On My Wishlist | Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

Island Witch is an adult horror novel by Amanda Jayatissa.

Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.

Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.

As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic No one can find out what happened .

Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist, Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed.

Island Witch is being compared to Carrie and The Exorcist. It sounds like a scary novel of female rage that I'm here for.

Is Island Witch on your radar?

New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023. Several of these were favorites!

 

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (10⭐ out of 5)

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Chlorine by Jade Song (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

 

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (⭐⭐⭐★★)

At the End of Every Day by Arianna Reiche (⭐⭐★★★)

Below by Laurel Hightower (⭐⭐⭐⭐★)

 

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (⭐⭐⭐★★)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (⭐⭐⭐⭐★)

Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney (⭐⭐⭐⭐★)

 

Camp Damascus is a horror novel by Chuck Tingle ( ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The September House by Carissa Orlando (⭐⭐⭐★★)

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | January 28

Hello, friends! I missed posting an update last weekend because I got thoroughly sucked into the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Do you play? I'm not even sure how it happened, but my husband and three kids were suddenly wanting to play D&D with me, and none of us had ever played before. Before they could change their minds, I rushed out and bought a starter set. Even with the bare bones rules and small adventure, it was 80 pages of rules and story to learn! While this is certainly smaller than the three 300 page books you normally have to read to learn D&D (what!), it was a lot.

This was my Dungeon Master setup by Sunday morning:

I still have no idea what I'm doing, but we had a lot of fun and plan to play regularly.

All of this to say I didn't read anything at all this week that wasn't D&D related!

Posted over the last two weeks

Reviews:

I wound up dnf'ing The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 200 pages in, but maybe I'll come back to it some day. I did post some thoughts on The Priority of the Orange Tree.

Top Ten Tuesdays:

Bookish Goals for 2024

Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

• 

On My Wishlist:

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

Currently Reading

  

I'm planning to focus on finishing Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire this week and then we'll see where my mood takes me!

I hope you all have an excellent week!

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

On My Wishlist | What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

What Feasts at Night is the sequel to T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead.

The follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead .

Retired soldier, Alex Easton, returns in a horrifying new adventure.

After their terrifying ordeal at the Usher manor, Alex Easton feels as if they just survived another war. All they crave is rest, routine, and sunshine, but instead, as a favor to Angus and Miss Potter, they find themself heading to their family hunting lodge, deep in the cold, damp forests of their home country, Gallacia.

In theory, one can find relaxation in even the coldest and dampest of Gallacian autumns, but when Easton arrives, they find the caretaker dead, the lodge in disarray, and the grounds troubled by a strange, uncanny silence. The villagers whisper that a breath-stealing monster from folklore has taken up residence in Easton’s home. Easton knows better than to put too much stock in local superstitions, but they can tell that something is not quite right in their home. . . or in their dreams.

I loved What Moves the Dead so much and always enjoy books by T. Kingfisher. I'm looking forward to reading What Feasts at Night.

Have you read What Moves the Dead? Will you be reading What Feasts at Night?

Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To. Oh no - I'm going to feel so called out today! Hopefully I can get to all of these this year.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig

The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

 

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

DNF Review | The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree is a fantasy novel by Samantha Shannon.

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

I only read 200 pages so these are mainly just notes for myself.

I don't think Samantha Shannon's writing is a good fit for me. I can usually switch over to an audiobook, but things are mentioned several times before we are told what they are or why things are the way they are. I think this will work for some people, but I had a constant feeling of not knowing what was going on and it was even worse on audio.

There are cool elements (like dragons) and I like the characters, but I started plotting out ways to motivate myself to finish. I would love to make it to the other side of this and know why people love it, but I'm not sure how kind it is to force another 600+ pages when my TBR is towering.

I'm sad because the cover for the prequel is beautiful, too...

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

On My Wishlist | The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Tainted Cup is the first in the new series by Robert Jackson Bennett.

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.

Early reviews of The Tainted Cup have been amazing. I keep meaning to read Robert Jackson Bennett but never get around to it. Maybe this series would be the perfect place to start.

Have you read Robert Jackson Bennett before? Will you be reading The Tainted Cup?

Expected publication February 6, 2024

Bookish Goals for 2024

I love the start of a new reading year. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Bookish Goals for 2024. Below are my hopes and goals for 2024.

Goodreads Challenge

This is going to be the same goal I've had since the beginning of time - 50 books. Some years I read closer to 100, some years I read closer to 50. I think roughly a book a week is a massive amount for an average adult.

Nonfiction

Last year the only nonfiction books I read were picked by my book club. I need to take my brain back.

TBR Jar

I have made a TBR jar every year for as long as I can remember. I'd love to read a lot more from my jar this year. I currently have 136 books in the jar. I have no intentions of reading them all, but I want it to be my go to for picking books this year.

Kid Lit

I didn't read much middle grade or young adult last year and I'm hoping to do much better in that area this year. I know I'm missing out on some amazing stories.

Reviews

I have fallen completely out of the habit of writing reviews. I miss it, and I'm struggling hard. This may make my reading feel like a job for a while, but I want to stop and write a review of everything I read as soon as I'm done reading it. Wish me luck.

