Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Life After Death | By Damien Echols

 


First Published September 17, 2012

I first heard about the West Memphis Three (WM3) when I took an class in college on documentary's. It soon became a case that I was not only intrigued by but followed. It never sat right with me and felt as though it was a miscarriage of justice.  If you aren't familiar with it google it. There is a lot of information for and against their innocence and several documentaries. 

Life After Death has sat in my TBR pile since 2012.  I am not exactly sure why I kept putting it off other than I have never been a huge fan of Damien Echols (Yes, you can be indifferent about someone and think they are innocent). I always found him a bit cocky but I always took that as who he was in his youth. I always found him to be intelligent and having the ability to use words to express himself beautifully.

Life After Death is a raw account on Echols life behind bars (more than half his life at the point of his release) and the cycle of poverty, prejudice and incidents that resulted in a guilty verdict. Damien's experienced a level of poverty that no one should undergo. Is a victim of a failed justice system. This is sadly a common occurrence in out society and makes this an important read. 


*** I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


Monday, April 14, 2025

Slayers, Every One of Us: How One Girl in All the World Showed Us How to Hold On | By Kristin Russo , Jenny Owen Youngs

 


First Published April 8, 2025

If you are fans of the podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer you'll love this book. If you're just discovering them this book is for you. It gives a lot of background information on the podcasters ( Kristin and Jenny), their podcast and the love they have for Buffy!

Buffering the Vampire Slayer started off with Kristen watching Jenny's favorite show Buffy The Vampire Slayer and analyzing it. It was meant to enhance their relationship and while the podcast becomes a success their personal life becomes complicated. Their romantic relationship and marriage falls apart but they manage to remain committed to their audience, fans and show by producing episodes and Buffy events. 

This book will spoil episodes so don't read it if you haven't seen Buffy! One of the most interesting things about the book is how it's disclosed that their relationship was mirroring Buffy episodes they were watching/discussing. 

This is an interesting read. If you want to listen  or revisit the podcast now is a good time to start because they Kristen and Jenny are going thru all the episodes again this time with spoilers! 

I am not sure what I was expecting when I read this book but I didn't think the main focus would be about Jenny and Kristens relationship with Buffy as an afterthought. This doesn't mean it wasn't a good read because it was but I wanted more Buffy. 

* I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


Friday, April 11, 2025

Count My Lies by Sophie Stava

Sloane Caraway is a liar! She uses her ability to lie to get what she wants. I'm not even sure Sloane knows why she is a liar. She just is. 

Sloane Caraway lies her way into becoming a nanny for a family. A wealthy family that has some secrets of its own. Jay and Violet appear to be the perfect couple. Their story along with Sloane unravels via different points of view and each point of view is unreliable. 

Sloane is creepy and bat shit crazy but Jay and Violet are messy. There are too many lies to count which makes you addicted to this read. The twists and turns are the best I've come across this year. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Stava has written a well executed novel that keeps you guessing. 

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Garden of Shadows (Dollanganger, #5) by V.C. Andrews


Garden of Shadows is the prequel to Flowers in the Attic. I strongly recommend that you read it last as it is book 5 and will have more of a punch after having read the Dollanganger saga. 

This book gives insight into Olivia and how circumstances changed her into the person we read about in Flowers in the Attic. Olivia wasn't initially a cruel person. She was naive and fell for the handsome Malcom Foxworth. What she thought would be a marriage turned into a disaster.

Initially Olivia is a likable character and while her circumstances don't excuse who she becomes her story is sad. She has a different expectation of marriage than Malcom does. Malcom is cruel and treats her as though she is less than a person. Olivia experiences loses in a variety of ways and each loss chips away at her turning her into the shadow version of Malcom. 

Readers are given a lot of background information and answers to some questions from the previous four books. Be prepared for an emotional journey.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Guillotine | By Delilah S. Dawson


Guillotine is quite possibly the most violent and disturbing book I have read but I liked it! Lets just saw revenge is so so sweet and our character is badass!

Dez Lane is a fashionista and she wants meet Marie Caulfield-Ruskin. Marie is editor-in-chief of Nouveau magazine and Dez wants to impress her and secure an internship. In order to do this she HAS to date Patrick Ruskin. She doesn't like him but he is the son of Marie. Patrick is a jerk and self pretentious. He thinks he is gods gift to women but he makes my skin crawl.

Patrick invites Dez to his family's estate for Easter. Once they arrive things become odd. Dez must sign and NDA (as do all servants and guests). Dez is given rules to follow and everything feels just a bit off and creepy. 

As things unravel,  get ugly and full of  gory violence you'll cheer for Dez. This book is full of suspense and is deliciously dark. I need this to be made into a movie. Put some time a side because you will want ot read this is one swoop. 

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Kristy and the Walking Disaster: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #16) | By Ellen T. Crenshaw (Adapter, Illustrator), Ann M. Martin (Author)

 

Kristy forms a softball team called Kristy's Krushers. It's made up of children that aren't very athletic or know how to play but want to. It' proves to be challenging but worth it. Kristy also has her first crush! This is a super cute read. 

Life After Death | By Damien Echols

  First Published September 17, 2012 I first heard about the West Memphis Three (WM3) when I took an class in college on documentary's. ...