Atmospheric & Spooky Reads [2024 Review Round Up #2]

Overview

Near the end of 2023, I began toying with the idea of doing mini review round ups throughout 2024. I wrote a post in January with all the books I read in 2023 but didn’t review. This idea was basically an attempt to get ahead of having to write one massive post like that for 2024. Thank-you to Annemieke @ A Dance with Books for writing Pocket Reviews and reminding me of this idea! I only wrote one round up post this year but I am trying to knock out a few more between now and February or so. We’ll see if I can better stick with this idea throughout 2025…

Today’s round up includes one adult novella, one young adult novel, and three middle grade novels.

Mini Reviews

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

Bloom brought to mind Catherynne M. Valente’s Comfort Me With Apples. Published by Tordotcom, both novellas feature a women in what appears to be a rosy romantic relationship with horrors gradually revealed. I made an erroneous assumption that Bloom would have a fantastic or supernatural aspect to it, as does all the horror I’m drawn to. But it turned out to be more ‘classic horror’. Think the kind of terrible unsub featured in an episode of Criminal Minds. Some readers might find that disappointing or disinteresting. For my part, I enjoyed the prose and build up of both Rosemary and Ash’s characters, so I didn’t mind the lack of fantastic. The conclusion has bite to it (no pun intended!).

Representation: WLW

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore

I have read every novel that Anna-Marie McLemore has published. I loved some more than others, but none have I disliked… until now 😭 I found after reading several of McLemore’s books (ie Dark and Deepest Red, Blanca & Roja, Venom & Vow) that the plot recycling was predictive and starting to bore me. So, I can appreciate that they broke out of the mold with the plot of Flawless Girls. Unforutnately, the story fell short for me. I don’t know how best to pin it down, but there was something off about the entire atmosphere? I couldn’t settle into it. It felt unreal and remote to me in a way unlike settings of their other books. And McLemore is quite an atmospheric writer, so that was a hard change for me to swallow. I also found the pacing clunky and the characters distant. I’ve seen several reviewers describe the story as “an extended metaphor”, and maybe that’s the crux of the issue. I did like the overall concept, I suppose, just not the execution.

Representation: Intersex, Latina

Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu

I have now read enough Anne Ursu books to conclude that perhaps her books aren’t my cup of tea. The Lost Girl impressed me, but everything I’ve read since (The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy, Not Quite a Ghost, and just this month Breadcrumbs) had me longing for something more fully magical. I’m not cut out for these mosty contemporary stories with a handful of fantasy thrown in. I was excited for the ghostly spooky promise of Not Quite a Ghost, but I probably should have known better than to expect any full-on horror. Also, this is a story in which COVID exists and I’m still not ready for those.

Representation: Chronic illness

The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella-Winans

I whipped through this one – not in a good way. I found it boring, after a promising opening chapter. There were a couple epic moments with creepy monsters. And I liked the older brother dynamic that Xavier (a boy River encounters in the Otherwoods) brought to the table, as well as Xavier’s fear of death which I think can be a common kid fear not often realistically explored in middle grade. But on the whole, I finished this book thinking about using it as case study for why I think a lot of middle grade these days is overwritten… the number of pages simply describing a character’s physical actions and every little movement they make or thought they have had me yawning.

Representation: Nonbinary

The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines by Mo Netz

I had expected The Otherwoods to be more like The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pine. (Note that Lumbering Giants is 80 pages shorter than Otherwoods). I didn’t make notes on any of the books in this round up but I wish I did for this one! Ummm, what to say… off the top of my head, some adjectives I’d use to describe Lumbering Giants include: fun, lightly creepy, quick-paced, creative worldbuilding, good banter, a great cast of characters, including an imaginary dragon, a new best friend, and a heroic mom.

Representation: Wheelchair user, Black supporting character

What’s a book you read recently that you haven’t reviewed yet, or don’t plan to review?