Room 9 and Other Stories – REVIEW

Title: Room 9 and Other Stories

Series: N/A

Author: Amy Cross

Type: Short Stories

Genre: Horror/Supernatural/Paranormal

Format: eBook

Pages: 378

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blurb: A girl checks into a haunted motel room, determined to prove that ghosts exist. But what’s really waiting for her in the notorious room 9? A man meets an old friend who claims to be haunted by a figure from their past. But when that friend does, who will the ghost haunt next? A town struggles to face the horrors of its past. But no matter how hard the local people try to forget, the victim of a terrible crime is determined to avenge her own death. Room 9 and Other Stories contains the new short stories Room 9, The Ghost of Daniel Dowd and The Horror of Blackforke House, as well as revised versions of The Disappearance of Rose Hillard and The Fan.

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I choose this as part of my 3 month Kindle Unlimited subscription and also because I’m loving the format of short stories at the moment. An added bonus is that this book falls into one of my all-time favourite genres – horror, supernatural and paranormal. Although, the stories in this book lean more to the paranormal side than the horror.

I’ll split this book into individual stories as I have very different feelings about them all.

The Horror of Blackforke House (⭐⭐)- This should’ve/could’ve been a fantastic trope of a story. The standard, well-known, well-loved haunted house story. However, it left me wanting something to happen. It just ended without any satisfactory conclusion. This was definitely the worst in the bunch.

The Fan (⭐⭐⭐)- This was a middle of the road story for me in the book. It was worth a read but it felt like I’d seen/read this storyline so many times before in many different ways. The title is pretty self-explanatory, a celebrity and a fan have an encounter. Not much else happens that you wouldn’t expect in a book of this genre.

The Disappearance of Rose Hilland (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)- This story is what made the book worth reading. It made the book achieve a three-star rating. The Rose Hilland story is vile and has some disturbing moments but it builds up fantastically and brings about the thrilling conclusion in an amazing and actually quite surprising way. This is a five-star story on its own, and could easily have been published by itself if the author could make it longer.

Room 9 (⭐⭐⭐)- Hotel rooms and ghosts. Think 1408 (Stephen King) but nowhere near the same level. Still, given that it was much tamer than I expected, it was still a good story.

The Ghost of Daniel Dowd (⭐⭐)- This would be the second worst story in the book in my opinion. By the time I had finished reading the story after this one, I couldn’t even remember what had happened. Even now, I only have a brief recollection of a man and a ghost but that’s about as far as it goes.

Total Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (15 out of a possible 25)

I would recommend this particular book by Amy Cross. I have read a previous book by the same author, in the same format and it was rife with editing/typing errors. This book had a couple of really noticeable ones but nothing like I had seen prior to this book.

101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors – STORIES ON THE GO – Review

Title: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors – STORIES ON THE GO

Author: 101 Different Authors

Type: Fiction

Genre: Every genre imaginable

Format: eBook

Pages: 464

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned – Kindle eBook

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: This anthology aims to be a showcase of recent indie writing.
Hugh Howey launched the idea on Kboards, a forum for Kindle readers, but also the meeting place of an active community of indie writers.
The result is this anthology of 101 very short stories by 101 authors.
To make it more attractive for you, the reader, we set ourselves a limit of a thousand words. You should be able to read each story in under five minutes — on your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet at home or in the office, but also on your smartphone, on the go, while you are commuting or waiting at a coffee shop for your significant other to arrive.
We included as many genres as we could. We hope that maybe, with only five minutes of your time on the line that would otherwise be wasted anyway, you’ll be tempted to venture outside your comfort zone and try out some new genres and new authors.

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This review is going to be a little bit different due to the fact that there are 101 different stories by 101 different authors and all of the different genres. Instead of a full book review, I’m making small notes after each story and I will summarise what I thought. As the stories are limited to one thousand words or less, I will not be going into too much detail because it would be really easy to spoil the story for others.

As a whole, I’m giving the book 3/5 purely because, as with most story collections, there were some good ones and some bad ones. It did take me rather a long time to read, around 40 days, but it was manageable as the stories were five-minute reads, some of them even quicker.

There was a good chunk of the stories that I opted out of reading, this was either because of the genre (I can not read pure romance stories of any sort – they are not my thing) or because the story didn’t grab me within the first few lines.

One of the stories, I had already pre-judged before reading. This was called “The Witching Well” by Sarra Cannon. I did this because I am an avid fan of Cannon’s work so I figured I was going to love it. I was correct.

