Title: Silent Key

Author: Laurel Hightower

Release date: October 10th, 2023

Huge thanks to Netgalley, Flame Tree Press and Laurel for an advanced digital copy of this one!

Look, I’ll say it right off the hop here – I’m a huge fan of Laurel’s work and I consider her one of the most solid folks in the writing community. I consider her a friend and as such, I love seeing friends succeed. With the acclaim of her debut and her recent novellas, her fan base grew exponentially, and when I saw this one announced I was so over the moon excited for her! Flame Tree Press! Another step up the ladder that is well deserved and well earned.

I couldn’t wait to dive in – pun intended.

What I liked: Much like ‘Whispers in the Dark,’ ‘Silent Key’ follows a single mom trying to navigate her new normal and keeping her child safe. From there, the story morphs into its own beast, but it was great to see Hightower return to that POV character to drive this one, as that’s 100% her bread and butter.

After her husband has died under mysterious circumstances, some things have come to light that have her questioning the depth of their love, while also revealing some truths that have followed her and her daughter. Coupled with her ‘adopted’ Russian brother, they flee to her deceased uncle’s ranch in Texas, where, much to her surprise, the supernatural elements follow and make things that much more difficult when all they want is to just get away.

As the novel progresses, Laurel continues to reveal different elements that add to the narrative (I’m not gonna expand on this to prevent spoilers) and lead us to the deep dark depths where the crux of the story takes place. We’re led to this moment, often unsure of what exactly is going on, but when we get there, it’s an AH-HA! of storylines coming together.

The ending is solid, closing things off really nicely and giving us a glimpse of what life will look like for those who remain topside.

What I didn’t like: I’m not totally sure if I am 100% sold on Dimi’s storyline and how things turn out. I mean, it all makes sense, I just don’t know if I personally liked it haha!

And, I will say, the first quarter does have some repetitive storyline aspects where it feels like we’re spinning our wheels once Cam, her daughter and Dimi arrive. It is needed, especially in the police procedural narrative, but there are moments where it doesn’t feel like you’re progressing forward.

Why you should buy this: Cam may very well be Hightower’s most developed and ‘real’ character she’s created. You want to root for her, you want to see her succeed and be happy and when things go bad you want to step up and be her backup. ‘Silent Key’ features a melding of several genres that Laurel’s wields deftly and confidently, ultimately giving us readers one of the more solid ‘paranormal-mystery-thrillers’ I’ve read in some time.

4/5

Title: Puzzle House

Author: Duncan Ralston

Release date: September 15, 2023

This meme, made from the viral video where the football player gave an interview and said that line, sums up this book perfectly for me.

A large part of it was my neglect at exploring more, going further, as well as simply ‘believing’ what Duncan had shared. Duncan and I message fairly regularly, and at one point he’d shared the synopsis and cover for this book. By all indications, I was under the assumption this was a singular release and it was a straightforward novel about a group of strangers in a ‘Saw’-type house, where they had to solve their way to survival.

For the most part, that is true, until about the half way point, when we learn way more about the ‘truth’ to who is behind the mystery within and we get a lot of occult/ancient deity involvement. And that, honestly, is where my reading brain started to hold back from the book.

What I liked: I should state first, though – thanks to Wicked House Publishing, Netgalley and the author for sending me a digital ARC of this one.

The novel begins just as I mentioned – we get some back story on an inmate and the world’s biggest female movie star, Joy, who are summoned to Joy’s ex-husbands home. Alexei has died and he’s decided to leave his staggering fortune to those who come. A group of six strangers, but with only Joy who knew Alexei before. Alexei made his fortune through creating complex puzzles and in order to receive their share of his fortune, they must solve the puzzles. Of course, this being a horror novel, we learn that they’ll need to not only solve the puzzles but that they’ll have to actually survive the puzzles as well.

Duncan does a solid job of setting up this premise, but also having us root for the two main characters, Joy and our prisoner. They play well off each other and as the book moves along, it was great to see them have a solid, platonic relationship without any hint of romance or potentially hooking up.

