Book Review: Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez

I'm sorry to say that this beautiful book was not on my radar until I received it for review. The title is what drew me in, the word muñeca bringing back images from my childhood and the words that used to swirl around in my head when I had to use them to speak to everyone in my family who wasn't a kid like me. I was drawn in by the image and then the plot caught my attention, about a young woman who decides to free another young woman from a spell she has been under for six years, and I immediately thought that I had to make sure I had the time to read and review this book. I've already looked into finding a copy of Gómez's short story collection. It will look wonderful next to my copy of Muñeca, where the two of them will proudly stand waiting for my works to join them on the shelf.

I loved this story. I loved these characters. I loved its history and its power and it is truly a magnificent work. I want to pass this around to anyone who will read it and give copies to my relatives. When I want to buy copies to give to my family, that's how I really know I LOVED a book.

Muñeca follows Natalia Fuentes, a young woman in Oakland who has a talent for math and who lost her mother a few years back. Natalia hears about the daughter of her mother's former employer, a young heiress, who has been struck ill and left immobilized for six years. Natalia suspects that someone has cast a spell over the victim, witchcraft being something Natalia has experience with, and the evidence seems to indicate something truly dark was done to the victim. Natalia devises a plan to become the next caretaker for the young woman and offering her a deal. Natalia will break the spell in exchange for a hefty sum. As Natalia enters the house and begins her work, she has to find out who cast the spell and why. All the while, Natalia and her charge begin to develop feelings for one another and Natalia starts to wonder how far she will go with the power she has to break the spell and punish the people responsible for casting it.

I'll start with the setting and the world building. Gómez gives a wonderful introduction to Natalia and her current life in Oakland. We learn about what happened to her family, that she was incredibly gifted in math and that she had a good relationship with her mom, whose words she still lives by to this day. We also learn that Natalia started to understand early on that she was queer and how she went about with navigating a life as a bank teller and finding other women she could be friends with and try to have a relationships with as well. We learn about how women held house parties where they could feel safe together and how Natalia found a friend, Doris, who she moved in with and how these women became friends, people she would do anything to protect. At the same time, Gómez shows how Natalia is just another face, invisible in a sense, because those in power won't acknowledge her but this should not be what Natalia keeps for herself. And all of it endeared this young woman to me, a girl who should have been able to fight back but because of the times and who she was, it was almost safer for her to stay unnoticed. We understand within the first 10 pages of this book that Natalia has grit, that she has been forced to endure, and it is almost a sense of injustice that drives her to find a way to help another woman who has been hurt. I could understand this world and its people and I was firmly on Natalia's side through whatever would come her way.

Oh, Natalia, what can I say, she was one tough, intelligent, powerful force. I loved her voice, the way she would make her snide remarks about her employers and yet she would bring her mother's words to mind to keep herself in check. I thought the balance this achieved was perfectly laid out, explaining what the witchcraft she returned to could make of her if she let it get too far and yet she was constantly pushing her boundaries and taking strides with her power. Enough that she was proving that she could be more powerful than anyone had realized before, including her grandmother, who had taught a bit of witchcraft when she was barely a teenager. Her connection with Violeta, the young woman under a spell, was so sweetly done. The fact of the matter is that the story has to work with a couple who could barely communicate together. Their connection is yearning glances and words on paper that they couldn't keep and it was so wonderfully wrought that I believed their connection and I respected the way it worked out. This was a couple I was rooting for and their journey together was beautiful to behold. 

The rest of the cast is filled with faces that all have some kind of hold on the main couple. Natalia has her friend Doris, who is protective of Natalia and knows what has taken Natalia from her steady job to attempting to free Violeta. There is also Violeta's husband, Andres, a man who seems unconcerned about the ailment that befell his wife and spends a large portion of the story haunting the women because he is a man who controls everything even when he's not on the page. There is also Violeta's mother, Mrs. Miramontes, who had previously hired Natalia's mother years earlier, the kind of woman who doesn't recognize Natalia as having spent time in her home because Natalia was the same as the help and not worth the attention. We also see enough of the past to witness Natalia's mother and how she raised her daughter and then also Natalia's grandmother and how those two women were in direct contrast to each other, two sides that Natalia has the potential for within herself. Each of these people serve their purpose in fleshing out the story and as a driving force for the actions of each character. All of these pieces work to create a story of power and rage and redemption that make this book unique as well as a moving love story.

As for the plot, the workings of this book are concise, nothing feels out of place, all questions get answered in due time. I love when I get to the end of a story and feel a sense of vindication, a knowledge that everything in this story had a purpose and the ends have been brought together enough that I love where the development went. I can also smile because this story brought some twists I didn't expect with its resolution and I loved the direction it went with that. The ways this story drew on every bit of information given in the setup were superbly done. I had a moment where I wondered if we'd see one thing on the page, something only spoken of before and when it happened, the way it unfolded was something I did not even consider and yet of course that was the way it went. Moments like those elevate a story, when the author takes their story somewhere it needs to go and surprises you with the reveals. I'm still admiring the way this book was woven together and I want to go back and make notes on favorite lines that hint at what is to come because the skill it took is admirable. Honestly, I'm so impressed by this book.

The title itself also bears mentioning with the connotations it had for the plot and characters. A muneca is a doll, what Violeta was literally turned into as the result of a spell. And yet over the course of this book, the use of the word changed, becoming something that when armed could wreak havoc on those that have wronged them. A plaything one moment and then a force to contend with, I admired the way this changed over the course of this story. When I first saw the title, I initially thought it was supposed to be used as a term of endearment but it was so much more than that and the transformation was another aspect of this story that I was not expecting. Everything about this story was so well-planned, I'm still making connections even as I'm writing this review. That's how I know that this book is something to exclaim over to anyone who will listen.

