In 2015, my friend and I spent our spring break driving around to local bookstores in the Twin Cities. While visiting Once Upon a Crime, I met local author Jessie Chandler. She was so nice and convinced both my friend and me to buy her book. Operation Stop Hate was the first book in a series she was writing about a local federal agent. While I read Operation Stop Hate in 2016, I had this on my re-read pile for a while. I decided to bring it to my husband’s parents’ house and read it throughout the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this book just as much as when I first read it five years ago.

Cailin McKenna is a special agent focused on domestic terror threats. She’s called in to investigate two school shootings in the Minneapolis area. From her investigation, she realizes both shooters were listening to white power music, which involves Cailin going undercover in a hate group. There’s more at stake as the group is planning an attack on a liberal area in Minnesota. Can Cailin stop the event in time without blowing her cover?

I loved Cailin as a character. I liked her tomboyish nature, and I adored her relationship with Alex. At the heart of this book is a healthy lesbian relationship. Besides their relationship, I liked seeing the local places mentioned where their characters visited. I think Jessie Chandler, as an author, did a great job at listing various parts of Minneapolis that anyone could follow along, not just those who are from the area. The only thing I disliked about Cailin was how she put off confronting her ex. Other than that, I liked Cailin as a character.

Operation Stop Hate focused on hate groups and how hatred can lead to violence. I thought the hate groups were interesting to the plot and allowed Cailin to go undercover. While Minnesota is a liberal place to live, there are several pockets within the state where I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these groups are active today. It’s clear Jessie did research on hate groups while writing this book, and it showed.

Operation Stop Hate was an intriguing and fast-paced read. I’m excited to check out Jessie Chandler’s other series, which seems similar to this book. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a sequel to this, which is a shame because I would read it in a heartbeat.

CW: Sexual Assault, Suicide. (I do not discuss this in detail; this serves as a CW for the book itself)

Horror is a genre I want to read more of, but I haven’t found my go-to author in the genre. Stephen King is the only horror author I can name, which means I’m still on the periphery of horror books. I have seen Grady Hendrix’s name pop-up specifically The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. I had this on my radar, so when October rolled around, I wanted to read this. I finished The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires last weekend, and it was a wild ride.

Patricia Campbell lives a mundane life as a stay-at-home mom. She cleans, cooks, and routinely discusses True Crime books at her book club. Patricia invites their new neighbor to her book club to help introduce him to their community. As Patricia gets to know her neighbor, strange events happen in their town. Patricia starts to suspect this neighbor of being a drug dealer, but maybe he’s something more. In a neighboring town, missing kids are dying in strange ways, which leads Patricia to conclude that this neighbor could be a vampire. How will Patricia convince her book club that Dracula is a few houses over?

I liked how The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was filled with irony. At the women’s book club, they talk about why people don’t say anything when a strange man moves to town who seems a bit off, i.e., Ted Bundy, yet Patricia has to convince everyone that this man is no good. I feel for Patricia because she is often gaslit and told that she’s overthinking things. Patricia’s husband, Carter, doesn’t support her and makes horrible statements nonchalantly. Patricia, along with Mrs. Greene were two characters I thoroughly enjoyed reading about.

I want to be up-front, there were several horrific and grotesque scenes in this book. If it helps, I have attached my Goodreads review where I put these scenes under spoiler tags. Feel free to read them to determine if this book will work for you. These scenes involve rats, insects, and a disturbing sexual assault. I mentioned this in the content warning already to make this clear.

My main critique of the book was that all the women seemed to blend together. Patricia stood out to me, along with Mrs. Greene; otherwise, the other women seemed to sound the same. I wish there were something about each of the women that I could remember. I do think this was intentional by Hendrix, as these women were all stay-at-home moms.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was a horrific Vampire-hunting book that fits perfectly into my Spooky TBR. I rated The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires four stars on Goodreads, although I was debating between a four or five star rating. I want to read more horror, so if anyone has any author suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.

