en-US Sat, 26 Apr 2025 20:27:11 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 198563720 From the author of How to Survive Your Murder comes a propulsive thriller about two teens who return to the site of the famous murder case that sealed their fates.

Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake.

Most people don’t spend their formative years on the run with an alleged murderer—but Reagan did. In the court of public opinion, her mom was found guilty of the deaths at Camp Lost Lake, and both of them have been in hiding ever since. But Reagan believes in her mother’s innocence and is determined to clear her name.

Luckily for Olivia and Reagan, Camp Lost Lake is finally reopening, providing the perfect opportunity to find answers. But someone else is dead set on keeping the past hidden, even if it means committing murder.]]> 282 Danielle Valentine 059335205X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 currently-reading 3.67 2024
author: Danielle Valentine
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 18211208 From an acclaimed horror writer, a chilling tale of blood-hungry children who rise from the dead in this innovative spin on apocalyptic vampire fiction.

Suffer the Children presents a terrifying tale of apocalyptic fiction, as readers are introduced to Herod's Syndrome, a devastating illness that suddenly and swiftly kills all young children across the globe. Soon, they return from the grave…and ask for blood. And with blood, they stop being dead. They continue to remain the children they once were...but only for a short time, as they need more blood to live. The average human body holds ten pints of blood, so the inevitable question for parents everywhere becomes: How far would you go to bring your child back?]]> 343 Craig DiLouie 1476739633 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 3.97 2014
author: Craig DiLouie
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: adult-horror, audio, horror-group, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 35397031
This collection, with an introduction and fresh new renderings of the tales by Neil Philip, includes not just "The Little Mermaid" but also such favorites as "The Tinderbox," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and "The Little Match Girl."

Philip also includes some lesser known tales that reflect different facets of Andersen's genius, such as the tall tale "The Flying Trunk," with its witty story-within-a-story, the charming fantasy of "Little Ida's Flowers," the comic fable "The Collar," and a story about the magic of everyday reality, "The Gardener and His Master."

A special feature of the book is the inclusion of several fairy tales of spiritual search and redemption, including "The Bell," "The Toad," and, of course, "The Little Mermaid."

The book is illustrated throughout by Isabelle Brent's magical watercolors, lavishly embellished with gold leaf, making this handsome volume a book the whole family will treasure.]]> 240 Hans Christian Andersen 0062692593 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read 3.95
author: Hans Christian Andersen
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.95
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 27774758 Alternative Cover Edition #1

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Ěý
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
Ěý
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
Ěý
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
Ěý
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

From the Hardcover edition.]]> 446 Sabaa Tahir Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.23 2015
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: books-i-own, need-to-read-series, series-group, read-in-2025, worth-the-hype, ya-fantasy, finished-series
review:

]]> 25558608
Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars� survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.]]> 452 Sabaa Tahir Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.23 2016
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: books-i-own, audio, read-in-2025, series-group, worth-the-hype, ya-fantasy, finished-series
review:

]]> 213075365 BOOK THREE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
An Entertainment Weekly Summer Reads pick and New York Times bestseller!

Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.
Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister's life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. But she knows that danger lurks on all sides: Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor's volatility to grow her own power--regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But in the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender--even if that means abandoning the woman he loves.]]> 480 Sabaa Tahir 0448494515 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 4.04 2018
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: books-i-own, read-in-2025, series-group, ya-fantasy, finished-series
review:

]]> 213075289 Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir's beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm?

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off...

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.]]> 544 Sabaa Tahir 044849454X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 4.24 2020
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: audio, books-i-own, finished-series, read-in-2025, series-group, ya-fantasy
review:

]]> 35068650 It got in us

After receiving an urgent SOS from a work detail on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is dispatched to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

Most are dead.

But when the crew arrives, they find an abandoned site, littered with rotten food, discarded weapons...and dead bodies.

Don't set foot here again.

As they try to piece together who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.]]> 432 Erin Bowman Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 4.5 rtc 3.86 2018
author: Erin Bowman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: books-i-own, lgbtqia, read-in-2020, ya-horror, ya-science-fiction, horror-group, read-in-2025
review:
4.5 rtc
]]> 15704307
Collects: Saga #1-6.]]> 160 Brian K. Vaughan 1607066017 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5
Full review to come.]]> 4.16 2012
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2017/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: graphic-novels-and-manga, read-in-2017, illustrations, currently-reading
review:
I haven't really read any graphic novels but I was told that this was a great introductory series to get into. They were right, it was a really great series. I'll be reading more soon.

Full review to come.
]]> 53344030
Nick and Charlie are very much in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house ... But with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references.]]> 336 Alice Oseman 1444957651 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.47 2023
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: most-anticipated-2023, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 51574372
Nick’s been feeling the same, but he’s got a lot on his mind � not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.

As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means.]]> 384 Alice Oseman 144495279X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.67 2021
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: books-i-own, favorites, friendship-goals, illustrations, lgbtqia, mental-illness, most-anticipated-2021, read-in-2021, worth-the-hype, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 43449920
Meanwhile Tao and Elle will face their feelings for each other, Tara and Darcy share more about their relationship origin story, and the teachers supervising the trip seem� rather close�?]]> 384 Alice Oseman Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.55 2020
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: books-i-own, friendship-goals, graphic-novels-and-manga, illustrations, lgbtqia, mental-illness, read-in-2020, ya-contemporary, favorites, read-in-2021, top-2020-reads, read-in-2025
review:
Please do some full spin-off’s for this one. I just love everyone. It’s my happy place.
]]> 43307358
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family ... and himself.]]> 320 Alice Oseman 1444951408 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.52 2019
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: books-i-own, favorites, friendship-goals, graphic-novels-and-manga, illustrations, lgbtqia, read-in-2019, worth-the-hype, ya-contemporary, ya-romance, read-in-2020, ya-adventure, top-2019-reads, read-in-2021, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 40495957
Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...]]> 288 Alice Oseman 152722533X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 Trigger Warnings: Non-Consensual Kissing/Sexual Assault Attempt, Homophobia and Bullying.


I know this book has trigger warnings, but this is honestly the most wholesome, sweet and endearing story I’ve read in awhile. It’s about a young guy named Charlie, who is getting out of toxic “relationship� with a complete douchebag and he befriends a jock named Nick. Nick is the sweetest, goofiest guy and after meeting Charlie � he starts questioning his sexuality as he begins to develop strong feelings for him. Amazing bi and gay representation in this one. I can’t gush about this graphic novel enough. One of my favorites, it made me so happy and I would protect these boys with my life. They are the most precious things ever and seeing such a healthy friendship between them, blossoming into something more is just THE FEELS!!! I’ve already pre-ordered the second volume from Book Depository (seems to be the only place that has it) and I’m dying for July to see more of their story. The art work is freaking precious too. Everything about this book is five stars.

]]> 4.43 2018
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: books-i-own, illustrations, lgbtqia, friendship-goals, graphic-novels-and-manga, read-in-2019, underrated-gem, favorites, read-in-2020, top-2019-reads, ya-contemporary, read-in-2021, read-in-2025
review:
Trigger Warnings: Non-Consensual Kissing/Sexual Assault Attempt, Homophobia and Bullying.


I know this book has trigger warnings, but this is honestly the most wholesome, sweet and endearing story I’ve read in awhile. It’s about a young guy named Charlie, who is getting out of toxic “relationship� with a complete douchebag and he befriends a jock named Nick. Nick is the sweetest, goofiest guy and after meeting Charlie � he starts questioning his sexuality as he begins to develop strong feelings for him. Amazing bi and gay representation in this one. I can’t gush about this graphic novel enough. One of my favorites, it made me so happy and I would protect these boys with my life. They are the most precious things ever and seeing such a healthy friendship between them, blossoming into something more is just THE FEELS!!! I’ve already pre-ordered the second volume from Book Depository (seems to be the only place that has it) and I’m dying for July to see more of their story. The art work is freaking precious too. Everything about this book is five stars.


