Tag Archives: book-review

Review for The Day Of The Door by Laurel Hightower

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I have a few reviews incoming. I thought I’d posted them here, but it was only on my substack, which doesn’t get any traction. I’ll post them here. I’m sorry for flooding your inbox.

Before this review, I knew this book was about childhood trauma. I did not know the depths it would take me to. I continue to deal with childhood trauma from abuse, physical, mental, and other.

I feel a bit of a kinship with the MC, Nate Lasco. I dealt with abuse, not on the scale of his siblings and himself, but enough that I understood where he was coming from. The pain of dealing with childhood trauma is something I work through daily.

Laurel does such a fantastic job of writing trauma. It’s one of the reasons she’s one of my favorite writers. Writing trauma of any sort is challenging. It can come across in many ways, but Laurel does it and makes it feel real. You think about what Nate and his siblings went through. Having lost a brother, not to violence, but knowing I can’t talk to him when I’d like, something that Nate mentions in the text, is traumatic by itself.

Nate hasn’t spoken to his mother since a scene at the opening of the novel. Reading that opening will give you the reasons why, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.

He and his siblings went through something traumatic. Something that changed the paradigm of their family.

Having dealt with a parent who treated me the same way, I found myself loathing the meeting. It brought up a lot of thoughts, things I didn’t want to go through. This book helped me deal with a few things I didn’t want to.

Our lives after childhood are influenced by that childhood. How we deal with our adult lives is different. Nate and his siblings deal with this.

While reading this book, I thought of the Netflix show Haunting of Hill House. The trauma in that show and how the siblings deal with it is similar to how the Lascos deal with it. Also, my siblings and I have dealt with some of our issues.

This novel pushed me to some uncomfortable places. Laurel posted on TikTok about comments she’s received about the book. Dealing with trauma was something she brought up.

Trauma follows you into your adult lives, relationships, and careers. It’s how it works. How you deal with it matters.

The sequences of fear in this story, from the coming together of meeting their mother to the grief of their brother and the scenes in which the reality of the haunted aspects of their lives come together, struck a chord with me.

I loved this book and gave it five stars on Goodreads. It’s one of the best depictions of adults dealing with their childhood trauma. I suggest anyone who’s dealt with childhood trauma of any sort check the CW and TW for this book. I would suggest anyone who’s working through their childhood trauma to read this book.

Review for Horror Movie By Paul Tremblay

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I write my reviews a bit differently than other writers. I try to find a comp book. I beat myself up while reading this one over it. Then, toward the end of the book, it hit me.

I read Grin Of The Dark By Ramsay Campbell a few years ago. I came to my horror journey late, and it was the first book of his I had read. It’s a weird book about a man searching for a film he remembered. It is a story about a clown who once existed. As most of Mr. Campbell’s books do, it takes some dark and surreal turns.

It’s still one of my favorite books. This trope of found footage is done all of the time in books. Kiersten White’s Mister Magic does it very well. That’s also one of my favorite reviews.

The Horror Movie feels like a bit of The Blair Witch, maybe some of Hell House LLC and other found-footage books and movies. But Mr. Campbell’s book was my first introduction to this in a novel, at least where it’s done well.

I often looked back at my memories of Grin Of The Dark when it clicked. It’s done so well and has a different take on the sub-genre that it blew me away.

I said on Threads, “You all are not ready for this book.” I stand by that. Having read all but two of Paul’s books, this felt different. Maybe he was experimenting a little, testing a few new things. It’s nothing like Cabin or Head Full Of Ghosts.

I feel this is Paul Tremblay trying out a few new things. I can’t get into them without spoiling so much of a great horror novel. The found-footage aspect of this story isn’t so much in your face as it is in Mister Magic or movies like Blair Witch or Hell House LLC. It’s a more subtle take on the genre itself.

I was uncomfortable a few times while reading it. That goes to the author’s ability to craft such a fantastic piece of art.

It’s an uncomfortable story about a kid who experienced something terrible while filming a movie when he was younger. The story then revolves around that kid working on a remake/reboot of the film that was never finished. Some aspects of the story are out there. It’s a great story, and I’ll purchase one on day one.

Paul is one of my favorite authors, and while not all of his books have hit it out of the park for me, this one did.

Review for Tom Clancy Act Of Defiance by Andrews and Wilson

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I read Red October years after it came out. It’s the only one of Tom Clancy’s books I didn’t read in the 80s. I read Red Storm Rising in paperback and Patriot Games in Hardcover. I did the same with Clear & Present Danger and Cardinal Of The Kremlin, my favorite of Tom’s novels. I always read ahead of my grade. I read Red Storm in 6th grade.

I saw The Hunt For Red October in the theaters the weekend it came out. It’s still one of my favorite 80s movies.

Let’s get into Act of Defiance. I will limit my spoilers as much as possible. If you’ve read Red October, that’s good. It will help you with Act Of Defiance. There are many callbacks to it throughout the book. There are also callbacks to Patriot Games and Clear & Present Danger, but Red October is front and center throughout the novel since this is about another Russian submarine.

It begins with how many of Tom’s books start. They set you up with an idea and chase that idea throughout.

While Red October was our introduction to Jack Ryan, Act Of Defiance begins with an idea but also tells us something about Red October that we didn’t know. This pushes the story in a vastly different direction.

Marko Ramius knew what he had and the possibilities of his boat, The Red October; this novel starts before the Red October. The Captain of the Belgorod knows what he has as well. He’s determined to make Jack Ryan pay. A theme and story that I will let the reader discover.

While Red October is mainly about Jack Ryan finding his way, Act Of Defiance is about his daughter, Katie Ryan. She does most of the same things her father did in Red October. The callbacks to the book and the movie are fantastic. I enjoyed them.

The cat-and-mouse game starts as the hunt is underway for Belgorod. It’s a different game with the same consequences as Red October but with far worse intentions.

Russia is not the power it was with Marko Ramius and the Red October. A group decides they want to change this. We’ve seen this scenario play out since the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s been in books, movies, and video games.

It is done very well in Act of Defiance. It’s one of the better tales with the trope. I think this is a trope now.

While the novel played out, I enjoyed Katie Ryan’s character. I hope more story ideas come from Red Storm with her in it.

I blew through most of this book in a day. But I read quickly. I always have. I give this a five. It’s well written, the story is good, and the placement of Katie Ryan reminds me of her dad, Jack.