Harrow Lake

Today’s post is on Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis. It is 299 pages long and is published by Dial Books. The cover is grey with a blurred out picture of a girl in the center and the title underneath. There is some foul language, no sex, and some violence in this novel. The intended reader is someone who likes YA horror and thrillers. The story is told from first person close of the main character, Lola. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The daughter of a horror film director is not afraid of anything--until she gets to Harrow Lake.

Things I know about Harrow Lake:

1.It's where my father shot his most disturbing slasher film.

2.There's something not right about this town.

Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker--she thinks nothing can scare her.

But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map--and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away.

And there's someone--or some thing--stalking her every move.

The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her. 

Review- An intense and interesting thriller with a horror vibe. Lola has lived her whole life in her father’s shadow. From being kept with him at all times to having him take her stories and change them into something else. Lola has never been without him. Until after a fight about a move, Lola comes back to their apartment and finds him bleeding on the floor. That’s where we start with this novel and it never lets up. Lola is shipped off to stay with a grandmother she never knew about, in the town where her parents met, and the last place her mother was ever seen alive. The horror in this novel is of the creeping kind and it is very atmospheric. Some of the twists I saw coming but the big one about Lola herself I did not. I had a great time reading this novel and I would recommend it for horror/thriller fans. 

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library. 

Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama

Today’s post is on Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama by Nancy West. It is 233 pages long and is published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. The cover is a picture of Highclere Castle. The intended reader is someone who is interested in television history. There is very mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- On a wintry night in 1971, Masterpiece Theatre debuted on PBS. Fifty years later, America's appetite for British drama has never been bigger. The classic television program has brought its fans protagonists such as The Dowager Countess and Ross Poldark and series that include Downton Abbey and Prime Suspect. In Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama, Nancy West provides a fascinating history of the acclaimed program. West combines excerpts from original interviews, thoughtful commentary, and lush photography to deliver a deep exploration of the television drama. Vibrant stories and anecdotes about Masterpiece's most colorful shows are peppered throughout, such as why Benedict Cumberbatch hates Downton Abbey and how screenwriter Daisy Goodwin created a teenage portrait of Queen Victoria after fighting with her daughter about homework. Featuring an array of color photos from Masterpiece's best-loved dramas, this book offers a penetrating look into the program's influence on television, publishing, fashion, and its millions of fans. 

Review- A fascinating history of PBS, Masterpiece, and American television. West takes the reader from the very beginning of PBS and its partners in England to bring British television to an American audience. West divides the book into different sections based on the different kinds of shows that Masterpiece has given its audience. From masterful mysteries to political thrillers, Masterpiece has always given its viewers the very best in British television. With lost of notes and access to people who helped make Masterpiece happen this is an excellent book. I would recommend it.  

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Rasetsu, Vol. 5

Today’s post is on Rasetsu, Vol. 5 by Chika Shiomi. It is 200 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Rasetsu and Kuryu on it. As it is the fifth in the series you need to have read the first four volumes to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this volume. He intended reader is someone who likes horror-comedy manga with a side of romance. The story is told from third person close of mostly Rasetsu but sometimes other character as needed for plot. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Rasetsu is taken aback by Kuryu's kiss, especially because she likes Yako. But between Yako's inability to let go of his old love Yurara and her own curse in the way, can Rasetsu even confess her true feelings?

Review- Kuryu has made his move and Rasetsu is reeling from it. She had no idea but over the course of the volume she realizes that she did know and she lets him down easy because she is still trying to deal with her feelings for Yako, who is still in love with ghost Yurara. Ah, shojo romance. But we get some good plot details about the evil spirit that is haunting Rasetsu and that the boss of the company has fought with him before and lost badly. But in the end Rasetsu decides to tell Yako about her feelings and we have another cliffhanger with another kiss. This is a fun series with silly shojo drama to balance the darker elements. I look forward to seeing what Yako is going to do now that Rasetsu has told him the truth, more drama I’m sure!

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Vampire Hunter D Volume 2: Raiser of Gales

Today’s post is on Vampire Hunter D Volume 2: Raiser of Gales by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano (Illustrator). It is 215 pages long and is published by Dark Horse. The cover has D on it with his sword. As it is the second in the series, you do not have to read the first volume but it will help you understand more about the world but the plots are standalone. There is some foul language, sex, sexuality and rape, and violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes unusual fantasy-horror stories. The story is told from third person close mostly following D but sometimes from other characters for plot development. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The first rule of Vampires is that the Undead cannot walk in the daylight… or can They?

The people of the village of Tepes once cowered in fear beneath the shadow of the Nobility manor. But the Nobility moved on, and the castle sat empty, a place whispered of in ghost stories to caution young people to stay away. One day four of the village children vanished. Only three returned, with no memory of what had happened or where they went. 

That was ten years ago. Now, in the year 12,090 A.D., vampires who can walk in the daylight have appeared. Did the disappearance of the children have something to do with the undead's newfound powers? Only the vampire hunter known as D can solve the mystery… but the answer may be more horrible than any can imagine. 

