Books Read in 2023: Four-Star YA Fantasy and Horror
Thursday school today (yesterday - shit got late, sorry). The first class that came in was off-the-charts lovely. They all wished me happy new year, got their books and sat and read quietly, then said good-bye and thank-you when they were leaving. This gave me an abundant cushion of good will for later on when the challenging class came in. Or rather, when they lined up in the hall outside being very loud, whereupon I waited for them to quiet down. And waited. And waited. But that was okay, because today I just waited calmly until they were quiet. Partly because I don't like yelling and partly because I have very little voice due to persistent hacking cough.
I went over the expectations for library behaviour and then waited again for them to be quiet enough to hear their names while I handed out their cards. In a beautiful turn of events, the quiet kids started getting mad at the kids who were still talking. The one super-twat kid was still super-twattish and kept making loud and un-funny cracks that he clearly thought were hilarious ("maybe he has a difficult home life" Eve said later, "Probably just a dick, though"). I just ignored him. Most of the class still ignored the teacher when she asked them to line up at the end, so I just walked around quietly rounding them up. Check me, being so proud about not getting into (and losing) power struggles with ten-year-olds.
At the other end of the spectrum entirely, a little girl on Monday gave me this:
So it's going to take more than a grade-four douche-munchkin to harsh my vibe for a while.
Four-Star YA Fantasy and Horror
-”His father loves myths and obscure Latin roots and words so long you had to practice before rattling them off like a rosary. He used to interrupt his own sentences to explain a complicated term, to wander off the path of his thought down a switchback trail, telling Bird the history of the word, where it came from, its whole life story and all its siblings and cousins. Scraping back the layers of its meaning. Once Bird had loved it, too, back when he was younger, back when his father was still a professor and his mother was still here and everything was different. When he’d still thought stories could explain anything.”
Three-and-a-half stars. Apparently this is YA. Is something YA if it has a main character who is not an adult? Sometimes I find it confusing. I did not think this was quite as good as Everything I Never Told You, although I liked a lot about it. The insidious slide from fear and suspicion regarding The Other to outright racist discrimination codified into law is frighteningly convincing. The way the relationship between Bird and his father breaks down under the absence of his mother is heartrending.
What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell. Synopsis from Goodreads: From Sarah Hollowell, author of A Dark and Starless Forest, comes a spine-tingling, deliriously creepy YA speculative thriller about two best friends trapped in a corn maze with corpses that look just like them. Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan make their first mistake when they ditch their end-of-year field trip to the amusement park in favor of exploring some old, forgotten backroads. The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. But with a whole day of playing hooking unspooling before them, they make their second mistake. Or perhaps their third? Maybe even their fourth. Because Sadie and Logan have definitely entered this maze before. And again before that. When they stumble on the corpses in the maze, identical to them in every way (if you can ignore the stab and gunshot wounds)--from their clothes to their hidden scars to their dyed hair, to that one missing tooth--they quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot. And no matter what they try, they can’t figure out what—or who —is hunting them. Deeply unnerving, clever, and atmospheric, this time-bending, mind-bending speculative horror is a poignant meditation on the lasting effects of trauma and the healing powers of connection and forgiveness—all while delivering more surprise twists and turns than a haunted corn maze.
-"I try to push myself up. My hands sink up to the wrists in mud. How freaking deep is this stuff? I sink farther. I immediately stop moving. Goddammit, I knew quicksand was going to be a problem at some point in my life. 'Uhm,' I said, high-pitched. 'Hey, guys?'"
I followed Sarah Hollowell when I was still on Twitter when Twitter was still Twitter (ten percent boost in mental health since I quit that shit), and had not gotten around to reading her first book yet but was interested to read her writing. The cool stuff here was very cool - haunted corn maze, time loops (sort of), corn-maze strangers who might be trustworthy OR alternatively might be about to stab you with a pitchfork. I also appreciate a boy-girl friendship that is allowed to just (not just, but just) be a friendship.
I feel like a bit of an asshole saying the other part, because it's a part that assholes frequently seize on, but although I love that this is a fat writer writing a fat female character, some of the writing around that, and around Sadie's mental health issues, verges on preachy and is heavy on jargon, and that made it hard not to be taken out of the story. Sadie also refers to herself as bisexual (once, I think), but it has no bearing on anything - I'm all for casual representation, but that's maybe a bit too casual? I absolutely appreciate that it is probably difficult to strike a balance with that kind of thing, it just feels dishonest not to mention it.
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould. Synopsis from Goodreads: The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won't stay hidden any longer. Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more secrets buried here than they originally let on. Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.
