Here's what I read in June. Twelve books total, not counting two I read for publicity purposes.
Of the twelve, there was one 5 star read, three were 4 stars, six were 3 stars, one got 2 stars and one was a DNF. Ten of these were review copies. Only one was a print copy, and I listened to two of them on audio. The longest read was 512 pages and the shortest read was 88 pages. For a total of 2670 pages read.
Good lord… this book has single‑handedly convinced me that if I didn’t personally buy it, season it, and cook it with my own two hands, I’m not eating it. Ever again. It’s a delectable, revolting, downright deranged little feast of a story.
Sierra’s college roommate invites her home for a good ole American Thanksgiving. Being Canadian and far from her own family, Sierra figures, why not? But the moment she steps through that door, she realizes her roommate wildly undersold Mother’s mealtime rules. You eat what you’re given, exactly as it’s given, and you leave not a single crumb behind… or you face the consequences.
And let’s just say the punishments are so twisted I had to pause, gag, and then immediately keep reading.
If On Sundays She Picked Flowers, The Lamb, or Bloom live rent‑free in your brain, this book is about to move in with a suitcase.
I’m horrified by how much I enjoyed this and I’m deeply concerned about what that says about me. Five blood‑filled, freshly cauterized stars!!
Sierra’s college roommate invites her home for a good ole American Thanksgiving. Being Canadian and far from her own family, Sierra figures, why not? But the moment she steps through that door, she realizes her roommate wildly undersold Mother’s mealtime rules. You eat what you’re given, exactly as it’s given, and you leave not a single crumb behind… or you face the consequences.
And let’s just say the punishments are so twisted I had to pause, gag, and then immediately keep reading.
If On Sundays She Picked Flowers, The Lamb, or Bloom live rent‑free in your brain, this book is about to move in with a suitcase.
I’m horrified by how much I enjoyed this and I’m deeply concerned about what that says about me. Five blood‑filled, freshly cauterized stars!!
The Unfamiliar Garden is book two in The Comet Cycle, and so far it’s the standout of the series. Though connected to the events of book one, it’s written to function as a true standalone — same meteor shower, different location, and a mutation that feels even stranger, darker, and far more compelling.
This is alien fungal fiction to the max. At its heart, it’s a story about a broken family: a college professor who studies fungi loses his daughter in the woods one early morning while out on a mushroom hunt. Five years later, his ex‑wife is investigating a strange resurgence of murders where the dead are found with odd swirling carvings in their flesh and all of their hair removed. People in the area are suddenly falling ill, acting out violently or becoming almost comatose as grey, gooey matter oozes from their eyes, noses, and mouths.
Every thread (heehee) leads back to the meteors that crashed into the region five years earlier… and to something that has been quietly growing ever since.
I ended up liking this installment far more than I expected. I stuck with the audiobook format, and while the male narrator’s chapters were excellent, the female narrator’s delivery was a bit off for me... too soft‑spoken, with a habit of whispering the ends of sentences that pulled me out of the moment.
Still, the story itself absolutely delivers. I’d recommend this one to fans of fungal fiction, especially readers who appreciate the creeping, uncanny weirdness of VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. I would just recommend reading it in print.
This is alien fungal fiction to the max. At its heart, it’s a story about a broken family: a college professor who studies fungi loses his daughter in the woods one early morning while out on a mushroom hunt. Five years later, his ex‑wife is investigating a strange resurgence of murders where the dead are found with odd swirling carvings in their flesh and all of their hair removed. People in the area are suddenly falling ill, acting out violently or becoming almost comatose as grey, gooey matter oozes from their eyes, noses, and mouths.
Every thread (heehee) leads back to the meteors that crashed into the region five years earlier… and to something that has been quietly growing ever since.
I ended up liking this installment far more than I expected. I stuck with the audiobook format, and while the male narrator’s chapters were excellent, the female narrator’s delivery was a bit off for me... too soft‑spoken, with a habit of whispering the ends of sentences that pulled me out of the moment.
