Review: The Labyrinth House Murders

The Labyrinth House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Me while reading: I mean, it's good, but it's a bit predictable.

Me at the end: HOLY HECK DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING.

Yet another Japanese locked room mystery that I really enjoyed. There are puzzles throughout, and even when I thought I knew what was happening there were parts I couldn't solve. Really kept me guessing.

Fascinating characters, fun explanations, and appropriately ghastly deaths.

Also really enjoyed the brief reference to my other current favourite Japanese Detective, Kosuke Kindaichi.

I'll definitely be looking for more in this series.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

View all my reviews

Review: Victorian Psycho

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Anna Burnett
Presented by RB Media

I think this would have been better as a read, as opposed to a listen.

It's told first person by a governess, who is driven by the homicidal thoughts she tries to stifle.

Sentences transform in the middle and it can be quite disorienting when listening, but I suspect it would come across as quite clever in written form. I found it a little too strange to listen to and actually listened twice in a row as I was convinced I'd missed things. Turns out I hadn't missed much at all - the book just changes that abruptly.

Some of it was a little too bizarre for me, and it seems more like black comedy than horror. There are elements that are quite absurd and just don't fly as realistic, giving this a more satirical feel.

The audio narrator matched the book's narrator really well in my mind, and her performance was fantastic for the content. I do feel the audio format lessened my enjoyment of this book, but this was never a fault of the narrator.

I think there were some really interesting elements to this story and I can see it gathering a cult following for its bizarreness. I would be interested to read a physical copy because I feel like maybe the audio format doesn't do it justice. I'd happily recommend it to horror fans looking for something a little more unusual.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

View all my reviews

Review: Bright Young Women

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fantastic read this was!

I was unaware whose crimes this was actually based on, and I appreciated that the author chose not to name him. This is a fictional account that considers the lives he destroyed, and I think it's a powerful statement to refer to him simply as The Defendant.

The story is told by two women - Pamela, who witnessed the perpetrator leaving the crime scene after the brutal assaults and murders of her sorority sisters, and Ruth, a victim. Pamela's story switches between 2021 - 43 years later - and 1978, the year of the murders.

I enjoyed the rounded approach to the storytelling, though at times it did get a little confusing jumping back and forth. Sometimes during the 1978 chapters, Pamela would reflect as though she were writing from present day which made it even more confusing. There's also a main character that is involved for both girls, which didn't help.

Aside from trying to keep everything straight, though, this was a fantastic read. This is very much about the fallout, and the treatment of the victims. There's definitely a feminist angle, where the treatment of Pamela becomes increasingly frustrating as she's clearly intelligent yet is often treated like a 'hysterical woman'.

There's not much detail about the crimes themselves, so true crime junkies might be a little disappointed by that. I myself enjoyed the fresh perspective - the focus on the people who matter rather than the scumbag who would be better off forgotten by all.

This was a great read to get the wheels turning, and for women in particular I think it's a truly valuable read. There are parts that are quite sickening to read, but it's those parts that hammer home the impact of the book.

I really got a lot out of reading this one, and was fascinated to follow up with a little research. Some women survived and have gone on to lead courageous lives, which I think is truly inspiring.

Highly recommend this for those interested in crime stories that focus on the lives of the victims, and I think women in particular will get a lot out of the empowering subtext.

View all my reviews

Review: The Autumnal

The Autumnal by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

RIDICULOUSLY GOOD.

This was done so well that I'll now be looking twice at Autumn leaves.

The story follows single mum Kat at she and her daughter, Sybil, move back to Kat's hometown after the death of her mother. People in the town are sketchy AF strange and have a weird fixation on leaves.

The suspense builds slowly but by the end it's sheer terror. The pace is perfect and there's enough flesh for the story that it never feels rushed or flat.

The art style complements the story perfectly, with Autumn colours bringing the story to life in an extra eerie way.

Everything about this made a perfect horror story for me. The pace, the characters, the art, the ending. EVERYTHING.

Really loved it, and highly recommend if you're looking for a cleverly original horror graphic novel.

View all my reviews

Review: Babylonia

Babylonia by Costanza Casati
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Side note: by the time I was done with this, I'd reached 104% on the audio. LOL

Narrated by Ayesha Antoine
Presented by RB Media

An excellent historical fiction that I really enjoyed, though it felt a little too long by the end of it.