In the end, I feel like Muñeca is a powerful tale about a woman who learns about what she could take from her past to build something better for her future. It's also a beautifully rendered love story about choice and free will. Together, both make a book that I'm sure will resonate with readers once they've read it.

Rating on my Scale: I'm giving this 10 Stars. I finished this book less than an hour ago and I'm still looking at it and remembering the magic it held and the power and rage it kept in its pages and I think it was just plain awesome. No other words necessary to describe it.

My thanks to Netgalley, Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Cynthia Gómez for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

Once upon a time, my love for the story of Peter Pan was known by everyone in my family. I had a poster over my window with the quote about the beginning of fairies being created from a child's laugh. I had several snow globes of the 50s cartoon movie, gifted by different aunts when I was a child. My sister saw the play in New York and came home with a t-shirt for me and details of a necklace they were selling, describing a thimble and a half of an acorn charm on it. The idea stuck in my head and I scoured the internet to create my own necklace, something I still wear to this day and which no one recognizes why I have a thimble and an acorn on my necklace. I found a third edition of the original play published in 1928 that I keep with an illustrated copy of Peter Pan and Wendy on my shelves. To this day, I continue to read any book that seems to be inspired by the story of a boy that lives in a strange world of make-believe and takes children away to play games with him. And I state it exactly like that because when you think about it, why do children enjoy a story about a boy that can climb through their window and steal them away?

The stories that use the elements of this old tale and change them to be a little more, let's say, horror are the ones that see the underbelly of a childhood favorite. A boy that lives with the fairies and fights pirates is not your friend. He's not going to keep you safe, not if it doesn't align with what he wants to do. It used to be used as a warning, heed your parents or the fairies will steal you away. Books that focus on the horror, the fear of a child who has been taken away from all that they know, those resonate more with their inspiration, showing the dark side, perhaps even the true side, of a tale like this.

Which is why It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo has turned out to be one of the better inspired tales I've found based on this children's classic. I was ready to be scared, to question what was happening, to care for the Darling children all grown up like me. While reading this book in the dark, I found myself pulling myself in tighter, imagining hands creeping up from the floor to snatch at my feet. I looked at things in the shadows, wondering if they had moved or were the same way I'd left them when there was still light. I wanted to check my windows to make sure they were secure and I turned the volume up on my children's monitor so I could hear their every movement. My eldest actually woke up crying during a particularly hair-raising part of this book and it set me on edge for the rest of the night. Coincidence? Obviously, but it put dreams in my head of shadows moving in ways they shouldn't and made me itch to turn on some lights. It was a glorious experience to read this tale and now I'll be following Pelayo to every new publication for years to come.

It Came from Neverland follows adult Wendy Darling working as a teacher in a home for children. It is 1914 and the world has been drawn into a world war that has left many children in need of a home and leaving London on edge about what is to come. Wendy spends her nights working in a hospital, reading stories to a soldier who has not woken once since returning from the war. One night he utters the name Peter Pan and Wendy knows that the story from her childhood, the one she told to explain where she and her brothers were when they went missing as children, has returned. Except the story she told was one of terror, of a boy that had snatched children for years and used them to play his games until he grew tired of them and killed them. Boys whose disappearances could not be explained and whose names Wendy knew, making her become ostracized by her family and neighbors who would rather lock her away than listen to her story. When the children at the school start to whisper about him, Wendy realizes that the children she cares for are now being threatened. Peter wants Wendy to return to him, as she swore once that she would do when she was a child, and he will use the people she loves to get what he wants. Wendy has to get her brothers to help her discover the truth about Peter Pan and stop him once and for all, before Wendy is taken away forever.

The world here was familiar, easy to slip into and follow Wendy around as she navigated her life as a school teacher. Pelayo uses a few easy locations, the Darling House, Marigold House, where Wendy works, and the hospital where Wendy volunteers and, of course, bits of Neverland that will be familiar to anyone with knowledge of the story, films or plays. Nothing else is necessary to really make this story work and I'm grateful for how concise the world was as it helped to keep the story centered. This is the story about Wendy banishing a monster from her childhood and the focus on her was perfect. Anything else would have been too much and less is more works brilliantly here. The world is filled with a few new faces, filling in the space to show how Wendy's world has grown with her age. What I found the most imaginative about Pelayo's creation here is the fact that this story exists alongside Barrie's creation which I found intriguing to consider this story as an influence on Barrie. It also drove home the fact that so many people chose to disregard Wendy's claims in favor of believing the more comforting image that Barrie had created. Pelayo also gives this book two timelines, showing us scenes from the past when Wendy, John and Michael were in Neverland while continuing to move through the current timeline and how Wendy was struggling with the slow appearances of Peter Pan around her. Both timelines worked to show what made Wendy so scared with her past interactions with Peter Pan and how it had affected her life in the long term. By showing the past, the present "games" and "tricks" are just that much more sinister, colored by the fears leftover from a traumatic childhood experience. The dread that Wendy felt as she searched for signs around her in the present was that much more discernable to the reader because of what we witnessed during her time in Neverland in the past.

