The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates

The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 298

Publisher - Poisoned Pen Press

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

She's always watching...
When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?

The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.

But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…

A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.


My Review

Ooooh who doesn't love a haunted house and a mad obsessive ghost! So Guy is our main character, he is a bit of a whiney whoa is me type of dude. Whilst sorting stuff at his mums he finds out they have a property that has been abandoned for years, he figures he will go, do the diy it likely needs and then punt it, solving all his money worries and issues. What Guy doesn't know and isn't prepared for is Amy, the ghost that haunts the house, the spirit that did some untold evil and madness, who is obsessive and won't be letting Guy go anywhere.

It really is creepy, things slowly start to get creepy and then pulls you right in as Guy finds out that actually maybe he isn't alone and things are about to get really dodgy and scary, dun dun dun. The book is mostly set in present day with Guy but we did flip back to 1965 and with Thomas, the object of Amy's obsession and who lived in the house, the last people to live in the house before it was left empty for decades til Guy came into it.

I would have loved more of the past and heard about Amy, how the before/obsession really got going (we do get some details of it to be fair) and the aftermath of what happened to Amy. It would be good if the author decided to give them their own story because I reckon it would be popular even though we get the jist of it in this one, I think it has enough weight to carry it's own book, less spirt though cos it would have been when Amy was a human and creepy stalker.

Guy has a lot of issues, not the same level as Amy to be fair but yeah he is carrying a lot around him which makes me wonder if he is more susceptible to the haunting because of that or if Amy would have claimed anyone who lived in Rookward House. Some of the book gave me 1408 vibes (Stephen King book, John Cussack movie) and another couple of movies/books, creepy house, scary ghost well actually maybe she is a poltergeist. Creepy, scary, building up tension, perfect for an October spooky themed read, I think this was my first time reading this author, it won't be my last, 4/5.

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Burnt Cove by G Wayne Miller

Burnt Cove by G. Wayne Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 211

Publisher - Austin Macauley

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

When Rose O’Reilly White, a respected member of the small-town Deer Isle, Maine, community, died at age 97, she left many secrets, some monstrous and others magical, including her first love, a young woman who died in a tragic fire in 1942. This woman was her teacher; Rose was a teenager. Another secret was her later long involvement with an African-American woman. A third was her poisoning and killing a Catholic priest of many years ago after Rose learned he was a serial pedophile and wanted to prevent him from abusing other victims.

Rose’s husband, Bill, another respected member of the Deer Isle community, knew and accepted all this. But unlike others who die leaving secrets, Rose left a key to open them, and her filmmaker son Jack brings them to light as he sets out to produce a documentary of her life—an endeavor that reunites him with his first love, with whom he had a daughter unbeknownst to him until they are together again.

A novel unlike any other, Burnt Cove artfully blends horror, supernatural, dark fantasy, time travel, love, death, and mystical resurrection.



My Review

So for a thin book this one really packs a whole load of stuff, Rose O'Reilly White has died, she was close to 100 years old and a huge part of her community. The book is really Jack (Rose's son) writing about their family history and Rose of course is/was a huge part of that. Rose's stories (the book jumps about a bit) were tapes when she was alive and Jack has been working on the project of their life stories. Rose is a character and had many secrets. Jack is basically our main character and putting together the story so we are hearing things that Rose recorded/lived but also following Jack from finding out his mother died, going to the funeral and speaking to the people who knew her and going from there.

Like we start in June 2023 and end up March 2026 so there is a fair bit of jumping and considering it is only just over 200 odd pages we delve into a lot. Jack is a film producer, he is delving into his mum/family life as a project and as with many of us find out things about our family that leaves your jaw dropped.

I really liked the focus on his mums life and the secrets and things she did and why she did them but I feel it was cut a bit short. Like for me it was two splits, one being his mums life and the whole telling the story of the family/her and then after the funeral he finds something out about his own life which then takes us down a spiritual road. I do enjoy spiritual takes/ghosts but I felt the two read as really different stories and may have worked better as two different books. Like give Rose a whole book for herself, either following her life story from beginning to end and then give Jack his own story too with all the surprises and spiritualness that came about. Like, I liked it but I was just distracted and felt both stories could have had more time and pages because they are both good/interesting. I felt like we were just getting into it when Rose's story was left behind and we focused more on Jack. Overall 3.5/5 for me, this was my first time reading this author, I would read them again.

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The Witch's Kind by Louisa Morgan

The Witch's Kind by Louisa Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 440

Publisher - Orbit

Source - Present

Blurb from Goodreads

From the author of A Secret History of Witches comes an absorbing tale of love, sacrifice, family ties, and magic, set in the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of World War II.

