noellesmagicallibrary's reviews
322 reviews

Told in vignettes from the prospective of Korede, My Sister the Serial Killer is about, you guessed it, her younger sister Ayoola, who is indeed a serial killer. This didn’t end up being what I expected from the title/cover but I still really like it.

The writing style made the story move very quickly. It was dark yet extremely funny. 

If I could, I would give this book 100 stars. Honestly, I want to go right back to the beginning and start it again. Specifically in audio form — these narrators nailed it. 

Amina al-Sirafi is the protagonist I have needed in my life! Adventure, fantasy, and friendship without a love interest overshadowing the story. I started this book thinking it was a stand-alone and now I am over the moon that there will be more. 

The ending! Oh my goodness. I gasped and clutches my chest and stayed that way when

Jamal told us who he is. That piece of the story was so well done.

 

I need more stories about middle-age female pirates who are also moms. This is my vibe. 

So that was creepy. 

Moral of the story is never let a stranger into your home. Period. 

Eve and Charlie are house flippers and their newest project is a very secluded, very old house in the mountains. One night shortly after the move, a family rings the bell asking to come in for a few minutes. The father of the family grew up in this house and he just wants a chance to show his kids— 15 minutes, tops. Ever the anxious people-pleaser, Eve agrees. Then the youngest kid goes missing and a horrible snow storm is approaching. 

I love love love the vibes of this book. I was scared to read it after dark. The idea is so scary and intriguing

there’s a malevolent entity that enters your life and completely distorts your reality to the point where “you” no longer exist. It’s fantastic and scary to think about it actually happening. I really love the scenery of the basement with the random hallways and rooms. At some moments it felt like there was going to be some time traveling as well and I think that would have been so cool

. But as much as I loved it, I’m still left with a few questions

I want to know more about that cabin and who lived in there, also that little girl in the woods

There is a secret society at Essex Academy boarding school. It's called Society of Seven Eyes (SoSE) and the members are dedicated to exploring the school. They don't damage and they don't steal. But they do enter/break into lost and forbidden areas of the school with the goal of unearthing secrets that will be passed down through the generations. This society has a very deep and very dark influence, and it's the place where Cal Ware feels most at home. He's a sophomore transfer from Mississippi hoping to reinvent himself. 

Those first few pages had me hooked! 
I love the dark academia vibe and the secret society on campus. A club that teaches you how to sneak into buildings so you can explore? Yeah, that sounds really cool to me. This whole story was a wild ride, sometimes to the point of edging on ridiculous, but I still enjoyed the entire thing. 
Unfortunately Luke and Pinky were not my favorites and they both played large roles in the story. 

Can we talk about that ending? Did I miss something? How did

Luke end up losing his arm?! Did he get lost in the tunnels and injure himself so badly that he needed the amputation? I was seriously very confused when I read that part

*Because I was reading an eARC, the formatting was very very off. It made for a difficult reading experience. There were many instances when I had to reread pages to figure out what was happening, and I do think this was due to the formatting and not a fault of the author. 

So apparently there are a bunch of childhood stories that I haven’t read and that is a bit embarrassing. Part of the fun was trying to figure out the source material. This is a great collection of short stories, I don’t think there’s a bad one in the bunch! But there are some I liked better than others. My favorites are the ones based on The Lorax, Cat in the Hat, and Alice in Wonderland. 

What happens after Dorothy returns to Kansas? She comes back from Oz saying she didn't mean to kill the witch. How was she to know that water would melt her?! At first the town just thinks she's insane but after a local woman, known as "the witch", is found dead in her home, Dorothy's story becomes the ramblings of a murderer.

I'm slightly biased here because I will probably love any story related to The Wizard Oz -- it's one of my childhood favorites.  I liked this dark take on Dorothy's life after Oz. It makes total sense that a small God-fearing town would claim she's insane and send her off to an asylum. There's an alternating POV between the collective town perspective and the psychologist that I think worked well to propel the story forward. The structure of this book reminded me a bit of Dracula, probably because of the use of letter writing to tell the tale.
If you're a fan of Oz, you'll want to read After Oz.

