Katelynn R. Butler's Blog

Knights of the Octagon Benefactor by Colleen Snyder Book Review

Rating: 5/5 stars!

(Note: I received a free e-book for review, but the opinion is my own)

Summary: Four friends stranded in the wilderness must choose: to participate in a grand treasure hunt orchestrated by mysterious benefactors, or wait for rescue. The friends learn that there has never been a winner in the 50 years of the Magary Treasure Hunt and that danger lurks around every corner. Will they succumb to the elements and their murderous competition, or will their old and newfound friendships win out and see them through to the end – and the treasure?

Onto the Review!

The book is deeply inspirational and faith-based but that doesn’t stop Ms. Snyder from lending suspense, peril, and intensity to the narrative. If you like an action-packed novel with faith-based elements, this is a novel you should pick up.

One thing I enjoyed was Ms. Snyder’s characterizations. Her characters were realistic, relatable, and sensitive. The main characters were easily able to pick up on each other’s emotions in the way only old friends could, which was a refreshing dynamic.

Another thing I enjoyed was Ms. Snyder’s willingness to touch on sensitive topics in the characters’ personal lives and the plot without judgment or dramatization. When one character calls another character “special” as an insult to his intelligence and about a disability, there is no hemming and hawing about the main characters rallying around the insulted party. And the fact that the main characters know ASL is awesome.

In all, this was a thrilling tale of peril, adventure, and friendship and I very much enjoyed it. My only critique is that if you are not interested in faith-based books, this may not be the novel for you. Other than that, this was a fun novel and I recommend it.

Immortality: A Love Story by Dana

Schwartz (Audio) Book Review

5/5 stars!

This review will contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

Summary: After Jack’s “execution” Hazel is left disgraced and single, having broken off her engagement to her cousin Bernard, who married very quickly after the fact. Hazel is grieving and lonely, unsure if Jack survived the hanging, even though she gave him Dr. Beecham’s tincture. Unable to fulfill her side of the bargain with Dr. Beecham, and the doctor himself having gone missing after Hazel confronted him about his illicit surgeries, Hazel throws herself into her at-home studies and continues practicing medicine out of her family’s castle, Hawthorndon.

Soon after treating a woman with a botched abortion, Hazel is accused of murdering the woman’s fetus and arrested. Awaiting her own execution, potentially to meet Jack in the afterlife, Hazel is shocked to find herself bundled into a carriage and whisked off to England. The Empire’s beloved Princess Charlotte has taken ill with a mysterious malady that the King’s best physicians cannot diagnose, much less get close to the princess to do so. Hazel, being a woman, is tasked with gaining the Princess’ trust and treatment. If she is unsuccessful, her family’s reputation and very lives could be endangered.

During her time in England, Hazel becomes acquainted with a handsome young Swedish doctor, Simon, who respects her as a colleague as much as he wishes to marry her (and that is to say, quite a lot). Simon is responsible for the King’s declining health, mental and physical. Hazel also becomes acquainted with the Companions of Death, a secretive, illustrious, and immortal group of intellectuals and artists. Most notably, Voltaire and Lord Byron (the latter of which is rather irritating to the rest of the group, but who is surprised by that? Certainly not me); the group is led by the founder Marie-Anne Lavoisier, a renowned chemist who survived the French Revolution.

During her tenure as Princess Charlotte’s physician, Hazel realizes that the Princess is faking her illness in order to be with the person she truly loves – her lady-in-waiting. Around this time, Hazel is wrestling with her feelings for Simon and then learns of Jack’s survival and immortality. She comes up with the idea to help Charlotte fake her death, enlisting Jack’s expertise as a resurrection man one last time, so the Princess can live a comfortable life far away from prying eyes and in the arms of her lover.

Soon, Jack and Hazel can no longer ignore the love they left behind in Edinburg, leaving Hazel in an awkward position when she needs to ask Simon for help in faking Charlotte’s death. Thankfully, Simon is a good man and helps instead of turning the plot over to the Prince Regent. Hazel also helps Simon uncover the reason for the King’s poor health and mental decline – mold spores growing in the arsenic-dyed wallpaper in his bedroom.