I really enjoyed each new puzzle room – up to a point, which I’ll discuss in a moment – and how they worked collaboratively together to solve it, even as each one becomes more extreme and more squirm inducing.

The first half of this novel had me hooked, but then it went in a very different direction, one I wished was a completely different book.

What I didn’t like: Briefly, before I get into the bread and butter of some stuff, I did find the extra characters, just that – extra characters. No connection, one dimensional and there simply to die in each room. But, the truth is, in a book like that, you need those characters. So, I didn’t mind that they weren’t as well defined or fleshed out.

I think for me, and minor spoilers here – so enter at your own risk – is I went in completely invested in a singular novel about people struggling to solve life-or-death escape rooms, and this was so much more. That so much more is a solid thing, a good thing in most cases (looking at you Ghostland trilogy), but I wasn’t invested in that when I started. I found the Book of Magic to feel out of place and the Infiniti Enterprises aspect should’ve been featured in a completely different book.

I went along for the ride, wanting to see who would survive and what would be left of them, but I was a bit frustrated when it went very ‘raising the dead’ and ‘the world you left isn’t the world you’ll return to.’ I was also expecting a solid, THE END, not a jarring finish with the dawning understanding that there would be another book.

Why you should buy this: Now, it may sound like I didn’t like this book, but honestly, I did. I liked each avenue separately, and I am invested now, wanting to see what tricks Alexei and Trent have in store for our survivor and what this strange new world has become. Saying that, I still do lament the fact that I didn’t get a straightforward Puzzle House story.

So, I’m splitting the difference. The first half, for me was a solid 5/5. The latter half a good 3/5.

Overall, this one was a 4/5 and a reminder that I shouldn’t always go in blind to books, as this reading brain will sometimes get far too stuck in its ways to loosen up and go with the flow!

Title: The Boy on the Bridge

Author: M.R. Carey

Release date: May 2, 2017

Way back when, almost a decade ago, in 2014, M.R. Carey released the phenomenal ‘The Girl With All the Gifts.’ Not long after it came out, I snagged a hardcover and devoured it from front to back, loving his take on the Zombie trope. This was also around the time zombie’s had risen to storm the lands and take over everything once again. The Walking Dead was in control of what people watched, with tens of millions tuning in each week. Zombies were everywhere and after reading this book and a few of The Walking Dead novels, I slowly began to tune out the zombie ‘fad.’ I just had enough. The Walking Dead was the same every week and because it was on AMC, it felt like a Lite production. Not as dirty or gross as the real world would be. No swearing. No excessive violence. Just tame.

When this novel, the ‘sequel’ to ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ came out in 2017, I paid it no mind. A few years back, I snagged it on a Kindle deal, thinking maybe one day I’d get to it, if the day came where I felt like dipping my toes back into a subgenre of horror that I’ve struggled to find engagement in over the last few years.

But, and I have no clue why, recently, this novel as been pulling at me. Maybe it’s seeing it slowly make its way up my TBR list. Maybe it’s been seeing more people posting about it recently on Bookstagram and Booktok. Or maybe my brain is subconsciously saying, ‘Hey, big fella, why not rediscover the joy zombie fiction brought you for all those years?’

No matter the reason, I dove in and returning to a world that I’ve not been in for many years felt not only refreshing, but a bit like a homecoming.

What I liked: A decade after the previous events, a small group of scientists and soldiers have been tasked with heading out of the safety of the city of Beacon in an armoured vehicle, searching for a potential cure of the zombie virus or any significant changes in the world.

Not long after we get a brief intro to those onboard, we soon learn that Dr. Samrina Khan (Rina) is pregnant and will most likely have to give birth in the vehicle named Rosie. She has an unlikely friendship with Stephen Greaves, a teenager with high functioning autism, whom the douchebag crew of soldiers have labelled ‘The Robot.’

As the story moves along, we get political upheaval, the discovery of a possibly second generation of ‘hungries’ as the zombies are called and all the while we follow along as Rina’s belly grows and her anxiety increases.

