Tag: Cover Lovin’

The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand – Matthew Gray Gubler

I loved wonderfully weird Rumple Buttercup when I met him four years ago and have been patiently (sometimes) waiting for Matthew Gray Gubler to introduce me to a new friend whose life began in his imagination.

Meet Lenore. She was born with a BIG green hand. She doesn’t know why she has a BIG green hand.

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She just knows she needs to hide it from the world. So that’s what she does.

One day Lenore meets Chuck. He doesn’t have a BIG green hand but he does have a story to tell.

If I tell you this book is adorable, will that make you want to read it?

Yes? It’s so adorable. Your heart will be warmed. You’ll feel hope. You’ll want to be kinder and to look for the good in others. You may even start looking for smiley clouds.

No? This is a book about looking at the world through someone else’s eyes. It’s about connection. It encourages empathy and kindness. It’s about accepting yourself and others. It makes you curious about what you could do if you didn’t hold yourself back. It’s about embracing your uniqueness. It gives you a perspective reset.

Not convinced yet? You may need this book the most.

The only sadness I have about this book is that I haven’t managed to find a signed copy yet. I missed out on the Rumple Buttercup signed copies so started looking early for Big Green Hand ones. If I could have made it to America in time, I would have found my way to the book tour. To try and claim a signed copy of the book, of course. But also to see one of the best cars ever!

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Sadness aside, this book has brought me joy each time I’ve read it so far. My mother’s just met Lenore and is currently being introduced to Rumple. It’s looking like her love for them both is as BIG as mine.

I never realized how bright the world could be … when you remember we are all connected

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Matthew Gray Gubler comes a heartwarming story of colours, creatures, and connection.

Join two unlikely friends, Chuck and Lenore, as they embark on a dreamlike adventure and uncover the magic of seeing the world through each other’s eyes. Lovingly hand-drawn, and featuring a cloth cover and ribbon bookmark, it’s a book to treasure, read, and re-read.

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All Hallows – Christopher Golden

Welcome to Parmenter Road. For a decade now, your Halloween night tradition has included braving the jump scares of the Haunted Woods, the brainchild of Tony Barbosa and his now 17 year old daughter, Chloe. They’ve added more scares to the path this year, the Haunted Woods’ final year.

You didn’t take a glow stick into the woods with you tonight because you wanted to savour the full experience. It was worth the wait and you’re going to really miss this long standing Halloween tradition next year.

Now you’ve faced down the banshee, you wander over to the Koenigs’ block party. On your way, you think of Zack and Ruth Burgess. You’ve heard rumours about that couple so you told your kids to skip their house when they’re Trick-or-treating. You can’t be too careful these days, after all.

You usually keep to yourself but even you aren’t immune to the gossip you’re hearing at the party tonight. Sure, you feel bad for the lives that are imploding all around you but there’s also a part of you that’s relieved your marriage and your kids aren’t part of tonight’s fodder. At this distance, you can almost imagine this is all playing out on Wisteria Lane.

Hold on. Who’s that? There’s a kid approaching you, wearing a costume that looks like it’s seen better days. You thought you knew all of the kids in the neighbourhood but you’ve never seen them before. You wonder if they’re okay.

“He’ll find me. He always finds me.”

Hmm, maybe not. As you start to ask them what’s wrong, who always finds them, you notice someone getting closer. You’ve definitely never seen them before. You would have remembered someone that tall. Is that who the kid’s so terrified of?

Are those … candle flames where their eyes should be?

If you like to get to know your horror victims before they’re sliced and diced, this is the book for you. If you want to see people’s insides become their outsides, this is the book for you. If Halloween isn’t a day of the year but a state of mind for you, this is the book for you. If you desperately want to visit the place the horrors have come from, join me in hoping for a sequel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unravelling. The Barbosas have opened their annual Haunted Woods attraction in the forest behind the house they’re about to lose. The Sweeneys are fighting about alcoholism and infidelity on their front lawn. Up the street, a high-school senior is about to have her secrets exposed, while down the street, the truth about Ruth and Zack Burgess turns out to be even more horrifying than the rumours ever were. 

And all the while, four children who do not belong are walking door to door. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. Children who seem terrified, and who beg the neighbourhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. But with families falling apart and the community splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road? 

