ARC Review--The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis

 

Clown in a Cornfield meets The Cabin in this twisty, blood-curdling delight from acclaimed author Kat Ellis about a group of rivals stranded in an abandoned house that seems to have its own plans for them.

When Haden Romero and her rival, Deacon Rex—alongside their bands, including Haden’s ex, Cairo—are stranded on their way to a rock festival, she thinks missing the gig is the worst thing that could happen.

She’s wrong.

Marooned in treacherous swamplands with no way out, the group stumbles upon an eerie, decaying house. It seems like a safe haven, a place to wait out the storm.

The house, however, isn’t just abandoned—it’s been waiting for them.

Bodies begin to pile up. The walls start to close in. Twisted secrets come to light. And unless Haden and the others can survive long enough to escape, the house will claim them—forever.

True horror in the most fun sense of the word, The Devouring Light will have readers on the edge of their seats, bracing themselves for jump scares, flinching with every plot twist, and—most importantly—reading with the lights on.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

Kat Ellis brings readers a bone chilling horror story with her latest release, The Devouring Light! I've read a few of Ellis' previous horror stories and was always pleasantly terrified by them and The Devouring Light is no different! This was a strange and eerie story that had me...devouring the pages as fast as I could!

Haden and Kizi are off to go to a rock festival in hopes of making it big in stardom. Unfortunately, for Haden, her rival, Deacon Rex and his band are also going. Deacon has been living her dream of stardom ever since they both appeared on a TV talent show a few years back and to say Haden hates him is putting it mildly.

But when her car breaks down, Haden and Kizi have no choice but to accept Deacon's offer of a ride on his tour bus and then that's when things go terribly wrong. The bus crashes and the teenagers are separated and trapped in a swampy forest with danger at every turn in the form of deadly wildlife, but then Haden (and of course Deacon who she found first among their group) see a light...there's a rather large house out in the middle of all this that seems abandoned. They decide to take refuge to regroup and hopefully find the others before trying to make it back to society.

The house is big, eerie, and strange. There are unnatural smells, dust, spiders and all what you would expect from a haunted house. There are even signs of possible ghosts, if you can believe an unreliable source. A series of bizarre events continue to occur and eventually more of their tour bus group show up before they are stuck in a seriously creepy house together.

This book was wicked strange! I love a good scary novel, but don't ask me to watch a horror movie because I wouldn't be able to take it. If this were made into a horror movie, I can't say I'd see it because I am pretty sure they would amp up the horror that was I was downplaying in my head! Lol. Needless to say there are quite a few gruesome and terrifying moments in this one. If you're adverse to body horror or anything insect related, read with caution.

I was thoroughly creeped out though with this one. I feel like that can be pretty hard to do with books and me! Even when I go looking for a spooky read, I can get creeped out, but rarely thoroughly, creeped out! This one was just that spine-tingling!

This one also included occasional intermissions with dream sequences and video transcript type data. I always find these interesting and how they related to the current story. These were largely events from the past that give you an insight to this horror mansion.

One thing that always tends to happen with me is never quite understanding the horror aspects of the story, as in how/why this occurred. Usually, I feel like we aren't meant to understand the thing. It's just something that simply is. So I try not to focus on it too much. From the few bits of horror media I have consumed, this feels like the norm.

The ending to this one was just as one might expect from this brand of horror story. At least I felt that way! It was the best kind of ending when it comes to books like these at least! If you're not afraid of the truly darker side of YA lit, then I highly recommend checking out The Devouring Light this spooky season, as--get ready for the pun--it's positively to die for! Lol. But seriously, it was very creepy and bone-chilling and made for a spine-tingling read!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

The Devouring Light releases October 7, 2025

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker. 

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"'We just met the Glades Reaper, Tru.' Rio's voice is certain. It's so clear that she believes that. One hundred percent." p 222

TITLE: One Last Breath
AUTHOR: Ginny Myers Sain
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam Sons Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Mystery
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Book Covers That Give Off Fall Vibes

*in no particular order

10. THE DARK by Marianne Curley--old school pick! I guess this gave me fall vibes because of the darkened sky and lightning. Yes, could be any season but it's somewhat spooky and we equate fall to spooky season!
9. DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING by Kelley Armstrong--the foggy night just screams fall!
8. VALIANT LIGHT by Jana Oliver--I've got to get back to this series! But this one has the fall coloring, although it could totally work for summer as summers here are raging infernos too!