Babylonia tells the story of Semiramis, a nobody who rises to become the only female ruler of the Assyrian empire.

Knowing that's how it'll end does not make this story any less enjoyable. I really enjoyed her ruthlessness, and how she was so determined to just live.

The story gives us multiple viewpoints, so we get a well-rounded story that takes into account the thoughts and opinions of those close to Semiramis and allows a glimpse into the motivations of several. I appreciated having more insider knowledge of these other characters.

The story gets brutal at times, but I liked that about it. It added a realness that this story truly benefited from.

I do think the romance side of things worked against it - I loved Semiramis climbing the ranks for power, so as soon as questions of love were raised it started to soften and I wasn't wholly convinced. At the same time, the romance was never drawing the focus away from the progression of the story, so I appreciated that.

The narrator's performance was excellent - I was entranced by her voice and its strength suited this story so much. It was easy enough to differentiate characters, even without huge variations in pitch. A brilliant job and I'd happily listen to this narrator again.

Towards the end, it did feel like it was starting to drag - like the rest of the story had been so spread out that there was more but it had to be squashed in at the end because time had run out. It felt like a cramped ending that perhaps needed more time, or just less time spent elsewhere to balance it.

Still, I was entertained throughout and would happily recommend this to fans of historical fiction.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

View all my reviews

Review: Body Parts: A Serial Killer’s Deadly Compulsions

Body Parts: A Serial Killer’s Deadly Compulsions by Caitlin Rother
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Firstly, this was such a fascinating read. I was both horrified and absorbed completely.

Secondly, despite this claiming to have 'new and updated information' about the first victim, that evidently wasn't present in the copy I read (from NetGalley). I had to look up further information, so I'd be curious as to what this was supposed to include. I'm glad she now has a name.

Overall, though, this was a great true crime novel. It's such a controversial case because it follows a serial killer who did horrendous things but also turned himself in. There were so many elements to this case that really made me think.

The research for this book has clearly been extensive and as a consequence we get a clear narrative, despite the confusion of the perpetrator. There are plenty of transcripts and testimonies included to authenticate what is being told, and the author lays out the facts while allowing us to relate to every person that figures in this story.

On that, it can veer into tedious at times as we get background info on almost all of the sheriffs, detectives and lawyers involved in the case (however briefly) which can make it drag a little. I don't know that these small biographies really added much for me personally, but it did add a fullness to the book I suppose.

Roughly half the book details the trial proceedings, so this may bog down some readers. Personally, I found the grey areas of the case quite fascinating, since the arguments of the lawyers were rather black and white.

At the end of the day, Wayne Adam Ford was a brutal killer and his crimes are not pretty to read about. Yet his apparent remorse over his crimes adds exploration of an element not often considered with serial killers - conscience.

I really enjoyed this read, and I'd love to check out a finished paperback copy to read the extra materials this book claimed to have.

With thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC

View all my reviews

Review: The Flying Sorcerers

The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor
Presented by Brilliance Audio

DNF @ 67%

This one was straight up infuriating.

The plot revolves around a scientist strange magician being stranded amongst a primitive culture, where he must teach them his science strange magic so that he can build a craft to get him back to his homeland, 'up there in the sky beyond the dust cloud'.

The 'jokes' end up all being the same, where essentially some basic scientific principle of our world is described from the perspective of morons simple folk who believe magic is the source of all. And funny old Shoogar the Magician taking everything literally and getting offended about everything.

So as if that's not enough stupidity, this is such a primitive culture that, not only are women treated like slaves, they're constantly referred to as useless, stupid, pointless and only good for what they do for men. I get that the misogyny is supposed to be a 'funny' reflection of society but, jeez, give it a freaking REST now and then. I found zero humour in any of this 'ho ho ho, what a primitive sort these folks are.'

So I made it over halfway but then switched to 2.5x speed to try and get through the rest and it STILL wasn't enough. I think this is the first time I've ever DNF'd an audiobook because they're always so easy to just kinda half-listen to if they get dull, but I found this one was just too insulting to put up with. Life's too short.

The narrator did a decent job with what he had but the screeching voices just made this story all the more unbearable. Not his fault, though, so I'd easily give this narrator another go.

I guess this is for the dudes who enjoy low-brow humour and generally hate women but it was very much not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

View all my reviews