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Review of 'All the Dead Lie Down'
The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love. The Sleeping House was very much awake . . . Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate. Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace. But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in BookClub
Read with Cyn’s Workshop August Book Club Pick
Hey there, everyone! I can’t believe it’s already August. This is my birthday month. Yes, I am one of those people. Anyway, thank you all once again for joining me in reading Wild is the Witch. As we have finished this one, the August book club pick is Ariadne by Jennifer Saint.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in BookClub
New Girl: Chapter Three
Lucita sat in the passenger side seat of her mother’s maroon station wagon staring at the wide front gate of the school that bustled with unknown people, laughing and chatting, blissfully unaware of her. She sat there fearfully in plain blue jeans, a plain black t-shirt (her only plain one unmarred by rock bands and spiders), and a pair of knockoff chuck tailors on her feet.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Chapters
Review of 'The Witches of Moonshyne Manor'
A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat. Review The Witches of Moonshyne Manor goes back and forth between six fierce witches as they recap the events of a heist gone wrong and the costs of it.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'The Cherished'
Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands. Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange. The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real? But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Ace of Shades'
Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets...and secrets hide in every shadow. New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin, is no place for a properly raised young lady. But when her mother goes missing, Enne Salta must leave her finishing school--and her reputation--behind to follow her mother's trail in the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Frightened and alone, Enne's only clue leads her to Levi Glaiyser--a street lord and a con man in desperate need of the compensation Enne offers. Their search sends this unlikely duo through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets, and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna. But as Levi's enemies close in on them, a deadly secret from Enne's past comes to light and she must surrender herself to the City of Sin -- to a vicious game of execution... Where the players never win.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'A Year to the Day'
IT’S BEEN A YEAR—A YEAR OF MISSING NINA Leo can’t remember what happened the night of the accident. All she knows is that she left the party with her older sister, Nina, and Nina’s boyfriend, East. And now Nina is dead, killed by a drunk driver and leaving Leo with a hole inside her that’s impossible to fill. East, who loved Nina almost as much as Leo did, is the person who seems to most understand how she feels, and the two form a friendship based on their shared grief. But as she struggles to remember what happened, Leo discovers that East remembers every detail of the accident—and he won’t tell her anything about it. In fact, he refuses to talk about that night at all. As the days tumble one into the next, Leo’s story comes together while her world falls apart. How can she move on if she never knows what really happened that night? And is happiness even possible in a world without Nina?
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Spell Bound'
Edison Rooker isn't sure what to expect when he enters the office of Antonia Hex, the powerful sorceress who runs a call center for magical emergencies. He doesn't have much experience with hexes or curses. Heck, he doesn't even have magic. But he does have a plan--to regain the access to the magical world he lost when his grandmother passed. Antonia is...intimidating, but she gives him a job and a new name--Rook--both of which he's happy to accept. Now all Rook has to do is keep his Spell Binder, an illegal magical detection device, hidden from the Magical Consortium. And contend with Sun, the grumpy and annoyingly cute apprentice to Antonia's rival colleague, Fable. But dealing with competition isn't so bad; as Sun seems to pop up more and more, Rook minds less and less. But when the Consortium gets wind of Rook's Spell Binder, they come for Antonia. All alone, Rook runs to the only other magical person he knows: Sun. Except Fable has also been attacked, and now Rook and Sun have no choice but to work together to get their mentors back...or face losing their magic forever.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'These Infinite Threads'
The second installment in Tahereh Mafi’s latest enchanting series picks up right where This Woven Kingdom left off and doesn’t stop pulling you in until long after the last page. Romance and fantasy collide in this mesmerizing series based on Persian folklore, sure to please fans of Mafi’s thrilling Shatter Me series. Full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, this breathtaking sequel to This Woven Kingdom is from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series and is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'The Weight of Our Sky'
Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied. A trip to the movies after school turns into a nightmare when the city erupts into violent race riots between the Chinese and the Malay. When gangsters come into the theater and hold movie-goers hostage, Mel, a Malay, is saved by a Chinese woman, but has to leave her best friend behind to die. On their journey through town, Mel sees for herself the devastation caused by the riots. In her village, a neighbor tells her that her mother, a nurse, was called in to help with the many bodies piling up at the hospital. Mel must survive on her own, with the help of a few kind strangers, until she finds her mother. But the djinn in her mind threatens her ability to cope.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Brightly Burning'
Stella Ainsley leaves poverty behind when she quits her engineering job aboard the Stalwart to become a governess on a private ship. On the Rochester, there’s no water ration, more books than one person could devour in a lifetime, and an AI who seems more friend than robot. But something sinister lurks beneath the Rochester’s immaculate façade. When Stella meets Hugo, the nineteen-year-old captain at the helm of the ship, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious boy who’s as unpredictable and broody as he is kind. But Stella’s suspicions against Hugo mount as the ship is plagued by ghostly hauntings and deadly assassination attempts. Now, she must choose between following her heart or listening to her head.
By Cyn's Workshop3 years ago in Geeks
