For No Mortal Creature by. Keshe Chow | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: For No Mortal Creature

Author: Keshe Chow

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 480

Publication Date: 10/7/25

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

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 Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A teen girl with the power of resurrection must venture into the afterlife, but to survive the death realm, she’ll need the help of her two mortal enemies–both of whom she is inexplicably drawn to–in this romantic, gothic fantasy inspired by Wuthering Heights.

When Jia Yi suddenly finds herself alive again after being stabbed through the heart by an enemy’s sword, she realizes she possesses a rare power: the ability to move between the living realm and the shrouded world of ghosts. Ghosts including Lin, her ex-best friend and former love, whose betrayal she still hasn’t recovered from.

At first, Jia wants nothing to do with Lin, or any ghosts–metaphorical or otherwise. But when her beloved grandmother abruptly passes away, Jia is forced to travel into the afterlife to save her.

To survive the treacherous death realm, Jia will need to rely on both Lin and her longtime enemy, the cold and enigmatic Prince Essien Lancaster. Only, she isn’t sure whether she can trust either of them. With tensions high and new and old connections blooming, Jia must confront the ghosts of her past…or risk becoming one herself.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ I really liked how this started. Jia Yi is caught trespassing on Lancaster land, but she’s there to get an herb that could help her sick grandmother. When things escalate and she dies, she realizes she can walk in both worlds, living and dead. There is also a prophecy that involves Jia Yi saying she will be the one to find this deadly and powerful sword, but to retrieve it she needs to search in the afterlife.

+ The world-building is great! I loved the world of the after-life, which has different layers. And to retrieve this infamous sword Jia Yi has to travel to the lowest level. In the afterlife she encounters ghosts, some of the ghosts are family members and also a ghost of someone who had her heart in the living world, Lin.

+ Jia Yi was is a feisty character, and I enjoyed her personality. She gets into some tense with Lin but there are things he isn’t telling her. I liked her power of being able to die and resurrect.

+~ The romance was interesting. There is so much angst and longing on Lin’s part, she is the only one he’s ever loved. She felt the same before he died but there is now another love interest in the living world, who is a Yske (her enemy) and a prince. I didn’t love the love story on either part. With Lin, we get thrown into the story right away, so there is animosity between them before he confesses everything. As for the prince, Essian – his people are her enemy. But there just wasn’t room to build their romance in this story since she was mostly in the afterlife.

~ I’ve seen the movie Inception multiple times and the ending is one of my favorite parts! But using something similar in this story just are ending feel too abrupt.

Final Thoughts:

My favorite part of this story is the world-building. I loved how Jia could jump between the land of the living and the dead. Plus the afterlife and all it’s levels were really fun. I liked the themes of family, death and life. I didn’t care for the love triangle – I think there should have been more time for things to build with the prince, but I loved how Lin loved Jia in life and the afterlife. I also didn’t love the ending which just felt too abrupt. Overall, it was still entertaining read despite my little issues with it.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Girl with No Reflection by. Keshe Chow | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

And the River Drags Her Down by. Jihyun Yun | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: And the River Drags Her Down

Author: Jihyun Yun

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 10/7/25

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Horror, Grief, 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 Knopf Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

She has always known the rules – never resurrect anything larger than the palm of her hand, but that was before her sister died. A chilling, compulsive exploration of sisterhood, loss, and revenge.

“Yun beautifully captures the haunting of family myths in this slow-burn horror. Eerie and poignant, And The River Drags Her Down will sweep readers into its relentless current.”
– Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times bestselling author of She Is a Haunting

When her older sister is found mysteriously drowned in the river that cuts through their small coastal town, Soojin Han disregards every rule and uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters are overjoyed, reveling in late-night escapades and the miracle of being together again, but Mirae grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry . . .

Driven by an insatiable desire to finish what she started in life, to unravel the truth that crushed her family so many years ago, Mirae is out for revenge.

When their town is engulfed by increasingly destructive rain and a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin is forced to reckon with the fact that perhaps the sister she brought back isn’t the one she knew.

Content Warning: violence, murder, death, grief, body horror

+ I was attracted to this book cover and thought this would be such a good read for spooky season, and I was right! I like the Korean representation. Soojin and her family is Korean along with her friend Mark and his family. It’s set in a small town, and Soojin’s family has a reputation for being cursed.

