Ok so I finished Murder Road and my opinion didnt really change, it was fine, as a choice for a horror subscription its disappointing but it was a lighthearted attempt at something spooky i guess. Low 3 stars!
Great to see you in a new vlog, I really did like Tender is the Flesh. I haven’t read The Last House of Needless Street yet but trust me when I do I will tear in to this factor x
I am so glad you are a disliker of cropped jumpers, I brought three jumpers from Shein earlier last month and literally had a melt down over the jumper that was my favourite turned up being a cropped thing yet the picture showed it as a full jumper…
Thank you for sharing your diagnosis and life experience with autism 💕 It sounds like we’re in very similar territory at the moment so just wanted to say, you articulate the internal battle with acceptance perfectly 💪🏻 Also struggled to find a spooky horror this year 😢 I read Clown in a Cornfield and whilst it gave me slasher elements I love, the plot/characters was meh 🤡 I read Murder Road and was so sad it fell flat. This edition and the setting at the beginning was perfect for a retro slasher. I don’t understand how they made the ghost girl so boring, no spook 😂 I’m going to pick The Eyes are the Best Part up tonight to see if it’s any better 😬 I love EN editions but they’re not scary at all yet.
Really appreciated hearing you talk so openly about your mental health journey 💜 and we love the rambly bits, don't worry! Yes we're here for the books but we're also here because of you! For The eyes are the best part (spoilers), the ending was actually my least favorite bit! I of course wanted George to suffer, but it was too far beyond believable for me that an ICU wouldn't have nurses keeping a tighter eye on their patients, and there is no chance he wouldn't have been attached to a monitor that would've beeped the second his heart stopped beating, causing an alarm and code blue sent through the unit immediately. Patients can't just die in a hospital ICU without everyone knowing immediately. Even then, I was willing to swallow that the police believed her convoluted story, but her decision to go after her dad at the end completely undue all of that. Because Geoffrey is going to be watched, so when the dad dies with his eyes missing they're gonna realize they caught the wrong person.
Also for a horror rec- I highly recommend The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher! It was super creepy, had my heart racing- especially with some of the visuals (the bus lives in my head rent free), and evernight actually did a special edition for it too
Firstly, Mango is a gorgeous girl! Agree with your reasons for not reading the first two books! I'm the same with films as well. No animal harm allowed!. Thank you for being so candid regarding your autism. I've taken my daughter out of the school system due to anxiety it causes her. We are home schooling now. She is 100% happier. As always, love your vids. You're an awesome creator and young lady. X
this vlog was so lovely! I really enjoyed the calm and rambly style 😊 I’m in the minority in really enjoying Murder Road, I had fun and I think the Evernight customizations were so much fun and brought a lot to the reading experience 🚘🖤 I didn’t like The Eyes are the Best Part, glad I read it but it just wasn’t for me!
First of all, I've had my first ADHD/ autism diagnosis visit lately, and I already feel validated as I've been self diagnosed already. I love that I understand the things you talk about so deeply. About The last house on needless street, I don't mean to say you're wrong in any way, you're fully valid not wanting to read a book with this kind of twist and protecting your peace is the most important thing. That being said, I think I'll chime in with my take, but you truly don't need to read it if you don't feel like it! I don't have the same mental health problems as the main character, but I've had a lifetime of severe depression and anxiety, so I'm pretty sensitive to how others portray mental health issues. The twist actually shows the character as a victim and not as a villain, the development was the coping mechanism after his trauma, and I feel like this book might actually be doing de-vilainizing of him. Also, the author's note solidified my views, the author was talking with people with DID a lot and I feel like she truly tried to show it in a compassionate way. And yes, the start was uncomfortable and portraying the character in a negative light, but it made to show we should be treating him with compassion and sympathy because he didn't really have support in his life and coped the best as he could, without really harming anyone. That being said, I fully get not wanting to read the book, especially if it's a hard topic to you personally.
Thanks for adding context for people re TLHONS. It sounds like the author tried to at least approach her idea in a sensitive manner before continuing to write it. I still think psychological problems are over represented in horror though compared to any other genre!
@Wanderness Yeah, to be honest, I don't read much horror at all as it usually makes my anxiety worse, so I might have felt differently if I had already read similar 'twists' a lot of times..