The tension ramps up when someone is bitten, but Greaves devises a way to subdue the infection, to which the question is raised – the moral and ethical debate over the ages – is it better to wipe out an entire species in the hopes of saving the human race.

It was kind of odd to read this one post ‘Covid,’ in the sense that this felt similar to those who were anti-vax were focused solely on doing what was best for themselves versus the larger population of people.

The ending was fantastic, a great blast of carnage and action, which led to a somber and melancholic send off of a few characters.

I will say, the epilogue was glorious and a closure fitting really well with the two book story arc that Carey had created.

What I didn’t like: While I knew there was a reason for the way Stephen was treated, it still didn’t make for an enjoyable feeling. I wished Carey would’ve had a few of the scientists stick up for him more often, considering that they’d understand the autistic aspects and would have the means to tell the soldiers to stuff it.

As well, I still felt detached from the parts where suspense was supposed to happen because of my struggle with zombie stuff. This was a great take on them and changed things up, but it took me a bit to feel ‘worried’ at any moment.

Why you should buy this: If you loved ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ but haven’t read this one, definitely get on it. The world Carey’s created is wonderful and the quest for humankind survival invigorating. If you’re looking for a 1-2 punch of zombie books, these two work so well together and really carry the emotions of ‘how do we go on from here’ throughout both stories.

Really well done.

5/5

Title: All We Want is Everything

Author: Andrew F. Sullivan

Release date: June 30th, 2013

After devouring Andrew’s novel, ‘The Marigold’ and his co-authored novel ‘The Handyman Method’ (with Nick Cutter), I had the fortune of actually meeting Andrew when I was out in Toronto this past May. It’s always great when you connect with someone and that connection continues in person and it was fantastic spending some time with him.

Also, after having read those two novels, I wanted to go back and read his previous output, which consists of this, his debut collection, as well as another novel (‘Waste,’ which came out back in 2016 and one I’ll be reading soon). Unfortunately, this collection isn’t currently available as a digital book on the Zon, where I’d have bought it and read it on my Kindle, BUT! Andrew fantastically shared on his Twitter account not long ago that the publisher was having a sale and the ebook was there! So, I grabbed it and got to it on the double.

What I liked: Much like ‘The Marigold,’ this group of stories is covered in grime and festering pond water. Nothing shines, everything feels dirty and you know that the good ones will die young. From top to bottom this one feels like you’re desperately hanging onto a rope, dangling from a cliff, as you watch the rope slowly fray and prepare to snap and send you plummeting to your death below. The cover should have a little fake sticker on it that says ‘Warning: No Hope In Sight.’

We start off with the ‘Good King,’ a story about Big Red, a labourer who ends up revisiting a particular Christmas from his youth. No good comes from that. This occurs while he attempts to save a coworker and we get a claustrophobic ‘A Christmas Story’ retelling where there are no good players and the reader will need a long shower after to clean the sorrow away.

From there, nothing gets warmer, there are no smiles on the character’s faces. Andrew can do more in a flash fiction piece than some authors can do in an entire novel, both in character development and in emotional damage. Take ‘God is a Place.’ Actually, scratch that. I wish I hadn’t read that story. It’s like reading ‘Red X’ from David Demchuk. It follows Caleb, who takes Twink’s baby while she’s at work and ruminates on how life will be better when they’re found in the morning. Heartbreaking.

‘Crows Eat Well’ is another masterful portrait of Canadiana, where a man returns home from prison to have ‘words’ with his father.

‘Towers’ comes at you like a precursor for ‘The Marigold,’ a story about a sinkhole, people living in the buildings and just what might actually be down below.

The story ‘Cloud’ is a unique take on dystopian, apocalyptic occurrence where birds arrive and invade a small town and two friends come up with a plan to take their homes back. This one walked the line of coming-of-age and can’t-trust-anyone themes.

‘Pumpkinheads’ felt like a small town diary, where Juan dies at the factory, and George forces his way into Anita’s life, Juan’s widow. It covers a lot of ground in a short page count.

