en-US Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:56:08 -0700 60 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 16148873
Sir Edward of Bodiam has been separated from the woman he loves and nothing on heaven or earth can stop him from seeking her out.

Edward and two of his knights travel through the swiftly changing landscape of England, a countryside now overrun by the minions of hell. The knights encounter madness, violence, and sorrow, but Edward fights his way ever deeper into the thickening darkness of unholy terror.

Roberto Calas brings you along on a dark, historical tale full of love, death, and black humor. Follow Edward as he journeys to save his wife, his kingdom, and his very soul.]]> 279 Roberto Calas 1611091632 jay! 0 to-read 3.78 2012
author: Roberto Calas
name: jay!
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 244709943 A debut Gothic horror set in 1870s Brazil—a tale of creeping suspense in which a young pregnant woman finds herself unable to escape her lover’s isolated family home, and a family’s deal with the devil goes terribly wrong.

1877, Pernambuco, Brazil: Raised in a deeply religious household, Madalena knows Dante’s Inferno by heart and fears her mother’s reaction as much as she fears God. When she falls pregnant with a child conceived in sin, her mother issues a threat: marry or surrender the baby. Madalena is confident that the father, the dashing Leandro Neves, will do right by her and propose. But just as she is about to tell him about the baby, a violent storm sends their carriage careening off the road.

Madalena awakens in Leandro’s sprawling, secluded home, under the care of the mysterious and larger-than-life Doctor Lobo. Leandro is there . . . but he is no longer the charming poet she knew. He’s silent. Obsessed. Always watching.

Strange perfume haunts a locked room. Pages vanish from books. Jewels lie untouched in a forgotten wardrobe. And mirrors begin disappearing after Madalena sees something—or someone—ghastly in the reflection.

Leandro is unraveling. Doctor Lobo may be hiding something even darker. Trapped in a decaying house of secrets, Madalena must uncover the truth before the men around her destroy her, and before the hell she fears becomes the one she’s living in.]]> 304 Isabela Livino jay! 0 to-read 4.16 2026
author: Isabela Livino
name: jay!
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56212878 From the acclaimed author of the Vorrh Trilogy comes an epic odyssey following a group of mercenaries hired to escort a divine oracle on a long journey amidst a war between the living and the dead.

Sheltering beneath Das Kagel, the cloud-scraping structure rumored to be the Tower of Babel, the sacred Monastery of the Eastern Gate descends into bedlam. Their ancient oracle, Quite Testiyont--whose prophesies helped protect the church--has died, leaving the monks vulnerable to the war raging between the living and the dead. Tasked by the High Church to deliver a new oracle, Barry Follett and his group of hired mercenaries are forced to confront wicked giants and dangerous sirens on their mission, keeping the divine creature alive by feeding it marrow and confessing their darkest sins.

But as Follett and his men carve their way through the treacherous landscape, the world around them spirals deeper into chaos. Dominic, a young monk who has mysteriously lost his voice, makes a pilgrimage to see surreal paintings, believing they reveal the empire's fate; a local woman called Mad Meg hopes to free and vindicate her jailed son and becomes the leader of the most unexpected revolution; and the abbott of the monastery, influential as he is, seeks to gain even more power in this world and the next.

Rich with action and fantastic creatures, Hollow ushers the reader through a world of ruin where holy secrets are unearthed, art mirrors life through a glass darkly, and death looms over everything. It is B. Catling's most accomplished and gripping tale yet.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL]]> 254 Brian Catling 0593081153 jay! 0 3.66 2021
author: Brian Catling
name: jay!
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/15
shelves: currently-reading, dark-fantasy, spooky-shit, trope-thieves-and-outlaws
review:

]]> 61223742 Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.]]> 360 Shelby Van Pelt 0063254484 jay! 5
UGLY CRYING IN THE CLURB]]> 4.28 2022
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: jay!
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2026/09/14
date added: 2026/09/14
shelves: contemporary, books-that-speak-to-me, comfort-reads, made-me-cry-my-own-tears
review:
4.5 🌟

UGLY CRYING IN THE CLURB
]]> 247808850 Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t.

Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it's happening again.

Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they've allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.

Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along— before he and the people he loves become the next victims.

Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs, bestselling author CJ Leede’s Headlights is a pulse-pounding hunt across the frozen wilderness of Colorado.]]> 400 C.J. Leede 1250857961 jay! 5 you can’t tame what’s wild.
and there’s no reason to want to.

4.75 🌟

i’ve only read one of cj leede’s other books, but i’ll def be reading maeve fly now, and probably picking up whatever she publishes next. there’s a distinct flavour of stephen graham jones in headlights. the grittiness of it, the atmosphere and wildness of it. stephen king, of course, is also a major inspiration and aspects of the shining play heavily in the story. i’m not (much) of a king fan, but the shining as a recurring backdrop to the story, and the musical inspirations gave it the feeling of something layered, like you were always looking for connections and parallels.

hannah as a character was something special. you get the sense, almost the whole time, that she’s a person out of place in the world. while i would have loved to see she and daniel truly and physically together in the end, i think the conclusion of hannah’s story made the most sense for her. and i think there’s a singular devotion in daniel’s eventual recognition that she wasn’t made for the world as she lived in it for most of her life, and to try to hold her in it would only hurt her in the end.

also, the WRITING??? this book is beautifully written, and leede has such a strong voice as an author. so many times i had to stop and just stare into space to fully appreciate a quote or turn of phrase. if you like horror novels with beautiful prose this one is insanely gorgeous to read.]]> 3.83 2026
author: C.J. Leede
name: jay!
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/02
date added: 2026/09/10
shelves: buddy-reads, spooky-shit, best-of-2026, books-that-speak-to-me
review:
you can’t tame what’s wild.
and there’s no reason to want to.

4.75 🌟

i’ve only read one of cj leede’s other books, but i’ll def be reading maeve fly now, and probably picking up whatever she publishes next. there’s a distinct flavour of stephen graham jones in headlights. the grittiness of it, the atmosphere and wildness of it. stephen king, of course, is also a major inspiration and aspects of the shining play heavily in the story. i’m not (much) of a king fan, but the shining as a recurring backdrop to the story, and the musical inspirations gave it the feeling of something layered, like you were always looking for connections and parallels.

hannah as a character was something special. you get the sense, almost the whole time, that she’s a person out of place in the world. while i would have loved to see she and daniel truly and physically together in the end, i think the conclusion of hannah’s story made the most sense for her. and i think there’s a singular devotion in daniel’s eventual recognition that she wasn’t made for the world as she lived in it for most of her life, and to try to hold her in it would only hurt her in the end.

also, the WRITING??? this book is beautifully written, and leede has such a strong voice as an author. so many times i had to stop and just stare into space to fully appreciate a quote or turn of phrase. if you like horror novels with beautiful prose this one is insanely gorgeous to read.
]]> 236963000 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid.

A visionary and atmospheric gothic fantasy about necromancy, vengeance, and soul-consuming love, the first in a duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth

Once there was an island where the dead walked the earth, and seven noble houses ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy.

A conqueror’s blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic.

But defiant against the new order stands the House of Teeth and its last living members: beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes.

Though she has not spoken a word in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House’s legacy. And she has her orders. She must recapture the secrets of death magic and avenge her family’s fallen honor. She must arrange the betrothal of her beloved cousin Marozia to Liuprand, heir to the conqueror’s throne, for access to the forbidden library in his grotesquely grand castle.

Revenge burns in Agnes’s heart but so do stranger passions—and it is Liuprand, the golden prince, who speaks to her soul. This passion is as treasonous as it is powerful, poisoning the kingdom’s roots and threatening to tear the already shattered realm in two.

For Agnes’s final order is the gravest: She must not fall in love.

Book One of The House of Teeth Duology]]> 560 Ava Reid 0593722604 jay! 2
so tara, if you’re reading this, i honestly don’t know what to tell you dude. i wouldn’t bother tbh.

this is my first book read by ava reid, and my feelings are… mixed. the dreary, tim burton-esque levels of gothic in this book was good. the writing, however, i didn’t cate for. there are some pretty quotes in innamorata. there’s also a fuckton of CONSTANTLY repeated phrases and descriptions. particularly the phrase ‘posthumous existence’, the oxymoron of which crops up about a million fucking times, and pissed me off so bad. also, ‘expired, extinct, forever gone’. we get it. that thing you’re describing is over, or has died. jesus christ. furthermore, the insinuated plot point of agnes trying to bring death magic back to drepane is just… nonexistent??? she plants some fucking herbs like the first week she’s in castle crudele and then barely thinks about it again when the romance with liuprand begins. i was expecting at the very least some sneaking around this cool fucking gothic castle trying to unearth its secrets, but nope. just fawning over the prince and making terrible decisions. classic romantasy protagonist behaviour.

i wanted so badly to like this. it started off promising. the first chapter is a great hook, but it becomes utterly pointless pretty much immediately after that. the ending was pretty buckwild, and it ends in a cliffhanger but i’m not sure finding out what happens next is worth trudging through another novel of repetitive writing and dull characters 😔]]> 3.64 2026
author: Ava Reid
name: jay!
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2026
rating: 2
read at: 2026/09/02
date added: 2026/09/02
shelves: adult-sff, fantasy, romance, spooky-shit
review:
i read this partially as a willing guinea pig so that my coworker who previous DNFed it would know whether it’s worth pushing through to the end.

so tara, if you’re reading this, i honestly don’t know what to tell you dude. i wouldn’t bother tbh.

this is my first book read by ava reid, and my feelings are… mixed. the dreary, tim burton-esque levels of gothic in this book was good. the writing, however, i didn’t cate for. there are some pretty quotes in innamorata. there’s also a fuckton of CONSTANTLY repeated phrases and descriptions. particularly the phrase ‘posthumous existence’, the oxymoron of which crops up about a million fucking times, and pissed me off so bad. also, ‘expired, extinct, forever gone’. we get it. that thing you’re describing is over, or has died. jesus christ. furthermore, the insinuated plot point of agnes trying to bring death magic back to drepane is just… nonexistent??? she plants some fucking herbs like the first week she’s in castle crudele and then barely thinks about it again when the romance with liuprand begins. i was expecting at the very least some sneaking around this cool fucking gothic castle trying to unearth its secrets, but nope. just fawning over the prince and making terrible decisions. classic romantasy protagonist behaviour.

i wanted so badly to like this. it started off promising. the first chapter is a great hook, but it becomes utterly pointless pretty much immediately after that. the ending was pretty buckwild, and it ends in a cliffhanger but i’m not sure finding out what happens next is worth trudging through another novel of repetitive writing and dull characters 😔
]]> 15015028
An intoxicating and spirited blend of fantasy, mythology, and history, Something Red features the most fascinating of characters including shapeshifters, Irish battle queens, Norman knights, Templars, pilgrims, Saracens, a Lithuanian noblewoman, warrior monks, strong - even dangerous - women, and ten murderous mastiffs, as well as an epic snowstorm that an early reader described as "one of the coldest scenes since Snow Falling on Cedars"]]> 336 Douglas Nicholas 1451660227 jay! 0 to-read 3.59 2010
author: Douglas Nicholas
name: jay!
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28584723 The Plague Charmer, by Karen Maitland, Queen of the Dark Ages and bestselling author of Company of Liars, will chill and delight fans of C.J. Sansom and Kate Mosse's Citadel in equal measure. 'A compelling blend of historical grit and supernatural twists' - Daily Mail

Riddle me this: I have a price, but it cannot be paid in gold or silver.

