Might As Well Be Dead by Mark Goldblatt REVIEW

 Summary:

Thirteen-year-old David Salmon is getting over his mom's sudden decision to pick up and leave. He seems to be adjusting fairly well, but then a strange thing happens. He meets a middle-aged Englishman named Winston outside his house.

David suspects that Winston may not be real, but he seems harmless enough, as hallucinations go, and the two of them become friends. If nothing else, Winston is a welcome distraction from the mess at home; David's dad cannot seem to cope with his wife's moving out.

Winston also proves a valuable advisor in navigating the trials of middle school, best friend problems and a budding romance. Eventually, however, Winston confesses the real reason he showed up: he needs David to deliver a message.

It's a journey David desperately doesn't want to make because it takes him somewhere he desperately doesn't want to go.

My Thoughts:

Wow. I did not expect this book to be what it was, but in a good way.

David is suffering the loss of his mother leaving them, and sometimes has to look after his father during this time. He meets what seems to be a ghost: Winston. While they get off on the wrong foot (David is Jewish and Winston makes some comments about that), they become friends.

At school, David meets and starts dating a girl named Minnie. Later on, they break up because David is very not ready for a relationship. His best friend is Hector, who later comes out as being gay. David accepts him the way he is, and even punches someone who made a homophobic comment.

I love the characters; Mark Goldblatt did such a good job of making you care about them despite being a smaller novel.

As for the message he has to deliver, we don't find out the message or location until towards the end of the book. All throughout, we find out that his mother likes the Beatles and used to play them a lot when he was young.

*SPOILERS*

The message David needs to deliver is to the singer. When David delivers the message, he breaks down, and we find out that his mother didn't just leave; she took her own life. He finally agrees to go to therapy, and the book ends with him at his mother's grave.

I really liked how such a heavy topic was handled so well, and younger readers might be able to start to understand these subjects in a slower pace.

My Rating: 5 stars

Just to See Hell by Chandler Morrison REVIEW

 My Thoughts:

This book is a compilation of short stories written by Chandler Morrison (one of my favorite authors). Short stories are always hit or miss, and this one is no exception. Some of them are very forgettable ("Satisfaction", "April Showers", "Mechanical Patriots"), others not forgettable, and one that really stood out to me personally. "Coming Down" is that story. It depicts Jesus coming to modern-day Earth without his powers. It turns out that Lucifer bet God that Jesus would cave to him without his powers or something like that. It was just so intriguing and interesting to read, and it has stuck to me since I have read it.

My Rating: 3 stars

Full Brutal by Kristopher Triana REVIEW

 Summary:

Kim White is a very popular cheerleader. She's pretty, healthy, and comes from a well-off family. She has everything a girl of sixteen is supposed to want. And she's sick to death of it.

In search of something to pull her out of her suicidal thoughts, she begrudgingly decides to lose her virginity, having heard it's a life-changing event. But Kim doesn't want to do it the same way her peers do. She seduces one of her teachers, hoping to ruin his life just for the fun of it. This starts Kim on a runaway train of sadism, and she makes every effort to destroy the lives of those around her. But soon simple backstabbing is not enough to keep her excited, and she nosedives into sabotage, violence, and even murder. 

When Kim finds out she's pregnant with her teacher's child, a new madness overtakes her, and she realizes there's only one thing that will satisfy her baby's hunger . . .

My Thoughts:

Wow. This was brutal (haha). Some parts I loved, some I didn't.

Kim is such an interesting character. We know from the jump that she has psychopathic traits, but it's just her thoughts. And then she dives further into madness. After she seduces the teacher, she makes a point to befriend his daughter, who she decided to teach for cheerleading tryouts. She finds herself discontent with just this, and Kim decides to ruin the daughter's life too.

Kim is able to get away with murder, but when she learns she's pregnant, the baby wants human meat on the menu.

I liked the added touch of the torture porn to murder pipeline. I found myself disliking the sex scenes though. Kim is unlikeable, and I love when authors pull it off by making you hate the character but needing to read more, and Triana does this so well.

The ending did feel a little rushed, but it was good regardless. 

My Rating: 4 stars

Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick by Jason Pargin REVIEW

 Summary:

In the futuristic city of Tabula Ra$a, Zoey Ashe is like a fish so far out of water that it has achieved orbit. After inheriting a criminal empire, the twenty-three-year-old finds herself under threat from all sides as a rogues' gallery of larger-than-life enemies thinks they smell weakness.

On the eve of the world's most lavish and ridiculous Halloween celebration, a steamer trunk-sized box arrives at Zoey's door, and she is shocked to find that it contains a disemboweled corpse. She is even more shocked when that corpse, controlled by an unknown party, rises and goes on a rampage through the house. Speaking in an electronic voice, it publicly accuses Zoey of being its murderer. This is the kind of thing that almost never happened at her old job.

The city was already a ticking time bomb of publicity-hungry vigilantes with superhuman enhancements, and Zoey knows this turn of events is unlikely to improve the situation. Now she and her team of high-tech tricksters have to solve this bizarre murder while simultaneously keeping Tabula Ra$a from descending into chaos.

My Thoughts:

So I picked up this book in a bookstore, looked at the description and the first page, and decided I needed it. Best. Decision. Ever. I mean, this is the first sentence: Zoey Ashe surveyed the carnage and said, "Sorry we're late, it was my cat's birthday." I did not realize this was a sequel, so keep that in mind.

Zoey is a scarily accurate depiction of a women in her early twenties. I can say that, since I am one myself. She hates large gatherings, and prefers to stay in her home.

I really like the setting. It is familiar enough to visualize, but not enough that it isn't futuristic.  Other than Zoey, my favorite character has got to be Echo.

The action scenes are very fun, and when Zoey is going after her cat's potential kidnapper, it very much reminded me of John Wick.

If you like sci-fi, comedy, and horror, definitely check this one out.

My Rating: 4 stars

Woom by Duncan Ralston REVIEW

Summary:

The lonely motel holds many dark secrets . . . and room 6 just might possess the worst of them all.

Angel knows all about pain. His mother died in this room. He's researched its history. Today he's come back to end it, no matter the cost, once and for all.

Shyla, a plus-sized prostitute, thinks that the stories Angel tells her can't be true. Secrets so vile, you won't want to let them inside you.

But the lonely motel doesn't forget. It doesn't forgive. And it always claims its victim.

My Thoughts:

I honestly wish this was longer. I would love to have heard more stories than the ones included here.

In the beginning, we don't know much about Angel. All we know is that his mother died in the motel room that he is renting. He hires a prostitute, and I originally thought that he was going to kill her by the end. Instead of having regular sex, Angel uses toys on her while telling her three stories about this particular motel room. The stories seem random at first, but by the end, it is revealed that they are all connected to Angel in one way or another. This leads to him stuffing his head inside the prostitute to be "reborn".

I ended up really enjoying Angel's character, though that could be because he is really the only developed character here.

I read this very quickly. It is not for the faint of heart, but I would recommend this book to any fans of extreme horror.

My Rating: 5 stars