Of all the stories, I think my favorite was ‘In A Car In A River Outside Peoria, Illinois.’ To sum it up in a single line, this is about a man at the end of his life. But it’s so much more. It’s shame, regret, gaslighting, acceptance, fear of the unknown and understanding. And it all happens as the water slowly fills up the inside of the car. Wonderful story even if the subject matter is very far from that adjective.

What I didn’t like: Like all short story collections, some just didn’t connect. Each story had an energy, a pulse to it and some shared the same wavelength as my reading brain did while reading it and some didn’t.

Why you should buy this: If you liked ‘The Marigold’ or ‘The Handyman Method’ you’ll definitely want to dive into this collection. A solid cross-section of everyday people struggling with the ramifications of the decisions they’ve made and where they’ve ended up because of it. Sullivan’s managed to create characters you immediately know, situations you understand and in each story, an ending that will have you catching your breath.

Truly, a solid solid collection.

4/5

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Title: What Doesn’t Kill You

Author: Ken Brosky

Release date: September 5, 2023

Huge thanks to Ken for sending me an Advanced Copy of this one!

From the get go, this synopsis had me intrigued. An imminent blizzard. A small town under siege. Something wandered within the snow.

Literally, sign me up for every creature-feature ever, set in a small town and a blizzard.

Diving in, I wanted to see what personal spin Brosky was going to add to this, what his own unique take would be and I was pleasantly surprised to find the layers he’d created had me in his clutches from the first page.

What I liked: The story takes place in the small town of Seven Sisters. Val and Danny have lived their entire lives in the small town. Everything is going ok. There’s some drama, but nothing they can’t handle. That is, until a former resident returns, a snow storm arrives and all hell breaks loose.

Brosky does a great job of intertwining the main narrative with the subplots, of showing the small town ‘Butterfly Effect,’ where when one thing happens, the ripple effect of other occurrences takes place. We see how the discovery of one body throws everyone into panic mode and how everyone is suddenly on edge and a suspect.

As the night goes on and more carnage ensues, we see the survival aspect of some kick in, even as what’s been brought to town begins to take over and change those affected.

The ending was a blast, tons of ripping and shredding and tied up things really well.

What I didn’t like: For whatever reason, I simply didn’t connect with a single character. Don’t get me wrong, none of them felt flat or un-developed or anything, I simply just didn’t connect and didn’t care about any of them throughout. This made for no emotional impact of any deaths on my end. The usual beats that should’ve made for the highs and lows just weren’t there, and honestly, I have no idea why.

Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a fast-paced, snow-bound, creature-feature where total chaos is the main item on the chef’s menu, look no further. Brosky really created a fun, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, one I think a lot of readers will really enjoy!

3.5/5

Title: The Morass: Servant of the Fly God

Author: Zachary Ashford

Release Date: July 14th, 2023

I’ve long been a huge fan of Zachary Ashford’s unique brand of Outback-Creature-Feature horror. Whether it be brutal Drop Bears in his Sole Survivor double bill, massive crocs in The Encampment by the Gorge or ‘odd’ roaming reptilian beasties in When the Cicadas Stop Singing, Ashford brings us strong characters, amazing locations and so much bloody gore its fantastic.

With this one, things are a little bit different, in that the cover reveals EXACTLY what’s in store. That THING is waiting, somewhere in the Australian Outback and this ready was gleefully rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

What I liked: The story opens with us getting a solid look at the bad guy, the one doing the creatures bidding. He is searching for ‘the one,’ the specific woman needed for the specific purpose of the creature.

From there, we’re introduced to Katy and Kip. Katy is travelling across the country seeking subjects for her book on those who live far from the cities of Australia. Kip, meanwhile, is about to fulfill his dreams. He’s heading to the city, about to take over as guitarist for his favorite band in the hopes of becoming a huge rock star. They meet up when Kip spots Katy hitchhiking. There’s a storm coming, the sky is about to dump huge amounts of rain and Katy accepts the ride on Kip’s motorbike.