I have been getting into reading more romance lately. When I think about my favorite romance books, they have to have great characters, a romance I genuinely root for, and keep me engaged throughout the whole book. The Love Hypothesis interested me because of academia and STEM, being the backdrop of the book. I graduated with a degree in science, and before switching my major to Exercise Science, I started with a degree in biology. The Love Hypothesis carried a lot of nostalgia for me because I felt myself reminiscing on my years in college, where science was my life. The Love Hypothesis was hands down one of my favorite romance books I have read to date, and might be the best book I read in 2021.

Olive Smith is a studious Ph.D. candidate focusing on pancreatic cancer research. In between her studies, Olive relies on her best friend, Ahn, to help keep her grounded. Ahn is dating Olive’s ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, although Ahn feels bad about this. For Olive to convince Ahn that she’s over Jeremy, Olive lies about dating Dr. Adam Carlsen, one of the most hated professors on campus. As Olive and Adam become close, Olive starts to realize that she’s truly fallen for him.

The characters in The Love Hypothesis were fun to follow. Starting with Olive, I found myself rooting for her from the beginning. As someone who’s also had a loved one die of pancreatic cancer, I could empathize with Olive and why she chose this particular area to study. Olive is a pumpkin spice latte-loving science nerd who wants to make a difference in the world, and I felt that. Ahn, as Olive’s best friend, was another character I loved reading about. There are passages mentioned where Ahn has created women’s STEM groups on campus to help women wanting to get into STEM. If there were ever a solo book featuring Ahn released by the author, Ali Hazelwood, I would be all over it. Besides Ahn, Malcolm is Olive’s other friend, who is in STEM. Malcolm becomes the voice of reason for Olive and helps her as she navigates her relationship with Adam.

Speaking of Adam, the romance between Olive and Adam was not only convincing, but they genuinely were made for each other. I enjoyed the sexier scenes between Olive and Adam as I felt they had great chemistry together. I also thought that there were real stakes in this relationship. In any romance book, a couple is tested by some big event, leading to them breaking up. In this book, I felt Olive had real stakes as to how she wanted to move forward with her relationship with Adam. As I read through this book, I was angry at what Olive had been through. I’m glad Olive and Adam got together, and the way everything concluded was satisfying.

The Love Hypothesis lived up to the hype. As I read the book, I found myself not wanting to stop reading. This is one of the romance books I will set as an example of what a five-star romance book looks like. Olive and Adam are my romance book OTP. (One True Pairing).

Happy Halloween! It’s funny how one day has so much anticipation that builds, and then it’s over. I decided to post a book review of a dark academia thriller I read recently, The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. This book wasn’t featured on my spooky TBR post I published this month. Whenever I travel, I like to bring along my Kindle as I don’t like the idea of physical books taking up precious packing space. My spooky TBR was all the physical books I wanted to read, and The Maidens was a book I purchased for my Kindle. Therefore, I ended up reading The Maidens and putting aside my physical spooky TBR pile for now.

Mariana Andros is a skilled psychotherapist who is grieving the loss of her partner, Sebastian. Mariana is alerted to a murder at her niece’s college campus, which also happens to be Mariana’s alma mater, Cambridge. Zoe, Mariana’s niece, teams up with Mariana to help investigate the murder. Intertwined with the murder case is a college professor, Edward Fosca, who has a special group of students called The Maidens. Mariana is determined to find evidence that Fosca was the one who killed the girls. As Mariana digs deeper, she realizes there’s a lot more at stake than just the murders.

As mentioned, I liked the mention of various Greek tragedies and mythology. Fosca is a professor specializing in this area of study, so it made sense that various Greek mythology tragedies were mentioned. I thought Michaelides did a great job illustrating the book’s setting. I could imagine Mariana in a fashionable trench coat wandering around a gloomy campus and interacting with the students as she went. Speaking of Mariana, I liked her as the main protagonist. I was rooting for her, and I could empathize with her grief.