1361. Porlock Weir, Exmoor. Thirteen years after the Great Pestilence, plague strikes England for the second time. Sara, a packhorse man's wife, remembers the horror all too well and fears for safety of her children.
Only a dark-haired stranger offers help, but at a price that no one will pay.

Fear gives way to hysteria in the village and, when the sickness spreads to her family, Sara finds herself locked away by neighbours she has trusted for years. And, as her husband - and then others - begin to die, the cost no longer seems so unthinkable.

The price that I ask, from one willing to pay... A human life.]]> Karen Maitland 1472235851 jay! 0 to-read 3.80 2016
author: Karen Maitland
name: jay!
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 242287052 Empire of the Vampire, The First Law Trilogy, The Broken Empire, and Game of Thrones.

Culling of the House of Boars is a descent into darkness where ancient vampire clans wage brutal wars among themselves, their hunger for power rivaling their thirst for human blood.
Strigoi.

Living dead monstrosities haunting the villages and byways of Romania and Eastern Europe for over two millennia, shunning the sun and preying upon the blood of the living. They are a thing of nightmare, born of ancient dark arts and created to instill fear in the hearts of the invaders of their ancestral lands.

What you see is only a hateful remnant of what once incited such terror in the heart of Rome that Emperor Aurelian withdrew his legions from the frontier for fear of them. They hunt in the shadows of your world now, but once they roamed these lands like vengeful gods.

You see, the strigoi are an invasive species and have no natural predators. They are the locust in the wheat field of humanity.

I know this, for I am Adaric, Culling Master of the House of Boars.

And I am strigoi.]]> 83 Jack Finn jay! 0 to-read 4.12
author: Jack Finn
name: jay!
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 37877606
The responsibility for ensuring that such a disaster never comes to pass falls to one man: the Ravenmaster. The current holder of the position is Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, and in this fascinating, entertaining and touching book he memorably describes the ravens’ formidable intelligence, their idiosyncrasies and their occasionally wicked sense of humour. The Ravenmaster is a compelling, inspiring and irreverent story that will delight and surprise anyone with an interest in British history or animal behaviour.

 ]]> 256 Christopher Skaife 1443455938 jay! 0 to-read 4.00 2018
author: Christopher Skaife
name: jay!
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 206149628 In a dying land, the armies of the dead hold sway. And those who rule them are more god than human.

James Culdaine, the last heir of the Northern Throne, was just a young man when the armies of the South murdered his parents and subjugated his lands. He has never forgotten those responsible, nor has he forgiven. He has spent the last ten years living in isolation with The Feldarra; a sacred Northern clan of fierce warriors, led by the fearless Wulfee who, still reeling from the loss of her own children, finds new meaning in protecting what only family she has left.

Now, an ancient order of warlocks has returned to the North, singing dark songs composed of blood magic that null the elements and threaten all that is living.

With nature depleted and the Southern armies returning to the North, James struggles to embrace the unique power he has long tried to repress; the ability to commune with the spirits of the dead. In the bitter heart of a growing war, with the world dying around them, James and Wulfee desperately seek answers, vengeance, and a way to save the ones they love... No matter the cost.

Fires refuse to burn. The skies are thirsty and breathless. The earth won't eat its rot...
Welcome to Ardura.
 
Braveheart and A Song of Ice and Fire meet Stephen King in Palmer's triumphant first installment to the Last Ballad Series. Don't miss the start of The Last Ballad. Grab your copy now!]]> Scott Palmer jay! 0 to-read 4.03
author: Scott Palmer
name: jay!
average rating: 4.03
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376766 From New York Times bestselling author of the Empire of the Vampire and Empire of the Damned, Jay Kristoff, comes the epic conclusion to the #1 internationally bestselling series.

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

Gabriel de León has lost his family, his faith, and the last hope of ending the endless night—his surrogate daughter, Dior. With no thought left but vengeance, he and a band of loyal brothers journey into the war-torn heart of Elidaen to claim the life of the Forever King.


Unbeknownst to the Last Silversaint, the Grail still lives—speeding towards the besieged capital of Augustin in the frail hope of ending Daysdeath. But deadly treachery awaits within the halls of power, and the Forever King’s legions march ever closer. Gabriel and Dior will be drawn into a final battle that will shape the very fate of the Empire, but as the sun sets for what may the last time, there will be no one left for them to trust.

Not even each other.]]> 800 Jay Kristoff 1250245370 jay! 5 hearts only bruise. they never break.

i would give this book ten fucking stars if i could. bloody and blasphemous and absolutely eviscerating. i fear i may never trust jay kristoff the same way ever again.]]> 4.53 2025
author: Jay Kristoff
name: jay!
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/16
date added: 2026/08/16
shelves: adult-sff, books-that-speak-to-me, dark-fantasy, favourites, trope-vampires, trope-villains-but-theyre-sexy, best-of-2026, buddy-reads, lgbtq, made-me-cry-my-own-tears
review:
hearts only bruise. they never break.

i would give this book ten fucking stars if i could. bloody and blasphemous and absolutely eviscerating. i fear i may never trust jay kristoff the same way ever again.
]]> 10108463 From the acclaimed author of Knockemstiff (“A powerful, remarkable, exceptional book.” –Los Angeles Times): a dark and riveting vision of America that delivers literary excitement in the highest degree.

Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. There’s Willad Russell, tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can’t save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer, no matter how much sacrificial blood he pours on his “prayer log.” There’s Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers who troll America’s highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There’s the spider-handling preacher, Roy, and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte’s orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.

Donald Ray Pollock braids his plotlines into a taut narrative that will leave readers astonished and deeply moved. Marrying the twisted intensity of Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers with the religious and gothic overtones of Flannery O’Connor at her most haunting, he proves himself a master storyteller in the grittiest and most uncompromising American grain.]]> 261 Donald Ray Pollock 038553504X jay! 0 to-read 4.13 2011
author: Donald Ray Pollock
name: jay!
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58724923 From Jason Rekulak, Edgar-nominated author of The Impossible Fortress, comes a wildly inventive spin on the classic horror story in Hidden Pictures, a supernatural thriller about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.]]> 372 Jason Rekulak 1250819342 jay! 0 to-read 4.10 2022
author: Jason Rekulak
name: jay!
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218126170 A gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess who is forced on an impossible quest with the one infuriating knight whose future is beyond her sight.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god. ]]> 389 Rachel Gillig 0316582700 jay! 0 to-read 4.24 2025
author: Rachel Gillig
name: jay!
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52357 259 Seamus Heaney 0393320979 jay! 0 to-read 3.47 950
author: Seamus Heaney
name: jay!
average rating: 3.47
book published: 950
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35497377 Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

The Chatelaine has come.

The year is 1328 and Bruges is under siege by the Chatelaine of Hell and her army of chimeras – -creatures forged in the deep fires of the Hellbeast.

At night, revenants crawl over the walls and bring plague and grief to this city of widows. Margriet de Vos learns she's a widow herself when her good-for-nothing husband comes home dead from the war. But he didn't come back for her. The revenant who was her husband pulls a secret treasure of coins and weapons from under his floorboards and goes back through the mouth of the beast called Hell.

Margriet killed her first soldier when she was eleven. She's buried six of her seven children. She'll do anything for her daughter, even if it means raiding Hell itself to get her inheritance back.

Margriet's daughter Beatrix is haunted by a dead husband of her own, and blessed, or cursed, with an enchanted distaff that allows her to control the revenants and see the future.

Together with a transgender man-at-arms who has unfinished business with the Chatelaine, a traumatised widow with a giant water-powered forgehammer at her disposal, and a wealthy alderman's wife who escapes Bruges with her children, Margriet and Beatrix forge a raiding party the likes of which Hell has never seen…]]> 300 Kate Heartfield 1771484527 jay! 0 to-read 3.90 2018
author: Kate Heartfield
name: jay!
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25804214 480 Kelley Skovron 0356507122 jay! 0 to-read 3.89 2016
author: Kelley Skovron
name: jay!
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38237350
The men on board the HMS Terror  — part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage — are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations, a dwindling coal supply, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.

“The best and most unusual historical novel I have read in years.” —Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe]]> 784 Dan Simmons 0316486094 jay! 0 did-not-finish 4.08 2007
author: Dan Simmons
name: jay!
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/02
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> 125094716 A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the “Are you ready to be un-settled?” Featuring stories by:

Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.

These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.]]> 408 Shane Hawk jay! 0 did-not-finish 3.86 2023
author: Shane Hawk
name: jay!
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/02
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> 61884781 A Bram Stoker and Splatterpunk Award Nominee!
One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of the Year!
An Indie Next Pick!

"This is gory and brutal and beautiful and painful and terrifying and a pure delight."—Stephen Graham Jones

A provocative and unforgettable debut that is both a blood-soaked love letter to Los Angeles and a gleeful send-up to iconic horror villains, Maeve Fly will thrill fans of slashers and the macabre.

By day, Maeve Fly works at the happiest place in the world as every child’s favorite ice princess.

By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes.

But when Gideon Green - her best friend’s brother - moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet.

Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the pages of American Psycho. Step aside Patrick Bateman, it’s Maeve’s turn with the knife.

"An apocalyptic Anaheim Psycho." —Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House]]> 288 C.J. Leede 1250857856 jay! 0 to-read 3.63 2023
author: C.J. Leede
name: jay!
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 236605293
Far to the north, a holy sword has been stolen from the Court of Lilies. Squire Ciata tracks the thieves to an Ossan guild-family. She does not know the rules of this strange land, only that the sword does not belong to them. An army of enforcers stands between her and its return. A hopeless cause, if not for the help of a broken young man she meets along the way.]]> 112 Brian McClellan jay! 0 to-read 4.44
author: Brian McClellan
name: jay!
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 232209415 Jordan Peele and Jeff Vandermeer meet The Overstory in comedy writer Allison Mick’s darkly humorous debut eco-horror novel, as a Black woman returns home to the redwood forests of northern California, only to unearth the monsters that lurk among the trees…

Jasmine Bay is a nurse for an Oakland mental health facility, battling her own demons, caught in a spiral of suicidal despair. Estranged from her brother James and his wife Tilly, who was once her best friend, Jas has chosen self-isolation to protect herself—even if it means denying herself a hopeful future with co-worker and potential love interest Henry Lewis.

When her godmother dies, Jas returns to Redceder for the funeral, a logging town where her grandfather William Whipple made a living deforesting the countryside, ripping and raping apart nature’s very foundations for corporate profits. As trees fell to axes and chainsaws, so did dozens of lumberjacks, falling prey to the dangers of their job—and to the ecoterrorism of Jas’s grandfather who was lynched for his crimes.

And buried in the haunted woods are even more dark secrets perpetrated by Jas’s family. Unnatural acts giving birth to entities made of human flesh and petrified bark, seeking to avenge the devastation that ravaged their land. It is an inheritance that threatens to consume the remnants of Jas’s family, and her very sanity. . .

Celebrated comedy writer Allison Mick’s Humboldt Cut exposes the traumatic costs of environmental destruction in an energetic, darkly humorous horror adventure that combines the botanical terrors of VanderMeer’s Annihilation and the psychological horror of The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones with a dash of Jordan Peele.]]> 342 Allison Mick 1645662217 jay! 0 to-read 3.37
author: Allison Mick
name: jay!
average rating: 3.37
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 243502731
ATONE OR DIE.