Before the novel ends, Hazel asks Marie-Anne for assistance in reversing the tincture’s immortality-granting properties, and she is granted a vial. In Marie-Anne’s lab, Hazel finds the very same mold spores that caused the King to grow ill. This discovery leads to an altercation between the two women, in which Hazel has to injure Marie-Anne to escape.

No longer welcome by the Companions, nor in Court despite the King regaining his health, Jack and Hazel set off on their own. After discovering Beecham is still alive, Hazel is more determined than ever to reverse the tincture’s effects. Jack and Hazel vow whatever eternity they have together to each other, and the novel ends.

Onto the review!

My one and only complaint about this novel is that it lacked the gothic feel of the previous one. That is it. I loved this book. Loved it. It was so wonderful to listen to, the narrators outdid themselves again. Dana Schwartz outdid herself again. The artists for the cover outdid themselves again. Everything about Anatomy’s cliffhanger ending was resolved and I was totally satisfied with the ending.

While I wanted Simon and Hazel to be together, and I knew he would be good for her and to her, I could not get over Jack potentially being out there. There would always be that unresolved romance for her and she never would have been able to give her whole heart to Simon, no matter her attraction and respect for him. Ultimately, I think it was the best decision to give her closure (and Jack)!

The royal court plotline was deliciously intriguing and sad at the same time. Knowing Princess Charlotte’s fate in real life, I was incredibly empathetic to her plight of only being as valuable as her ability to produce an heir. I was glad of Schwartz’s idea to fake the Princess’ death and have her live out her days in solitude with her lover.

From the moment we are introduced to Lavoisier’s, I was suspicious of them. Even more so once I learned the entire group of the Companions were immortal. While I did get some cozy and fun invocations of coffee shop intellectuals of old, nothing good can come from a group of unchecked immortals. Especially ones who are politically and intellectually motivated, and I turned out to be right in the end. While the Prince Regent was a rather bombastic and odious character, the King seemed alright enough. I think the Companions targeted the wrong royal with their plan.

And then the question of Beecham. I never felt as though he was truly dead. But as Hazel said, anything made can be unmade. There is no reason to believe the tincture cannot be reversed, enabling Jack and Hazel to live a normal human life. A life both of them want. One day, I hope we can learn what becomes of them. But for now, I will content myself with believing that Hazel is capable of doing just that, reversing immortality.

Ultimately, I think it was the perfect ending to the heartbreaking way the last book ended. It is a love story, a romance with a happily ever after. Do yourself a favor and read this duology in any way you are capable. It was one of my favorite reads of this year. Dana Schwartz, Mhairi Morrison, and Tim Campbell were all amazing. I am so pleased I decided to listen to these books.

5/5 stars!

This review will contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

Summary: Hazel Sinnett is a young noblewoman from Edinburgh, Scotland. She has never been a typical young lady from a young age – much to her mother’s chagrin. When both she and one of her brothers are infected with Roman Fever (named for the bloody boils that formed on the infected people’s backs, not for its origin), Hazel survives and her brother does not. This is one instance in which Hazel’s fascination with the medical field develops.

Now of marrying age, Hazel is resigned to the fact that she has been betrothed to her cousin Bernard – a viscount – nearly since birth, though he has not proposed formally. She laments that, as a woman in early 19th-century Scotland, she will never be able to attend any classes for formal medical training. That is until she meets Jack Currer.

Jack is a resurrection man, someone who recovers dead bodies for the wealthy doctors who use them for their medical studies and are willing to turn a blind eye to any bodies gotten from less than savory means. He also works at a local theater, but funnily enough, that is the least interesting thing about him.

