#advanced readers copy

[elliepassmore]

We Are the Beasts release!

When a series of brutal, mysterious deaths start plaguing the countryside and whispers of a beast in the mountains reach the quiet French hamlet of Mende, most people believe it’s a curse—God’s punishment for their sins.

But to sixteen-year-old Joséphine and her best friend, Clara, the beast isn’t a curse. It’s an opportunity.

For years, the girls of Mende have been living in a nightmare—fathers who drink, brothers who punch, homes that feel like prisons—and this is a chance to get them out.

Using the creature’s attacks as cover, Joséphine and Clara set out to fake their friends’ deaths and hide them away until it’s safe to run. But escape is harder than they thought. If they can’t brave a harsh winter with little food… If the villagers discover what they’re doing… If the beast finds them first...

Those fake deaths might just become real ones.

Bookshop.org

Barnes & Noble

This is a historical fiction that reads like a fantasy. The setting is the French countryside, mid-18th century, and there's a whole lot of scheming and a whole lot of suspense going on. That being said, this book also deals with heavier topics, such as the abuses women suffer at the hands of men, and how those who are different are often villainized.

Joséphine is the headstrong one in this book and she's willing to dive straight into danger (or trouble) if it means saving someone. Clara is more cautious, but she's also the heart of their duo, and she provides the stabilization their efforts require. The two of them work well together and I liked seeing the various friendships in this book.

Looking for a more in-depth opinion? Check out my full review!

[starrlikesbooks]

Want to see me lose my mind over an anticipated read? 👀👀

[protagonistspub]

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette was an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley. It is Biblical fiction and the first book in The King’s Men series. It will be published by Bethany House and releases on 15 August 2023. This was my first book from the author and only the third book in the Biblical fiction genre I can recall ever reading. It will not be my last book from the author or the…

[alecksreads]

Deep Cuts | Holly Brickley

Book review ✨

Everyone should add this to their TBR for 2025.

Percy is obsessed with music. Joe is going to become a musician. Together they're going to write great songs.

The relationships in this story were so reminiscent of Daisy Jones and the Six, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - this will be great if you're looking for long term complex friendships.

Deep Cuts includes everything you need for relationship spanning years - pretentious college idiots, yearning, being in love while being best friends and also musical collaborators, indie music, shoutout to early days Tumblr, and LA, NYC, SF and Miami all thrown in the mix. Nothing has made me wish I cared more about music, or at least could interpret the music I love more deeply.

I won an advanced uncorrected proof of this book from National Book Tokens.

[mybookcafelife]

Whale Fall | Daniel Kraus

I’ve been behind on my reviews! Get ready for an influx of book reviews on the blog! I had the pleasure of reading Whale Fall by Daniel Kraus. The novel follows Jay Gardiner’s gripping journey as he battles for survival after being engulfed by a sperm whale. The narrative weaves together Jay’s harrowing ordeal inside the whale with contemplations on his complex connection with his deceased…

[bookitocat]

#booktalk: The Belle of London by Nicola Italia

Η Εύα, μέλος της ομάδας του bookitocat, γράφει κριτική για το βιβλίο "The Belle of London" της Nicola Italia, ένα ιστορικό ρομάντζο που κυκλοφορεί σήμερα στο Άμαζον.

της Εύας (@ikariancorner) For English Click Here. Σήμερα κυκλοφορεί το βιβλίο “The Belle of London” της Nicola Italia και θέλω πρώτα να ευχαριστήσω την συγγραφέα για το ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) που μας έστειλε. Αυτό είναι το εικοστό βιβλίο που γράφει η συγγραφέας, αλλά το πρώτο της πουδιαβάζω. Και δεν θα είναι το τελευταίο. «He had been drawn to her even when she had been engaged to his…

[echosofbooks]

ARC Book Review - Leave the Lights On by Liv Andersson

Leave the Lights On by Liv Andersson Publication date: October 17, 2023 Genres: Horror, Mystery Thriller Source: Netgalley Cape Morgan, Maine, is the utopian ideal for a charmed life, and Beatrice Wicker knows it. The multi-million-dollar house on the sea coast. The joint bank accounts. The safety and security that go along with being married to an esteemed architect and community leader. The…

[hrngraystrs]

THIS BOOK IS CHANGING ME IN WAYS I CANNOT EXPLAIN.

[vkelleyart]

Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) just dropped on NetGalley for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON!

