ALL THAT CONSUMES US By Erica Waters

October 16, 2023 by Dani Young Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
Published by HarperTeen on 10/17/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Gothic, Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 413
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Everyone knows the students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. So when Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she takes it.

But once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory the academy calls home, something strange starts to happen. She finally has the chance to write, but her stories are dark and twisted. When she’s not sleepwalking, she’s dreaming about being trapped in a coffin, buried alive. And she’s starting to feel an unseen presence stalking her through the halls of her dorm.

As Tara slowly loses her grip on everything she’s ever known, she discovers a terrible secret at the heart of Magni Viri, one that just might turn her dreams into nightmares, one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.

Short and Sweet Review

Tara goes to Corbin College which she can barely afford, but after a student from the elite Magni Viri society dies, there becomes an opening that is offered to Tara. She obviously jumps on the opportunity, tuition is free and after college most students land their dream jobs. After a few nights in the society Tara begins to realize that things aren’t right, she’s writing stories that are darker than things she normally writes and she’s having nightmares. Tara thinks she’s being haunted by a ghost but soon realizes Magni Viri has a darker history then she realized and her place in the society had a higher price than she would have ever thought.

Tara is a talented writer but she’s not at the level she thinks her fellow classmate Meredith, from Magni Viri is. When Tara finds Meredith’s dead body and then soon after is invited to take her place in Magni Viri she accepts. Tara takes part in a initiation which she thinks is just like a little thing to welcome her but she’s actually inviting a spirit into her. Her new roommates are all a little weird and talk about Tara behind her back but Tara is more upset with the fact that she thought that they’d be there for her. All of the people in Magni Viri are intense and really into their work, some of them even become hospitalized. Anyway now that Tara is at Magni Viri she notices that she’s staying up at odd hours writing but she never remembers doing it. She starts to think Meredith is haunting her but she has a whole different ghost after her. The Magni Viri students are so intense because they’re basically being possessed by dead scholars who are putting out their work using the students bodies. Tara soon realizes what’s actually happening and she wants the help of her new roomies to help her. I loved the plot it was interesting and will have you wanting to know exactly what’s going on. The mystery was great and also just learning about Magni Viri and how long this has been going on. The one thing I didn’t like was that Tara would put her issues above everyone else who was obviously dealing with the same thing and I get that this was new for her and those around her have put up and shut up but it didn’t mean that they were in a better position than her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The world building was great it was creepy and I loved the characters and the mystery. I will say that this is a perfect book to read during October to prepare for Halloween and get you in the spooky fall mood!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE RESTLESS DARK By Erica Waters

September 30, 2022 by Dani Young Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
Published by HarperTeen on 10/4/22
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones.

Lucy was almost the serial killer’s final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide.

All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets.

But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind.

Short and Sweet Review

The Cloudkiss Killer died two years ago but no one found his body after he jumped off of a cliff, now a crime podcast Human Beasties is hosting a competition to see who can find his bones and win a prize.

Lucy, Carolina, and Maggie are our main characters but we only get the POVs of Lucy and Carolina. Lucy was the last victim of the cloudkiss killer but she was fortunate enough to get away, she thinks being the one to find his bones will help her finally move on from the trauma. Carolina is there because she thinks she relates to serial killers or something strange like that mainly because her parents ingrained it into her head that she’s some kind of awful person, I will admit she is quick to flip the switch and try to get violent. Maggie is a psychology student and she’s at the competition to try and get into the heads of people who listen to crime podcast.

Weird things start happening at the camp grounds so the host decide for everyone’s safety there needs to be groups and Lucy, Maggie, and Carolina form a group. Here’s where things start going downhill. Maggie and Lucy develop feelings for each other and they basically like to gang up on Carolina and snap at her. Carolina would question them and basically be the voice of reason and those two were so awful to her it was hard to read. Lucy was weak she was easily manipulated, she wanted to prove how bad that nothing affected her that it clouded her judgement. My biggest gripe with this book was the characters, it wasn’t easy to connect with them and I really feel like their treatment of Carolina was unwarranted.

I really wanted to like this book, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought we’d see more of them searching for this serial killer and maybe read what the podcast is like but I got none of that. What I read was people losing their minds because of the fog, a lot of gaslighting, and mean girl behavior. The ending just made me mad it didn’t redeem anything, Lucy was so wishy washy it was ridiculous, Carolina was probably my favorite but she was a little crazy in the head too, Maggie was straight up off of her rocker but she was able to charm her way into making people think that she was just using psychology on them. Anyway this book was hard to get through and it was not what I was expecting at all and I mean that in a bad way.

Filed Under: Reviews

GHOST WOOD SONG By Erica Waters

July 15, 2020 by Dani Young Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
Published by HarperTeen on 7/14/20
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, LGBT, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept.

Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness.

But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets.

In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing.

Short and Sweet

With her father’s fiddle Shady Grove has the ability to call ghost. After her brother is accused of murder Shady knows she has to use the fiddle and get some help from the other side to prove her brothers innocence.

Characters

Shady: Shady Grove is our main character. She plays the fiddle and has been around the presence of ghost for most of her life. Shady is described as a good girl and innocent and she doesn’t know many of the secrets her family has been hiding from her. I did like Shady she was determined to help her brother. She loves her family and friends but she did anything she could to help Jesse and keep her mom, aunt, and Honey safe.

Romance

Shady and Cedar: Cedar is a cowboy and a sweet one at that. Even before he really knew Shady he would help her out. I like how they both have a passion for playing music it brought them together in a way. I liked the romance between these two and how much Cedar cared for Shady’s wellbeing.

Shady and Sarah: Shady and Sarah are friends and potential lovebirds but it was not working out. Sarah was closed off and sometimes she would just ignore Shady which I didn’t like.

Quotes

~ “Shady Grove. Jesse ain’t never done anything but look out for you. It might be your turn to look after him. No matter what. That’s what brothers and sisters do.”

My Thoughts

~ Shady is one brave girl, she went out following the sounds of fiddle playing to find her father’s fiddle, and she facing the ghost that come when she plays the fiddle.

~ I was worried about Shady weird things happened when she played the fiddle other than just the ghost, there was a shadow man that would appear and wasps.

~ I loved that Shady felt that she had to be Jesse’s protector in this time, it’s usually the other way around with Jesse protecting Shady.

~ Shady and her friends; Cedar, Rose, Sarah, Orlando, and Kenneth form a band. They’re also around when the ghost appear when Shady plays the fiddle and although they don’t like what’s happening they stick around to help Shady when she needs it.

~ I felt bad for Shady’s mom she lost her first husband and then her second and she lost Jesse too when he was taken to jail.

~ I liked that there was a mystery to this book and that the fiddle was able to summon the ghost. It was great seeing Shady follow leads and play the fiddle and be reminded of her father.

~ Shady’s family also had a lot of secrets that she didn’t know about and seeing her uncover them and learn more about her family made me happy. Everything going on in her family’s past and what happened with Jesse was like two separate mysteries but everything tied in nicely.

~ The one thing I didn’t like was the love triangle I feel like it could have been great without it especially because I didn’t like the way Sarah treated Shady.

Overall

This was such a good book! It was creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat. I just wanted to know what would happen next with the mystery and the ghost and the fiddle! Shady was brave and I loved how determined she was and she wasn’t about to let anyone stop her from achieving her goal. If you’re in the mood for a mystery or something creepy this is the book for you!