The Dog Days of Youth by Matthew Jon Smith

Rating:

3 Stars

Themes:

Horror, Short Stories, Serial Killers

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I really appreciated the author's note at the beginning vaguely warning everyone what was to come as it is seen by some as a writing sin so we can choose whether we are able to read the book or not. It did take quite a while to get into the book though with reviews and comments being in the beginning and the story not actually beginning till page 18. I think the chapter breaks being a slug considering the series being called Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs is a great touch. The story itself flows well and outlines the triggering of Mike's bloodlust well. However, the book was quite descriptively gorey which I didn’t mind, although I thought it wasn’t necessary to be as explicit as it was, but it may not be for everyone so definitely read trigger warnings and themes in reviews before jumping in.

Favourite Quote:

“He hated everyone and everything. Most of all, himself. He wanted everyone dead, whether they deserved it or not, and to this rule, he was the only exception Hatred had poured from his being with little to no discretion for as long as he could remember. The face he wore for the world, like the faux walls of this condo was completely for show and hiding something hard and unforgiving that you could smash yourself to death against”

Comments

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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