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My sixth selection for #2025bestreads is the most unhinged horror book that I have read so far this year. This book has a very important message one that seems that to have been missed as it is currently sitting at 3.38 on Good Reads. This is is Chapman's boldest book to date. Old school Stephen King for our current dysfunctional era.

My April #roll11 read was this delightful cozy mystery.
Jane is the manager of Storyton Hall, a bookish resort set in rural Virginia. To bring more business to the hotel, she plans a Murder & Mayhem retreat themed around murder mystery books. Of course one of the guests turns up dead in his room & she must figure out why.

Jane‘s aunt & uncle have a secret legacy that I found added a lot to the story once it was revealed to Jane. ⬇️

This is a wild book! I think it accomplished exactly what it set out to do. We follow a family of four as each succumbs to far right wind propaganda in different ways: news, wellness, internet chatrooms, technology. Each turns into a monster/zombie literally possessed by conservative ideology. Very violent, hints of bird box and the purge.

This is the craziest horror novel I have read all year. It is also probably the most divisive. Which is unfortunate, because it has a really important message. Wake Up & Open Your Eyes is like old school Stephen King for the social media era, I will say that at several points while reading I was like, “Wow, Clay you really went there,“...and my macabre black soul loved him for it. ☠ 💔

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView

#two4tuesday

1. 100% I do
2. Tagged

@BethM @JenReadsAlot @peaKnit

When your internal monologue switches to Anderson Cooper (admittedly, mine has at some points), because your family is now ‘possessed‘ to do unspeakable disgusting things based on media brain rot…well, should you think you‘re any better? Our media consumption is the downfall of society in this story. One I consider amazingly crafted and particularly disturbing. Ironically unironically sharing on social media, hashtag. 😁

A horror political satire that is going to appeal to a certain demographic. A bizarre media source transforms closed-minded individuals and their audience into possessed violent zombies. Those trying to escape the chaos are pitted against this cult of monsters until society and civilization eventually deteriorate. A good premise, but the repetition of prose could have been tweaked and requires more editing.

#CoverStories

I have eight #River books on my Kindle. I just finished & LOVED Frozen River & read Follow the River Home several years ago. The the others are still in my TBR. 🏞️

4 ✨ Unsettling, Savory & Grotesque

Not my preferred sub-genre within horror but I was highly entertained from start to finish. Plethora of social commentary. Some feeling too close to home. Plenty of body horror & emphasizes on family division specifically through a political scope. Was enthralled with watching the family slowly disintegrating, not only mentally but physically. I could not help but devour the entirety.

Oh. My. Gosh. This was such a good story. No One is safe in this expose of how media rots our brains, even the "good guys" will get called out. If you're in the mood for a poignant, political, apocalyptic horror, this one is definitely worth it. Gives a while new meaning to the term "doom scrolling."
Check trigger warnings if you're squeamish, it is horror after all.