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The Dead of Summer (Book 1) by Ryan La Sala

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The Dead of Summer (Book 1) by Ryan La Sala
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A quaint ocean-side town run by drag queens? It’s the best summer everrrr! Except for whatever came on land from the depths of the Atlantic. Or the old chemical spill. The Dead of Summer (Book 1) is another Ryan La Sala winner. I have a low threshold for horror. I can’t do graphic gore but I adore creepy and La Sala provides this in spades. He also gives us some truly multi-dimensional characters so that you are on the edge of your seat to see if they’ll survive the night. I love how Ollie had his musical ear and how that plays into the storyline. And his friendship with the Suds is the stuff of friendship legends. We all wish we were Suds. The various formats (transcripts/ narration/ journal entries) used to tell the story really increase the tension and allow for some plot twists I did not see coming.

The Dead of Summer (Book 1) by Ryan La Sala, (List Price: $19.99, PUSH, 9781546125877, September 2025)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina

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Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina
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Gorgeous cover and super intriguing premise. Sea ghosts? Absolutely yes. But Graciela is unlikeable in a very unlikable way. From the very beginning (it’s not a spoiler because, hello, sea ghost), she dies because she’s trying to spite her older sister. Her sister nicely cautions her away from the cliff. Graciela is like, “Stop bossing me around,” and she falls off the cliff and dies. Then when she reawakens as a sea ghost, she’s still jealous, disagreeable, and spiteful. Kinda like a Mary Lennox. But then there’s Jorge, who you immediately wrap your heartstrings around because he has the unfortunate fate to have horrible parents (and ancestors, which plays a big part in the plot of the dangerous enchanted harpoon) when all he wants to do is make toys instead of weapons at his family’s forge. He’s kind, thoughtful, resourceful, and brave, and is the perfect foil to Graciela. The underwater ghost-characters and world-building were super cool and inventive. I thoroughly enjoyed this upper-middle-grade novel!

Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina, (List Price: $18.99, Candlewick, 9781536219456, July 2025)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish

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The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish
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A man terrified of the ghosts he sees falls in love with a transmasc nonbinary person who creates haunted houses for a living. Loved it, their relationship troubles resolve early-ish in the book, but that doesn’t mean life is smooth sailing as their individual families provide some unique challenges as well as the characters going through their own spats of personal development. Very cute!

The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish, (List Price: $17.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781464238741, September 2025)

Reviewed by Kelly McLeod, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
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Julia and the Shark has some of my favorite things: deep dives (pun intended) on Greenland sharks, conservation & environmentalism, and an awesome cat named Noodle who likes to ride on boat figureheads. It also has a beautiful message on mental illness and that its okay to not be okay. The heart-squish was real and my heart ached for Julia as she navigated her mom’s ups-and-downs as well as the local bullies. Courage, cold seas and starry skies, and whales more ancient than trees, this story had me by the heartstrings.

Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, (List Price: $18.99, Union Square Kids, 9781454948681, March 2023)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson

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Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson
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I loved the Gothic setting of a castle with ancient roots on a desolate Scottish moor. I’m not really one to go after books about demons because I feel they can hem in the plot, but I loved the way Oak described them as elementals, and how he could see everything alive on the empty-looking moor just by knowing how to look. He was probably my favorite character. I also liked how Page took her chronic pain and made it her superpower later in the book. A big theme of the book is physical bodies versus the mind, and I think Wilkinson did an excellent job weaving that theme through every aspect of the book. From the lessons the Agathion professors taught, to Page’s endometriosis, to the LGBTQ characters, and to the ancient stories of the gods.

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson, (List Price: $19.99, Delacorte Press, 9780593810989, February 2025)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia

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Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia
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I’m noticing a trend with either my reading preferences or books coming out soon because this is the second locked-room, Glass Onion murder mystery Clue game book I’ve read this past couple of weeks. I AM NOT COMPLAINING. I loved how it opened up with Esther, then Mullory and the strange. I was instantly pulled into the intrigue. But then, when everyone came together at the Stoutmire Mansion for the game to begin, I couldn’t really get behind any of the characters. They were all “whimpering” or “screaming.” Like I get that it’s scary and we’re all angry but it just put distance between the reader, the characters, and the plot. (Seriously, if I had played a drinking game with those two dialogue tags I probably wouldn’t have made it through the start of the story. I’d be like Saffron Stoutmire with her martinis) Fortunately, those character arcs started kicking in and I began to really get into the story. Their worries were my worries, their stakes were my stakes sort of thing. I started caring about what happened to them, especially Mullory and Lyric. They turned into a grumpy x sunshine done right. So if you feel the same way, STICK WITH IT. Those clues won’t solve themselves.

Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia, (List Price: $18.99, Disney Hyperion, 9781368099080, January 2025)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Divine Mortals by Amanda Helander

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Divine Mortals by Amanda Helander
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The divining magic system really got my attention, and the plot twists kept me reading. Mona is the favored mortal of the crow god of love, and has the ability to divine soulmates. She’s also an agoraphobe because she accidentally killed her older brother as a child. (This isn’t a spoiler because it’s in the very first line.) She’s one of the most unlikable characters I’ve read in a while, but I kinda had to keep reading to see how far she would go–lying, cheating, scheming, teasing poor Master Whitman–to hold onto her truths.