The story and the ultimate twist didn’t work for me. I won’t discuss spoilers, but if you’re curious, I wrote about the spoiler in my Goodreads review hidden under spoiler tags. The twist, in my opinion, felt a bit out there. As I read other reviews on Goodreads, I can now envision the instances in the book that led to this twist. The reason the twist didn’t work for me was because of how heavily it impacted Mariana. I loved Mariana as a character, and I thought the twist cheapened her story. Besides the twist, I found it extremely hard to believe that Mariana was the only one who noticed Fosca’s creepy behavior. If this were real life, everyone would think Fosca was a huge creep, yet Mariana spent the majority of the book convincing others of this.

Overall, I’m glad I spent the time reading The Maidens; however, it ended up being a letdown for me. I thought this would easily be one of my favorite books I read in 2021, but this wasn’t the case. I rated The Maidens three stars, rounded up on Goodreads.

It’s Spooky Season! This is my favorite time of the year, and now that I’m done with wedding planning, I can dive into the season. I went to my local bookstore, Cream & Amber, to pick up a few books to read. I wanted to share what’s on my Spooky TBR!

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Patricia Campbell is a nurse turned housewife to her husband and two kids. In her free time, she and the other moms are a part of a true-crime book club, which allows them to discuss how evil some people can truly be. Patricia decides to welcome a stranger to their book club. As much as Patricia is captivated by the newcomer, she becomes suspicious as children are mysteriously disappearing from the next town over. Patricia realizes that this stranger may be the next Ted Bundy or maybe something a bit more.

This is the first book I started reading, and it’s really good! I find myself wanting to read this anytime I have free time. I went into this thinking it would be a typical vampire moves next door book; however, there’s a lot more horror involved. I just read a part about rats that still makes my skin crawl.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Vivienne Jones went through an awful breakup. She drank, she cried, and she decided to cast a curse on her ex because why not? Being a witch has its perks. Although Vivienne’s ex moves back to their hometown and Vivienne realizes her curse may have brought some unintended consequences.

This will be a nice break from horror, as I plan on reading this right after The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

A wedding party arrives in Ireland to begin the festivities. Champagne is popped, conversations are had, and someone turns up dead. Who is the culprit, and what secrets are revealed in the process?

I’m a sucker for a good thriller. I can’t help it; they draw me in as I want to know how everything unfolds. I think thrillers can fit into Spooky Season because human beings are capable of awful deeds.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

An apothecary waits as women visit from across the globe. They purchase poisons to help free themselves of the men who have wronged them. Two women are bound together in different parts of history as they seek the apothecary.

I partially bought this book for the cover. The cover shows a mystical potion bottle surrounded by neon flowers. I figured I could fit this into my TBR because of the alchemy and magic associated with this book.

I can’t wait to read all these books! I have enough variety in my TBR to cover different genres. Once November and December hit, I like to read non-fiction, romance, or more thrillers. If you have any of these books, let me know what you think in the comments below, or feel free to suggest other Spooky books worth reading, too.

I was first introduced to Riley Sager after I read Final Girls last year. Final Girls was my favorite book I read in 2020, partly because it felt like I was reading a slasher movie. Riley Sager seems to have found his niche in writing psychological thrillers with some horror or supernatural elements thrown in. Lock Every Door was on my TBR for a long time, as I was saving it for Fall. Lock Every Door was another captivating and eerie read.

Jules Larsen is down on her luck. She’s lost her job, found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, and she’s homeless. Jules finds an ad in the paper about an apartment sitter at a notorious New York ritzy apartment building called The Bartholomew. Jules is interviewed by the luxurious Leslie Evelyn, who decides Jules is the perfect choice as the new apartment sitter. As Jules moves in, she starts to notice strange occurrences at the mansion. After one of the other tenants moves out, Jules decides to launch her investigation, which leads her down a dark path.