Barrie Anne Blythe and her aunt Charlotte have always known that the other residents of their small coastal community find them peculiar -- two women living alone on the outskirts of town. It is the price of concealing their strange and dangerous family secret.

But two events threaten to upend their lives forever. The first is the arrival of a mysterious abandoned baby with a hint of power like their own. The second is the sudden reappearance of Barrie Anne's long-lost husband -- who is not quite the man she thought she married.

Together, Barrie Anne and Charlotte must decide how far they are willing to go to protect themselves -- and the child they think of as their own -- from suspicious neighbors, the government, and even their own family...



My Review

So, I think the first thing I need to say is whilst I enjoyed this and it was different, there was barely a sniff of witches and considering the title and bulk of the book, I expected witches. So the time is World War 2, Barrie Anne is living alone in the home her estranged husband bought them, he is MIA. She lives with her dog and her aunt Charlotte is really the only person she has. We learn her back story and her husband who essentially abandoned her during the war, he is a vile rat, there is gaslighting and DV when we hear about them. The witchery part I guess is when they talk about the gift their family has but it is more like premonitions but not really and kind centres around water but Barry Anne didn't have it but kinda maybe does but just a wee bit. You know lie the feeling your phone is going to ring or drawn to something or somewhere because you had a feeling or pull? A bit like that which is absolutely fine and all but just with the title etc I thought it would have but far more and indepth.

Anyway Barrie Anne finds a baby, well actually her dog does and she soon realises the baby is special and entrusts that secret to her aunt Charlotte and together the two will protect the wean with everything they have. I would say the book kinda hints at like aliens, government people, awol husband who is a gaslighting piece of absolute garbage of humanity. It is war time and back them marriage was marriage and women didn't have as much freedom or protections/autonomy as we do today so she put up with a lot. I was furious when he appeared again and just wanted to scream but remembering that back then women's hands were tied more than nowadays.

I LOVE the dog, I would have read so much more about the dog but alas it was just a wee side character. The book tackles a fair few topics, very loose witchness abilities, ?aliens defo some kind of unusual beings, I did get a wee bit of a changeling vibe but without any kid being stolen but that type of vibe, looks like us but not quite. Domestic violence/abuse, war, survival, marriage, friendship, unaccepted love/sexuality (again not huge central theme but touched upon) so it is a busy book and I did enjoy how it was written it was just so very different from what I was expecting it to be, 3/5.

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Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 220

Publisher - Harper

Source - 2nd hand

Blurb from Goodreads

The beautiful bronzed body of Arlena Stuart lay facedown on the beach. But strangely, there was no sun and she was not sunbathing... she had been strangled.

Ever since Arlena's arrival the air had been thick with sexual tension. Each of the guests had a motive to kill her. But Hercule Poirot suspects that this apparent 'crime of passion' conceals something much more evil.


My Review

This is only my 2nd book by Agatha Christie I absolutely need to bump more up my tbrm AND did you know this is actually a movie too? Martin (from work) told me so I absolutely need to check it out!

Poor Poirot, all he does is solves murders and when the guy goes on a wee break someone dies, murdered and there are a lot of suspects. Arlena is a women who outshines most others in any room, men are drawn to her like moths to a flame so when she is found strangled there is many a suspect.

Poirot does what he does best, investigates, clocks everything and takes us along with him. The thing I really liked about this was it absolutely gives me Murder She Wrote vibes but with Poirot instead of Jessica Fletcher.

We examine the relationships between the holiday goers, dynamics, the many women who hate or strongly disliked Arlena, the men involved with her and who had opportunity.

I rarely pick up on clues so listening to Poirot putting things together to get to his who done it, I LOVE that! This is quite far down the series so I really do need to go get the others, 4/5.

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The Lunatics by Navessa Allen

The Lunatics by Navessa Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 382

Publisher -

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Layla Fitzpatrick lives a simple life, for a werewolf. And that's just how she likes it. Her childhood was less than ideal. She'd like to spend her adult years flying under the radar of more powerful preternatural creatures. Because she knows from experience what happens when they notice you. Everything changes one early summer night when she attends a ritual bonding ceremony meant to join two werewolves together for life. Midway through, the spell becomes corrupted and she finds herself unexpectedly mated to the stuffiest shifter she's ever laid eyes on.