All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask…

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Slime Doesn’t Pay! – R.L. Stine

I’ve got to give Amy credit. If Arnie was my little brother, I would have sought revenge much sooner than she did. Arnie is an absolute brat and their parents don’t even discipline him. He gets away with everything and Amy has just reached her limit.

“Arnie is ruining my life!”

It’s time for revenge of the sticky, oozy blue slime variety. Only things don’t exactly go to plan.

I’m old, so my introduction to R.L. Stine dates all the way back to the late 80’s, when The Babysitter had me not wanting to answer the phone (the kind that plugged into the wall). Having been indoctrinated for a couple of years by The Baby-Sitters Club, Stine also managed to turn me off babysitting for life.

I thoroughly enjoyed being terrified by Stine’s Point Horror books. By the time the Goosebumps books were published, though, I thought I was too old to read them and I’ve always felt like I missed out on something special.

Now I’m old enough to no longer care what anyone thinks of my reading list and this slimefest looked like the perfect reintroduction to one of my favourite authors from my childhood.

This read was just as fun as I’d hoped it would be. Amy’s voice is engaging and her struggles with a little brother whose behaviour had me considering an exorcism are relatable, even with the elements that don’t feature in that many childhoods.

I know kid me would have adored it as well, and probably would have mixed up a batch of slime to see what happened. Adult me has made note of where to find the list of ingredients, just in case.

I haven’t read enough R.L. Stine books to know if he sneaks in pop culture references but, intentional or not, when the creature bounded out of Amy’s closet, it brought to mind the Terror Dog we first met in Louis’ apartment in Ghostbusters. I then spent most of the book hoping a character would blurt out ‘He slimed me.’ But enough about my Ghostbusters obsession. I was also pretty chuffed that the horror movie director’s surname was Craven.

I’d like to think I’d brave Arnie to claim some of his mother’s Friday night homemade pizza. Minus the quills, of course.

I can foresee a Goosebumps binge in my future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Lots of little brothers can be pests and troublemakers — but Amy’s brother Arnie is a MONSTER …

In this R.L. Stine family-friendly scare fest, Amy and her friend, Lissa, don’t know what to do about Arnie’s bullying, bad-boy behaviour, and mean jokes and pranks. The little monster is ruining their lives!

The girls decide it’s payback time. Total humiliation for Arnie. They find a recipe for blue slime on a YouTube channel and mix a big bucket to pour over Arnie at his birthday party.

To their horror, the girls instantly discover that SLIME DOESN’T PAY! Before their eyes, Arnie’s whole body starts to change. The slime turns him into a real monster.

Now Amy and Lissa have two frightening dilemmas: Can they save their town from the raging Arnie Monster? And is there any way to turn the monster back into Arnie?

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A Friend for Ruby – Sofie Laguna

Illustrations – Marc McBride

I’m all for judging a book by its cover and this one is absolutely breathtaking. More often than not, though, I choose a book because of who wrote it. Sometimes I get an unexpected bonus, discovering an illustrator whose work I wasn’t already familiar with.

This book, though, I chose to read specifically because I wanted to see more of the illustrator’s work, having fallen in love with their style when I read The Glimme.

This time, it was Sofie Laguna’s words that surprised me, drawing me into Ruby’s world just as much as Marc McBride’s illustrations did.

Ruby has had a rough week at school when she comes across the creature at the beach. Hoping she’s found a new friend, Ruby takes the creature home but quickly learns that caring for it isn’t as easy as she thought it would be.

This is such an adorable book. Ruby is an absolute sweetheart who is yearning for connection. The story majors on friendship and has more heart than I usually find in picture books.

Within its pages you’ll visit the bakery of my dreams and meet one of the most colourful, imaginative creatures you’ll ever encounter.

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Kid me would have loved the story, wanted to be friends with Ruby and spent way too much time poring over every detail of the creature. Adult me loves the story and has spent so much time poring over every detail of the creature, marvelling at how the riot of colours don’t seem like they should work so well together but somehow do.

I’m putting my hand up for the bakery’s leftover cakes and hoping that one day I’ll walk into a store and find a plush toy creature to adopt.

