Review: The Lion's Den

The Lion's Den by Anthony Marra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I mostly enjoyed this story. The ending leaves an opening to explore more about this story and I hope the author expands on it.

Amazon Originals - Inheritance Collection Book 3

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Review: Can You Feel This?

Can You Feel This? by Julie Orringer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I did not really enjoy this story. I found the writing style very distracting. I also did not connect to the story. Maybe if I were a mother, I might have connected to it.

Amazon Originals - Inheritance Collection Book 2

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Review: Everything My Mother Taught Me

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was pulled in on page 1. I enjoyed the writing style very much. I am going to try a full length novel by this author; this was my first read by this author.

Amazon Originals - Inheritance Collection Book 1

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Review: The Fearsome Foursome

The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's the end of the year, so I read this to help me get to my book reading goal. I have never been on the Disney ride, nor have I watched the movie. I see other reviewers making references to the ride, but unfortunately I cannot attest to references to it in the book. I did enjoy the stories; some more than others, though.

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Review: In the Tall Grass

In the Tall Grass by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As I have stated in a previous review, I classify horror stories into two categories: mind-game horror (psychological, paranormal, etc) and blood, guts, and gore horror (dismemberment, slasher stuff, etc).

This book short story reminded me of The Ruins at first. Both stories start out with the mind-game horror (which I like). As In the Tall Grass goes on, it gets tedious with the constant repetition of limericks and gory descriptions. As the story goes on, it falls into the blood, guts, and gory category (not my favorite). In a total coincidence, I also made reference in the previous review about sensitivity with my eyes. Once again, I find myself reading about foreign objects finding their way into an eye. I'm not exactly sure how I find myself constantly reading books back to back with similar themes, but it seems I manage to do it constantly. This story also explores cannibalism.

The further I got into the story, the less I felt compelled to finish it. If this had been a full length novel, I probably would have put it down and came back to it at a later time. I only finished it because it was a short story.

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Review: The Poor and the Haunted

The Poor and the Haunted by Dustin McKissen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a Kindle edition of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

Trigger Warning: I am very sensitive about my eyes. The thought of anything even coming close to being near them freaks me out. With that being said, there are rather detailed descriptions about a sharp object finding its way in into someone's eye. If these descriptions bother you, you will have a difficult time getting though a couple chapters of this book.

I tend to classify horror into two different categories: mind-game horror (psychological, paranormal, etc) and blood, guts, and gore horror (dismemberment, slasher stuff, etc). The good news is this book falls into both categories. The bad news is this book falls into both categories. I do enjoy a good horror story, but I really prefer the "mind-game" horror. To me, the blood, guts, and gore type of horror does not seem like horror in that "I'm afraid" way. It grosses me out more than anything and takes the enjoyment away from the book/movie. The majority of this book is that mind-game, psychological horror/suspense, but there are the moments where it becomes that blood and guts horror (the sharp object in the eye). Even though this was a book (opposed to a movie), I still found myself looking away from it just to distract myself from envisioning how certain events took place. Again, this is partly me because of the sensitivity I have about my eyes, but some of the description could have been left out and still would have gotten the point across.

Overall, a decent read. Took me longer to get through than it would have if this was just all mind-game horror.

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Review: A Cat's Christmas Tale

A Cat's Christmas Tale by Peter Arenstam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book consists of two of my favorite things: Christmas and a cat. It is a very cute story about a cat looking for her name. Next time I read this, I will be snuggled up with my cat, Gidget, in a bug fluffy blanket.

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