Jack and Hazel first meet outside of the Anatomists Society, where he helps Hazel sneak into an anatomical demonstration. This sparks Hazel with the idea of disguising herself as her dead brother to attend classes with Dr. Beecham, a famous surgeon, hoping this would allow her to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

She does not get that opportunity until Hazel’s mother whisks her younger brother and inheritor of her family estate, Percy, to Bath “for his health”. Lady Sennit constantly worries over Percy’s health – stemming from the death of her older son – leaving Hazel to feel neglected. This time is no different, except that Hazel now has the opportunity to play ill and pursue her dream.

 Hazel attends Dr. Beecham’s lectures for a time until she is found out to be a woman by one of Dr. Beecham’s colleagues. Despite being at the top of her class, she is barred from attending, well above the arrogant men attending alongside her. Hazel appeals to Dr. Beecham, who believes women are capable of the same intelligence as men, and they forge an agreement: if Hazel can pass the Physician’s Examination, he will personally endorse her endeavors to become a physician. This would open up the medical field for other young women as an avenue for becoming independent.

Jack finds himself back in Hazel’s life when she requests a body for her studies, multiple bodies. But Jack’s partner is missing, so the pair agree to snatch one together. This relationship leads to Hazel developing feelings for Jack, and vice versa. Despite their social statuses clashing, the two indulge in their feelings for one another, even though Hazel has accepted her cousin’s proposal of marriage (after he practically assaults her).

Soon, Hazel finds herself treating patients with the very same illness that took her brother from her. She successfully keeps a few from dying with the help of a smelly root Jack introduces her to, but her theory about the root is rejected by Dr. Beecham. Some of the bodies she and Jack have been digging up are strangely deformed in a way that no illness could cause, plus the fact that Hazel has treated more than a few people for strange maladies.

When the day of the exam is upon her, Hazel misses it to follow some suspicious men carting around what appears to be an elderly woman in a shroud. She finds that Dr. Beecham himself is the one causing the strange deformities and maladies by performing experimental surgeries on the poor of Edinburg, taking their body parts and transplanting them onto noblemen and women for the right price, often leaving the poor people to die while the nobles are free to walk about with their new organs, limbs, and eyes.

Hazel attempts to stop Dr. Beecham but is unsuccessful. When Dr. Beecham fails to kill Jack, one of the poor people he had collected to sell parts from, Hazel and Jack escape despite Jack’s wounds. Hazel takes him to Bernard’s and heals him. But Bernard orchestrates Jack’s arrest, where he is sentenced to death for the theft of bodies and murders Dr. Beecham is responsible for.

Jack’s fate is unknown at the end of the novel, but Hazel has broken her engagement with Bernard and has met with Dr. Beecham once more. The latter offers her a bottle of his “Ethereum”, the substance he used to keep himself alive for far longer than he should, replace his body parts, and used experimentally on the nobles of Edinburg.

Onto the review!!

I loved this book. The narration was incredible, and I would listen to the narrators, Mhairi Morrison and Tim Campbell, read their grocery lists. But listening to such a well-crafted novel was such a treat! Hazel was the perfect character. She was ahead of her time but didn’t seem so modern that it pulled me from the story. She was my favorite character.

Jack was also wonderful. He was funny, clever, and hopelessly in love with Hazel almost from the moment they met. The perfect love interest. His interactions with Hazel were witty, romantic, and fun to read.

The side characters, bad and good, were also wonderful. I have no complaints. Other than the fact that (and I may have missed this due to listening to the book rather than reading it) I never learned what happened to Hazel’s classmate that caught the Roman Fever. But that’s beside the point.

The plot invoked imagery of Frankenstein and 19th-century gothic romance. Fans of Mary Shelly will be pleased, in my opinion (as a fan of Mary Shelly myself). Another single complaint I have is that we don’t learn if the plant Hazel uses to treat the Roman Fever actually helps, she just takes Dr. Beecham’s chastisement, and – while she still uses it on her patients – we hardly hear anything of it again.

And the fact that the end was gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking, but that’s beside the point. Some people in reviews were upset (which I do understand to an extent) that this was marketed as a love story. It’s even in the title. But a love story and romance do not follow the same Happily Ever After or Eventual HEA rules. Romeo and Juliet is a love story, a tragic romance. Not a romance romance. This is very much similar in that regard. I am just glad I had the next audiobook to listen to right after I finished this one!

