The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I absolutely love horror, but don't read enough of it. I knew I needed this book from the first time I saw it, especially going into the Halloween season. The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht is a horror fantasy novella following a monster and a sorcerer, both with a love of magic and murder.

Johann knows he is a monster and nothing else. Florian is a sorcerer, bent on bringing back the plague that killed his family. Alone, they have nothing. Together, they have a power to bring the entirety of Elendhaven to its knees. But someone is watching them, hunting them, threatening to send their plans crashing down.

This book had so many different elements: horror, fantasy, queer representation, Victorian-esque history, town legends, and more. The writing was vivid and descriptive, and it was so easy to imagine the dark alleys, abandoned factories, and black ocean of Elendhaven. The blurb likens the setting to Jack the Ripper's London, and I definitely see that. There is a lot of fairly graphic violence in this one, so I want to make people aware of that. It's ruthless, dark, and gritty, much like the cover would suggest.

While I did enjoy this story, I found myself wanting more. It was hard to follow at first, and there were some plot lines that I didn't think tied up well. That being said, it was a novella, so it couldn't have the robustness of a full-length novel, though I think a full-length novel would have done this story more justice.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much for Tor for an ARC of this read! The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht is out tomorrow, September 24th, so be sure to pick up a copy!

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

"A girl with a guitar never has to apologize for anything." 

― Grady Hendrix, We Sold Our Souls

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

Mix rock and roll with horror and you've got the perfect lure for me, and that's exactly what We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix is. Plus the Rolling Stone-esque cover? I'm sold. Just in opinion though. No soul dealing for me.

Kris Pulaski is washed up. Now working at a Best Western, her rock and roll dreams have long been crushed since her Dürt Würk bandmate Terry left everyone high and dry to go solo. But what really happened the night everything went down? Why can no one remember? With Terry's new act Koffin going on the road again, Kris is determined to find out. Reuniting with her bandmates to get to the bottom of things, Kris learns that Terry didn't just steal her songs, her money, and her future. He also stole her soul. 

This book hit all the right notes (if you'll pardon the pun!), and takes the idea of "selling your soul to the devil" in a new direction. There were definitely some great horror elements, some good action, and a little mystery as well! I really liked how interspersed throughout the book were interviews about the different rock artists (real and fictional) mentioned throughout the story. It definitely made everything feel more real. And titling each chapter after a famous album? Genius. Kris's journey was fantastic, and every interaction she had along the way was unique and added something to the story, versus just being fluff written to fill space.

I will leave a trigger warning on this for suicide, and if you get easily grossed out by gory descriptions, this might not be the book for you.

The reason I knocked off a star on this one was because the title completely gives away what happens. Yes, you don't know the intricacies until you read the story, but the bottom line is given away on the very front of the book.

This was the first Grady Hendrix book I've read, and definitely want to pick up more. I've heard great things about Horrorstör, so I think I'll try that one next!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Quirk Books for a finished copy of this read! We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix is out now, so be sure to pick up a copy!