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Book Review: Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston

cover art for Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston

Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston.

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534474581

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy: Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

Victoria and her father have always shared a special love of vampires(each chapter starts with a vampire-related quote). At the end of a long year fighting pancreatic cancer, chemo has failed. While the rest of her family seems resigned to his dying, Victoria decides to visit New Orleans, vampire capital of the world, with her estranged friend Henry, in hopes of finding a real vampire willing to turn her so she can turn her father and save his life. Eventually she meets Nicholas, a vampire who tells her she must accomplish daily challenges before he can decide whether he is willing to turn her.

 

I was so angry with Victoria. She put Henry’s safety, and possibly his life, on the line, without blinking, to accomplish these challenges. She deserved to deal with her grief in the way that worked for her, but she wasn’t just cruel, she acted indifferent to this kid who had been her best friend most of her life.

 

I did like the challenges and the accompanying poems that were intended to show Victoria life was worth living and feeling. Not only did they lend a sense of optimism, they were a way to see New Orleans through Victoria’s eyes, and Fuston does a great job of describing it so that it feels like you are there.

 

Fuston has created an accurate, wrenching, and heartbreaking portrayal of grief. However, Victoria’s treatment of the people around her, especially Henry, was what made this a difficult book to read to the end..

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

 

Posted on June 16, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Forgotten Dead (OutFoxing the Paranormal #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

Cover art for The Forgotten Dead (OutFoxing the Paranormal #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

The Forgotten Dead (OutFoxing the Paranormal #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

Independently published, 2022

ISBN-13: 979-8430224660

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook.

Buy: Amazon.com

 

The Forgotten Dead takes place in an alternate timeline where parapsychologist J.B. Rhine successfully established an Institute of Parapsychology at Duke University.

 

Dr. Nigel Taylor desperately needs a grant to save his assistant professorship. Patricia Montague offers him the money on the condition that he convince the face of the ghost hunting web series OutFoxing the Paranormal, Oscar Fox, to explore the Matthews house, where a mass killing of the family took place, followed by the killer’s suicide. Nigel, a friend of young Mike Matthews encountered the killer after the murders but escaped. Montague believes Oscar is a medium and Nigel’s personal connection will stir up any ghosts.

 

Nigel hires Oscar to investigate the house. Without telling Oscar that he is observing him to see if he is a medium, or what happened in the house, he, Oscar, and the two other staff members for the show, Tina and Chris, head there. Unsettlingly, nothing has been moved or changed: even blood spatters from the murders are still there. Cold spots, bad feelings, and drained batteries suggest that something is very wrong.

 

It’s clear to Nigel that Oscar is a medium but Oscar denies it, afraid that admitting his visions would end up with him in an institution, but finally he has to face the truth. He, Nigel, Tina, and Chris decide they will try to clear the house of spirits: easier said than done when one is a killer.

 

This wasn’t as horror-themed as Hawk’s Widdershins books, but it has some inventive and terrifying moments (razor blades in the walls, yikes!)  and touches on heavy issues, including mental illness, suicide, and grief. There’s also the beginnings of a romance between Nigel and Oscar. Hawk’s books are addictive for me and I look forward to the next book in the series.

 

In terms of representation, Nigel is a trans man, Chris is nonbinary, and Oscar is gay. Author Jordan Hawk is also trans, making this a great choice for the #TransRightsReadathon this week.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on March 27, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

It’s the first day of the #TransRightsReadathon, so to start it out right here’s a review of a recent favorite middle-grade novel I really enjoyed. You can’t go wrong with cryptids!

 

cover art for Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow.

Harry N. Abrams, 2023

ISBN: 9781419764400

Available: Hardcover

Buy:  Bookshop.org

 

 

This middle grade verse novel dealing with grief, identity, and monstrosity is lyrical and vivid. Sixth graders Lewis and Noah (closeted trans boys) have been best friends for years. Lewis has a great imagination and Noah is pulled along in his wake in exploring all kinds of strange things. In the time just before Lewis was killed in a car crash, he had been obsessed with cryptids, especially Mothman. Noah deals with the loss by writing journal entries to Mothman in a journal he leaves in the woods each night. He wants to believe that Mothman is real even if he can’t see him, and decides to do his science fair project on whether Mothman exists.

 

Noah also begins to make friends with Molly, Hanna, and Alice, and develop feelings for Hanna, while slowly coming out and deciding how much of himself, and Mothman, he wants to share.

 

Although he is outed to his classmates before he’s ready, the people around him accept the news pretty quickly, even if they don’t entirely understand. Unfortunately, they are not as accepting of the existence of Mothman, which leads him to run away to do a solitary search in the woods that changes him, helps him deal with his grief over Lewis, and move forward.

 

Noah is autistic and that comes through clearly and is written with respect and sensitivity, as is the bisexuality of two of the characters.

 

Noah’s grappling with monstrosity, magic, and the unknown isn’t subtle, but Gow gets the kinds of thoughts on paper that you would expect a journal of private thoughts (or written to a cryptid of dubious existence) to contain. In the acknowledgements. Gow credits a childhood fascination with monsters with his ability to understand his own identity. Recommended for grades 5-8.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

 

 

Posted on March 22, 2024 by , Reply
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