Stories I Liked (in no particular order)

Purple Passion by Lanette Curington
Buck Hunt by Livia Harper
Wild by Selina French
Choose Peas by Ellisa Barr
Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton
The Oak Tree – EelKat’s Twisted Tales by Wendy C. Allen a.k.a. EelKat
The Little Chill – A Three-Minute Mystery by Lindy Moone
Last Words by David J. Normoyle
Masked Attraction by Jamie Campbell
The Birds of Winter by Amelia Smith
Buttrock by Nicolas Wilson
Beyond by Keith Rowland
Embracing Sorrow by Ruth Nestvold
Mechanical Advantage by Quinn Richardson
Indy-San by Misti Wolanski
The Witch in the Woods by Nadia Nader
Death’s Door by R.M. Prioleau
Living Bride by Joel Ansel

Diary of a Mummy Misfit – Review

Title: Diary of a Mummy Misfit

Author: Amanda Egan

Type: Fiction

Theme: Diary/Episodal Inserts

Genre: Essentially Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit, but branches out into the Comedy/Humour section too

Format: eBook

Pages: 355

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned on Kindle

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Ever felt like you don’t belong?
When Libby Marchant and husband Ned made the monumental decision to sacrifice luxuries and holidays to see their only son Max through private education, they hadn’t expected to meet so many unsavoury and dislikeable personalities along the way.
Happily, the cruel jibes of the pompous ‘Meemies’ are made more tolerable by the lasting and loyal friendship they strike up with the affluent Fenella & Josh.
Follow Libby’s journey as she discovers the chasm between the Haves and the Have-Nots in her mad new world of school committees, designer handbags, bitching and botox.
With Fenella by her side, Libby is able to maintain her sanity. But what happens when the credit crunch bites, you’re desperate for another baby and your Asian neighbour is trying to match-make you with her infatuated son?

This book is COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone. I’ve never been one for books classed as “women’s fiction“, “chick lit” or even “comedy/humour” unless the theme/plot has been something that I really really love.

EVERY and I mean every school has “Meemies”. Granted they may not be on the same scale as the ones that poor Libby has to deal with, but they still exist.

The writing style is chatty and down to earth. It reads very similarly to a diary entry as you would expect given the title. I found myself wanting things to right for Libby, really hoping along with her. The entries in the diary were on a really personal level. I could relate to the main character, Libby, because she was a “normal” mum, just trying to do her best for her child.

I am definitely going to read the sequel as soon as I can.

Review: OldTimers

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Title: OldTimers

Author: Matthew Cash

Pages: 22

Genre: Horror

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Sandy thinks there’s something wrong with her resident’s new hearing aid. It’s picking up numbers that only he can detect.
Evil carer Lisa thinks he’s just an attention seeking senile old imbecile.
They’re counting down, but to what?

OldTimers is my second Cash book in two days (I enjoyed the first one that much I decided to read one of his other books as soon as I could).

First of all, I’d like to comment on something I didn’t mention in my previous Cash review – the covers. They are short stories and they are reasonably priced on Amazon UK so I don’t expect them to have overly fantastical covers but I do feel that they are on the basic side. A cover is generally the first reason I would even consider a book, so while that doesn’t reflect the story inside, I do think it is an important factor.

As with Slugs and Snails and Puppydogs Tails, this book is short. 22 pages in total, but again, Cash managed to set the scene, tell a story and come to a suitable conclusion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story but the ending was a surprise yet again. So on two separate occasions, Matthew Cash has managed to surprise me with the ending to a short story.

I would still recommend that you do not read this is you are squeamish.

Review: Slugs, Snails and Puppydogs Tails

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Title: Slugs and Snails and Puppydogs Tails

Author: Matthew Cash

Pages: 13

Genre: Horror

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Gerald loves creepy crawlies. He likes to catch and torture them. He’s caught something a lot bigger this time though.

I honestly don’t even remember downloading this book onto my kindle, it must have been one of the millions that I got as a free book. I was searching through my kindle library for all the books that I have paid for and came across this (and a few others by the same author). The first thing that stuck out was the length – thirteen pages, a whole thirteen pages of story – a small page number like this usually goes one of two ways: really good to really bad. The second thing and the reason that I decided I had to read it now, was that the cover said the story was “sick”.

I went into the story not knowing what kind of “sick” I was going to be reading. It could’ve been an ill kind of sick, a disgusting kind of sick or the kind of sick that the kids are all talking about these days. I was hoping for one particular kind of sick and it didn’t disappoint.