]]> 25907472
Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them-made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.Her story begins on a train.

Germania, 1956. Over ten years since the Nazis won the war. 18-year-old Yael is part of the resistance, and she has just one mission: to kill Hitler.

But first she's got to get close enough to him to do it.

Experimented on during her time at Auschwitz, Yael has the unique ability to change her appearance at will. The only part of her which always remains are the five tattooed wolves on her arm; one for each of the people she's lost. Using her abilities, she must transform into Adele Wolfe, Germany's most famous female rider and winner of the legendary Axis Tour; an epic long distance motorcycle race from Berlin to Tokyo, where only the strongest (and wiliest) riders survive. If she can win this, she will be able to get close enough to kill the Fuhrer and change history forever.

But with other riders sabotaging her chances at every turn, Yael's mission won't be easy. . .]]> 390 Ryan Graudin 1780622023 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 3 4.20 2015
author: Ryan Graudin
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: books-i-own, need-to-read-series
review:

]]> 228701241
It comes to them in the night. An unexpected intruder, stumbling upon their campsite like a wild animal. He is shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—a man in unspeakable torment who exposes Tim and the boys to something far more frightening than any ghost story. Within his body is a bioengineered nightmare, a horror that spreads faster than fear. One by one, the boys will do things no person could ever imagine.]]> 368 Nick Cutter 1476717753 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 3 3.78 2014
author: Nick Cutter
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2020/11/26
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: adult-horror, e-books, read-in-2020, horror-group
review:
All this book taught me is I REALLY hate to read about teen boys in groups, I'm sorry but they are all little shits and I just wished them all dead pretty much. Thankfully, this book was more than happy to oblige my request.
]]> 45718831
Lifestyle journalist Katrine escaped past traumas by moving to a coast renowned for seaside holidays and natural beauty. But when a vast hoard of human remains and prehistoric artefacts is discovered in nearby Brickburgh, a hideous shadow engulfs her life.

Helene, a disillusioned lone parent, lost her brother, Lincoln, six years ago. Disturbing subterranean noises he recorded prior to vanishing, draw her to Brickburgh's caves. A site where early humans butchered each other across sixty thousand years. Upon the walls, images of their nameless gods remain.

Amidst rumours of drug plantations and new sightings of the mythical red folk, it also appears that the inquisitive have been disappearing from this remote part of the world for years. A rural idyll where outsiders are unwelcome and where an infernal power is believed to linger beneath the earth. A timeless supernormal influence that only the desperate would dream of confronting. But to save themselves and those they love, and to thwart a crimson tide of pitiless barbarity, Kat and Helene are given no choice. They were involved and condemned before they knew it.

'The Reddening' is an epic story of folk and prehistoric horrors written by Adam Nevill, the author of 'The Ritual', 'Last Days', 'No One Gets Out Alive' and the three times winner of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel.]]> 415 Adam L.G. Nevill 1916094104 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 3 3.51 2019
author: Adam L.G. Nevill
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: adult-horror, audio, horror-group, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 220892506 From Printz Honor winning author Lily Anderson comes a young adult horror about seventeen-year-old Faye and her friends who try to survive the summer when their theater camp turns into a real-life horror show.

This summer’s production is to die for.

The Ghostlight Youth Theater Camp isn’t the best program in the world, but to Faye, it’s home. Every summer since junior high, Faye and her friends have come together for a month-long musical intensive. For her last year before graduation, Faye’s finally ready to take center stage as her true Afro-Latina self and break out of her good-girl princess roles.

But as Faye steps into her spotlight, complications arise. Suddenly, she's competing with her BFF for lead roles, and distracted by the attentions of the new camp hottie.

Even when the drama turns deadly, Faye remains determined to make this the best production the Ghostlight has ever seen. It must be a coincidence that the stagehands keep disappearing and having gruesome accidents, right? But dark secrets are hiding behind the scenes, and opening night might turn out to be a bloodbath. Lights, curtains...murder!]]> Lily Anderson 1250370388 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.56
author: Lily Anderson
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 222376714 New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron puts a modern twist on Frankenstein in her haunting new novel about the lengths we'd go for the people we love.

Meka has always lived her life surrounded by death. As a newly certified mortician's assistant at her parents' funeral home, her days are not for the faint of heart. Luckily her boyfriend Noah isn't squeamish, and their closeness has Meka finally feeling ready to say the three little words that have been on her mind.

But then tragedy strikes, and Meka's world is torn apart. Nothing makes sense, especially when strange things start happening. Strangers following her. Mysterious items left at her door. Ravens circling her home. And the dead don't seem to be staying dead.

When a shocking family secret is revealed, Meka must unravel the truth to save herself and her family--and what she finds defies everything she's always believed about life and death.]]> 320 Kalynn Bayron 1547615869 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.62
author: Kalynn Bayron
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 218671817 MidsommarĚýmeetsĚýThe Shadows Between UsĚýin this alluring mash-up ofĚýhorror and fairy taleĚýfromĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author MadeleineĚýRoux, where a girl must embark on a harrowing journey through aĚýdeadly forest filled with otherworldly creatures, supernatural forces,Ěýand one maniacal villain who will stop at nothing to bring her down.Ěý

For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don’t survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla’s face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy…Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what’s she's been robbed her life.]]> 336 Madeleine Roux 0063284847 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.13 2025
author: Madeleine Roux
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 219334778 A working-class French girl would kill to become assistant to Paris's top modiste, but she must first seek vengeance against those responsible for the death of her family, in this thrilling historical horror from New York Times bestselling author Erica Ridley!

Eighteen-year-old Angélique dreams of designing extravagant gowns like the ladies in the bourgeoise wear to balls and soirées. Because she’s working-class, Angélique knows that her life will, instead, be spent dyeing silk for a living. That is, until her parents and younger sibling are killed in the sweatshop where they’ve toiled. Now orphaned, and with another sister to protect, Angélique vows vengeance against the factory owner growing richer by treating his employees as disposable.

To improve her station, Angélique takes a position as a junior seamstress for Paris's top modiste. Though she's bullied for being poor and her meager salary isn't enough to pay rent, she refuses to give in. Her sister and crush, a handsome, immigrant shoemaker, won’t allow it. Then the modiste proposes a contest to win the well-paid, coveted assistant position. Angélique would do anything to earn the career of her dreams. What’s a little arsenic between girls after all?

As Angélique outshines--and outlives--the competition, she also wields her newfound privilege and power to exact revenge on those who ruined her family and blossoms into a new Paris’s greatest protégée.]]> 336 Erica Ridley 0593897668 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.33 2025
author: Erica Ridley
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 220239036 A teen girl's dream job aboard a luxury train derails when she discovers the strange cargo being transported—a mysterious and beautiful greenhouse—but its flowering façade may hide deadly thorns beneath, in this atmospheric and lush novel from the author of Those We Drown.

Lara Williams is desperate to get away. When she gets a job working aboard the luxury train The Banebury for her gap year, she this is her chance to reinvent herself, after the incident that wrecked her relationships and her college prospects several months ago.

At first, the train is everything Lara expected—a five-star escape from her past, demanding customers and all.ĚýEven after she learns that her ex-friend, Rhys, who she definitely did not have feelings for before their relationship imploded, is one of her new coworkers, she's determined to make things work.

