Book Review: Paradisa by Michelle Iannantuono

Whew, it’s been a little while, but I finally finished my first book for the new year! Now, just because it took me a while to finish it does not mean Paradisa, by Michelle Iannantuono was at all bad. In fact, it was pretty awesome! I was just extremely busy in my personal life and had a tough time squeezing in moments to read this fantasy novel.

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Book Review: Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

It’s been a little while since I watched the movie Spontaneous, which is based off this novel of the same name by Aaron Starmer. This book was more than I expected and that’s because the film served it justice. Navigating a strange spontaneous combustion outbreak among a senior class, this book had sharp and witty dialogue, as well as keeping you on your toes.

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Book Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

I was so taken by Lauren Oliver’s book, The Vanishing Girls, that I decided to give her debut novel, Panic, a go! I’ll be interested to see what her other novels are like, because I could definitely tell this was a first go at publishing a novel. Especially compared to the almost perfection that was The Vanishing Girls. This book wasn’t the best thing I ever read, but I enjoyed how Oliver wrote the relationships between all of the characters.

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Book Review: The Cousins by Karen McManus

After reading Karen McManus’ prior novels, One of Us is Lying, Two Can Keep a Secret, and One of Us is Next, it seemed like a no-brainer that I’d be getting my hands on her latest release, The Cousins. Actually, my sister got her hands on it as soon as it released because McManus’ books are some of the few she’s devoured this year. And for good reason! They have all been twisty and irresistible to put down.

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Book Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Ever since I heard that Stephanie Perkins’ novel, There’s Someone Inside Your House, was getting adapted into a film at Netflix, I’ve been itching to get my hands on it. Despite it being a young adult novel, the premise (and the title, come on) sounded perfectly creepy and right up my alley! And it was! This delivered both the spooks and the gore and I hope they really commit in the adaptation.

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Book Review: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon

I consider myself someone who is well-versed in the career of Peter Sarsgaard, but there are plenty of his films that I have not seen. One of those is The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which was an adaptation of Michael Chabon’s 1988 novel of the same name. Although, after seeing the abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score and learning that a few of the character’s weight of importance was changed quite a bit, it seemed like something I wanted to skip. So far, I have, but the story itself seemed rather enticing, so I decided to read it!

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Book Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Back in 2018, Jeff VanderMeer’s sci-fi horror novel, Annihilation, got the Hollywood treatment and was adapted into a pretty well-received feature film. It also starred the likes of Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It looked rather intriguing, but also like it might scare the poo out of me. So I skipped it. Recently, I’ve been seeing the title pop up on Hulu and I’ve been tempted to play it some nights, but I decided to give it The Haunting at Hill House treatment and read the novel first.

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Book Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

What can I say? I’ve been somewhat enthralled with Shirley Jackson this year and I have no reasons why! Perhaps I’ve just really been in the mood for some spooky stuff. It’s been a while, but I did watch the film adaptation of We Have Always Lived in the Castle that starred Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Sebastian Stan, and Crispin Glover last year. It was a really interesting film, so I’ve been eager to compare how it stacked up against its source material.

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