Bibliophile Support Group

Throwback Review from 2011! Anna Dressed in Blood is a YA paranormal ghost story by author Kendare Blake. Cas is a teenage ghost killer. He has inherited his father's powerful athame, the knife he uses to send deadly ghosts out of this dimension, after he died. And with each kill he is training himself to hunt down the one that brought down his Dad... His Mom is a kitchen witch, selling mystical stuff on the go, and helping to keep the two of them safe. She's along for the ride somewhat reluctantly, but she knows that just like with her husband - this is Cas's choice, and he's good at it. They move from place to place following legends and leads - and the latest brings them to a town harboring a ghost that is more dangerous than ever - Anna Dressed in Blood. She's unlike any other ghost he's encountered before. She's fascinating, extraordinary and wears the same dress she was wearing in 1958 when she was brutally murdered. And it drips...

The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is a YA paranormal contemporary novel and the first in The Unbelievables series by K. C. Tansley. As a child, ghosts were normal to Kat. They were around often, taught her about ghosts and how they came to be – and they were her friends. But when a frightening series of events made ghosts a greater threat to Kat, she had to consciously decide to no longer believe in them. If you don’t believe in ghosts you cannot be hurt by them. Now in her junior year at McTernan Academy, Kat has been kept safe by her strident disbelief – making sure to surround herself with other unbelievers to stay strong. However, a research project she is assigned to threatens to ruin all of the protections she has put in place for years. Once she is sent to a private island off the coast of Connecticut to investigate the details of the shocking murder of newlyweds in 1886, and the rumored resultant ancestral curse, Kat is in a poor position to continue to ignore her connection...

The Madness Underneath is the second book in the urban supernatural YA series Shades of London by Maureen Johnson. I strong recommend reading the books in order – so if you haven’t read The Name of the Star yet, check out my review of that first book here . Final warning to look away if you haven’t read the first book yet… Rory’s move from the American South to a London boarding school didn’t turn out the way she expected it to. Suddenly gaining the ability to see ghosts was startling enough – to then also be nearly killed by a Jack the Ripper copycat was the icing on the horror cake. Yet Rory doesn’t feel like she’s as psychologically damaged as she should be – and when she’s given the opportunity to return to Wexford, she does. But there’s evidence of a new potentially ghost-like string of murders and Rory’s powers have morphed into something stronger since she was nearly murdered… Is she as ready as she thinks she is to take on another dark force? First off, I lo...

The Dresden Files: Grave Peril is the third book in the adult urban fantasy series by Jim Butcher. To get the maximum reading enjoyment, I suggest reading these books in order – therefore reading Storm Front first and then Fool Moon . I wouldn’t say that this review will really spoil anything from the first two books, but you can never be too careful!!! Ghosts are going haywire lately. Becoming more menacing, more violent and more… more … Harry has his work cut out for him lately. Unfortunately it’s not the paying kind – it’s the moral wizard responsibility kind. But when Harry and Michael – a knight, literally – attempt to rid yet another location of an unruly ghost, it becomes clear that someone is causing this. Someone is stirring up trouble purposely. And the fact that many of the victims have ties to Harry cannot be ignored… As I’ve said before, I loved the TV show The Dresden Files – based on this book series. I’m still not feeling as much love for the book se...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! To celebrate, what is more appropriate than a ghost story?! Famous Last Words is a YA contemporary murder mystery –slash- ghost story by Katie Alender. Still haunted by the circumstances surrounding her dad’s death two years ago, Willa is struggling to adapt to a new life – after all, she’s still trying to return to the person she once was before her dad’s death. With a successful Hollywood director as her new stepdad, Willa and her mom have moved into a mansion that used to be the abode of 30s starlet Diana Del Mar. Overall things are going okay – if a bit awkward and strained – but the fact that there is a serial killer targeting young, burgeoning actresses on the loose makes the move hard to swallow. When Willa begins to have strange visions – and begins to get the sense that either she’s crazy or this house is haunted – she has no one to turn to. Until she meets Reed – a guy at her school that is obsessed with the Hollywood Killer. But – is that ...