But on the first night of their journey, the trip takes a strange turn when two mysterious carriages, filled with an array of beautiful and rare plants, are attached to the end of the train in the middle of the night. With them come a pair of siblings. Gwen and Gwydion are wealthy, Welsh, and alluring as they are odd--not to mention, incredibly protective of their botanical cargo.

The siblings claim the plants they're transporting are for research, yet Lara can't shake the feeling that there's something...otherworldly about them. Something that calls to her, night after night, whispering in her dreams.Ěý

Soon, Lara will you can't outrun your troubles. You have to grab them by their roots. And if she can't dig up the secrets of the Banebury, they might just consume her whole...]]> 432 Amy Goldsmith 0593814312 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.35 2025
author: Amy Goldsmith
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 220999068 From the bestselling author of I Am Still Alive comes a new nail-biter that's part survival story, part murder mystery, and all thriller—perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson!

Two years ago Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that incident: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but.

When billionaire-turned-TV-host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college—but when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. Then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dying. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a new meaning.]]> 336 Kate Alice Marshall 0593691830 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.03 2025
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 200501391
When seventeen-year-old Femi and his brother accompany their father on a top-secret business trip to a remote and mysterious island, they are looking forward to a summer they'll never forget.

Filled with spectacular species of animal and out-of-this-world technology, the island resort welcomes them with open arms, as does its impressive curator Richard Jenkins. But beneath the sparkle and the wonder, the island is hiding a terrible secret - and it's biding its time. When the unthinkable happens and the island is put on lockdown, Femi realizes he is somehow at the centre of an operation that seeks to expose Jenkins' resort for what it really is.

But the truth comes with a price. And when the bodies start to fall, Femi must decide who on the island he can trust with his life - and how far he will go to survive.]]> 320 Tomi Oyemakinde 103500335X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.92 2024
author: Tomi Oyemakinde
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 213719511 A fast-paced tongue-in-cheek YA novel about two friends trying to survive senior year - literally!
Perfect for fans of Fear Street, The Midnight Club and the SCREAM franchise.]]> 352 Scarlett Dunmore 1788957121 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.74
author: Scarlett Dunmore
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, 2025, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 222346524
Hazel Perez thought her school project on the abandoned Oakwell Farms School for Girls—or "The Farm" as it’s known to locals—would be just another assignment. But when a late-night research trip ends with her falling unconscious, she reawakens with a desire for revenge that isn't her own. Desperate to free herself from these sudden violent urges, Hazel begins to investigate.

As she delves deeper into Oakwell Farms' past, Hazel discovers the harrowing experiences of the girls who were once forced to live within its walls—under the eyes of sinister men—and the spirits who still linger.

With the help of some unlikely allies, Hazel must navigate a treacherous path of corruption, history, and the supernatural to bring peace to the restless spirits and uncover the truth about her family's involvement.

The Silenced delves into the Trouble Teen Industry through a riveting exploration of a reform school's haunted past colliding with the traumatized present.]]> Diana Rodriguez Wallach Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025, horror-group 4.56
author: Diana Rodriguez Wallach
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, 2025, horror-group
review:

]]> 220909040
Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian, Byron Lennox-Hall, when he was a child. For his safety, Evander has been given three ironclad rules to follow:

He can never leave the estate. He can never go into the gardens. And most importantly, he can never again be left alone with Byron's charming, underachieving grandson, Laurie.

That last rule has been in place ever since Laurie tried to kill Evander seven years ago, and yet somehow Evander is still obsessed with him.

But when Byron suddenly dies, Evander inherits Hazelthorn’s immense gothic mansion and acres of sprawling grounds, along with the entirety of the Lennox-Hall family's vast wealth. There’s just one caveat: He must choose a new guardian from amongst Laurie's scheming, backstabbing relatives to help manage the estate until he turns eighteen.

Except Evander's sure his guardian was murdered, and Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer before they come for Evander next. Perhaps even more concerning is how the overgrown garden is refusing to stay behind its walls, slipping its vines and spores deeper into the house with each passing day. As the family’s dark secrets unravel alongside the growing horror of their terribly alive, bloodthirsty garden, Evander needs to find out what he’s really inheriting before the garden demands to be fed once more.]]> 368 C.G. Drews 1250376297 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.73 2025
author: C.G. Drews
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.73
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 57185878 Giant turtles, impossible ships, and tidal rivers ridden by a Drowned girl in search of a family in the latest in the bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire.

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.]]> 160 Seanan McGuire Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.03 2025
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: most-anticipated-2025, adult-fantasy, audio, books-i-own, read-in-2025, series-group
review:

]]> 58830202 Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard waits...

Years ago, the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace during a routine voyage. Though a strange, garbled emergency message was broadcast, neither the ship nor any of its crew could be found. Sixty years later, its wreck has finally been discovered more than three hundred miles from its intended course...a silent graveyard deep beneath the ocean's surface, eagerly waiting for the first sign of life.

Cove and her dive team have been granted permission to explore the Arcadia's rusting hull. Their purpose is straightforward: examine the wreck, film everything, and, if possible, uncover how and why the supposedly unsinkable ship vanished.

But the Arcadia has not yet had its fill of death, and something dark and hungry watches from below. With limited oxygen and the ship slowly closing in around them, Cove and her team will have to fight their way free of the unspeakable horror now desperate to claim them.

Because once they're trapped beneath the ocean's waves, there's no going back.]]> 469 Darcy Coates 1728220238 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 3.93 2022
author: Darcy Coates
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: 2022, adult-horror, audio, horror-group, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 223363570 Don’t Let the Forest In meets The Whispering Dark in a queer YA cult horror following a recently diagnosed autistic teen who becomes enmeshed in a community of outcasts harboring sinister secrets.

After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again. Cassie’s never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends.

Problem is that her friends aren’t so eager to welcome her back into the fold. They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first night, Cassie wakes to a barren campsite—her friends all gone.

With severe weather approaching and nearing sensory overload, Cassie is saved by a boy named Kaleb, who whisks her away to a compound of artists and outcasts he calls the Roost. As Kaleb tends to her injuries, Cassie begins to feel—for the first time in her life—that she can truly be herself. But as the days pass, strange happenings around the Roost make Cassie question her instincts. Noises in the trees grow louder, begging the question: Are the dangers in the forest, on the trail, or in the Roost itself?

In a world where autistic characters rarely get to be the hero of their own stories, Cassie Davis’s one-step-back, two-steps-forward journey to unmasking makes Hollow as much a love letter to neurodiversity as it is a haunting tale you’ll want to read with the lights on.]]> 352 Taylor Grothe 1682637778 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.92
author: Taylor Grothe
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.92
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 59332540 Not every love is meant to be...

After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she’ll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can. . . .]]> 416 Stephanie Garber 1529380960 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.56 2022
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2022, books-i-own, finished-series
review:

]]> 62816044 Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.]]> 386 Stephanie Garber 1250851203 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.14 2023
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: 2024-november-tbr, audio, books-i-own, finished-series, read-in-2025, series-group, ya-fantasy
review:

]]> 222706197 The HOTLY ANTICIPATED adult debut novel by the beloved, #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series

It starts with a class in an old movie theater.

Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.]]> 336 Stephanie Garber 125078915X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.68 2025
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 218455595 When Lenora, a Black trans woman in her thirties, finally finds a decent apartment in Los Angeles, she’s excited to have a safe place to live and focus on her music career. But that all changes when she discovers the peephole.
Next door is Jane, a sex worker who stages creative and violent scenes in her living room for her LonelyCams channel. As Lenora and her band mates become obsessed with watching the increasingly extreme and gruesome performances, she starts to question: is Jane really just putting on a show, or is something more sinister happening next door? Why doesn't anyone else in the building seem to notice? And why is there a peephole in the first place?
Discovering the answer plunges her into a world more brutal and depraved than she could have ever imagined, and a desperate struggle for survival.