7. THE CHANGING MAN by Tomi Oyemakinde--totally fall here with the red leaves and creepy shadow!
6. THE FOREST KING'S DAUGHTER by Elly Blake--more fall coloring and fall leaves!
5. HUNTERLORE by Dana Claire--more fall coloring and spooky leafless trees!

4. ASYLUM HOTEL by Juliet Blackwell--the darkened sunset is giving me all the spooky fall vibes! Plus it's a ghost mystery, so you know, extra on the spooky!
3. WHISPERS OF DEAD GIRLS by Marlee Bush--I guess I equate spooky to fall for this one! This one is pretty simple, yet dark and the title is just chilling!
2. THEY FEAR NOT MEN IN THE WOODS by Gretchen McNeil--more spooky woods, so you know fall! Lol.

1. THE EXECUTIONERS THREE by Susan Dennard--the gorgeous fall leaves naturally! And a full moon and crows to make it extra spooky! Lol.

ARC Review--Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

 

The HOTLY ANTICIPATED adult debut novel by the beloved, #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series

It starts with a class in an old movie theater.

Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Stephanie Garber's adult debut, Alchemy of Secrets was my MOST anticipated read for 2025 and I was thrilled when I was offered an advanced copy which I immediately devoured! This was a book that kept me eagerly turning the pages wanting to devour its vast flow of endless secrets and uncover the mystery within!

When Holland was an undergrad she took a course that is not in the immediate catalog. You have to know about it and you have to know where to look for the clues that will lead you to the classroom. Folklore 517 is not a class for the faint of heart. Then one night while out with her new boyfriend, Jake, she decides to look for one of the "tales" her professor talked about and that is the Watch Man. They say he can tell you the exact day and time of when you will die and if there's anything you can do to prevent it. 

It's not long before Holland learns that she has just over a day to live, she will die at the last minute of Halloween night unless she can find the famed Alchemical Heart. No one knows quite what this thing is, but it's a highly coveted and sought out item. Shortly after a harrowing discovery, Holland meets Gabe who said her twin sister, January, sent him to protect her and help her with task. Gabe is a man of mystery and Holland isn't quite sure if she should trust him or not despite him knowing a great deal about her sister and what's going on. If that wasn't enough to pique your interest, a second man comes along and claims the exact same thing! Soon Holland isn't sure who to believe or who to ultimately trust.

Holland is soon on a quest to find this Alchemical Heart, but the clock is ticking and as she follows clues left behind by her late father she's finding herself more deeper in danger at every turn and with very few people she can trust.

This book...just wow! This book was everything I could've hoped for! If you've known me for more than a minute you will know that I positively adore Stephanie's books and I was pining for her adult debut before I even knew what it was! This book was so intriguing, so engaging. It was the ultimate mysterious and it kept me guessing at every turn. Just when you think you might have things figured out you're completely derailed by the next revelation!

I loved how much there was to learn in this book as well! All the different kinds of stories and myths that Holland grew up with. She always believed in magic and now it's beginning to seem like it was very real. And the characters in this book! Oh my, there were quite a few people in Holland's life and honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of any of them as the story kept moving along.

As far as romance goes, Stephanie really pulled a number on this one! It currently seems like there maybe two men who are contenders for Holland's heart with a possible, maybe third, but I'm not as confident in that one. Although there wasn't any romance happening like we've seen in her YA books, this is just the start, I suspect of what's to come. In the meantime, we'll have to be satisfied with minimal kisses between the pages. 

Alchemy of Secrets is an edgy thrill ride wrapped in mystery and shrouded in an enigma. This is a read that will keep you guessing until the very end and leave you craving for more! I positively cannot wait to see what that more will be, but with Garber, you know it's going to be something magically amazing!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Alchemy of Secrets releases October 7, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

Prince of Thorns & Nightmares by Linsey Miller (5 stars)

One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain (2.5 stars)

Review That Was Posted:

Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray (ARC) (4.5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Druid Cursed by C.J. Burright

What I Plan to Read Next:

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday #215
Books from the Backlog #154
Book Blogger Hop # 377
Let's Discuss: Sequel Synopses
Stacking the Shelves: The Marvelous Two Week Haul!

