Dear Readers, July was a good month for reading I read 5 books this month, my. I did not make a TBR this month since I knew I was going to work a decent amount of overtime at work.  My ratings for this month are 4 fours stars, and 1 three star. I read 3 book in a series, 2 horror, and 2 middle grade books.

Four Star Reviews:

The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager is a thriller set up to look like a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window until a big twist makes this novel a “can’t miss” mystery. 50 % of the mystery is an homage to Rear Window the film which had me scared it was just going to be a remake, but thankfully it twists in another direction and makes for a great read. We have the unreliable narrator who is drunk most of the time which is pretty cliche and turned me off a bit since it felt like it was ripping off the novel The Woman in Window by A. J. Finn which itself is an homage to Rear Window. I do always like when the writer acknowledges the homage which Sager mentions Rear Window many times in the story especially since a big hunk of the first part of the novel is told through binoculars. The second 50% is a thrill ride that does not let up. The twists are somewhat mind-blowing and Sager has fun toying with the audience until the final truth is revealed. The ending is so crazy, we kind of get two climaxes.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume is a coming-of-age story for a young girl on the verge of puberty. This novel is a classic to middle-grade readers way before there was a young adult section of books. This novel is a bit controversial because of the subject of burgeoning womanhood. The subject of feeling misplaced in religion is also discussed but is less controversial in this novel. I understand the controversy of the book, she’s talking about stuff you’re not supposed to talk about only with your best friends or with God because they don’t judge but everybody else does. The reader gets to be both God and Margaret’s best friend.  The book is a time capsule to that adolescent age that as an adult takes me back to when I was a 12-year-old. The topic of religion is taken very seriously and has some great conversations as a result. Blume nails the mind of a 12-year-old and what she goes through.

Phantom by Terry Goodkind is book ten in the Sword of Truth epic fantasy series. Phantom is novel 10 out of 15, but Goodkind’s original ending was book 11 for the Sword of Truth series. So this book is the lead up to the epic final battle and as a reader, you feel the finality of it and everything the book is setting up. This book is brutal and has lots of graphic gore. Despite the trigger warning this book has some of the most powerful women figures on both the good and bad side that are just as brutal as the men that want to control them. The darkness of the book still has that underlying layer of hope that carries you through the darkness. This story has the best opening scene in the series so far, which has a dark tone with some great action. Phantom also has the best pacing in the series as it bounces from character to character in different locations.

Hellboy Omnibus – Volume 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola is a deluxe graphic novel that includes 2 big multi-chapter stories Seeds of Destruction and Wake the Devil, with three stories Wolves of St. August, The Chained Coffin, and Almost Colossus all written and drawn by Mike Mignola. There are not many writers and drawers who do both in comics because it takes so long but Mignola has been doing it for quite some time. He tells the story of drawing a monster and naming him Hellboy for a convention program book back in 1991. He would later start on the Hellboy book 2 years later. Seed of Destruction serves as Hellboy’s origin story and takes us to the present day when a group of former Nazis with occult origins try to take over the world by using Hellboy. Seed of Destruction is the basis for The Hellboy movie in 2004 starring Ron Perlman written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. All the stories in this collection are on the same timeline. The flow of the stories is pretty good but we will occasionally get an exposition dump of 6 pages that slows the story down. Mignola does have some ideas about occult history that kept me entertained despite the story slowing down.

Three Star Reviews:

Bad Hare Day by R.L. Stine is Goosebumps book 41 in the original series order. Bad Hare Day is less scary than other Goosebumps. The tale is weird and a little bit silly. The story is focused on being about magic but there’s a lot of fluff to the story with pranks and bad behavior. I remember having a magic kit and being obsessed with magic as a kid which the book does a great job of capturing. The third act is a little lame and not that exciting. The book has a final twist that is one of the best in Goosebumps and very memorable. The scary scenes are getting trapped in a basement and snakes all over your body.