Written like true crime but truly fiction, I fell for this book quite a few times while I was reading it and I could’ve sworn that what I was reading had actually occurred.  With the addition of the photographs, it was hard not to lean towards true crime as the authorities tried to find their serial killer and the body count kept creeping up.

I enjoyed the concept behind how the author put the book together.  I liked how the author put the book together so it read like a true crime novel. I know that I checked the genre on this book at least a couple times just like I checked Daisy Jones and the Six when I read that book.  These stories play tricks with us, they want us to believe them but then, where is the memory of such events in our heads?

I was looking forward to some impressive reading when I picked up this book after looking at the title and the synopsis, as it sounded scary and intense. After reading this book though, I felt disappointed.  I enjoyed the book but I guess with all the glowing reviews, the title and the synopsis, I was expecting something grander.  I guess I was expecting it to be a I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-this-book, with me sitting on the edge-of-my-seat and the words just flying across the page.  There were also moments where I felt the author gave me information just to give me information, where I grew bored.   I wanted to be scared and I wanted to devour this book. There were moments of mystery, intense and bizarre activity but nothing that frightened or alarmed me.

I wanted to know who was killing these young girls.  I needed to know what sick individual would then, take the time to pose their victim’s mutilated dead bodies for others to find.  Why? What was the purpose? With a fantastic cover and a unique style of writing, this book is by an author who has some amazing talent.  4 stars

You know its good when you get that creepy ass shiver up your spine when reading the last sentence.

You can read this fast 10 minute read here free on the author's website. 

The Book Genie picked a book of short stories for me, but I don't think I can stay the course over 100 stories, so I decided to use it as a palate-cleanser between my other books. So I'll read a few stories from it, then move to the next novel. The Book Genie picked The Book of Salt for that one. It's funny, but both were impulse buys at Half Price Books, so I have no idea if I'm going to enjoy either one. 

What was the purpose of this book? Seriously? I was happy to return to Castle Rock, but there was no point to this book at all. Adult Gwendy seems so much less than the teenage version we got. And the direction her life took didn't even make a lot of sense. 

So in "Gwendy's Magic Feather" we follow 30 something year old Gwendy. Her life has taken a lot of twists since she was gifted the Button Box. One day though the Button Box reappears, and Gwendy doesn't know what it means, or for long she is supposed to take charge of it. She's also scared she may do the wrong thing since the box seems to call out to her. 

So 30 something year old Gwendy didn't feel like the Gwendy we got in the last book. I know that people change, but the changes in her (without getting into spoilers) definitely did not seem very realistic. She is more whining in this one. She also runs around acting helplessly. I still don't get how the box did what it did in this one at all. It was so confusing.

We also have a serial killer on the loose which feels a bit off to me. It's not a typical King villain to me. Probably because once again King didn't write this one. It just felt tacked on and the missing girls sub-plot was not integrated well into things at all. 

The book takes place in Castle Rock in 1999. There are some call-backs to the Dark Tower here and there. A character uses the word "palaver". Gwendy's condo is 19B. We have something with red glowing eyes skulking about. We read about past events in Castle Rock (Needful Things, Cujo, etc.). So that part was good. Other than that....eh. 

The only reason why I gave this 1 star was that the illustrations were a great add on.

The ending was lackluster to the extreme. 

A nice little murder mystery.  I'm not sure why it was listed under horror.

Using this one for the Free Space since it won't fit in anything else I have free.

Which. I think, finally gives me 2 bingos!