Book Review: Painted Devils by Margaret Owen

March 3, 2025 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Title: Painted Devils
Author: Margaret Owen
Series: Little Thieves #2
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Verbal and physical abuse, abandonment, anxiety, self-harm, physical intimacy, abusive environments, blood
Book Links: Bookshop::B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

Let’s get one thing straight—Vanja Schmidt wasn’t trying to start a cult.

After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family… and if they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now, that lie is growing out of control—especially when Emeric arrives to investigate, and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice.

For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine if Vanja is guilty of serious fraud, or if the Scarlet Maiden—and her claim to him—are genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that may be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but the ties of her past. And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads, he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price?

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book reviews

Book Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

July 22, 2024 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Book Details

Title: The Tainted Cup
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Publisher: Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Body horror, murder, death, blood, gore, drug abuse (off page), sexual harassment, death of parent, animal death.
Book Links: Bookshop::B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears–quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.

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Blog Tour: Extra Normal by Kate Alice Marshall

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Hello, reader!

I have TBR & Beyond Tours post to share with you today! I’m so excited to gush about a new middle grade horror that is sure to delight and scare in equal amounts: Extra Normal by Kate Alice Marshall! I adored this quick and inclusive read and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

Before I jump into my review, I want to say thank you. Thank you to the people at TBR & Beyond Tours for choosing me to take part in this tour. Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to the book via Netgalley. And thank you to all my readers for supporting my little blog! Also, if you’d like to support the other incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers participating, make sure to check out the tour schedule by clicking here.

Alright, now let me tell you more about the book!

Title: Extra Normal
Author: Kate Alice Marshall
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date: August 29th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Age group: Middle Grade
Content/Trigger Warnings: Fire, kidnapping, mind control

Book Links

Bookshop::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

It’s hard to fight the supernatural when you’re naturally “un-super.” This chilling middle grade is perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark…even if they don’t have any special powers.

Charlie Greer is nothing special—at least not compared to her adopted siblings. Her younger sister is a ghost. Her brother Mateo is a werewolf. Gideon is the product of seriously sketchy experiments that gave him telekinetic powers. Even her parents work for the Division of Extranormal Investigations tracking down all things supernatural, alien, and otherwise unusual.

Charlie’s mom says her superpower is maturity—which doesn’t really count. But what Charlie lacks in powers she makes up for by keeping the household running. Now, with her parents off on their first vacation in years, it’s up to her to take care of her siblings and make sure nothing disrupts the trip.

But then the new neighbors arrive. The Weavers are a nice, normal couple. Too nice and too normal. And for some reason, they don’t seem to want Charlie to see inside their house. She’s certain they’re hiding something. Charlie has to uncover what’s going on with the Weavers and stop their plans—without letting Mom and Dad find out anything is wrong.

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book reviews

ARC Review: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

May 8, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Title: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

Author: Amélie Wen Zhao

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Harper Voyager

Genre: Fantasy

Age Group: Young Adult

Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Rating: ★★★★★

Book Links:
Bookshop::B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her. She spends her days scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.

No one can see the mysterious mark – until the night Zen appears at the teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner, one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden at all costs.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

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blog tour · book reviews

BBNYA 2022 Finalist Tour: Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper

May 4, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Hello, reader!

I’m bringing you another blog tour post for one of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award finalists from 2022! Today, I’ll be reviewing my personal favorite read of the entire competition last year and our fourth place finisher! Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper is a short, horror novella that features perhaps one of my favorite heroines I’ve read in awhile. Doesn’t hurt that she has two awesome dog companions, as well!

But, before I go on, let me tell you more about this award. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

And, now, let’s talk about this book!

Title: Inheriting Her Ghosts
Author: S.H. Cooper
Publisher: Sleepless Sanctuary Publishing
Publication date: July 9th, 2021
Length: 120 pages
Genre: Horror
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, murder, violence

Book Links

Bookshop::Amazon::Goodreads

Inheritance often comes with strings attached, but rarely are they as tangled as those hanging over High Hearth.

When Eudora Fellowes learns she’s the sole heir of her estranged great-aunt’s seaside manor, she believes it will be the peaceful escape she’s longed for. What awaits, however, is a dark legacy shrouded in half a century of secrets, and it doesn’t take long before Eudora realizes she’s not the only one to call High Hearth home.

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blog tour · book reviews

Blog Tour: The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill

March 7, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd7 Comments

Hello, reader!

I have another TBR & Beyond Tours post to share with you today! I’m so excited to give you my thoughts on a beautiful graphic novel that absolutely captured my heart: The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill. I love a graphic novel that makes both my eyes and my heart happy and this one certainly accomplished that!

Alright, now let me tell you more about the book!

Title: The Moth Keeper
Author: K. O’Neill
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Publication date: March 7th, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Graphic Novel
Age group: Middle Grade
Content/Trigger Warnings: depression, trauma, burn out themes, abandonment (historical, shown on page through flashback), ableism (historical, minor)

Book Links

Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Indigo::
Amazon::Goodreads

Being a Moth Keeper is a huge responsibility and a great honor, but what happens when the new Moth Keeper decides to take a break from the moon and see the sun for the first time? A middle-grade fantasy graphic novel about passion, duty, and found family.

