Let the Right Book In

As Harry Potter prepares for his battle against Lord Voldemort with the guidance of his headmaster and mentor, Albus Dumbledore, the backstory of the Dark Lord is revealed. “It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” This book is a goddamn heartbreaker! I’ve become a big fan of listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks during my daily workout (Stephen Fry’s narration is FAULT-LESS) and there I was... bawling my eyes out during those final few chapters while getting on with my lunges and burpees... quite the sight, I’m sure!! The first three novels just feel like a different story. It’s all so light-hearted and enjoyable, then we hit Goblet of Fire and from then on Rowling is just tightening her grip on our hearts and bringing the FEELS. This one in particular crushes me. I remember on my first read I was just so freakin’ SHOOK by the events towards the end. I’d love to say it’s easier when you know what’s coming, but it isn’t!! I...

In the fall of 1993, in the quiet suburb of Harting Farms, children begin vanishing and one is found dead. Vowing to stop the Piper’s reign of terror, five boys take up the search. “No retreat, baby, no surrender” There’s just something very special about coming-of-age tales, isn’t there? I think it’s because they invoke such overwhelming nostalgia and it’s a trope that most people can relate to. December Park fits nicely into the same category as Dan Simmons’ Summer of Night, Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, Stephen King’s IT and even his novella The Body as well. I wouldn’t classify this one as a straight-up horror novel, it’s intention isn’t to scare or unsettle - it’s more about the relationships our main protagonist, Angelo, has formed with his father, grandfather, brother and the kids in his friendship circle. Malfi has included some really beautiful and touching scenes here, particularly between Angelo and his father. And I’m a goddamn sucker for those child-parent m...

Following his divorce and suicide attempt, Dale Stewart moves back to Elm Haven, deciding to live in the house his childhood friend lived in, to work on a new novel. “All good things beyond sleep come precisely because we defy gravity while we live.” How, oh how, was this book going to live up to Summer of Night? Spoiler alert - it doesn’t. But that’s okay, because it’s still a very enjoyable and chilling tale! I would NOT read this one before Summer of Night, it’s spoiler city in there! It’s not a direct sequel, but more of a chance to revisit Elm Haven and some of the characters we know and love. The story focuses on Dale, but we sometimes have narration from another member of the bike gang and these were often my favourite parts of the book - they were so beautifully written, as I have come to expect from Simmons. It’s quite sexual at times, which was fine until I was reading it on a plane and I was basically trying to cover the pages from the stranger beside me ...

Based on historical people and real events, The Crucible is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone...” The Crucible provides such an interesting insight into the mass hysteria and paranoia brewing in Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. Although, perhaps watching a production of this play would be more enthralling than reading it. I was tad bored at times and it took me far longer than it should to get through 150 pages of it! My major irritation was that a number of the characters had similar names - Proctor, Parris and Putnam, oh my!! And given that these characters would often be interacting with each other, I was constantly doing a double check in my head “oh yep, that’s the reverend... and that’s the rich guy who had a thing with Abigail”... obviously I can’t gripe about this too much as these are REAL character names based on REAL events, but I am complaining be...

If you see it – you die. The world is overcome by a mysterious force that sends the population descending into madness and eventual suicide. “The sky is falling, the sky is dying, the sky is dead.”   People of Instagram/goodreads – please put your pitchforks away, because this is not going to be a good review. The concept behind this story is GREAT, it’s very Lovecraftian – and I’m all about my Lovecraft-inspired fiction. If you see these creatures you will descend into madness and possibly go on a killing rampage, finishing up by killing yourself. Great. I love it. I just thought this was poorly executed and poorly written. If this story was handled by another author *cough KING cough* it could have been amazing! Okay, maybe not King… I am slightly biased, but basically any author who can craft an incredible story with stellar writing (Kealan Patrick Burke, perhaps?) This was the second book in a row I’ve read where the protagonist is a boring and bland woman, who...

The newly married Mrs de Winter realises she is walking in the shadow of her husband's late wife - the beautiful and perfect Rebecca - in their home at Manderley. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." This was my first time reading du Maurier and it was certainly worth the wait. I didn't fall head over heels for Rebecca unfortunately, but one thing I cannot fault is du Maurier's writing. It's so beautifully atmospheric and elegant - it's very easy to just get lost in her prose. She is clearly a very skilled storyteller, it all seems quite effortless. It's a bit of a slow build at first, but I'm a huge fan of a slow build. The characters are introduced, as is Manderley itself, and we learn more about the different backgrounds and relationships of the characters. Du Maurier is setting the scene. Then around the halfway mark or maybe even two-thirds of the way in, there's an abundance of twists and turns and I'm cons...