Welcome to Litsy!

I loved Lone Women so much that I picked this up without knowing anything about it. I really like Victor LaValle's writing style. Interesting yet easy to read.

Pepper is involuntarily committed to a mental institution. What is supposed to be a 72-hour hold turns into months. Pepper learns of the monster that is stalking the inmates, and eventually he is attacked by the creature.

This horror story takes place in a New York psychiatric facility in 2011. The setting was detailed remarkably well and the characters were the kind that stick with you because they seem so real. The horror was more in the system than the supernatural aspect.

5-23-22: My 48th finished book of 2022! This book surprised me in the best way possible. After a minor altercation with undercover cops, Pepper is brought to New Hyde Hospital‘s psychiatric ward for a 72 hour hold. While 72 hours becomes months, Pepper befriends a varying group of residents, including Dorry, Coffee and Loochie. Their friendship turns into a solidarity that helps Pepper manage his new situation. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣4️⃣8️⃣

#SpringSentiments Day 17: This book cover and title make me a tad #apprehensive. Cannot wait to read horror stories again - our reading theme during the last quarter of the year.

So I loved this book from the start, but it was a little long towards the end, that is why I gave it a so-so. I don‘t want to give anything away but it has a powerful message. If it was a just a little shorter, it would have been a pick for me.

Been thinking about this book a lot lately... might be time for a reread.

“One day the truth came to me. A wise man once said that every system is designed to give you the results you actually get. If you understand that, you‘ll see that this system is working.” “For some people,” Pepper said. Dr. Anand shook his head emphatically. “No. Wrong. The system is working exactly right for those it was intended for. That‘s why it hasn‘t been fixed. Because it isn‘t broken!”

🤐🚑

This paragraph sounds like it was fun to write.

Pepper doesn't belong in the psych ward, yet here he is, forced to face his assumptions about mental illness and a literal monster that roams the halls at night.

This is a solid so-so. It's amusing enough, but it feels loose, unpolished. I fear that Lavalle is using "but they're crazy" to excuse some inconsistencies in the characters. The novel does a good job, though, of capturing the Catch-22 that is mental healthcare in the US.

#ScreamathonPhotoChallenge @4thhouseontheleft

Went with a book on my TBR with an #OrangeandBlack cover

📖 The Devil in Silver

📽 The Devil Wears Prada

🎼 Seven Devils ~ Florence + the Machine

#manicmonday @JoScho

Haven‘t heard the best reviews for this....but I‘m going to give it a try. 🤓📖

Finished this creepy read last night. Pepper is brought for “temporary” holding to a mental hos., where the residents swear that the Devil (in the form of a man with the head of a bison) preys on them at night.

This book is horrific but ultimately not for the reasons readers would initially expect from the blurb. Definitely enjoyed it!

#screamathon

Spending my day off drinking coffee, loving that fall is finally here and embracing these two super spooky #screamathon reads!

My overly ambitious TBR for #screamathon! And there are more on the kindle! Can you tell it‘s my favorite time of the year? 😂

🎃👻🧟‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️

Finally I watched the movie Get Out last night. It was intense and heavy but I find the plot is intriguing! It's gets into your head and I am still thinking about it this morning.

I found this list of social horror novels similar to the movie here: https://bookriot.com/2017/03/24/social-horror-novels-for-fans-of-get-out/

Anyone read the books listed before or do you have any recommendations? 😊 TIA!

#socialhorrornovels

It took me some time to get my first #freakyfriday pick finished, due to a surprisingly speedy move and unpacking.
But, I FINALLY had a little time to sit down and relax and knock this one out and... Wow. I'll be thinking about this one for a while, and I'll definitely be seeking out Victor LaValle again.
Next stop, The Devil All the Time (gotta get my devil kick over with, I guess?)!

@Clwojick @monalyisha @ohyeahthatgirl

I'm finally getting started on my challenge! @ohyeahthatgirl , this pick's description absolutely won me over. I'm super excited for it!

