Quick Margins

  • Such Lovely Skin By Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

    This week, I’m diving into something completely different to my usual finds. Once again, I found myself scrolling through the “Based on Your Reading” section on my Kindle, and came upon Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne. I haven’t read anything YA since freshman year of college, but the sufficiently creepy title and cover drew me in immediately. 

    The story is told from the POV of high school student Viv, a video game streamer struggling with the guilt of accidentally killing her little sister, as well as the guilt of lying about it to everyone—even her parents. After downloading a mysterious indie horror game that she plans to play for her return to Twitch streaming, she comes across an NPC during an initial practice run, demanding that she reveal a secret. Not thinking anything of it, Viv decides to reveal the true, dark details of her sister’s death to it ….I have to actively try and remind myself that she’s still a teenager. 

    This invites a demonic doppelganger into her life. The demon, unsurprisingly, begins wreaking havoc, taking over Viv’s life in terrifying ways. She tries to explain the situation, but surprise surprise, nobody believes her. That is, besides local bad boy and social recluse, Ash, and the two decide to work together to stop the demon and clear her name. 

    This novel was pure Gen Z tech horror, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Besides the fact that I love indie horror games, I grew up reading the Goosebumps series, and the storyline in this novel had a similar, more modernized, feel to it. The idea was so fresh and unique; we’ve all heard about demons latching onto objects like books, old paintings, dolls, and so on, and this is the first time I’ve come across a demon-haunted video game. 

    Just the idea of an evil doppelganger, shapeshifter, or any type of mimic, is something that has always freaked me out. I mean imagine— having something so seemingly untargetable essentially wear your face and destroy your life and name right before your eyes. I could feel Viv’s fear and utter helplessness, and I wondered what I would do in the same situation. 

    Thrilling and fast-paced, the entire thing played out like a movie in my head, and it genuinely creeped me out. The way the author describes the scratching sounds and the quick, unnaturally jerky movements of the demon made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. 

    I also really liked the themes of guilt and grief, and the message of learning to overcome these emotions by accepting one’s mistakes and speaking your truth.  Demons often symbolize thoughts and emotions as much as physical entities, and I enjoyed how the author brought this to life.

    If you love YA horror, or just want something creepy and quick to read, I recommend looking into this one.

  • Ninth House By Leigh Bardugo

    Ever find something so great, so fulfilling, that you can’t help but kick yourself for not getting into it sooner? Yeah, that’s me with Leigh Bardugo’s, Ninth House. 

    I’ve been seeing Leigh Bardugo’s work around for years now—stacked on tables at Barnes & Noble, presented in the Recommended section on Goodreads, popping up in the search results for “adult fantasy mystery books.” Yet I never took the time to actually read any of her work. That is, until I received my very first Kindle as a birthday gift, and Ninth House found its way into the ‘Based on Your Reading’ section. For weeks I’d been itching to start a new fantasy mystery— something cozy and a bit spooky that would fit the feel of the ongoing autumn weeks. I looked into it a bit, and pretty quickly, the book summary, as well as the author blurb by the master of horror himself, Stephen King (classifying the book as unable to be put down), really solidified this pick for me.

    The book is centered around a girl named Galaxy “Alex” Stern (sick name by the way), a young woman with a rough past and the rare ability to see ghosts, who is suddenly offered the opportunity of a lifetime upon waking up in the hospital after a traumatizing incident: to attend Yale University on a full ride— with the task of monitoring the university’s secret societies. As you could imagine with the occult, things prove to be even more ominous than they seem, particularly after the unexpected death of a young local woman.  

    A few weeks later (yes yes I know, I like to take my time), and I’m so happy to confirm it did not disappoint. True to King’s quote, I was unable to put it down and, true to my plan, found myself contently posted up on my sofa with a fall-scented candle by my side and a cup of tea, breezing through each chapter. 

    The writing style was the first thing that drew me in. Sharp and immersive, I felt like I could almost visualize the campus buildings as I read, could smell the crisp fall air, and hear the eerie shrieks of the ghosts she encounters. 

    The dialogue was very natural and witty, the mystery intriguing, the characters very solid and likeable. Especially Darlington. 

    I also loved Leigh’s exploration of themes like trauma, power, and privilege, and how effortlessly they were sewn into the story’s undercurrent. 

    It wasn’t over-the-top terrifying horror, but there were definitely some parts that made my skin crawl, especially the freaky behaviors of some of the ghosts. Overall it was very fun to read, and in case you didn’t get the hint before, I’m LIVID with myself for not picking this up sooner. Ready to start the second book in the series, Hell Bent, as I write this.

  • We Used to Live Here By Marcus Kliewer

    I’d been in a reading slump for a couple of months before I picked up this novel. I wanted something unique, mind-bending, and creepy, and nothing I’d been picking up for the past couple of weeks was really speaking to me. Then, one day, I came across a horror book discussion video by one of my favorite streamers on YouTube, Gab Smolders, in which she mentioned Marcus Kliewer’s debut novel, We Used to Live Here. Despite her C-tier rating, I was immediately intrigued when she described the plot.

    The novel is centered around a lesbian couple, Eve and Charlie, who buy an old, secluded house in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, with plans to flip it. Then one day, during the brink of a snowstorm, a family shows up at their doorstep. The father, claiming to have lived in the house years before, asks to be invited in to show his children around and relive old memories. Eve, a chronic people-pleaser at heart, decides to let them in. Sigh.

    What should have started out as a quick tour turns into a prolonged and very bizarre ordeal. The family becomes increasingly more suspicious and invasive, and the home begins to change right before Eve’s eyes. Pretty quickly, everything she thought she knew about herself and the world she lives in starts to unravel.

    I can’t even begin to describe how unsettlingly puzzling this book is, and I mean that in the best way possible. The lines between reality and imagination were quickly blurred, and I was constantly questioning everything. The characters, the setting, and everything in between exuded this sense of trickery and delusion. I wasn’t sure who or what was real, who was malicious, and who was benevolent. The author did a truly remarkable job of this, of both building this world and distorting it. I also loved the “lost files” method of storytelling used in this novel, from the morse code to the recovered documents between chapters that enriched and connected the many points of the story as it goes on.  

    The language is very descriptive and succeeds in creating that sense of unease. Themes like religious trauma, memory, and trust were woven so well into such a complex storyline.

    Eve makes for a likeable, and slightly stress-inducing, protagonist. I just couldn’t help but shake my head at her decision to let the family into her home. I mean, really, in what world would that seem like a good idea?! Her inability to trust her instincts and set sufficient boundaries frustrated me to no end.

    Admittedly, however, I too grew up with some people-pleasing tendencies, so I couldn’t help but relate to her on some level. Not on the level of letting a bunch of strangers into my home, but then again, we can’t all be so hospitable.

    By the end of the novel, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What just happened? Where’s the rest??” Like many other readers, I was disappointed by this, but it’s not something that dampened the overall experience for me. About halfway through the novel, I decided the best thing to do was to go with whichever way the story decided to take me, and I’m happy I did.

    For anyone looking to read this book, I recommend that you go in completely blind. At least in the case of this novel, I believe that some questions might just be better left unanswered.

    Also, I know that Marcus Kliewer’s next novel is set to come out this spring, and that it will not be centered on Eve, but will take place in the same universe. If you couldn’t already tell, I will absolutely be reading it, and I’m sure it’ll provide more of the same mind-bending storytelling I loved in this one.