The characters were well-rounded, especially with the detail given to show who the Darling children have become as adults. I thought their fates were tragic, showing how childhood trauma had driven the siblings apart. I was also heartbroken over the idea of Wendy suffered as a result of the truth she told. It made every decision Wendy made over the course of the book feel that much more weighted, to know that Wendy had told the truth and yet had suffered so much for doing the right thing. As a result, she leads a very solitary life, choosing to keep herself from caring too much for others as penance for the boys she left behind in Neverland when she fled. I also appreciated how Pelayo worked in the appearance of the classic villain Hook, using the character to help with shaping Peter Pan as the villain of every game and story that is told in his world, despite what the stolen children would try to claim. That being said, I also found the occupants of Marigold House to be endearing, with each child and their connection to Wendy making the stakes that much higher because even though Wendy has chosen to be alone, she still cares so much for charges, showing the maternal instinct that made her appealing enough to become the first girl taken to Neverland and why Peter Pan is still so determined to claim her.

As for the horror, Pelayo has a way with detail, the words and images that were used able to conjure up the children who had suffered horrible fates as players in Peter's games. I could see their faces and their injuries or what was left of them and it made the hair on my neck stand on end, especially when the familiar characters from the original tale were used, such as Tootles, Curly and the twins. The reasoning behind why Peter Pan needed to take children was interesting and the attention given to the way Peter truly reacted to the Lost Boys and their games was chilling. It could also be argued that Pelayo worked in a toxic relationship with Peter and Wendy and the Lost Boys, showing how easily Peter moved to manipulate the kids around him, gaslighting them so that they would believe only his version of events, taking his half truths as the complete story, warping things in their minds so they would only follow him to whatever fate he found most appealing at any moment's whim. Peter's obsession with Wendy was also terrifying, the idea that this creature with an unknown power was determined to consume Wendy just so he could win and then continue with his kidnapping and games. All of it together made this book chilling and it'll stay in my head and my heart as a scary, wonderful story. My goal this year was to read more horror novels and this book was one of my most anticipated titles that I had on pre-order. I can confidently say that this book did not disappoint at all.

In the end, the way the resolution came together made me feel content. There was still the World War happening back in London but there is still a thread of hope left for the characters. It wrapped up the way I had hoped and I have no questions left in my mind about any part of this story. The images will haunt me but the story itself is complete. Honestly, I'm so enchanted with this tale, a funny thing to say about a horror novel, and yet it is the best way to describe the feeling I'm left with now that the story has ended. I loved this book, plain and simple.

Read this book if you're a fan of Peter Pan stories that make Peter the monster you didn't know could orchestrate your nightmares. 

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars. I've thought it over and I really have no complaints about this book. Everything I asked was answered and I'll be watching the shadows until who knows when. I'll also be looking into Pelayo's past works and will be adding them to my everlasting TBR list. I know a book is impressive when I want to hoard all of the author's works.

My thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Cynthia Pelayo for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: The Unicorn Hunters: A Novel by Katherine Arden

It started with The Bear and the Nightingale for me, the first book I found by Katherine Arden. Something about the title called to my heart and my mind, the way the words fit, the lyrical sense making me think of fairytales and magic. I loved that book so much. I managed to get a signed copy of The Girl in the Tower and then I pre-ordered my copy of The Winter of the Witch. I loved these books so much my sister got me a special edition box set of the series with newly designed covers and stained edges that are gorgeous and have lived wrapped up in their shipping box for years until I finally took them out to display last year. When I saw that Arden was writing a middle grade novel, Small Spaces, I immediately ordered it, no questions asked. Obviously I adored it along with the rest of the series and I have plans to read all of the books to my kids once they're a little older. I found The Warm Hands of Ghosts to be haunting and it continued to prove to me that I would follow Arden to each and every single book she writes from now unto forever. So when I saw The Unicorn Hunters set for release, there was no doubt in my mind that I would order it, read it and love it.

This book will haunt me for a while, like the rest of Arden's books are able to do, lingering in my mind with its beauty and loss and the pain and its strength. This is another magnificent book from Arden and it will be a prized possession once it is finally on my shelf. I'm contemplating ordering other special editions because I loved it that much but I'll try to curb that impulse. No promises though.

The Unicorn Hunters: A Novel follows Anne of Brittany, whose country was invaded by France when she was a child. As duchess, Anne has done her best to do what will keep her country safe. Now France has threatened war unless Anne marries the King of France. Desperate to find a way out of this marriage and keep her country from being taken over by France, Anne secures a marriage with an enemy of France. In order to keep this from being discovered, Anne takes her court and enemies into a legendary forest where magic cannot spy and report back any information to France. The people believe they are on the hunt for a legendary unicorn, supposedly seen for the first time in centuries, a rumor created by Anne and her trusted confidantes to hide their true purpose of Anne's secret wedding. But when in the forest, a unicorn comes to Anne, followed by a man who comes out of the trees with no memory of what he has been doing since entering the forest some centuries before. Now Anne is forced to come to terms with a magic that could change her destiny and keep her country free if she can manage to understand and save herself and what she loves before it is too late.

Okay, you know that moment when you're trying to read a book but you're also doing five different things at once and suddenly in the book a character makes a decision and suddenly your trying not to cry? That happened with this book. I have another one. What about that moment where the tensions are rising and you're not sure what could happen to help the leads and then one of your favorite characters bursts onto the page and you want to stand up and cheer and jump around? Yes, that one happened to me as well. I was so completely invested in this story, in every character in this book, in the journey this tale took and honestly, sitting here now to write this review, I'm still feeling a bit of awe towards this story. I want to go back and mark my favorite passages. I have started researching the real Anne of Brittany to truly understand the woman that inspired this magical tale. I've raved about this book to my book group chat and I have been telling the readers in my family about it, telling them they need to read ALL of Arden's books because they are each so brilliant.

