I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was last week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
All of this week’s books are perfect reading for autumn and all also feel very cinematic, drawing on different forms of media within their narrative.
First up, I’d like to talk about Channel Fear by Lisa Richardson. Thank you to Chicken House Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
YouTube ghost hunting stars, Zach and Lucas, disappeared at an undisclosed location several months ago. Iris – who heads up her own unsuccessful channel with co-hosts Byron and his girlfriend Molly – is obsessed with the duo, and has been searching for the location ever since. Then, she stumbles across long-abandoned Thornhanger House.
The trio set aside their toxic love triangle when they find Zach and Lucas’s abandoned equipment inside… complete with their last day of filming. As they watch the footage, a horrifying truth emerges: whatever came for Zach and Lucas is coming for them too…
Publication Date: 14th September
TW: abuse, neglect, abuse of a child, murder, death, suicide, violence, blood, gore, toxic relationship, cheating
My Thoughts:
Channel Fear delivered everything it promised and more. This was a chilling, exceptional read.
I have always been someone that adores the found footage genre of films, particularly within horror. Richardson capitalises on many of the tropes found in the originators of the genre (I’m looking at you, The Blair Witch Project), but twists and subverts them into a frightening little beast all of its own. You can tell the respect being paid to the genre and it feels like its own sort of love letter, mired in blood and guts. It also was really reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House, another of my favourites. Those ghostly figures standing oddly in shots that you just about manage to spot are chilling and I got that same paranoid, constantly watchful sense while reading. The use of vlogging style transcripts that intercut the narrative is superb. It feels genuine and heightens the tension & scares to a new level. Richardson has such a good grasp on creating a YA horror atmosphere that just totally envelopes you. This is definitely a voice to watch within this genre.
This is a book rooted in shadows, mists and unexplainable phenomenon. It thrives in the unnerving nature of ambiguity. We have unreliable narrators and events that are not always as they seem. At its core, there is this twisted sort of love square. It is complicated and messy and felt very true to real life teenage relationships. There is particularly a thread strung throughout about parasocial relationships in the age of social media and the desire to capitalise on the fame of others. For me, this book’s brilliance was cemented by that ending. Without giving anything away, it hits the perfect note to epitomise the atmosphere generated by this genre.
Channel Fear makes you double back and re-examine everything. It keeps you on your toes, never fully able to trust anything or anyone within its sharp and pacy pages.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis. Thank you to Nina Douglas and Simon & Schuster Children’s for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Challenge:
Join the Thieves’ Gambit, a cut-throat competition to crown the world’s greatest thief
Rule 1: Never fall in love with your opponent
Rule 2: The only thief you can trust is yourself
Endgame: Win the heist to save your family – and yourself.
Seventeen-year-old Rosalyn Quest was raised by a legendary family of thieves with one rule: trust no one. When her mother is kidnapped, her only chance to save her is to win the Thieves’ Gambit – a deadly competition for the world’s best thieves, where the victor is granted one wish.
To win, she must outwit all of her backstabbing competitors, including her childhood archnemesis. But can she take victory from the handsome, charming boy who makes a play for her heart and might be hiding the most dangerous secret of all?
Publication Date: 26th September
TW: death, neglect, emotional abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, shooting, blackmail, kidnapping
My Thoughts:
Thieves’ Gambit is a rattling tightrope of a book. This is slick, sharp and stylish, becoming a book I cannot get out of my head.
Lewis’ writing is exceptionally evocative. It felt so visually stimulating and cinematic, playing with tropes around heist movies and stock characters precisely to trip you up and challenge your assumptions. For me, it was no surprise that this has been optioned for adaptation and I really hope I get to see it play out on screens. This rivalled Six of Crows and The Gilded Wolves for me in terms of heists. I just love reading this genre, because there are always so many rug-pulls and action-packed scenes. This reads as such a love letter to that genre. However, I found Lewis’ author letter so impactful, as there is so much truth in the lack of Black female protagonists within this genre. Ross is an absolute badass and icon within YA.
It is pacy and fast-moving, but allows enough time for you to fall head over heels for our central protagonist: Rosalyn Quest. She is driven, intelligent and passionate, wanting to protect her family at all costs. Lewis really evidenced that in-built sense of constant paranoia and needing to watch everything and everyone around you. The Quest name comes with a heavy burden of legacy and pressure, which weighs upon her. This and that paranoia has fundamentally shaped Rosalyn’s life. However, as the twists and turns start flying at her and us, it leaves you questioning how much of that is warranted. In a world of liars, thieves and con artists, who can you really trust?
If you are after slick, cinematic storytelling combined with a thrilling mystery plot and enough heists to feel like you are in a novel adaptation of Ocean’s Eleven, Lewis has that and so much more in this stand-out YA release. Thieves’ Gambit is a book you will find yourself obsessing over.
Finally, I’d like to delve into When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra. Thank you to Bethan Thomas at Macmillan for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast – Cashore House.
In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil – her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip . . . until Layla disappeared.
Now, Sophia must study the trail of clues Layla has left behind, returning to the very place where it all began. As she gets closer and closer to Cashore House’s haunted heart, she must once again confront the ghosts of her childhood. But the house won’t reveal its secrets without a fight.
Publication Date: 12th October
TW: death, grief, blood, trauma, PTSD, panic & anxiety attacks, hallucinations, drowning, loss of a parent, manipulation
My Thoughts:
When Ghosts Call Us Home is an eerie, evocative and enchanting book.
This book epitomises haunting. It is a surprisingly gorgeous exploration of family, loss and trauma. Becerra uses such stunning imagery, but warps it through a dark mirror to deliver these arresting moments. The writing is just everything. It is informed by Gothic traditions and the tropes of found footage media, particularly those that built a media sensation around themselves. For me, it encapsulated that theory mad section of the internet, dissecting our favourite films and weaving new stories out of them.
I loved how much of this narrative is steeped in a meta textual and knowing grasp of horror. There is this cult film from the past, with moments being re-enacted in the present through the documentary and other more nefarious means. The entire concept of the Path is unique and interesting in the way it ties into the deeper themes of grief and trauma. This is a book marked by its scars.
It is also one deeply interested in the way in which we present narratives. There is a visual focus on performance and how we view ourselves and others, particularly through a filmic lens. The other view that characterises the book is that of fame. There is a sense of entitlement in the perception of Layla’s film and the way Sophia is forever crystallised as an object of fascination because of her role within that film. People constantly project their own feelings onto her through this. The disassociation of her humanity within these theories and those around Layla is sickeningly real and reminiscent of tabloid rumourings around ‘the stars’.
When Ghosts Call Us Home is a quietly beautiful, yet horrific, tale of fleeting stardom, familial loyalty and the echoes of the past that keep reaching out to us.
A Short Book Lover 
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