“Thistlefoot” Review

“Thistlefoot” by GennaRose Nethercott

The Yaga siblings—Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist—have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive an inheritance, the siblings agree to meet—only to discover that their bequest isn’t land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.

Thistlefoot, as the house is called, has arrived from the Yagas’ ancestral home outside Kyiv—but not alone. A sinister figure known only as the Longshadow Man has tracked it to American shores, bearing with him violent secrets from the past: fiery memories that have hidden in Isaac and Bellatine’s blood for generations. As the Yaga siblings embark with Thistlefoot on a final cross-country tour of their family’s traveling theater show, the Longshadow Man follows in relentless pursuit, seeding destruction in his wake. Ultimately, time, magic, and legacy must collide—erupting in a powerful conflagration to determine who gets to remember the past and craft a new future.

An enchanted adventure illuminated by Jewish myth and adorned with lyrical prose as tantalizing and sweet as briar berries, Thistlefoot is a sweeping epic rich in Eastern European folklore: a powerful and poignant exploration of healing from multi-generational trauma told by a bold new talent.

Review

This was a great story. It starts off a bit slow and the personalities of the characters can be a little annoying for opposite reasons but it makes sense for the story and how they’re dealing with everything. There’s a lot of history involved and not just their own personal history but the family history. I like the way the Yaga siblings are basically opposites with how they handle the world, one always running one always needing to be in control. In the end though both are needed to defeat their enemy. Each sibling has their own gifts and both end up being important. I really like the way final confrontation plays out and the way the book ends – which is also a beginning.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Thistlefoot”

Book Details

The Thistlefoot cover shows a small house with a fence around it and trees in the back atop two chicken legs. Beneath the house and behind the legs are two figures of a man and a woman. In front is a road with a car on it. Everything is in black with a white background except the title and authors name which are in read above and below the house. A the very top of the cover is a black curtain curled up above as if it's over a stage.

Author’s Website
GennaRose Nethercott
Publisher / Date
Anchor, September 2022
Genre
Urban Fantasy, Horror
Page Count
435
Completion Date
November 17, 2024

“This World Is Not Yours” Review

“This World Is Not Yours” by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancée Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse.

The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray.

As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself.

There’s more than one way to be eaten alive.

Review

This was an interesting story. There wasn’t a lot of in-depth world building in this one but it mostly made sense since the colonists didn’t really understand the world they were on either and that was mostly the point. The writing style was interesting in that each chapter was a short scene in the character’s lives with time jumps of various lengths in between. Some of the chapters were no more than a page long and only contained the internal monologue of the characters. The characters themselves were not all that likable but I felt like it was the point given how toxic their relationships with each other were. The ending was a bit disturbing but I liked it.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “This World Is Not Yours”

Book Details

The cover of This World Is Not Yours depicts a person inside a spacesuit whose face is partially obscured in shadow and appears to be grinning manically. The rest of the cover is very dark with a lot of grays and green colors. The title is across the chest of the spacesuite with the author's name at the top.

Author’s Website
Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Publisher / Date
Tor Nightfire, September 2024
Genre
Science Fiction, Horror
Page Count
166
Completion Date
October 29, 2024

“No One Will Come Back For Us” Review

“No One Will Come Back For Us” by Premee Mohamed

Here there be gods and monsters – forged from flesh and stone and vengeance – emerging from the icy abyss of deep space, ascending from dark oceans, and prowling strange cities to enter worlds of chaos and wonder, where scientific rigor and human endeavour is tested to the limits. These are cosmic realms and watery domains where old offerings no longer appease the ancient Gods or the new and hungry idols. Deities and beasts. Life and death. Love and hate. Science and magic. And smiling monsters in human skin.

Premee Mohamed’s debut collection of contemporary cosmic horror and dark fantasy heralds the arrival of a new and vibrant voice on the cutting edge of modern speculative fiction.