Review- An excellent novel in a very odd series. I would like to know when the novels happen in correlation to each other, for example in the first novel it is implied that the sacred Ancestor has been gone or dead for a very long time. In this novel, we may meet him but it is not very clear. D is more understandable and even human in this volume, as he responds to Lina, one the children who had been taken, and he even likes her and we, the readers, see that emotion in him. That is very different from the D we met in the first volume. This D is just mysterious but he is more human and likeable as a person with real thoughts and emotions about his job and the people he works for and with. I liked seeing D be more than just a hunter cleaning up the messes left behind by the Nobility and his, implied, father. I look forward to more adventures with him. 

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this novel with my own money.

Skip Beat!, Vol. 21

Today’s post is on Skip Beat!, Vol. 21 by Yoshiki Nakamura. It is 92 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Kyoko looking very cool. As it is the twenty-first in the series you need to have read the first twenty volumes to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes humor manga, revenge stories, and great main characters. The story is told from third person close of mostly Kyoko. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Kyoko is basking in the glow of working a Christmas miracle and getting some birthday booty of her own. But she's so unused to this kind of joy that she ends up late to the script reading for her new drama. Now her whole day is a mess and Ren is mad at her! Can Kyoko balance revenge, a career and her own happiness?

Review- Kyoko has taken the role of villain in her new series and she is struggling with it in more ways than she knows. She has a co-worker working against her and is trying to ruin her but I believe in Kyoko and her spirit. Of course she is too harsh on herself as she tries to make others happy and is not listening to herself about her character but that’s something that Kyoko has to overcome herself. Ren is supportive and getting ready for a major role that I have been excited to see him in, Cain Heel. I cannot want to read the next volume.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money. 

A Lady's Formula for Love

Today's is on A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett. It is 322 pages long and is published by Berkley. It is the first in a new series The Secret Scientists of London. The cover is blue with the silhouettes of the two main characters with a beaker between them and a heart on top. There is some foul language, sex and sexuality, and mild violence in this series. The intended reader is someone who likes spicy historical romance novels. The story is told from third person close of the two main characters, Violet and Arthur, moving from chapter to chapter. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the back of the book- What is a Victorian lady's formula for love? Mix one brilliant noblewoman and her enigmatic protection officer. Add in a measure of danger and attraction. Heat over the warmth of humor and friendship, and the result is more than simple chemistry—it's elemental.

Lady Violet Hughes is keeping secrets. First, she founded a clandestine sanctuary for England's most brilliant female scientists. Second, she is using her genius on a confidential mission for the Crown. But the biggest secret of all? Her feelings for protection officer Arthur Kneland.

Solitary and reserved, Arthur learned the hard way to put duty first. But the more time he spends in the company of Violet and the eccentric club members, the more his best intentions go up in flames. Literally.

When a shadowy threat infiltrates Violet's laboratories, endangering her life and her work, scientist and bodyguard will find all their theories put to the test—and learn that the most important discoveries are those of the heart. 

Review- A mediocre historical romance that has such a promising setting. Violet is a woman who wants it all both passionate love and to use her brains but she feels that she cannot have both. Arthur is a man who just wants to go home again and refuses to deal with what’s in the past from shame. Together they could have a chance at both. This sounded so promising with a bodyguard love story, a personal weakness for me, but really is just fine. There are a number of sex scenes but I just skipped them, they did not add anything to the story for me. Violet is a passionate woman, who has been shamed for that passion, and Arthur does not shame her but praises it, so the sex scenes should have been emotional engaging and they weren’t. If you are hard up for a historical romance, then you might enjoy one but I found it just mediocre. 

I give this book a Three out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library. 

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 3

Today’s post is on  Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 3 by Rin Mikimoto. It is 192 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has Hinana on it looking very cute. As it is the third in the series you need to have read the first two volumes to understand the story. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes shojo romance, Cinderella-like stories, and humorous manga. The story is told from third person close of different characters moving as the story does. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Tangled up

As summer vacation nears, Hinana finds herself free of her usual babysitting responsibilities. But her best friends are busy with band practice and part-time work, so she’s finished all her summer assignments in just three days! With time to spare Hinana visit Kaede, and they make a promise that will bring them closer. Before the young couple can rejoice, vindictive friends from Kaede’s past return, and their grand scheme is to take what is most precious from the prince…

Review- We get some plot development in this volume with meeting some of Kaede’s old group members. They are very angry at Kaede for leaving the group but we, the readers, still don't know why he did leave the group. So to get back at him, one of them, Mitsuki, wants to mess with Hinana. Hiana is clueless about it but Kaede isn’t. I hope that plot point doesn’t last too long as I don’t like abusive story lines and Mitsuki, shown to be a self-centered idiot, would do that to hurt Kaede and not understand why what he did was wrong. But the volume ends with Hinana knowing more about Kaede and maybe will be more on her guard around his old group. I am curious about where the story is going next.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Watch Over Me

Today’s post is on Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour. It is 272 pages long and is published by Dutton Books for Young Readers.  The cover has Mila on it looking with her hair streaming behind her. The intended reader is someone who is like ghost stories, healing stories, and coming of age stories. There is mild foul language, mild sexuality, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from Mila’s first person perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Mila is used to being alone. Maybe that’s why she said yes to the opportunity: living in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.