This author and illustrator team complement one another brilliantly. I definitely need to clear some space in my TBR pile for the books they’ve written and illustrated that haven’t taken up residence in my heart yet.

Thank you so much to Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this picture book.

Title: A Friend for Ruby Author: Sofie Laguna
Illustrator: Marc McBride
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 29 August 2023
RRP: AUD $24.99

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Ruby led the creature out into the garden. She drew a dancing circle in the sand. ‘I choose you!’ she said to the creature.

Walking along the beach, Ruby finds a strange creature on the shore. She takes it home, feeds it and makes a bed of straw for it in her cubby – but a cubby is no place for a creature from the sea.

Ruby must draw on all her resources to help the creature find their way home – and perhaps, along the way, she might just find an unexpected friendship.

A whimsical tale of friendship, compassion and resourcefulness, from a wonderfully talented creative team.

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The Upside-Down Book of Sloths – Elizabeth Shreeve

Illustrations – Isabella Grott

This book is a lovely introduction to the six types of sloths that live in Central and South America as well as some of the dozens that used to walk the earth (and in one case swam the sea) millions of years ago. Comparing the three-toed sloths with their “bandit-like masks” and the larger two-toed sloths to those we have learned about through their fossils, we discover how they live, sleep, raise their young and poop.

While I’ve yet to meet a sloth, I’ve read about them, fallen in love with some cuties I’ve seen in documentaries and have bought my mother, who adores them even more than I do, all manner of sloth merchandise. Did you know you can buy sloth bandaids?

This was a quick, enjoyable read that taught me some new fun facts. My top three are:

🦥 The largest tree sloths grow to 32 inches (81cm) and weigh up to 24 pounds (10.9kg). That’s tiny when you compare it to the Megatherium, a giant ground sloth, that lived 10 million years ago. It grew to 18 feet (almost 5.5m) and weighed around 8,000 pounds (3,628kg)!

🦥 Sloths move about 13 feet per minute through trees and about one foot a minute on the ground. They’re good swimmers, moving three times as fast in the water than they do on land.

🦥 It takes more than a month for a sloth to digest a meal.

Isabella Grott’s illustrations are gorgeous, showcasing species both past and present.

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Kid me definitely would have borrowed this book from the library for a school project.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Slow, sleepy — and adorable. This playful and informative picture book follows the fascinating history of one of the world’s most beloved animals.

Many find sloths cute, while some find them just plain bizarre. In The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, Elizabeth Shreeve uncovers their less-well-known evolutionary history and how they became the beloved — and unique — creatures of today. She pairs and compares the six extant modern species, like the pygmy sloth, the brown-throated sloth, and the ai, with their prehistoric counterparts, such as Thalassocnus, the tough seafaring sloth; Paramylodon, which had armor-like skin and walked on the sides of its feet; and Megatherium, which could weigh up to 8,000 pounds. She even reveals how modern sloths have adapted to hang upside down, how they learned to swim, and even how they poop!

As entertaining as it is educational, The Upside-Down Book of Sloths offers a brilliant deep dive into sloths, their evolution, and their connections to our planet’s natural history — and future.

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Bite Risk – S.J. Wills

One night a month, kids rule Tremorglade. They can stay up all night and do whatever they want. Once their parents have been securely locked in their cages, that is.

Set up, lock in, watch out.

Every full moon, the adults of Tremorglade transform into Rippers; they’re hirsute and they have fangs and claws. Raw meat becomes much more appetising to them and if you’re not careful, you’ll also be on the menu.

Here in Tremorglade, because we’re so isolated, we don’t have to put up with many of the horrors that the rest of the world does – deadly weather, plagues, violent crime and marauding pirates.

In fact, it’s so scary out there that hardly anyone ever leaves Tremorglade.

Thirteen year old Sel is approaching the age where they too will Turn but for now, their Confinement night is spent outside of a cage.

This was a really entertaining read. I guessed some plot points before Sel experienced them but it didn’t bother me as I was having too much fun.

Although I liked Sel, the standout character for me was Ingrid, Sel’s archnemesis. Taekwondo champion Ingrid hates everyone but her hatred for Sel is next level. Dora, who Ingrid is responsible for on Confinement night, was the person I most wanted to spend more time with.