The world was lush with magic and history and I was immersed in the story within the first few pages. I loved how Arden made a world that drew from what is known and then filled in the spaces around the facts with things that could make the world expand and allow for a new fate to be found by our lead Anne. The fact that diviners were used as a means of communication and to make predictions about other courts and even to spy made the tensions concerning Anne's destiny that much more dire. Anne was working with the role she was given and doing everything she could to protect her country and I loved her every move and thought. I believed in every person that she held dear like her elder brother Henri, who trusted every decision his sister made, and Isabeau, the devoted younger sister with firecracker personality. I loved Elesbed and her cat Butter, and my heart ached for Louis, Duke of Orléans. Every person was filled in with such detail and care that when they breathed on the page, I held mine, waiting for what would be revealed for them. Only Arden could make me care so much for these characters and after so many books, I expected no less than to feel my heart swell with emotions I could barely contain which is where I still am now, hours after finishing this book.

In terms of the plot, I found it interesting to learn so much about the bare bones that this story has in its foundation. I've been researching every key name from this book to truly understand the inspiration and honestly, I'm hoping to find a list of sources that Arden might have consulted so I can really delve into this history. I love when a book inspires me to study something I would never found on my own and I'll be reading up on everything I can find about Anne and Louis and the history of Brittany for at least the next month or so. I wanted Anne to succeed in keeping her country safe and in making a choice that could actually bring her happiness with the role she was given as being born to be duchess. I know the history but it was lovely to see a new opportunity given to a woman who had the world foisted onto her shoulders at such a young and to see her have a new destiny. The magic added to the tale, the legends of the region and the creatures in the forest, all added to make this book memorable. 

Arden keeps getting better and better with her writing. Everything is given to readers with such care and detail that it is easy to envision every moment, to growl at the machinations of France and to cheer when Anne was able to sidestep every obstacle she faced. There were elements of fantasy with the sea drakes and the unicorn that made my heart so happy along with a few moments of suspense and maybe even a little horror at the idea of what could hide in the shadows between this world and the Lost Lands seen in the book. The visions of the anoan, the community of the dead in Breton, made chills creep across my shoulders and now I'm researching Breton mythology as well. Now that I think about it, this book has actually given me homework and I think a book that makes me eager to find out more is a book to be admired and to be extolled to anyone who will stop and listen.

I have so many notes for places to research, names to read up, myths to discover and my reader's soul is so happy after concluding this book. I can't wait for my copy to arrive so I can read it again with new eyes and treasure it for years to come.

Rating on my Scale: 10 Magical Stars! I want to go back and read The Winternight Trilogy again since I just finished the Small Spaces series again during the winter months. If you've never read Arden before, this book will show you everything you've been missing out on and if you're already a fan, I guarantee that you won't be disappointed by what you find in the beautiful tale of magic and history.

My thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore and Katherine Arden for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: A Dark and Wild Wood by Sarah Nicole Lemon

As my New Year's Resolution, I decided that 2026 was going to be the year that I read more horror books. In order to do that, I started looking for lists that put together every horror release title for the year. I'm almost two thirds of the way through the list I found, looking month by month at every synopsis and adding each book that interests me to my want to read list. That was where I had first heard of the book A Dark and Wild Wood by Sarah Nicole Lemon. The synopsis mentioned Bluebeard and a woman with magic that becomes an apprentice to Lord Death and I thought, SOLD, and immediately added it to my wish list. When it became available for review, I leapt at the chance to read it. I've read several books already using the story of Bluebeard, some better than others, but the idea behind this one intrigued me. How would it work in the point of Bluebeard, the women in his past, that sort of thing? I'm happy to report that Lemon worked the story into something unique, something that yes, used Bluebeard, but the important story was the young woman, her magic and who she becomes by the end of the book and it was wondrous to behold that transformation.

A Dark and Wild Wood follows Salomé, a young woman with the ability to see ghosts and who possesses a magic that she can't necessarily control. Raised by a hedge witch in the woods who was burned at the stake, she entered a convent with her sister, Rochelle, until her sister was taken by a creature in the woods. Determined to find a way to save her beloved sister, Salomé leaves the convent and her journey begins. Salomé first finds herself in a brothel but after an accident, she is forced to leave the village and enter the woods, where she encounters Lord Death. Lord Death takes Salomé into the woods where his manor is, a place that looked like it was in ruins until suddenly it transforms into a home filled with locked rooms and strange things. Lord Death makes Salomé his apprentice, promising to teach her how to use her magic. But as things continue and Salomé starts to learn more about her power, she starts to understand more about the deal she has made and who it is that she has sworn to serve.

In terms of writing, Lemon has a way with words that seems to cast a spell, weaving images in your head of a young woman with so many trials she had to endure all the while seeing ghosts all around her. The writing was dreamy, almost romantic, but the book started with a big disclaimer in the first chapter, explicitly stating that this was NOT a love story, and I loved that point by the end of the book. I'll admit, as I was reading this story I was getting a little frustrated with the main character and the love interests until I remembered the lines from the first chapter and I stopped in my place and thought, that's right, this isn't a love story, so where is this going? After that, the tension felt more palpable, more of a razor's edge that the story was walking because I knew where it was going to lead but the hows were still being discovered and I was waiting with almost bated breath to see how it would unravel. The elements of horror are subtle, shown with the dead that haunt the world that Salomé can see, their detail chilling enough linger in the reader's mind long after the story has moved on to other scenes. The worldbuilding worked, the settings, the characters, everything had a place, an explanation, a tale to draw from and build on and everything works to create a fantastic tale. 