+ Soojin has lost her mom and her sister. Her grief is immeasurable and it’s changed her. It’s broken her family. But her family has an ancestor who had an interesting power, they could bring the dead back to life. I sympathized with Soojin, but I was also trying to warn her in my head that this was not the right path and sure enough she has to face the consequences for her actions.

+ Mirae, comes back to life but she is not herself. What is brought back to life is never the same, no matter how Soojin wanted to believe it was still her sister. And Mirae is out for revenge. There is a murder mystery that almost everyone in town except the perpetrators and Mirae know about, so she takes it on herself to carry our the revenge. The horror of her coming in forms of water was so good, scary and so creepy! There is a lot of body horror but I think that was needed to show how this wasn’t Mirae.

+ The way this book tackled grief and letting go of someone was really good. I cannot blame Soojin for what she did, but I wanted to shake some sense into her and tell her that bringing something back doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Sometimes you have to let go. The story about her ancestor and the chicken they kept killing and reviving to survive hits hard! It’s a good lesson to learn.

~ Again, I was frustrated with Soojin. Her dad had every right to be so angry with her. And Mark, was such a big support to her, and yet she never listened to him either. So at times, it was just hard watching Soojin make this choice and see her be delusional about Mirae until it’s too late.

Final Thoughts:

This is a young adult horror story that tackles the theme of grief. It really is heartbreaking what happened to Soojin and her dad and this was her way of trying to bring one part of her happiness back. The horror elements are so good, if this was a horror film, I wouldn’t watch it because I’d be freaked out about with any water, and bathroom scenes! If you are looking for an emotional fall read with horror and paranormal elements, you might enjoy this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Witch of the Wolves by. Kaylee Archer | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Witch of the Wolves by (Witch of the Wolves, #1)

Author: Kaylee Archer

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 9/30/25

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Categories: Paranormal, Werewolves, Series, Romance

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

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

When a powerful witch discovers she’s the daughter of an Alpha werewolf and is taken by his Pack, she’s determined to break free all the while denying her attraction to her abductor. Witch of the Wolves is perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and From Blood and Ash.

Cordelia Levine comes from a long line of powerful witches. She’s been flying under the radar in the human world, focused on strengthening her magic. She loves working at her aunt’s apothecary in London, secretly serving supernaturals.

Until the truth about her family is revealed.

She always assumed her enhanced sense of smell came from her French perfumer father. But when Bishop Daniels abducts Cordelia at the request of her father, the Alpha, Cordelia learns she’s a lycan–sharing both witch and werewolf traits. She’s brought to Trevelyan, the pack estate, under the guise of protection from foreign threats who want to use her to continue their bloodline.

She quickly learns that to keep her from being sold off to another pack, her father intends to give Cordelia as a mate to Bishop. His second in command and the future Alpha.

Cordelia refuses to accept this as her fate. She can’t rely on her magic alone to escape and when she learns Bishop plans to challenge her father’s power, she reluctantly begins to trust him. The cracks within the Pack become evident and something is bound to break. And Cordelia and her growing desire for the man who shouldn’t set her on fire are right at the center of it all.

Witch of the Wolves is the first book in this Victorian romantasy series, featuring an intense and sexy romance and a world on the brink of change.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ Cordelia is a witch but then she gets taken by a mysterious man, Bishop Daniels. She finds out right away that she is not only a witch but half werewolf. You get thrown into the story without much build-up so it’s a fast start.

+ I did like how this story moved quickly. We learn about Cordelia’s father, Silas, who is the alpha of a werewolf pack and Bishop is part of the pack. I like the Victorian setting, Bishop is such a proper gentleman of a werewolf, even though he is dangerous. There is a lot Cordelia has to learn about the werewolves, and there is even betrayal I didn’t expect at the end.

+ The romance is a slow burn, I liked the progression, but maybe would have loved more interactions between them to see the build-up of their feelings. Cordelia’s father is forcing her to marry Bishop just for the sake of breeding. So they both agree they don’t want to be in a forced arranged marriage but eventually the desire between them grows. I thought their spicy scenes were intense but fun and playful also.

~ The whole story takes place at Silas’ estate. Cordelia is basically a prisoner there so we don’t get to see too much of anything surrounding this place except for maybe the woods. Would have loved maybe a little more world-building.