Beautiful Redemption is the fourth and final book in the YA contemporary supernatural Beautiful Creatures / Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Of course if you are behind on the series and haven’t read books one through three – you really should not read this review and spoil some huge plot points for yourself! I trust you to make the right decision on moving forward with this perusal of my review of Beautiful Redemption … Ethan Wate spent almost his entire life in the small, sleepy Southern town of Gatlin wishing something would happen – or that he could get out of there. He had a map marking all the different places he wanted to go. Then Lena Duchannes moved to Gatlin – different in more than one way from the ordinary Gatlin resident – and revealed to him that there was a lot more going on his little town than he ever could have imagined – let alone in the world. Knowing about the enigmatic, magic, cursed underside of Gatlin caused a lot more exci...

Watcher of the Dark is an adult horror novel, and the third in the Jeremiah Hunt novels, by Joseph Nassise. As it is the third in a series – in order to not spoil yourself on the plots of the prior books – I recommend you read Eyes to See and King of the Dead before Watcher of the Dark . Feel free to click on the titles to read my reviews! Assuming only readers of the first two books are continuing on… Jeremiah is on the run. Again. Plus, now he doesn’t have his friends with him – he’s just a blind guy with ghost-sight, a stolen car and next to no money. In Los Angeles. That’s what having the FBI tailing him and a foray into the terrifying kingdom of the dead to bring back the soul of the woman he cares about from a horrifying otherworld will do to you. Especially when, in order to complete the ritual to save her, you have to stab her. And there are witnesses. Others don’t seem to understand the whole, “I had to plunge that knife into her – to save her life!” Now, ...

Neverwas is a YA sophisticated haunted house story, and the second in the Amber House Trilogy , by Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed and Larkin Reed. If you haven’t read Amber House , reading Neverwas will not only cause spoilers of the first book – it’ll also be super confusing. Do yourself a favor – read my review of Amber House here and then read the book. Amber House is extremely awesome – you’ll be glad you listened. If you have read the stupendous Amber House , then read on for a brief synopsis of Neverwas . After the death of her grandmother, beloved by her family and community, Sarah Parsons has come to live at Amber House – a centuries-old estate that has been passed down through generations and carries ghostly echoes of the past. Before long, Sarah begins to get a sensation that things are… wrong … somehow. Different. As the American Confederation of States still struggles with segregation, tension is building in town – but even more so in Sarah as she starts to beli...

Heartless is the fourth novel in the hilarious, supernatural, alternate Victorian England steampunk adult series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. All month long I’ve been posting reviews of this awesome series – and yet again I strongly recommend that you read the books IN ORDER and WITHOUT SPOILERS , which means if you haven’t read books 1 – 3, you really should not read my review of Heartless. It’s all too much fun to ruin surprises! OKAY?! When a ghost, barely holding on to her sanity, expresses that the Queen’s life may be being threatened amidst much illogical prattle, Alexia, soulless preternatural, is on the case. She, along with her hulking werewolf husband Lord Maccon, attempt to follow the trail to disrupt the designs against the Queen – and Alexia finds that it leads to some revelations of her beloved’s shadowy past. Meanwhile, Alexia finds herself dealing with a sister that suddenly has an interest in the suffragette movement, Madame Lefoux’s increasi...

The Thirteenth Tale is an adult contemporary novel with a classic gothic mystery feel by Diane Setterfield. Oh. My. Gosh. This book is fantastic!!! Margaret Lea leads a quiet, book-loving life that all of us bibliophiles would adore – working in a book store and whiling away the hours reading. Her passion for literature extends to a fascination with non-fiction. She loves letters, journals – anything that ties her to people who are now deceased. Margaret has even written a few minor biographies on lesser known figures. When she receives a letter from one of the most famous contemporary authors of the day, Vida Winter, she’s floored to discover that Ms. Winter wants her to write her biography. For years, Vida has given numerous, glittering stories when asked about her life. Not one of them true. Apparently now, old and ailing, she wants to finally tell her story. Unable to deny her curiosity, Margaret joins Vida at her reclusive estate and starts a routine of hearing Vid...