The world felt well-developed, reminding readers enough of a classic, historical setting, a place filled with suspicion and superstition. We see the narrow minded people who killed Salomé's adopted mother because they called her a witch, we see the hypocrisy of the people in charge of the church when Salomé and Rochelle are entered into a convent. As the story moves, Salomé is able to see many different sides of the people around her, and this insight helps in filling in the world and the tensions in it. As the tale progresses, readers learn about the missing women and the way the villages deal with it also colors the world, showing how it seems to little affect the majority but greatly worries the women and Salomé's companions in the brothel. Once the story focuses on Salomé and her apprenticeship with Lord Death, readers know enough about the world to see the freedom that Salome now has and how she wishes to keep her new life. This also works to fill in the the shades of the gothic romance with Salomé isolated for a lot of the story, living in a house that has its own magic that she needed to be wary of lest it manage to do something to her, all the while with her inner turmoil at her relationship or lack thereof with Lord Death. At the same time, Salomé is determined to find out what happened to her sister and her wish to keep the women she knew safe from danger is something that hangs over her head. The world-building shows us that in the end, these women only had each other to depend on and that if there would be a solution, Salomé would be the one to find it.

As for characters, I ended up loving my dear Salomé. This was a woman who managed to come back time and time again from horrible circumstances and still managed to come out, dare I say, better each time. It takes grit and determination and strength and a whole lot of just plain stubbornness to do what Salomé did in this book. As I went through all of this with her, I would grumble at her, I would want her to remember certain things but I knew this woman was intelligent, she would figure things out and she did. Her growth was amazing and that ending, it was everything I would have wanted to happen, it made me grin and cheer a little because yes, I can be a little spiteful but hey, sometimes these characters deserve a little malicious justice. Salomé was sour and she had sass and it worked for her, for her station in life, for getting her to where she wanted to be. The little seen of Rochelle, her sister, was enough to show that the sisters were different but that they cared for each other and Salomé's determination to find her fits as a driving force for the character.

As for Lord Death, Lemon kept two sides of the character, the mystery of what the work of Lord Death entailed and the teacher who was going to help Salomé learn how to harness her power. The balance was kept, keeping Salomé working hard to accomplish what he wanted of her, showing what turned out to be the push and pull of a toxic relationship. Each time Lord Death spent time on the page with Salomé, we as readers were left on the edge of understanding exactly what Lemon was doing with the character until the end, when the reveals of everything started to dismantle what we thought we knew. It almost felt like a lot of the relationship was built on the ideas that Salomé had built up in her head about Lord Death as opposed to actually spending time with him. Because of that, Salomé was able to dismiss a lot of questionable things when they didn't fit the narrative she had built in her head. It's easy to convince yourself of something when you desperately want it to be the truth. In the end, the story depends on Salomé and her development, and she was enough to keep me caring about her until the end of her story and beyond.

The only issue I had was with the pacing. Sometimes the book felt like it was spinning its wheels, showing us Salomé in the chateau and her trying to master her magic with her thoughts focused on impressing Lord Death, becoming important to him, indispensable in a sense. These scenes started to feel a little repetitive, especially as more reveals started to come to light in the book. I wanted Salomé to keep her focus, to listen to the warnings she was given but she tended to brush concerns aside in her focus on Lord Death. Life in the chateau seemed to exist on a separate timeline with only the occasional mention of how many months it had been since Salomé had left behind the brothel. As a result, I'm not sure how much time passes in the story, whether it was weeks or months or even a year. As Salomé masters her magic, I wanted to the pace to pick up, for her to confront her situation head on and demand answers from Lord Death but it still took time for her to finally have the pieces fit together. It's a minor quibble, nothing to really detract from the story, but it does bear mentioning for people looking for a faster paced read when this has a slower rhythm to it.

By the end of the book, I thought this was a strong addition to the books that use the tale of Bluebeard, and one of the better ones that I've read in some time. It's also a strong gothic romance addition. I can also see how it made onto a list of horror releases of 2026. Read this book if you like Crimson Peak colored with the shades of Bluebeard.

Rating on my scale: 9 Stars. This is honestly a very respectable read that has given me a new author to pay attention to and read the rest of their work. I still have a question or two that I would like more information for and maybe a little more time with the ending after it took time to get there. Still, I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm sure all the gothic romance fans out there will do the same.

My thanks to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and Sarah Nicole Lemon for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: A Murder Most Camp: A Mystery by Nicolas DiDomizio

When I got the chance to review this book, A Murder Most Camp: A Mystery, I was drawn in by the cover art and the synopsis. The play on words for the title is the type of thing that gets my attention. I was determined to get to this book and read it because it looked like just my kind of murder mystery. Without a doubt, this is my kind of book. I'm looking into reading the rest of DiDomizio's books as I write this. I read that this is DiDomizio's mystery debut and with that point in mind, it's impressive and honestly this is so well-crafted, with well-drawn characters that kept my attention. I can honestly say that when I read a book in less than 4 days, it means I LOVE it.