~ Would have liked to see more witchcraft also. Cordelia already knows how to do spells and uses her powers in a fight but it would have been nice to learn about the witches. Maybe in book two since the events at the end of the book hint that the witches are now their enemies?

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a solid start to the series. I liked the Victorian era setting and the story is filled with with witches, werewolves, romance, werewolf politics and even betrayal. Would have loved more world-building and witchcraft but overall I enjoyed it!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A Steeping of Blood by. Hafsah Faizal | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: A Steeping of Blood (Blood and Tea, #2)

Author: Hafsah Faizal

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: 9/23/25

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Vampires, Series, Romance

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

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The epic conclusion to the #1 bestselling A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal; the gritty fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

She’s had her tea, now she’s out for blood.

White Roaring is sharpening its fangs after the deadly night that left the city in shambles. The press are dead, the public calls for justice, vampires are in danger, and amid the turmoil, the Ram announces a celebration.

Still reeling from the bloodshed, Arthie Casimir has no time to mourn the death of anyone, let alone her own. She has no time for love, either, but it had saved her life. As Arthie navigates new emotions and new allies, she must reassemble her scrambled crew and scrape what little they have left to fight one last time – and she will need to face the ghosts of her past to do it.

In Ceylan.

After the jaw-dropping ending of #1 bestselling A Tempest of Tea, Arthie and her crew still have plenty of hearts to break and crimson-red secrets to uncover. Hafsah Faizal crafts a deliciously twisty and seductive sequel that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.

Content Warning: violence, death, torture

+ This is the conclusion to the Blood and Tea duology and I thought it was a pretty good end to the story.

+ I still love the found family that is Arthie, Jin, Flick and the others. After the wild events of book one, Arthie and her family are picking up the pieces and trying to take down the Ram. Everyone has their role and parts to help with the mission which makes them strong together. Although there is a part where this found family breaks apart for a little bit.

+ I enjoyed the vampirism and politics. There is a lot of action as Arthie and her friends try to stop the Ram. They travel to Ceylan, where they find out things have changed and there is a new type of vampire among them. A lot of the action come in the second half of this book.

+ I loved the relationship and romance between Flick and Jin – they are so sweet together! I thought Flick’s POV in book was the weakest but in this book she really shines. As for Arthie, Matteo is there for her this time and it was nice to see her open up, fall for his charms and let him in.

~ I don’t know why but with book one, I read it in one day. This book took me a whole week or more. I think it’s because the beginning moves slow but everything picks up in the second half. But there was something about the story that wasn’t hooking me like book one.

~ There are a bunch of heartbreaking moments in the second half of this book. It made me so sad!

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a solid conclusion! Arthie and her friends completed their mission, taking down the Ram but with a lot of loss. I loved the romance relationships, especially between Flick and Jin. The beginning was slow but it picks up at the halfway point and ends in a heartbreaker. It’s a bittersweet conclusion.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From this Author:

A Tempest of Tea by. Hafsah Faizal | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We Free the Stars | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Book Review | We Hunt the Flame ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thief of Night by. Holly Black | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Thief of Night (The Charlatan Duology, #2)

Author: Holly Black

Narrator(s): Jonathan Davis, Sara Amini, Vikas Adam

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 288

Publication Date: 9/23/25

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, 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 Macmillan Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The highly anticipated sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black’s stunning adult debut, Book of Night . This program features multicast narration.

“Award-winning YA author Holly Black has created an imaginary masterpiece yet again with her first foray into adult fantasy, narrated with perfection by Sara Amini.”— AudioFile on Book of Night (an Earphones Award winner)

“Sara Amini’s narration is exceptional, providing unique voices for the broad range of characters.”— Library Journal on Book of Night

There’d always been something wrong with Charlie Hall. Crooked from the day she was born. Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on. She may be good enough to steal a shadow from a tower, but will she be good enough to steal back a heart?

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

Content Warning: violence

+ The narrators for this story really kept me invested in the story even when the story itself moved slow – they did an amazing drop bringing the characters to life. I feel like the narrator for Charlie really did a great job and it’s how I imagine Charlie’s voice to be.