Michael Kolbeck is more man than wolf. He spends his days in a skyscraper, building his family's empire. At night, he prowls the streets of Boston, a city where shifters, witches, and vampires walk a delicate tightrope of ceasefire masquerading as peace. Little do they know that Layla's arrival will act as the spark that ignites the fire, and that thin veneer of peace is about to vanish.


My Review

Oooft imagine going to a ritual bonding ceremony to support your bestie and something goes wrong, bonding you to another werewolf, one you really don't like nor respect. The thing is, once you are bonded, that is it, you have no choice, you are essentially chained to each other in pretty much every way. Layla is all about friends, family and the freedom of being a werewolf, changing at will, running free, completely at one with who she is. Layla has an edge over most werewolves, she is superior, stronger and from a line of cream of the crop so to speak of werewolves. Michael, her bonded mate was there with his brother, again to support and not be a part of the ritual. Michael only changes when forced (by the moon of course), he is a business man and spends more time in human form, in the human world, all about business and more than a tad stuffy. His family, especially his mum is ruthless, appearances and power, she is ALL about the power and status. Needless to say Layla wasn't expected, wanted nor is she about to open her arms and family to welcome someone like Layla.

So there is some spice but the book actually focuses on the actual storyline, the werewolves, different tribes, vampires, witches and there is bad blood. There is a lot of territory disputes, fights for power, manipulation and murders which of course has a knock on effect.

I am so gutted there is only one book in this world, I have so so many questions, I would love to know more about the packs, the vampires, the witches. I want to know what is next for Layla and Michael because I feel like we are literally just getting started with them, this was written in 2019 :( I really hope she goes back to these.

A good starting book/foundation for building into this world, if this is one and done I will be disappointed because there is just so much left that we need to know. They say a good author leaves you wanting more, I absolutely am but don't want to be left hanging. The book goes at a decent pace, gives you characters you want to love or hate but defo invested in, more please!

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Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 355

Publisher -

Source - Wishlist rak

Blurb from Goodreads

Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.


My Review

Ha absolutely NOT for the faint hearted guys, duo viewpoint, his (Butcher) and hers (Blackbird), serial killers who come upon each other, they hunt other serials, and make a competitive game. As they hunt together and get to know each other they are drawn to each other, between karma, retribution there is spice, romance and murder galore!

So the idea of killers going after killers isn't new but this is a different spin, two deadly killers who go after others and then come upon each other and have a spark takes us on a different path. If you struggle with gore, body fluids, adult spice scenes you will struggle with this one. There are some very questionable scenes/circumstances and for me, I will struggle to look at ice cream in the same way again LMAO.

For me the book kind of fell into two main things, the whole serial killing/hunting/competition between the two and then their feelings for each other but approaching with caution cos obvs they are who they are. The other different thing is they have someone in their lives who actually know, love and accept who they are and what they do. I would have liked more exploration into that. There was a fair amount of their relationship, budding and then established, enter the body fluids and messy (and for me cringe) scenes but I know some folk loved it. I would have preferred more of how they found/tracked their targets or when they got their hands on them. We did get one episode that we spent a bit more time with them, that is the night of ice cream gate, BOAK.

I am sure this is a series and everybody seems to love it, a decent start for me so 3/5 for me for this one.

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Fire and Blood by George R R Martin

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 29 days (from re starting)

Pages - 737

Publisher -

Source - I think I bought it

Blurb from Goodreads

With all the fire and fury fans have come to expect from internationally bestselling author George R. R. Martin, this is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros.

Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why did it become so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What is the origin of Daenerys’s three dragon eggs? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire and Blood is the ultimate game of thrones, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.


My Review

You guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys. I started this in 2022! I knew the dragon badness was coming and I think that is what made me stop back then. I started re reading it for a fundraising charity book challenge, this month, 24.5 pages every day and I have finally finished it.

If you know Game Of Thrones you know what he is like, do not get attached to characters because noone is safe. This covers the history of the Targaryen's, from way before the families we come to know in House of the Dragon (tv show) and after.

Dragons, skullduggery, abuse, poison, murder, betrayal, lust, love, and the longing to rule the iron throne. It isn't an easy read, some of the most ghastly people, behaviours and betrayals ooft. Weans aren't even safe and some of the murders are beyond barbaric. Incest, in house marriages, public consummation of the marriages - war, people rising up, beautiful but deadly dragons.

There are so many characters told over lifetimes, it is really interesting and if you like Game of Thrones you will like reading the back history of the dragons and families but yeah just prepare yourself cos it gets hella dark, body parts cut off and displayed, wars, families wiped out, actual wild madness, 4/5 for me!

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