Review--One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain

 

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies delivers another chilling supernatural thriller filled with murder, romance, and a decades long mystery that haunts a small Florida town.

The perfect blend of Natasha Preston, Krystal Sutherland, and Delia Owens, with a paranormal twist.

Mount Orange, Florida, is famous for two things: Cerulean freshwater springs, ideal for free divers who aren't afraid of lurking gators. And the gruesome cold case murder of best friends, Bailey and Celeste, twenty years ago.

Bailey and Celeste's murders cast a permanent darkness over sunny Mount Orange. Tru has always lived in that shadow. Now she's supposed to head to FSU in the fall with her boyfriend, but those unsolved murders -- and the death of her own sister -- invade her every thought. It’s only in the shadowy deep of Hidden Glen Springs that she can breathe.

When a strange girl named Rio rolls into town, hell-bent on figuring out who killed Bailey and Celeste, Tru can't resist entangling herself in the thrill of solving the decades old mystery any more than she can resist her familiar, aching attraction to Rio.

As the summer heat ignites, so does the spark between Tru and Rio...along with their other-worldy connection to Bailey and Celeste. But when someone begins stalking them, the girls become convinced the killer is back in town. And if they keep digging into the past, Tru and Rio know this time, it could be their blood that makes the springs run red.

I picked up Ginny Myers Sain's One Last Breath ready for yet another chilling supernatural thriller, and sadly, this time around I was deeply disappointed. There's still very much thrilling vibes going on, but the supernatural aspect is very vague and barely noticeable. Plus the story involved an aspect I cannot stand to read about and the plot revolved around it for over half the story, so you can imagine my gripe with the book. It just made it very hard to get into and enjoy because, sadly, this scenario that I cannot stand ended up being a very focal part of the story.

Let's get to the good stuff first. Tru lives in a small Florida town where tragedy struck twenty years ago. Two teenage girls, best friends, Bailey and Celeste, were brutally murdered by a serial killer known as the Glades Reaper. He was never caught, but his victims were always killed in pairs, sometimes left in gruesome manners. Tru has always been a little bit obsessed with the case in some sense. It was THE most unsolvable mystery to hit her town and it happened before she was even born.

Then a new girl comes to town, Rio, and for some reason, Tru is just drawn to this girl. She can't figure out why. Rio is wild and enigmatic and Tru can't stop thinking about her. And oddly enough, Rio is also deeply intrigued by the murder mystery of Bailey and Celeste, but that's not a big surprise as every podcaster and murder mystery buff is drawn to the case and come visit the town where it happened. But the fact that Rio is also drawn to it like Tru is, just makes her all the more interesting.

The kicker to all this? Tru has a boyfriend, one she's been with for years and loves. Even though lately, she can't help but feel like she was meant for something more. In fact, she's been keeping secrets from East, ones about their future. Basically, we get all these hints about how Tru wants something else and how she feels like she was just expected to date and marry East, so you feel ready for when she starts looking at Rio.

But I have issues with this. While nothing overtly sexual happens between her and Rio, there's still all these looks, all these touches and glances, and yes, Tru is crushing on Rio and maybe unintentionally makes it known that she likes Rio and Rio very much likes Tru. But all the while I keep shouting at Tru that she has a boyfriend. She needs to break up with the boy now so she can pursue this thing with Rio. Honestly, if she did this right away I would have had little issue with her wanting to be with Rio. That Rio starts off their "meeting" with lies upon lies, and continues with the lying was another thing I didn't like but I understood her reasoning for some of the lies. The rest just had me suspicious, because this is a murder mystery! Lol.

But yes, because Tru is somewhat emotionally unfaithful to her boyfriend, who was also her childhood best friend, all her lying to him and deception...I just did not like it whatsoever. And this went on and on and ON! For over half the book! I cannot get behind a romance that for one, starts off with lie after lie, and one that resulted from what was basically cheating. I cannot stand to read about characters cheating on their romantic partner and it was just hard to want to root for Tru at times, you know?