Still, the story itself absolutely delivers. I’d recommend this one to fans of fungal fiction, especially readers who appreciate the creeping, uncanny weirdness of VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. I would just recommend reading it in print.
Cross My Heart I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold
Mallory Arnold did it again. I cracked this open expecting a good time, and next thing I knew I’d inhaled 400 pages like it was nothing. It’s breezy, it’s bonkers, and okaaaayy... it’s occasionally cheesy ... but I was hooked.
Three women discover, under the most unique circumstances, that they’re all dating the same man. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also convinced each of them to loan him an absurd amount of money… and then promptly ghosts them. Naturally, they do what any self‑respecting, scorned queens would do... catfish him, drag him to a creepy cabin, and attempt to scare the absolute hell out of him until he coughs up their money. Except their little revenge prank goes sideways fast, and suddenly they’re trapped in a full‑blown gore‑fest.
A fast‑paced thriller that isn’t afraid to let its hair down... one that sprints, stumbles, laughs at itself, and then sprints again. It’s a delightfully messy mash‑up of female fury and classic slasher mayhem.
Imperfect? Sure. Fun as hell? Absolutely.
Three women discover, under the most unique circumstances, that they’re all dating the same man. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also convinced each of them to loan him an absurd amount of money… and then promptly ghosts them. Naturally, they do what any self‑respecting, scorned queens would do... catfish him, drag him to a creepy cabin, and attempt to scare the absolute hell out of him until he coughs up their money. Except their little revenge prank goes sideways fast, and suddenly they’re trapped in a full‑blown gore‑fest.
A fast‑paced thriller that isn’t afraid to let its hair down... one that sprints, stumbles, laughs at itself, and then sprints again. It’s a delightfully messy mash‑up of female fury and classic slasher mayhem.
Imperfect? Sure. Fun as hell? Absolutely.
A man haunted by a past he can’t outrun gets lost in the woods after being reluctantly dragged on a guided hiking tour. At under 90 pages, more short story than novelette, Weiss has no choice but to throw you straight into the chaos of Tom’s life. We know there’s been an accident. We know he’s lost someone. But the details are blurry, just like Tom himself when we first meet him... hungover, disoriented, and running from something he can’t even look at head‑on.
As he trudges up the mountain beside a man named Buster, the memories begin to creep up on him. And in the span of a few pages, he loses not only the group he’s half‑heartedly following, but his grip on the present as the ghosts of the past aim to drag him under.
As a standalone, it’s… okay. Compelling in moments, but thin in others. It feels like we’re missing a crucial piece of the emotional machinery... like The Stages of Decay isn’t the starting point, but a stop along the way. Just a shard of a bigger story rather than the whole thing.
As he trudges up the mountain beside a man named Buster, the memories begin to creep up on him. And in the span of a few pages, he loses not only the group he’s half‑heartedly following, but his grip on the present as the ghosts of the past aim to drag him under.
As a standalone, it’s… okay. Compelling in moments, but thin in others. It feels like we’re missing a crucial piece of the emotional machinery... like The Stages of Decay isn’t the starting point, but a stop along the way. Just a shard of a bigger story rather than the whole thing.
The Red Sacrament by Sara Hinkley
Review to come, posting for part of a blog tour on July 8th
Meh. A weird way to end The Comet Cycle if you ask me. We kind of find out the origins of the comet and learn of some shady whacky government stuff that was happening back in the 40's in Alaska, that might or might not be responsbile for whatever the heck is hiding out there in the fog and clouds.
It's a short series on audio and the narration is pretty solid. My preference of the books in order from best to least - The Unfamiliar Garden, then The Sky Vault, with The Ninth Metal coming in last.
I still stand by what I said early. I'm a victim of wanting to like Benjamin Percy more than I actually do. And I know I'll keep reading him because each book he releases sounds totally unlike the ones before it.
It's a short series on audio and the narration is pretty solid. My preference of the books in order from best to least - The Unfamiliar Garden, then The Sky Vault, with The Ninth Metal coming in last.