+ Charlie is such an interesting character. She’s a con-artist, and is always lying but she’s good at what she does. She’s the hierophant and trying to find out who is leaving these dead bodies. While trying to investigate she has to deal with other things like her sister and Red/Vincent.

+ Charlie and Red/Vincent’s relationship is so complicated because of what happened to him in book one. There is very little heat, but they did have some moments. I like that Charlie had to finally realize he was different. The romance was not the focus of the story though.

~ I feel like I should have re-read Book of Night so I remembered what happened. I got confused because I didn’t remember the whole thing about shadows.

~ It took me until 50% into this story to really get into it. I do feel like the first part was slower than the second half. And it’s a mystery but I honestly couldn’t follow what exactly Charlie was trying to do because I had a hard time paying attention, I was bored in the first half.

~ I think I enjoyed book one better than this one.

Final Thoughts:

I thought the narrators did a great job but it took me until 50% into the book to get invested in the story. The first half moved to slow for me and I was trying to remember things from book one. And I do recommend re-reading book one, Book of Night, if you are going to read Thief of Night. Maybe I would have enjoyed this one better if I had remember all the details from book one. Overall, I think mystery lovers would enjoy this one!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Prisoner’s Throne by. Holly Black | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Stolen Heir by. Holly Black | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book of Night by. Holly Black | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by. Holly Black | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Cruel Prince by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wicked King by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Queen of Nothing by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lost Sister’s by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tithe by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Darkest Part of the Forest by. Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Land So Wide by. Erin A. Craig | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: A Land So Wide

Author: Erin A. Craig

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 9/2/25

Publisher: Pantheon

Categories: Historical Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Romance

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

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

From the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Roots and Ruin, comes an irresistible blend of dark fairytale and romantic fantasy set in the beautiful but brutal Canadian wilderness.

Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious Scottish lumber merchant, the tiny town on the edge of the American continent is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.

Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Swiftly realizing that the stories she was raised on might be more myth than fact, Greer figures out a way to escape Mistaken for the very first time. Determined to rescue Ellis, she begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But Greer is being hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding, as well as her own origins.

Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and claim her own future.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ This was an interesting story that starts off with settlers in a land that wasn’t what they expected. They come to find out that there are creatures and animals out there that could kill them so they build their town of Mistaken but create a protection barrier. The atmosphere is eerie, mysterious and gave me M. Night Shyamalan (the movie, The Village, except without the crazy ending 😅) vibes – not sure why, I just kept thinking there was some twist in the story that was gonna jump out at me.

+ Greer is woman with an adventurous spirit – she loves making maps but she is stuck in Mistaken. It’s too dangerous to venture out of town with the Bright-Eyeds (monsters) lurking in the woods. Her dad is overprotective but a powerful man in their town so he’s trying to marry her off to someone to inherit their business. But she’s in love with Ellis, a boy her father doesn’t approve of. I thought Greer was a strong character, who did everything to fight for the guy she loved.

+ I found the lore of the monsters very mysterious and really got invested the more we learned about them, but that mostly comes in the second half of the story. The world-building of Mistaken was interesting. There are flashbacks to the founders of the town, and I like how things were revealed little by little until the whole picture of what happened in Mistaken and Greer’s past tied everything together.

+ The author does such a good job at story telling – I always feel like I’m reading a dark fairytale when it comes to her books. And her stories are always so unique, just like this one is.

~ This one did start off slow but once some scary events happen and the horror kicks in, that’s when it really caught my attention. I couldn’t quite envision these Bright-Eyeds and so I was left trying to figure that part out.

~ Once everything starts being explained about the Bright-Eyed, the story goes in a new direction, more fantastical. Greer has to cope with her new knowledge about them, but it’s challenging as she tries to find Ellis. There is also a love triangle situation that I wasn’t into.