Review

The seventeen stories in this book are an interesting mix of horror, fantasy and science fiction. Many of them exist within a “gods are real” universe with a more fantasy horror slant while others are general fiction horror with science fiction elements. I enjoyed all of them though I think a couple could have done with a bit more explanation of what was going on and why. I did like that the author included additional information about the various stories at the end of the book.

Below the Kirk, Below the Hill – a woman finds an undead child and struggles to figure out what to do next. I liked the way this one ended because the choices were limited and there wasn’t much that can be done for the child.

Instructions – a set of instructions for British servicemen in a German occupied France. Only it turns out it’s not that simple. As you read through the instructions you slowly figure out the twist to this one. I liked it.

The Evaluator – in which a child has been possessed buy a disturbing entity and all people can do is evaluate the situation. This is another one where there are limited choices but this time the horror is more about being helpless.

At the Hand of Every Beast – a monster in the form of a large cathedral wonders through the area and a small child investigates it. This one was strange but I enjoyed it.

The Adventurer’s Wife – A newspaper reporter is tasked with interviewing a deceased adventurer’s widow. This one has a great twist in the end. Not all is as it seems on multiple fronts. Fun ending.

The General’s Turn – a captured solder is put through a test by the enemy. I’m not entirely sure I understood this one. The explanation from the author helps some.

Sixteen Minutes – a sixteen minute warning comes and a man hides in a bunker abandoning his family in the process. Question is, were bombs really dropped? This one is more about the man who hides in the bunker slowly losing his mind more than anything else. The ending is a little vague on purpose.

Fortunato – a ship lands to rescue the survivors of a failed colony and the crew soon learns the story of what went wrong. Of course the rescue goes about as well as you’d expect. I enjoyed the slow build of horror of this one as things go horribly wrong.

The Honeymakers – Something strange happens with a bee hive and girls who interact with it. This one is a bit confusing but I liked the idea of it.

Four Hours of a Revolution – Many Deaths stalk a group of rebels and solders fighting a revolution…there’s some confusion… This one is interesting to read as death follows everyone as things happen.

For Each of These Miseries – A woman travels to a deep see fortress to help her mother’s friend who is dealing with a monster and a group of soldiers who are slowly succumbing to the pressure of keeping things secret. The ending of this one is interesting.

Everything is Part of Its Infinite Place – a boy grieves the loss of his brother and encounters a double of himself and a series of strange events before making a choice. The ending of this one is a little vague as we know something happened but it’s not clear of it was a good thing or a bad thing.

No One Will Come Back For Us – a visit to a hospital during a epidemic that may have a supernatural cause. I enjoyed reason this one but I think the might have been one where things could have been explained a little more? Or at last the ending as I’m not sure about the narrator’s point of view.

Willing – A farmer’s two cows suffer during birth – one dying one living but birthing a stillborn. A sacrifice is required. I really liked the way this one ended.

Us and Ours – two kids during an invasion of creatures dealing with everything. This one was good – the kids are pretty much used as bait by another group for the creatures. I From the author’s description it seems like the ending is supposed to be a little vague about who actually won. I liked the way it ended though with the two kids driving off to have their own adventures.

The Redoubtables – a young journalist is investigating a disaster to write an article about it. It turns out that the disaster was intentional because a group of scientists destroyed their experiment completely in order to keep it contained. No real explanations are given as to why and that’s the true horror of it all.

Quietus – a young man is being used as test subject – from his point of view he’s fighting several wars. We also get emails exchanged between scientists running the experiment on sleep deprivation and virtual reality. The ending is a little vague but it seems like the right choice to end the experiment is made for the good of all. But whether or not it’s too late is unclear.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “No One Will Come Back For Us”

Book Details

Cover of No One Will Come Back for Us. There is an individual in a spacesuit flouting upside down in deep space with an air tube trailing behind them. There are are two long tentacles floating from the top corner around the figure in the spacesuit one far above and one reaching down towards the person. The cover has a softer light at the top corner where the tentacles are coming from. The title is written one word at a time down the right side of the cover wit the author's name at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Premee Mohamed
Publisher / Date
Undertow Publications, May 2023
Genre
Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Page Count
288
Completion Date
October 26, 2024

“Someone You Can Build a Nest In” Review

“Someone You Can Build a Nest In” by John Wiswell

Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.

Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the area: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?

Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.

And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

Review

I read this one for one of my book clubs. It’s described as a queer romance but the “romance” aspect isn’t what many would usually call romance given that Shesheshen is technically a monster and wants to find someone to lay their eggs in… In any case I ended up enjoying it more than I was expecting too. Shesheshen and Homily are great characters. Homily’s family is a lot but it all works out well in the end for everyone. Part of what helps is that Shesheshen isn’t fully knowledgeable about what it means to be what she is. She had no one around to teach her anything so was essentially making it up as she went along. Shesheshen also has a lot of opinions about humans from having observed them for so long and actually seems to understand them better than she understands herself. Homily desperately needs to escape her terrible family but needs to work through a lot stuff first as well.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Someone You Can Build a Nest In”.

Book Details

Book cover is almost entirely red and black with a person standing near the bottom center holing a lantern. They are surrounded by red tentacles directly behind them and then above them stands a black grinning figure with more tentacles and a long black wig and witch's hat There are multiple other shapes around the cover books and hearts and spices and skulls.

Author’s Website
John Wiswell
Publisher / Date
DAW, April 2024
Genre
Fantasy, Horror
Page Count
304
Completion Date
October 10, 2024

“Monstrilio” Review

“Monstrilio” by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

After her son dies, Magos carves out a small piece of his lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her decaying childhood home in Mexico City. But despite her best efforts to turn the monster into a man, Monstrilio’s innate impulses threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.

A meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova’s ambitious debut spans the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, offering an uncanny and precise portrait of being human.

Review

This was such a weird book (and a bit more sexually explicit, in a couple brief scenes, than I’d usually read), but also very good. The story is split into four sections with different narrators for each one – Magos, her best friend, her husband, and finally Monstrilio. Monstrilio’s section is probably the most complex as he is working out who he actually is and how he will continue to live. He ends up making a choice in the end that isn’t really a surprise considering all that has happened. Overall I felt like all four of the characters were unlikeable but sympathetic in their own ways, which made the book interesting to read. Monstrilio was obviously the most sympathetic because of how he was created and forced to be something he’s not by the choices others made.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph Page for “Monstrilio”.

Book Details

The background of the cover is textured gray/green and there are several shapes around the cover, triangles, squares and circles. At the bottom middle is the head and chest of creature with pointed ears larger than its head and red eyes. The title of the book is at the top with the author's name in the middle.

Author’s Website
Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Publisher / Date
Zando, March 2023
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Page Count
336
Completion Date
August 8, 2024

“Certain Dark Things” Review

“Certain Dark Things” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized.

Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.

Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?

Review

Not quite my usual cup of tea but I ended up enjoying this book a lot. I read it because I enjoyed another of the author’s books (“Mexican Gothic” also reviewed on this site). The characters were interesting and I enjoyed reading the various points of views in the book and thought they worked well. We see not just Atl and Domingo’s perspective but also members of the rival vampire clan and the police officer that was looking for them. The book ends about like you’d expect from this sort of story with everyone converging all at once. I also felt like the resolution of Atl and Domingo’s relationship made sense given who Atl is.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Certain Dark Things”.

Book Details

There is a large circle with triangles and other shapes around the circumference of the circle. In front of the circle is a the head of a dog facing left and a woman standing turned slightly to the right. She is wearing a black jacket with a high color. The title is over the bottom half of the cover and then the author's name is at the bottom.

Author
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publisher / Date
Tor Nightfire, September 2021 (reprint, originally published 2016)
Genre
Fantasy, Horror
Page Count
336
Completion Date
August 3, 2024