Beautiful Creatures is a YA supernatural contemporary novel, and the first in the Caster Chronicles series. Yes, I know. You probably read this book years ago and have already finished the four book series. I get it. I’m late to the game. But you have to admit there are a LOT of books out there – and even bibliophiles can’t always keep up. Ethan Wate is counting the days until he can leave his tiny Southern town of Gatlin. Full of closed-minded, eccentric people that all know each other too well and a multitude of girls that can’t hold his interest for even a few minutes once they start speaking have left him increasingly dissatisfied. So when Lena Duchannes moves into town it’s like a breath of fresh air. She’s different . She’s been places . And, of course, she’s beautiful. But she’s the niece of town recluse Macon Ravenwood – so she is automatically despised by a large population of the town. Lena’s clothing choices and the odd occurrences, such as spontaneously shatt...

The Name of the Star is a YA paranormal contemporary novel, and the first in the Shades of London series, by Maureen Johnson. When Louisiana born and bred Rory Deveaux had the opportunity to pick where she wanted to go to school while her professor parents had a sabbatical in Bristol during her senior year of high school, it didn’t take long for her answer: London. A boarding school in London, rich with history, was exactly what she wanted. But a little too much history is coming to life as she starts to settle in at Wexford, in the East End of London. Murders, mirroring the shocking Jack the Ripper slayings of more than a century ago, are occurring very near her new home. The spree has the city on edge, yet also oddly spellbound with the revisit of one of the age-old unsolved serial killers of history. With almost no leads, mysteriously wonky CCTV footage, and no witnesses – the police are desperate to find this new Jack the Ripper before he follows through on all of the m...

Strands of Bronze and Gold is a YA retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale by Jane Nickerson. As seventeen year old Sophie enters Wyndriven Abbey in 1855 Mississippi, she is awestruck. Throughout her life she has always received expensive, special trinkets from her godfather Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, but for the first time she has now become his ward – now that her father has died. It’s an opportunity for her to hopefully help provide for her brothers and sisters, who are at home struggling to look for work and livelihood. Adjusting to the new lavish lifestyle at Wyndriven Abbey is not so much difficult as hard to believe. Her enigmatic, handsome godfather is generous with his affection and his wealth – when it comes to her. She cannot deny she is charmed by his charismatic personality and admiration for her. Yet as time passes… she begins to feel as though the mysteries of the past, the whispers of stories of her godfather and his numerous former wives – all with red ha...

Unbreakable is the start to a new YA supernatural contemporary series called The Legion by Kami Garcia, co-author to the popular book Beautiful Creatures . Kennedy’s life has changed drastically. When one night her beloved cat Elvis slipped out of the house (out of the ordinary as it is) and she chased him to a cemetery (not the best place to be at night, kinda creepy), her eyes became glued on an apparition. A girl. Floating. Maybe transparent. After grabbing her cat and heading home, Kennedy convinced herself that what she saw wasn’t really what she saw and headed out to the movie theater with her best friend in new boots her awesome Mom just bought her. It was when she came home that the world shattered around her. Her Mom was dead. They said heart failure. But then, four weeks later, as Kennedy is spending her last, tearful night in her bedroom before starting what she thinks will be her new life at a boarding school, identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart b...

The Dream Thieves is an incredible YA contemporary fantasy, the second in The Raven Cycle , by the ever-awesome Maggie Stiefvater. The Raven Boys , the first book in this cycle, is undeniably fantastic – so if you have yet to read it, check out my review here and then go grab a copy, you crazy person!!! In other words, you may want to avoid this review of the second book until you’ve already sunk your teeth into book one. Only looking out for you, bibliophile! Final chance to turn away… Blue and her Raven Boys all have secrets. Ronan’s is that he can steal things from dreams. While Blue, haunted Ronan, damaged Adam and the always-charismatic Gansey continue their search for the dead king Glendower amidst the enigmatic ley lines of their small town, Ronan begins to realize that his ability to take things out of his dreams may be an ability sought after by others. And may be connected to his father’s brutal murder… Okay, this synopsis is pretty bare-bones, I agree. Bu...

