Tag: Supernatural

Madame Eldridge’s Wayward Home for Unruly Boys by Benjamin Ryan

On By @f33lthesunIn Young Adult1 Comment

Blurb

Deep in the heart of Virginia’s dense backwoods, the Wayward Home for Unruly Boys hides more than just troubled youth. Under Madame Eldridge’s watchful eye, three strict rules govern their behavior

1. What happens here stays here.

2. You must complete all eight steps—no exceptions allowed.

3. Forget your name; you’ll be known only by your problem.

But, there’s one unspoken rule that sends shivers down the boys’ never enter the forbidden third-floor bedroom of the boy who vanished, leaving nothing behind but whispers.

When Vandalize and Stealer defy this warning, they uncover a treasure trove of bewitched artifacts, each with a strange and powerful ability. Using these relics, the boys tackle Madame Eldridge’s whimsical—and often bizarre—challenges, only to learn magic always demands its price.

Amidst the chaos, Fibbsy stumbles upon a peculiar object that sends him hurtling back in time, revealing an unfathomable truth about Madame Eldridge, the eerie town, and the missing boy’s fate. But who will trust the words of a liar?

Bound by the house’s darkest mysteries, Fibbsy, Defiance, Slob, and Secret form an unlikely friendship as they race to unveil the shrouded secrets surrounding the Wayward Home. Together, they confront their deepest fears, uncovering that the real magic lies in facing their own personal demons—and each other.

Review

I really enjoyed this book. It had hidden depths that do not appear until later on. I loved the concept of the positive behaviour promoting programme and how names and consequences were linked to each boy’s problem…Bully, Cheater, Defiance, Fibbsy etc. Fibbsy realising that no one believes him when he tells them he was in danger is very much Boy Who Cried Wolf.

I was already invested when the deeper secrets of the home are revealed. The descriptive passages about the dark presence are spine chilling. The discovery of magical objects and secret meetings just added to the overall deep unease of the place.

As the boys grapple with their own issues, having to work on group tasks means also dealing with the issues of each other and pushing back against their natural, self preservation instincts.

Overall, the characterisation and world building is well crafted. There is a deep sense of foreboding throughout, mixed with just the right amount of dark humour.

A thoroughly deserved 5th place in the BBNYA 2024 awards.

Thank you to BBNYA and The Write Reads for allowing me to be on the judging panel and also the author for providing me with a copy of the book to review.

Please look out for all the other blogs on this tour.

Book Details

Length: 290 Pages

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

Age Category: Young Adult

Date Published: August 1, 2023

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/2xhAZT8 (Canada) https://a.co/d/gy4ZbEk (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/6gb1kDI (UK) 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221648688-madame-eldridge-s-wayward-home-for-unruly-boys 

The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/dae36be6-672b-4648-9308-594850a53715

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads. 

Red Runs the Witch’s Thread by Victoria Williamson

On By @f33lthesunIn Adult, SupernaturalLeave a comment

Blurb

Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.

Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.
But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.

As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?

Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?

Review

Victoria Williamson uses the dual timeline effectively, giving us an insight into why adult Christian Shaw is haunted by what happened to her as a child and why seven people were tried and burnt for witchcraft on her testimony. It also shows us the reason for her single minded pursuit of the whitest thread she can produce, which she is certain will ultimately save her family’s struggling business.

As the story unfolds we are gripped by her childhood memories of key events and people, which are unreliable at best, as her 11 year old mind tries to make sense of what she has witnessed and her adult mind works through what she thinks happened, as she seems to have blocked a lot of it out.

What did she really see and do? Why? Can there be another explanation?

Williamson’s writing notches up the tension, imagery and chillingness of the narrative, bringing clarity to the unhinged nature of Christian’s emotions and mental state.

Thanks to silver Thistle Press for the ARC for the purpose of this review on The Write Reads blog tour.