ps_stillreading's reviews
204 reviews

I loved the setting and atmosphere. There's something both cozy and mysterious about a big family home in the middle of the woods. I also liked the multiple POVs. I love it when I learn things that other characters don't know yet.

The book was enjoyable enough, but I wanted more from it. I never felt like I was on the edge of my seat, itching to know what happened next. I was just waiting and I never felt excited by the reveals. The build-up to the ending felt slow, but the big reveal and action sequence at the end felt too rushed. I feel like because there were too many threads, not everything was fully fleshed out. 

The premise of a sudden death becoming the catalyst of the Rawlins kids finding out family secrets that have literally been buried for decades initially got me interested, but unfortunately, the execution fell short of my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
What Remains of Teague House by Stacy Johns comes out on April 8, 2025.

 This is for the girlies who love religious horror, Southern Gothic, and girls who bite.

✨

In an isolated small town, Bethel Pentecostal holds all the influence. So what’s a religious town to do with a girl like Nora Willet? A girl who is stubborn and opinionated? A girl who in their eyes brings nothing but trouble? They try to save her, of course, even when they don’t like her. To save her is to declare their faith and the strength of their belief. And so they use snakes and prayers to expel the demons in her and bring her home. But does she really need saving?

Narrated by Abigail, she tells the story of Nora. Her best friend. Her only friend. Abigail is drawn to her even when the whole town has written Nora off as a hopeless case. The two girls find solace in each other, keep each other’s secrets, and protect each other. And then she tells us what happened when the tension surrounding Nora became too much for the town to handle.

✨

This novella is incredibly atmospheric. I really got the sense of being a bug being observed under glass with how much the town hides its judgy behavior under the guise of good Christian concern. You have all the usual suspects: male church leaders that feel more like cult leaders, creepy men in positions of power and influence, uppity young women who don’t hesitate to flaunt how perfect they are, parents who want their children to fit in even when that isn’t necessarily what’s best for them, and a sprinkling of homophobia. 

The way Dori Lumpkin wrote this made me feel like I was sitting in front of Abigail over a cup of coffee while she told me the story of her small town. And I loved it. I was being let in on a secret, or rather a version of the truth that only this person can tell. 

When you read this book (and I hope you do because it’s incredible and deserves to reach more readers) you may find that you want to know more about Nora, understand her more deeply, or unravel the mystery that is her. But I personally like that she remains a mystery. Her hometown will never understand her, and we never will either. But we will see her through Abigail’s eyes, the person she trusts most in the world. And there is no one else who can tell Nora’s story with such deep love.

This book is best read in one sitting, as one long conversation with Abigail. Thank you to Creature Publishing, Dori Lumpkin, and NetGalley for the ARC.

 When Satara discovers her husband Dean had an affair with her best friend Lilah, the beautiful life she’s had with Dean begins to feel like one big lie. So she decides to kill him. It should be easy enough, she’s killed men before. But what she doesn’t count on is Lilah’s determination to reveal her murderous secrets, and Satara must find a way to outsmart everyone. And she does all this while trying to make her office crush Chris fall in love with her with help from a Love Witch??? We love a multitasking goal-oriented queen.
So…will Satara find love again? Or will her murderous past finally catch up with her?

“Killing Dean, in theory, was not about ending his life; it was about reclaiming mine. It was about staring into the abyss of my own despair and choosing, instead, to rewrite the ending.”

✨

I read the first paragraph of Sugar by Mia Ballard and I was hooked. Satara has murder on her mind and she is completely unapologetic about it. The way she thinks is so unhinged and I am here for it. I don’t know what it is about fictional murderous women, but reading about them is so much fun. Satara is a woman wronged, and she will have her revenge.

Sugar is an exciting page-turner of a read. We not only follow Satara as she deals with the aftermath of Dean’s murder and enacts her plan to seduce Chris, but we also get chapters from her past that give us a glimpse of how murder became her go-to solution for all of her man problems. As the book progresses, Satara becomes more and more desperate. She feels her perfectly crafted web of deceit crumble around her as Lilah inches closer to the truth.

Mia Ballard’s writing style feels so lush and immersive. If you’re a fan of decadent prose, her book should be on your TBR. We all know Satara is unhinged from the get-go, and yet I couldn’t help but root for her, supporting women’s wrongs in all their violent glory. Therein lies the magic of Ballard’s writing. It feels weird to say that I enjoyed being in Satara’s mind, but that’s the truth. She owns her desires, she knows what she wants, and she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

The last few chapters of Sugar were full of twists and revelations. But it felt a bit much? I honestly think a couple of twists didn’t really need to be there. Were there things that felt very improbable and unfeasible? Yes. But my god it was all so thrilling to read. And that epilogue sent chills down my spine.

Read Sugar by Mia Ballard if (like me) Criminal Minds is your comfort show, or if you want to read unhinged woman and murderous rage. This is for fans of Boy Parts, A Certain Hunger, and Gone Girl.

I enjoyed reading Sugar in all its unhinged, feminine rage glory. Thank you to NetGalley and Galaxy Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sugar by Mia Ballard is out on October 29 

I loved this book so much!
Fantasy murder mystery. Two bad-ass women. Paris. Mythical creatures, Magical abilities. This book has it all, and I ate it up.

Sam and Hel are both agents of the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. They enter into an unlikely partnership to solve a string of gruesome murders in Paris. But of course, nothing is as simple as it seems. The convoluted case leads them all over Paris, from the grand Palais Garnier all the way down to the ancient catacombs. And of course, Sam and Hel both have personal motives for solving this case, motives they strive to keep hidden from the other. Can they work together when they don't fully trust each other?

✨

Sam and Hel are both so well-written. Their backstories are slowly revealed throughout the book, and you get to understand how their upbringing shaped them and made them into the person they are. They both have a lot of growing to do, and I loved how we got to see all of that play out. Their dynamic was interesting to read, with Hel being more experienced in the field, more hardened to the gruesome realities of their job, while Sam is new to all of it. As a researcher, Sam is used to getting information from books. But when what she finds in the field is so different from what she's read, she has to grapple with what it means for her and for how the Society operates.

The mystery element kept me hooked. I could not put the book down because I really wanted to get to the bottom of it. The clues were there, as were the red herrings, and when Sam and Hel finally find the answers, it felt so so so satisfying.

Van Helsing though. Yeah, I don't like him, But he is also a product of his upbringing. Is it weird that I also want to learn more about him? And why he is the way he is?

Reading Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris was such a fun time. This is definitely a perfect addition to your spooky or Halloween TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC!
Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris is out on October 15.