In conclusion, I loved this book and I cannot wait to read more from this author (and hear more from these narrators!)

Hello all!

I have excellent news: I have been published! A small, independent company that publishes through Amazon and Ingram Spark has picked up my book, “I am Become”. I am very late in making this update because I have been swamped preparing the sequel novel in this series, so I apologize for that.

Please review on Amazon and Goodreads when you purchase, it will really help boost my sales and awareness for my novels. Also, don’t forget to put in a request at your local libraries and bookstores to sell this novel as well! Libraries can purchase through Amazon, but bookstores can email me or my publisher through her email on the publishing website: https://wingedpublications.com/contact-info/

Please feel free to follow and interact with me on Goodreads, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram. Please keep all interactions appropriate and polite, any user leaving disrespectful and inappropriate questions or messages will be blocked and reported immediately.

Below are all the links to “I am Become” and social media:

Buy “I am Become” on Amazon: https://a.co/d/46tfzoE

Goodreads Verified Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40463257.Katelynn_R_Butler

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author__katelynnr.butler/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sakazu.hatake.9

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3/5 stars.

Spoiler-free review!

I was really excited about this book and was… Disappointed to say the least. It was not spooky, it had all the hallmarks of your run-of-the-mill haunted house story, but none of the delicious thrills. The characters were incredibly one-note, with hardly anything memorable about any of them, except for the fact that they were all horrible people.

The prose started out as intriguing, wonderfully descriptive, and fun to listen to. Then, as the story dragged on, and on, and on it became so unbearably purple. And the humor, which was actually quite funny, only served to break up the small amount of atmospheric horror that Khaw managed to draw up.

Perhaps I am being too picky, but I really just did not enjoy this story at all. The only redeeming thing about it was Suehyla El-Attar’s wonderful narration. Her voice was what kept me listening, and I applaud her performance. The book was not… bad. It just was not good, for me. I am sorry for the negative review, as I do not make a habit of writing them, but I was actually excited for this book and I am left wishing I had picked another audiobook to listen to this morning.

Rating: 5/5 Stars!

Summary (From Goodreads):

Reluctant Immortals is a historical horror novel that looks at two men of classic literature, Dracula and Mr. Rochester, and the two women who survived them, Bertha and Lucy, who are now undead immortals residing in Los Angeles in 1967 when Dracula and Rochester make a shocking return in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.

Combining elements of historical and gothic fiction with a modern perspective, in a tale of love and betrayal and coercion, Reluctant Immortals is the lyrical and harrowing journey of two women from classic literature as they bravely claim their own destiny in a man’s world.

Review:

There are a lot of books lately that are described as a feminist retelling of this or that story. I have read my fair share of them, and while some are a feminine retelling rather than feminist (and those are still very good), “Reluctant Immortals” is a feminist continuation!

It is about two women (Lucy from Stoker’s “Dracula” and Bertha, Bee, from Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”) who are immortalized in the media for what the men in their lives had done to them. Gwendolyn Kiste not only acknowledges these women are immortalized in such a way as their fictional stories but by the brutality that was done to them. That brutality also immortalized other people (mostly women) through the same actions that hurt Lucy and Bertha. Unfortunately, these victims are doomed to be forgotten by the public, just like the men who destroyed their lives forgot them.

This is a story about women taking back the power from the men and even women who tried to destroy them for what they became. For what they became because a man wanted something that didn’t belong to him. Because a man was afraid of his own loneliness.

And this isn’t a male-bashing review by any means. There are several wonderful male characters in this novel, which I will not be naming due to spoilers. But this book takes back the agency of two characters who have been historically vilified because of the brutalities that were enacted upon them. Because they were manipulated and used.

This book unveils the true villains of the stories and gives their victims back their power in a delightfully retro setting. It gives the victims back their voices during the second-wave feminism movement. All in all, it was one of my favorite reads of the year and I cannot wait to dive into more of Gwendolyn Kiste’s writing.

Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

“Where Dreams Descend” by Janella Angeles is a tough one for me. I liked it enough to keep reading, and there was enough mystery to keep me guessing (spoiler alert, I’m still guessing). However, there is something about the novel that just has me perplexed, and more than a little unsure of if I liked it or not.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Summary:

Kallia, a powerful magician with innate magic (something rare in this universe), wishes to compete in Glorian’s upcoming competition to be a star magician. However, her boss – and mentor – Jack refuses to let her. When she discovers a horrific secret about him, she flees his home and club where she performs to the icy city of Glorian.

Once there, things continue to prove difficult. Jack projects himself into her bedroom at every chance, urging, and even threatening her, to return to him. The sexism from the all male squad of Judges holds her back in the competition. And one of those judges turns out to intrigue her more than Jack ever had.

When Magicians start disappearing, Kallia and her ruthless desire to win is the first suspect; however, she doesn’t need to cheat to win, and everyone knows it. So, who is causing the disappearances? Who is leaving calling cards behind? Or are they threats of what is to come?

Review:

As mentioned above, this one was difficult for me. I don’t like to DNF a book, and I have only done so a handful of times in my twenty-one years of being able to read. “Where Dreams Descend” was compelling enough for me to continue reading, and even want to pick up the final novel in the “Kingdom of Cards” duology. I was reading this during a time where my anxiety about self-publishing was high, and this may have impacted my enjoyment of this book, and reading as a hobby in general.

That being said, I still have I have my issues with the book which are completely unrelated. Number one being Kallia’s reason for leaving. She sees the reflection of a monster in a mirror Jack was using to speak into. What was this monster? Was it Jack’s reflection? Was it the person he was speaking to? Kallia’s almost calculated decision to leave as soon as she sees this was… confusing to say the least. It is said she was afraid, but it didn’t seem as though she was, compared to her visceral reactions of fear later in the book.

Number two, the lack of descriptions on the theology and magic system. My own novel features magic, and the system is something I will be discussing with my editor because I know there are better ways to describe it than I have. This magic system only gets one description, Innate or Acquired and that’s about it. Innate is obviously the stronger magic, but even that is not really discussed. The mention of “Zarose” is constantly used as one would say “Oh my God” or “Merlin’s Beard”, but there is hardly a description of this person and who they were.

The third issue I have with this book is the distinct lack of descriptions overall. There are plenty of clothing and architectural descriptions, but hardly any of plot. The whole thing is so shrouded in mystery that I had trouble keeping my focus on the book, much less want to try and figure it out. A lot of it is never even explained, the hope of which is why I continued reading, only to be left befuddled and slightly disappointed.

The redeeming factors for this book were Angeles’ lavishly created characters and abundant scene descriptions. I felt that each character, while some were very shrouded, was fleshed out and brought life to the pages. And the scenes were all expertly curated with creative and enjoyable descriptors. Those two points were honestly what kept me reading the most. If not for that, the rather convoluted mystery plot would have had me DNFing the book. I don’t mean to disparage the author either. It is a story with excellent potential, but it is my opinion that the potential was not met.

As I said previously, I will be picking up the second book in this duology. I do want to know how the story ends and whether or not the things I needed explained will be. While I do think this book is far from perfect, I do know that there are many out there who will enjoy it. So this review is not meant to discourage people from reading, far from it. I want you to challenge my opinion and read this book. Form your own opinion on it, let me know how you felt about it, and the author as well (if its a nice opinion of course. I don’t stand for slandering an author or being mean just because a read was less than satisfactory).

Happy reading everyone! I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello, hello!

It know it has been for ever and a half since I updated this blog. I am trying to kick myself in gear, but self-esteem issues are a hurdle. I do, however, have some very exciting news!

I have hired an editor to collaborate with on “I am Become”! She will be working on the manuscript in July, then finishing up in August which is when I will be taking the reins (and her advice) and attempting to polish off the book before it’s ready to publish. I’m very excited and proud of myself for taking this monumental step in my career.