This book took some sharp turns where I wasn’t sure what Jule’s fate would be. Jules was a protagonist I was genuinely rooting for. She has been through so much trauma at a young age and knows what it’s like to be close to giving up. I read some negative reviews of Lock Every Door, and they stated that Jules is naive and a bit reckless for moving into an apartment building she doesn’t know anything about. However, I think it’s made clear that Jules needs the money. She is living paycheck to paycheck, and she needs money fast.

Lock Every Door wasn’t a supernatural thriller like I had originally anticipated. It shows how evil humanity can be and how some in society view others as less than due to their income. Each villain in this story was someone I hated, so kudos to Riley Sager for making me hate everyone who had a hand in hurting Jules. While reading Lock Every Door, I kept thinking this reminded me of American Horror Story: Hotel. All I pictured was the rich aura of the Hotel in American Horror Story and how Leslie Evelyn reminded me of Lady Gaga.

I have now read two of Sager’s books, and I’m starting to notice a pattern. Earlier in this post, I mentioned how Riley Sager has a niche. Each book centers around a female protagonist who has been hit with some kind of personal tragedy or trauma. She is put in danger and has to fight her way out using her trauma to provide fuel to fight back. I have liked Riley Sager’s books; however, I can understand why some readers don’t. I find it’s worth mentioning because while I liked this book, I find that once you read one Riley Sager book, you have the formula for the rest.

Lock Every Door was such an engrossing read. I’m a bit skeptical about reading more Riley Sager books, as I’m finding they are becoming a bit formulaic. I rated Lock Every Door five stars on Goodreads.

Every booktuber I follow raved about The House in the Cerulean Sea. My local bookstore had this book on display as one of the best books released in 2020. I purposefully planned to read this in the summer because of the gorgeous cover, along with the lighthearted premise. The House in the Cerulean Sea is a fantasy novel about love, happiness, and fighting against prejudice.

CW for discussions of genocide against indigenous people.

Before I write my review, I want to mention one more thing. T.J. Klune, the author of the book, based this book on the “60s Scoop”. The “60’s Scoop” is a real-life genocide where children were kidnapped and mistreated. There has been discussion about this and whether Klune is profiting from a horrific event. I didn’t know this before reading The House in the Cerulean Sea. If you would like to read more, I suggest starting here: https://www.reddit.com/r/romancelandi… 

Linus Baker lives an ordinary life without much excitement. Linus works as a caseworker, visiting various orphanages along with writing reports about what he sees. Linus is sent away to spend a month on a rather unusual assignment. At this orphanage, he discovers the “anti-Christ” lives there with other magical children. Linus’s goal is to write weekly reports, get to know the children, and decide if this orphanage should be shut down.

The character development in this book was heartwarming and emotional. Linus was somewhat unlikable and scared to break away from his mundane life. Towards the end of the book, he starts to defend himself and realizes that he has the control to decide what will make him happy. Linus develops a deep relationship with Arthur, who cares for the children at the orphanage. Each of the children has their own background and personality. In stories like these, it’s easy to have some characters blend into the background, but that wasn’t the case here.

When reading fantasy, I want to feel like I’m in this world. TJ Klune’s writing made me feel this way. I could close my eyes and picture the seaside town, the color of the water, and the little cottage where Linus stays.

The messaging throughout this book was lovely. There were various themes subtly presented throughout the book. One example was how children are taught hatred; they aren’t born with it. Another message in this book was self-love. Linus has a lot of insecurity about his weight. All of the characters reinforce the fact that Linus doesn’t have to change, and he’s fine exactly the way he is. I also loved the fact that this book confronted how a society can be destroyed when we let preconceived notions get the better of us. This book has such great messages, and it helped to read this slowly, so I wouldn’t miss it all.

The House in the Cerulean Sea was such a lovely book. It was a feel-good fantasy I was really invested in. The House in the Cerulean Sea lives up to the hype and might be my favorite book I’ve read this year.