Ashford takes his time setting the stage, and as the rain begins to fall, the three main characters of the book randomly meet up at a road side gas station/food spot and an argument ensues.

After that, it’s all about survival. Katy and Kip have been deemed ‘chosen’ and the creature in the swamp is ready to begin what needs to be done.

With a pair of cops hot on the case, all hell breaks loose and the final quarter of the book is filled with so much blood, gore, ripping and slashing and pulsing. It is just great fun and will make fans of extreme horror giddy with what happens.

The ending is very solid, exactly what you’d expect from the events leading up to it and does leave the door tantalizingly open for another entry.

What I didn’t like:  While the main story and content itself was great, I was constantly thrown for a loop from the sheer volume of Aussie slang and references. Alan Baxter’s The Roo had a fantastic slang translation feature in the back of that one, and I think this one would’ve benefitted from that. I’m decently versed in British/Aussie slang – both from friends and ingesting a large quantity of books/movies/TV shows – but there was a significant amount of it where I still had to pause, get my phone and Google it.

Same with a few references to notorious Outback killers. I’ve watched Wolf Creek, but I couldn’t tell you who the real guy was it was based on. When a few of these people were mentioned, I had to search as there was no expansion on whom they had been.

Why you should buy this: From start to finish, this one rips along and the narrative that weaves between the three subplots throughout was a lot of fun. Survival stories are always solid, always a good time and Ashford attacked this one with plenty of gleeful carnage and creature chaos!

4/5

Title: Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077

Author: Craig Davidson

Release date: May 17th, 2016

Connectivity.

It’s an interesting idea, isn’t it.

Lately, I’m discovering that the Canadian Literary World is almost its own game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. For those unaware of what that is, it is a suggestion that no matter what actor or actress you randomly choose, within six movies, they’ll somehow be connected back to Kevin Bacon.

Case in point for me with Craig Davidson is this – in 2015, I purchased two books at Walmart – Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Demonologist’ and Nick Cutter’s ‘The Troop.’ For those who don’t know, Nick Cutter is a pseudonym for Craig Davidson. As it turns out, Andrew and Craig are great friends, and, in May when I went to Toronto for The Demonologist celebration, Craig kindly attended and in a bit of surrealness, at the get together after, I was honored to be able and sit and talk to Craig and we had an honest-to-goodness heart to heart as though the two of us were life-long friends.

Now, oddly, I could’ve sworn I’d previously read Craig’s memoir, ‘Precious Cargo.’ The reason for that, was I felt a connectivity to the book because of two things – the first was that Craig wrote about the year he spent in Calgary driving a special needs bus for high schoolers. May seem a stretch to some, but when I first heard about this book, I was living in Calgary. The second reason, was that back in my Selkirk College days, I spent two school years ‘training’ a special needs student in weightlifting. I use the ” around training simply because we ended up spending far more time playing table tennis than lifting weights – though we did get in the weight room and he was a strong guy for being mid-50’s – and I spent a lot of time listening to him tell me that the muscle twitches he would get in his forearms were actually implanted alien chips that would signal to the mother ship whenever he was playing table tennis, as that was their intergalactic sport of choice.

When I met Craig, it struck me that I needed to go back and re-read this, but as it turned out, I don’t believe I ever did read the book, so I got to experience it for the first time instead of all over again.

What I liked: The memoir opens with Craig giving us an introspective look at where he was, at that point, in his life. He’d thought he’d made it. He was going to have a novel come out, had an agent, the bucks would roll in and hello world, Craig Davidson is being recognized on every street corner.

Insert sound of record scratching.

Things didn’t go according to that plan. Instead, he found himself with a failed novel at launch, minimal money in his bank account, a beat up car and nobody willing to hire him. So, he got himself hired. He saw an ad where the Calgary School District was looking for bus drivers – NO TRAINING NEEDED! – and bingo, bango, bongo Craig aced basic training.

It’s from there that we get a sugary-sweet look at the relationships Craig developed over that time with the kids who rode his bus. Each one was unique, had their own special needs, but, as Craig phenomenally illustrates, were just kids looking to connect, to make friends and have that ‘normal’ kid childhood.