It's been in quite a lot I've picked up where there's a crime involved unfortunately. It seems to have been a bit of a trend way back when. I know true crime makes me anxiety so much worse but I still consume it 🤣
@@Wanderness Yeah, then I'd definitely assume the worst about all of the books with this trope. I've heard about a few on booktube that definitely didn't touch the subject with compassion. And I avoid horror books, but I still do some things that make me more anxious but I can't help myself, so I get it. 😅 I'm now watching the part where you told you disagree that autism is something good, and I fully agree. I feel like in theory, it isn't good or bad, it's just a way of brain functioning. But we live in a society made mostly for neurotypical people, and it can't be separated from the whole experience. And the fact that we've just recently started having women diagnosed and some psychiatrists still only know stereotypes about neurodivergence doesn't help..
Thank you for speaking about your experience with a family member having psychosis. My mum has bipolar disorder and has had psychosis many times since I was born. It wasn’t until recently that I felt able to even tell anyone what I meant when I said my mum was ill. It helps to know other people have been through similar situations. (And thanks for the heads up re The Last House on Needless Street - I’ll avoid that one now).
I know exactly how difficult it is and I'm so sorry to you and your mum ❤ My mum spent 3 years in hospital, coming out about a year ago, and it was hard but it really did help and we've had a nice relationship in the past year. I didn't think it would ever happen, to have something of a normality, but it's good that things are advancing now in mental health support and understanding. Thinking of you!
@ thank you 💜 I’m so sorry that you and your mum went through that but knowing things have improved gives me hope. My mum is currently in hospital but we think they’ve found the right combination of medication now and they’re looking to discharge her soon as she seems to be the most well she’s been in several years. The hardest thing this time round was that the stress of being her full time carer made my dad have a breakdown and he’s now in a different hospital suffering from severe depression with psychosis. Dealing with mum’s illness is something we’ve always had to cope with but this has been a huge shock and unknown territory for my sister and I. We’re doing our best to look after ourselves and each other but it’s really hard.
I love this vlog! I am literally trying to decide what to read next, having started 3 books already, but now I want to read the eyes are the best part! 😂 Also love hpw your face lit up when you were looking at Mango, such a cute doggo!❤
@Wanderness I love the Bloomsburrow set, all the cards are too cute I want to build so many decks with those cards ! Same for me, I used to collect Pokemon cards too but they just release sets so quick I can't keep up 😅
I dnfed last house on needless street very early on, for the same reason. It felt lazy and made me feel icky and not in the way you want horror books to! ❤
I honestly would love to hear more about your autism diagnosis!! Also yesssss! I devoured the eyes are the best part and the ending left me like woah. Cuz yeah 100% the author tried to be all oh her slow descent into madness was due to the brain tumor. Psych! I don’t think I could sleep that night cuz I was so conflicted. Like yeah power to her! George 100% got what he deserved. But that college guy! (The one with the hat) like no maybe not a nice guy but didn’t seem terrible! And the guy with the dog seemed like a nice guy! So def felt very conflicted. But in a good, challenged way
Just wanted to pop in to say thank you so much for sharing your Autism experience and diagnosis! I have not been diagnosed, but sound like I have many similar experiences to you and would love to hear more about it if you ever felt willing to go more in depth as you mentioned.
On The Eyes are the Best Part (with spoilers!!) - I thought Geoffrey was not a good guy at all. He stalked her, fetished her, and shown no appreciation for who she was as a person - he was just focused on the sole fact that she was asian (same as George, but Geoffrey was more subtle with it and I think he genuently did not mean wrong). So the ending and seeing her frame him was very satisfactory for me! And I think that the plottwist was just as you said - the fact that the tumor (which I initially thought was responsible for how she behaved) was not impacting her behaviour at all and we were just witnessing who she truly is. Also, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the diagnosis.
Yeah i replied to someone else saying I forgot he stalked her until they commented the same thing! I found him quite boring throughout so didn't pay him much attention. I really want a sequel to see how she would deal with her dad 🤣
Halloween's over, so I'm kind of late, but I still enjoyed a spooky reading vlog :) I'll leave some reading recs here for books I found actually spooky. (In order of spookyness) (Vampires and family trauma) Night's Edge by Liz Kerin (A little spooky, good for getting into horror) The Hollow Places or The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher (Terrible, unhappy people in medieval villages) Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (Short Stories) Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley Things have gotten worse since we last spoke or any other short story collection by Eric LaRocca (Extreme Horror) Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt
I read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and I enjoyed how he worked a bit of his father's books in it mentioning Easter eggs for Stephen King fans. I bit of a nod to him and if someone who is a horror fan and read his books would recognize it. I can't remember exactly what Joe mentioned because I read that a few years ago, but when I did I was like, oh I see what you did. I finally got off that wait list of Evernight so I got that eyeball book and it grossed me out so I didn't read it and unhauled it. I am hoping for books from them that I am looking forward to or look really good. I don't have a future TBR for horror really, but creepy eyeballs isn't on the list. I tried to read mostly Thriller/Horror books for Oct and I think I got through quite a bit. The Butcher and the Wren was good. The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden and The One by John Marrs was as well. I also read the ARC for Grimm Curiousities that was a historical, paranormal romance with a touch of fantasy but had some mystery to it and bad intent. I liked it. It reminded me of Paual Brackston books which I really love.