The Erewhon Team and I put ourselves through the gauntlet to make sure these ARCs included finished illustrations (which is why I’ve been so sparse on Tumblr of late, though I promise I will catch up here soon!), and I cannot wait for readers to meet Benny, Río, and Morgan’s Menagerie! I am rooting for everyone who applies for an ARC to get one, and hope those who snag one will love this book as much as I loved writing it. 💙🧜🏼‍♂️🇵🇷🌊🎟️🗽🎡

NetGalley members can request an ARC as an early reviewer at the link below:

[aj-barlowe]

ADVANCED READER COPIES AVAILABLE!

Do you like like free books?

Do you like to read & review books online?

Are you a fan of sad, gay stories with a hopeful outlook despite the horrors?

If you said yes, then you might be interested in signing up to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of my debut novel, A Series of Rooms!

- FULL SYNOPSIS WITH CONTENT WARNINGS

- ARC REQUEST FORM

Request form will be open through Sunday 10/6. Feel free to DM with any questions.

[elliepassmore]

Someone You Can Build a Nest In review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, light horror, monster main characters, LGBTQ+ characters

Big thanks to Netgalley, DAW, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

TW: gore, animal cruelty, abuse

I definitely thought this was a novella going into this and didn't realize it wasn't until I got past all the acknowledgements, ARC stuff, and table of contents and the book was still on 1%. Most of the horror I read is in novella format, so I was a little worried I was going to end up with more than I'd bargained for, but luckily that wasn't the case!

This book definitely has gore in it, at times quite a bit, but I wouldn't really classify this as a gorey novel and, in that same vein, while Shesheshen is a monster and devours people, I wouldn't classify this book as 'horror' necessarily. I suppose it is somewhat in the same vein as The Salt Grows Heavy, though Shesheshen and the mermaid are very different. I actually thought some of the scenes of Shesheshen eating were funny at times, she has an interesting outlook to things that can be humorous.

Shesheshen herself is the only one of her kind that she knows. Her mother was killed when she was young and she devoured her siblings before they could devour her and has lived in monster solitude ever since. It's clear that her early life has a great impact on her since she wants to find someone to build a nest in who will be a better parent than her father was (and whom she views as just a setting, albeit a nice nest), how she wants to be able to be there for her offspring, and how she questions some things about her own existence since she had no one to teach her otherwise. I found Shesheshen to be interesting, particularly in the way that she can absorb items around her and utilize them to build her body's structure.

Despite being a 'monster,' Shesheshen clearly has empathy and feelings. Her best friend is a blue bear named Blueberry and the two are obviously close and Shesheshen definitely loves her. Likewise, she's able to recognize the hypocrisy of humans calling her a monster while killing what- and whoever they feel and being mean to one another. Shesheshen is also drawn to Homily's kindness and it quickly becomes clear that she has a strong protective streak when it comes to the people and things she cares about.

Homily is depicted as kindhearted and even expresses similar sentiments about hunting animals and monsters that Shesheshen does. These two are two of the things that most strongly draw Shesheshen to her. But Homily has also been through some shit and has a hard time around people as well as the tendency to let people hurt her, either in a "go along to get along" kind of way or because she thinks she deserves it. Despite this, Homily also has a strong protective streak and protects Shesheshen and others on multiple occasions.

While not a main character, I have to give a shoutout to Laurent, whom I find hilarious. May he be happily terrorized for the rest of his days.

I enjoyed reading about Shesheshen's attempts to stay close to Homily, and confess that she's the 'monster' who Homily thinks cursed her family (but definitely didn't), and how major hijinks ensue as a result of this decision. Shesheshen definitely has gotten herself into a situation here and it was funny to read her desperately attempting to outmaneuver the humans trying to hunt her down. She shows some remarkable cunning, and it's clear she has a good mind for strategy. But I did find her attempts to get out of the situation without devouring the whole hunting party to be quite hilarious.

While this is ostensibly a humorous story about a queer monster falling in love with a human, this book also tackles themes like abuse and the cycle of abuse. Shesheshen has suffered at the hands of humans who have come to kill her, which is one kind of abuse, but Homily has suffered through having a truly demonic set of family members who seem to delight in harming her, both physically and emotionally. A large part of this story is about healing from that and not falling into the same cycles, wittingly or unwittingly.

Overall I enjoyed this book and found it to be fairly light-hearted, despite its contents. There is some gore, but it's not too bad, and Shesheshen's 'monster' shenanigans are done very matter-of-factly and with a great deal of attention paid toward whether Homily would think it too weird.

[protagonistspub]

Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley

Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley was an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley in exchange for this, my fair and honest review. The book published on 26 December 2023 and it is the third book in the Deep Dish Mystery series. It is a cozy mystery. This is a closed-door mystery that takes place on an island in Wisconsin. Delilah is our erstwhile protagonist who has agreed to cater a library…

[duckprintspress]

Become an Advance Reader for Duck Prints Press!