The majority of the time, the story focuses on Craig’s budding relationship with Jake, a youngster with cerebral palsy, confined to a wheelchair, and living in the aftermath of his mother dying from an unfortunate accident where she was struck by a drunk driver while going for a walk. But the truth is, Craig could’ve focused on any of the kids and this memoir would’ve hit all the high notes. The reason he focused on Jake, was because he developed a relationship with him outside of the bus. They became pals. They played board games together, Craig visited his house often, they went to movies, and as the book progresses, you come to understand that Jake needed Craig’s friendship just as much as Craig needed Jake’s.

It’s a powerful ‘sub-plot,’ which feels odd to categorize it as that, considering it was real life.

And such happens in real life, Craig also focuses on the lows, as much as the highs. On the bus being vandalized. On the looks the bus gets and the way those who won’t take the time to understand these kids treat them.

It was a phenomenal reminder that we are all humans. We all want respect and we are all different in our own ways.

Craig also intersperses the biography aspect with parts of ‘The Seekers,’ an unpublished novel that he wrote during that year. A year where – at first – he believed his time as a writer was all wrapped up and done. But through the connection and new found outlook on life, through those hours driving the bus each day, Craig began to write again, and the kids and their quirks saved an author.

What I didn’t like: I’m not ashamed to admit I shed a number of tears reading this. The ending had me practically bawling, doing my best not to wake my son who was asleep beside me in bed. But the one thing I found, when this was over, was I wished we would’ve had a bit more closure on the Craig-Jake friendship. Of course, it was real life and when summer arrives, plans are made and families flee to all sides of the country or even around the globe. But I simply can’t believe that the last day of school was the last visit Craig and Jake had. I guess we’ll never know.

Why you should buy this: As writers, we go through very high highs and very low lows. Each and everyday we’ll have wins, losses and break evens. This memoir was a powerful (I know I’ve used that word a few times but it’s the only accurate word here) reminder that things can always be worse. That sometimes, in an isolatory endeavour like writing, we need connection to get past the darkness before the dawn, and Craig absolutely nailed how he was pulled forth from the clutches of ‘giving up,’ and was reborn and reinvigorated to return to writing. And us, as readers, are all the more lucky for that.

This is a heartfelt, emotion-layered memoir that showcases the best of us and how at the heart of it all, we’re all kids. We all want to smile, laugh, have friends and enjoy all that life can offer us.

5/5

Title: Her Teeth, Like Waves

Author: Nikki R. Leigh

Release date: August 15th, 2023

Huge thanks to Robert P. Ottone and Spooky House Press for sending me a digital ARC of this one!

I was intrigued by this one right off the hop when I read the teaser synopsis in the email I was sent.

It’s funny, as I’ve typically not read a lot of ‘water/ocean’ based dark fiction, but over the last little bit I’ve enjoyed Ottone’s own ‘The Rise Trilogy,’ Daniel Kraus’ ‘Whalefall’ and Tim McGregor’s ‘Lure.’

So, when this one arrived, even though I am super swamped with review books, I thought Hell yeah, I’m fitting this in!

Described as novelette length, this ended up being a single sitting read and one that had me captivated from the very beginning.

What I liked: The story follows Kat, sister to Mitch, who hasn’t been heard from in a few days. This is unusual, especially with their bond as twins and united after their parents died while they were in their teens. Mitch has spent his life in the ocean, while Kat has steered away from it. But now, with him missing, she – accompanied by her girlfriend, Jules – travel to where he was living in the hopes of finding him.

Leigh does a great job of adding in back story, especially considering the short word count of this one, and you root for Kat to find Mitch almost immediately, especially as more of her history is shared and her fears of the water are revealed.

With such a short page count, we get to the heart of the action fairly quickly and the ending arrives with a blistering volume of carnage and blood. Based on what we were led to believe and what was suggested would happen, it fits well and we get a blistering finale.