The mystery aspect, when it circled back around to trying to solve this twenty year old mystery, was pretty good though. To be honest, I started out with one entirely different theory involving Rio, I so thought it would pan out because early on, it was making sense. I figured more clues would come along to provide further evidence, but then yeah, that did not pan whatsoever! Lol. 

The real clues were all there once the big reveal came and thinking back, I am like how did I not see this right away? To be fair it was happening during my this is who Rio really is theory so I may have missed those other hints! 

Sadly, the supernatural aspect was just so vague. It was interesting, I did read a book many moons ago with a similar theme. It was eons before the blog began so you won't find a review for it! Lol. I think that book has long since been donated too during one of the rare purges I did. But I feel like it within itself was not supernatural enough for me. I think that's what led me to donate that other book too, it was interesting, but not weird enough, you know?

The pacing wasn't its best either. I mean, I kept going at it because I wanted to see the mystery solved. That was really the driving force of this book for me. I wanted to know whodunit! I wanted to see if any of my theories had panned out, which most did not! Lol. If it wasn't for that mystery draw, I would've DNF'd this one. It was not the thriller I was hoping for that's for sure.

All in all, not my favorite of Ginny's books and sadly it was all chalked up to the way the romance was handled. Honestly, if Tru had just dumped her boyfriend earlier on to explore things with Rio, I probably would've been more of a fan, but she led him on for too long. I get they were friends first, but East deserved better than to be led on like that when Tru was having feelings for someone else. It wasn't fair to East and in some ways it wasn't fair to Rio either. It honestly really impacted the way I enjoyed the bulk of the novel because for the bulk of the novel Tru was going back and forth between these two and the mystery elements happened in between. 

I left things sort of vague when it came to the supernatural element, mainly because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It's not mentioned in the synopsis so I didn't want to mention it.  

So basically, if you don't mind a story revolving around infidelity while a twenty year old murder mystery slowly gets solved with just a slight supernatural twist, then you might find yourself enjoying this one more than I did. Still a decent read if the infidelity thing doesn't bother you as much as it bothers me, because truly, that is what kept me from enjoying this one completely.

Overall Rating 2.5/5 stars

Stacking the Shelves--The Marvelous Two Week Haul!

 

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

Wow, two weeks since my last post! Let's see, last week was mostly uneventful until Thursday when we left for a family trip. Usually we visit my aunt in the summer, but we had to switch it to fall for reasons--nothing terrible, my aunt was renovating the master bathroom and that basically left only one usable bathroom, so we just decided we'd postpone our annual visit. The trip was lovely! The weather is always nicer just a few states north and while it was cloudy for some of the trip, temperature wise was a LOT nicer than St. Louis! Of course, I did make the unfortunate decision to work mobile remotely in the car on the way up and back and it was dreadful. Now I know how people feel when they say they can't read in the car because they get carsick. Well, I legit cannot work on a laptop well in the car because it made me a wee bit sick. Would much rather have read but it's our busy season and for whatever reason I felt guilty for taking my trip then and didn't want to leave us understaffed for 3 days. So I took off two hours early the two days we traveled and all of Friday. 

This week was more of the same with work, busy, busy. I did get to go see Tricia Levenseller earlier in the week which was a delight! Love listening to her talk and hearing her talk about her adult debut was awesome! Then Friday, the bookstore setup Sabrina Blackburry as a quick meet and greet, so I stopped by there too! It was a little bit warmer that day than I anticipated, definitely miss the weather up north, that's for sure! Lol. But otherwise the week was pretty normal and mundane. Although TONIGHT I get to see Holly Black!! Super excited as it feels like ages since I last saw her...it might have been for TQON release which was a road trip if I recall but this time, it's somewhat local but still quite a drive for "work night", lol. Oh well, I'll just go to bed early on Monday to make up for the lack of sleep! I've got a few road trips planned in October on the weekends to see authors plus at least two local ones including STEPHANIE GARBER! So October is definitely shaping out to be a great (and pricey!) month! 

Anyway, here's what I got these past two weeks...pretty sure the majority of these came from this week, but it's been quite a few days I can't 100% remember. Lol.

So Blooms the Dawn by Julie C. Dao--I have the first one on my TBR but thought since it's a duology, might as well buy the second during B&N's preorder sale!
Spellcaster by Jaymin Eve
Road Trip with a Vampire by Jenna Levine

Dirty Lying Sirens by Sabrina Blackburry--SIGNED!