Grad student Caro has no idea what she wants to do with her life, but when an opportunity arises to act as a research assistant on an anthropological expedition for her professor and lover, Edward Beck, she doesn't hesitate.

Beck assembles a team of academics and professionals to study the ancient sea-based Cult of the Leviathan, and the expedition descends into the sea caves where the cult are said to have dwelt.

But when the cave entrance collapses, trapping them inside, the expedition will find they are not alone in the darkness. Surrounded by strange artefacts and scattered bones, an ancient trial has been set in motion. One by one, the members of the expedition will be tested and forced to atone for their greatest sin. . . or die.]]> 368 Megan Bontrager 0316588016 jay! 0 to-read 3.37 2026
author: Megan Bontrager
name: jay!
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 253942433 A cursed girl trapped in a tower must choose between a prince who promises to free her and an immortal knight kept magically emotionless in this romantic fantasy from Margaret Rogerson, the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and Vespertine.

Ophelia has spent the past ten years locked away in a tower, haunted by a deadly curse, with only her pet dragonlet for company. She connects with the outside world through her books, her spyglass, and the experiments that have become her windows to everything she cannot reach.

In a kingdom where magic has faded to nearly nothing, a powerful curse like Ophelia’s is a mystery that soon attracts the interest of the crown prince. Prince Tristan is handsome and charming, and his arrival allows Ophelia to descend from her tower for the first time in years. But as Tristan sweeps her up in a whirlwind courtship, she suspects he is keeping a secret from her about her curse—and finds herself growing ever closer to the knight he has assigned to keep her safe. Clad in dragonscale armor, bound by an unbreakable enchantment to serve the crown, the knight is feared by all who cross his path. Only Ophelia looks closely enough to glimpse the noble soul beneath, imprisoned by the cruelty of his vow.

Yet love cannot exist between them. For as Ophelia makes a discovery that could alter her fate and the fate of the whole kingdom, the knight’s enchantment demands his uncompromising loyalty to Prince Tristan. Even if that forces him to betray his lady…and break her heart.]]> 352 Margaret Rogerson 1534477144 jay! 0 to-read 5.00 2027
author: Margaret Rogerson
name: jay!
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2027
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34913896 New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant, author of the renowned Newsflesh series, returns with a novel that takes us to a new world of ancient mysteries and mythological dangers come to life.

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a "mockumentary" bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.

But the secrets of the deep come with a price.]]> 562 Mira Grant 0316379387 jay! 4
overall i loved this, but it definitely could have been about a hundred pages shorter. the beginning dragged a little, and some scenes felt like filler. but once things picked up, they kept picking up. the ending was unexpected and fun, and the scaries were SCARY. glad i picked this one up on the recommendation of someone whose taste in horror is impeccable 😉]]> 4.01 2017
author: Mira Grant
name: jay!
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2026/06/18
date added: 2026/06/18
shelves: lgbt-rep-bi-pan, lgbt-rep-sapphic, lgbt-rep-side, lgbtq, mythology-and-folklore, spooky-shit
review:
3.75 🌟

overall i loved this, but it definitely could have been about a hundred pages shorter. the beginning dragged a little, and some scenes felt like filler. but once things picked up, they kept picking up. the ending was unexpected and fun, and the scaries were SCARY. glad i picked this one up on the recommendation of someone whose taste in horror is impeccable 😉
]]> 232794924 This vivid account the Plague moves beyond Christian Europe to the Muslim Near East, illustrating the truly international impact of humanity's greatest scourge on the medieval world.

In 1347, a catastrophic plague fell on Europe and its neighbors, halving entire populations and causing untold suffering. The Black Death is, without question, one of the defining episodes in our history, and yet, one critical fact too often gets sidelined in our discussions of the this disease was not solely, or even primarily, a European phenomenon, but rather a catastrophe that touched the whole medieval world, oncluding the Muslim near and Middle East, the Byzantine Empire, north Africa and Asia.

Thomas Asbridge, a historian at Queen Mary University of London, Asbridge treats the Black Death as the truly international phenomenon that it was, crisscrossing the globe to follow the plague’s appearance. Compiling over seven years of research, Asbridge brings the drama of this era to life through hundreds of eyewitness accounts. We're introduced to characters like Ibn al-Wardi, the Muslim writer who witnessed the plague’s onset in Syria, or Ibn Khaldun, who survived the Black Death in Tunis, and went on to develop a new academic framework for the study of human history. We meet people of all walks of kings and queens, peasants and merchants, and we also revisit familiar characters, like Chaucer and Petrarch, to get a sense of what it must have felt like to live through this period of horrific uncertainty. 

As Thomas Asbridge masterfully demonstrates, reducing the story of the Black Death to a Western narrative not only limits our view of the past, but it also makes it impossible to appreciate the pandemic’s true scale and long-term significance. The immediate repercussions of the Black Death, Asbridge shows us, were often felt most severely in the Muslim not only were mortality rates often higher, but the aftermath of disease weakened the mighty Mamluk Empire, contributing to its eventual fall.  

The Black Death first evokes the palpable existential terror of living through this plague, and with graceful clarity, illuminates its effects on almost every aspect of medieval life, including attitudes toward religion and death, the conduct of trade, the balance of political power, and the very structure and fabric of society.]]> 544 Thomas Asbridge 0593129164 jay! 0 to-read 4.12 2026
author: Thomas Asbridge
name: jay!
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 247507201 32 Michael Chaves jay! 4 4.23
author: Michael Chaves
name: jay!
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2026/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 244960795 THE WOLVES OF WAR ARE BARING THEIR FANGS

The Clans once lived freely, honouring their gods and traditions. Then the northern invaders unleashed a tide of blood and fire. Now the Clans are a conquered people.

Ivan cares not for wars or kings. His only concern is the safety of his family, especially his daughter Halia, whom he would protect with his life. Halia has been trapped in her own body since birth, yet at night she has dreams of running with wolves and speaking with fae creatures of the forest. Many believe her cursed, but Halia's awakening powers may be the only way she and her family can survive the coming storm.

For the wolves of war are stalking the horizon. Two princes have become mortal enemies, and an iron-toothed witch haunts the shadows. As mighty nations clash, Halia must master her strange magic to protect those she loves. To do so, she must accept a terrifying truth.

Sometimes, the only way through the darkness is to embrace it.]]> 496 John Gwynne 0356527875 jay! 0 to-read 4.59 2026
author: John Gwynne
name: jay!
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 241125269 In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world—in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret.

Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power.]]> 368 Katherine Arden 0593128281 jay! 0 to-read 3.81 2026
author: Katherine Arden
name: jay!
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 109463867
Andrick the Barrelbreaker first led an army at sixteen.

His victories secured the throne of Erland for his brother and shattered the rebellious noble houses in the West. Decades later, a fragile peace still holds.

But when the king’s only son is murdered, Erland is plunged into crisis. The new heir will stop at nothing to secure his claim. The king, maddened by grief, stalks the halls and hidden passages of his keep, growing more unpredictable by the day.

As war and magical disaster loom, Andrick must decide between protecting his family and marching out to serve a brother he barely recognizes.

His children must also choose their destinies.

Training in the practice yard every day, Orsian dreams of fighting beside his father. Now, for the first time, he faces the brutal reality of battle.

And Pherri is haunted by very different dreams—of figures struggling up the mountain, of a voice more chilling than the wind, of blood on the snow. Only she can resist the darkness that waits on the slopes above…

Race through the pages of an epic new series and enter a world of intrigue, battles and destiny that will leave you breathless. The Erland Saga is a classic fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin, John Gwynne and Raymond E. Feist.]]> 548 R.S. Moule 1837900531 jay! 0 to-read 4.18 2023
author: R.S. Moule
name: jay!
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40106375
A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.]]> 371 Taylor Adams 0062875671 jay! 0 to-read 4.04 2017
author: Taylor Adams
name: jay!
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 231127248 A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother's search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.

Single mother Jenna arrives on the tranquil shores of Athelsea fueled by the desperate hope to find Chloe, her teenage daughter who’s disappeared from their London home. She has no idea why–all she knows is that Chloe had changed in the previous two weeks, haunted by something, or someone, and the ferry ticket here is the only clue she has.

As she explores the village and interacts with the locals, Jenna soon realizes a macabre secret is being hidden in plain sight. A dark legend of a vengeful woman called the Bone Queen is spoken of in hushed tones amongst the villagers, some of whom are frantically trying to suppress the tale that has long terrorized their lives.

As Jenna starts to learn more about the Bone Queen and her previous victims, the village’s grip on reality begins to loosen and no one can say for sure who, or what, is responsible for the deaths and disappearances on Athelsea. Suffering from what she can no longer distinguish between paranoid hallucinations or real manifestations, Jenna must act quickly before Chloe is next…

The Bone Queen has left her mark, and one day she’ll collect.]]> 272 Will Shindler 1250393310 jay! 0 to-read 3.28 2026
author: Will Shindler
name: jay!
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 245320375 The Library at Mount Char.

The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance.

Blacktail’s fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice.

As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers—animal, mortal, and otherworldly—who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?]]> 288 Scott Hawkins jay! 0 to-read 4.09 2026
author: Scott Hawkins
name: jay!
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 248670879
Five years have passed since the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation in Stephen Graham Jones’s breakout bestseller The Only Good Indians. Nathan Yellow Tail, one of the survivors of the revenge murders, finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend, Sebby, who is hanging on to life in a room a few doors down.

Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, Nate steps up, again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School—where many Indigenous children were abused—and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

By turns terrifying and deeply moving, Off the Reservation is a haunting American Indian novel of survival, reckoning, and redemption, shining light on the dark corners of this country’s history while also showing the desperate choices people make when they’re put up against a wall.]]> 416 Stephen Graham Jones 1668225123 jay! 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.31 2026
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: jay!
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/28
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 228974111 Welcome to Lee Young-do’s epic classic series, The Bird That Drinks Tears. The master of Korean fantasy—often cited as the J.R.R. Tolkien of South Korea—Lee Young-do has created a tale of castles built on the backs of flying mantas, giant birdmen, heartless immortals, and a quest that will change the very nature of the world and its gods, available for the first time in English by award-winning translator Anton Hur.

Three handles one.

The world is divided by the Line of Limit. To the north are the Tokkebi—fire people able to manipulate flames as both weapons and illusions; Rekon—giant birdmen with immense strength and warrior acumen; and the humans—as divided as the other races are unified. To the south are the Nhaga—a reptilian people who relinquish their hearts for immortality. For centuries, the races didn’t cross that line, but change is in the air. A Nhaga is being sent North…and a trio is being dispatched to make sure this agent from the South makes it out alive—one from each race.

But the illusion of a simple journey is quickly dispelled by the fact that the Tokkebi is merely a scholar, not an adventurer; the Rekon is deathly afraid of water; and the human hunts and eats Nhaga. And when the Nhaga they’re supposed to be escorting out of the Kiboren forest is murdered, the one sent in his place turns out to very much have a heart—meaning he’s quite vulnerable to the dangerous exodus.

The four must quickly forge an alliance and shed the distrust and prejudice that plagues them if they are to survive. And just as crucial, they must figure out what this mission is actually about, because unbeknownst to them, the very fate of the world might rest on this one Nhaga making it to the North intact.