What I didn’t like: There really is no resolution at the end. We get to it, things happen, the end arrives and that’s it. I think some expansion would’ve really helped with this ending and made it more impactful. We are shown how it ends, but based on the ‘why’ of the the reason Kat went in the first place, there’s no pay off.

As well, we do get a quick bit of back lore with the arrival of an odd character, but it flashes by too fast, we don’t get enough to really ramp up the tension.

Why you should buy this: This one was a ton of fun for what happens and a lot does happen, even in such a short read. Leigh grabs the reader quickly and holds them, which is a fantastic thing to happen when we’re not completely sure where we will end up, but the reader will want to know and that’s always a powerful thing.

4/5

Title: The Troll Book

Author: Michael Berenstain

Release date: January 1st, 1980

We found this at a local book sale for $1 and had no idea that Michael was the son of the Berenstain Bear creators and that he had taken over doing those books. We just got it because it looked cool, was a hardcover, and much like myself, my son, Auryn, loves all things mythical and strange. We’ve watched the Netflix movie ‘TROLL’ about two dozen times, each time loving the cinematography and the way the Troll is portrayed – CGI emotions working so well – and somehow I’ve become friends with Espen who wrote the screenplay, so I’ve been able to ask him a few questions regarding the inspiration for parts and so on.

Now, we got this book back in June or so, and it’s sat on our shelf for a bit as we’ve been reading The Dragon Master’s series and lately The Last Firehawk series, but recently, Auryn’s school friend went to Norway and got him a small Troll figure as a gift. I told Espen, and he let us know that we needed to name our Troll. So, in the quest to find a name, we pulled this book out and decided to read it.

What I liked: The book itself is exquisitely illustrated. Each and every page has an illustration – or multiple – that we found ourselves spending time on examining and enjoying. The text aspect goes through the history of Trolls and how they interact with humans and it has a bit on the Hidden Folk and how Trolls live together with them in the forests.

Historically, this had some really great spots and even alluded to The Troll Mountain and Dovregrubben, whom is the who the Troll in the movie Troll is based on. We Googled a few things while reading and loved how vivid Berenstain brought this world to life.

The last portion of the book is dedicated to life in the Troll King’s Kingdom, and what it looks like within the Kingdom itself. The setting is on the cover of the book and we get to investigate each compartment and what the day to day life of the Troll looks like.

What I didn’t like: If this was a book released to be a kid’s book, it does get pretty dark in some places. If this was supposed to be more for young adults or adults, it is a bit short and doesn’t go as dark as it maybe should’ve? It’s kind of a catch-22 in this case.

Why you should buy this: If you can find a copy of this – and it won’t break the bank – definitely grab it. The illustrations are wonderful, bringing about a sense of Kittelsen through Berenstain’s eyes and brought me back to the books I used to love flipping through over and over as a kid.

It covers a good amount of ground in only 60-ish pages and does do a really solid job of sharing the mythology of the Troll.

5/5

Title: The Grimmer

Author: Naben Ruthnum

Release date: September 26th, 2023

First, huge thanks to Naben and ECW Press for sending me a digital ARC!

Life’s funny isn’t it?

A few years back, I connected with Brennan Storr, author and podcast host. After we got chatting, we discovered that we grew up only ninety minutes apart from each other. He in Revelstoke, BC, myself in Burton, BC.

Fast forward to early last year, and I connected with Naben via Twitter and soon after read and reviewed his phenomenal novella, ‘Helpmeet.’ Recently, Naben had posted about looking for YA reviewers for his upcoming release and I reached out. YA isn’t my go-to category, and by no means am I an expert or authority on YA works, but what I do know is that YA should make me feel emotions. It should make me feel attachments and nostalgia and move me in ways some dark fiction may not.

It wasn’t until after reading this novel that I did some brief Googling, and discovered that, oddly, Naben grew up (I’m honestly not sure for how long) in Kelowna and lived in Vancouver where he started an Indie Rock band. Here we were, another random connection, where he’d grown up on the other end of the Monashee from me, and, with this book being set in 1996, the main character, Vish, is fifteen, the same age I was in 1996. It all connected then. Much like my recently released memoir was a cathartic experience, I could feel how much of this novel was based on Naben’s youth, and those days cavorting around Pandosy during the Halcyon days at the end of the 90’s. The only annoying part of the ARC was there was no afterword, so I’ll be curious to see if Naben adds anything about the writing of this novel.