The Path of Names is a middle grade contemporary fantasy novel by Ari Goelman. Dahlia Sherman doesn’t want to go to a sleep away camp highlighting learning Hebrew and focusing on her Jewish roots. She loves magic – magic tricks, sleight of hand, math and video games. Yet her parents did not give her much of a choice when they dropped her off at Camp Arara. Amidst her glowering and sulking, Dahlia can’t help but acknowledge that there are a few things of interest going on. Such as two little girls who appear to walk right through the wall of a cabin. Also, she starts to have vivid dreams of a young Jewish man decades ago being chased through New York. Someone she’s never seen in her life. Not to mention a huge maze with a mysterious caretaker that won’t let anyone near it… Dahlia figures she can manage a few weeks at Camp Arara if she has something to do. The Path of Names lacked the humor, zaniness and quirkiness I expected from the cover and premise, sadly. It focus...

The Watcher in the Shadows is a YA supernatural thriller novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. In the summer of 1937, fourteen-year-old Irene Sauvelle’s family has moved to the coast of Normandy for a fresh start. Still mourning the death of her father, they are struggling to find happiness once more – a new normal. When Irene’s mother receives a job offer from a wealthy, reclusive toymaker she takes it. The toys he makes are automatons – some of which almost appear to have a life of their own… Their slowly healing family gets a shock when a young girl is found dead in the forests surrounding the toymaker’s mansion. Suddenly all of the ghost stories they’ve heard since moving to their foggy home become more possible. It seems that there is an evil – and a mystery surrounding it – pervading their new town. In order to keep her family from undergoing yet another loss, Irene knows that she must figure out what it is… The Watcher in the Shadows is very successful at being quietly s...

Spirit and Dust is a YA contemporary paranormal novel by Rosemary Clement-Moore. Daisy Goodnight has a unique talent for talking to the dead. Her family has a history of supernatural talents, and Daisy has taken up the torch for working with the FBI and doing her part with the gift she has. Being that the FBI agent she usually works with is tasty and young doesn’t hurt either… This time, though, Daisy is whisked away from her college freshman chemistry class to help look into the disappearance of a wealthy young woman and the murder of her bodyguard. And things aren’t going smoothly. When trying to talk to the ghost of the bodyguard, something is off. He’s terrified of something. Clearly, people are in danger here. Such as her – as she ends up getting snatched by a crime boss that wants to utilize Daisy’s gift for his own purposes… Oh. My. Goodness. Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE Rosemary Clement-Moore?!? In Spirit and Dust we have fantastic witty, pop...

The Last Academy is a YA contemporary suspense novel by Anne Applegate. After being betrayed by her longtime best friend, Camden is sent to an exclusive boarding school. It’s a gorgeous place, huge campus, decent classes and more than enough good-looking boys. Her moody roommate isn’t so great, but soon Camden starts to tentatively make friends with a couple girls and even gets a crush on one particularly attractive boy. She’s pushing the limits on her previously cautious life and letting herself make just a little mischief, even. But she can’t ignore the startling fact that some very weird things are going on at Lethe Academy. Sometimes she sees flashes of people looking differently than they should – which is creepy and worrisome. She starts to wonder, almost, if she is going insane. Then one of Camden’s new friends disappears and the story around it doesn’t sound right to her. Increasingly, Camden is beginning to believe that something dark is going on at the school...

The Morning Star is the last novel in the YA historical/supernatural Katerina Trilogy by Robin Bridges. You definitely do not want to read the synopsis for The Morning Star if you have not previously read the first two books in this trilogy! If you are one of those people, instead check out my reviews of The Gathering Storm and The Unfailing Light , the first two, by clicking on their titles. Now, if you HAVE read the prior novels, go ahead and read on… Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia 1890, has always wanted to be a doctor. Not content with the thought of being wealthy enough to build numerous hospitals as a meek wife, Katerina wants to be able to have the knowledge and education to find cures for diseases, to help people with her own two hands. Which would include her ailing love, son of the Tsar, George Alexandrovich. But, of course, Tsar Alexander III forbids this. Katerina being a necromancer? Not so forbidden. Even tho...