CHASERS is the powerful splatterpunk novella by Mariah Darling and Eve Harms. If you like queer horror, fun characters, gripping suspense, twisted villains, and devastating tragedy, you will love this book. Buy CHASERS to take the horrifying thrill-ride today.]]> 104 Mariah Darling Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.18
author: Mariah Darling
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 211004179 For fans of Jordan Peele’s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.

When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.]]> 352 Neena Viel 1250906326 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.26 2025
author: Neena Viel
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, 2025, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 28765598
It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed.

Then there was that video: forty seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account.

Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed - until now.]]> 336 Jason Arnopp 0356507181 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.83 2016
author: Jason Arnopp
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 186872450 A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caughtĚýup in the dark secrets andĚýsuperstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man

Deadhart, Alaska. 873. Living.

In a small Alaska town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who’s responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods.

Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in to officially determine if this is a Colony killing—and authorize a cull. Old suspicions die hard in a town like Deadhart, but Barbara isn’t so sure. Determined to find the truth, she enlists the help of a former Deadhart sheriff, Jenson Tucker, whose investigation into the previous murder almost cost him his life. Since then, Tucker has become a recluse. But he knows the Colony better than almost anyone.

As the pair delve into the town’s history, they uncover secrets darker than they could have imagined. And then another body is found. While the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, a killer stalks Deadhart, and two disparate communities circle each other for blood. Time is running out for Atkins and Tucker to find the truth: Are they hunting a bloodthirsty monster . . . or a twisted psychopath? And which is more dangerous?]]> 336 C.J. Tudor 0593356594 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.85 2024
author: C.J. Tudor
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 58323225
"The sound hits Guy in some low, forgotten part of his psyche - a part of him that understands the truth about shadows. The part of him that knows the deep, dark truth behind fairy stories and myths..."

Guy is about to finish writing his breakthrough online article. He overheard the story by chance in a pub and it's guaranteed to go viral - all he needs to do is persuade the World's Unluckiest Man to talk to him. His best friend Larry's quest for killer clickbait material has led him to a recently-appeared shanty town in Glasgow, where he finds some kind of urban voodoo cult. Ex-cop Sam has already come face to face with the terrifying force behind both these phenomena, but he's been trying to put it out of his mind.
When Larry is killed in inexplicably gruesome circumstances, Guy knows he's also a target. The evidence of malevolent power is suddenly proliferating - but why now? Together, Sam and Guy enter a shadow world of ancient monsters and modern curses, in a battle to figure out the rules of the game and bring them to the light before it's far too late.

From the bestselling author of the Stone Man series, You See The Monster is for fans of contemporary horror kindle books at their most darkly inventive: a chilling, high-concept fable for our times.

PRAISE FOR LUKE SMITHERD'S WRITING:
"... a novel that intrigues, enthralls, horrifies, thrills, and hits the reader with an emotional resonance as only the best stories can." - Ain't It Cool News.com
"... strong characterization, moral quandaries, mystery, and a whole lot of tense moments. Reading the final sentence was truly a bittersweet moment." - SFsignal.com, Hugo award-winning website
"I couldn't help myself and read this is one sitting" - simon211175, Amazon Vine Voice]]> 450 Luke Smitherd Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 4.10
author: Luke Smitherd
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 57811773 With Teeth!]]> 142 Brian Keene Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.98 2021
author: Brian Keene
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, earcs, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 201101927 Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.

After sitcom star Willow tweeted herself into infamy and stumbled blind-drunk into a swimming pool, her agent shipped her off to Camp Castaway. Tucked away in upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults who are desperate to leave their mistakes behind. No real names, no phones . . . no way to call for help.

Willow’s fellow campers seem okay. Her own favorite actress is even here, making a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her? But the peaceful vibe is shattered when one of the campers vanishes and Willow finds a mutilated doll in her room with a threatening message rolled up inside its mouth.ĚýTerror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads—literally—and disturbing past deeds come to light.

Is Willow about to get cancelled all over again, this time for good?]]> 368 Josh Winning 0593544706 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 3.68 2024
author: Josh Winning
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: 2024, adult, adult-horror, audio, books-i-own, lgbtqia, read-in-2024, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 217476770 Every woman who has lived on this farm has died. Emily just moved in.

When Emily Hauk's mother dies, it's time for her and her husband, Josh, to finally leave San Francisco. A farm in rural Nebraska is everything they want for a fresh start: clear skies, low costs, and distance from the grief back home.Ěý

They should have asked why the farm was for sale.Ěý

Three years ago a teenage girl went missing from the farm. Soon afterward, the girl's mother mysteriously died. The deeper Emily digs the more stories she uncovers of women connected to her new home who've met their own dark ends.

With each passing day Emily's sanctuary slips further away. The barn seems to move throughout her property as though chasing her. Her mother's favorite music drifts across the cornfield. She swears she saw blood in one of the farmhand's trucks. And the screams that wake her are not fox howls, no matter how many times her husband says they are. If she wants to claim this place as her own she'll have to find out the truth before whatever watches from the cornfield takes her, too.]]> 432 Chelsea Conradt 1464229163 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.59
author: Chelsea Conradt
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.59
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 217323302 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered, horror fans will be delighted to discover a whole new list of horror recommendations—all by women writers.

Taking a cue from the popular practice of mood reading, the most common requests she gets on social media, and the overwhelming positive reaction to the icons included in her first book, Sadie has carefully curated and organized her 200+ recommendations into reading lists based on, well, vibes. Are you in your “Gothic Era?� Sadie has a list for that. Going on vacation and need some good dark beach reads? There’s a list for that. Just finished Mexican Gothic and need more “Sporror in your life?� You guessed it, there’s a list for that too! Each book on every list will include its title, author(s), date of publication, publisher, page count, theme, a spoiler-free description alongside Sadie’s recommendation.

Featuring five brand-new essays from popular and rising voices in the genre—Alma Katsu, Alexis Henderson, Christina Henry, Rae Knowles, and Laura Purcell, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone looking to get out of a reading slump or diversify their TBR pile.]]> Sadie Hartmann Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 5.00
author: Sadie Hartmann
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 219543698
But the murders were seventeen years ago, back when her name was Sabrina. Now, she’s Sadie: a perfectly normal 29-year-old. She works as a physical therapist assistant and lifts weights with her boyfriend, Lucas, who’s the sweetest, most considerate man—as long as he’s not angry. But when Lucas spontaneously agrees to join a couples trip to a cabin in the woods, the visions get worse, a strange figure stalks her during the night, and that male voice in Sadie’s head keeps calling, asking her to do things she’s never fathomed.

Sadie’s not sure if it’s her paranoia or something else entirely . . . But she is sure of one thing—this time, she’s not going to sit idly by as everything starts to unravel.]]> Tatiana Schlote-Bonne Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.44 2025
author: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 209203198
But these things happen only when Emily is alone, so are they happening at all? She is still medically fragile. Her post-sepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she cannot fully trust her senses. Freddie does not notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start. She, however, starts to believe the house is haunted by someone who had been murdered in it even though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge. But just as the house has secrets so do Emily and her husband.]]> Sarah Pinborough Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.30 2025
author: Sarah Pinborough
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 211004203 The Girl in the Creek by Hugo Award winner Wendy N. Wagner is an atmospheric and eerie story about a Pacific Northwest forest that seems to be devouring all who enter. A perfect read for fans of T. Kingfisher and Jeff VanderMeer’s cli-fi cosmic horror.

