It’s Wednesday! That means we here at Ladies of Horror Fiction have a new batch of review link-ups of recent reads for you! Today we’ve included Betty by Tiffany McDaniel which some may consider “horror adjacent”. If you love having your heart crushed you do not want to miss Betty or Crossroads (for that matter). Rounding things out is some cannibal fun because we all need some of that!
We hope you find your new favorite book and don’t forget to click either tag above to find more good books ♥
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
A stunning, lyrical novel set in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians in which a young girl discovers stark truths that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
“A girl comes of age against the knife.”
So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence–both from outside the family, and also, devastatingly, from within. The lush landscape, rich with birdsong, wild fruit, and blazing stars, becomes a kind of refuge for Betty, but when her family’s darkest secrets are brought to light, she has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.
But despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters, and her father’s brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write. She recounts the horrors of her family’s past and present with pen and paper and buries them deep in the dirt–moments that has stung her so deeply, she could not tell them, until now.
Inspired by the life of her own mother, Tiffany McDaniel sets out to free the past by telling this heartbreaking yet magical story–a remarkable novel that establishes her as one of the freshest and most important voices in American fiction.
Alex’s Teaser Review
It broke my heart over and over -but McDaniel’s writing style is so beautiful, descriptive, and evocative that you cannot stop reading.
Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.
Laurie’s Teaser Review
I said this about The Summer That Melted Everything and I’m going to say the exact same thing about Betty. “This story is cruel, it is bleak and it is beautifully descriptive and impossible to put down.” If you haven’t read the work of Tiffany McDaniel you are truly missing out because her prose is pure magic and I am not exaggerating. These two books deserve every single star in the reviewing universe.
Read Laurie’s entire review at Goodreads.
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
How far would you go to bring back someone you love?
When Chris’s son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris’s life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything.
A drop of blood falls from Chris’s hand onto her son’s roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son’s ghost, or is it something else—something evil?
Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again.
Cassie’s Teaser Review
CROSSROADS is in my Top 10 of 2020 for sure, and I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking to bawl your eyes out while reading your next favorite novella, definitely check this one out and thank me later (but I’m not responsible for the amount of tissues you’ll need to get through it!).
Read Cassie’s entire review at Let’s Get Galactic.
Benny Rose, the Cannibal King by Hailey Piper
Blackwood, Vermont has one legend to its name—Benny Rose, the Cannibal King. Every local kid knows him and tells his stories, especially on Halloween. When a new girl moves to town in the autumn of 1987, the legend inspires high school junior Desiree St. Fleur and her friends to pull a Benny Rose-themed prank. A few laughs and screams, and they’ll have a Happy Halloween.
But a vicious storm crashes into Blackwood and interrupts the festivities. Soon the girls find themselves trapped and hunted in a strange neighborhood where no one will help them. There’s nothing made-up about Benny Rose this Halloween night. The truth is coming, and it’s hungry.
Book 3 in the Rewind-or-Die series: imagine your local movie rental store back in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, remember all those fantastic covers. Remember taking those movies home and watching in awe as the stories unfolded in nasty rainbows of gore, remember the atmosphere and textures. Remember the blood.
Jen’s Teaser Review
Benny Rose is a gory, coming of age horror centered around an urban legend and a group of girls on Halloween. Is there a better way to spend your evening?
You don’t need to wait until October to read this one, but if you haven’t read it by the time October rolls around, it really is the perfect book to read for the Halloween season.
Read Jen’s entire review at Book Den.
Cassie’s Review
Spooky stories about urban legends and small towns are some of my favorites, so it’s no surprise that having Hailey Piper blend those two familiar horror tropes together would lead to some amazing reading. What should also be unsurprising, given Piper’s talent with the written word, is how unique the story would be, despite the familiarity one might have with the the different things inspiring it – and yet, somehow, I am still completely blown away after finishing it!
Read Cassie’s entire review at Let’s Get Galactic.
Thank you for joining us today! We hope you found something to add to your tbr list. Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.
If you are a LOHF writer and have a book you’d like us to consider for a review please visit our review submission page here.
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