Reviews are essential for showing prospective readers that we’re publishing awesome books that they want to buy and read. We’re looking to recruit an active group of people who post reviews of our work, and to do that we need your help! For the first time, we’re offering Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of one of our projects: Aether Beyond the Binary, our most recent anthology, featuring 17 stories of characters outside the gender binary exploring modern-esque aetherpunk worlds.

How it works: You see this post. You think, oh, I love reading! I love leaving reviews! I want to join the Duck Prints Press Reviewer Program! Then, you go and read the rules for our Reviewer Program. And, if everything there sounds like something you can do, you fill out the form, and – we’ll be in touch! Even better: this program isn’t only for Aether Beyond the Binary, and isn’t only for “advance” titles. Our reviewers are encouraged to claim titles that are currently released, too, to help build up a robust collection of reviews of Duck Prints Press titles!

Requirements:

You must be over 18 years old.

You must be prepared to post reviews on Goodreads and/or Storygraph.

You must also post the review on the appropriate listing on the Duck Prints Press webstore (for advance titles, you’ll have to wait ’til we list them there).

Upon acceptance to the program, you must join the Duck Prints Press Book Lover’s Server.

Reviews must be at least 100 words long must and engage with the actual content of the work being reviewed.

Reviews must be left within 6 months of claiming a title, or you will be removed from the program.

What isn’t Required:

That the reviews be positive. Reviews are for readers. We require that reviews be honest to your own experience of the work, not that they be glowing.

That you post the reviews to social media. Doing so is definitely a bonus, but you don’t have to.

That you associate yourself publicly with the review-leaving (beyond using a valid Goodreads and/or Storygraph account). As in, you don’t have to say, “I, (your name here), reviewed this book” or link your book website accounts with your existing social media presence or anything like that, nor do we request any demographic information beyond confirmation of your age.

That you purchase anything. Absolutely no purchase necessary!

What You Get:

A e-book copy (ePub and/or PDF) of the work you’re reviewing. We do not provide physical ARCs.

After you post your first review, you’ll get a coupon for 10% off a purchase from the Duck Prints Press webstore!

For every ten reviews you post, you can claim a freebie sticker from among our sticker offerings, if you want. (You’ll have to provide a snail mail address to get this, of course.)

A community of fun book-lovers to hang out with! (You can get that even without joining the ARC program, though – our Book Lover’s Discord is open to everyone.)

We’re accepting applicants for claiming Aether Beyond the Binary ARCs through April 10th, 2024. On the 11th, we’ll randomly select 25 of applicants to receive ARC copies of Aether Beyond the Binary. Everyone else will still be entirely welcome in the program and invited to start with a different, back-catalog book or story to review. We’ll make another pool of Aether Beyond the Binary ARCs available in May.

So… those are the basics. Interested? Go read the full rules, then apply to be a Duck Prints Press ARC reader TODAY!

[lenialenient]

AMBROSIA ARCS, BABY

It's now just a bit over a month until AMBROSIA is unleashed upon the world, and - that's right - this time I'm doing an ARC campaign about my upcoming book.

What is an ARC?

An Advanced Reader Copy (or Advanced Review Copy) is an early-access copy of a book that is distributed to a limited pool of readers for free - with the hope that those readers will then go and post an honest review on Goodreads/Amazon/somebody's blog about it. Especially for indie publications like this one, early reviews can help out a ton with getting some traction and not being swept away by the endless online depths.

About AMBROSIA

AMBROSIA is a lesbian psychological-horror girlgroup novel - that's right.

It follows a semi-reliable narrator through seven years of management-dictated shower times, dystopian celebrity training programs, and performance-enhancing drugs as she loses herself in her big diva persona of Ambrosia. Eventually, of course, a life in service of being looked at translates into the urge to a) shave your head and b) claw out eyes. Ill-advised affairs with beloved and behated group-mates included.

You can apply for an AMBROSIA ARC via THIS FORM! You'll probably get it, unless you tell me that you hate reading or hate me specifically in it.

You can also learn more about AMBROSIA here or read the first three chapters here, if you are so inclined!

[echosofbooks]

ARC Review - No Child of Mine by Nichelle Giraldes

No Child of Mine by Nichelle Giraldes Publication date: September 12, 2023 Genres: Horror, Mystery Thriller Source: Netgalley There’s something in the dark. And it’s starting to whisper… Essie Kaur has defined herself by her ambitions, a fiercely independent woman whose only soft spot is her husband, Sanjay. She never imagined herself as a mother. It was never a part of the plan. But then she…

[remusfinglupin]

Book haul from my town’s independent bookstore ☀️📖