Tag: paranormal

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Meaghan
The Tenth Girl Review Banner With 3 Star Rating

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Goodreads || B&N || Sara’s Twitter

Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.

One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.

3 STARS

Continue reading “The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring”

The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale

Meaghan

“Perhaps this was one of the things that had made her so different all along—that she saw the truth of things. That beauty could sometimes be ugly, and that you didn’t always find good and evil where you expected to—or where you’d been told to find them.”

The Beast is an Animal Cover.jpg

Goodreads || B&N || Peternelle’s Twitter

A girl with a secret talent must save her village from the encroaching darkness in this haunting and deeply satisfying tale.

Alys was seven when the soul eaters came to her village.

These soul eaters, twin sisters who were abandoned by their father and slowly morphed into something not quite human, devour human souls. Alys, and all the other children, were spared—and they were sent to live in a neighboring village. There the devout people created a strict world where good and evil are as fundamental as the nursery rhymes children sing. Fear of the soul eaters—and of the Beast they believe guides them—rule village life. But the Beast is not what they think it is. And neither is Alys.

Inside, Alys feels connected to the soul eaters, and maybe even to the Beast itself. As she grows from a child to a teenager, she longs for the freedom of the forest. And she has a gift she can tell no one, for fear they will call her a witch. When disaster strikes, Alys finds herself on a journey to heal herself and her world. A journey that will take her through the darkest parts of the forest, where danger threatens her from the outside—and from within her own heart and soul.

DISCLAIMER: I was gifted an ARC by a friend, and it is possible parts of my review do not line up with the finished copy.

4 STARS

Continue reading “The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale”

Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard

Meaghan

“For ever after, you will be glad you did what you wanted instead of what everyone else expected.”

Strange and Ever After Cover

Goodreads || B&N || Sooz’s Twitter

It has been a tumultuous time for Eleanor Fitt since life as she knew it in Philadelphia came to an abrupt end. Although the Spirit-Hunters—Joseph, Jie, and Daniel—have helped her survive, Eleanor has lost almost everything.

And now, Jie has been taken by the evil necromancer Marcus. Eleanor is determined not only to get Jie back but to finally end this nightmare. To do so, she must navigate the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt amid the rising Dead, her unresolved feelings for Daniel, and her volatile relationships with Joseph and with Oliver, her demon. But it won’t be easy. Because Allison, her friend from Philadelphia, has tagged along, becoming strangely entangled in Eleanor’s mission.

3.5 STARS

Continue reading “Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard”

A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

Meaghan

A Darkness Strange and Lovely Cover.jpg

Goodreads || B&N || Sooz’s Twitter

With her brother dead and her mother unwell, Eleanor Fitt is alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters—Joseph, Jie, and the handsome Daniel—have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor hears the vicious barking of hounds and sees haunting yellow eyes, she fears that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are after her.

To escape, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. But Oliver harbors a dangerous secret involving necromancy and black magic that entices Eleanor. If she can resist him, she’ll be fine. When she arrives in Paris, she finds a whole new evil lurking—forcing her to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.

In Paris, there’s a price for this darkness strange and lovely, and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.

3 STARS

Continue reading “A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard”

A Dawn Most Wicked by Susan Dennard

Meaghan

A Dawn Most Wicked Cover

Goodreads || B&N || Sooz’s Twitter

Daniel Sheridan is an engineer’s apprentice on a haunted Mississippi steamer known as the Sadie Queen. His best friend–the apprentice pilot, Cassidy Cochran–also happens to be the girl he’s pining for … and the captain’s daughter. But when it looks like the Sadie Queen might get taken off the river, Daniel and Cassidy have to do whatever they can to stop the ghosts that plague the ship.

Fortunately, there happens to be a Creole gentleman on board by the name of Joseph Boyer–and he just might be able to help them …

4 STARS

Continue reading “A Dawn Most Wicked by Susan Dennard”

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Meaghan

“Curiosity is a strong fire, and once ignited, it is not easily put out.”

Something Strange and Deadly Cover.jpg

Goodreads || B&N || Sooz’s Twitter

Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Fitt’s brother is missing. After discovering the Dead are rising and wreaking havoc in Philadelphia, she knows that her brother is involved.

So Eleanor enlists the help of the Spirit-Hunters. This motley crew, hired to protect the city from supernatural forces, is after the necromancer who has been reanimating corpses. Their skills can save her brother. Yet as Eleanor spends time with the Spirit-Hunters and their handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. Now not only is her reputation at risk, but her very life hangs in the balance.

3.5 STARS

Continue reading “Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard”

The Last Life of Prince Alastor by Alexandra Bracken

Meaghan

“A life lived by another’s book is no life at all.”

The Last Life of Prince Alastor Cover.jpg

Goodreads || B&N || Alex’s Twitter

Three hundred years ago, fate bound Prosper Redding and Prince Alastor of the Third Realm together. Now the human boy and fiend heir to the demon kingdom must put aside a centuries-old blood feud to save everything they love. 

Alastor will guide Prosper through the demon realm—under one huge condition: Prosper must enter into a contract with the malefactor residing in him, promising eternal servitude in the afterlife. With Prosper’s sister in the clutches of the evil queen Pyra, Prosper has no choice but to agree. 

But when they arrive in Alastor’s deliciously demonic home, the realm is almost as alien to Alastor as it is to Prosper—the lowest fiends have dethroned the ruling malefactors, while an unfathomable force called the Void is swiftly consuming the realm. The desperate fiends cling to the one person who says she can stop it: Pyra. 

As Prosper embarks on a perilous rescue mission to the Tower of No Return, he can’t help but feel for the demons losing their home—even Alastor, who lives by a set of rules that have vanished in a new world. 

With the fates of humans and demons at odds, the battle lines are drawn. Long ago, Prosper’s ancestor Honor Redding proved that humans and demons could never be friends. But is Prosper like his ancestor? And is Alastor the same demon who was betrayed by the one human he cared for?

4.5 STARS

Continue reading “The Last Life of Prince Alastor by Alexandra Bracken”

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Meaghan

“I would say it’s a pleasure to meet thee, Prosperity Oceanus Redding, but truly, I anticipate the delights of destroying thy happiness.”

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding Cover

Goodreads || B&N || Alex’s Twitter

Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history — that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper’s great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made — and then broke — a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, four-thousand-year-old Alastor isn’t exactly the forgiving type. 

The fiend has reawakened with one purpose — to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his future without a side of eternal servitude, thanks.

Little does Prosper know, the malefactor’s control over his body grows stronger with each passing night, and there’s a lot Alastor isn’t telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host.

4.5 STARS

Continue reading “The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken”

The Near Witch by VE Schwab

Meaghan

“There are no strangers in the town of Near.”

The Near Witch Cover

Goodreads || B&N || V’s Twitter

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

There are no strangers in the town of Near. 

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. 

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. 

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

3.5 STARS

Continue reading “The Near Witch by VE Schwab”

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Meaghan

“Our town was small enough that I never developed a healthy fear of strangers.”

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Cover.jpg

Goodreads || Amazon || April’s Twitter

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery… who makes you want to kiss back. 

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

2.5 STARS

Continue reading “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke”