Welcome to Litsy!

Gruesome, intelligent, and macabre! Think “Penny Dreadful“ Steer clear of this if you don't like graphic violence. Book 2 for #readathon and 65 points for #Scarathlon #TeamWhoYaGonnaCall

Day 14 #Scarathlon Photo Challenge - Monster. I'm hoping to read this during Dewey's 24-Hour #Readathon next weekend. #TeamWhoYaGonnaCall

1/2 way thru this short novel & bailing B/c: 1) I'm bored. 2) I do not care at all about these characters. 3) probably b/c the author spends more time romanticizing the horror rather than developing character, backstory, or plot. 4) the "Monster's" verbiage really strikes discordant at times and totally takes me out of the experience.
Thank you, bye, next.

(Ethan turned 3mo recently.)

So as it turns out, the two books I picked up from the library today, simply because of the fact that they are both on my TBR and the only ones that we're both available today at my local branch, are by two Canadian authors.
Woo!

3✨This was a very graphic and gory read. The monsters seems to be better people than the normal people. The crazy relationship between Florian and Johann kinda worked in a messed up way. I had trouble following along and would have liked more depth. It is a small book, but think the idea and plot were great. I just would have liked more. Read for #LMPBC @Littlewolf1 @Lauranahe @LitStephanie It is also my June #Doublebookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Might be hard to tell, but enjoying the patio while it is actually raining!! Still a little hot here, but at least the rain is cooling it down substantially. 😮‍💨

This a very short (157 pjs) dark fantasy. There‘s a monster, a sorcerer, a revenge plot, murder…very dark and twisted and fun. Like a neo-Clive Barker.

Very strange and very disturbing. A young boy on his own becomes a murderous monster who cannot die. Eventually he meets up with a sorcerer who might or might not also be a monster. I don't want to give anything away so will leave it at that. #lmpbc #groupd #round14

Happy New Year!

I read so many great books this year. My Top 15 in no particular order:

The Wizard Hunters
Sacred City
The Monster of Elendhaven
Fevered Star
Gallant
Daughter of the Deep
Dreyer‘s English
Deacon King Kong
Razorblade Tears
Four Lost Cities
Any Way the Wind Blows
The Troubled Girls of Dragomire Academy
Kaleidoscope
Dark Rise
The Age of Dinosaurs

On to 2022!!!

Wow wow wow, this novella is dark & gothic & murder-y af & I loved every single word. A monster, a sorcerer, a dying city, & a diabolical plan combine in this debut which reads like anything but—the writing is excellent & really assured. If you‘re a fan of The Library at Mount Char you will almost certainly like this book. Likewise if you‘re a fan of horror. No sooner did I finish it than I wanted to start over & read it again. It‘s that good.

I was a little disappointed that I didn‘t end up liking this as much as I thought I would when all said and done. Though, I did like the dark, horror-ish descriptions! Plus, the narrator did a very good job reading this; most likely why I finished it. Nonetheless, I‘m intrigued what Giesbrecht writes next.

3.5 ⭐️
11/12/21

Wrapping up my #20in4 tonight with this atmospheric work @ulrichyumiodd I agree! Beautifully written 🫀total time ~12hrs

Loved this display at my local B&N.

Hooray for lazy Sundays

I enjoyed this strange, dark little world built and these two despicable yet somehow lovable characters.

Earlier this year I read The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.

This was a short but wicked read! A killer who cannot die forms an eerie, yet almost touching bond with a secretive sorcerer in a seemingly cursed town. It‘s violent and macabre, but also surprisingly tender at parts. This dark little debut is captivating! I enjoyed it, and very much look forward to what Ms. Giesbrecht writes next.

#ShortReview #JenniferGiesbrecht #Horror

I finished this one with just minutes to spare for #cyoreadathon. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I'm just not a big fan of fantasy. I found this one boring and unmemorable. Oh well, on to the next one. #Scarlathon2020 #TeamHarkness #bookspinbingo

@StayCurious @TheAromaofBooks

Up next a Digital Library Read! Keeping the momentum flowing. #bookspinbingo #Scarlathon2020 #TeamHarkness #cyoreadathon

It's been a depressing few days so been staying off socials mostly. Read these

Because who doesn‘t need some perversity on a wet Sunday morning.

Easter Readathon was fun and I finished up nearly all I wanted. Only Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher was left hanging, but oh well.

Oh and one short story missing from the picture is the wonderful A Witch's Guide to Escapes: A Practical Compedium To Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow.

If only return to reality wasn't so jarring.. 🙈

This was delightfully brutal, reminded me a lot of Vicous 🖤.

10/10 💫

I read this between Feb 12 & 13th and gave it 4 ⭐️. My only real complaint about this book was that it was far too short. Although the story was compact and tight (and it made sense to be a novella), I found that Giesbrecht‘s world building was such that I wanted to stay longer in the world of Elendhaven.

A monster. A murder. A plot for revenge. This is a twisted and horrific dark fantasy novella.

A quick but engrossing novella. Looking for more from this author.
3.5 🌟

First two books of the year. Both I would say are 3.5/5.