This book has horror, action and humour, with an overarching mystery that kept me engaged. I loved learning how this insular community worked, especially its technology, and trying to figure out who I could trust.

I flew through this book and can’t wait for the sequel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When everyone’s a vicious beast, it’s hard to spot the monsters …

The first book in S. J. Wills’ blockbuster teen horror series, perfect for fans of Stranger Things, Fear Street and Skulduggery Pleasant.

Sel Archer lives in a normal town with normal residents, except for one night a month …. When the full moon comes out, almost all of the adults turn into werewolves, and it’s up to the young people to protect themselves from danger.

But, as this quiet life begins to unravel, and the Turned start to escape, can Sel and his friends uncover exactly who – or what – is watching their every move, before it’s too late?

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Thornhedge – T. Kingfisher

“Remember us, and if you can, find your way back to us in time.”

You know those special reads that cause you to immediately search out a signed copy as soon as you reach The End, if not sooner, because it’s now one of your forever books? Welcome to Thornhedge and check out my pretty Broken Binding preorder.

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You probably think you know this story … a princess trapped in a tower in an enchanted sleep … the whole Sleeping Beauty thing. You’ve seen the Disney movie. You’ve read the retellings. You may have even read the original. You’ve absolutely questioned the lack of consent of that kiss.

But you don’t know this story. See, this isn’t the princess’ story. It’s Toadling’s. I unequivocally adore Toadling, with her blue-black tears and her determination to complete the task she was given so long ago.

“But we are not always given the choices that we want.”

Toadling is an absolute sweetheart whose loyalty is strong enough to endure for centuries and who wants nothing more than to be with her family. Not the family of her birth; the one who adopted her after she was stolen.

Toadling’s got a job to do, though, and it involves the princess in the tower that this story is not about. Unbeknownst to dear Toadling, although soon to be knownst, a knight has commenced a quest and it’s quite possible he’s going to make a right mess of the status quo.

“This is my place,” she said finally. “You are in it.”

This is a story of aching loneliness and not entirely fitting in anywhere. It’s found family and deep connections. It has magic and it is magical. It’s dark and it’s delightful and, I have to agree with the author here, it is sweet.

T. Kingfisher has quickly become one of my favourite authors and this novella has confirmed why. Toadling lives in my heart now and she’s not leaving anytime soon.

Favourite no context quote:

“This would be easier if you could turn into a toad”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this novella.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

If only.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

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Camp Damascus – Chuck Tingle

Camp Damascus has been one of the best surprises of the year so far. I love it when books take you in a direction you weren’t expecting, where the place you end up is even better than the destination you thought you’d signed up for. I expected to enjoy this read but nowhere near as much as I did.

Rose lives in Neverton, a God-fearing small town in Montana whose claim to fame is being home to the world’s most effective conversion therapy camp.

“A life free from sin is possible, and it’s waiting for you at Camp Damascus”

Regardless of what genre a book is marketed as, as soon as conversion therapy makes its way onto the pages, it’s always going to be labelled horror in my mind. This one was already filed in the correct genre but it gave me so much more than I’d hoped it would.

Rose is a Kingdom Kid, churched in the doctrine of the Kingdom of the Pine. Her parents are devout, making sure they abide by the Four Tenets. Coffee is not allowed in their home, which is about the biggest red flag ever.

“Perfectly normal” Rose has recently begun seeing a woman that other people don’t seem to notice. She’s also started vomiting up all manner of creepy crawlies. Yeah, nothing to see here…

“God’s plan can feel pretty crazy sometimes, huh?”

I loved Rose’s pursuit of the truth. I loved the squirmy, squishy body horror. I loved to hate everything even cultish adjacent. I couldn’t read this book fast enough and am so keen for a reread.

“Follow the rot”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Camp Damascus is the world’s most effective gay conversion camp. Nestled in the Montana wilderness, parents send their children from around the world to experience the program’s 100% success rate.

But, this story isn’t about that. This story is about Rose Darling, a God-fearing young lady who can’t stop puking up flies. It’s about her parents who ignore her visions of an eerie woman with sagging, pale skin who watches from the woods. It’s about the desires deep inside Rose that don’t seem to make any sense, and her waking nightmares that are beginning to feel more like memories. And maybe, just maybe, it’s a little bit about Camp Damascus after all.