With it being such a short story, I daren’t say too much because I don’t want to give it away, but I will say that you really should read it. However, I will offer the following advice:
Do not read it if you are at all prudish/squeamish/easily offended etc
This book is not the faint hearted

Review: Horror at Halloween – Part One

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Title: Horror at Halloween – Part One

Author: John Gordon

Pages: 77

Genre: Horror

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: In his new hometown, British teenager Sam Jones discovers that a legendary backwoods bogeyman has risen from the grave to seek revenge against those who put him there

This book is the first part of a six book series. Each book is around a similar amount of pages and they follow a similar Halloween theme. From looking more into the series, it seems that each book follows a different main character and is written by a different author. I’m not sure how I feel about that but as I manage to read more of them I’m sure I’ll be able to form an opinion. I’ve just added the remaining five onto my wishlist on Goodreads though so that must say something about me wanting to continue on with the reading.

At only 77 pages this book was a quick read. I read it in two sittings (around half an hour each) and I actually liked how the story was written. There was enough detail to make the characters relatable and likeable without actually putting too many words in. Short stories seem to be one of my favourite things at the moment, I love a good book with a collection in.

I’d say it was written for a young adult, it had horror but not the kind you would expect in an adult book. This book is easily something I would recommend to a teenage horror fan.

Once Upon A Star: 14 SF-Inspired Faerie Tales (Once Upon Anthologies Book 4) – Review

Title: Once Upon A Star: 14 SF-Inspired Faerie Tales

Series: Once Upon Anthologies Book #4

Author(s): Sarra Cannon, Anthea Sharp, Alethea Kontis, Phaedra Weldon, Christine Pope, Nikki Jefford, Kasey MacKenzie, Shawntelle Madison, Alexia Purdy, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson, Jamie Ferguson, Evelyn Snow, Julia Crane and Kay McSpadden

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This book was given to me by Sarra Cannon, one of its featured authors (and one you will see pop up on my site quite a lot), in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Science Fiction stories are fairly new to me. I’m a gamer at heart and a reader by life so if the science fiction story has a game twist to it, I’m all in (Ready Player One I’m looking at you). I have been known to like other science fiction stories (Dark Matter by Blake Crouch is a good example to use here) but the majority of them just do not appeal to me.

I’m going to talk about the stories I really loved in this collection. This does not mean that the other stories were bad, just that the subject/topic/theme did not appeal to me. Each of the stories also appear to be based on a fairy tale, some blatantly obvious and others a little lesser known.

Let’s start with the one I was provided the book in return for the review:

Loxley by Sarra Cannon
I grew up in the UK. I have relatives in Nottingham and spent many a trip out to visit “The Home of Robin Hood”. I have recently also fallen in love with a certain super popular science fiction book where people live within a virtual realm (I’m pretty sure I don’t need to name drop). Gone are my days of teenage romance between vampires, give me the gaming heroes and heroines. I spend (way too much) time inside a wonderful gaming world you all might know as Minecraft and while not a fully immersive realm, it’s still pretty enchanting. Those are the reasons I went straight for Sarra’s story first. (I’m sure the others are fantastic too and I’ll review them over the next week).
Robin of Loxley does what Robin Hood was once rumoured to have done (recently news articles have been appearing saying that Robin Hood was stuff of legend – I’m not buying that). In a world so full of climate and political issues, it’s nice to read about someone doing what we all want to do – make a difference.
Sarra, please finish the rest of this story, I need more Ghost in my life.

The Cyrano Solution: A Gaian Consortium Story by Christine Pope
On a far away planet, the daughter of a wealthy business magnate always knew this day would come. The day when she was to marry.
I liked the way this story was written. I felt like I wanted to know more about the main character from the minute I started reading. I was incredibly intrigued to see what she thought of her husband. The suspense was killing me.
This story is a re-imagining of The Princess and The Frog.

Deadly Dance by Kasey Mackenzie
Miriana refused to marry an evil prince who took great delight in killing her each time she refused. Down to the final battle between good and evil, with eleven undead sisters and a forbidden lover, will Miriana win in the end?
So, here we have the Twelve Dancing Sisters and undead sisters. How much better can a futuristic story get? Honestly, I didn’t even think someone will be able to top this in short story form for me.
Love the undead? Check
Love princesses? Check
Love a good old good vs evil battle? Check
Then this is the story for you.

Candy House by Kay McSpadden
Hans and Greta have been surviving by living off the grid following the rise of the AI. That is until they read a very pleasant and friendly house.
If the names haven’t already given it away, this story is a re-imagining of Hansel & Gretel. I’m sure, secretly, almost all of us would love the idea of a candy house. One that could actually be eaten. In this story, Kay takes the idea one step further to fit in with the theme of the Rise of the AI (dun dun dun) and creates a house and candy that you wouldn’t want to leave.