Dark and twisty and gay and I loved it.

What a weird, dark little book of death and magic and myths and revenge and hate. I‘m not sure it made total sense, but I really enjoyed the writing. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

“Monster was the best, his favourite word. The first half was a kiss, the second a hiss.”

I absolutely loved this novella. It was dark, twisted, and violent, though not scary - which I much prefer; scary stories aren‘t always for me. I fell in love with the writing style and the characters. The last chapter was intriguing, as if it only hinted at the last piece of the puzzle - but that was okay with me.

Miya and I have made cocoa and settled in with our third @DeweysReadathon book! Someone is enjoying spooky book season! #miyacatsprite #miyareads #catsoflitsy #readathon #novellasnovellasnovellas

Bk2 of #DeweyOct #Readathon & Bk5 of #24B4Monday I really enjoyed this novella about a Monster that cannot die & his Master. It was a story of darkness & revenge, of plague & of healing, of love but most of all hate. The hate of both for the city that reviled them for so long. It was dark & twisted and I loved it🖤 #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter 11points + 10 #PointsTotal-1,479

A thing with no name that can‘t be killed. A sorcerer with a tragic past. A plague that will serve revenge to everyone that ever wronged them. I enjoyed this book! +11 (team theme/post) #TeamStoker #scarathlon #24b4monday

Got in an hour before having a nanna nap, but I‘m back and ready to go! Not gonna make 24hrs for the #DeweyOct #readathon but I‘m very happy with my #24B4Monday time. This book is interesting so far. Johann is a street rat in Elendhaven until he discovers he can‘t die. Styling himself The Monster of Elendhaven, he meets Florian the wizard & together they cause trouble all over the city. #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon 1point + 5 #PointsTotal-1,458

Kind of surprised that I‘m putting this one aside since it‘s not very long at all (only 160 pages) and it sounded so up my alley. But I got halfway through and was just bored. I wasn‘t really compelled by the story to find out what was going on. I wasn‘t charmed by the characters and I flicked to the end and did a bit of skimming and what was there wasn‘t enough to make me want to keep going 🤷🏼‍♀️ I might give it another try later.

My book actually fits the #monster prompt for today‘s #ChillingPhotoChallenge so far it‘s dark and gritty and I am thoroughly enjoying it! Perhaps I‘ve finally found something to break my slump. #teamslaughter #scarathlon @Clwojick

Starting this today!💀💀

I'm finding that I'm reading a lot of meh books lately. This wasn't nearly as creepy and scary and badass as I was hoping for just going by the synopsis. It was just meh.

This novella was so much fun to read. Especially after the slog through the sea of wordiness that is Brandon Sanderson, picking up a book that is cutting, evocative, and gripping while being 10x shorter than the last book I read was so refreshing. If you can handle some cold, dark, creepiness, and violence, grab this little bugger this month.

Congratulations to @Librarybelle on her 200,00 litfluence milestone! A book I‘d most love to read is the tagged book. It‘s been compared to Gideon the Ninth and I loved that book very much. It has all the right elements, a city by the sea, Magic, monsters & horrible people doing horrible things who get taught a lesson. What‘s not to love? #200Kgiveaway

#scaryscavengerhunt
Matte cover and character death

#TeamStoker #scarathlon
3 points

🤷🏽‍♀️ I just don‘t know about this one. For some reason I kinda hated it. It was too long for a short story but not enough depth for a novella? Just did not dig this one at all

I have these two on audio. I started Monster the other day. It‘s ooooookkkkkk. I‘m not sure what is going on in my head but nothing is ringing my bell lately.

Gearing up for Halloween picked up a monster book to end September and start October and didn‘t love it! It suffers from the same thing most novellas do, there‘s so much story and not enough info for the story. I wanted more monsters and got more romance which I didn‘t hate but it wasn‘t fully fleshed out so I didn‘t get to enjoy it either. I‘ll read other books she writes and this was fun but maybe next time there will be more!

This was such a let down. I had my hopes up for it, it sounded so cool but it ended up being nothing. The monster part barely exists it‘s in the beginning and the end but the middle just becomes this weird romance story, and it just like happens there is no reason or build up for it, then there is magic, tales of gods and revenge it just starts going in so many directions, It was a mess.

Gearing up for October this morning. 🎃

#7days7covers #covercrush day 6!

seven covers in seven days, no explanation!
tag someone new each day!

@keepingupwiththepenguins have you been tagged yet?

I enjoy reading horror all year round, but I love this time of year when horror reading lists start popping up online. I already have a lot of these suggestions from Bustle on my shelf and wishlist, but I found a few more to add to my TBR. 👻

https://www.bustle.com/p/20-new-horror-books-for-readers-who-take-spooky-season-...

Holy cats, I loved this so much! Tor is trying to kill me with book joy this year. A 160-page-long gothic grotesquerie, with a deliciously disturbing monster romance. I‘m going to slide this book between my fourth and fifth ribs like Johann would his blade. It would make a great starter before reading GIDEON THE NINTH, or a perfect dessert when you‘re done.🖤🗡☠️