A classic not to be missed, The Heart of the Nhaga is epic fantasy at its best, translated into English for the first time ever by award-winning translator Anton Hur.]]> 448 Yeong-Do Lee 0063349892 jay! 0 to-read 3.87 2003
author: Yeong-Do Lee
name: jay!
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 206768537 A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions—demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost?

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.]]> 288 Paul Tremblay 0063070065 jay! 2 spooky-shit
genuinely wondering how this book has so many reviews from people who seemed to think it was The Most disturbing thing ever??? i don’t think there was a single moment where i was creeped out or disturbed beyond the calm, placid thought of ‘oh boy gee golly those kids sure are mean’.

the ending felt anticlimactic for how much the narrator built it up, and while it was sad i also felt like the characters were sort of flat, so it was difficult to care much about what happened.

in my opinion this would have made a much better short story than a novel. and while the mixed media approach to storytelling is something i usually find fun, i think in this instance it really just served to act as more meat on the proverbial bones of the story, and that meat was sort of stringy and dissatisfying. most of the script sequences could have been cut or told as a part of the overall narrative and it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference.]]> 3.11 2024
author: Paul Tremblay
name: jay!
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2026/05/26
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: spooky-shit
review:
2.5 🌟

genuinely wondering how this book has so many reviews from people who seemed to think it was The Most disturbing thing ever??? i don’t think there was a single moment where i was creeped out or disturbed beyond the calm, placid thought of ‘oh boy gee golly those kids sure are mean’.

the ending felt anticlimactic for how much the narrator built it up, and while it was sad i also felt like the characters were sort of flat, so it was difficult to care much about what happened.

in my opinion this would have made a much better short story than a novel. and while the mixed media approach to storytelling is something i usually find fun, i think in this instance it really just served to act as more meat on the proverbial bones of the story, and that meat was sort of stringy and dissatisfying. most of the script sequences could have been cut or told as a part of the overall narrative and it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
]]> 36521316
Then, one fateful night, she sees something she was never meant to see, the Center’s most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man, captured in the Amazon, to be studied for Cold War advancements. The creature is terrifying but also magnificent, capable of language and of understanding emotions…and Elisa can’t keep away. Using sign language, the two learn to communicate. Soon, affection turns into love, and the creature becomes Elisa’s sole reason to live.

But outside forces are pressing in. Richard Strickland, the obsessed soldier who tracked the asset through the Amazon, wants nothing more than to dissect it before the Russians get a chance to steal it. Elisa has no choice but to risk everything to save her beloved. With the help of Zelda and Giles, Elisa hatches a plan to break out the creature. But Strickland is on to them. And the Russians are, indeed, coming.]]> 315 Guillermo del Toro 1250165342 jay! 0 to-read 3.88 2017
author: Guillermo del Toro
name: jay!
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 30285766
Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck--the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.

While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions--searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand--evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves "What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased...and very hungry?"]]> 376 Alma Katsu 0735212511 jay! 0 to-read 3.56 2018
author: Alma Katsu
name: jay!
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 247785403 The highly anticipated, explosive conclusion to the Ninth House trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Hell is empty and all the devils are here…

Alex Stern made it to hell and back more than once, but this time she left the door open behind her. Demons are creeping through the streets of New Haven and the Yale campus, feeding on the souls of the living, terrifying the dead. Alex and her allies can hunt them, but it’s only a matter of time before the gates to the underworld open and they face a war they cannot win. To stop it, they’ll have to reach deep into the secrets of Yale and its societies, and discover the truth hidden in Alex’s own blood.

While she struggles to hold onto the dream of a future Yale once offered, Alex must contend with the machinations of a corrupt Lethe Board and a deadly vampire with his own connection to the societies. But for the first time in her life, she won’t have to face the fight alone. Dawes, Turner, Mercy, and even Tripp will have a role to play, none more so than Alex’s mentor Darlington, the golden boy who lived so long in her head, now back in the flesh and cursed with dangerous powers of his own. Hell itself is stalking the delegates of Lethe House, and they’re all about to learn that demons don’t play by human rules.]]> 512 Leigh Bardugo 1250884314 jay! 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.58 2026
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: jay!
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/13
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 231104445
THE EXTRA is the debut dark sci-fi novella by Annie Neugebauer.]]> 132 Annie Neugebauer 1959565605 jay! 0 to-read 3.50 2025
author: Annie Neugebauer
name: jay!
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 256008 Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America.

Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.]]> 960 Larry McMurtry 067168390X jay! 0 to-read 4.58 1985
author: Larry McMurtry
name: jay!
average rating: 4.58
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 144127 613 David Farland 0812541626 jay! 0 to-read 3.78 1998
author: David Farland
name: jay!
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13330761 336 Peter Heller 0307959945 jay! 0 to-read 3.88 2012
author: Peter Heller
name: jay!
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22635841
In the Madre de Dios--Mother of God--region of Peru, where the Amazon River begins its massive flow, the Andean Mountain cloud forests fall into lowland Amazon Rainforest, creating the most biodiversity-rich place on the planet. In January 2006, when he was just a restless eighteen-year-old hungry for adventure, Paul Rosolie embarked on a journey to the west Amazon that would transform his life.

Venturing alone into some of the most inaccessible reaches of the jungle, he encountered giant snakes, floating forests, isolated tribes untouched by outsiders, prowling jaguars, orphaned baby anteaters, poachers in the black market trade in endangered species, and much more. Yet today, the primordial forests of the Madre de Dios are in danger from developers, oil giants, and gold miners eager to exploit its natural resources.

In Mother of God, this explorer and conservationist relives his amazing odyssey exploring the heart of this wildest place on earth. When he began delving deeper in his search for the secret Eden, spending extended periods in isolated solitude, he found things he never imagined could exist. "Alone and miniscule against a titanic landscape I have seen the depths of the Amazon, the guts of the jungle where no men go, Rosolie writes. "But as the legendary explorer Percy Fawcett warned, 'the few remaining unknown places of the world exact a price for their secrets.'"

Illustrated with 16 pages of color photos.]]> 320 Paul Rosolie 0062259520 jay! 0 to-read 4.38 2014
author: Paul Rosolie
name: jay!
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 246968931 Nineteen original horror stories exploring ancient sites, uncovering forgotten histories and prising open the tombs of the past, from award-winning authors and editors Dan Coxon and Philip Fracassi.

Perfect for fans of Ellen Datlow.

Unearthed digs beneath these crumbling structures to reveal their archaic pasts, and their darkest secrets. Featuring the best modern writers of horror and dark fantasy, these stories explore the caverns and the catacombs, the ruined temples and the monoliths – and drag an ancient evil back into the light.

Featuring stories
Tananarive Due
Christopher Golden
Josh Malerman
Tim Lebbon
Eric LaRocca
A.M. Shine
Jonathan Maberry
Hildur Knútsdóttir
Ai Jiang
A. G. Slatter
Mark Chadbourn
Priya Sharma
Benjamin Percy
V. Castro
Gemma Amor
Cavan Scott
Premee Mohamed
Hache Pueyo
Steve Toase]]> 416 Dan Coxon jay! 0 to-read 3.18 2026
author: Dan Coxon
name: jay!
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 231387416 A haunting, atmospheric modern Gothic horror tale based on traditional Irish mythology, from the author of smash hit The Watchers. Ancient evil is awakened on a lonely isle off the coast of Ireland.

TO LEARN THE TRUTH

WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn't been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago. But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.

They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

Grace is perfect for fans of horror classics, Paul Tremblay, and Kealan Patrick Burke.]]> 304 A.M. Shine 1804547980 jay! 0 to-read 3.67 2026
author: A.M. Shine
name: jay!
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54906250
A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science—from the author of The Martian.

HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NEW YORK TIMES READER PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY • ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS: Parade, Newsweek, New York Public Library, Polygon, Shelf Awareness, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

Hailed by USA Today as “an epic story of redemption, discovery, and cool speculative sci-fi,” Project Hail Mary is an irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver.]]> 549 Andy Weir jay! 5 4.57 2021
author: Andy Weir
name: jay!
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/15
date added: 2026/04/15
shelves: comfort-reads, scifi, would-fight-to-the-death-for-the-mc, favourites, made-me-cry-my-own-tears
review:

]]> 223296158 My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.

Slow Gods is the galaxy-spanning tale ​of one man's impossible life charted against the fate of humanity amongst the stars—a powerfully imaginative space opera from multi-award-winning author Claire North. 

In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind.
 
Here is one out there in deep space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me. 

This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time.  
 
Are you listening? ]]> 438 Claire North 0316586307 jay! 0 to-read 3.84 2025
author: Claire North
name: jay!
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54843355
The whateverpocalypse. That’s what Touré, a twenty-something Cambridge coder, calls it after waking up one morning to find himself seemingly the only person left in the city. Once he finds Robbie and Carol, two equally disoriented Harvard freshmen, he realizes he isn’t alone, but the name Whateverpocalypse. But it doesn’t explain where everyone went. It doesn’t explain how the city became overgrown with vegetation in the space of a night. Or how wild animals with no fear of humans came to roam the streets.

Add freakish weather to the mix, swings of temperature that spawn tornadoes one minute and snowstorms the next, and it seems things can’t get much weirder. Yet even as a handful of new survivors appear—Paul, a preacher as quick with a gun as a Bible verse; Win, a young professional with a horse; Bethany, a thirteen-year-old juvenile delinquent; and Ananda, an MIT astrophysics adjunct—life in Cambridge, Massachusetts gets stranger and stranger.

The self-styled Apocalypse Seven are tired of questions with no answers. Tired of being hunted by things seen and unseen. Now, armed with curiosity, desperation, a shotgun, and a bow, they become the hunters. And that’s when things truly get weird.]]> 363 Gene Doucette 0358419476 jay! 0 to-read 3.82 2021
author: Gene Doucette
name: jay!
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18002456
Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller takes you deep into the heart of darkness, where fear feeds on sanity…and terror hungers for more.]]> 368 Nick Cutter jay! 4 spooky-shit a few times i quite literally had to put it down for a moment out of pure revulsion. this book is my freezer book, for sure.
being in shelley’s head is an absolute NIGHTMARE. this kid’s psyche was absolutely not a place i wanted to experience, and cutter pulls no punches about making sure that the reader feels almost complicit in his actions for some scenes. like you’re right there, and you want to stop it but can’t quite muster up the will. i found the real-world horror of shelley longpre to be far more visceral and unsettling than any bio-engineered parasite.
other than shelley, the characters for the most part are likeable, and newton in particular was my favourite. despite being borderline BULLIED by these boys he stays reliable and stalwart and HIMSELF the entire time, and steps up for them when it really matters. newt will always be famous to me ✊😔 ]]> 3.85 2014
author: Nick Cutter
name: jay!
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/24
date added: 2026/03/24
shelves: spooky-shit
review:
i looooove horror. it’s very rare for me to be truly and deeply disturbed by horror films or books. but true crime? real, human evil? that stuff gets to me. and that’s why the troop was so fucking disturbing to me.
a few times i quite literally had to put it down for a moment out of pure revulsion. this book is my freezer book, for sure.
being in shelley’s head is an absolute NIGHTMARE. this kid’s psyche was absolutely not a place i wanted to experience, and cutter pulls no punches about making sure that the reader feels almost complicit in his actions for some scenes. like you’re right there, and you want to stop it but can’t quite muster up the will. i found the real-world horror of shelley longpre to be far more visceral and unsettling than any bio-engineered parasite.
other than shelley, the characters for the most part are likeable, and newton in particular was my favourite. despite being borderline BULLIED by these boys he stays reliable and stalwart and HIMSELF the entire time, and steps up for them when it really matters. newt will always be famous to me ✊😔
]]> 249689247 AN ENDLESS VOID. A POWERFUL ANOMALY. A QUEST FOR REVENGE.