-”Logan closed her eyes. There was a distinct smell coming from the cabin, like spiced cider and wood smoke. It was a smell she remembered, though she couldn’t place it. It conjured up memories of laughter she couldn't quite hear. She tasted blackberries on her tongue. The bones of a memory were scattered before her, but she couldn’t bring them to life. It was suffocating, this familiarity.”
Three and a half stars. Ambitious and dark for a debut. Gay dads, lesbian daughter, ghost-hunting tv show, real ghost (or something). Gets pretty intense for YA. Will be following this author with interest.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron. Synopsis from Goodreads: This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street. Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business. But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?
-”Now, in this situation, horror films tell us that the final girl might go ahead and enter the community showers, disrobe, and then barely escape a masked killer as she slips around butt naked in the bathroom. However, I only play a final girl at Camp Mirror Lake; I don’t actually want to be one. I turn my Black ass right around and book it back to my cabin, where I close and lock the door.”
-”I’ve been a fan of horror movies and scary stories my whole life. I’ve read every Tananarive Due novel, seen every Jordan Peele film. I love horror movies even when everybody else thinks they’re garbage. I will gladly debate anybody who got something to say about the masterpiece that is Crimson Peak.”
I really enjoyed this. When I'm looking for books by black women, and one is horror? Hell yes. Great casual representation for race and sexual orientation, a little bit of Scream-like sending up of horror movie tropes without being derivative, and spinning it for Black characters, who are so often ignored. Charity is a great character, determined not to behave like a regular horror movie character (this falters a tiny bit near the end), smart and courageous - also a horror lover, so a girl after my own heart. The story isn't too predictable, which is always a risk with this genre. I will never turn my nose up at a good summer camp horror, particularly one as well done as this.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. Synopsis from Goodreads: * AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * INDIE BESTSELLER * JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION * KIDS' INDIE NEXT LIST PICK * NPR BEST PICK * KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson ramps up the horror and tackles America’s history and legacy of racism in this suspenseful YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom. When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation . . . Maddy did it. An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington. After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life. But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret . . . one that will cost them all their lives.
-”’Well, clearly a Black one,’ Jason quipped. Gotta be from the East Side.’
‘Gross.’ Kayleigh blinked quick at Kenny. ‘Well, not her being Black, but anyone sleeping with that loon. He smells awful!’
Struggling to rein in his annoyance, Kenny took one last sip of air before pasting on the standard generic smile he would maintain for the rest of the day. Just about everyone would want to talk to him about Maddy, but he had to remain unfazed, the same composure he kept whenever anything happened to Black people and they wanted unsaid permission for him to speak about it freely. Because if Kenny was okay with it, then it must be okay.
He chuckled. ‘Yeah, he does.’”
-”’I don’t know how to answer that,’ he admitted. Not because he didn’t love Wendy, but football felt just as important, if not his whole world. If he was honest with himself, Kenny could also admit that deep below the surface, rotting beneath the floorboards, lay resentment over the responsibility of loving them both more than he loved himself.”
Carrie, but with racism. And the prom is the county's first integrated one. Need I say more? Okay, I'll say a little more. The wound-super-tight male protagonist - star football player whose father puts crazy pressure on him, and whose white friends just expect him to be cool with their casual racism - is the most sympathetic to me, probably because his situation is more realistic than Maddy's. Maddy's unhinged father is a worthy callback to Carrie's mother. It's not the Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho version of Carrie, but it resonates with the original really well and is a really interesting exercise, as well as a good example of YA horror in its own right.
The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney. Synopsis from Goodreads: A teenage girl must save her town from a memory-devouring monster in this piercing exploration of grief, trauma, and memory, from the author of The Valley and the Flood. For generations, a monster called the Memory Eater has lived in the caves of Whistler Beach, Maine, surviving off the unhappy memories of those who want to forget. And for generations, the Harlows have been in charge of keeping her locked up—and keeping her fed. After her grandmother dies, seventeen-year-old Alana Harlow inherits the family business. But there’s something Alana doesn’t know: the strange gaps in her memory aren’t from an accident. Her memories have been taken—eaten. And with them, she’s lost the knowledge of how to keep the monster contained. Now the Memory Eater is loose. Alana’s mistake could cost Whistler Beach everything—unless she can figure out how to retrieve her own memories and recapture the monster. But as Alana delves deeper into her family’s magic and the history of her town, she discovers a shocking secret at the center of the Harlow family business and learns that tampering with memories never comes without a price.