What I liked: As mentioned, the story follows fifteen-year-old, Vish, who has returned to Kelowna, BC. For the last two years, he’d been cast away to a private school on Vancouver Island, as his father grappled with addiction and his mom wanted him far away from how his father was. To make matters more awkward (or worse), Vish is a visible minority, one of the few darker skinned people in the town. He’s isolated himself from his two best friends (Danny and Matt) and just wants to focus on reading and listening to metal music.

Naben infuses – what I can only assume – are a lot of the real moments and feelings he had from back in those days. Growing up, Kelowna was the ‘big city’ for us, a place three hours away that had everything – malls, concerts, celebrities – all the trappings of a big city that had this small-town boy’s eyes wide during every visit. But, it was also an overwhelming place to visit. There was A LOT of buildings, A LOT of people and I could only imagine what it would’ve been like to return to a place where you’re different because of your skin color, but also different because your dad had an addiction that everyone knew about.

From here, Vish seemingly at random, becomes a key player in a battle of good-versus-evil (even if we learn there’s no such thing as random in these battles) and meets Gisela and Agastya. Agastya owns the book store that Vish loves and soon finds out he is also grieving for the loss of his significant other.

But that’s minor in comparison to the reality that an ancient evil is attempting to bring forth horrible people through a portal, into Kelowna, where the town – and then the world – will be devoured. Vish’s participation is vital to this, but it’s offset by the family aspects he’s struggling with. As well as his reluctance to start up his friendship with his best friends again, even if he misses playing music with them. The theme of isolation and feeling lost are predominant throughout, and again, it feels that much ‘more’ because it seems clear that Naben has infused so much of his own life into this story.

Now, while a lot of this novel is focused on Vish, we also get some really amazing character building with Gisela – her past, her struggles and how she survives now, in a time far removed from her origins, with Agastya, his battles, hints at who he is and ultimately how his hurt controls so much of his heart.

We get an ‘ultimate battle’ where we see how Gisela’s magical abilities are put to the test, some sacrifice all and how good comes together to fight against the growing evil. We even get a hint towards the Ogopogo-lore and a subtle nod to a follow up in the future.

Throughout, this novel spoke to me as a reader, in a way few novels do. It connected with that small-town, BC kid, that one that lived near that place during that time and it made me think of some of the memories I have of visiting Kelowna over the years of my youth. It felt like I was there beside Vish and fighting with him, to save his family, his friends and his future.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, I wish there had been more time spent on the socioeconomic aspects of Vish and his family, as well as the reduced multicultural aspects of that time period. It is clear Vish’s family is well off – his father is a therapist, his mom is now a major realtor in the area and he was sent to a private school hundreds of kilometers away. On top of that, he is a minority. So, I would’ve been interested in seeing how some other kids might’ve treated him and if that did effect his relationships with Matt and Danny at all. It might not’ve in the least, which is why Naben minimized it to a degree, but I think it could’ve heightened Vish’s internal struggle regarding where he fit and how he was received.

Why you should buy this: Outside of the magic aspect and the battle versus good and evil, this reads closer to a contemporary drama, with a very heartfelt look at growing up different, trying to fit in and how a kid struggles to fit in after some time away. All small towns are cliquey and having left for a few years, that could make it even harder for Vish to return and find his place. Naben does a wonderful job of highlighting those aspects while also giving us hope. Hope that we can do anything we want, especially when we team up with those we love and when we want to save those we love the most.

This was really well done, a gem of a novel that ticked every box off that I was looking for when I dove into this and shows the scope and talent Naben has as a writer. Very few could pull off such a vastly different 1-2 release of ‘Helpmeet’ and ‘The Grimmer’ and pull it off so masterfully.

5/5