When The Sinker was a child, her home was destroyed by The Construct, a floating machine that consumes all in its path. To survive, she fled into the void, a seemingly infinite nothingness where few dare venture, filled with floating, vertically stacked rocks. Some of these rocks are giant magnets, some burn with eternal flame and some are influenced by the presence of seemingly magical objects – anomalies that defy physical laws.

For half a lifetime, The Sinker has wandered the void on a quest for knowledge, for understanding and for peace. But when rumours reach her that The Construct is near again, she knows fate has come full circle. With the help of Crooked Arm – the heir to a shattered throne, who happens to possess the most powerful anomaly of all – the two of them set out on a mission to end the tyranny of The Construct forever.

From one of the visionary writers of the Netflix series The OA comes a reality unlike anything you have ever encountered before.

If you're ready, enter the void...]]> 336 Damien Ober 1398535915 jay! 0 to-read 3.19 2026
author: Damien Ober
name: jay!
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55782435
Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.]]> 530 Chuck Wendig 0399182136 jay! 0 to-read 3.68 2021
author: Chuck Wendig
name: jay!
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 258872
The Angostin hordes raged over the Southern Borders. Evil sorcery ruled, and the vampyre kings lived once more. The Highland people were in much need of a great hero.

Jarek Mace needed nothing and no one—not even that bard Owen Odell, with whom he now traveled. But when Mace harassed the Angostins for his own purposes, he inadvertently aided the Highland people. And now he was being hailed as a hero, a legend, the great Morningstar returned.

But Owen Odell knew the real man behind the people's tales. Mace was an outlaw, a bandit, a heartless thief. He was no savior of the people. He was no legend. Or was he?

“It seems that every time I read a new David Gemmell novel it is better than the last—and Morningstar is no exception. . . . The main difference between the book and the myths it draws upon is that Gemmell includes some of the less savory characters who we suspect may have been at the basis of both Robin and Arthur.”— Starburst]]> 280 David Gemmell 0345379098 jay! 0 to-read 4.18 1992
author: David Gemmell
name: jay!
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 242498696
Now, with the new Pope in Avignon hoping to reassert spiritual control over the Holy Roman Empire, Remi and Pierre find themselves flung into an intrigue at the beer-swigging heart of Christendom. Following the trail of murdered priests, plague-prophets, treacherous knights, and stolen relics, they will descend into the heart of a rotting empire, where new heresies have grown to fill the void left in the wake of plague.

Where the sulphurous stench of demons is surpassed only by the stink of the dead.

Where good has become a tool for evil.

Where something ancient is stirring.

Something that claims dominion and will have it no matter the cost.


In the Name of the Worm is a historical dark fantasy adventure of heretical proportions, complete with lost gods, entombed nuns, witch-knights, and a breathless plot interwoven with a heady dose of heterodox Christian and German folklore.


]]> 265 Mitchell Lüthi jay! 3 dark-fantasy, spooky-shit 3.96 2025
author: Mitchell Lüthi
name: jay!
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/03/09
shelves: dark-fantasy, spooky-shit
review:
this one started off strong but somewhere toward the middle my feelings about it got pretty lukewarm. lüthi’s writing is always evocative and gorgeous, and the new additions to the cast of characters within this world were great. i thoroughly enjoyed konrad, he was super entertaining. will definitely be adding “off we fuck, then” to my vernacular. but ultimately it just felt a little disjointed and meandering. i think the ending definitely set up the story for another instalment so im interested to see where it will go.
]]> 21010919
Balfre, son of Aimery, Duke of Harcia, is his father's heir. But he has dreams of a crown, not a coronet. He dreams himself the king of a Harcia re-united, but his brother Grefin, their father's favorite, stands in his way.

Harald, debauched Duke of neighboring Clemen, is feared and despised by his nobles. He thinks he can trust his bastard-born cousin Ederic ... but Ederic fears for the duchy and will do what he must to save it.

And caught between dangers is Harald's infant son, Liam. Stolen by his nurse, vanished into the lawless Marches, he is the spark that will grow to set the world on fire.]]> 676 Karen Miller 1841499595 jay! 0 to-read 3.47 2013
author: Karen Miller
name: jay!
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 92610 258 Ursula K. Le Guin 0441732968 jay! 0 to-read 3.81 1966
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: jay!
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 67956 288 George R.R. Martin 0553383086 jay! 0 to-read 3.59 1977
author: George R.R. Martin
name: jay!
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 417729 Time magazine, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin is a giant in the field of fantasy literature and one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. Now he delivers a rare treat for readers: a compendium of his shorter works, collected into two stunning volumes, that offer fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.

Gathered here in Volume I are the very best of George R.R. Martin's early works, including never-before-published fan pieces, his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Award-winning stories plus the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin's New York Times bestselling children's book of the same title originated. A dazzling array that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs, Volume I, is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.

Contents:
- Introduction by Gardner Dozois
One: A Four-Color Fanboy (2003)
- Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark (1967)
- The Fortress (2003)
- And Death His Legacy (2003)
Two: The Filthy Pro (2003)
- The Hero (1971)
- The Exit to San Breta (1972)
- The Second Kind of Loneliness (1972)
- With Morning Comes Mistfall (1973)
Three: The Light of Distant Stars (2003)
- A Song for Lya (1974)
- The Stone City (1977)
- This Tower of Ashes (1976)
- And Seven Times Never Kill Man (1975)
- Bitterblooms (1977)
- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)
Four: The Heirs of Turtle Castle (2003)
- The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr (1976)
- The Ice Dragon (1980)
- In the Lost Lands (1982)
Five: Hybrids and Horrors (2003)
- Meathouse Man (1976)
- Remembering Melody (1981)
- Sandkings (1979)
- Nightflyers (1980)
- The Monkey Treatment (1983)
- The Pear-Shaped Man (1987)

]]> 683 George R.R. Martin 0553805452 jay! 0 to-read 3.97 2003
author: George R.R. Martin
name: jay!
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22119322
A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.

But far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a universal healer hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.]]> 398 Nick Cutter jay! 3 spooky-shit
this one is a bit difficult to rate, since i flew through parts of it and barely managed to slog through others. the short chapters made it easy to read in big chunks, but the pacing felt unbearably slow at times. i think i’m just not a fan of the many long, drawn-out dream sequences and flashbacks that dominate much of this book. but the abject hopelessness of the ending was great, and luke as a character was the ideal vessel for this story, imo.

clayton was an interesting figure— detached, brilliant, utterly cold in his bearing and seemingly incapable of true feeling or caring, lacking the ability to even comprehend it. clayton was a textbook sociopath. the things he did and said and believed were heinous and inexcusable, but toward the end cutter manages to invoke a bit of sympathy for an awful character.]]> 3.49 2015
author: Nick Cutter
name: jay!
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/25
date added: 2026/02/25
shelves: spooky-shit
review:
3.5 🌟

this one is a bit difficult to rate, since i flew through parts of it and barely managed to slog through others. the short chapters made it easy to read in big chunks, but the pacing felt unbearably slow at times. i think i’m just not a fan of the many long, drawn-out dream sequences and flashbacks that dominate much of this book. but the abject hopelessness of the ending was great, and luke as a character was the ideal vessel for this story, imo.

clayton was an interesting figure— detached, brilliant, utterly cold in his bearing and seemingly incapable of true feeling or caring, lacking the ability to even comprehend it. clayton was a textbook sociopath. the things he did and said and believed were heinous and inexcusable, but toward the end cutter manages to invoke a bit of sympathy for an awful character.
]]> 214677292
In this novel, a landmark of science fiction that began as an MFA thesis for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and went on to become an award-winning classic—inspiring a play, a graphic novel, and most recently an in-development film—man has taken to the stars, and soldiers fighting the wars of the future return to Earth forever alienated from their home.

Conscripted into service for the United Nations Exploratory Force, a highly trained unit built for revenge, physics student William Mandella fights for his planet light years away against the alien force known as the Taurans. “Mandella’s attempt to survive and remain human in the face of an absurd, almost endless war is harrowing, hilarious, heartbreaking, and true,” says Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Junot Díaz—and because of the relative passage of time when one travels at incredibly high speed, the Earth Mandella returns to after his two-year experience has progressed decades and is foreign to him in disturbing ways.

Based in part on the author’s experiences in Vietnam, The Forever War is regarded as one of the greatest military science fiction novels ever written, capturing the alienation that servicemen and women experience even now upon returning home from battle. It shines a light not only on the culture of the 1970s in which it was written, but also on our potential future. “To say that The Forever War is the best science fiction war novel ever written is to damn it with faint praise. It is . . . as fine and woundingly genuine a war story as any I’ve read” (William Gibson).]]> 292 Joe Haldeman jay! 3
this is kind of a tough one to rate. i started off liking it, but my enjoyment slowly tapered off and by the end i had to force myself to pick it up and read. being in william mandella’s head is… an experience, for sure 🫡]]> 4.25 1974
author: Joe Haldeman
name: jay!
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1974
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/11
date added: 2026/02/11
shelves: adult-sff, scifi, classic-scifi
review:
2.75 🌟

this is kind of a tough one to rate. i started off liking it, but my enjoyment slowly tapered off and by the end i had to force myself to pick it up and read. being in william mandella’s head is… an experience, for sure 🫡
]]> 3836
With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote has been generally recognized as the first modern novel. The book has been enormously influential on a host of writers, from Fielding and Sterne to Flaubert, Dickens, Melville, and Faulkner, who reread it once a year, "just as some people read the Bible."]]> 1023 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra jay! 0 to-read 3.87 1605
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: jay!
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1605
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6403116 A New York Times Bestseller


The Gargoyle: the mesmerizing story of one man's descent into personal hell and his quest for salvation.

On a dark road in the middle of the night, a car plunges into a ravine. The driver survives the crash, but his injuries confine him to a hospital burn unit. There the mysterious Marianne Engel, a sculptress of grotesques, enters his life. She insists they were lovers in medieval Germany, when he was a mercenary and she was a scribe in the monastery of Engelthal. As she spins the story of their past lives together, the man's disbelief falters; soon, even the impossible can no longer be dismissed.]]> 518 Andrew Davidson 0307388670 jay! 0 to-read 3.94 2008
author: Andrew Davidson
name: jay!
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40136214 A nation besieged by armies of man, and demon.
A man seeking redemption, and peace.

Kalfinar is a grieving addict. Once a decorated and respected soldier, he has been demoted and disgraced.
The relative peace of his half-life is shattered by the onset of chaos and war.
Tormented by visions, he is marked for possession, and hunted by demons.

Amidst the all-consuming ruin of a war between Gods, Kalfinar must lead the fight to defend a faith he has abandoned, and a nation that has disowned him.

Red Season Rising is the debut novel of D.M. Murray and marks the beginning of a new epic fantasy series.
]]> 486 D.M. Murray jay! 0 to-read 3.87 2016
author: D.M. Murray
name: jay!
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 9647532
Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.