The Clackamas National Forest has always been a sanctuary for evil—human and alien. The shadows of looming trees and long-abandoned mines shelter poachers and serial killers alike. Then there’s the ruined hotel on the outskirts of picturesque small town Faraday, Oregon, nestled in the foothills of Mt. Hood. The one drowning in mushrooms and fungus not even the local expert can identify. Not to mention the stacks of missing persons cases. Freelance writer Erin Harper arrives in Faraday to find out what happened to her brother, whose disappearance in the forest has haunted her for years. But someone else has gone missing. And when Erin finds her in the creek, the girl vanishes again � this time from the morgue, and days later her fingerprints show up at a murder scene. Maybe it’s a serial killer, or maybe it’s the spores infecting the forest and those lost inside. Erin must find answers quickly, before anyone else goes missing. But she might be next�

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 272 Wendy N. Wagner 1250908647 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.56 2025
author: Wendy N. Wagner
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 218185743
These days nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt, who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival; not her weird colleagues; and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her door frame. After all, it can't be real—can it? After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.]]> 304 Kylie Lee Baker 0778368459 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 4.27 2025
author: Kylie Lee Baker
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 217896248 From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing, intensely atmospheric fever dream of medieval horror.

Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.

Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar’s walls.

As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters� or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.]]> 352 Caitlin Starling 0063418819 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2024 4.05 2025
author: Caitlin Starling
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, 2024
review:

]]> 204294824
Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.�

Beware the one who got away . . .

Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his “House of Horrors,� they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.

The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.

When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.

With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.]]> 336 J.H. Markert 1639108734 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.64 2024
author: J.H. Markert
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 60847018
Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.

Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.

As the series of “Scarecrow crimes� continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.

As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.]]> 326 J.H. Markert 1639101705 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.86 2023
author: J.H. Markert
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 204640265 From Vulture's "master of horror" Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening� is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn�-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from "one of horror's modern masters" holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.]]> 384 Clay McLeod Chapman Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.38 2025
author: Clay McLeod Chapman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 217387837 Set in the unforgiving maw of the Rocky Mountains, Nowhere Burning is the latest harrowing novel from bestselling author Catriona Ward, perfect for fans of Riley Sager and the hit series Yellowjackets.

A refuge for lost children may also be their prison.

In the middle of the night, Riley pulls her younger brother Oliver out of bed, and the two run away from home. Riley is intent on joining a group of teenagers squatting in the abandoned ruins of an infamous movie star’s ranch, Nowhere. For actor Leaf Winham, Nowhere was a place to hide from his fame, and to hide his crimes―until a fire ravaged his home and exposed him as a murderer.

It is rumored that the ranch nestled in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains is now home to group of feral children, a place where adults cannot enter, and Riley hopes to find a new family there. But the Nowhere Kids are fierce in defending their turf and their clan, and Riley quickly realizes that while she and Oliver may have left the devil they knew, this group is a new type of diabolical.

For something dark lives in the burned shell of Nowhere, something which asks a terrible price for sanctuary...]]> 304 Catriona Ward 1250860059 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 5.00 2025
author: Catriona Ward
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 211004893
As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, horrifying incidents of butchery follow them. At first, Jess thinks she understands what they're up against, but she's about to learn there's more to these surreal and grisly events than she could've ever imagined.

And that when the wolf finally comes home, none will be spared.]]> 304 Nat Cassidy 125035434X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.48 2025
author: Nat Cassidy
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 214565614 A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.]]> 448 Stephen Graham Jones 1668075083 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 4.24 2025
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 220160578 A terrifying new novel from bestselling #HorrorBookTok sensation Ania Ahlborn—the acclaimed author of the modern classic Brother.

Hailed as a writer of “some of the most promising horror I’ve encountered in years� (Seanan McGuire, author of the Ghost Roads series), Ania Ahlborn delivers a novel that pushes the boundaries of horror into a new realm.

Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens� secluded Colorado property. Although strange and unexplainable, the child’s presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla’s husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary—anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house.

The Unseen is a haunting tale that walks the line between the familiar and the unknown, drawing us into a chilling narrative where reality itself feels just out of reach.]]> 384 Ania Ahlborn 1668057662 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 4.05
author: Ania Ahlborn
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 195703882 Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying� yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.

A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.]]> 278 Monika Kim 1645661237 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.81 2024
author: Monika Kim
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 55782435
Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.]]> 530 Chuck Wendig 0399182136 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.70 2021
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it� (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.67 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, 2024-october-tbr, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 58659343
Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.]]> 240 Julia Armfield 152901722X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.75 2022
author: Julia Armfield
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 3432478 The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?]]> 336 Carrie Ryan 0575090855 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.62 2009
author: Carrie Ryan
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, books-i-own, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 195660534
Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.

Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.

But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans� might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.]]> 368 Sami Ellis 1419766767 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.39 2024
author: Sami Ellis
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2024, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 199531796
The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.

When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.

Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she’s losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.

Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she’s never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.

When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanyen’kehá:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.

In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs pulls the reader down into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.]]> 336 Cheryl Isaacs 0063287382 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.63 2024
author: Cheryl Isaacs
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2024, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 195158464
Inserting herself deep into Bea's life, nobody is safe—not her parents, not her children, not even the PTA members of her daughter's high school. Starting a sordid romance with Bea in a bid to destroy her life from the inside out, Gertie soon learns revenge is messier than she thought.

But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.]]> Chloe Spencer Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.49
author: Chloe Spencer
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 216283140 This eerie tale sees a group of men haunted by one traumatic event from their childhood. They thought they'd moved on . . . but someone - or something - won't let them!

'Ginny Greenteeth comes for the naughtiest boys and girls . . . and from what I hear you've been very, very bad.'

1988: 13-year-old Andy Miller and his four friends become witnesses in the brutal murder of their classmate Melanie Bishop, and the severe beating of her sister, Poppy, at a decommissioned flooded railway line they call the frog ponds. The boys lead the police to a suspect, a vulnerable older boy who later commits suicide while on remand for the attacks - his guilt never proven. Their guilt ingrained on them forever.

Now: Carl Butler's body is found beside the now gentrified frog ponds - and the lives of Andy, Brian, Johnny and Gavin start to unravel. Is the hag-like woman terrorizing their reality the grown-up Poppy set on revenge? Or something else . . . something steeped in childhood nightmares? As the friends try to piece together and understand what's happening to them, they can't stop the spiralling fear that the truth is something altogether scarier than a mere cautionary tale . . .

For those who love spooky fairy tales with a twist - this first in a new series will not disappoint!]]> 240 Matt Hilton 1448313937 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.39 2025
author: Matt Hilton
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 776407 180 A.A. Milne 0525444440 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.37 1928
author: A.A. Milne
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1928
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: children-s-books, classics, books-i-own
review:

]]> 209520673
Finding Roan will be no small feat. First Len will need to face a past locked out of her memory and travel the darkest paths of the Conjure.

To keep her away from danger, Len must leave Zoey in the last place she wants to: the convent where Len spent her childhood, a century and a half earlier. But the Sisterhood of the Sparrows may not be the haven Len assumed, and when the Beast comes whispering, the embittered Zoey may be too susceptible to temptation.

Bleak and gruesome, gloomy and Gothic, tortuous and savage, in this follow up to Teeth in the Mist Dawn Kurtagich continues to redefine the horror and fantasy space.]]> 374 Dawn Kurtagich 1738415007 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.29
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2024
review:

]]> 217903865 In this hauntingly twisted tale, an author reconnects with an old boarding school friend, forcing her to reckon with their shared past and the imaginary creature she thought they left behind.