But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.

Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a job and a place to stay at a farm on an isolated part of the Northern California Coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home, a real home. The farm is a refuge, but also haunted by the past traumas its young residents have come to escape. And Mila’s own terrible memories are starting to rise to the surface.

Review- This is a fantastic story about a young woman who is dealing with some serious trauma and is told in an interesting way. Mila has aged out of the foster care system but she has somewhere to go. A teaching job on a distance farm with other foster kids and two older adults who own the property. She wants to be alone and forget her past but with ghosts everywhere, forgetting is not easy. This story was incredible, from the slow burn of the truth of the ghosts to the reveal of Mila’s past to the reader, it was just amazing. LaCour took the ghost story and made it new again with the unique plot elements from herself. The writing is excellent, the characters are interesting, and the plot is moving. I highly recommend this novel. 

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer

Today’s Nonfiction post is on Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer by Harold Schechter.  It is 254 pages long and is published by Little A. The cover is a picture of the school. The intended reader is someone who is interested in historical true crime. There is very mild foul language, no sex, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Harold Schechter, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Hell’s Princess, unearths a nearly forgotten true crime of obsession and revenge, and one of the first—and worst—mass murders in American history.

In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school—one of the most modern in the Midwest—Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it. Thirty-eight children and six adults were murdered that morning, culminating in the deadliest school massacre in US history.

Maniac is Harold Schechter’s gripping, definitive, exhaustively researched chronicle of a town forced to comprehend unprecedented carnage and the triggering of a “human time bomb” whose act of apocalyptic violence would foreshadow the terrors of the current age.

Review- A horrific but interesting true crime from the 1920’s. Schechter does excellent research into this forgotten story of the worst mass killing in a school. Andrew Kehoe moved to Bath where his wife was from and they lived there for years without anyone knowing about his true nature. Kehoe was known to be an unpleasant man but he was not killing children or threatening anyone until something snapped. After that the reader watches in horror as Kehoe buys the explosives and sets about placing the bombs all over the school while he continues to work in the school and around the children that he will kill or at least wants to. When the bombs go off and the true horror of what Kehoe wanted to, I was horrified some 90 odd years in the future. This is not an easy book to read, not because of the writing, but because of how horrible the killer and his crime is. I would recommend but it is not for the faint of heart. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 6

Today’s post is on Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 6 by Megumi Morino. It is  200 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has Shizu and Tetsu on it looking happy. As it is the sixth in the series, you need to have read the first five volumes for you to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this series. The story is told from third person close of the characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- SWEET DREAMS

After a hectic summer, Shizu and her mother welcome a calm autumn in their home. Every day, Shizu grows more certain of herself, but after meeting the living daughter of one of her ghosts, she realizes it all comes at a price. The spirits within her know they are existing on borrowed time, and no one is more worried than Shizu. As a newfound loneliness creeps into her heart, she finds out the hard way that there is plenty to gain in letting go…

Review- This was a moving and excellent final volume. Shizu has been getting better with others and more comfortable with herself so that means something is changing in her heart. Her ghost friends know that means she will not be a host for them anymore and they want her to be able to accept this and to move on with her new life. Of course she has to mourn them because they were her friends when she had no one else. It was a very moving volume dealing with grief, changes in life, and letting go. The ending is very hopeful about Testsu’s mother. I really enjoyed this manga, I would recommend it, and I would read another series by this author. 

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money. 

Death's Kiss: Legend of the Five Rings: A Daidoji Shin Mystery

Today’s post is on Death's Kiss: Legend of the Five Rings: A Daidoji Shin Mystery by Joshua Reynolds . It is 352 pages long and is published by Aconyte. The cover has Shin and Kasami on it with Shin covering his face with his fan. As it is the second volume in the series you need to have read the first novel to understand the world, characters, and story. The intended reader is someone who likes fantasy mystery novels. There is very mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of different characters moving as the story needs. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

 

From the back of the book- Daidoji Shin, former louche layabout turned amatuer investigator, and his long-suffering bodyguard, Kasami, are called away from the comforts of the City of the Rich Frog and into Unicorn lands to investigate a seemingly open-and-shut case of murder.

Of course, it can’t be that straightforward…

A condemned woman’s life is at stake, and the outcome may lead to war between two noble families. Saving a life has far deeper consequences than Shin could imagine, like drawing the attention of a sinister sedition organization with little tolerance for a dilettante detective.

Solving a murder is the beginning of Shin’s investigation, but it’s the conspiracies that get you killed…

Review- A wonderful second volume following Shin and Kasami. Shin is called to come and try to sort out what really happened to try and stop a war between two vassal families. Of course the second he gets there, he knows that there is something more going on and the mystery is very nice and twisty. As this is a take on Sherlock Holmes we need to have a big criminal organization that wishes to overthrow the government. Reynolds has settled into this world and characters, making this volume even more enjoyable than the first novel and I really loved the first one. If you read the first novel, do yourself a favor and read the second so that maybe we can get a third novel! That would be great, more Shin!

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this novel with my own money.