Review: It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Posted on by
Reply
It Devours! A Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

This absolutely scratched the itch I wanted it to scratch. Set in the town of Night Vale (the Night Vale from the Welcome to Night Vale podcast) Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider from Indiana. She has a job as a scientist, which she loves, but she’s not really sure she gets the town of Nightvale.

One day her boss Carlos invites her into his office and asks her to help him secretly continue some research the city council has told him to stop. From there, she gets involved in a mystery with giant pits, disappearances, a maybe nice guy from a definitely sketchy cult-like church, a mysterious other world, a house that doesn’t exist, and an unknown creature that may or may not be the church-cult’s smiling god. This was a fun little story full of some outrageous characters and a couple of plot twists. It was funny in places and touching in places. I really enjoyed it. If you like the podcast and want something set in that world, I recommend it. If you don’t know the Welcome to Nightvale podcast, but like things that are weird, sometimes silly, sometimes creepy, but always fun, I recommend both this book and the podcast (which you can get anywhere you typically get podcasts.)

Review: The Bell Witch Series by Sara Clancy

Posted on by
Reply

So, this is a series about four families who were cursed by a witch centuries ago and now a family member is chosen every year to face the witch. The family member is chosen by receiving a music box. The members of each of the four families that are chosen then have to hike through the ancestral woods of the witch (and the families) to search for keys and to lock the music boxes. If they don’t find their keys, a demon will escape and they’ll be tormented forever.

So, the premise was good. The main characters we’re likable. The villains were villainous. This was a fun little read to prepare for spooky season. But each of the novellas ended quite abruptly. I suppose we could call them cliffhangers, but it didn’t feel cliffhangery. It felt unfinished. This was a little disappointing because there were storylines I would have liked to know a bit more about.

I would read more by this author (or more in the Scare Street series… if only because I love that they’re knock-offs of Fear Street) but I’m in a hurry to do so.

So, 6/10. Entertaining and quick but nothing that will really stick with me.

Review: The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova

Posted on by
1

For anyone who has seen Encanto will find many of the stories themes familiar. Especially from the beginning. It starts with the Matriarch of the family, Orquidea Divina invited her family back to her magical home for her death. The Montoya’s grew up in her home that always had everything they needed and they never questioned it. When they arrive, things are a miss and her death doesn’t go as planned but family pulls together to send her off. Orquidea was a complicated woman, like most people are but even more so to her family. She was a loving woman who gave all to her family but she was also very secretive and leaves the family reeling if they even knew here. Marimar, her granddaughter in particularly has some feelings about her Grandma. As does her cousins, Ray and Tatinelly. Seven years after her death, they are forced to go to Ecuador where Orquidea was born to discover her past to save their futures. Its basically a story of family trauma and family healing. Again, a lot like Encanto.

That’s where the comparisons end though. This story goes back and forth and the “present day” and the Orquidea’s past. Both storylines entwine to tell the story of Orquidea and the Montoya’s. Before she passes, she tells her family that she can’t tell them who is coming for them and they must find who. Marimar is to me the main character. She inherited the house and rebuilds. I feel like she is the one that is most connected to her. She goes through the wringer in this book but really comes out of it better. She is quite a extraordinary person. She starts out to be very guarded and for awhile she really starts to shut herself off. It’s her way of protecting herself but when tragedy strikes the family and she has to move, she does. It’s really through her eyes that we get to know Orquidea and the Montoya’s family and who they were and what they will become. So, if you like magical realism and Encanto, I think you will like this book too.