But there's another wrinkle to ZaraCorp's relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species.

Then a small furry biped—trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute—shows up at Jack's outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp's claim to a planet's worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the "fuzzys" before their existence becomes more widely known.]]> 303 John Scalzi 0765328542 jay! 0 to-read 4.13 2011
author: John Scalzi
name: jay!
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216388891 Set in the same universe as Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, these five linked Hainish stories follow far-future human colonies living in the distant solar system

Here for the first time is the complete suite of five linked stories from Ursula K. Le Guin’s acclaimed Hainish series, which tells the history of the Ekumen, the galactic confederation of human colonies founded by the planet Hain. First published as Four Ways to Forgiveness, and now joined by a fifth story, Five Ways to Forgiveness focuses on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe—two worlds whose peoples, long known as “owners” and “assets,” together face an uncertain future after civil war and revolution.

In “Betrayals” a retired science teacher must make peace with her new neighbor, a disgraced revolutionary leader. In “Forgiveness Day,” a female official from the Ekumen arrives to survey the situation on Werel and struggles against its rigidly patriarchal culture. Embedded within “A Man of the People,” which describes the coming of age of Havzhiva, an Ekumen ambassador to Yeowe, is Le Guin’s most sustained description of the Ur-planet Hain. “A Woman’s Liberation” is the remarkable narrative of Rakam, born an asset on Werel, who must twice escape from slavery to freedom. Joined to them is “Old Music and the Slave Women,” in which the charismatic Hainish embassy worker, who appears in two of the four original stories, returns for a tale of his own. Of this capstone tale Le Guin has written, “the character called Old Music began to tell me a fifth tale about the latter days of the civil war . . . I’m glad to see it joined to the others at last.”]]> 336 Ursula K. Le Guin 1454955171 jay! 0 to-read 4.41 2017
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: jay!
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 9869946
Desperation causes the Athsheans, led by Selver, to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. But in defending their lives, they have endangered the very foundations of their society. For every blow against the invaders is a blow to the humanity of the Athsheans. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.]]> 189 Ursula K. Le Guin 0399117164 jay! 5 ”they had taken up the fire they feared into their own hands: taken up the mastery over the evil dream and loosed the death they feared upon their enemy.”

the word for world is forest is a slim little book that packs an emotional and allegorical punch. it’s a book about war and colonialism, and the way violence changes both the victim and the aggressor. when humans came to athshe, it was peaceful and serene and its people had no conception of violent death. when humans left athshe, they left it scarred. they taught the people of the forest self-immolation, and showed them a violence they’re destined to repeat within their own societal structures.

le guin was a masterful writer and a really badass lady, based on everything i know of her. this book speaks deeply about her views. can’t wait to revisit the left hand of darkness soon and hopefully pick up some of her other work too.]]> 4.13 1972
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: jay!
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2026/01/19
date added: 2026/02/05
shelves: adult-sff, best-of-2026, books-that-speak-to-me, scifi, classic-scifi
review:
”they had taken up the fire they feared into their own hands: taken up the mastery over the evil dream and loosed the death they feared upon their enemy.”

the word for world is forest is a slim little book that packs an emotional and allegorical punch. it’s a book about war and colonialism, and the way violence changes both the victim and the aggressor. when humans came to athshe, it was peaceful and serene and its people had no conception of violent death. when humans left athshe, they left it scarred. they taught the people of the forest self-immolation, and showed them a violence they’re destined to repeat within their own societal structures.

le guin was a masterful writer and a really badass lady, based on everything i know of her. this book speaks deeply about her views. can’t wait to revisit the left hand of darkness soon and hopefully pick up some of her other work too.
]]> 25580382 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780345538987.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.

Until something goes wrong. . . .]]> 448 Michael Crichton jay! 4
jurassic park is one of my favourite movies, but this was my first time reading the book. there are a ton of scenes i would have loved to see translated into the og movie (the river raft scene, the waterfall scene, the raptors on the roof of the maintenance building) but it was just as cool to read them and imagine the characters as they are in the movie. it was a super fun reading experience and i’ll probably dive into the lost world right away]]> 4.36 1990
author: Michael Crichton
name: jay!
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2025/08/08
date added: 2026/02/05
shelves: best-of-2025, comfort-reads, classic-scifi
review:
4.5 🌟

jurassic park is one of my favourite movies, but this was my first time reading the book. there are a ton of scenes i would have loved to see translated into the og movie (the river raft scene, the waterfall scene, the raptors on the roof of the maintenance building) but it was just as cool to read them and imagine the characters as they are in the movie. it was a super fun reading experience and i’ll probably dive into the lost world right away
]]> 36510196
The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.]]> 318 John Scalzi jay! 0 to-read 4.24 2005
author: John Scalzi
name: jay!
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17264061 T. H. White’s masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur is a fantasy classic as legendary as Excalibur and Camelot, and a poignant story of adventure, romance, and magic that has enchanted readers for generations.
 
Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.
 
During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for Britain—and to the king himself.]]> 654 T.H. White 1101657545 jay! 0 to-read 4.11 1958
author: T.H. White
name: jay!
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 21607
Now, a sunken relic that holds the key to their origins calls to them to take them home—but the Chameleon has decided there's only room for one.]]> 289 Joe Haldeman 0441012523 jay! 0 to-read 3.63 2004
author: Joe Haldeman
name: jay!
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28376362 A massive army on the brink of conquest looms large in a world where prophecies are lies, magic is believed in but never seen, and hope is where you least expect to find it in this "high fantasy in the vein of Stephen R. Donaldson or David Eddings, with generous helpings from George R. R. Martin" (Booklist).

Welcome to the Five Isles, where war has come in the name of the invading army of Sør Sevier, a merciless host driven by the prophetic fervor of the Angel Prince, Aeros, toward the last unconquered kingdom of Gul Kana. Yet Gault, one of the elite Knights Archaic of Sør Sevier, is growing disillusioned by the crusade he is at the vanguard of just as it embarks on his Lord Aeros’ greatest triumph.

While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths. Jondralyn, the older sister, renowned for her beauty, only desires to prove her worth as a warrior, while Tala, the younger sister, has uncovered a secret that may not only destroy her family but the entire kingdom. Then there’s Hawkwood, the assassin sent to kill Jondralyn who has instead fallen in love with her and trains her in his deadly art. All are led further into dangerous conspiracies within the court.

And hidden at the edge of Gul Kana is Nail, the orphan taken by the enigmatic Shawcroft to the remote whaling village of Gallows Haven, a young man who may hold the link to the salvation of the entire Five Isles.

You may think you know this story, but everyone is not who they seem, nor do they fit the roles you expect. Durfee has created an epic fantasy full of hope in a world based on lies.]]> 801 Brian Lee Durfee 1481465244 jay! 4 epic-fantasy trust is fleeting, while betrayal is timeless.
3.75

this one was DENSE.

the forgetting moon is packed with worldbuilding and intricate details, and there are a lot of moving pieces at play in this novel. anyone who isn’t willing to do some serious thinking in order to keep characters and events and history and subplots straight in their mind, this one probably won’t be your cup of tea. that said, i enjoyed those things about it. i believe this was durfee’s debut novel (at least in the fantasy genre?) but you certainly wouldn’t know that just by reading it. it’s remarkably complex for a book from a debut author.

i loved the moral ambiguities of the characters, the stakes of the plot, and the uncertainty of where exactly the events of this book will lead in the next instalments. there were a few POV characters i was somewhat indifferent about (looking at you, tala and gault) but overall i found myself invested in their stories and rooting for them. the elements of faith in this novel are also very well executed. i loved the fact that all the belief systems stemmed from the same place but all conflicted with one another. all the faiths held a lot of the same content but it was interpreted differently by each party. the pacing was fairly good throughout with the exception of a few sections that seemed to drag, like nail & company’s journey from gallow’s haven to the abbey in the autumn range. durfee’s writing was easy to consume, if a little more simple than i usually like.

for all the good things i have to say about the forgetting moon, i also have several petty major bones to pick with it so i’ll just rattle them off really quick.
1. holy shit does this author like to sexualize his female characters. like ALL OF THEM, ALL THE TIME. lingering on recurring descriptions of a barmaid’s breasts, and a lot of just very weird descriptions and remarks about the female characters in this book. a lot of whom are teenagers. so that’s a big yuck from me.
2. equating literally every woman’s worth as a person to her physical appearance. repeatedly.
3. going to great lengths to try to make readers think of liz hen neville, a plus-sized female character as gross and undesirable every fucking chance he gets. like what the fuck. no other ‘pretty’ woman is written with the level of complete disdain that she is. and it’s all women who aren’t perfect willow-thin virgins that are described this way. it’s fucking terrible.
4. the sheer nastiness of gault having feelings of “lust” for ava shay, A TEENAGE GIRL HE INITIALLY CLAIMED REMINDED HIM OF HIS STEP-DAUGHTER WHOM HE THINKS OF AS HIS OWN CHILD. FUCKING Y U C K.

so there it is. while this was mostly enjoyable to read, it’s also a flawed book.]]> 4.08 2016
author: Brian Lee Durfee
name: jay!
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/31
date added: 2026/01/27
shelves: epic-fantasy
review:
trust is fleeting, while betrayal is timeless.
3.75

this one was DENSE.

the forgetting moon is packed with worldbuilding and intricate details, and there are a lot of moving pieces at play in this novel. anyone who isn’t willing to do some serious thinking in order to keep characters and events and history and subplots straight in their mind, this one probably won’t be your cup of tea. that said, i enjoyed those things about it. i believe this was durfee’s debut novel (at least in the fantasy genre?) but you certainly wouldn’t know that just by reading it. it’s remarkably complex for a book from a debut author.

i loved the moral ambiguities of the characters, the stakes of the plot, and the uncertainty of where exactly the events of this book will lead in the next instalments. there were a few POV characters i was somewhat indifferent about (looking at you, tala and gault) but overall i found myself invested in their stories and rooting for them. the elements of faith in this novel are also very well executed. i loved the fact that all the belief systems stemmed from the same place but all conflicted with one another. all the faiths held a lot of the same content but it was interpreted differently by each party. the pacing was fairly good throughout with the exception of a few sections that seemed to drag, like nail & company’s journey from gallow’s haven to the abbey in the autumn range. durfee’s writing was easy to consume, if a little more simple than i usually like.

for all the good things i have to say about the forgetting moon, i also have several petty major bones to pick with it so i’ll just rattle them off really quick.
1. holy shit does this author like to sexualize his female characters. like ALL OF THEM, ALL THE TIME. lingering on recurring descriptions of a barmaid’s breasts, and a lot of just very weird descriptions and remarks about the female characters in this book. a lot of whom are teenagers. so that’s a big yuck from me.
2. equating literally every woman’s worth as a person to her physical appearance. repeatedly.
3. going to great lengths to try to make readers think of liz hen neville, a plus-sized female character as gross and undesirable every fucking chance he gets. like what the fuck. no other ‘pretty’ woman is written with the level of complete disdain that she is. and it’s all women who aren’t perfect willow-thin virgins that are described this way. it’s fucking terrible.
4. the sheer nastiness of gault having feelings of “lust” for ava shay, A TEENAGE GIRL HE INITIALLY CLAIMED REMINDED HIM OF HIS STEP-DAUGHTER WHOM HE THINKS OF AS HIS OWN CHILD. FUCKING Y U C K.

