Mindy's Book Journey

  Title: Sacrilege Author: Barbara Avon Genre: Psychological Thriller   Published: 10/26/2020 by the author Thank you to the author for providing the copy for review. Cris Corelli is an ex-priest, recently leaving the church and struggling with alcoholism, finds himself living in a boarding house run by Jules. Jules is also fighting her own traumatic past. The two lean on each other for support, but after a horrible tragedy they plunge into a pit of despair fueled by drugs and alcohol. This book is pitch black dark. It is intense involving every trigger warning in the book, but written in the most beautiful way. It is the kind of book that can have you rereading passages to enjoy the beauty of the words even though the content is hard to read at some points. I would highly recommend this psychological thriller to those that love a character study of truly tortured people.  My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars 

  Title: In Darkest Dreams Author: J.P. Graves Genre: Horror Published: 09/15/2024 by Twisted Tree Publishing Thank you to the author for providing a copy for review. Mark and Steve are veterans and friends that sign up to man a fire-watch tower in the mountains of Wyoming. During a storm the men get more than they bargained for when a reality bending creature begins stalking them forcing them to face all the secrets and trauma they have hidden deep inside themselves. In Darkest Dreams has great character work and setting. The forests of Wyoming create the perfect isolated setting to build the tension as the truly terrifying creature arrives. Mark and Steve have really sad backstories that really get the reader invested in where the story will end up. The powers of the creature force the characters to face all their darkest fears and secrets. It is a really effective horror story for fans of creature features. My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Stars 

  Title: The Witch Roads Author:   Kate Elliott Series: The Witch Roads Duology Book 1 Genre: Fantasy Published: June 10, 2025 by Tor Books Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the copy for review.   An arrogant prince is stuck at Orledder Hall, and needs the help of Elen to get his party through the hills to his destination.  This is a fantastic start to a duology full of political intrigue. It has really rich world building that we find out about through a treacherous journey. It is wonderful learning about the politics, religion, magic, class system, and lore of the world in such an exciting way. There is great character building focusing on themes of found family, gender, and class. This was a fantastic start to a series, and I highly recommend it for those that love epic fantasy. My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars   

   Title: Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams Author: Wren Cavanagh Genre: Horror Published: September 28, 2024 I received a copy for review from the author.    Kyle and Mandy have dreams making a profit by developing when they purchase land in Esperville, Oregon. Soon they find out the land is home to a portal to another dimension stuck in 1950s Las Vegas. It is a hard place with unforgiving desert and fiendish creatures. This a fantastic creature feature horror novel with an alternate dimension flair. The characters, Kyle and Mandy, did not seem sympathetic at first as foolhardy newlyweds taking on more than they can chew. However, throughout the story they become more and more endearing. They are great underdog characters to root for. The portal to Alt Vegas allows for such contrasting settings. The lush and overgrown Oregon with the desert landscape outside 1950s Vegas. The last fourth of the book could have used another round of line editing, but overall this was a fantas...

Title: Overgrowth Author: Mira Grant Genre: Science Fiction Horror Published: May 6, 2025 by Tor Nightfire I received a copy for review through NetGalley.   Anastasia has not fit in since she walked into the forest and was turned into an alien plant. To make things worse she can't seem to help telling everyone that the alien invasion is coming. No one believes her, but they should have heeded the warning. Science fiction and horror is a genre blend that works so well. This is a very character focused story with a quirky main character and her amazing found family. It shows the alien invasion from the perspective of an alien plant that has been raised human that needs to choose sides. It is light on horror past a very disturbing plant attack of a child, but it is an epic and fun story with an interesting perspective. If you are wanting to read about an invasion of sentient blood drinking plants that does not take itself seriously then this story is for you. My Rating: 5 Out of 5 Sta...

  Title: Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs Author: Rebecca Gransden Genre: Weird Fiction/ Horror Published: 10/30/24 by the author I received a copy for review from the author.  This collection of 14 short stories that are full of imaginative scenarios. The ideas are truly unique which helps to draw you in.  Imagine taking a friend's pigeon to the vet leads to an underground cult. Imagine a sentient turducken escaping its packaging to explore the world. These are just of a couple of the outrageously weird concepts explored in this collection. A couple of the stories are written a very fever dream kind of way that makes following the plot difficult. I don't fault the experimental writing, but I personally do not enjoy the confusion they left me feeling. The rest of the stories I enjoyed. The standout stories for me were SparrowEyes, with its creepy setting and creature, and Happy Bunny, with a person in a bunny costume getting teleported to various television and movie s...