My next step in the publishing phase is searching for a cover design artist. This part is daunting (much less so than requesting rates from editors) because I’m literally doing something most traditional authors don’t have to worry about. But! The cool thing is that I get to have more creative control over this project than a traditionally published author.

Since it is the summer, and I have put so much of myself into this book (and series as a whole), I have been taking an extended break from writing the second manuscript. I have been working on it here and there, but allowing myself to step back from the project and write for fun (and just relaxing) has been so nice. I feel pretty refreshed and much less anxious.

And I couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner! He has been pushing me and rooting for me every step of the way. I am so incredibly grateful for him.

I have also been reading, but I have been allowing myself to go slow. I have a reputation as a fast reader and I let it get to me sometimes. I was pushing myself to finish books in just a few days (which is doable and enjoyable in some cases) without taking the time to let myself enjoy them. This caused a massive reading burnout, but I am happy to say that I am taking my time and enjoying reading again. I will be posting a review of my current read soon.

My mental health has had its ups and downs, but for the most part I have been feeling relaxed and peaceful. Taking this time for myself has really been a lifesaver, and I encourage you all to listen to your minds and bodies when they are feeling overwhelmed. Burnout is never fun, and pushing yourself too hard will always end in it.

That’s all for now! I hope to update soon and I am wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Happy reading!

So, as of last week, I came to the decision to self-publish “I am Become”. This has been an equal parts exciting and heartbreaking decision to come to. I so desperately wanted to have this story published traditionally, but after trying multiple approaches, I have only received rejections and(or) no replies to my queries. Perhaps I am still doing something wrong, but I have made the decision to move forward with self-publishing.

That isn’t to say that I will not continue to try to query this title, I may continue to do that, but for now I am looking into editors to polish my manuscript for publication sooner rather than later. And I’m not bashing self-publishing when I say I am “heartbroken”. I respect those who choose to do so very much, hence the decision to do it myself. I only feel sad that the agents I queried did not see the potential in my story that I and my partner see in it.

And they are merely doing their jobs too, so I’m not hating on them either! They have to know their workloads, their preferences, and many other things. The industry is subjective and my story is rather genre-ambiguous, which I could understand brings apprehension. And if I continue to query after my work with an editor, it will be extremely selectively (as it should have been in the beginning).

So, it is with trepidation and excitement as I move forward in this new chapter of my writing. I hope to see many readers enjoying my book whether it gets picked up by an agent or I publish it on my own, whichever comes first. My confidence is at a very low point, but I will continue to try my best. I hope to see many readers picking up from this blog and enjoying my work in the future.

Thank you for reading!

WARNING: This review will contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

“Horrid” by Katrina Leno was just what I needed for a suspense fix. I haven’t read any of her other novels, but I’m very interested in picking them up now, especially if they are as spellbinding and intriguing as “Horrid”. It is definitely one I recommend reading if you’re into small-town horrors.

Rating: 5/5 stars!

Summary:

Jane North-Robinson and her mother, Ruth (Ruthellen is her full name, but she doesn’t care for it), move to Bells Hollow, Maine from California after the untimely death of her father, Greer Robinson. Her father had never been very good with finances and had left them with tons of debt, causing Ruth to have to sell everything and move with Jane to her own childhood home, North Manor. but Ruth is being secretive, and Jane knows it.

Things start off very not okay for Jane. The house has been vandalized multiple times and the electricity doesn’t work, except for in the off-limits “storage room”. People act strangely around her and her mother, hedge around something they’re unwilling to talk about. Jane makes two new friends, Alana and Susie, and a new enemy, Melanie (Alana’s cousin), almost immediately. She meets Will, Susie’s older brother, and gets a job at his cafe/bookshop (which is a dream, oh my God, what I wouldn’t give to have a place like that).

All the while, strange things are happening at home. The vandalism continues until Jane chases after the perpetrators in a fit of uncontrollable rage. The lights flicker in the “storage room” and she swears she can see someone in there sometimes. There is even a break in. Or is there? Ruth seems to think Jane’s grief is making her hallucinate, auditory and visually.