I still stand by what I said early. I'm a victim of wanting to like Benjamin Percy more than I actually do. And I know I'll keep reading him because each book he releases sounds totally unlike the ones before it.
A whimsical little apocalypse that’s more about the people who stay than the planet that’s slipping away.
Dylan grows up with her scientist mother in an underwater pod, tucked beneath the wreckage of an Earth that can no longer sustain life. The novel follows Dylan as she builds an online friendship with a Martian, resurfaces to take a groundskeeper job at her mother’s former research lab, and falls for a woman whose body has been altered so thoroughly she’s nearly indestructible.
We occasionally drift into the minds of the people who cross Dylan’s path, each perspective adding a small, unexpected shard of insight.
Written in short, staccato bursts, the book moves like a slow sand bike across a collapsing world — dusty, patient, and quietly aching. It’s a story that balances dark humor with grief, hope with the soft surrender to hopelessness. I found myself slipping in and out of it, but even that felt fitting for a book about holding on when everything else is falling away.
Dylan grows up with her scientist mother in an underwater pod, tucked beneath the wreckage of an Earth that can no longer sustain life. The novel follows Dylan as she builds an online friendship with a Martian, resurfaces to take a groundskeeper job at her mother’s former research lab, and falls for a woman whose body has been altered so thoroughly she’s nearly indestructible.
We occasionally drift into the minds of the people who cross Dylan’s path, each perspective adding a small, unexpected shard of insight.
Written in short, staccato bursts, the book moves like a slow sand bike across a collapsing world — dusty, patient, and quietly aching. It’s a story that balances dark humor with grief, hope with the soft surrender to hopelessness. I found myself slipping in and out of it, but even that felt fitting for a book about holding on when everything else is falling away.
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I really liked Ernshaw’s The History of Wild Places and had high hopes for this one. It has the same woman‑goes‑missing, mystery‑but‑not‑quite‑a‑mystery vibe, and it definitely scratches the remote‑island‑with‑strange‑inhabitant itch. But everything between the opening and the ending left me severely disappointed.
I wanted an atmospheric, immersive read I could lose myself in. Instead, I got an indecisive woman torn between worlds — the real one, where she’s engaged to a man who genuinely adores her, and the imagined one, where she’s still pining after a fabled floating island she believes she visited as a child. The middle section leans hard into a weird version of the enemies to lovers trope (which I typically avoid at all cost) complete with some seriously eyerolling Stockholm‑syndrome-ish longing and sex which drained the tension... instead of building it.
Three stars for the beginning and the end, but a solid uuuuugh for everything in between.
Women who can't make up their minds and who force themselves to be happy in whatever weird ass situation they find themselves in are my kryptonite. Especially when it’s a woman writing that kind of woman.
I wanted an atmospheric, immersive read I could lose myself in. Instead, I got an indecisive woman torn between worlds — the real one, where she’s engaged to a man who genuinely adores her, and the imagined one, where she’s still pining after a fabled floating island she believes she visited as a child. The middle section leans hard into a weird version of the enemies to lovers trope (which I typically avoid at all cost) complete with some seriously eyerolling Stockholm‑syndrome-ish longing and sex which drained the tension... instead of building it.
Three stars for the beginning and the end, but a solid uuuuugh for everything in between.
Women who can't make up their minds and who force themselves to be happy in whatever weird ass situation they find themselves in are my kryptonite. Especially when it’s a woman writing that kind of woman.
When I saw that Harpman had a new book coming out, I ran to Edelweiss without hesitation. I Who Have Never Known Men is one of my all‑time favorites, so I knew this collection had impossibly big shoes to fill.
The first story is fantastic and, sadly, the only one that captures the eerie strangeness that Harpman does so well. A group of people wandering a forest, waiting for a summons that may never come, slowly dwindling in number. It’s devastating and unsettling and quietly profound. Exactly what I wanted.
The other two stories, though, never quite rise to that level. One follows a schoolgirl being silenced and ostracized for turning a classmate’s logic back on her. The other follows a writer who imagines an entire life for a fictional woman during a train ride. They’re fine, but they lack the atmospheric tension, the existential dread, the haunting atmosphere I was craving.