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You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight – Kalynn Bayron

I SURVIVED THE NIGHT AT CAMP MIRROR LAKE

When we meet Charity, she’s in the process of surviving her third summer at Camp Mirror Lake. Camp Mirror Lake was the location for the 1983 movie, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. Now it’s the location for a “full-contact terror-simulation experience” based on the movie.

Charity is basically living her best horror life; as the Final Girl, she’s the last one standing every night. Bonus points for her job giving her somewhere other than her home to be all summer.

Charity and her team of seven spend their nights terrorising whoever wants to pay for the privilege. Well, it used to be Charity and her team of seven. Some of the team recently stopped showing up to work.

Luckily, during one of the only times reception was good enough to make a phone call, Charity was able to call in some fresh victims reinforcements. Bezi is Charity’s girlfriend. She wears her heart on her sleeve but hopefully not literally. She does know she’s just walked into a slasher, doesn’t she?

“Oh, honey. You’re going to die out here, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

Then there’s Paige, who knows all of the scary stories so maybe she’s Randy from Scream. She’s also a reporter, so I guess she’s Gale Weathers as well. Charity is obviously Sidney Prescott.

I matched a few other characters with their Scream equivalents but this is not that franchise. It’s a slasher but then it’s also something else so, while I figured out who the Big Bad was early on, it wasn’t until everything began to unfold that I had any idea what form their monologue would take. While I don’t have any specific unanswered questions about the direction it went, I would have liked the story behind this to have been fleshed out more.

This was a quick, entertaining read. As someone who celebrates every Friday the 13th, this felt like a homage but the soon to be slaughtered characters were trying to survive a horror that wasn’t Jason shaped at all.

I absolutely adored Fernanda Suarez’s cover image. It’s what drew me to the book in the first place and what kept reminding me I needed it in my life.

This is my first book by this author. I don’t expect it to be my last.

“It’s all fun and games until you’re dead.”

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But in the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need to figure out what this killer is after. Is there more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

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Wolf Road – Alice Roberts

Illustrations – Keith Robinson

Twelve year old Tuuli is a member of a talo, a small tribe of connected families. She lives with her parents, ten year old brother and her cousins, aunts and their partners. Their talo are reindeer people, “sustained by the reindeer, connected with the reindeer”.

One day, Tuuli meets a boy who doesn’t look like anyone she’s ever seen before.

I’m a sucker for an eye catching cover image but usually rely on the blurb to decide for sure if a book is going to be for me. My decision to read this book, though, was based solely on the fact that I saw Keith Robinson’s name on the cover. Keith is one of my favourite illustrators and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see more of his work. I was not disappointed.

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I only wish there had been more illustrations.

It’s obvious how much research has gone into this book. As I tagged along with Tuuli and her talo while they travelled through the seasons, I saw how they lived and was able to get to know them through their beliefs and customs. While I learned a lot reading this book, my emotions never really engaged.

I absolutely adored Lupa, Tuuli’s wolf, but didn’t form a connection with any of the humans. Andar was the one I was most intrigued by but I’m left with unanswered questions about his past. I thought I should be reaching for a tissue a couple of times but I experienced those events as an observer, looking on from a distance, rather than feeling them.

Kid me would have had difficulties with the hunting and the sad events. Adult me was too busy worrying that something bad would happen to Lupa.

While this story would work as a standalone, an opening is definitely left for a sequel. I would be interested to find out what happens next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The greatest adventure of all begins here, in the epic new prehistoric children’s novel from bestselling author, academic and broadcaster, Professor Alice Roberts.

Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. Tuuli knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises that he might hold the adventure she is looking for. 

He is a Neanderthal, sent by his tribe to find safer ground and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will impact the rest of human history. 

A vast adventure with a very human heart, full of wild animals, huge scenery and heart-stopping danger and inspired by real anthropological discoveries. For fans of His Dark Materials, Wolf Brother and The Last Bear, join Tuuli on the adventure of a lifetime and uncover the start of all our histories.

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