And to top it all off, Jane has a… habit. She eats things, books, when she is angry. Not whole books. She doesn’t bite off huge chunks in a “Loony Toons” Taz style of anger. Just a bit of a page every now and then. The tiniest piece to calm the boiling fury inside her. She pulls the corner off, rolls it up, and swallows, letting the paper and ink dissolve into her body — her bloodstream. Then she is calm.

When Ruth finds out she takes Jane’s book away (she has now eaten part of the way through “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”). Jane is still seeing things. Hearing things. Her friend Sal is acting weird, and Jane fears they are growing apart. Her phone keeps sending weird calls and texts. Jane thinks she’s developing psychosis.

Then she goes into the “storage room”, which turns out to be a little girls room. It’s untouched as the day it was last used. She learns it belonged to her aunt, Jemima Rose. Then Alana and Susie spill the Bells Hollow (not so secret) secret. Jemima Rose, is not her aunt, but her half-sister who died in the back garden of North Manor.

When everything comes to a crescendo, we are left reeling. What is the truth? Did Jane really hallucinate everything? Or was it real? Could it be a combination of both? I think not knowing is what makes the ending so horrid (tongue-in-cheek, I know).

Onto the Review!

“Horrid” is loosely based “There Was a Little Girl” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is about a pretty and sweet little girl who can be very, very bad. And that’s what I love about this book. As someone who grew up with a lot of anxiety and rage, it felt so good to resonate with a character who felt and acted similarly to me. I felt so seen.

“Three little girls all eating things they weren’t supposed to eat. Three little girls all eating things in order to fill their bodies with something other than the anger, the rage, that would otherwise consume them.”

Each North girl had something they put in their mouths other than food. Ruth’s was her hair, Jemima Rose’s were roses (aptly), and Jane’s were books. Though Jane’s upbringing was much less tumultuous than Ruth’s, and less restrictive than Jemima Rose’s short one, she still had that hereditary anger and anxiety to deal with.

The unhealed generational trauma that Leno deals with in “Horrid” is phenomenal. Each girl has their own similar rage and coping mechanisms. Ruth rebelled, Jemima Rose bullied, Jane turned her anger inwards. I think that so many women (and people in general) can relate to these overwhelming feelings brought on by parents, grandparents, and other family members.

I related so much to Jane. Turning my anger inwards on itself. Keeping the anxiety bottled up until I thought I was actually developing a very serious mental illness. I too used to eat things I shouldn’t. I ate plants, blankets, and my hair. Probably a multitude of other things too. It was stress/anxiety/anger induced.

Having multiple characters deal with the same kinds of generational trauma and the same unhealthy coping mechanisms was fantastic, even if this book doesn’t have a happy ending. Leno apparently likes to write a lot about mental health with horror aspects, and I enjoy that when it’s done right. In this case, it is grief, anger, and anxiety. Perhaps more, if one want’s to stretch, but I don’t think so.

The story is kind of open-ended, but I would like to believe that Leno wouldn’t take the lazy, overused, and frankly ableist cop out that the “it was all in their head” trope would have been. Yes, dealing with mental health symptoms of that nature can be (and is) terrifying, but it is an overused and lazy trope. One I find doesn’t help the stigma around those symptoms of mental illness.

In my opinion, everything was real, but exacerbated by Jane’s grief, anger, and anxiety. I also think Ruth may have been experiencing similar things after Jemima Rose’s death, before she moved away. It’s also possible her parents did so as well. But Ruth constantly said that Jane’s “hallucinations” may be due to her grief, which made me think that Ruth had experienced something similar in that house.

The writing, the atmosphere, the plot, even the cover (which is exquisite)… Everything was absolutely perfect for me. I have no complaints, except that I wish there were more interactions between Will and Jane. But, I get that there was a set plot and more of that could have probably derailed it.

To conclude, “Horrid” was a beautifully written story with complex characters who have even more complex personalities and feelings. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I will definitely be looking into more of Katrina Leno’s books in the future, and I recommend you do too.