I was given an advanced copy for review, all thoughts are entirely my own. Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity

I flew through this book. The audio was easy to listen to and I liked the mixed media aspect. I think it would work equally well in print. My favorites were the magazine quizzes (I used to love those quizzes. Are they still a thing??) The layout is genius how the sections are broken up like the parts of a song.
I’m a millennial. I grew up admiring Britney, Mandy and Jessica, daydreaming over The Backstreet Boys — the story felt relatable from a fan perspective. It also read like a factionalized version of a pop stars memoir ( I loved Jessica Simpson’s book). 
I know this is asking for too much, but for the audiobook I would have liked to have actual singing for the song lyrics instead of reading it like a monotone poem. 

It’s a story about music and fame but also love and friendship. Amber Young has always dreamt of becoming a famous singer. She gets the chance to join an up and coming girl group and becomes friends with Gwen, another young singer who is destined to make it big. Once Gwen leaves the group, Amber decides she wants to do the same. Honey is essentially Amber’s memoir with the majority of the story taking place from 1997-2003. 

Incredibly sweet. These characters are lovable, even all the ghosts. Muffin is a stand-out star and I’m so glad she kept appearing through out. 
The relationship between Dorian and Brody gave me the warm fuzzies. Dorian is a loyal, kind, and selfless person and I wish he had taken more time to care for himself and his own needs sooner.
I also really loved the depiction of Morrigan at the end. But honestly, a graphic novel about ghosts was going to be a big hit for me no matter what.

All ghosts are stuck on Earth because the key to death's door has been stolen. It wasn’t intentional, but little Lucy was scared of the three-eyed beastie she glimpsed behind that door. As a ghost therapist, Dorian’s job is to help the deceased work through the issues that are keeping them from resting and removing the rot of fear and regret that frequently infests their non corporal bodies. He takes a quick likening to Lucy, partly because she reminds him of his sister, and does his best to help her cure her rot and return the key.
Things in town have gotten even worse for these ghosts though because the exorcists are ‘killing’ the spirits with toxic gas and the doctor of the apothecary has formulated a new mixture that will prevent ghosts when entering a home. 


I had the opportunity to read a digital early release copy and I would love to see the final copy in print. The images on my screen were just a tad blurry but I love the design. It reminded me of a Disney movie.

Gooseberry is more than a story about a dog. This is about being young and queer, and all the ways it can be difficult but also wonderful. While not reflective of any of my own experiences (expect trying to train a dog) I imagine that many young readers will see themselves in this book. I love that this story exists for all of them. 

On a personal note, I don’t have anyone in my life who uses pronouns other than she/he/they. Listening to this audiobook felt like a learning experience through repeated exposure. That’s one of the coolest things about reading, you get to learn about people/places/things outside of your own lived experience.

Meet our main character B. They are living with some not-so-great foster parents at the start of the story. They are nonbinary and have some traits that suggest they are autistic, and probably definitely anxiety. A lot of anxiety. These foster parents basically force B to go to a block party that they have no interest in attending. But in the end, it’s kind of a good thing they went because they ran into the best dog ever, Gooseberry. Although the fosters are complete buttheads, lucky for B they decide they aren’t a good fit. Shortly after, B goes to live with a new couple, Jodie and Wisteria! With the help of some amazing school friends and their new fosters, they learn how to thrive. Oh, and of course, Gooseberry gets adopted by B and their moms.

I loved loved loved the parallel between B and Gooseberry’s lives. This story somehow made me incredibly sad and happy the entire time.

Unrelated to the book but definitely related to this review— I just read Robin Gow’s bio on fae’s website and omg he’s amazing! I immediately signed up for their newsletter.

This book is giving OG Goosebumps! I had so much fun reading Shark Night even though it’s completely ridiculous and a little  predictable. I was having memories of reading one of my favs, Horrorland  

Liam’s mom has an idea for a new show that will be aired on The Danger Channel during their equivalent of Shark Week — a child is going to swim in a tank with a shark. The actor/athlete who was signed to the job gets injured the morning of the shoot so Liam is forced to take his place. Everything instantly goes wrong. Instead of an old hammerhead with no teeth, they released a bull shark into the tank! And then it gets worse from there

the tank breaks and Liam is swept out to sea. He’s picked up by a couple of quasi-fishermen who are also trying to film a shark special. They want Liam to act as shark bait. He gets away and washes up on the shore of an island, finds his sister and starts looking for their mom. On this island is a relaxing resort, no phones or WiFi in sight. Security is after them because they obviously don’t belong and long story short they escape with help from the kid who was supposed to be in the tank. Ok so this whole thing was orchestrated, even the sister was in on it!