5 stars

Some Possible Solutions Review

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What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through everybody’s skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers of you?

Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, the characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. In dystopias that are exaggerated versions of the world in which we live, these characters strive for intimacy and struggle to resolve their fraught relationships with each other, with themselves, and with their place in the natural world. We meet a wealthy woman who purchases a high-tech sex toy in the shape of a man, a rowdy, moody crew of college students who resolve the energy crisis, and orphaned twin sisters who work as futuristic strippers–and we see that no one is quite who they appear.

I borrowed this book through my local library app, Borrowbox. Recently I’ve developed a fondness for short story collections (providing the stories are within my preferred genres) and also an obsession to read books that have a similar vein to Black Mirror (the TV show). After reading the blurb (posted above, taken from Goodreads), I decided that this would be right up my alley.

I’ve never come across such a mixed bag of likeable stories in one book. Normally in a short story collection such as this, I would expect to like the majority of them and maybe only come across one or two that I wasn’t keen on. However, that wasn’t the case.

The best stories in this book, in my preferred order, are:
The Doppelgängers – A new mum finds that her entire town is filled with people exactly like her. I felt that I could relate to this one. I met a lot of new mums when I was also a new mum and although we weren’t identical in looks, our outward appearances and state of lives where eerily similar (the joys of night feeds and new babies).
The Knowers – A woman finds out the exact date of her death and has to live with that knowledge until the date in question. I didn’t relate to this one (I have no desire to know the date of my death) but I did like reading it. The story made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, in a weird-knowing-when-im-going-to-die kind of way.

As for the rest of the stories in the book, whilst some of them were better than others, they have left no lasting impression on me nor can I remember what they are about.

As for the main reason I picked up this book, the “Black Mirror” vibe, I definitely got that on some of the stories but not all of them.

2 stars (1)

The Fifth Doll Review – Charlie N. Holmberg

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Please excuse me while I gush for a while. I have not read a book that I was super impressed with straight away for quite a while.

I need to start by saying, this is the FOURTH book that I have read by Charlie N. Holmberg since the beginning of this year. I have my old favourites (Stephen King) and some newer favourites (Sarra Cannon, Karen Rose etc) but it seems that Holmberg is slowly working her way into my ranks.

I started off with the massively popular and well known, The Paper Magician series. Then, partly due to a 3 month cheap subscription to Kindle Unlimited, I read Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet – a stand alone story. The Fifth Doll is my latest Holmberg read (I really wish it was my fifth Holmberg book because that would have been apt but such is life).

Matrona lives in an isolated village, where her life is centred on pleasing her parents. She’s diligent in her chores and has agreed to marry a man of their choosing. But a visit to Slava, the local tradesman, threatens to upend her entire life.

Entering his empty house, Matrona discovers a strange collection of painted nesting dolls—one for every villager. Fascinated, she can’t resist the urge to open the doll with her father’s face. But when her father begins acting strangely, she realises Slava’s dolls are much more than they seem.

When he learns what she’s done, Slava seizes the opportunity to give Matrona stewardship over the dolls—whether she wants it or not. Forced to open one of her own dolls every three days, she falls deeper into the grim power of Slava’s creations. But nothing can prepare her for the profound secret hiding inside the fifth doll. (Taken from Goodreads.com)

Holmberg manages to bring you into the world right from the get go in this story. The characters are both relatable and likeable. The main character, Matrona, is easily believed to be defiant from the beginning of the story and what I thought was going to happen to her definitely did not. When you start reading, you will probably think the same as me but what actually happens is completely off the hook. If I tell you what I thought, it was take so much away from the story but if you are interested feel free to drop me a message on my contact page, facebook or on twitter.

So much of the story is surrounded by mystery that I found myself guessing the various outcomes (It’s a terrible habit but I just can’t help myself. I’m the one that usually figures out the twist in a film before it happens). I am happy to say that I didn’t guess the outcome of this one.

5/5 easily for this book.

5 stars

Joyland Review – Stephen King

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Stephen King wrote Joyland as part of the Hard Case Crime Series. You can check out their books here. The creators of the series ask well-known authors to write a stand alone read for them to release. The reason I chose to read this was because Stephen King is one of my all-time favourite authors and it was one of a few that I hadn’t managed to read yet.

It is a fantastic read, not necessarily what you would’ve expected from King but still a good book. It had an intriguing story, with enough mystery to keep you interested. After checking out the Hard Case Crime website, King is releasing another book into their line-up: The Colorado Kid. I’ve already read this book and loved it. One of my favourite TV shows is based off this book.

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

5/5

5 stars