Final Thoughts:

I think this one felt like Small Favors with that small-town feel, except here in A Land So Wide, in this town, people are trapped. The people have a false sense of safety – in their boundary of protection, they should be okay, but once that boundary is broken, bad things happen. The setting is great, and the atmosphere is creepy and mysterious. I think the beginning was a little slow, but it does pick up and goes into more fantasy. I found this world and the lore around the monsters very fascinating. Greer goes through a journey when she finds out the truth about some things, and I definitely was invested to see what happened to her. This author is an auto-read author for me, and her writing will always suck me in! This will make a great read for spooky season.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Thirteenth Child by. Erin A. Craig | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

House of Roots and Ruin by. Erin A. Craig | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Small Favors by. Erin A. Craig | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

House of Roots and Ruin by. Erin A. Craig | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Book Review | House of Salt and Sorrows ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

House of Hearts by. Skyla Arndt | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: House of Hearts

Author: Skyla Arndt

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 288

Publication Date: 9/2/25

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Paranormal, Family Curse, Romance, Gothic

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

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

Solving her best friend’s murder means infiltrating a secret society, resisting a forbidden love, and running from a vengeful ghost in this sophomore novel by the author of Together We Rot.

Violet Harper knows her best friend was murdered. Even if everyone else has labeled her death a “freak accident,” Vi is sure she’d been trying to tell her something right before she died. Cryptic messages about her friend’s elite boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and the mysterious secret society she was entangled in all point to a more sinister fate.

So, Violet does what no one else seems willing to do: She transfers to the same fancy school to dig into the society’s murky history and find out what really happened to her friend. She knows the truth might not be pretty, but what she doesn’t bargain for is the handsome boy at the center of it all—Calvin Lockwell, the brother of her prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder. He’s obnoxious and privileged, and Violet can’t deny their haunting attraction. It soon becomes clear his family is hiding a dark secret that may not be of this world, and suddenly Violet’s following her friend’s doomed footsteps down the rabbit hole. Even as details emerge of a deadly curse plaguing the school, she can’t escape her true feelings for Calvin. But loving him may be the last thing she ever does.

Content Warning: violence, murder, death

+ This is a dark academia story with horror and paranormal events. The setting is a gothic academy for wealthy kids, and Violet is enrolled there through scholarship because she wants answers to her best-friend’s death. She thinks she has it figured out and blames Percy Lockwell, the Headmistress’ son, for her death but while she is at the school she finds out there is more to the story.

+ There is a family curse on the Lockwell family, and the remaining siblings Calvin and Sadie are trying to break it and also find their older brother Percy, who disappeared. They create a secret society at school to gather kids who aren’t afraid of the paranormal so that they can solve this mystery about the curse and find their brother. I enjoyed the paranormal and horror aspects of the story a lot! It just added the right amount of creepiness and especially one part gave me chills.

+ The romance between Violet and Calvin is doomed because of the curse but from the start it was dislike mostly on Violet’s part and secret insta-love on Calvin’s though he hid it well. I loved their interactions and was rooting for them!

~ This is an arc but there was a lot of typos that I hope will be fixed by the time of publication. Also I don’t know if it was because the way it was formatted as an e-book but some sections blended into the next and I had to re-read because I was afraid I missed a scene or didn’t understand where I was in the story.

~ This is a quick read, just under 300 pages so I would have like a little more pages focused on the romance to draw out the tension more between them. I did love their romance journey, I just wanted more.

Final Thoughts:

I’ve been reading a lot of dark academia this year but I did love how this one stands out a little bit because of the paranormal and horror elements in the story. I loved the setting, the secret society, the dislike to lovers romance between Violet and Cal, and the family love curse. I had a few issues with typos (but this is an arc) and I did wish it was a tad bit longer just so there was more tension and yearning between Violet and Cal but overall, I enjoyed this one and will make for a thrilling, creepy fall read!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From this Author:

Together We Rot by. Skyla Arndt | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 1/7/25

Publisher: MIRA

Categories: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Social Commentary

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

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

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner—but the bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. The killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: “bat eater.”

These days nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt, who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival; not her weird colleagues; and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her door frame. After all, it can’t be real—can it? After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

Content Warning: violence, death, gore, parental neglect

+ I love this author and she’s a must-read author for me now. The story is set in New York City during the COVID pandemic – early 2020, remember that? This brought me back to a time of so much fear and uncertainty, it was nostalgic but not in a good way. Cora Zeng is Chinese-American and she has some issues that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, like her being a germaphobe. She’s also dealt with a traumatic childhood with parental neglect and divorce so Cora is complicated, anxious, closed-off, and now she is haunted. Literally. Cora’s voice is so honest about what she thinks about her family, society, and herself.

