Friday 29 March 2024

Review: Dead Girls Walking

Dead Girls Walking Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Tamika Katon-Donegal
Presented by RB Media


Man, I tuned out for SO MUCH of this audiobook. It wasn't what I expected and I just couldn't get into it.

The blurb suggests something like a slasher flick, with a group of black lesbian kids camping out at a horror camp. One of the camp counsellors, Temple, is the daughter of a convicted serial killer, and she's only got the gig so that she can dig up (literally) the truth about the death of her mum. Then a body turns up, and Temple 'fears that one of her father's "fans" might be mimicking his crimes.'

I was expecting a serial killer roaming the woods, picking off kids. I was expecting tense moments, dramatic kills, and the fear of someone lurking in the woods. I wanted eerie atmosphere and jump scares.

What I got was a multigenerational haunting with a lot of ridiculous supernatural stuff and Temple talking often about what a terrible person she is.

Honestly, it was just so dull to me. It seemed to go on forever - when I thought things were coming to a head and we were getting into the explanations and final battles, I was barely 50% through. And then it was just the same crap for the rest of the book. There was nothing that hooked me in and had me invested at all - by the end, I was just desperate for it to be over.

I was also really confused about who was a camper and who was a counsellor because they all seemed to be the same age? I thought counsellors were supposed to be older so they could look after campers? Not that I've ever been to one of these camps in my life ... but I read, ya know?

So essentially, because it wasn't what I was expecting and there was a lot of the same stuff happening repeatedly, I tuned out often and still never felt the need to go back and re-listen. I even literally fell asleep at one stage (which I guess is also kind of a compliment to the narrator because her voice was quite soothing).

Admittedly, I listened to most of it while sick and out of it with a cold, so that might have added to how easily I was distracted, but I did find it really hard to concentrate and stay with this one.

Horror lovers might enjoy it, but don't expect a slasher flick - this is something a bit different.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

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Thursday 28 March 2024

Review: Wonder Woman (2023-) #7

Wonder Woman (2023-) #7 Wonder Woman (2023-) #7 by Tom King
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Cheese and fkn crackers this was utter gutter.

I am actually DUMBER for reading it.

WW and Superman go shopping for a present for Batman.

Tom King tries and drastically fails to be funny.

There are cringey jokes in abundance and WW and Supes get a mani-pedi and I am so fkn MAD at Tom King for shitting all over WW like this. Who the eff let this guy write comics.

This comic is not even worth wiping yourself with.

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Tuesday 26 March 2024

Review: The Hungry Dark

The Hungry Dark The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Emma Fenney
Presented by Dreamscape Media


Some excellent creepy vibes, though a bit long and meandering for my tastes.

I liked the setup, with the kids going missing and the Heedful Ones haunting our sham psychic. It was an interesting idea and it had me instantly intrigued.

Sadly, I lost interest very fast. There's a lot of family issues that I didn't care for, and didn't fully understand, to be honest. I felt it was unnecessary and slowed the story down considerably.

Freddy with his podcast was pretty predictable and again, didn't make too much sense to me. It seemed a thin excuse to get Ashley working on the case of the missing kids.

It just seemed like there were a lot of threadbare ideas holding this one together, and it never quite delivered. There were some cool spooky ideas but then it was back to mundane things; the storytelling just didn't have the consistency we needed to be properly impressed by all the eerie happenings.

I did enjoy the backstory of the setting, and there were still some great moments that held me captivated. But ultimately this one fell short of fully sucking me in.

The narration was fine, but again I was reading at 2x speed without any issues because it was so slow and full of pauses. There wasn't a huge amount of characterisation in the voices, and at times Freddy sounded a lot like Ashley. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it didn't add much to the story for me.

This may read better on paper, but it's slow in places which takes away from the creepiness this should have held well throughout. The setting and story is perfect for horror vibes, but the story wastes time with people drama, slowing things down to a more mundane pace.

If you're into crime stories with a supernatural twist, this one could work for you, but be prepared to wait patiently for the best stuff.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

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Monday 25 March 2024

Review: The Teacher's Secret

The Teacher's Secret The Teacher's Secret by Lauren North
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Emma Woods

A lot of twists and turns in this one!

Bit of a mixed bag, here. I had the narration on x2 because it was frustratingly slow and drawn out. A lot of extra info to set up all the red herrings, and the vagueness with no real point did get a little trying after a while.

Completely loathsome characters - I didn't like any of them at all and felt no sympathy for anyone involved - particularly once true colours were revealed, too!

Still, there was a lot of misdirection, and even though it was easy to guess things weren't what they seemed, there were still plenty of questions about what was actually going on. It kept me intrigued and keen to solve what was going on.

