, you will enjoy this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Blood Orchid by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Scarlet Alchemist by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

BLOG TOUR } The Keeper of Night by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BLOG TOUR} The Empress of Time by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Starlings by. Amanda Linsmeier | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Starlings

Author: Amanda Linsmeier

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 6/27/23

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Contemporary Fantasy, LGBT, Young Adult, Horror, Mystery

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A dark YA fantasy debut perfect for fans of House of Hollow and Small Favors. In the wake of her father’s death, a teen girl discovers a side of her family she didn’t know existed, and is pulled into a dark–and ancient–bargain she is next in line to fulfill.

Kit’s father had always told her he had no family, but four months ago his sudden death revealed the truth. Now she has a grandmother she never knew she had–Agatha Starling–and an invitation to visit her father’s hometown, Rosemont.

And Rosemont . . . it’s picture perfect: the famed eternal roses bloom year-round, downtown is straight out of the 1950s . . . there’s even a cute guy to show Kit around.

The longer Kit’s there, though, the stranger it all feels. The Starling family is revered, but there’s something off about how the Starling women seem to be at the center of the all the town’s important history. And as welcoming as the locals are, Kit can’t shake the feeling that everyone seems to be hiding something from her.

Agatha is so happy to finally meet her only granddaughter, and the town is truly charming, but Kit can’t help wondering, if everything is so great in Rosemont, why did her father ever leave? And why does it seem like he never wanted her to find it?

Content Warning: violence, death, abuse

Right away this gorgeous book cover caught my eye and as much as it is beautiful, there is something sinister to it, just like the story. Here is what I thought:

+ I was sucked into this story right away. Kit and her mother travels to Rosemont, to meet Kit’s grandmother and her father’s old hometown. – place he never told Kit about. She’s grieving her dad, she’s trying to piece who he is in Rosemont but everything feels off. Right away it’s established that things are not what they seem.

+ Rosemont is a mysterious setting, surrounded by woods and a river where people have died. I got the eerie vibes right away when Kit described the place as Stepford-y. When Kit starts learning more about her family and the Starling legacy she realizes she’s walked into a nightmare.

+ There are a few twists in this story and the monster being the biggest creep of all. He is a true monster, true villain, charming when he wants to be, but evil to his core. I was rooting for Kit to destroy him!

~ I felt like the romance wasn’t needed. Kit’s only there for a week I feel like it was unnecessary for her to fall for someone since there was barely time to know one another.

~ It wasn’t scary, more creepy because of the history of the town and yuck with the way the bargain is set up.

Tropes: small town, family curse, town secret

Why you should read it:

  • you like young adult horror that isn’t super scary, mostly creepy
  • it’s a quick read and engaged me – I read it in one sitting

Why you might not want to read it:

  • not into YA horror

My Thoughts:

I thought this was pretty good in that I was engaged with the story and finished it in one setting. I like the creepy factor, the lore about the town, the family secret and the curse. The villain is written well – he’s a pretty evil monster. I don’t think the romance was necessary and I thought the situation was resolved pretty quickly but other than that I did find it entertaining. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon

Year of the Reaper by. Makiia Lucier | ARC Review

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Title: Year of the Reaper

Author: Makiia Lucier

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 11/9/21

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Paranormal

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The past never forgets . . .

Before an ambush by enemy soldiers, Lord Cassia was an engineer’s apprentice on a mission entrusted by the king. But when plague sweeps over the land, leaving countless dead and devastating the kingdom, even Cas’ title cannot save him from a rotting prison cell and a merciless sickness.

Three years later, Cas wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers. His castle has become a refuge for the royal court. And they have brought their enemies with them.

When an assassin targets those closest to the queen, Cas is drawn into a search for a killer…one that leads him to form an unexpected bond with a brilliant young historian named Lena. Cas and Lena soon realize that who is behind the attacks is far less important than why. They must look to the past, following the trail of a terrible secret—one that could threaten the kingdom’s newfound peace and plunge it back into war. 

  • I requested this book because the cover caught my eye! I love how dark it is and the title is great too. The aesthetics of the books matches the story – there is a plague ravaging kingdoms and it’s death out there.
  • Now I was very surprised with this book – I was expecting the fantasy but not the mystery aspect of the book. The writing is great and really kept me engaged in the story. It’s a quick read and I read it in one sitting.
  • I enjoyed Cas, the main character. He has escaped a slave camp, survived the plague, we meet him as a grave digger, and now he is back at home and searching for a killer. He’s the perfect person taking on the task because he has Lena (a historian apprentice) at his side, he’s smart, level-headed and can even see ghosts.
  • I thought it was lovely for Cas to have a supportive cast. He has a loving brother, the King and Queen has his back, Lena is a new friend and it just has a feel good vibe about it despite there being an assassin on the loose.

Triggers: death, violence

  • As great as the writing was in engaging me, the story was predictable. There were hints along the way and I figured it out early.
  • I’m not the biggest mystery fan so I was waiting for this to have more action, but that happens at the end. I was in it for the fantasy aspect for sure and the mystery was surprising to me but if you like mystery I think it was well done.
  • Cas being able to see ghosts was interesting and there’s no explanation for it. I was coming up with my theories which was fun but none of them panned out though.

Overall I enjoyed the Year of the Reaper. I was expecting something a little different but the end result was still a good story that kept me engaged until the very end. If you enjoy a young adult fantasy with a mystery at it’s core, you will like this one.

📚 ~ Yolanda