Divine Mortals by Amanda Helander, (List Price: $18.99, Disney Hyperion, 9781368096171, October 2024)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd

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The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd
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Natalie Lloyd’s books are the literary equivalent of your grandmama’s blueberry crunch cobbler fresh out of the oven. They’re warm, a little bit magic, and a whole lotta heart. Roxie and Grayson will tug at your heartstrings with their inner strength and innate kindness, even when the world is throwing hard things at them. And that pilfering Witching Wind will definitely steal your heart and fill it up with hope, though not before sending you on a whirlwind first.

The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd, (List Price: $17.99, Scholastic Press, 9781338858600, September 2024)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

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The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
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Goodness, was this good! Where to start? The power politics and marriage of convenience love story put me in mind (in a good way) of Winter’s Orbit, but there’s also talking mammoths, climate crisis commentary, twists, tidbits for language nerds, and delightfully fleshed-out characters! Highly recommend!

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley, (List Price: $32.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639732333, March 2024)

Reviewed by Angela Trigg, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

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My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino
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Full disclosure, I’m a wimp when it comes to horror books so I almost didn’t pick this up because of the title and cover. I know…unpopular opinion. But the folk part of folk horror got my attention and Bovalino’s reader’s note really sealed the deal. She says “the realization that the scary things are not always the things we’re told to be afraid of [and] related: charming characters who we’re told to be afraid of, but realize are not actually the scary thing after all.”Questioning what you’ve been taught to fear? Okay, yes please. I grew up in a small town, I’ve got this.I didn’t always agree with Leah, but the Lord of the Woods’ domain (and Tristan himself!) was so awesome, it was tempting to find my own way through the woods.

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino, (List Price: $18.99, Page Street YA, 9781645679301, February 2024)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Where the Body Was by Ed Brubaker

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Where the Body Was by Ed Brubaker
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I am a huge mystery fan and love graphic novels, so I was immediately interested in Where the Body Was. I was immediately drawn into the initial story when you are introduced to the neighbors on the street. Can I just say, “Poor, Toni!” I almost would have appreciated a story just about the neighbors rather than the murder. That being said, I really enjoyed this story and if this author does another mystery/graphic novel then I will definitely read it!

Where the Body Was by Ed Brubaker, (List Price: $24.99, Image Comics, 9781534398269, January 2024)

Reviewed by Kait Layton, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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System Collapse by Martha Wells

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System Collapseby Martha Wells
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If you already love Murderbot, you’ll continue to love it. This newest installation still has the wonderful mix of snark, action, and Murderbot struggling with being a construct of free will. This book in particular, Murderbot is processing the trauma and learning to deal with its own extreme emotional responses. My only criticism of the book is that I wish I would have reread Network Effect before I read this one, because this book takes places immediately after and heavily leans on events that happened in that book. Overall, though, I loved it!

System Collapse by Martha Wells, (List Price: $21.99, Tordotcom, 9781250826978, November 2023)

Reviewed by Kelly McLeod, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

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Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone
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Clipstone’s Unholy Terrors takes us to a Wuthering Heights-esque setting, wildly beautiful in its ruin, and drops us off with only the honey and ash prose we fell in love with in her Lake’s Edge duology to guard our hearts and souls against the monsters of truth and generational loyalty that howl in the Thousandfold. A beautiful and haunting read for fans of transforming girls and kissable monsters.

Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone, (List Price: $19.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250887733, January 2023)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

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Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig
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Black River Orchard hit me like a combination of Stephen King and really good Magnus Archives episode, in the best of ways. For my fellow booksellers, this book is a mix of Stephen King’s IT and Faust — like if Faust was an apple farmer, and then mix up layers of horror–there’s psychological horror of domestic abuse and being trapped, of seeing people change for the worse. There’s body horror. Hooo boy, there’s body horror. And on top of all of that, I learned about apples!

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, (List Price: $29.99, Del Rey, 9780593158746, September 2023)

Reviewed by Alex Mcleod, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong

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Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong
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This book was full of twist and turns and had a bit of a science-fiction vibe, which is a refreshing take on a thriller. It reminded me of Catriona Ward’s Sundial and Delilah S. Dawson’s The Violence where you have children being brainwashed in the literal sense where they no longer remember their past and are raised to be completely different people and when those repressed memories eventually start to come through, violence happens.

When I started this audiobook, I was immediately hooked when Gabby flipped out and smashed a faculty member’s head in at school. I also loved that all of the kids were able to grow as characters because they were able to confront their past lives and accept that they are who they were and are now.

I also enjoyed the mystery. I was guessing and guessing who the person was that was sending the threatening emails. I can typically guess correctly, but this book threw me for a loop!

Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong, (List Price: 18.99, Tundra Books, 9780735270923, April 2023)

Reviewed by Kait Layton, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

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