As mentioned in one of my recent posts, I was able to use my free weekend to finish The Shadow Mission by Shamim Sarif. This is the second in the Athena Protocol series. I read The Athena Protocol last year, and I loved it. I had high hopes for the sequel. The Shadow Mission was another fast-paced outing; however, there was one scene in particular that didn’t sit right with me. I will discuss this scene in detail later in this post.

After Athena’s mission in Belgrade, Jessie Archer is debriefed for her next mission. The Athena team is tasked to take on a far-right group known as Family First, who feel women shouldn’t be educated and belong in the home. After a terrorist attack at an all-girls school, Jessie is thrown into the investigation and connects with Riya, a detective who is also investigating the bombing. Together, they uncover another terrorist plot at a different all-girls boarding school. Can they stop it in time?

Originally, when reading The Athena Protocol, I wasn’t a big fan of Jessie. However, I felt Jessie had grown quite a bit since the first book. She seemed more mature in this book and aware of the consequences of her actions. I found myself growing attached to her story and why she is the way she is. Caitlin and Hala, Jessie’s fellow Athena agents, are still a big part of this book as well.

While Jessie grew on me as a character, I found a certain scene in this book that made me uneasy.

CW: Outing of an LGBTQIA+ character *read at your own risk*

There’s a scene where Jessie and Hala follow this politician whom they think has affiliations with Family First. As they approach, they recognize that this politician is having an affair with a man. To gain intelligence, Jessie blackmails the politician into helping them by threatening to release photographs to the media. Jessie isn’t straight, so I’m surprised Jessie doesn’t see this as being hypocritical. Additionally, this scene takes place in India, which, in some ways, isn’t as progressive as other countries on LGBTQIA+ rights. This politician isn’t a good person; however, this crossed the line for me. I felt this scene left me with an icky taste in my mouth. I wish Sarif hadn’t written this scene in the book to begin with.

With this being said, I did enjoy reading The Shadow Mission. When I wrote my original review on Goodreads, I ended up only rating this four stars. With the scene I discussed above, it felt out of place enough for me not to give this a full five-star rating. Overall, I’m still excited that this series exists, and I can’t wait for the third book.

Last year, I read The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill. I was blown away by the art, along with how Katie can write heavy topics with a bright artistic style. Once I read The Tea Dragon Society, I purchased Aquicorn Cove, another book written in the same world as The Tea Dragon Society. It’s no surprise that Aquicorn Cove was a graphic novel I would adore. This story focuses on the loss of a family member and ocean preservation.

Aquicorn Cove focuses on a young girl named Lana. Lana goes on a trip to visit her Aunt Mae, who lives by the sea. Lana would visit Mae when she was younger with her mother. Unfortunately, Lana’s mother was killed in a boating accident when Lana was young. As Lana visits Mae, Lana discovers a young, injured Aquicorn that resembles a Tea Dragon seahorse. Throughout the story, Lana realizes that Mae’s actions may have damaged the ocean and led to the injury of the Aquicorn. This forces Mae to recognize that her actions have consequences.

I see the struggle Lana faces as she visits Mae. Lana is struggling with memories of her mother. As someone who has lost a parent at a young age, I felt Lana’s pain. She is coming to terms with the fact that these memories will preserve her mother in her mind, although it’s painful to think that her mother is gone.

Katie’s imagery in this is breathtaking. The sea is bright, the sky is sparkling, and the aquicorns are cute creatures living in the sea. Each panel was interesting to look at. While this book is about 100 pages long, I found myself taking longer to read it because I kept looking at each page.

Aquicorn Cove is a beautiful story of life, loss, and reflection. I would recommend reading The Tea Dragon Society first because I think it sets the tone for this story. Both The Tea Dragon Society and Aquicorn Cove can be purchased on Oni Press‘s website or through your local bookstore.