A Murder Most Camp: A Mystery follows Mikey Hartford IV, the heir to a big supermarket empire who has been spending a large portion of his life at parties, on boats and with other distractions. When Mikey spends millions on a townhouse, his father decides to make some changes to the rules for his trust fund. Now Mikey is tasked with doing "some good" before his 30th birthday or the party is over for good. Mikey is given the job of Special Activities Coordinator at Camp Lore in upstate New York, where he will be alongside his 12-year-old Aunt, Annabelle. The camp is nothing like the places Mikey went when he was a kid and now he's living in a old cabin with a window air conditioner unit, wi-fi limited to the lodge and timed showers in the communal bathroom. The kids that are assigned to Mikey are an interesting bunch and along with his aunt, they take an interest in the local legend of a missing camper linked to a derelict cabin left on the grounds. Alongside the kids, Mikey starts investigating the story, the idea being to make a documentary film with the kids as their special summer project. But threats start to come to Mikey and Mikey realizes there is more to the story than anyone has ever discovered.

Okay, starting with the basics, this book is top-notch in terms of writing and structure. The story is tight, the clues leave enough to question and to theorize about, and everything is revealed when necessary, leaving nothing unanswered at a logical pace. Great mysteries are able to keep the reader guessing and this one definitely kept me on my toes. I had only a few things figured out before the end of the book which definitely kept me engaged with the story. The story felt like the setting of a familiar tale, a camp with a missing, possibly dead, camper where everyone has come up with their own version of events to explain it. Each step taken, every clue found, raised stakes accordingly and kept the pages turning. I wanted to know what happened to the missing camper and yet at the same time, this book is just as much about the growth of a young man who has been avoiding, well, everything for a long time. As each part of the investigation goes, Mikey is learning more about what he can handle, who he cares about and what he wants to do with his future. He's learning to let people in and how to work well with others.

Which bring me to talking about Mikey himself. Oh, this dear sweet boy, within pages of meeting him I wanted to throw his best friend over the side of whatever I could find. Every word out his mouth showed how hard he tried but also how many times he'd been burned by the people around him. His losses made him wary of making connections and his interest in films and his many references endeared him to me. I wanted Mikey to succeed. I wanted him to learn more about himself at the camp, to figure out who was dragging him down and to recognize when real people cared about him. I loved his connection to his aunt Annabelle and how he was able to help her to come out of her shell and make friends. The reveals about the two of them together made me invested in this pair from the start. I loved the way the kids, Miranda, Paula, Cody and Danny, kept Mikey on his toes with their interest in solving the mystery and how quickly they made Annabelle a part of their group. They each had things that kept them together and their belief in Mikey made me smile. Sure they picked on him but come on, they're twelve, if they didn't pick on him a little, it would not be realistic at all. And then there was Jackson, the lifeguard and cabin mate to Mikey. I really enjoyed his quick wit and his interest in crossword puzzles. I knew the moment he stepped on the page that this was the guy that would make Mikey confident and watching the two of them find each other and deal with different obstacles over the course of the book made me smile because their connection was sweet and wholesome and exactly what Mikey had been looking for.

There are a lot of different threads in this book and each one comes together to make for a very interesting tale. I loved these people and I wanted them to work together to figure out what happened at the camp. I cared about the poor girl who went missing and I cared about everyone involved in this story. The way this story wrapped up, I was impressed with how the group figured things out and who was behind it all. This has all the makings of a great mystery and DiDomizio has proven to be a master at writing an amazing book. Which is why I'll definitely be reading more from DiDomizio. Also going to keep my fingers crossed that DiDomizio decides to continue writing in the mystery genre because this was an absolutely great book. It is also worth mentioning that I wouldn't mind seeing Mikey and Annabelle teaming up to solve another mystery in the future.

Rating on my Scale: I'm giving this one the full 10 Stars. Seriously, I finished this last night and I just keep thinking about how many things worked from the plot to the people to the way it all wrapped up in the end. Overall, a very respectable mystery I'm sure other reader sleuths will be eager to try for themselves. I'll also be looking into more Poisoned Pen Press titles as each mystery I've read from them has become a new favorite.

My thanks to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Nicolas DiDomizio for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Espíritu: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

I always start with a story. That's how my mind works, remembering the specifics of how I came to know and love the books I read and write about.

I know I had the book, Cemetery Boys, that much I can remember. I think I'd had to order it because life was going up in smoke in 2020 and it wasn't easy to get out to the places I used to take for granted that I could get to whenever I wanted to buy a new book. My sister had sung the praises of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas and I made sure to get a copy after the release, which is important to note because it meant that I did not get to receive the beautiful pre-order gift of tarot cards that went with the book. Then I saw Lost in the Never Woods available for pre-order and it just called to me. I still have the email saying my book was shipped the day before its release. I must have started reading it the moment it arrived because the date I finished it was barely a week later. After which I immediately picked up Cemetery Boys and just felt so comforted by that world, something different than what was outside my door. Something that felt familiar because of the Latino culture in it, things that echoed my own childhood and yet expanded and explored it in ways that I wished would have been reality because helping ghosts seemed like a calling for me. I finished reading these books in the weeks after my grandfather passed away, one of many who were lost during those early years of the pandemic. These books helped me in ways I cannot begin to describe and I loved, loved LOVED them and continue to love them to this day.

