Read The Dead House in the day, unless you like nightmares, then by all means, go ahead. Don't say I didn't say, I didn't warn ya. #DarkSummerRead

The Dead House
Author: Dawn Kurtagich (Who, is awesome, just saying.)
Publication Date: August 6th, 2015
Publisher: Orion Children's Books 
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . . 

Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident’?

Chilling, creepy and utterly compelling, THE DEAD HOUSE is one of those very special books that finds all the dark places in your imagination, and haunts you long after you've finished reading.

You guys know I love Psychological Thrillers and Horror, right? So having The Dead House as part Psychological Thriller and Horror? The Dead House couldn't get any more of a me book,  and it was one hell of a crazy ride, and honesty? Fucking whoa. That's pretty much what I was thinking the whole way through it.

Two words to appropriately sum up The Dead House (that isn't holy shit, because holy shit.) is psychologically disturbing. I'll get my issue out of the way because I only have one problem with it, and starting it, I thought that it would have been the format of how the story is told, but it wasn't. And it wasn't having a connection, like my major issue in books are, but it wasn't that either (not that I had a connection, because really, I don't expect it with the genre, especially because you can't trust any character. And I mean, any character. My main issues is that I felt two completely different things about the first half and the second half.

Another Year Bites The Dust! (And I'll be back...in August)

 

Studio Reads is turning two!  Studio Reads had turned two at the end of June but I'm only getting around to this post now, but whatever, it counts. Either way, the blog is two! Which, in blog years, is kind of old when you think about it. Two years of consistently blogging (let's forget that long Christmas hiatus.) and I've been thinking about what's changed since the last year of blogging and about my two year "experience" of blogging, and all I came up with is, it's hard. Blogging is hard, I thought the first year would be the worst, and in a way it is, but in another way it's not, because though it has been hard to post something every week, I've also been the most active and actually getting myself out there and commenting and talking with other bloggers, and it's been fun.

Review: The Escape

The Escape
Author: Hannah Jayne
Publication Date: July 7th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

When two boys walk into the woods, and one comes out covered in blood, what would you believe?
Fletcher and Adam venture into the woods for an afternoon hike, but when day turns into night and neither boy returns, their town is thrown into turmoil. Avery, the detective's daughter, is the one to find Fletcher—dishelved, disoriented, and covered in blood. He has no memory of what happened, but Avery can't shake the feeling that something's off. When Adam's body is finally found, Avery is determined to uncover the truth. But if she stands by her gut, and Fletcher, is she standing by a friend, or a murderer? The answer might cost her her life

I officially think I need to step away from thrillers/psychological thrillers for a while, because I think I'm at the point where I've read so many they all seem to be running on the same formula. That's not to say The Escape wasn't good-because it is-but makes it more predictable-which it was-but I'll go more into that in a minute. 

Review: Lorali

Lorali
Author:Laura Dockrill
Publication Date: July 2nd 2015
Publisher: Hot Key Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Colourful, raw, brave, rich and fantastical - this mermaid tale is not for the faint-hearted.

Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn't exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.

Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.

But along with Lorali's arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory's bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway

Here's the one thing I learned after reading Lorali, it isn't as sweet, clean or as fluffy as it looks, and I'll be honest, some parts of Lorali were...weird, and were, well, a little eccentric so it was hard to follow, but the one thing I absolutely loved about it? It's unique. 

Waiting on Wednesday (#102)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Pretending to be Erica by Michelle Painchaud

Expected publication: July 21st 2015 by Viking Books for Young Readers

We Were Liars meets Heist Society in a riveting debut!

Seventeen-year-old Violet’s entire life has revolved around one thing: becoming Erica Silverman, an heiress kidnapped at age five and never seen again. Violet’s father, the best con man in Las Vegas, has a plan, chilling in its very specific precision. Violet shares a blood type with Erica; soon, thanks to surgery and blackmail, she has the same face, body, and DNA. She knows every detail of the Silvermans’ lives, as well as the PTSD she will have to fake around them. And then, when the time is right, she “reappears”—Erica Silverman, brought home by some kind of miracle. But she is also Violet, and she has a job: Stay long enough to steal the Silverman Painting, an Old Master legendary in the Vegas crime world. Walking a razor’s edge, calculating every decision, not sure sometimes who she is or what she is doing it for, Violet is an unforgettable heroine, and Pretending to be Erica is a killer debut

I recently read the Heist Society series and got a major book hangover from them, so bring it on.


What're you waiting on?

Review: Ink and Bone (THISTHISTHIS)

Ink and Bone
Author: Rachel Caine
Publication Date: July 7th 2015
Publisher: Allison and Busby
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.…

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.

When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn.…

Excuse me, blabbering review that might not be coherent and might not make much sense because holy damn, Ink and Bone. And well, you too, Rachel Caine. 

Ever wondered what would have happened if the Great Library of Alexandria had survived? Rachel Caine has, and has rewritten history in the form of Ink and Born, and can I just say how freaking brilliant it is? The world-building, to the characters, to the slow plot and slow romance and that ending.  I think I mentioned in my review for Prince of Shadows (if you haven't read it, it's a retelling of Romeo and Juliet from Benvolio's perspective) that it was unlike anything I've read from Rachel Caine before, and once again, Ink and Bone is unlike anything I've read from Rachel Caine.