so there it is. while this was mostly enjoyable to read, it’s also a flawed book.
]]> 341272 139 H.G. Wells 014144102X jay! 3
while i’m glad i picked this up because my sister loves h.g. wells, i just couldn’t seem to really get into it.

the story was interesting and wells definitely did a good job of making you feel tense and uneasy when prendick was just beginning to learn what weird bullshit moreau was getting up to on his island, but i felt that the pace dragged quite a bit and i didn’t truly feel invested in the characters. prendick was flat, just a pair of eyes for the reader to look through, and in the end i found myself not really caring whether he got off the island because i found he had zero depth as a character lmaooo. and this is a personal qualm but literally all i could picture when i thought of the beast people was thundercats characters 😔

will be (only slightly begrudgingly) picking up more h.g. wells in the future, so that my dear beloved squee doesn’t draw and quarter me.]]> 3.62 1896
author: H.G. Wells
name: jay!
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1896
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/26
date added: 2026/01/26
shelves: scifi, spooky-shit, harl-recommended
review:
2.5 🌟

while i’m glad i picked this up because my sister loves h.g. wells, i just couldn’t seem to really get into it.

the story was interesting and wells definitely did a good job of making you feel tense and uneasy when prendick was just beginning to learn what weird bullshit moreau was getting up to on his island, but i felt that the pace dragged quite a bit and i didn’t truly feel invested in the characters. prendick was flat, just a pair of eyes for the reader to look through, and in the end i found myself not really caring whether he got off the island because i found he had zero depth as a character lmaooo. and this is a personal qualm but literally all i could picture when i thought of the beast people was thundercats characters 😔

will be (only slightly begrudgingly) picking up more h.g. wells in the future, so that my dear beloved squee doesn’t draw and quarter me.
]]> 225166002
As the seasons pass in this wild and lonely setting, their inherent distrust of each other melts into a complex meditation on the distances and bonds between them. Told with humor and alive with sharply exquisite dialogue, David Greig deftly lifts the curtain between our world and the past. The Book of I is an entirely unique novel that serves as a philosophical commentary on guilt and redemption, but also humanity, love, and the things we choose to believe in.  ]]> 160 David Greig jay! 0 to-read 4.13 2023
author: David Greig
name: jay!
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 536353
A cylinder from space lands in south-west London, and naïve locals approach it armed with a white flag - only to be instantly incinerated by an all-destroying heat-ray, as tentacled Martians emerge. Soon the whole of humanity is under threat, as the invaders build gigantic killing machines that chase and feast on human prey.

H. G. Well's 1898 novel was a pioneering work of alien invasion fiction. Greeted with acclaim and alarm on its publication, The War of the Worlds's factual, journalistic style contrasts shockingly with its fantastical and often disturbing story of humanity under siege.]]> 199 H.G. Wells 0141441038 jay! 0 to-read 3.73 1898
author: H.G. Wells
name: jay!
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1898
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221515321 Tungsten was born to serve the crown, now the servant prince is king.Gods are leaving for the Isles of Avalon but monsters refuse to follow. A mission to reunite with his sister sends Tungsten and his best knight, Lancelot, on a chase to uncover her murderer. Shadowing his every step is a Dranyth. A servant of the few dragons that remain, she carries a vengeful spirit.]]> Miriam Yvette jay! 0 to-read 4.50
author: Miriam Yvette
name: jay!
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376601 Spread Me is a darkly seductive tale of survival from Sarah Gailey, after a routine probe at a research station turns deadly when the team discovers a strange specimen in search of a warm place to stay.

Kinsey has the perfect job as the team lead in a remote research outpost. She loves the solitude, and the way the desert keeps her far away from the temptations teeming out in the civilian world.

When her crew discovers a mysterious specimen buried deep in the sand, Kinsey breaks quarantine and brings it into the hab. But the longer it's inside, the more her carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Temptation has found her after all, and it can't be ignored any longer.

One by one, Kinsey's team realizes the thing they're studying is in search of a new host—and one of them is the perfect candidate....]]> 197 Sarah Gailey 1250387337 jay! 2 lgbtq, spooky-shit
i think i maybe just don’t like how far into erotic horror this leaned, since that isn’t really my thing. the characters were alright and i liked some of the horror elements and the nods to john carpenter’s ’the thing’ but… yeah, not for me]]> 3.34 2025
author: Sarah Gailey
name: jay!
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2026/01/12
date added: 2026/01/12
shelves: lgbtq, spooky-shit
review:
2.25 🌟

i think i maybe just don’t like how far into erotic horror this leaned, since that isn’t really my thing. the characters were alright and i liked some of the horror elements and the nods to john carpenter’s ’the thing’ but… yeah, not for me
]]> 24694092
Laurus is a remarkably rich novel about the eternal themes of love, loss, self-sacrifice and faith, from one of Russia’s most exciting and critically acclaimed novelists.]]> 365 Eugene Vodolazkin 1780747551 jay! 0 to-read 4.20 2012
author: Eugene Vodolazkin
name: jay!
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 240019870 DELUXE EDITION—a beautiful hardcover edition featuring sprayed edges.

A new epic romantic, dystopian fantasy begins in Seek the Traitor's Son, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth

Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her.

She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts.

But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy–her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other…but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with.

In just one day, Elegy’s old life–her job, her purpose, and her future–is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.

Elegy intends to make sure it’s her.]]> 416 Veronica Roth 1250347904 jay! 0 to-read 4.04 2026
author: Veronica Roth
name: jay!
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 241592664
When a distortion claims Fenrir’s bell tower, the Church sends Surveyor Sophie to assess and contain the threat. She is a painful reminder of all that Fenrir has lost, but as the weeks slip by, Fenrir falls for her. And her him, even after learning his true identity.

But Sophie harbors an even darker secret. Her only hope of salvation? Commit an unforgivable sin by descending into ancient ruins festering with distortions and their horrifying victims. Fenrir accompanies Sophie on the journey, but the truths they uncover are heinous in their own right. He must make a choice—abandon Sophie to fate or throw the world into chaos.

Blessed is the Rot is a dark science fantasy novel, the first in the Bit trilogy and part of the Alfom shared universe. It can be a standalone read.]]> 303 Sheri Singerling jay! 0 to-read 4.07
author: Sheri Singerling
name: jay!
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198493882 Worlds will collide and fates will be rewritten in the thrilling conclusion to the Devoured Worlds space opera trilogy by award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe.
 
Naira and Tarquin have found a new home on Seventh Cradle. But the peace they’ve built is short-lived as mysterious assailants ambush the settlement and Naira is haunted by visions of a monstrous future. Catastrophe strikes when Tarquin uncovers a plot to bring about the end of the universe. As humanity races against the clock to prevent their extinction, old secrets come to light and loyalties fracture, and Naira realizes she may be the key to saving the world—or ending it.]]> 457 Megan E. O'Keefe 0316291579 jay! 5
i’ve literally never been as devastated and elated by turns while reading before. and i think the core reason for that is how real the characters feel. tarquin and naira (and kav, fletcher, caldweller, helms, literally almost everyone) have so much depth and nuance and so many little idiosyncrasies and quirks that are uniquely theirs, that it’s impossible not to care for them deeply, and to feel what they feel.

o’keefe also writes action with blistering intensity, dialogue that rings with the ease and cadence of real conversation. and perhaps most impressively, she has managed to construct a truly, deeply interesting and engulfing world where the corrupting nature of power and damage done across decades is unraveled and remade and changed by compassion and connection.]]> 4.08 2024
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: jay!
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2026/01/04
date added: 2026/01/04
shelves: adult-sff, fav-pairings, lgbt-rep-trans-or-nb, lgbtq, scifi, space-opera, would-fight-to-the-death-for-the-mc, favourites, lgbt-rep-side, made-me-cry-my-own-tears, best-of-2026
review:
i think i’ve never felt so much while reading a book. even other favourites haven’t quite reached me in the way the devoured worlds trilogy did.

i’ve literally never been as devastated and elated by turns while reading before. and i think the core reason for that is how real the characters feel. tarquin and naira (and kav, fletcher, caldweller, helms, literally almost everyone) have so much depth and nuance and so many little idiosyncrasies and quirks that are uniquely theirs, that it’s impossible not to care for them deeply, and to feel what they feel.

o’keefe also writes action with blistering intensity, dialogue that rings with the ease and cadence of real conversation. and perhaps most impressively, she has managed to construct a truly, deeply interesting and engulfing world where the corrupting nature of power and damage done across decades is unraveled and remade and changed by compassion and connection.
]]> 242355540 Bram Stoker Award–nominee and USA Today bestseller Johanna van Veen unveils a sapphic folk-horror tour de force—perfect for fans of The VVitch and The Salt Grows Heavy. A skull's grin is eternal…

The year is 1635.

Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant, escape a band of marauding soldiers and disappear into the Bavarian forest. War scorches the land, and no one survives it alone. Amid the devastation, they find something in the arms of a dying the gilded skull of a saint.

It is said that if you reunite the saint's skull with her body, a wish will be granted. Desperate for salvation, and each with secret desires of their own, Ursula and Elsebeth follow a ragged map across the blighted countryside. But darkness follows them. A necromancer, drawn to the relic's power. The saint herself, whispering at night. And as the lines between blessing and curse blur, the women must face a harrowing the magic they seek comes at a cost.

At the journey's end, they'll face an impossible choice—one that could tear apart everything they know… or bind them to each other forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1464239800 jay! 0 to-read 3.80 2026
author: Johanna van Veen
name: jay!
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55077680 All martyrdoms are difficult.

Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she’s able to stomach her gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Sisterhood of Aytrium’s magical bloodline horrifies her. She wants out, whatever the cost.

So when a shadowy cabal approaches Elfreda with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Sisterhood, and enters a glittering world of opulent parties, subtle deceptions, and unexpected bloodshed.

A phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power, Star Eater takes readers deep into a perilous and uncanny world where even the most powerful women are forced to choose what sacrifices they will make, so that they might have any choice at all.]]> 448 Kerstin Hall 1250625319 jay! 0 to-read 3.51 2021
author: Kerstin Hall
name: jay!
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220967612 A search for a missing person uncovers a galaxy-spanning conspiracy in this thrilling standalone space opera from award-winning author Megan E. O'Keefe.

The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she’ll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost.
Faven Sythe is crystborn, a member of the near-human species tasked with charting starpaths from station to station. She’s trained to be a navigator her entire life. But when her mentor disappears, leaving behind a mysterious starpath terminating in the Clutch, she is determined to find the truth. And only Amandine has the answers.

What they will find is a conspiracy bigger than either of them. Their quest for the truth will uncover secrets Amandine has long fought to keep buried – secrets about how she survived her last encounter in the Clutch, and what’s really hidden out there amongst the stars...]]> 345 Megan E. O'Keefe jay! 0 to-read 3.70 2025
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: jay!
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/01/02
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]]> 18077769 The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered . . . but the answers are far from reassuring.]]> 368 Jeff Vandermeer 0374104107 jay! 0 to-read 3.54 2014
author: Jeff Vandermeer
name: jay!
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/31
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]]> 50984328 From the bestselling author of The Silence comes a brand-new supernatural eco thriller. In large areas of the planet, nature is no longer humanity's friend...

