Tales to Keep You Up at Night by Dan Poblocki

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

Let me tell you, Dan Poblocki has written quite a creepy, unnerving, and at times genuinely scary book of stories. While targeted for middle-grade readers, it definitely has appeal to older readers. This is quite dark.

The first story was so so good. It set such an excellent tone for the collection. It's still my favorite. I didn't love all the stories, but they were all effective, and I appreciated how they all tied into the frame story. Despite them all tying in, there was a little of every kind of horror. I don't enjoy seeing kids in danger or being harmed, so that was a little tough to take in, but there's nothing too gory with this book. I think it's more about the concept and the implications of each story that makes it so unnerving. I wish I had taken notes on the story titles, but unfortunately I didn't. I will say overall that this collection is worth checking out. I have already gotten the next book, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night from my library to listen to soon.

I definitely recommend this book to fans of kids' horror, even as an adult.

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 The Spirit Hauntings: Freddy McFright's Chilling Nights by Avery Spooks and Illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars.

My Review on Goodreads

Short and funny, with great illustrations, but a little too short to really make an impact on me. I love the idea of seeing what's normal everyday for a ghoulish family at the beginning. I had to reread the ending because it went past my head at first. Great premise, but it needs a little more meat on its bones.

Advance Review Copy provided by Netgalley courtesy of North Star Editions.

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Sammy Specter: Private Investigator, Public Terror

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

My review on Goodreads

This was a cute, quick read. Sammy Spector is a newly departed detective who has a mission to scare someone to regain his lost reputation when his colleague gets the credit for cases he solved. He settles on a young girl named Shayla who is fixated on *cough* glued to her iPad. It's not as easy as he thought it would be. In the process of trying to scare Shayla, he develops a bond with this young girl whose fixation on electronics is highly detrimental to her.

I liked the story and how Sammy would plot and plan to scare Shayla, but she'd continually outwit him.

The illustrations were lovely, mainly black and white with occasional pops of color. They definitely helped me enjoy this book even more.

This is super short, and it was nice to have something I could finish in a couple of short reads.

Advanced Review Copy provided for review by Netgalley courtesy of Jolly Fish Press.

The River Knows

 Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mehia

My Rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.

My Review on Goodreads

This book was a reminder that sometimes, you have to hang in there. To me, this was a slow starter. And then it gets pretty weird, and I was brought to ask myself what was going on. Maybe it was so different from what I expected and that threw me off. Ultimately, I enjoyed the book, but I had a few issues with it that brought my rating down.

Paola, or Pao as she's called, has a huge chip on her shoulder. However, I do like that she is self-aware of her anger issues and how it makes her relationships with others complicated. Pao has a rocky relationship with her mother, as they are polar opposites. Pao is an empiricist, and is very focused on the scientific method (she is fascinated with space), whereas her mother is spiritually-minded, believes in healing crystals and candles. Pao blames her mother for their poor situation in life, not having a lot of money. Pao comes off as quite bitter at times. This is pretty important to the story as things go along, but it was a bit of a drawback.

The plot had a sense of vagueness that I didn't care for. In general, I learned what was going on behind the phenomena, but I don't feel like the mechanisms were explained enough for me. It was left to a superficial explanation that didn't work for me. I was left with this feeling that the author just wanted us to accept that things could happen because of magic. But there is a natural component brought up that made me wonder if some of the phenomena is not related to the location where it occurs and not just because of magic. I feel like this was a missed opportunity, as Pao, a scientist, conceivably would have wondered about that.

Yeah, I know, I'm over-thinking this book. Having said all that, I appreciate what this book does well. I loved how it shows people of Latinx cultures and how they are not a monolith, although it also shows how there are shared values that are foundational to their community. It's a story of loving your parents and giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are doing the best they can for you even if it doesn't seem like it. I loved the way that the narrative allows Pao to look at how her behavior and attitudes are a form of self-sabotage. That was so important to her growth as a character as she starts out borderline unlikable in parts. It also looks at the importance of friendships in which you are accepted as your authentic self, warts and all. The book also touches on the bigotry experienced by Latinx people, including unjust treatment by law enforcement and a lack of economic opportunities.

I can't say I 100% liked the direction the author took with the La Llorona legend, but it was an interesting twist. Overall, this was an enjoyable book, and I'm glad I was able to get the audiobook from my library, as it has one of my new favorite narrators, Frankie Corso. She's read a few of Silvia Moreno-Garcia books, and I love her voice. There's a lot to recommend about this book, despite any shortcomings. I will always support narratives by people who write about their own culture, and I can't get enough of it. I'll keep reading this series.

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