So for some reason I thought this book was we going to be scary? I have absolutely no idea where I got that perception from haha. But I did enjoy this book. I loved the characters and how the author wrote them. I loved peppers character. I thought it was interesting adding Van Gogh as this somewhat passion/obsession of peppers and kind of ironic to choose van gogh in a book about characters within a mental hospital. Overall it was a good book

Woah! This is some good storytelling here!

Just a little Over The Garden Wall as a palate cleanser, then straight in The Devil in Silver. @24in48 #hour 18+

I could get used to this!

#HalloweenVibes for the weekend. I have a busy few days ahead of me, but I'm going to try to relax with #VictorLaValle as much as I can. #horror #mystery #diversebooks

My planned spooky reading for October! It took me awhile to decide on what to read, but I'm finally happy with it. I think I have a nice ratio of fun vs. truly scary books so that things don't get *too* dark and heavy!

Hour 18: Interested in reading diverse horror? I highly recommend Stephen Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Tananarive Due. If you want to try horror comics, Junji Ito is truly a horror manga master and while the storyline of Locke & Key is amazing, it's Gabriel Rodriguez's beautiful artwork that makes the story come alive.

The books in this stack are at the top of my TBR. Some are part of my #24in48 reading plans!

#WeNeedDiverseBooks
#OwnVoices

This book takes place in Queens, NY. I plan on reading it for #BookRiotReadHarder and it works for #riotgrams #SetNearWhereYouLive It looks creepy and awesome!!

Oh, hey, that's me! I'm a pretentious American twit (of the ginger variety).

I'm not entirely sure where LaValle is going with this Van Gogh tangent. The book so far is a good story, but it's practically an essay on racism and the failings of American social programs by way of a somewhat strange story set in a mental institution...with a monster. It's definitely unique! Thriller or horror, though? No way.

A sampling of on-the-go options for the #readathon.
#deweys24hrreadathon

Dance class, here I come! 👯

A deliciously cynical and rather unflinching examination of mental illness and mental health care. Has a lot to say about casual racism without ever getting preachy. This book wasn't what I expected when I found it on a list of "books about the devil" but it was enjoyable, and I guess it does deal with demons of the personal kind, and the triumph of the human spirit over them.

"YouTube!...To stumble across human beings with insipid thoughts, video cameras, and the utter lack of humility that made them use one to immortalize the other!"

Sounds like a fun read and I am still in a creepy, weird mood.

#ReadJanuary There are so many books set in NYC. This one is set in Queens, which is my borough! #SetInYourCity #TBR #ReadHarder

I enjoyed this one much more than the last LaValle novel I read. He tackles the Byzantine injustices of mental health care with humor and horror, but above all humanity. The protagonist, Pepper, learns to navigate an unfamiliar world with the help of Vincent Van Gogh's letters, the newspaper clippings of lost souls, and the novel "Jaws." (And in the end, with hope.) It's an exhausting but worthwhile read.

Weekend plans = seeing Moana with my boy and reading this gem alongside some very special friends! #TGIF #books #librarybooks #amreading #buddyread

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

#spookyreads #spooktober #halloween #pumpkin

Interesting concept; the plot moves along at a swift pace with good commentary about mental illness and the inhumanity with which our society approaches it. The characters are well-developed (albeit very cliche), likable and worthy of sympathy. But ultimately it‘s just not compelling enough. LaValle takes his sweet time building to a climax that‘s utterly predictable and underwhelming—and while he‘s at it, drags the plot in too many directions.

This a bail and pan. The first 40ish% was a horror story. What's being kept locked away in the mental hospital? What 'visits' the patients nights? Then a 'let's break in and see wtf is going on'. After that the story goes off in a strange direction, the protagonist gets a love interest. Then goes off on a Van Gogh tangent because he's reading a book about Van Gogh. He goes into a bio about the painter. Why!? What happened to the 'devil'? 😐🙄

"The nurses and orderlies looked at the computer as if it had betrayed them. They looked at one another to see which of them might volunteer for the task of inputting the information. Frankly, you'd have a better chance of getting a Korean to marry a black person."

WHAT!? ??

Now this is what I call an opening line. So great. "They brought the big man in on a winter night when the moon looked as hazy as the heart of an ice cube."

"This economic prudence was supposed to affect everyone, but you could bet it was going to whip some people much worse."