songcatchers's reviews
812 reviews

'I think candy canes were stuffed in my ear because it almost sounded like she said I would be the one entering the Christmas Kringle contest.'

This is basically a perfect holiday romcom. Heavy on the humor, falling snow, and small town Christmas atmosphere. These enemies-to-lovers hilariously and uproariously try to best each other through the various competitions to win Christmas. This is a creative and spicy play on The Grinch, and it is SO MUCH FUN!

'All’s fair in love and jingle jangling . . . right?'

'When she first moved into Hobbie House, everything about it seemed sinister.'

Holly Hobbie meets A Christmas Carol, sort of. Evie is back in this sequel, trying to save her friend from the shadow world while uncovering the mystery of what went down in the mines all those years ago. 
There is a tie-in to Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which is fun and well done.

'All three of them, Sarah, Holly, and now Evie herself, were connected— not only by the house, but by something else, too. Whatever it was, it wasn’t finished yet.'

'It will get so bad you'll be afraid to look away, you'll be afraid to sleep.'

Reading this (ergodic nightmare) felt like work. But..the payoff was having bone-chilling sentences with the horrifying imagery mashed directly into my brain. Disorienting. Experimental. Tedious, but scary as hell. I understand how some people love this, and some hate it. I'm floating somewhere in between. I'm glad I read it.

'Me? I'm cold, I'm scared shitless, and I feel like I'm about to be eaten alive at any moment.
Otherwise, I'd say I'm fine.'

'I tell myself that the dominos were already set up before I got there— they only needed that little push to set them all going on their terrible track.'

This is a smart and stylish mystery, and Marlowe Wexler, accidental arsonist turned tour guide, is the astute (and funny) girl placed to solve it. Mysteries layered within a house full of vibes. The house is its own minor character. The whole book has an aura of cool about it that I just wanted to sink into.

'Everything was vibes. Vibes in all directions, bouncing around like sunbeams. I couldn’t duck them.'

'This is officially the big red bulb ornament on the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that is my life.'

The Prince of Christmas is falling for the Prince of Halloween, despite the political machinations of the reigning Santa, his dad. Plodding and dialogue-driven, but in a festive way. Sled races, ice skating, cocoa, all the rest. I guess I was more interested in what was going on in the background of this book rather than the actual story.

'Then he lifts his chin and looks up at me. "We can feel like we have the best of intentions," he whispers, "and still cause disaster."'

'Despite gazing upon some iteration of it every year since she was a baby, Joyann had yet to decide if the village was a good thing or not.'

This is a darkly enchanting novelette about one of those miniature Christmas villages that comes to life in delightful and murderful ways. The fantasy of those little ceramic people moving around when no one is looking made me so happy! This is fun, a little disturbing, and honestly made me consider a hobby in miniatures just to let my imagination run wild.😆

'Grandma looked at Joyann for a long time. “Don’t you touch them,” she said at last.'

'Everything about this place was physically and biologically impossible.'

A wilderness area that is filled with disturbing impossibilities. That is basically my favorite book premise, and this author does it so well! This second book immediately immersed me back into the creepy Briardark, where time seems to move differently, and the smallest scratch could be deadly.This fantastic dark mystery is chilling and unsettling in the best way!

'Maybe she was supposed to remain here, in this horrifying, deadly, wondrous place. Make discoveries. Help the right people.'

'“I’ve designed William to be an independent AI. Which means he can think creatively for himself.”'

This is a fast-paced sci-fi horror that reads like a haunted house story. William is an AI robot that is fully integrated into a smart home. You can see where this is going. William turns actively hostile almost immediately after we join the story. It has a fun campy vibe, and the terror feels very of the moment. 

'You’re not sure if I’m something to be proud of or ashamed of,” the robot says.'

'It isn't just grief that leaves scars. Terror does, too. Especially supernatural terror.' - Rattlesnakes

While reading this, I was occasionally stopped in my tracks by the bleakness and nihilism of a particular sentence. The type of sentence that makes a person sit back and say Damn.There are a few stories here that rise above the rest and some fun call-backs to vintage characters. My favorite story, Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream, has a man reporting a crime he dreamt and then being relentlessly pursued by the detective who is convinced of his guilt. So good!

'"I'm sorry for you. Your world is a living breath in a universe that is mostly filled with deadlights.'" - Two Talented Bastids 

'She thought he was hot… and he agreed.'

This starts with a hilariously cringey meet-cute between a female author and the man she hires to play the irl role of her pseudonym. This is partially set in the Yukon, and those were my favorite parts. A lot of the comedy of the romcom happens there, with city boy Chris trying to play the role of outdoorsman for a film crew with pretty comical results. 

'“Zane Remington?” 
“I was drunk.” 
“So your agent thinks you’re a dude named Zane Remington?”'