Touch a line, you break your spine.

Stacey is the dusty air, the cracked soil, the drought. To fourteen-year-old Bethany Sloane, she’s everything.

Abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school, Bethany will do anything to stay in Stacey’s good graces. And that means learning the rules of each twisted game.

Touch a crack, you break your back.

Seventeen years later, Bethany is a bestselling author. Disabled now, she can’t remember what happened back in the bush. But there’s no mistaking Stacey Preston’s name in her inbox.

Glassy, glassy, cut my arsey.

That email brings Bethany’s childhood rushing back. The Glass Man was just a story the Thorns invented, a game of wits. But every game has its rules—and consequences for breaking them. To stay alive this round, Bethany needs to play right into Stacey’s hands.

Dark and disturbing, The Thorns explores the horrifying world of adolescent abuse, controlling friendships, and blinding obsession.]]> 395 Dawn Kurtagich 1662526970 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 most-anticipated-2025 3.45 2025
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 211399781 A taut, powerful psychological thriller following a mother who must confront a sudden and terrifying change in her daughter after the abrupt death of their babysitter.

Charlotte’s daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her mother. Following the sudden death of Stella’s babysitter, Blanka, the once disruptive and anti-social child has become docile and agreeable. But what’s unsettling is that she has begun to mirror Blanka’s personality, from Blanka’s repetitive phrases to her accent, to fierce cravings for Armenian meat stew after being raised a vegetarian.

Charlotte is pregnant with her second child, and depleted and sick with the pregnancy. She is convinced that Blanka herself is somehow responsible for Stella’s transformation. But how could Blanka, dead, still be entwined in their lives? Has Blanka somehow possessed Stella? Has Stella become Blanka? As Charlotte becomes increasingly obsessed, she is sure that only she can save her daughter. . . even though it’s soon clear that her husband believes this is all in Charlotte’s head.

Helena Echlin’s singular, chilling voice holds light to the blurred lines of diagnosis in children and to the vital power of maternal instinct. Kaleidoscopic and tense, pulse-pounding and genuinely creepy, and infused with shades of the supernatural, Clever Little Thing is an ode to motherhood and a nuanced critique of the caretaking industry, a page-turner that will haunt readers long after its epic, surprising finale.]]> 352 Helena Echlin 0593656075 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.62 2025
author: Helena Echlin
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 207677131 A woman investigates her brother's mysterious death while coming to terms with her own haunting past in this atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow

The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’sĚýdeep connection with her twin brother,ĚýJohnny,Ěýhas gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels.ĚýSo, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.Ěý

When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settleĚýher brother’sĚýaffairs,Ěýshe’sĚýforced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved.Ěý

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.]]> 288 Adrienne Young 0593598709 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.70 2025
author: Adrienne Young
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, books-i-own 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read, books-i-own
review:

]]> 216971219 A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods in this mesmerizing horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents.

Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what.

Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something a mysterious staircase to nowhere.

One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.

Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. . . .]]> 400 Chuck Wendig 0593156560 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 3.89 2025
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 213570812 "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine�"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angryâ€� and hungry.Ěý

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1728281571 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, horror-possibilities 4.01 2025
author: Johanna van Veen
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 211003824 Cold Eternity is the newest action-packed space horror from S.A. Barnes perfect for fans of Severance, where desperation for eternal life leads to a fate worse than death...

Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago�

The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram "hosts," ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from�.]]> 293 S.A. Barnes 1250884950 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.83 2025
author: S.A. Barnes
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 217387964 Annihilation meets Day of the Triffids in this full-on body horror/alien invasion apocalypse.

This is just a story. It can't hurt you anymore.

Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has been willing to listen.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

What happens when you know what’s coming, and just refuse to listen?]]> 480 Mira Grant 1250768233 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.11 2025
author: Mira Grant
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025, horror-possibilities
review:

]]> 77390 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone’s heart. Now, she’s five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It’s an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.]]> 276 L.M. Montgomery 0553213148 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.23 1909
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1909
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: books-i-own, 2024-december-tbr, currently-reading
review:

]]> 8127 Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family� and, most of all, love.

WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JENNIFER LEE CARELL]]> 320 L.M. Montgomery 0451528824 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.30 1908
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1908
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: 2024-december-tbr, audio, classics, friendship-goals, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 93261 108 Washington Irving 0809594080 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 3 3.71 1820
author: Washington Irving
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1820
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: audio, books-i-own, read-in-2022, adult, adult-horror, classics, read-in-2024
review:
I much prefer the Disney cartoon.
]]> 123429195
Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there―or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos. He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.

When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it's too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow…and the more danger they both are in.]]> 297 Megan Lally 1728270111 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.04 2023
author: Megan Lally
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: 2024, audio, books-i-own, faves-so-far-2024, read-in-2024, ya-mystery, ya-thriller
review:

]]> 199269577 The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]> 384 Sarah Beth Durst Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.05 2024
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves: 2024-october-tbr, adult-fantasy, audio, books-i-own, friendship-goals, most-anticipated-2024, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 10737391
Two teenage girls are picked up by two boys, who invite them back to their place to party.

But an innocent mistake turns the party into a nightmare, where nothing is what it seems...

Wild Night Is Calling is a 6000 word short story by thriller writer J.A. Konrath (Shaken, Trapped) and romantic suspense writer Ann Voss Peterson (A Cop in Her Stocking, Seized By The Sheik).

Peterson wrote the first half. Konrath wrote the second half.

This ebook, specially formatted for Nook with an active table of contents, also contains an excerpt from Konrath and Peterson's collaborative spy thriller, FLEE, coming out this Spring.]]> 30 J.A. Konrath Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 2 3.67 2011
author: J.A. Konrath
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: adult-horror, audio, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 59808071 Not every love is meant to be.

After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she'll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can...]]> 416 Stephanie Garber 1250268427 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 5 4.49 2022
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: books-i-own, 2024-october-tbr, audio, faves-so-far-2024, read-in-2024, ya-fantasy
review:

]]> 43263515
These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.]]> 160 Jennifer Giesbrecht 125022568X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 3.54 2019
author: Jennifer Giesbrecht
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves: books-i-own, 2024-october-tbr, adult, adult-fantasy, adult-horror, audio, lgbtqia, read-in-2024, sexual-assault
review:

]]> 195945795
Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old baby stroller to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. So do the sweet coos of a baby Willy knows can’t be real. Can it? In this twisted thicket, wishes come true—with a price.

Joe Hill’s The Pram is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.]]> 58 Joe Hill 1662516894 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 3 3.75 2023
author: Joe Hill
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves: adult, adult-horror, audio, books-i-own, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 205436025
The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.

The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.

Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.

And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.]]> 352 Alexa Donne 0593651065 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 4 3.66 2024
author: Alexa Donne
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves: most-anticipated-2024, 2024-october-tbr, audio, books-i-own, lgbtqia, read-in-2024, ya-mystery, ya-thriller
review:

]]> 761381
Eight costumed boys running to meet their friend Pipkin at the haunted house outside town encounter instead the huge and cadaverous Mr. Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween.]]> 145 Ray Bradbury 0375803017 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 “When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.�


This was one of my reads for October, as I was going with a horror/paranormal/Halloween theme this month. I'm really glad I picked up this book at the library. I have never read anything by Ray Bradbury but I get the picture that this isn't his normal type of book.

I loved the writing style of it. It was easy to read and prose was beautiful. I really liked that the children were dressed up in your basic Halloween costumes (i.e. Mummy, Witch, etc..) and they went through the different histories of where the origins for those costumes came from and the history of Halloween in general.