Officially, I managed to get some of the pre-order cards for Cemetery Boys after all. I also have some pins and a tablet sleeve made from fabric of the characters Yadriel, Julian and Maritza in chibi form that I don't do anything with except display it with my books. I've made sure to order every book by Aiden Thomas months in advance and it was on a random day that I searched and found that there would be a sequel to Cemetery Boys. My heart felt like it skipped a beat and then leapt into my throat. A sequel? Was it possible? When I saw that it was available for request to review, I thought I'd take a leap of faith and try requesting it. It was in the back of my mind every time I checked my email, hoping to see that I'd been accepted to review the book. I squealed when I got the approval and I danced around the house for the rest of the night because I was so HAPPY that I was going to read this book. It was everything I wanted to see for these characters after so long away from them. They were perfect to see again, I can't believe how amazing and wondrous it was to visit this world again but I shouldn't be that surprised. I will read everything that Aiden Thomas writes because he is just that good of a writer. Espíritu was everything and more for fans of Cemetery Boys.

Espíritu picks up not long after the events of Cemetery Boys. Julian, who spent a large portion of the last book as a ghost, now sees ghosts. He has made many friends amongst the ghost community in the cemetery that his brujo boyfriend takes care of with his family and he's happy with the way things are going, more or less. Julian is struggling a little with keeping his new life a secret from his brother and his closest friends but he will keep the secret for the brujx because Yadriel and his family have asked him to do so. But things are changing for Julian. He has started to see  and hear other things he can't explain, shadows that shouldn't be there, glowing eyes, whispers of his name in the dark. When Julian finds a dark spot on his chest, it's not long before he starts to see them on other people. Yadriel doesn't know what it means but with so much going on for the season, the boys don't know who to go to for help. That's when Julian meets Angel, a nonbinary brujx, who not only knows what the dark spots are but claims they can help Julian with it. But the more time Julian spends getting to know Angel, the more Julian starts to think Angel is not who they say they are and their methods aren't what the brujx community would do. When a dark spot shows up on Julian's close friend, Luca, Julian realizes that there is something more going on in the cemetery and he and his friends need to figure out how to save themselves before it is too late.

Everything about this world feels like it's filled with light and colors and love. In my mind, I see Yadriel and Julian glowing with love for each other with the way they support each other and make one another feel safe. I see the ferocity of Maritza with her strength to take care of those she holds dearest to her heart. I see the glow of the ghosts in the cemetery and the magic that has started to change things in the world of this book. Everything feels so familiar and comforting, this world of magic and tradition. I loved how easy it was to slip back into this world. The family dynamics between Yadriel and his father and Lita and then with Julian and his family all felt so distinct. I wanted these boys to find the balance they needed, the stability in their lives with the magic they possessed. This world is wonderful and Thomas is able to bring readers into it with an ease that feels like being embraced by an old friend. Books like that are hard to find but this one fits in with the best of comfort reads.

What can I say about these characters that is enough to convey what they mean to readers? Yadriel and Julian are still the sweetest and the most endearing pair together. I loved how easy their relationship was in this book. Their gains from the last book are reflected here with the ease that they have when they are on the page together. Julian is still brash and charming, quick with a joke and yet has the whole of the world on his shoulders trying to keep everyone safe. Yadriel is still working to gain ground with his Dad and his Lita, who he has been trying to get to include him in the goings on of the cemetery while still trying his best to do what he can for the ghosts. Maritza is a force and I was firmly on her side with her suspicions from the start. I loved how quick she was to defend both Yadriel and Julian and everyone should wish they had family like her. I also enjoyed the closer look at Julian's home and family given in this book. Rio, Julian's older brother, is heartbreaking and yet at the same time, he felt like the character I could most relate with, the one who is the caretaker of so many. Readers get to spend time with each character and we learn so much about how they fit together. I loved all of these people, even the new faces, like Angel, that we were introduced to and some old faces that we got to see again.

I wasn't sure what more could be added to the world in terms of a new story but Thomas surprised me with this development. The marks that Julian started to see were interesting and the direction they took made sense. The growth felt like what was necessary to truly leave these characters in a happy place compared to the end of the first book. Any more information veers too far into spoiler territory so I will leave readers with this. This book felt like the perfect addition to a story that means so much to readers. The developments are beautiful and the stakes are high, making this a wonderful adventure to bring readers back to see Yadriel, Julian and Maritza again. I hope so many people enjoy the time spent with this world and its people again.

In the end, this book made me cry a few times and cheer a few times. I laughed and I celebrated with these people. Aiden Thomas is a favorite author of mine and this book is another example of their great talent. I can't wait for everyone to get to see this world again and I hope they love it as much as I did.

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars!! Seriously, I have no complaints about this book. I love this world so much and I can't wait to put this book on my shelf with the rest of my collection. It was wonderful to see these people again and I'm grateful that we readers now have two books to read and enjoy in this universe.

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends and Aiden Thomas for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: City of Iron and Ivy by Thomas Kent West

This book wasn't on my radar when I received it for review and I want to extend my deepest thanks to the person who sent me this book because this was truly a MAGNIFICENT BOOK. I've been reading when I should be sleeping, eating, everything and everywhere I could, I was reading this book. My son was in my lap enjoying his breakfast and I had my phone in my hand, trying to read. I've gone to my group chat of book friends and sung the praises of this book. My copy is ordered and set for delivery on release day after which I will hopefully go back to my book community and fawn over this book with other people who loved it as much as I did. This book is everything I wanted from a historical romantasy with a murder mystery edge and Thomas Kent West has become the latest author that I will follow for the rest of their writing career.