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller--SIGNED!

Then I got the two prints on the left from the signing, which is basically the art from the naked hardcover of the book!
And then because I was one of the first 25 people to buy a ticket, I got this super cool necklace!

Then for review from the publisher I received:

A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost (ARC)--I think the title on this mockup is the old one as Goodreads lists ACOBAM as the title on the page itself. 

THANK YOU Bramble!

Then my FL book for September came in. The cover is all right. This was one I got an ARC of back in July but didn't get to read it in time. It'll go on my maybe someday pile as it does sound like an intriguing one!

Then I got my preorder gift for Thorn Season:

THANK YOU Epic Reads!

Then I got my preorder gift for Alchemy of Secrets. Now hopefully the ones I submitted for my mom and sister can produce the other keychain. Fingers crossed!

THANK YOU Flatiron Books!

Then when I was at the craft festival in Wisconsin I found a both that upcycled the video art inserts from old VHS tapes. She had notebooks with the covers and then the spines she made into bookmarks! Sadly Beauty & the Beast was gone--obviously!--but I found my two other favorite princesses who were VHS tapes, as Tangled was already in the DVD era! Lol.

Then finally, while not bookish but still totally fitting my vibe, a jewelry booth--as I love shopping the unique handmade jewelry--had this pretty! It's got a copper backing and was just too cool to pass up:

And that was it for me this week (and last week!)! What all did you get?

Let's Discuss: Sequel Synopses

 

So I know earlier this year I talked about how I avoid reading reviews for sequels of books/series I am behind in but now I want to talk about the sequel synopses. I guess in this sense, I will say that when I say "synopsis" I'm talking about the book description; the cover jacket info or what's on the back of the paperback. I know sometimes a few vocab words get tossed around on that! I always likened synopsis to mean the whole description beginning to end, but yeah...I don't know anymore after all the years of just calling it "book description!" Lol.

Sequel Synopses

So if you're behind in a book series that you are enjoying, say you've read the first two books and now book 4 is releasing...do you read what the synopsis is about? Or do you steer clear?

Me, I steer clear! I think ONE time, ONE TIME, I read ahead with the synopsis because I thought, what's the harm? I was young, I didn't know better. And it was earth shattering! I could not tell you what book it was...because yeah I may have forgotten! It was likely something I read in my youth that I may not even have anymore...but it basically talked about characters still reeling after so-and-so's death! I was like OMG?!!!!

Needless to say, I learned my lesson! Never read the synopsis of future books if you are not caught up!

What about you? Do you avoid reading the synopsis for a book that you plan to to read eventually but aren't quite caught up in said series? Do you even read them? I know I run into people who never read them, but me, I love reading them because that's what hooks me in! 

Book Blogger Hop #377

 

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

This week's question is: Do you ever get strange looks from strangers while browsing the book aisle in department stores? What do you think is going through their minds? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

MY ANSWER: I guess I never really noticed if I do. When I browse the book aisles at Target or Walmart, it's just another aisle! Or section at Target! I like that they have more books to choose from than Walmart! Walmart can be difficult sometimes as books usually only take up half the aisle so there's usually someone on "the other side" taking up the room with their cart. But I don't think I get odd looks. If anything I am running into another reader who's also shopping! Although, ironically we're never headed for the same book, so there's usually no conversation to make sadly. Although I would probably be too nervous to make conversation too. I've become overly shy the last several years.

Books from the Backlog #154

 

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books!

The third and final installment in the Macey Gardella: Vampire Hunter trilogy, set in Prohibition era Chicago.

Macey finds herself facing the violent and malevolent Nicholas Iscariot without two of her most devoted allies and friends.

I added Colleen Gleason's Roaring Dawn to my TBR pile in December of 2016! I originally read her Gardella Vampire Hunters series that was set in Victoria times. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with corsets! Lol. This is the third and final book in the spinoff trilogy that has a distant relative of that main heroine. I believe it takes place in the 1920s so a significant time jump! I read the first book but it's been sooo long that I might need to reread it when I finally circle back around to this series! I do want to finish it up one day as I remember absolutely loving the first series and the first book in this one too! Lol.