I think my favorite part though was that they were trying to help their sick/dying friend and near the end they were offered the chance to save him. All they had to do was give one year of their life away to him. They all jumped on it and said yeah of course, no problem. They were then warned that a year off their life might seem like nothing when they are children but when they are nearing the end, maybe in 50 years time, that year might be the most important thing they will ever have. I thought that was pretty profound in a children's novel and I loved that it made the children stop and question what it really meant. Hell, it made me stop and really think about the ideas it had brought up.

The writing style won't be for everyone but it's worth a read. Obviously, the perfect time for this book is probably Halloween. This book isn't a horror novel, it's a Halloween novel and there is a big difference. This book is just drenched in the holiday and everything that it stands for and the traditions, etc. It isn't about being terrified or spooked. It's just about one of my favorite holidays, Halloween.

I, obviously, recommend giving this one a shot.]]> 3.81 1972
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: middle-grade, read-in-2016, mg-paranormal-horror, mg-fantasy, 2024-october-tbr, audio, books-i-own, classics, read-in-2024
review:
“When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.�


This was one of my reads for October, as I was going with a horror/paranormal/Halloween theme this month. I'm really glad I picked up this book at the library. I have never read anything by Ray Bradbury but I get the picture that this isn't his normal type of book.

I loved the writing style of it. It was easy to read and prose was beautiful. I really liked that the children were dressed up in your basic Halloween costumes (i.e. Mummy, Witch, etc..) and they went through the different histories of where the origins for those costumes came from and the history of Halloween in general.

I think my favorite part though was that they were trying to help their sick/dying friend and near the end they were offered the chance to save him. All they had to do was give one year of their life away to him. They all jumped on it and said yeah of course, no problem. They were then warned that a year off their life might seem like nothing when they are children but when they are nearing the end, maybe in 50 years time, that year might be the most important thing they will ever have. I thought that was pretty profound in a children's novel and I loved that it made the children stop and question what it really meant. Hell, it made me stop and really think about the ideas it had brought up.

The writing style won't be for everyone but it's worth a read. Obviously, the perfect time for this book is probably Halloween. This book isn't a horror novel, it's a Halloween novel and there is a big difference. This book is just drenched in the holiday and everything that it stands for and the traditions, etc. It isn't about being terrified or spooked. It's just about one of my favorite holidays, Halloween.

I, obviously, recommend giving this one a shot.
]]> 211724044 A delightful queer cottagecore romantasy full of friends-to-lovers romance, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic.

Yael Clauneck might be an indifferent warlock, but they are also the only scion of an obscenely wealthy banking family with its fingers in every pie in the realm. On the precipice of a predetermined life, a loveless political marriage, and eventually, children who’ll be raised exactly as they were, they flee during their own graduation party, in search of the chance to feel like life can still be a grand adventure.

Margot Greenwillow—talented plant witch, tea lover, and stressed greenhouse owner—has never felt further from adventure in her life. After her grandmother died and her parents lost the family fortune, she’s been on her own, desperately trying to keep what remains of the family business afloat. So when her childhood friend—and former crush—gallops back into her life, she’s shocked, to say the least. But when Yael confesses they’ve fled home with no possessions and no plan, Margot, lonely and in need of help, offers Yael a job in the greenhouses. Yael is delighted to accept.

They lay low for a while, harvesting strawberries for heartbreak jam, and flirting with Margot while they figure out what to do next. What Yael doesn't know is that Margot’s been forming a plan of her own - reforge alliances, entice investors, and take back everything that was stolen from her own family by the Clauneck Company.

But plans are notoriously unreliable things, unlikely to survive a swiftly-blooming mutual attraction, not to mention the machinations of a set of parents determined to get their heir back—no matter the cost.]]> 256 Jamie Pacton 1804951129 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.73 2025
author: Jamie Pacton
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 215805896 Rear Window meets The Ring in this sinister YA thriller, in which a teen girl witnesses the livestreamed murder of a popular online streamer by a paranormal entity . . . and could be its next victim.

After surviving a car accident that claimed the life of her best friend, Teresa is now terrified to leave the safety of her bedroom. Since then, her only solace and window to the outside world has been the online community she found through streaming.

But one night, the safe world Teresa created starts to break down. A shadowy figure appears in the background of her favorite's streamer's video, and his behavior mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this figure could be . . . especially as it begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to "open the door" and let it in—including Teresa’s own. In order to save herself and the rest of the internet from this relentless entity, Teresa must venture outside of the mental and physical walls she’s created. But will she be able to conquer her fears before anyone else loses their life?]]> 320 Mar Romasco-Moore 0593691881 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.64 2025
author: Mar Romasco-Moore
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 218006857 From the bestselling author of Wilder Girls and queen of twisty narratives, Rory Power, comes her highly anticipated new Young Adult thriller.

Last summer, Nan's three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar Canyon.

She's spent the year since grieving their loss and avoiding questions about what happened that night. Now, on the anniversary, she's ready to say goodbye, and so are the girls' families, who have reconvened to hold a memorial. But their vigil is interrupted by the shocking return of one of the missing girls alive. Everybody is overjoyed. Everybody, that is, except Nan, who was pretty sure they were dead.

After all, she's the one who killed them.

Atmospheric, fast-paced and vividly realised, Kill Creatures is a bookĚýabout secrets, jealousy, violence and revenge. Perfect for fans ofĚýA Good Girls Guide to Murder and Gone Girl. Ěý

Reviews for Wilder Girls :

'Your new favourite book' Cosmopolitan

'Wholly original and compelling' ĚýObserver

'A staggering gut punch of a book' KirkusĚý

Rory Power lives in Rhode Island. She has an MA in prose fiction from the University of East Anglia, and is the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls, Burn Our Bodies Down, and In a Garden Burning Gold.Ěý]]> Rory Power 0702341649 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.09 2025
author: Rory Power
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 125120424 Alice Oseman Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.57
author: Alice Oseman
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 216180339
There’s a reason CJ Smith’s hometown of Satterville is known as Slasherville: it was the site of not one, but two Friday the 13th-style massacres. CJ’s dad survived the first attack; only CJ survived the second. And thanks to the mysterious writer Moon Satter’s bestselling novels based on the events, the town—and CJ—will always be defined by this horrific past.

Then a new, unpublished Moon Satter manuscript shows up addressed to CJ. But unlike the others, this story isn’t about the past. Instead, it predicts new murders. On the day the book says the first murder will occur, CJ sets out to stop it. But in saving one classmate, the final girl ends up dead. CJ and their friends have suddenly gone from extras to leads—and they’ll have to use everything they know about the rules of horror to make it out alive.]]> 304 Justine Pucella Winans 1547616318 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.77 2025
author: Justine Pucella Winans
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 196408002
But her plans are thwarted. A sudden surplus of magic in the world is causing ancient sea monsters to awaken. Worse yet, Adra discovers that the ship she's been chasing for almost a year now is captained by a girl who’s been impersonating Cameron, while Cameron himself is missing.

The two pirate captains will have to work together if they are to find Cameron, but before they can do so, they must vanquish the beast―known as The Devourer―that is sinking ships and causing so much fear. Adra will have to descend leagues beneath the sea to the creature’s lair to strike a deal with her, but she’ll discover she isn’t the only one looking for her brother―and what he stole.]]> 400 Alison Ames Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.59 2025
author: Alison Ames
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 209594872 The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.]]> 384 Ava Reid 0063211556 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.84 2025
author: Ava Reid
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 215808178 Zoe Hana Mikuta delivers a bloody and unrelenting fantasy about young witches dangling on the edge of love and obsession, of magic and madness, of life and death (and death and death and death). . .