-”He flashes a warm, sympathetic smile as I pass. I’m of the firm opinion that no one is good enough for Rue, but if she and David ever break out of their Beautiful Shy Heterosexual holding pattern, I will grudgingly approve.”
-’’Oh, my little love. I think you’ve helped enough,’ she says. ‘Do you think this is what I wanted? Can you imagine eating the same terrible thing for decades upon decades, and when you finally walk free, you find you can’t eat anything else? I hate the taste of pain, Alana. It tastes like needles and ash.’”
These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall. Synopsis from Goodreads: Helen Vaughan doesn't know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven't spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she's shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she'll be left with nothing. There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen's dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night? And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick? With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can.
Has what Marshall does well - complicated family dynamics, murky folklore connected to a mysterious house, an inheritance that turns out to be much more complicated than initially suspected. And gayness! I still read more YA than is probably healthy, but only if it's gay!
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson. Synopsis from Goodreads: Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft. So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life. Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.
-"'How could you say something like that?' June gasps, taking an affronted step back. 'We just found out were were murdered, Riley Greenway. Have some respect.' 'We were all murdered, June. Your death is not that special,' Riley says."
Now this is a fat Mexican character whose fat Mexicanness IS integral to the plot. And there is magic, and there are zombies - in fact, magic that leads to zombies. And there is snark and humour - much of it related to the logistics of harbouring dead mean girls who are learning to be less mean - but also genuine processing of emotion, loss, and grief. And learning that, even with magic, some things should not be possible.
Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah. Synopsis from Goodreads: Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood. The town of Bishop is known for exactly two recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women―missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial. With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret: the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.
-"'Miss Thompson, are you defying an officer of the law right now?' Indignant rage flared in Jeff Ableman's eyes like liquid smoke. It was the kind of rage that men kept nestled deep beneath their ribs, the kind that rose between the bones whenever someone didn't automatically hang on their words like laundry drying on the line. It was the kind of rage that killed for disobedience, even when you never belonged to that man in the first place."
This is a big one for "I really enjoyed it when I was reading it, but afterwards all of the points other people brought up about why it largely made very little sense made...a lot of sense". But whatever, the imagery is effective and as a metaphor for patriarchy (which also frequently makes very little sense) I feel like it works. And of all the YA novels with girls faces surrounded by creepy flowers on the cover, it's one of my favourites.
Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters. Synopsis from Goodreads: Sawkill Girls meets Beautiful Creatures in this lush and eerie debut, where the boundary between reality and nightmares is as thin as the veil between the living and the dead. If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept. Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness. But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets. In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing. Family secrets, a gorgeously resonant LGBTQ love triangle, and just the right amount of creepiness make this young adult debut a haunting and hopeful story about facing everything that haunts us in the dark.
-"This instrument runs on grief and regret and rage; it only works if its player gives herself over to grief, lets it fill her like the music, every nook, every cranny of her soul. The same reason the ghosts are chained to this world, unable to pass on, is why Daddy's fiddle can raise them. Grief is what binds the living and the dead. He couldn't have taught me to play this fiddle even if he'd wanted to. Only his death could teach me."
At some point I noticed that the ebooks from my library often have Publishers Weekly reviews attached to the synopsis. At some further point I realized I was subtly veering away from reading anything that didn't have a starred review. Then I realized this is a little silly - I am interested in reviews, but I don't automatically agree with all of them. I'm glad I realized this in time to read this book, because it would have been unfortunate to pass it up.
It is really difficult to write about music convincingly ("like dancing about architecture", as they say), and this book manages it strikingly well. The family dynamic was really well done - everyone wasn't perfect, but no one was entirely evil, and everyone was very three-dimensional. Generally I loathe and despise love triangles, but, ladies and gentleman, the pinnacle of my super-gay YA reading is *trumpet sounds* a bisexual girl in a love triangle with a girl AND a guy. That's got to have a couple of years before it gets completely stale, right? (Seriously, it works really well, all love triangles should henceforth be bi-sosceles).
Comments
My two least favourite genres are fantasy and horror, so I have read none of those books nor will I. But I wanted to tell you that after your comment about Eve reading your copy of Bluebeard's Egg, I had a literal craving to read Atwood. And I've been reading Cat's Eye this weekend and even though I have read it many times it's hitting me different right now, in a good way, and so THANK YOU for mentioning Bluebeard's Egg (which I also love, but wanted a book rather than a short story).
That note is SO sweet, makes up for your crazy class.
Already ordered Undead Girl Gang for Dorothy (and me) before I even finished reading this post :)
I've heard of none of these books before. Why are there so many good books out there in the world and such a limited amount of time for reading?