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Channel Fear by Lisa Richardson – Book Review
About the Book
A Heart-in-mouth YA Horror-Thriller, perfect for teen fans of The Haunting of Hill House.
Iris is obsessed with star YouTube ghost hunting duo, Zach and Lucas, who disappeared at an undisclosed location several months ago. Iris- who heads up her own unsuccessful channel with co-hosts Byron and his girlfriend Molly – has been searching for the location ever since.
When they stumble across Long-abandoned Thornhanger House, the trio set aside their toxic love triangle to explore, and find Zach and Lucas’s abandoned equipment inside… complete with their last day of filming.
As they watch the footage? A horrifying truth emerges: whatever came for Zach and Lucas is coming for them too…
Lisa Richardson bursts onto the YA scene with a spine-chilling horror-thriller, bringing a terrifying fresh new angle, haunted with breathtaking twists.
About the Author
Lisa Richardson has a first-class honours degree in Creative and Professional Writing and works as a production editor. When not writing, Lisa can be found reading, binge-watching Netflix with her sons, or running and taking photographs along the Kent coast.
Follow her on Instagram: @lisarichardson_21
What I Thought
This book was a wild and thrilling ride. So much so that I needed a break half way through, even though I desperately wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.
This leans heavily into lots of horror tropes and does it so well. Creepy dolls – check. Rocking chair – check. It’s The Blair Witch Project meets The Ring meets The Haunting of Hill House all wrapped up in one.
As a YA Horror there is nothing too gruesome featured but the suspense barely lets up. My poor racing heart.
We have 3 sets of characters. The original missing ghost hunting duo of Zach and Lucas who we meet through their found footage. Iris, Molly and Byron who we follow on their hunt for the duo, and finally the house, it’s grounds and its inhabitants. It’s up to you to determine whether those inhabitants are former or current!
Despite making some very questionable choices I did like all the characters and didn’t want to see any of them harmed. And as if all the ghost hunting wasn’t angsty enough we also have a love quadrangle but which pairing survives the night? (It’s described as a love triangle in the synopsis but in a haunted house tale who is to say the missing supposed deceased Zach is out of the picture!). Finally whichof our trio lives to reap the fame that having a viral ghost hunting video brings you. And is that worth the horror to get there?
For the reader I say yes it is well worth picking this one up. Not everything is 100% explained at the end but that leads to the unease, a call for a re-read, and maybe even opens up the chance for a sequel?
For the characters – hmmmmmm. I think I’ll leave the seances and EMF machines to them.
I’m off to read a rom com stat.
Mini-Review in page numbers:
Page 339 – Final page. I’d like to say this was when I sighed in relief – but I’d be lying!
Page 219 When our intrepid trio actually decide to leave the house!!!
Page 170 Where I literally noped out of reading because my adrenaline was spiking and it was dark.
Page 57 When any sensible person – who would be willing to visit a haunted building in the first place – would have left.
Page 8 Where I would have noped out of this adventure. That is – I would never have entertained the thought of going.
Thanks to Chicken House who reached out and provided a gifted copy. The level of fear expressed in this review is all mine!
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Dread Wood by Jennifers Killick – The Write Read Ultimate Blog Tour – Book Review
About the Book
Turn the lights on. Lock the door. Things are about to get SERIOUSLY SCARY!
The brand new must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps
It’s basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.
What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute…? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they’re all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge…
About the Author
Jennifer Killick is the author of Crater Lake, the Alex Sparrow series, and middle-grade sci-fi adventure Mo, Lottie and the Junkers. She regularly visits schools and festivals, and her books have three times been selected for The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge. She lives in Uxbridge, in a house full of children, animals and Lego. When she isn’t busy mothering or step-mothering (which isn’t often) she loves to read, write and run, as fast as she can.
Twitter: @JenniferKillick
What I Thought
This book was so much fun. It’s a Middle Grade horror that crosses The Breakfast Club and One of Us is Lying with Tremors and Arachnophobia. There’s even faint echoes of IT! – Club Loser is the first chapter title.
I really liked the cast of child characters and the creepy adults and their motives were not something I would have guessed. There were some cute piglets at risk too and I love the idea of having farm animals at school. I was not as keen on the Spiders – but they definitely are scary to me so – horrifying monsters brief achieved.
The teacher overseeing the detention calls it a Back on Track session (Teamwork, Respect, Attitude, Curiosity, Kindness) and it is interesting to see all these qualities at play.
Naira, Gus, Hallie and our narrator Angelo all seem likeable though, so what was it that got them all a detention? And most importantly will they all get out of it in one piece?
It’s spooky when what is being sacrificing is chickens… but are children next on the menu?
The story wrapped up and the ending gave us the promise of a sequel. Reading this has reminded me how much I enjoyed Point Horror books when younger. I’m off to catch up with Jennifer’s other horror series Crater Lake now.
Thanks to The Write Reads Tours and the publisher for a gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review. Do check out what everyone else on the tour thought too.
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Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis – #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour Book Review
About the Book
*THE BRAND NEW TERRIFYING THRILLER FROM KAT ELLIS*
‘Riverdale meets The Haunting of Hill House’ – Amy McCaw, author of Mina and the Undead
‘Kat Ellis wields an oppressive atmosphere like a sharply honed blade‘ – Sera Milano, author of This Can Never Not Be Real
‘Horrifyingly good fun!‘ Kathryn Foxfield, author of Good Girls Die First
From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well – since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.
But when her school nemesis is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55600867-wicked-little-deeds
About the Author
Kat Ellis is a young adult author whose novels include Wicked Little Deeds/Burden Falls (August 2021), Harrow Lake (July 2020), Purge (September 2016), Breaker (May 2016), and Blackfin Sky (May 2014). She is a fan of all things horror and sci-fi, and a keen explorer of ruins, castles and cemeteries – all of which are plentiful in North Wales, where Kat lives with her husband.
You can find out more about Kat at http://www.katelliswrites.com or connect with her on social media.
Email: katelliswrites@gmail.com
Website: katelliswrites.com
Facebook: facebook.com/katelliswrites
Instagram: @katelliswrites
Twitter: @el_kat
(from https://katelliswrites.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html)
What I Thought
This was so good. All gothic and horrifying, a cross between The Ring, The Grudge, Scream and I Know What your family did a few centuries back, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet thrown in.
Kat Ellis has created a truly spooky mystery thriller with lots of twists and turns. I did manage to guess who done it but literally only just before the book’s characters. I was led a merry dance with all the missteps and clever authorly suggestions too.
The Burden Falls legend of Deadeyed Sadie added a spooky layer to this murderous tale and I definitely got that horror movie heart racing vibe whilst reading this. I also loved that the manor and setting became a character in this tale too.
Full of newspaper clippings, family feuds and a hit teen version of Most Haunted this is a book to read with the lights on and 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 A film to watch with the lights off! I just hope I don’t get nightmares like Ava 😱😬😴.
Main character Ava is a intriguing heroine, one who maybe isn’t an innocent as she seems. Is there curse on her family? And will she be the one to survive it?
Wicked Little Deeds is out now so don’t delay, read and scare yourself today!
Thanks to Dave at The WriteReads and the publisher for the gifted ecopy for the purposes of an honest review. Check out the hashtags #WickedLittleDeeds #KatEllis #TheWriteReads to see what everyone else thought.
kirstyes 