+ This story is filled with gore, but I was surprised with how much there was because I was grimacing for half the book I think. It is that gory but I should have expected it since Cora is a crime-scene cleaner. Outside of the gore, there is something else going on in a paranormal aspect in the story. Cora is being haunted and it is the month where the Chinese honor the dead or hungry ghosts with some rituals like putting out food for the ghosts and burning joss papers. I learned something cultural that I didn’t know much about which was cool but the way the author wove it into this story about COVID and crime against Chinese and Asian people during that time period is really amazing.

+ I really liked how the tension built in this story. Cora’s mental state is not the best, so I thought she was just going through psychosis due to PTSD but add the anxiousness about COVID during that time really upped the tension in the situation around the city. Add to that the crime scenes she is cleaning up has a pattern and then the hauntings start happening – there were times when I was laying in bed in the dark reading this that I got a chill. Because who wants a hungry ghost haunting them? Not me!

+ I loved the side characters, Cora’s co-workers, Harvey and Yifei. They brought humor but also gave Cora support even though they weren’t close friends. They were there for her even if things got super crazy. And bless her aunts too, even though they were extreme opposites – I’m glad she had people, even though it wasn’t a lot or people.

+ The social commentary of this book is what really hits home with me. The racism Cora experiences in this story made me so angry and heartbroken that racism is so prevalent in our country. The violence of the deaths in this story just makes me question how can people be so filled with hate as to want someone to suffer in these ways.

~ There was a small lull in the middle of the book, as Cora is dealing with some ghosts but nothing that stopped me from reading. Going into this book I was thinking too hard and saying what is this? Is it a horror story? Murder mystery? Paranormal haunting? What is going on? And once I just went with the flow and went along for the wild ride, I was blown away by the end.

Final Thoughts:

I loved how this author combined the time period of COVID, the social commentary of racism, the paranormal hauntings of hungry ghosts, and the possibility of a serial killer on the loose plus all the gore, violence and creep factor into one wild ride of a book. It touched on the challenges of family, friendship, mental health, grief and so much more. It’s brutal and violent and I can’t stop thinking about it. I know this story will probably stay with me forever.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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

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

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

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

The Thrashers by. Julie Soto | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Thrashers

Author: Julie Soto

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 5/6/25

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller

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

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

Either you’re in or you’re out.

Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High.

They’re everything everyone wants to be.

Jodi Dillon was never meant to be one of them. Julian, Lucy, Paige, and the infamous Zack Thrasher are rich, sophisticated, and love attention. Jodi feels out of place, but Zack’s her childhood best friend, so she’s in.

Then Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher, dies—and the whispers about the Thrashers begin. As Emily’s journal surfaces, detectives close in, and Jodi faces an impossible choice: betray her friends or protect herself.

But as eerie messages and strange occurrences escalate, it becomes clear—Emily isn’t done with them yet.

A twisty thrill-ride of unforgettable drama and suspense that “encapsulates the vulnerability of adolescents playing adult games” (Ali Hazelwood) from USA Today bestselling author Julie Soto, The Thrashers will keep you up at night desperate to read just one more page.

Content Warning: death, accidents, injuries, weed, drinking, suicide, alcoholism, mentions of physical abuse

+ I am loving how Julie Soto (one of my new favorite/must-read authors) has been branching out! I am hooked and ready to read all of it. I could not put this down. In this YA thriller, we meet a group of five friends called The Thrashers. They didn’t name themselves but it’s a reputation people at school gave them. This story is dark! It centers around a suicide and bullying, and brings up some good questions too. There is weed use and lots of underage drinking, plus the issue of alcoholism by an adult and abuse. This story is multi-layered and complicated.

+ Jodi is the only one of the Thrashers who isn’t wealthy or easily popular. She got lucky that she was best friends with Zack Thrasher in the second grade. He is like a beacon to everyone. All the girls want to be with him and all the boys want to be him or hang out with him, but he keeps an exclusive friend group with Jodi, Julian, Lucy, and Paige – Jodi being the most average of them all. This creates insecurities among the friends, mostly we see it in Jodi but later you see it in Julian and Paige. I like how the author explored the feelings one can have of being left out in a friend group – wondering what your place is in the group and if anyone actually cares.

