by Michelle Muto

I was warned. The story starts out with a girl attempting to commit suicide, to join her twin sister in death. The writing is very good and takes the reader into the character's mindset in a way that someone who hasn't been depressed normally wouldn't experience. The transition when she begins to realize she doesn't really want to do this is remarkable and I think would serve as a good warning for anyone who has ever contemplated suicide. Most people do change their minds when it gets too real, though for some it's too late by then.

The one thing I couldn't reconcile was disincarnate spirits having tears, letting out breath and bleeding when they don't eat or have other physical characteristics. Feeling pain might have worked on its own but too many living attributes hampered the believability.

Despite this, there was some real originality in the events and I found the story an enjoyable read. I did guess the twist at the end by halfway through, but I tend to pick up easily on the slightest hint of foreshadowing. Towards the end some of the fast action lost me a little, but overall I thought it was a good story and a well-written, enjoyable read.

That's it!  Can't take anymore.  

The premise is interesting, but the whole execution is just too juvenile.

I hope the house eats them all.

Way too much teenage angst for a 'investigating the haunted house' story considering at least 2 of them are college age.

No one takes Allison seriously, the guys are trying decide who gets to chase Jesse, a weird housekeeper, and a ouija board. And a doctor of parapsychology or something to oversee it all.

Everytime it seems like the story might be going somewhere, it awkwardly dumps us out.

I swear this is written by two people who didn't read what the other wrote.

October went by faster than I thought. But I got all my review copies goal done and that is all the matters. I might up my goal for November, since I have a bunch of review copies coming up. 

Overall October was a good month and November might be even better., I have Kim Harrison,Cindi Madsen, Karissa Laurel, Maddy Edwards and more coming up for November . I'm not even sure if I will get a "fun" book in. 

Anyways here are my books for October, you can find the buy links in the reviews that are linked :) 

As always thank you for all your support and 

HappY ReadinG :) 

Red Death by Jeff Altabef

Every child of Eden fears the Red Death. All those afflicted with the plague die young, their souls stripped away as punishment for ancient sins long forgotten. For centuries, Guardians have protected Eden from the Red Death by killing outsiders who stray too close. They must keep Eden a secret if they are to survive.

Seventeen-year-old Aaliss is a highly-trained and dedicated Guardian, but when her rather odd thirteen-year-old brother discovers a cure to the plague, her world is turned upside down. The discovery is a miracle, yet miracles are dangerous in Eden.

The corrupt, all-powerful High Priest brands Aaliss and her brother Wilky as traitors, forcing them to run. They seek refuge in the last place Aaliss thought she’d ever go—beyond the boundaries of Eden, and into the land of the Soulless. Here they must navigate a medieval world filled with witches, magic, and warrior kingdoms run by Elders who are only a few years older than her.

Aaliss yearns to return home to Eden, but she must protect Wilky at all costs. And when her heart tugs her deeper into the world of the Soulless, she questions everything she once believed, everything the Priests had taught her about those who live outside Eden—they are forever cursed, savage, soulless.

Has her soul been taken? Will she and Wilky fall victim to the Red Death, or might they die sooner in the center of a battle that threatens to tear apart the Soulless world? Or… might Aaliss finally find, against all odds, what her heart has yearned for all along?

4★

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.

Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!

Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.

Literally.

4½★

My Kinda Kisses by Lacey Black

Life never goes as planned. Jaime Summer learned that lesson the hard way when her fiancé wreaked havoc on her carefully constructed life plan. Now, Jaime’s back in her hometown, working at her sister’s flower shop and living with her family once again, swearing off dating and men for the rest of her life. That is, until Ryan Elson walks through the door.

Ryan has been in Jupiter Bay for a year now, and has worked hard to make this new town his home. His construction business is growing and while his personal relationships with the fairer sex are lacking, he’s more content than he’s ever been.He doesn’t need a woman, but a chance meeting with Jaime has Ryan ready to pull out all the stops to have her.

Exhilarating. Intoxicating. Consuming. Ravenous. Passionate.What happens when those kisses lead towards something more? Something that looks a lot like forever.

Note: This book is intended for those 18 and over due to graphic language, descriptive sex, and the world’s most inappropriate grandparents.

4½★

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

4★

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Michelle Muto

Grief-stricken by the murder of her twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her ticket to eternal peace and a chance to reunite with her sister. When Keely succeeds in taking her own life, she discovers death isn’t at all what she expected.

Instead, she’s trapped in a netherworld on Earth and her only hope for reconnecting with her sister and navigating the afterlife is a bounty-hunting reaper and a sardonic, possibly unscrupulous, demon. But when the demon offers Keely her greatest temptation—revenge on her sister’s murderer—she must uncover his motives and determine who she can trust.

Because, as Keely soon learns, both reaper and demon are keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true—that her every decision will change how, and with whom, she spends eternity.

3½★

Grief-stricken by the murder of her twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her ticket to eternal peace and a chance to reunite with her sister. When Keely succeeds in taking her own life, she discovers death isn’t at all what she expected.

Instead, she’s trapped in a netherworld on Earth and her only hope for reconnecting with her sister and navigating the afterlife is a bounty-hunting reaper and a sardonic, possibly unscrupulous, demon. But when the demon offers Keely her greatest temptation—revenge on her sister’s murderer—she must uncover his motives and determine who she can trust.

Because, as Keely soon learns, both reaper and demon are keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true—that her every decision will change how, and with whom, she spends eternity.

3 ½ ★

This is one of the harder books to review for me. I’m not really sure what to say without really spoiling it but I try and I make it short . I also should warn, that this book might not be for everyone. It deals with the rather sad and dark subject of suicide, teen suicide to be exact as Keely commits a pretty graphic suicide in the first chapter. When she wakes up in purgatory she finds the reaper and a demon there to escort her to hell. But it is clear very early on that there is much more going on. Keely has to be remain with Daniel and Banning until her fate for her afterlife is revealed for sure. Purgatory is not such a nice place to be and not very safe and even with Manning and Daniel by her site things start to get out of hand. Plus, both of them are keeping things from her and she does her best to figure it out and what is the truth. She also encounters some to her familiar faces, on her journey in purgatory. It is rather sad following her around and her journey as she sees firsthand how her loved ones deal with her death. She sees them grieve but also has to grieve her own death. She also meets other departed on her way. Plus Keeley wants revenge on her sister’s murderer, but as much else in the afterlife and her story it is does not go the way she may have thought. While I saw the end coming, it was still bittersweet. There were some plot holes I thought but otherwise even with the dark subject matter it was a good read and I enjoyed it and the characters .

I rate it 3 ½ ★

Quote:

“Despondency and death. A place worse than hell. There’s no Garden of Eden. God acts like he’s hands off, Lucifer has more of a say in things than I thought, angels aren’t what I’d expected, and demons….” I glanced around nervously for Daniel. “Where’s perfect peace? It’s not fair! When we die, isn’t it all supposed to be fair?"

*I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley and chose to leave a voluntary review. Thank you!

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