Just like her mother and her mother’s mother, 18-year-old Vanity Adams is destined to lead a lavish life under the patronship of the Museum, someday taking her place as its premiere necromantic Spectacle and the centerpiece of their weekly soirees thrown for the City’s elite.

But until that day, Vanity (and the other young witches of the Museum) is isolated from the outside world and purged of her magic—magic being particularly unstable for teenagers and often leading to antisocial conduct, mood swings, bloodlust, delusions, and, most concerning, a habitual, violent obsession with one another.

To all of this, Vanity thinks: Well, whatever. Better than being confined to the Sanatorium with the less fortunate witches, imprisoned in a chemically induced coma as her blood is harvested to make World, the City’s favorite designer drug. At least she’ll be dead someday, there’s always that. And at least the Museum has Arrogance, Vanity’s twin sister, who just might remember how to do magic, and who just might be where our story begins. . . .]]> 384 Zoe Hana Mikuta 136809919X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.98 2025
author: Zoe Hana Mikuta
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 211026617 This riveting, superpowered adventure unveils a shadow world of Talented bounty hunters—and plumbs the nature of identity, deadly secrets, and found family.

Tru has been hiding all her life. Her parents taught her to conceal her bastion Talent: indestructible skin, muscles, and bones. In a world where Talents are common and varied, no one trusts a bastion—they’re too powerful. Hiding failed to keep Tru’s parents alive, but moments before their murder, Tru’s mom pointed her to Logan Dire, a famed recluse assassin who adopted and trained orphaned Tru. At seventeen, she’s still hiding. Not even her closest friends know her true name or Talent, or that she’s balancing high school with knife and stealth training (while crushing on her BFF’s older sister). When assassins interrupt a mundane babysitting job booked through BountyApp—where lethal hunters find work and babysitters for their kids—Tru flees with a one-year-old strapped to her chest and spiraling questions: Who killed her parents? Whom can she trust? What does it mean to be a bastion? And is it ever OK to kiss a girl who’s trying to hunt you down? From an award-winning author comes a masterfully plotted thriller that holds character and relationship on a par with action and nail-biting suspense.]]> 320 Natalie C. Parker 153623009X Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.96 2025
author: Natalie C. Parker
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 220160176
Pandora Small has two ruling objectives: first, to keep the prodigious extent of her power secret, in a world where mages are feared and governed by suffocating laws. Second, to find her wealthy and noble-born patron, a shadowy figure bound to Pandora by magic, who stole her childhood and grew her power until she became a weapon rather than a girl. To that end, she’s posing as an Ingenue, a privileged and petted young woman of strictly limited abilities, who is allowed access to the royal court’s social season in order to find a husband and patron to control her magic.

But on Pandora’s arrival at court, Kit Beacon, one of the most promising members of the Royal Guard, inadvertently learns the true scope of her power. Privately sympathetic towards mages and the difficulties they face, Beacon decides to keep Pandora’s secret. But when someone or something with powers terribly like Pandora’s own begins slaughtering her fellow Ingenues, Beacon’s resolve to keep what he knows about her private is put to the test.

Tasked with protecting all the girls in the palace, not just one, Beacon will have to decide whether Pandora is a suspect or an ally, while to win his trust, Pandora will have to let him know more of her still—the worst of who she is and what she’s done. Because only unity between them during the social whirlwind to come will enable Pan to find her patron and Beacon the killer, and ensure they both see justice meted out.]]> 368 Laura E. Weymouth 1665959754 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 4.00 2025
author: Laura E. Weymouth
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 199116957 In this delightful dark comedy debut, when the members of an LGBTQ+ club find themselves accidentally framed for attempted murder, it's up to them to clear their names before it's too late.

It’s kind of hard to graduate high school when you’re the prime suspect in an attempted murder.

Seventeen-year-old Eleanora Finkel just wants to finish her senior year and get the hell out of Texas. But when her club meeting inconveniently coincides with an attack on the school’s head cheerleader, she and her friends find themselves in the hot seat.

In order to clear their names and ensure the survival of their club for future queer teens, they’ll have to track down the real culprit themselves. But Eleanora is far from a professional detective; she’s riddled with anxiety, annoyingly attracted to the case’s cute victim, and her trusty crochet hook feels insufficient for fighting off a murderer. Can this ragtag group of unlikely sleuths find their way out of an entire freaking murder mystery before one of them is next?]]> 336 CL Montblanc 1250340470 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.77 2025
author: CL Montblanc
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 58324651 Tricia Levenseller Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.57 2025
author: Tricia Levenseller
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 208893688 From author Elisa A. Bonnin comes Lovely Dark and Deep, a YA dark academia novel exploring magic, loneliness, and the power of found family.

Hidden off the coast of Washington, veiled in mist, there is an island that does not appear on any map. And on that island is Ellery West.

Ellery West has always been home for Faith. After an international move and a childhood spent adjusting to a new culture and a new language, the acclaimed school for magic feels like the only place she can be herself. That is, until Faith and another student walk into the forest, and only Faith walks out.

Marked with the red stripe across her uniform that designates all students deemed too dangerous to attend regular classes, Faith becomes a social pariah, an exile of Ellery West. But all she has to do is keep her head down for one more year to graduate, and she gets to keep her magic. Because when students fail out of Ellery West, they have their magic taken away. Forever. And Faith can't let that happen.

Except terrifying things are still happening to students, and the dark magic that was unleashed in the forest still seems to be at work. To stop it, Faith and the other Red Stripes will have to work together, risking expulsion from the magical world altogether.]]> 400 Elisa A. Bonnin 1250888573 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.91 2025
author: Elisa A. Bonnin
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> 198374537 Ninth House meets Legendborn in this thrilling first book in a dark academia fantasy series about a teen who’s willing to do anything to find her brother—even infiltrate a secret society full of monsters.

When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.

The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.

Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne…and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.

Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.]]> Liselle Sambury Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 4.55 2025
author: Liselle Sambury
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 211003894
Now, Noon is stuck navigating the submerged town with her mom, who believes their dead family has reincarnated as sea creatures. Alone with the pain of what happened that night at the cove, Noon buries the truth: she is not the right shape.

When Mercy’s predatory leader demands Noon and her mom capture the creature drowning residents, she reluctantly finds an ally in his deadly hunter of a daughter and friends old and new. As the next storm approaches, Noon must confront the past and decide if it’s time to answer the monster itching at her skin.]]> 272 Trang Thanh Tran 1547611111 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 3.60 2025
author: Trang Thanh Tran
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, most-anticipated-2025
review:

]]> 199251190 Queer horror at a boarding school with a Lovecraftian twistĚýin this new YA novel from E. Latimer, author of the acclaimed The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray.

Northcroft is an elite boarding school with a deadly secret. Each night as the bell tolls and the shutters slam down, cutting off the outside world, the Afterdark descends, turning the surrounding old growth forest into a macabre copy of itself. A negative photograph crawling with horrors.

Evie Laurent is certain of one thing from the moment she sees Holland Morgan on the front steps of Northcroft: she wants to know everything there is to know about her. But there are some things about Evie herself that are better kept secret. Especially the fact that she let her sister drown. And that it's getting harder to ignore her dark impulses . . .Ěý

Holland Morgan knows falling for Evie is just one more terrible choice in her long history of terrible choices. The problem is, she's not sure she cares.

As attraction turns slowly to obsession, they find themselves playing a dangerous game. Something out there is calling to each of them. Beckoning to the shadows within.

Do they fight the call and protect one another, or answer, and embrace the darkness?]]> E. Latimer Melanie (TBR and Beyond) 0 to-read, 2025 3.95 2025
author: E. Latimer
name: Melanie (TBR and Beyond)
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

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