In the end, this collection has one standout story followed by two that fail to echo what makes Harpman’s work so compelling. Don't get me wrong. It's not bad. Just nowhere near the brilliance I know she can deliver.
The first story is fantastic and, sadly, the only one that captures the eerie strangeness that Harpman does so well. A group of people wandering a forest, waiting for a summons that may never come, slowly dwindling in number. It’s devastating and unsettling and quietly profound. Exactly what I wanted.
The other two stories, though, never quite rise to that level. One follows a schoolgirl being silenced and ostracized for turning a classmate’s logic back on her. The other follows a writer who imagines an entire life for a fictional woman during a train ride. They’re fine, but they lack the atmospheric tension, the existential dread, the haunting atmosphere I was craving.
In the end, this collection has one standout story followed by two that fail to echo what makes Harpman’s work so compelling. Don't get me wrong. It's not bad. Just nowhere near the brilliance I know she can deliver.
Bestiary by Patrick Rutigliano
DNF @ 59%
The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen
If you are familiar with my tastes, you'll know I don’t typically reach for witchy books or thrillers, so I was hesitant when the publisher offered this one since it sits squarely in both genres. But I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. It’s a little longer in the tooth than it needs to be, but it’s a very readable story about three friends reuniting on the 15th anniversary of their best friend’s accidental death, determined to dig into the secrets — including their own — that surrounded it.
Strangely, The Whisper doesn’t lean into the magic as much as I anticipated. Considering the entire premise hinges on it, I was surprised by how lightly it’s handled. As the trio conducts their own investigation, they uncover new clues and old relationships that reshape everything they thought they knew. It’s fun tagging along as their theories shift, and while I was late to the game on the culprit, the magical element becomes pretty easy to spot.
This isn’t a cozy mystery — there’s plenty of grief, regret, and long‑buried secrets — but the repeated references to “doing magic” and visiting the “spell circle” did add a layer of cheesiness that occasionally undercuts the darker tone.
A solid 3 star read.
Strangely, The Whisper doesn’t lean into the magic as much as I anticipated. Considering the entire premise hinges on it, I was surprised by how lightly it’s handled. As the trio conducts their own investigation, they uncover new clues and old relationships that reshape everything they thought they knew. It’s fun tagging along as their theories shift, and while I was late to the game on the culprit, the magical element becomes pretty easy to spot.
This isn’t a cozy mystery — there’s plenty of grief, regret, and long‑buried secrets — but the repeated references to “doing magic” and visiting the “spell circle” did add a layer of cheesiness that occasionally undercuts the darker tone.
A solid 3 star read.
After seeing my DNF status and my response to one of the bookstagrammers who wanted to know what I didn't like about it, the author reached out based on what I had shared, concerned that I had a much older copy and offered to send me an updated arc.
And after comparing the first couple pages of the updated arc to the one I had read, I could see that it was much different, soooo.... I decided to give it another whirl.
Oh girl. I should not have done that. The first 10% was actually ok, especially considering that I had gotten farther with it than I originally had. The writing was better and less repetitive. There was more time spent on introducing and developing the characters. But once they got to the zoo, the repetitiveness came screaming back.
This is a story in which a wife and her son escape the abusive clutches of her husband, with the help of her brother Evan and their friends Jess and Marcus. After successfully running away, they decide to take the kid to a zoo to have a 'normal' day but of course, the universe has other plans. Somehow, they enter the zoo without realizing something is horribly horribly wrong and are immediately hunted by a half dead, ridiculously enraged elephant with red eyes. It stalks them and terrifies them and then buckle up because so does every other animal in the zoo for the next 5 days. So out of one abusive situation just be thrown into another... one that is much muuuuuch worse.
Tread carefully here, I'm not going into full spoiler mode but I am about to outline some of the stuff that comes up that really annoyed me. Are you sure you want to stick around to read it? You still here? You're sure? Ok... I warned you...