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn’t exactly what Anya thought it would be?

The nights are cold in the desert and the lunar moths live far from the village. Anya finds herself isolated and lonely. Despite Anya’s dedication, she wonders what it would be like to live in the sun. Her thoughts turn into an obsession, and when Anya takes a chance to stay up during the day to feel the sun’s warmth, her village and the lunar moths are left to deal with the consequences. K. O’Neill brings to life a beautifully illustrated fantasy world about responsibility to yourself and your community. The Moth Keeper is filled with magic, hope, and friendship.

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blog tour · book reviews

Blog Tour: Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

January 22, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

Today, it’s my stop on the tour for Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury hosted by Hear Our Voices Tours! I’m so excited to be talking with y’all about this young adult horror for two reasons. One, I’m doing something a little different with my review which I think is gonna be fun. And two, this book was ✨INCREDIBLE✨

Before I get to my review, though, I have people to thank. First, a big thank you to the brains behind Hear Our Voices who gave me a spot on this tour. Second, thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC so that I could read and participate. It is, as always, very much appreciated!

Also, if you’d like to check out any of the other fabulous posts done by the incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers and BookTubers on this tour, you can check out the schedule here.

Now, let’s get to my post!

Title: Delicious Monsters
Author: Liselle Sambury
Publication date: February 28th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Age group: Young Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: childhood sexual assault (off page), childhood physical abuse (corporal punishment, off page), childhood physical abuse (confinement punishment), childhood neglect, gaslighting, grooming, suicide (off page), killing of a goat (off page), discussions of fatphobia, body horror/gore, violence, death

Book Links

Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.

Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…

A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?

As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.

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blog tour · book reviews

Blog Tour: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

January 4, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd6 Comments

Hello, reader!

I’m so excited to be participating in my first TBR & Beyond Tours blog tour of 2023! I’m extra excited because it’s for a book by an author who is swiftly becoming a favorite: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert! This is Talia Hibbert’s YA debut and, spoiler alert, I adored it.

But, before I jump into my review (and a playlist I threw together while reading!) I want to say thank you. Thank you to the people at TBR & Beyond Tours for choosing me to take part in this tour. Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to the book via Netgalley. And thank you to all my readers for supporting my little blog! Also, if you’d like to support the other incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers participating, make sure to check out the tour schedule by clicking here.

Alright! Now let’s get to the tour post!

Title: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Publication date: January 3rd, 2023
Genre: Romance
Age group: Young Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Depictions of anxiety and struggles with OCD, child abandonment, depictions of intrusive thinking

Book Links

Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Indigo::
Amazon::Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors–and each other.

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption–yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

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book reviews

Book Review: Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

September 1, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Title: Winterset Hollow

Author: Jonathan Edward Durham

Publisher: Credo House Publishers

Genre: Fantasy Horror

Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, violence, torture, animal cruelty, blood, stabbings

Rating: ★★★★★

Book Links: Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . . especially on Addington Isle. Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book-a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It’s Barley Day . . . and you’re invited to the hunt.

Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse- pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.

Jonathan Edward Durham was born near Philadelphia in one of many rust-belt communities where he read voraciously throughout his youth. After attending the College of William & Mary, where he received a degree in neuroscience, Jonathan waded into the professional world before deciding he was better suited for more artistic pursuits. He now lives in California where he writes to bring a unique voice to the space between the timeless wonder of his favorite childhood stories and the pop sensibilities of his adolescent literary indulgences.

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top 5 tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: 2022 Reads

June 28, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd12 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is a fun, weekly meme that asks you to pick 5 books that fit that week’s theme. It was created by Bionic Bookworm and is currently being hosted by Meeghan Reads. You should check out their wonderful blog for more details and the list of prompts!

Hello, reader!

It’s a lovely Tuesday here in New England and I’m with another Top 5 Tuesday post! And this one is focused on a great topic: my top five reads of 2022 (so far). Now, I did an entire post at the end of last year just listing all my five star reads because I didn’t want to have to choose. I’m bad at making decisions when it comes to favorite books, okay?! However, the tiny caveat of ‘so far’ works to make me feel less guilty about picking up five books to feature.

That being said, let’s get to my list!

#1. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

I gotta give a shout out to my first five star read of the year! Actually, this was the first book I read in 2022. Talk about starting my reading year off with a bang! This duology has been everywhere and I had an e-ARC that was staring at me accusingly from my Netgalley shelf. I’m so glad I finally picked it up because it was phenomenal! It was a fast-paced thrill ride through 1926 Shanghai and I fell in love with our two main characters, Juliette and Roma.

#2. The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

This is probably one of my biggest surprises of the year, so far. I had seen the cover of this book and that was enough to make me want to read it. I knew very little about the book before picking it up, so I had no idea what I was getting into. I then proceeded to devour it in one day! Which is an accomplishment for me as I’m typically a slow reader. This fantasy wrapped in a mystery was truly captivating and made me want to read everything this author has written.

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