Salutations friends! I haven’t done any mini reviews in a hot minute, but I’m finally doing one after ages! I think the last one I did was in the winter of 2021. I’m currently on a really strong reading kick and I’ve been cruising through so many great books. This may be due to November looming over my shoulder or it just may be from finding my spark again in books after a month slump. Either way, here are three mini reviews of three recent reads that I loved! ♥
Content/Trigger Warnings: Depictions of anxiety & panic attacks, misogyny, talk of divorce, on page vehicle accident, death, talk of grief, talk of nyctophobia (fear of the dark), depictions of blood, graphic injuries, gore, violence scenes of emesis, scene of drowning
“Keep you head down and get out, remember? Doesn’t matter how, just take it and run.”
It has been a week and I’m still thinking about all the ways this book haunts my thoughts. When I heard someone say this has Mothman in it, you bet your sweet booty that I jumped on this train immediately. Plus, seeing my friend’s review for this book also had me running for it immediately. However, I want to state that Mothman isn’t the main focus of this novella. Mothman kind of takes very to the sidelines despite the fact that we have a few select moments with them. But despite knowing this, I was hyped and super excited to dive into this book as soon as my claws were wrapped around this book.
We follow Addy who is recently divorced and is currently traveling through the West Virginia mountains to meet up with her friends. However, her journey goes from okay to pure chaos as a bad snow storm rolls in and the truck driver she met at the diner get into a sudden vehicle accident. Now Addy must decide if she’s just going to spend her time in fear or attempt to help her new friend, even if it means battling her inner monsters, and potentially something more realistically frightening.
“Came outta of nowhere, didn’t it?”
I liked Addy and how imperfect she was. She was angry, anxious, fearful, but also trying to find herself again in the aftermath of this divorce. She’s also very distrusting of men because of all the poor treatment she has had to deal with, not only in life, but in her marriage as well. So we see Addy start off as very anxious, weary, and hurting, but that quickly changes because things in this book escalate rapidly and all you can do is hold on for the ride as we see Addy grow and change.
I’m not kidding when I say thing escalate rapidly. Things pick up pretty fast and I think you’ll find yourself pretty hooked. Even when I wanted to put this book down, I couldn’t because I constantly was wondering what was waiting to happen. However, I did have to stew on this book and my thoughts for a day. Reading this book in less than two hours and you would need to sit on your feelings too.
Overall, I had a really great time with this book and I recommend going in not knowing too much about it. I think a lot of the twists and turns will be better enjoyed that way. If I had to really give issue with this book, it was the lack of Mothman. I think I would have liked Mothman playing a bigger role in this book than was given, but despite that I still loved the author’s interpretation of Mothman. It’s a great atmospheric read and one that I recommend for the fall season!
🕯️ Muscles & Monsters (Leviathan Fitness, #1) by Ashley Bennett
Content/Trigger Warnings: Abusive/toxic relationship (in the past), depictions of anxiety, bullying (in the past), mentions of & scene of fatphobia, body shaming, scene of prejudice towards monsters
“A moment of discomfort is nothing compared to a lifetime of unhappiness. Knowing that it led me to you, I’d make that choice again and again”
Holy cow did I enjoy my time reading this book! I have thirty-seven notes on this book and I’m still thinking about how delightful this was. Wow, wow, WOW. My expectations were blown out of the water for this. I thought it was going to be straight up monster erotica, but there’s so much more to it than that and I enjoyed every second of it.
We get duel perspectives from Tegan, a plus-seized baker, who got tasked with making a wedding cake that’s supposed to be delivered for the mayor’s daughter’s wedding only her assistant called out and now Tegan is struggling until she drops the cake. Enter Atlas Oberon, the werewolf owner of the gym down the street, Leviathan Fitness. Atlas had been on his way into work when he stumbled across Tegan and offered to assist with the cake. Who would of thought a wedding cake would blossom into a romance between these two?
“Well I’m glad you chose what was best for you, Atlas Oberon. And I happen to like that stupid fucking tail of yours. Very much.”
There were so many great elements to this read that made these characters so likeable and almost real. I think Tegan is my favorite though. The way the author chose to write Tegan really made the biggest impression with me. Tegan is very body positive in being plus-size, but we also see moments where she has doubts and questions herself. This was handle so well and in a way that I felt was realistic. Being plus-sized myself, I have my moments of ups and downs and seeing that represented in Tegan in this book was really nice to see. Speaking of body positivity and different views of bodies, I thought the way Atlas was handled was a great way to show the opposite spectrum of how you can be healthy, have a well toned body, and still have insecurities about the way you look. I think if anyone were to make this a book club pick, this would be a great way to open the floor to bigger discussions on body positivity, body image and societal views, and learning to love oneself.
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the sexy times. The sexy times were actually really great and I mean that in the sense of the before, during, and after. Tegan and Atlas have really strong communication with one another, they care for each other in their own ways, and do what they can to protect each other. And sexy times aren’t excluded from any of that. Tegan is human and Atlas takes such good care of Tegan in the aftermath even when they go to the gym, after their romp, he keeps the routine of the day light and calls it early for Tegan. It was all really sweet and the open communication is fantastic. Plus, there’s a scene that involves icing and I think readers are going to have a blast with it.
Overall, this was a fun time and I read it a lot faster than I thought I would. I wasn’t expecting to get through it as fast as I did and I wasn’t it expecting to have so many different elements stirred in. If you’re a lover of monsters, you definitely want to add this to you list. Plus, the second book recently came out and I’m really excited to continue on with this series!
🕯️Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen
🍄 Garlic and the Vampire ★★★★★
Content/Trigger Warnings: Depictions of anxiety, brief mentions loss of a loved one
I had no idea I was this excited about this sequel until I was ordering it. I fell madly in love with the first book because of the characters, the story, the layers, and just everything, truly. So waiting for this to release felt like trying to run through syrup. And honestly, now that I’ve read the sequel I’m kind of sad that this has come to a close. I don’t think this author has plans for anymore books in this world and just having the chance to read Garlic’s story in this duology feels like such a blessing altogether. All I know is that Bree Paulsen has become a favorite author of mine and I need to keep my eyes peeled for more of their work!
Our story takes place with a step back in time. We get to see how everything began and see how Garlic and the other veggie-people came to be in this world. This is a little treat for us as the reader, as we never get to see this bit in the first book. However, we quickly resume where the first book left off, only this time there are some changes, some unexplainable changes and Garlic seeks the truth of what’s happening to her, to everyone. Witch Agnes has no choice but to reveal her secret, they’re becoming humans!
As with the first book, Garlic is embarking on another adventure, two if you count them becoming human. Garlic must travel to the Magic Market with Count to retrieve some goodies for Witch Agnes and along the way she’ll learn to cope with her anxiety, to have faith in herself and the people who surround her, and trust that everything will turn out okay even if it all seems a little scary. We also find out a little more details about Count throughout this whole story too. Truly, Count just deserves all the love and is such a precious character.
Overall, this was one of the easiest reads I’ve rated all year. I absolutely loved the first book and so it was impossible for me not to fall in love with the second book. How could I not fall in love with these characters, this world, the representation we see?! It was all lovely and I truly mean it when I say I’m truly going to miss these characters and this world if there aren’t any books in this series. I’m not sure what those books would look like considering how this book (and the fact of how hard I sobbed), but if there are more books, then I can’t wait to see the adventures of these characters continue on. If you haven’t checked out the first book or perhaps you’re debating whether or not to get the second book, let this be the sign you need to go pick them up. I promise, you won’t regret it!
Chapter Malliumpkin 
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