Library

I use my library a lot for digital copies of books I own. I like being able to go back and forth between print and audio. I'd love to use my library more for new to me authors or genres and then only buy the physical book if I loved it. This is a struggle because I prefer to focus on books I own, but I'm working on it.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | January 14

Hello, friends. I'm still in the middle of a ton of books which is fine. So far this year I'm on top of my reviews which is wonderful.

This week was birthday week for my oldest. We get a long weekend this weekend, and we have a winter storm coming. Some area schools are already delaying/closing in preparation. Our average snow fall here is zero. It's not even supposed to snow - just freezing rain - but I'm hoping for a snow day or two.

Posted Last Week

I posted two reviews. Is this a new me? I hope so!

Review | Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

Review | The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Quarter of 2024

On My Wishlist | The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Finished Reading

Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon ⭐⭐⭐★★ - This series is a good escape (Review | Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon).

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - The best written worst book I've ever read. Highly recommended. (Review | The Reformatory by Tananarive Due)

Currently Reading

My TBR jar has a lot of faith in me and gave me both Children of Ruin and The Priory of the Orange Tree for this month. Both are tomes in their genres.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire was released this past week. I'm slowly making my way through it. These books are so short in length, and I'm enjoying everything about it so far.

Added to the TBR

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire is the 9th book in the Wayward Children series. I love this series and all of their heartbreak.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Review | The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

The Reformatory is a work of literary horror fiction by Tananarive Due.

A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.

I can't do this book justice so I'm not even going to try, but I do want to jot down some thoughts about The Reformatory.

First and foremost, this book is a masterpiece. Tananarive Due is an incredible writer, and this book is remarkable. If the world would allow a horror book to win all of the literary prizes, I think The Reformatory deserves all of the literary prizes.

The second point I need to make is this is a tough read. One particular chapter had me shaking so much I couldn't even type my thoughts to the friends I was reading this with. I'm not sure that's happened in any other book that I've read. This was a powerful read.

I wish I could do a deep dive into the layers of racism, injustice, grief, hauntings, friendship, family, and so much more, but this book is important to experience the way Tananarive Due intended. The book description does a great job blurbing what the book is about.

I give The Reformatory the highest of recommendations, but I also need to state there's child death, child abuse, and child sexual assault along with violence and racism and other content warnings that you may need to seek out prior to reading.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

Source: personal purchase (audio). This is a review of my reading experience.

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On My Wishlist | The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

The Tusks of Extinction is by the same author who wrote The Mountain in the Sea.

When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.

Moscow has resurrected the mammoth, but someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again.

The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world’s foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help. While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth.

Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold?

And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?

A tense eco-thriller from a new master of the genre.

The Mountain in the Sea has been in my immediate TBR stack for months now. They both sound amazing so I'd love to get to both of them this year.

Have you read anything by Ray Nayler? Is The Tusks of Extinction on your radar for this year?

Expected publication January 16, 2024

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This post is being shared as part of Can't-Wait Wednesday over at Wishful Endings.

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Quarter of 2024

I had trouble narrowing this list down to 12. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024, but I've decided to focus only on the first quarter (January - March) today.

 

Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott - Selva Almada is an Argentine author, and Not a River has been translated into English. This is a story of grief and friendship and it sounds like nature is an ominous character in this one. Expected publication January 1, 2024.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire - Is my heart ready for another Wayward Children? We'll see! I love this series and each new release is a highlight of the new year. Expected publication January 9, 2024.

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer - This is survival horror about rock climbers inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident. Expected publication January 16, 2024.

 

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler - This is by the same author that wrote The Mountain in the Sea. I don't know much about it, but I love fiction with an animal character focus. Expected publication January 16, 2024.

Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa - This is an adult horror being compared to Carrie and The Exorcist so I'm ready to be scared. Let's do this! Expected publication February 20, 2024.

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall - Kate Alice Marshall is an absolute favorite author so she will land on my most anticipated lists no matter what she writes. Expected publication January 23, 2024.

 

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - I keep missing the boat when it comes to Robert Jackson Bennett. I really want to get caught up on his other series and hopefully start this one as well.
Expected publication February 6, 2024

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher - This is the sequel to What Moves the Dead. I loved What Moves the Dead. I'm going into the sequel completely blind, and I'm so excited.
Expected publication February 13, 2024

Murder Road by Simone St. James - I really enjoy Simone St. James so I'm hoping to check out her latest thriller this year. Expected publication March 5, 2024.

 

We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson - This is another story of friendship and horror. Four women are investigating the murder of their friend and it sounds pretty intense. Expected publication March 5, 2024.

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes - This Booker Prize nominee is being published in the US in February. "An astonishing novel about a young microbiologist investigating an unfathomable deep vent in the ocean floor, leading her on a journey that will encompass the full trajectory of the cosmos and the passage of a single human life."
Expected publication February 27, 2024.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Alien worlds and alien lifeforms are some of my most favorite elements in fiction. I have the highest of hopes for Alien Clay. This is one of my most anticipated of the year. Expected publication March 28, 2024.