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ARC Review: Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight edited by Shelly Page & Alex Brown

Night of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales.

No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation. NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is a YA horror anthology that explores how Halloween can be more than just candies and frights, but a night where anything is possible. Each short story will be told through the lens of a different BIPOC teen and the Halloween night that changes their lives forever. Creative, creepy, and queer, this collection will bring fresh terror, heart, and humor to young adult literature.

Contributors include editors Alex Brown and Shelly Page, Kalynn Bayron, Ryan Douglass, Sara Farizan, Maya Gittelman, Kosoko Jackson, Em Liu, Vanessa Montalban, Ayida Shonibar, Tara Sim, Trang Thanh Tran, and Rebecca Kim Wells.

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Review: The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall

A deliciously terrifying novel about a ghost who uncovers a teen girl’s best kept secrets while haunting her boarding school, perfect for fans of Lost in the Never Woods and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Everyone has heard the story of the Narrow. The river that runs behind the Atwood School is only a few feet across and seemingly placid, but beneath the surface, the waters are deep and vicious. It’s said that no one who has fallen in has ever survived.

Eden White knows that isn’t true. Six years ago, she saw Delphine Fournier fall into the Narrow—and live.

Delphine now lives in careful isolation, sealed off from the world. Even a single drop of unpurified water could be deadly to her, and no one but Eden has any idea why. Eden has never told anyone what she saw or spoken to Delphine since, but now, unable to cover her tuition, she has to make a her expenses will be paid in return for serving as a live-in companion to Delphine.

Eden finds herself drawn to the strange and mysterious girl, and the two of them begin to unravel each other’s secrets. Then Eden discovers what happened to the last girl who lived with she was found half-drowned on dry land. Suddenly Eden is waking up to wet footprints tracking to the end of her bed, the sound of rain on the windows when the skies are clear, and a ghostly silhouette in her doorway. Something is haunting Delphine—and now it’s coming for Eden, too.

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Mini Reviews: Bring Me Your Midnight, The Summer of Broken Rules, What Happens After Midnight, One of Us is Back

Hi besties, happy Thursday! I hope that August is treating you well so far 💜

At the beginning of July, I read a lot of adult horror and mystery/thrillers for Summerween, and I can’t lie, although I enjoyed it, it kind of burned me out and once Summerween ended I didn’t do a whole lot of reading. Towards the end of July, I decided to pick up some YA books for a change of pace, and it absolutely helped me get back into the swing of things.

Whenever I’m in a bit of a slump, switching genres or age ranges tends to help and it definitely did in this case. I’ve been reading a lot these last few weeks, and I thought it’d be fun to share some mini-reviews of a few of the YA books I’ve read lately.

Get cozy and let’s chat!

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Let’s Talk: What’s on my NetGalley TBR

Hi besties, happy Thursday! I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe 💜I thought it would be fun to go over what I’ve got on my NetGalley TBR!

This year I’ve been trying to be much more mindful when it comes to requesting ARCs — only requesting ARCs that I’m really excited about as opposed to just anything that sounds interesting, not letting arcs pile up, reading them in a timeline manner (well, mostly), etc, etc.

At the beginning of the year I was doing a really great job of getting through my ARCs. I read 5 ARCs in January alone and while I haven’t read that many in one month again, I have done a fairly good job of keeping my unread ARCs under control. As of now, I have 5 unread ARCs and I thought we’d chat a bit about why I’m excited to read them.

You know the drill — grab your favorite beverage, get comfy, and let’s chat about ARCs!

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ARC Review: Ghosted by Amanda Quain

Hattie Tilney isn’t a believer. Yes, she’s a senior at America’s most (allegedly) haunted high school, Northanger Abbey. But ever since her paranormal-loving dad passed away, she’s hung up her Ghostbusters suit, put away the EMF detectors and thermal cameras, and moved on. She has enough to worry about in the land of the living–like taking care of her younger brother, Liam, while their older sister spirals out and their mother, Northanger’s formidable headmistress, buries herself in her work. If Hattie just works hard enough and keeps that overachiever mask on tight through graduation, maybe her mom will finally notice her.

But the mask starts slipping when Hattie’s assigned to be an ambassador to Kit Morland, a golden retriever of a boy who’s transferred to Northanger on—what else—a ghost-hunting scholarship. The two are partnered up for an investigative project on the school’s paranormal activity, and Hattie quickly strikes a deal: Kit will present whatever ghostly evidence he can find to prove that campus is haunted, and Hattie will prove that it’s not. But as they explore the abandoned tunnels and foggy graveyards of Northanger, Hattie starts to realize that Kit might be the kind of person that makes her want to believe in something—and someone—for the first time.

With her signature wit and slow burn romance, Amanda Quain turns another Austen classic on its head in this sparkling retelling that proves sometimes the ghosts are just a metaphor after all. 

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Let’s Talk: Anticipated Releases for July – December 2023

Well, I blinked and suddenly we’re six months through the year. While that’s…overwhelmingly disturbing because really, where is the time going — it’s also exciting because there are so many book releases during the last six months of this year that I’m super excited about.

You know the drill, grab your comfort beverage, get comfy, and let’s talk new releases.

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Book Recs: Based on Your Favorite Song from “The Show” by Niall Horan

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope that you’re doing well. Summer camps started this week so my admin duties at work are off the charts (it’s been quite the week), and really, music is what’s getting me through at the moment! On the 9th, my forever fave Niall Horan released his third album The Show, and I absolutely LOVE it!

I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop and every single song is a total bop. Niall really just put out an absolutely stellar album, and I’m so proud but not at all shocked. 

Once Niall announced the album, I knew I wanted to do a book recs post for it, and that day is finally here! If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend turning on Niall’s album, and getting comfy with your favorite beverage as I recommend books based on songs from The Show.

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Let’s Talk: What I’m Reading This Week

Hello, hello, friends, I hope that you’re all doing well! I’m in that mood where I don’t really want to focus on one book, so I’m jumping back and forth between multiple books, so I thought I’d share a bit about some of the books that I’m reading this week!

Grab a cup of tea or whatever your favorite beverage is, get cozy, and let’s chat!

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Book Recs: Recommendations for fans of the CW’s Nancy Drew

Hello friends, happy June! June marks the beginning of summer camp for me, so it’ll be a busy month, but on the upside, season four of The CW’s Nancy Drew premiered last night, therefore I have something to look forward to every Wednesday night! Speaking of the premiere, my Dewds, how’re we feeling? I’m dead. I can’t get over the Nace scenes, I will be thinking about this for at least 15 business years. I fear I won’t be surviving this season. Now, back to the post…

We all know how much I love the Nancy Drew books, and I don’t think it comes as a shock that I love the show as much as I do. I love the inspiration that they took from the book series —- the easter eggs are so well done — and I love the ways that they’ve made the story and characters more modern. It hooked me right from the start, and my love for it continues to grow. I truly can’t remember the last show that I loved this much — we’re talking, thinking about it constantly, theorizing, counting down the days until the next episode, etc. The show was one of the only really positive things in my life during a very difficult 2021, and for that, I will always be grateful. 

I’ve also met some of the most amazing people through the fandom and the relationships that we’ve built because of this show are just so wonderful. Because the show is finally back (we’re not gonna talk about how it’s the last season), I thought it would be fun to share some book recs that I think fans of the CW’s Nancy Drew will enjoy!

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