Welcome to Litsy!

Finished The Drift last night & now onto a brief palette cleanser!

This is a strange book of young love and a mysterious underwater house. This book has very little plot and not terribly deep character development. However, I was hypnotized by the atmosphere and pure sense of dread. I completely understand why it has a low rating because it will not be for everyone. I liked it though. 4⭐️
The only #roll100 I didn‘t dnf yay!

The idea of this book was better than what it actually was for me. Seemed like a fantastic setting for a really spooky vibe but I wasn‘t really entertained much and just a little confused and left with a lot of questions at the end. ⭐️⭐️

3.5⭐
I think this is more of a metaphor of the terrifying and awkward moments of first dates, first loves, and first times moreso than outright horror.
It was claustrophobic and atmospheric with just two chapters that really gave me the creeps. Overall it's implied eerieness rather than in your face scary. But it's quick and held my attention sooo not sure how I feel about this 🤷‍♀️ lol

The cover and the synopsis drew me in, but the book ultimately was a #disappointment

#IndelibleMoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#Lake #SavvySettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I loved Birdbox and Inspection, but this was bad. This was that YA that gives YA a bad name. There are better ways to write the special place at a special time trope. Two 17yo‘s, who have no character development, go on a first date and discover a house under a lake, make very questionable decisions, “fall in love” (roll my eyes here) and right when there might be a spark of life to this book it ends. No style to the writing. Big time pan.

#Littensdressedinblood #Everybreathyoutake🫁
@MidnightBookGirl 🌚
This is a creepy, strange little book.

2¼⭐ | NARRATION 😁=Very Good
This starts out feeling like a whimsical Disney movie...and then turns into a Disney movie gone wrong. Seriously the explicit sex felt so out of place in this, and then...it ends somewhere in the freaking Twilight Zone. Unfortunately, the amazing cover and cool setting were the only redeeming aspects of this very strange short story. Oh yeah, the narration was decently performed too.

A weird book .... 3.5/5 Read for May‘s #Buzzwordathon - House/Home

Definitely one of the strangest and most unique stories I‘ve ever read. One that will leave you wondering long after you‘ve read it.

#20in4

Free space for #BookSpinBingo

Moving on to the next one on my list for the #20in4 readathon. This ARC has been on my shelf for a long time now and I‘m really far behind on my ARCs. Time to help out my poor struggling ratio 😩

This one was weird for me. I feel like I would have liked it better if I read it, rather than listening to the audiobook. An interesting concept, but I just didn't think it was done very well. I also didn't feel like the ending was satisfying in any way

I enjoyed this quick and eerie read, but I wish it was just a little bit longer. 4⭐️

I have barely had time to read this week because I‘ve been busy preparing for an interview that I had today. I think it went well and now I can relax and catch up on reading with the #24in48 readathon this weekend! Who else is participating?

This is my tentative stack, but who knows if I‘ll stick to it. I also want to finish my current reads (Know My Name and If I Disappear). Hopefully a mix of audio and physical books will get me to 24 hours!

Two teens stumble upon an unknown lake with (spoiler alert) a submerged house within. They start exploring the house and getting to know each other. And, of course, some weird stuff happens. This is more suspenseful than scary and I didn‘t dislike it, but I was ultimately left unsatisfied by it, so I have to go with a so-so.

I didn‘t really care for the characters so was not very invested in the story and by the end I was just confused. 🤷🏻‍♀️

New book for a long drive. #earlymorningaudio

Sometimes an author is such a good writer that a short little book like this can pack a punch. There wasn‘t much in it that was scary but when you think about how we are able to create our own fear if you try to read it you may understand where I‘m coming from. I read it in the middle of the day and anytime I heard a noise I jumped so it worked for me.

I noticed by the Goodreads reviews that several people did not think that this book should have been labeled as Horror. But fear is subjective and this book was creepy to me. The idea of being stuck underwater and not being able to get to air is one of the most terrifying situations to me. Also I think the skill the author has of describing some scenes makes you feel the eerie suspense in what is happening. Really hated the ending though. 👎

I was excited to receive this ARC of a YA horror book by the author of “Bird Box”. The premise sounded creepy, but while the book delivers spooks & chills, it's more speculative than horror I was a little underwhelmed. While a good, quick read, I wanted more – more depth from the YA characters, more horror in the plot, & more like I was a part of the story – the narrative didn‘t draw me in & make me feel as vested as I would have liked.

Malerman has been rather hit-or-miss for me- I loved Bird Box, but didn‘t care for Unbury Carol. And this one sounded intriguing- a novella about a summer romance with a mysterious submerged house at the center. But I wanted a story to match the artwork above- instead, I got a head-hopping and unbelievable story. Good horror needs some detail to make it plausible and these scuba diving teens never felt real to me so I couldn‘t share in their fear.

What a touching first love story ♥️
A haunting reminder that we need magic in our lives, and we can create it together, ourselves

Enjoyed it - got twilight zone vibes!

Weird but delightful.:)

Weekend goals

I‘m giving Josh Malerman another chance. I loved Bird Box but loathed Inspection. It‘s a short novel at a little of 100 pages so not too much of a time investment. Any thought?

When I picked this book up from the library I admit I was a little disappointed. It‘s so thin, so short, just not enough meat to satisfy me. Boy was I wrong. This book actually had me feel that flash of fear I haven‘t felt in years. I highly recommend

A nice quick read before bed

Had high hopes for this after reading Bird Box, but I will say, it was decent. The book focuses on two seventeen-year-old's who find (as the name of the book says), a house at the bottom of a lake, while canoeing.
The book is quite short, under 120 pages, so definitely a book you could read in a day. I'd say the thing that kept me reading was to find out what mysterious things would happen with the house.

So hard to rate this book.
The concept/idea is very interesting, the set up, story & mood is very intriguing. But the ending. What happened? Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Anyone else read this book? What are your thoughts?

Ready to delve into my next book. Wonder what I'll find....

??☻???☠ #SpookyReads #FallReads #Thriller #Horror #TBR #LibraryHaul #BookCoverLove

Happy 1st of October Littens!

Picked up some #SpookyReads for the month❗

- I didn't get around to reading 'Hex' last Fall, but I'm determined to get to it this time!???‍♀️

- Heard about 'Kill Creek' on the "Books in the Freezer" thriller #podcast which I love. ??

- Lala, a fav #Booktuber raved about Malerman's novella, +that cover=yes please❕

With only 116 pages this was easy to read in one sitting. Such an odd novella, very creepy and I found myself holding my breath at the beginning when they first started going under water. Not sure about the ending...

First, although creepy at times, this is not a horror novella. Nonetheless, I ended up really enjoying it. I found it to be intriguing and even enchanting at times.

Two teens discover a mysterious house at the bottom of a mysterious lake. Their love for each other grows as well as their obsession with the house. The ending was confusing and left me wanting answers, but I guess that just adds to the mystery of it all.

I love Josh Malerman‘s stories. His writing is so creative and unique. This is a cool story about 2 teenagers who find a house at the bottom of a lake. #LitsyAtoZ #MountTBR

I enjoyed this novella. Its definitely unique & I appreciate that. It‘s marketed as horror, & while I‘m not sure it‘s horror, I‘m not sure it‘s not. 😂 #joshmalerman #horror

Well, Chicago was great because it‘s full of great places to take photos.... not so great when your plan takes off in gale force winds and you‘re trying to read and rock out to music while internally panicking about the plane doing damn near barrel rolls.

This is a fun little book about teenage love that I read in threeish hours!

I have a fascination/ obsession/ fear of flooded towns, and buildings that are underwater. I am terrified and excited to read this novella.

This was decent, LOVED the concept and imagery but the plot felt a bit half-formed (which can happen with novellas). I liked this far better than Black Mad Wheel but not nearly as much as the brilliant Bird Box or the novella Ghastle & Yule.

I read this so quickly that I didn't even mark it as "reading" on Litsy. My mom recommended it because we both loved Bird Box. This novella was so creepy, I still don't know what to make of it. What I do know is that it intrigued me enough to not move for almost 2 hours. The ending isn't exactly satisfying, but I also can't stop thinking about it. Good or bad? You decide, I already read the book. ?

❤️

This little novella is an incredible book filled with charm and horror! If you're looking for an incredibly creepy read, I would highly recommend this! I was hooked immediately and absolutely could not stop reading!

My full review here: http://ericarobynreads.blogspot.com/2017/06/book-review-house-at-bottom-of-lake-...

😱

This is a short book (116 pages), but it's really difficult to pin down what it is. Maybe an allegorical fable? It depends on what you think the house represents and if you consider it a character. The reviews seem to be love it or hate it; I liked very much. To me, it's a sweet love story with elements of horror, and the house is definitely representative of something that would be "spoilerish" if I wrote about it.

Ok, this was creepy - and what's with the ending?!?

I liked it. I definitely couldn't stop reading it. I finished it in one day, there's just something I can't put my finger on definitively as to what was lacking for me. I'm not even sure I like the characters. I think what's most disappointing is that I loved Bird Box, and this one left me feeling very confused.