The story was probably a little heavy with extra information and unnecessary twists, but it was still intriguing and I did enjoy the guessing at everything. Crime lovers should find themselves easily entertained by this one.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

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Thursday 21 March 2024

Review: Hellblazer: Rise and Fall

Hellblazer: Rise and Fall Hellblazer: Rise and Fall by Tom Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not quite what I was expecting from Tom Taylor, but still an interesting, standalone story.

There's a lot that goes unexplained, so it's probably not a great introduction for people looking to know more about John Constantine. There's a mention of him doing magic to impress his friends when he's younger, and then adult John is a full blown magician with no further explanation so you're forced to kind of just go along with it. So if you want the origin story look elsewhere.

As it is, though, this is a fun lil demonic story with some ... interesting ... characters.

The artwork is decent, with some great gory bits, too. It reminded me a lot of the artwork that usually accompanies a Garth Ennis comic, so I felt pretty at home with the style.

It's short but coherent and well structured. Not a lot of character development, but with a limited story like this I guess it's expected.

Not for newbies to the character, but not too bad as a standalone story.

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Tuesday 19 March 2024

Review: A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits: The Amazing Journey of Ankh-Hap

A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits: The Amazing Journey of Ankh-Hap A Mystery from the Mummy-Pits: The Amazing Journey of Ankh-Hap by Frank L. Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Nigel Patterson

A fascinating look into the mummy trade, and the life of one before and after death.

I really enjoyed the way this was laid out. There's a lot of info, but the way it's organised makes it easy to digest. This book discusses firstly the practice of mummification and its hows and whys, followed by some of the grievances these human remains suffered in later years. There's a lot of information on travelling mummies as attractions and display pieces for the rich, and how parts were often sold for various reasons - including medicinal.

There's an exploration of mummies in pop culture, and how it has impacted the societal view, turning these ancient remains into villainous figures. Further, there's the quest to determine whose remains are whose, and where, and how they got there.

Throughout, there's a focus on Ankh-Hap, a 'regular Joe' type figure, in comparison to the much more famous Tutankhamun.

I found it really easy to listen to, and fascinating. I appreciated the respect the author had, and the care he took to remind the reader that, ultimately, mummies are human remains that deserve to be treated as such.

As much as I enjoyed the audio, I think this book would really come alive with the images and figures mentioned in the audio. I'd love to have seen the accompanying photos, depictions and graphs. It was also a challenge when mummies were referred to by alphanumeric sequences, which I feel would easily be rectified by sight.

That said, I enjoyed the audio for its flawless pronunciation, which helped me really picture these historical figures instead of getting bogged down by the spelling of names.

It was an insightful, respectful exploration of mummies and their place in history as well as modern culture. I really enjoyed it, and highly recommend for anyone interested in the subject matter.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

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Saturday 16 March 2024

Review: Crows and Ravens: Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Sacred Corvids

Crows and Ravens: Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Sacred Corvids Crows and Ravens: Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Sacred Corvids by Rick de Yampert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Matt Weisgerber

This was a bit of a weird mix, to be honest.

I definitely tuned out more than once because it was a lot of information, but the myths and legends were still quite interesting. I was also fascinated by the concept of 'crow magic' as practiced by the author, but I don't think I'll be shapeshifting into a crow any time soon.

The author is clearly a crow/corvid NUT, and constantly refers to his crow friends that live in the trees around his house. His enthusiasm for the birds salted his words for me a bit - I found myself approaching all of his conclusions much more sceptically because he seemed to draw them based on his own predilections.

I think there was also a massive disadvantage to listening as opposed to reading, because all of the bird sounds were ridiculous and there also seemed to be a lot of parentheses used which really confused the narrative at times. Added to that, each chapter is concluded with a 'grimoire' - some aspect of 'crow magic' you can try for yourself. Having those parts read to me was a bit weird, though the background info was always interesting.

The myths and legends involved were fascinating, but I was often lost because of the sheer volume of information - sometimes just in the imparting of a particular figure's multiple names. Don't even get me started on the Irish ones - though I think I'm glad those were read out to me because I doubt I could have pronounced any of them.

It's a bit of a weird blend, having the folklore justify real world application of 'crow magic'. I keep using inverted commas for the term because it doesn't sit right with me. I'm a massive hippy and open to a lot of spiritual, magical ideas, but crow magic as described in this book is not one of them, I'm afraid. Interesting, but not something I'm sold on quite yet.

All the same, I did find listening to this audio gave me the tendency to look around outside more, and keep an eye out for corvids. It gave me a greater appreciation for the natural world, and inspired me to get more in touch with Mother Nature. So I don't think that's a bad thing.

It's certainly not a book I'd recommend to everyone - I think you have to be extremely open-minded and already inclined towards believing in real world magic. The narrator does well with the material he's given, but it's dense and hard to swallow at times.

That said, I think there will be some who take a lot from this. It hopefully will inspire the reader to look outside every now and then, and have a little more awareness in the world beyond all of our screens. And that's not such a bad thing at all.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

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