Dear Readers, April was a good month for reading. I read almost all the books on my TBR for the month. I read 5 out of 6. I read 2 horror, 1 mystery, 1 dark romance, and 1 historical fiction. I Read 3 books from a book series Goosebumps Calling All Creeps! book 50 in the original series only 12 left in the series, One Good Turn is Jackson Brodie book 2, and Butcher & Blackbird book 1 in the Ruinous Love Trilogy. I read one 5-star book, two 4-star books, and two 2-star books. 

Five Star Reviews:

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson is a mix of literature and mystery. The story is full of deeply flawed, quirky characters which are very memorable. The writing is very good in this atypical mystery. The mystery is a slow burn, as it takes a while for you, the reader, to know what the mystery is all about. This story revolves around 7 characters who we all get perspectives from. This can sometimes be too much as I prefer 3 to 4 perspectives, but Kate Atkinson is such a good character writer that I was never confused with whose perspective was in charge. As the story unfolds those 7 characters will be connected through happenstance and murder plots. The story reminded me a lot of Fargo the TV series since all the characters are so quirky and could each lead their own story. One Good Turn is book two in the Jackson Brodie series. The first book is the excellent Case Histories, where the character of Jackson Brodie is introduced

Four Star Reviews:

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver is a dark romance involving two serial killers who hunt other serial killers. The Butcher and Blackbird is the first book in The Ruinous Love trilogy. This is the first dark romance book and it was a bit eye-opening. I was expecting a little more sex, but when it does happen it is long and intense. It takes over half the book for the characters to have sex, which felt a little long. When the sex occurs it is fierce, dirty, and degrading. There was some kinky stuff some stuff I felt like need some consent first or a conversation about what you’re into before anal and snowballing. This book is about two psychopaths so maybe no consent is needed. I did find it funny that both characters admitted to not having sex in three years, yet one of them carried lube for anal, oh yeah they’re crazy. This book knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to be anything more which I found refreshing. The story doesn’t go too heavy into the trauma of what made them monsters or the people they hunt, but it gives the reader enough to go on. The pacing is a little slow at the beginning but when the sex starts happening the pages start to fly. 

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles is a historical fiction that takes place in New York City between 1937 and 1938. The Great Depression was still plaguing America, as World War II was on the horizon, and people were defined by their class system. The Rules of Civility is about a group of characters who will not be defined by society’s class structure and try to change their station in it. Some characters hate where they are in society and openly mock the class that they are in, whereas other characters will fake it until they make it. The underlying theme of the book is everyone is a whore for somebody, the only way to get ahead is to prostitute oneself through money, influence, and jobs. Some of the characters do not realize that are controlled by someone else until the end. It’s powerful and still very relevant in today’s society by this phase: it is not what you know, but who you know. I love that the title is based off of George Washington’s writing a long set of rules called the Rules of Civility. The Rules of Civility are a set of rules for how one must subject one’s self in society, there are 110 rules that one character lives by and thankfully at the end of the book Amor Towles posts them all. The pacing moves along a little bit slowly but the history, the characters, and the conversations are all interesting. There are a couple of turns the book takes that I was not expecting. I did struggle for moments asking myself what the point of it was, but in the end, the book makes a strong statement on society and manipulation.

Two Star Reviews:

The Ghost That Ate Us by Daniel Kraus is a fictional nonfiction horror novel. The book is set up to look like it is nonfiction even though it is fiction. The poltergeist haunts a fast food staff which at first is cute and innocent, soon turns deadly. This book was not what I was expecting, with the premise of a ghost at a fast food restaurant I expected a lot more humor (there is a tiny bit), but what we get is a depressing novel that is a slow-burn horror novel. The horror in the novel is almost all at the end, and it gets pretty intense but you have to get through a lot of depressed teenagers. The book was interesting in the way it was written where we are told what happens to the restaurant and some of the kids, then we get interviews with the survivors who fill in part of the story and the narrator watches security tapes that add to the story. Daniel Kraus gets to be a horror novelist who is interested in the case and involves himself in the story, which was interesting as one character reads his books and keeps asking him questions about them. The pace is very slow in this story it picks up at 75% and moves pretty fast after that. The climax is exciting and the epilogue is well written.

Calling All Creeps! By R.L. Stine is Goosebumps book 50 in the original series order. Calling All Creeps! could be titled How I Accidentally Started a Cult. This book is one of the least scariest Goosebumps that I have read, but the book is suspenseful. There’s a plot about food poisoning, (not to kill, but something else) will the main character do it or not? The story moves pretty slowly and there is a lot of repetition. You feel bad for the character of Ricky who is picked on for no reason, even kids that just started at the school start pranking him. I do feel like Rick’s anger is misplaced to the school editor than every other kid. This is the first Goosebumps book that acknowledges an attraction, most of the time it is best friends who don’t see each other that way, but this book has a friendship with potential.