And after comparing the first couple pages of the updated arc to the one I had read, I could see that it was much different, soooo.... I decided to give it another whirl.
Oh girl. I should not have done that. The first 10% was actually ok, especially considering that I had gotten farther with it than I originally had. The writing was better and less repetitive. There was more time spent on introducing and developing the characters. But once they got to the zoo, the repetitiveness came screaming back.
This is a story in which a wife and her son escape the abusive clutches of her husband, with the help of her brother Evan and their friends Jess and Marcus. After successfully running away, they decide to take the kid to a zoo to have a 'normal' day but of course, the universe has other plans. Somehow, they enter the zoo without realizing something is horribly horribly wrong and are immediately hunted by a half dead, ridiculously enraged elephant with red eyes. It stalks them and terrifies them and then buckle up because so does every other animal in the zoo for the next 5 days. So out of one abusive situation just be thrown into another... one that is much muuuuuch worse.
Tread carefully here, I'm not going into full spoiler mode but I am about to outline some of the stuff that comes up that really annoyed me. Are you sure you want to stick around to read it? You still here? You're sure? Ok... I warned you...
The characters are beaten, bloodied, bitten, and bashed over and over and over again and yet they just... keep.... going. Not only is it wildy unlikely that a person could survive with those types of untreated injuries and that amount of blood loss without succumbing to infection and fever, they just kept running and hiding and taking beatings like it was no big deal, rationalizing all the craziness away.
Not only was that part distracting, but the timestamps at the start of each chapter didn't always line up with its content. For example, it would say it was 9:50pm but the action was happening at dawn. Or it would say it was 5pm and the characters were walking around with a flashlight and seeing the moon reflected in the swampy water.
On top of that... they kept running into journals and notes and carvings in walls and tables that just happen to explain exactly what they were experiencing at that moment. Every time they ended up in a new part of the zoo, which, hello... new parts of the zoo kept being discovered days and days later... like what? ... the descriptions were always the same - all of the food and drink debris, all of the blood stains, all of the opened gory rib cages - and everything appeared to have been left or written a long time ago, and not just a few days ago.
And then there were these sections that were kind of just inserted into the chapters that gave you an actual date and shared random snippets of things that were happening outside of the zoo - police getting missing person reports, claims of animals in the zoo going bezerk or acting strangely, strange cloud formations. I mean... what? If all this shit had been happening for a few months prior to our crew getting to the zoo, how did they not know about the weird shit until now? And when IS now?!
Ugh. I should have let it stay in the DNF pile. Now I'm even more frustrated than I was. And to no fault of the author's. He was actually so cool about it and is such a nice guy online that I kind of feel bad about this.
I stand behind what I said before - I see so many people loving this book that it might just be me.
Not only was that part distracting, but the timestamps at the start of each chapter didn't always line up with its content. For example, it would say it was 9:50pm but the action was happening at dawn. Or it would say it was 5pm and the characters were walking around with a flashlight and seeing the moon reflected in the swampy water.
On top of that... they kept running into journals and notes and carvings in walls and tables that just happen to explain exactly what they were experiencing at that moment. Every time they ended up in a new part of the zoo, which, hello... new parts of the zoo kept being discovered days and days later... like what? ... the descriptions were always the same - all of the food and drink debris, all of the blood stains, all of the opened gory rib cages - and everything appeared to have been left or written a long time ago, and not just a few days ago.
And then there were these sections that were kind of just inserted into the chapters that gave you an actual date and shared random snippets of things that were happening outside of the zoo - police getting missing person reports, claims of animals in the zoo going bezerk or acting strangely, strange cloud formations. I mean... what? If all this shit had been happening for a few months prior to our crew getting to the zoo, how did they not know about the weird shit until now? And when IS now?!
Ugh. I should have let it stay in the DNF pile. Now I'm even more frustrated than I was. And to no fault of the author's. He was actually so cool about it and is such a nice guy online that I kind of feel bad about this.
I stand behind what I said before - I see so many people loving this book that it might just be me.
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