Month: October 2024

Title: Zig-Zag Boy

Author: Tanya Frank

Genre: memoir

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Beautifully written story of a mother caring for her mentally ill son, who at 19, develops psychosis. Zach lives a normal life until one day he feels people are watching him. At that point, his life unravels. His devoted mother does all she can for him while giving him the support he needs to manage his own life.

They live partly in the US and partly in the UK, so navigating the health systems differed greatly. Tanya clearly loves her son but cannot hold his hand for the rest of his life. So, as difficult as it was, she had to let him figure things out on his own. This book was really well-written, and I was captivated by their story. Excellent book.

Title: Ghost Station

Author: S. A. Barnes

Genre: Horror

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I also received a copy of this book for free at StokerCon, and I definitely wanted to read it based on the plot. Space horror? Yes, please!

Set in the far future, an exploration team is exploring an abandoned planet trying to figure out why the previous team never made it home. As it is an alien planet, the team is trying to understand who the native inhabitants were, as they are long gone. Because this is a horror book, the characters have to deal with some terrible things along their journey.

The main character is a psychologist who is there to support the team because the team had a previous team member die. She watches the team be infiltrated by some health issues that their medical equipment can’t identify. This book was good but a bit slow for me. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and I did enjoy it. But it could have been shorter and more intense.

Title: Thirst

Author: Marina Yuszczuk

Genre: Horror

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I also received this book from the Nightworms book subscription service under the books like Frankenstein concept, but that’s not accurate. This is a vampire story through and through. The unnamed vampire, who calls herself Maria at one point so I will too, lives for centuries and preys upon the people of Buenos Aires.

In the present day, Alma struggles with the impending death of her mother while managing life with her ex-husband and young son. Alma generally struggles with life when a long-forgotten key comes into her possession. At this point, Maria and Alma’s live converge.

This is a really beautiful story of love and loss. The parallel between Maria’s immortality and Alma’s mother’s decline was critical to the story. I loved all the characters and the story moved forward perfectly. Excellent book.