+ A classmate of theirs, a girl named Emily, who latched onto their group and tried to become a Thrasher committed suicide. And now the Thrashers are under a microscope and some people are turning on them. Emily left a journal and what she writes about this friend group implicates them in her suicide. Is the journal real? Did Emily lie or is Jodi’s best friends lying? Who is telling the truth or are they leaving her out?

+ I was reading this late into the night, after midnight, and there were some parts that gave me slight chills. Emily was creepy but was her ghost/spirit really haunting them? Also the characters are all very unique, which I enjoyed. They are all morally gray also which makes my feelings about certain characters so complicated.

~ The ending! What was that? It’s very unexpected, and leaves me questions but also…can we get a book two? Haha, I mean I can see something happening for book two!

~ These friends, were always making their world revolve around Zack and I was questioning like…what makes him SO special besides him being super charming, nice, and drop dead gorgeous? For all of them to either be in love with him, want him, or jealous of him making other friends or dating other girls was wild to me.

Final Thoughts:

I read this in one night so I enjoyed this a lot. I loved the morally gray, complicated characters and their dynamic even though they are close and “best-friends”. Even in a friend group you can feel alone and outcasted and Jodi portrayed those insecurities very well. I was hooked to the drama happening in this friend group and seeing how everything played out. Learning about Emily and the “hauntings” was also creepy so overall, I think this was a great YA thriller and that ending. I don’t know what it means, but I want more! I can’t wait to read her fantasy debut this year also!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Not Another Love Song by. Julie Soto | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Forget Me Not by. Julie Soto | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Filthy Rich Vampire by. Geneva Lee | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Filthy Rich Vampire

Author: Geneva Lee Albin (Geneva Lee)

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 429

Publication Date: 5/24/22

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Series, Vampires

Newly edited, and for the first time in print, discover the smash-hit series.

Julian Rousseaux has a problem. He’s single, and for the world’s wealthiest vampires, the social season is about to begin. Julian would rather stake himself than participate in the marriage market. But as the eldest eligible Rousseaux, he’s expected to find a wife before the season ends―whether he likes it or not.

When cellist Thea literally stumbles into his life at a gala, he knows she’s the last person he could ever fall in love with. She’s too innocent, too kind, and way too human. But now that she knows about his world, she’s also a walking target. She needs protection. He needs a fake girlfriend to discourage overzealous vampire matchmaking.

So, Julian makes Thea an irresistible offer: pretend to be his lover and he’ll change her life. For one year, they’ll attend the season’s social events together in exchange for his protection and a way out of her mother’s crippling medical debt.

She can’t say no. But the vampire world is impossibly decadent and darker than Thea ever imagined, and Julian’s filthy rich vampire family wants her out of the way. But with each moment they share, new dangers emerge: a desire as forbidden as their stolen touches, an awakening of a long-dead heart, and secrets that could tear them both apart.

Sensual, dangerous, provocative ― step into a daring new world of dark magic, primal attraction, and breathtaking romance.

Content Warning: violence

I read Filthy Rich Fae last year and really enjoyed and while waiting for book two I decided to pick up this series the author wrote before FRF. This one is called Filthy Rich Vampire and was written three years ago.

I thought it was just okay. Thea is a cellist and runs into Julian, a vampire royal, at a party. Something happens and she sees things that she’s not supposed to and honestly Julian comes clean really fast in the beginning, telling her he’s a vampire and yes they are real.

This is an insta-lust and insta-love story – things take place in the span of a week! So with that said, I didn’t love Thea. She’s a young college student with dreams and Julian comes along, who is 1000 years old and okay he’s sexy and gorgeous and rich but…one week? Girl…I was like, red flag, red flag!! 😂. I needed her friends to give her a harsher pep-talk but Thea was gone – head over heels for Julian. She comes off so young and immature that I was not into it, I needed Thea to think more logically. It’s drama-filled with not a lot of depth. There are lots of spicy scenes but even the whole sex issue is filled with drama and issues.

Final Thoughts:

It started off good and then ended up being not for me. I just needed more from the writing. It’s insta-lust, insta-love, angsty, dramatic, and spicy. Was I there for the drama? Maybe. But I needed more depth and yes, did I download book two just to see if Thea as a character grow? I did 🤦🏻‍♀️ but I already have a bad feeling about the book after reading two chapters LOL. We’ll see if I DNF the book. I was just kind of surprised because I did enjoy Filthy Rich Fae but this one I did not.