City of Iron and Ivy follows Elswyth Elderwood, the last debutante of the Elderwood line who has to enter London society in search of a husband. Elswyth would rather study botany at Oxford, where she was just accepted, but when her sister Persephone goes missing and is declared dead with little investigation into her disappearance, the role of saving their family falls to Elswyth. Elswyth's London is filled with floromancy, the ability that allows the user to sprout plants from their skin. Floromancy is used by people to decorate their clothes, for medicinal purposes, and by one known as the Reaper, who leaves their victims with organs missing and plants sprouting from their insides when they're left in the streets. Elswyth believes her sister's disappearance might have a connection to the Reaper, and when she realizes the Reaper might be a nobleman, Elswyth's efforts to find a husband also merge with her investigation into the suitors and friends her sister had gathered in the season before she went missing. Elswyth must learn how to defend herself and understand the nobility in order to find the Reaper or she might end up just like her sister.

I'll start with the writing. This was intricately done, finding the perfect tone to feel set in the 1800s. The writing translated well, building a world that seemed familiar and yet stood apart with its magic system. As a book focused on a murder mystery and a woman trying to learn what she needed to enter society, the book managed to find the perfect balance between these two vastly different subjects. Readers are shown enough of Elswyth's lessons and her interactions with her peers to feel the strain these rules had on society and how they keep Elswyth struggling to fit in. Elywyth, a scholar, is forced to learn etiquette and how to curtsy depending on who she is speaking to, and everything feels like a lady being forced into the marriage market is a game that only the most skilled have learned how to play. All Elswyth can do is hope to survive the encounters with the nobility as she attempts to question them about the last few weeks before Persephone disappeared. On the other hand the mystery is well-handled, keeping the suspense steady so that every moment Elswyth is out with others, the tension can still be felt as she continues her search. Elswyth has to find the time to keep up her investigation and every moment she can magage to find is devoted to understanding her sister and what led to her demise. The merging of the two keeps the reader turning pages, waiting to see if another victim will come to light or if Elswyth will manage to impress the ton, both feats keeping readers on the edge of their seat. The writing is accesible and the rhythm is smooth, easily enthralling readers with the world West has created.

As for the characters, everyone is detailed, whether they spent a lot of time on the page or not. I loved, truly, absolutely, LOVED Elswyth. I loved how Elswyth was passionate about her studies, using her knowledge to find ways to interact with her peers. She was forced into learning lessons from a matchmaker and she fought it in ways and at intervals whenever she could but at the same time, her interest in botany helped to make her stand out. The moments where she truly shined were when she used plants to talk to people, helping her to make connections that could have been beneficial to her future. Her knowledge of plants gave her the chance to spend some hours working for a highly influential doctor where she helped with his experiments and she was able to use plants to truly engage with some of the suitors she hoped would make a match for her. Her efforts over and over to pick her head up and try again when so many of the nobility wanted to cast her out and they tried their hardest to destroy her, made me love her just that much more. Nothing was easy for her and it felt realistic to see Elswyth struggle, to see her feel dejected and then rally again for the sake of finding out what happened to her sister. That dogged determination felt like true sisterly love which was impressive, as Persephone is only mentioned in passing because of the circumstances of her being the missing person of the mystery central to the plot. I believed in their relationship without having to see it for myself and that kept me believing in Elswyth as a character.

As for the rest of the cast, I loved both Elswyth's uncle Percival and his steward Kehinde. I loved how Percival was the outcast of his generation, able to relate to Elswyth's struggles and able to talk to her on their level, to show her how he managed to go out and make his own path even if it didn't fit with what was expected of him in society. He could understand her struggles and he cared for her happiness and he worked to make a difference with his role in Parliament that he never wanted for himself but he made do with the hand he was dealt. I also enjoyed how Kehinde respected Elswyth's intellect, choosing to challenge her and teach her to defend herself because he knew she was capable of more. I loved how quickly Kehinde accepted Elswyth and how in turn that became him willing to step in and take care of her when she needed help. I especially loved Mrs. Rose, Elswyth's matchmaker and tutor, who was pushy and snarky and who butted heads more often than not with Elswyth but still managed to show just how much she cared for her charge with her actions every step of the way with the story. I thought Persephone was clearly drawn for readers with the recollections of every character that described her, marking her as the more approachable of the sisters and yet still someone important to Elswyth. The love interest, Silas Blackthorn, was intriguing with the circumstances we are introduced to him with and the background of his birth and his current status in society. There are more characters like Dr. Gall, who Elswyth worked for, and Venus Forscythe, a former close friend of Persephone's, all who make impacts on the story that keep Elswyth working hard to get what she wants, a husband and information about her sister. Everyone has a part to play and no one felt like they needed more development as they all felt like fully fleshed out people with their wants, their dreams and their schemes and machinations.

The mystery itself, the idea about the Reaper and what they could do to their victims was riveting. The magic system was unique enough already but the way it was used to have the Reaper when they had another victim was so engrossing. The idea of someone killing people in this way was enough to make my stomach turn a bit and yet I couldn't turn away from the page at the same time. The different developments kept me locked in to the story and the reveals were each bigger than the last, showing West has a deft hand at handling the different elements of a good mystery. By the time the book ended, I can confidently say that West kept me guessing until the last moment what would happen and that ending was in a word, PERFECTION. I have no idea if West would ever return to the world created in this book but if it were to happen, I'd be first in line to read it.

In the end, City of Iron and Ivy has become another favorite and Thomas Kent West has become an author to follow from here on out. I loved every moment of this book and I can't wait to see what West has in store next for readers. I'm sure it will be another favorite for my shelves when the time comes.

Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars. I honestly had no complaints about this book. Everything worked and I will probably read it again when it arrives in the mail. This was a truly magical book and I hope so many readers find their way to this London to spend time with Elswyth and see her in action.

My thanks to Netgalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Thomas Kent West for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.