In a time of global warming and spiralling damage to the environment, the Virgin Zones were established to help combat the change.  Abandoned by humanity and given back to nature, these vast areas in a dozen remote locations across the planet were intended to become the lungs of the world. 

But there are always those drawn to such places.  Extreme sports enthusiasts and adventure racing teams target the dangerous, sometimes deadly zones for illicit races.  Only the hardiest and most experienced dare undertake these expeditions. When one such team enters the oldest Zone, Eden, they aren't prepared for what confronts them.  Nature has returned to Eden in an elemental, primeval way.  And here, nature is no longer humanity's friend.]]> 279 Tim Lebbon jay! 0 to-read 3.36 2020
author: Tim Lebbon
name: jay!
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/31
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]]> 229114483 From the author of Gothic, a marvelously illustrated cultural history of graves and graveyards, from the earliest known burial sites to today’s green burials

Why, how, and where do we inter our dead? How have people throughout history responded to the problem of laying their dead to rest? Roger Luckhurst sets out in search of answers in this arresting book. Taking readers on an unforgettable tour of the rich and unusual visual culture of the grave, he visits locales such as the pyramids of Giza, the catacombs and columbaria of Rome, and the cenotaphs erected to the world’s war dead. Along the way, he examines the diverse role of graveyards in literature, art, film, and television.

In engaging chapters that look at all aspects of the treatment of the dead, Luckhurst covers topics ranging from early burials and the emergence of necropolises and catacombs to grave robbing, garden cemeteries, the perilous overcrowding of the urban dead, and the emergence of modern funerary culture. Exploring the cultural afterlives of burial and memorial sites in the popular imagination, he shows how graves have served as guides to the underworld, poignant dedications to those we have lost, as reminders of our own mortality, and settings in gothic horror.

Blending lively storytelling with a wealth of stunning illustrations, Graveyards is a lyrical, frequently unexpected account of the grave as a signpost to the afterlife, a site of remembrance and self-reflection, and an object of enduring fascination.]]> 256 Roger Luckhurst 0691278377 jay! 0 to-read 4.11 2025
author: Roger Luckhurst
name: jay!
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/27
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]]> 834479
But Cassandra hid a terrible secret. She was experiencing the first symptoms of a disease which would threaten her life and cause unimaginable strife for all who loved her. For Akeela and Lukien, the quest for Cassandra's salvation would overwhelm every bond of loyalty, every point of honor, every dream of peace. For only the magical amulets known as the Eyes of God could halt the progress of Cassandra's illness. But the Eyes of God would also open the way to a magical stronghold which could tear their world apart and redefine the very nature of their reality.]]> 784 John Marco 0756400961 jay! 0 to-read 3.69 2001
author: John Marco
name: jay!
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 211947352
At Kuszkol, the old-timers say, shadows walk and men go mad. But sixty years after the remote mountain fortress was first abandoned, it is attracting soldiers once again.

The bishop’s messenger András carries a letter for the new commander. On his party’s northward journey, he downplays the old tales. Yet he cannot explain why the castle’s beacon should burn the night before their arrival. Nor why, once they arrive, the garrison is missing. Nor can he explain the mysterious charcoal figures they find etched on the walls.

By the time they settle down for their first night at Kuszkol, András faces an even more pressing question—why is he speaking in his dead wife’s voice?]]> 268 S.J. Shank 1738055620 jay! 0 to-read 3.93
author: S.J. Shank
name: jay!
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54835251 England, 1810. The north is governed by a single rule. Faerie will take as it pleases.

William Loxley is cursed. A pale and monstrous creature haunts his dreams, luring him from London to the desolate, grey landscape of his forgotten childhood. There, it will use him to open a door to Faerie—a fate that will trap Loxley in that glittering, heathen otherworld forever.

His only hope of escaping the creature's grasp lies with John Thorncress, a dark and windswept stranger met on the moors. The longer Loxley stays in Thorncress' company, the harder it becomes to fight his attraction to the man. Such attraction can only end in heartbreak—or the noose.

But Thorncress has his own bleak ties to Faerie. They come creeping in with the frost, their howls carrying on the winter wind. If Thorncress' past catches up with him before they can break the curse, then Loxley will not only lose his soul.

He'll lose Thorncress, too.

"Beautifully creepy and eerily magical, with a bittersweet romance that I loved." - Stephanie Burgis, author of Snowspelled and Masks and Shadows]]> 201 Arden Powell jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.88 2020
author: Arden Powell
name: jay!
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 123206890 Launching a new trilogy in the Shades of Magic universe, an enchanting and thrilling epic fantasy from the international sensation, V. E. Schwab, perfect for fans of Samantha Shannon, Kerri Maniscalco, Leigh Bardugo and R. F. Kuang.

Seven years have passed since the doors between the worlds were sealed. Seven years since Kell, Lila and Holland stood against Osaron, a desperate battle that saved the worlds of Red, Grey and White London. Seven years since Kell’s magic was shattered, and Holland lost his life.

Now Rhy Maresh rules Red London with his new family – his queen, Nadiya, their daughter Ren, and his consort, Alucard. But his city boils with conspiracy and rebellion, fuelled by rumours he is causing magic to fade from the word.

Now Kosika, a child Antari, sits on the throne of White London. The new queen leads her people in new rituals of sacrifice and blood in devotion to the altar of Holland Vosijk, summoning vast power she may not be able to control.

Now Lila and Kell, living free on the waves, are charged by the captain of the Floating Market to retrieve an immensely powerful artefact, stolen by secretive forces.

Now Tes, a young woman with a knack for fixing broken things, is thrust into the affairs of Antari and kings, traitors and thieves. And only her unique powers can weave the threads of power together.

A triumphant return to the worlds of The Shades of Magic, The Fragile Threads of Power continues the stories of fan-favourite characters Kell, Lila, Rhy and Alucard, and introduces a new generation of magic, shadows and embers in the dark.]]> 576 V.E. Schwab 178565246X jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.36 2023
author: V.E. Schwab
name: jay!
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 53475043
Yet, hope lives on where least expected.

Wandering the Godless Lands between the havens, Ferris, an aged and Blight scarred soldier turned vagabond finds himself thrust into the role of guardian for a desperate noblewoman and her daughter. Thinking he does only a small kindness, Ferris soon finds himself on the run from Sir Arlo, the infamous Death Knight. With no other options, Ferris leads his wards to a hidden community amidst the desolation and hazards of the Godless Lands. What Ferris doesn’t know is that others stalk the death poxed land; a danger that the world is just becoming aware of. The Butcher of Riven is on the prowl, and he hunts for the Hungry God...]]> 240 Sean Crow jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.35 2020
author: Sean Crow
name: jay!
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 34347493
This deluxe, illustrated edition celebrates the New York Times-bestselling series, The Kingkiller Chronicle, a masterful epic fantasy saga that has inspired readers worldwide.

This anniversary hardcover includes more than 50 pages of extra content!
• Beautiful, iconic cover by artist Sam Weber
• Gorgeous, never-before-seen illustrations by artist Dan Dos Santos
• Detailed and updated world map by artist Nate Taylor
• Brand-new author’s note
• Appendix detailing calendar system and currencies
• Pronunciation guide of names and places

DAY ONE: THE NAME OF THE WIND

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature—the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man’s search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.]]> 752 Patrick Rothfuss 0756413710 jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.60 2007
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: jay!
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 3173564 594 R. Scott Bakker 1590201183 jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.85 2003
author: R. Scott Bakker
name: jay!
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 39949814 Librarian's note: See alternate cover editions of ISBN 0812548051 here. and here.

The masterpiece that started The New York Times bestselling epic Sword of Truth.

In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help . . . and more.

His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them--for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not say.

In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword--to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed . . . or that their time has run out.

This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.]]> 836 Terry Goodkind jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.69 1994
author: Terry Goodkind
name: jay!
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 213263148 From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts. ]]> 535 V.E. Schwab 1250320526 jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.94 2025
author: V.E. Schwab
name: jay!
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 201626991
She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she's not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor's tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they're doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor's fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain's shoes, for an adventure that is both 'brilliant' (Holly Black) and 'supremely satisfying' (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue's gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.]]> 431 Sarah Rees Brennan 0316568716 jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.81 2024
author: Sarah Rees Brennan
name: jay!
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 56705404
It is 12,090 A.D., thousands of years since the human race nearly destroyed itself in a nuclear war--a folly foreseen by those who waited to emerge out of the underground...not from shelters, but from crypts!

The aristocratic vampire lords known as the Nobles inherited our world, and with dark science and immortal patience made real the things that mortals had merely dreamed, whether voyaging to the distant stars, or conjuring monsters to roam the Earth.

Yet the grand civilization of the Nobles has grown decadent, and as the terrorized remnants of humanity at last found the strength to rebel, their undying lords have been pushed back to the Frontier--the violent borderlands where humans still remain the prey of vampires, who for all their knowledge and power have never lost their obsession with our living flesh, blood...and souls!

In this bizarre and deadly far future the most dangerous thing of all is not a vampire, but the one who hunts them--the one who is half them--a dhampir, the unearthly beautiful wanderer known as D. The Vampire Hunter D Omnibus collects the first three novels in author Hideyuki Kikuchi's adventure horror Vampire Hunter D , Raiser of Gales , and Demon Deathchase . Illustrated by Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, this book is only the beginning of a legend!]]> 632 Hideyuki Kikuchi 1506725309 jay! 0 3.92 2021
author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
name: jay!
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
shelves: adult-sff, to-read, physical-tbr
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]]> 195790755
When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he finds fresh purpose. Deprived of his chance to make amends for his mistakes, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father's death.

His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. Lukan only seeks the truth, but instead he finds danger and secrets in every shadow.

For in Saphrona, everything has a price―and the price of truth is the deadliest of all.]]> 528 James Logan 1250345804 jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.95 2024
author: James Logan
name: jay!
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]> 124053845
What is the price of magic? Not the magic of tricks and illusions, but the kind that heats cities, powers armies, and transforms continents. Magic that forges empires. The Brannic Empire owes its existence to this magic and for those in power, no price is too great. Even when that price is their own children.

For it is the ashes of those with magical abilities that the Church of Alchemy harvests to fuel this machine of empire. So the furnaces burn, and the empire grows. And they call it progress.

Trying to escape a lifetime of regrets―and outrun his own demons―veteran soldier Lochled Thatcher embarks on the Fourth Crusade to Leftland, a country rich in magic. Desperate to save her brothers, Rony joins Lochled’s squad, only to discover that war is very different from all the songs and fancy speeches. As politics and power clash, Kayna, a Seeker, and Ord, a Priest of the Church of Alchemy, find their foundations of loyalty and faith shaken and crumbling.

In this theatre of chaos, magic, and treachery, soldier and priest alike will find their humanity in as much danger as their lives. Will they lose themselves to cruelty and deception? Or can one good action reverse the course of generations of evil?

A bold, brutal look at war and belief, A Harvest of Ash and Blood is a sweeping epic fantasy perfect for fans of The Witcher, Joe Abercrombie, and the grimdark.

Season 1 of Ashes of Eormun is now complete:

Book 1: A Harvest of Ash and Blood
Book 2: The Orphan and the Queen
Book 3: The Breath That Breaks the Stone]]> 460 D.J. Molles jay! 0 to-read, physical-tbr 3.85 2023
author: D.J. Molles
name: jay!
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/12/16
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]]>