I do wonder how much influence Stephen had on his sons work, like does he help them? Does he give them ideas? Does he edit? Does he just see them when they go to print? I would love if they did some kind of documentary on this. Hoping for some great future evernight reads!
Im intrigued on your perspective of Geoffrey as a genuinely nice guy. I hated him, thought he was a creepy white knight type that wanted to control the MC and was sort of like a mini version of the mums boyfriend
To be honest I didn't give him much thought because I was so intrigued by her attraction to Alexis! I've only just remembered now that he was basically stalking her, but he seemed mostly harmless and to be honest the bar is low for men at this point 🤣
It's interesting to hear your positive review of the eyes are the best part after listening to a somewhat negative review of the book. (Violet pyrenne) I haven't read it yet. I read invocation which I really enjoyed. I agre horror books are just not that scary compared to horror movies.
I read The Last House on Needless Street and hated it for exactly the reason you mentioned. As far as I'm aware this is a standard occurrence (not DID specifically, but other stigmatized mental illnesses) in each of Catriona Ward's other works so I refuse to ever engage with her books ever again. ❤
Thrillers, too! It's basically my entire GR review (aka rant) of The Last Word. Like it's the 2020s and this should not be published, let alone hella popular anymore; do better.
Ok so I finished Murder Road and my opinion didnt really change, it was fine, as a choice for a horror subscription its disappointing but it was a lighthearted attempt at something spooky i guess. Low 3 stars!
Great to see you in a new vlog, I really did like Tender is the Flesh. I haven’t read The Last House of Needless Street yet but trust me when I do I will tear in to this factor x
I loved The Eyes are the best part, it’s not scary at all I agree. It was an enjoyable read though x
I would definitely find the video useful as this has rang a lot of bells for me and ticked a lot of boxes x
I am so glad you are a disliker of cropped jumpers, I brought three jumpers from Shein earlier last month and literally had a melt down over the jumper that was my favourite turned up being a cropped thing yet the picture showed it as a full jumper…
I would be so mad if I ordered a full jumper and it came cropped!
Yes The Last House on Needless Street was so disappointing! X
Thank you for sharing your diagnosis and life experience with autism 💕 It sounds like we’re in very similar territory at the moment so just wanted to say, you articulate the internal battle with acceptance perfectly 💪🏻
Also struggled to find a spooky horror this year 😢 I read Clown in a Cornfield and whilst it gave me slasher elements I love, the plot/characters was meh 🤡
I read Murder Road and was so sad it fell flat. This edition and the setting at the beginning was perfect for a retro slasher. I don’t understand how they made the ghost girl so boring, no spook 😂
I’m going to pick The Eyes are the Best Part up tonight to see if it’s any better 😬 I love EN editions but they’re not scary at all yet.
Thank you ! Yes Murder Road is such a swing and miss, it's just a goofy crime mystery imo. I would love some actually scary Evernight books
Really appreciated hearing you talk so openly about your mental health journey 💜 and we love the rambly bits, don't worry! Yes we're here for the books but we're also here because of you!
For The eyes are the best part (spoilers), the ending was actually my least favorite bit! I of course wanted George to suffer, but it was too far beyond believable for me that an ICU wouldn't have nurses keeping a tighter eye on their patients, and there is no chance he wouldn't have been attached to a monitor that would've beeped the second his heart stopped beating, causing an alarm and code blue sent through the unit immediately. Patients can't just die in a hospital ICU without everyone knowing immediately. Even then, I was willing to swallow that the police believed her convoluted story, but her decision to go after her dad at the end completely undue all of that. Because Geoffrey is going to be watched, so when the dad dies with his eyes missing they're gonna realize they caught the wrong person.
“Didn’t have much choice”
100% not being forced and I can’t wait to be a bad influence in toppings 😈
Not boring at all :) I enjoy these videos. It feels like I’m catching up with a friend lol
That makes it all worthwhile ❤️
Also for a horror rec- I highly recommend The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher! It was super creepy, had my heart racing- especially with some of the visuals (the bus lives in my head rent free), and evernight actually did a special edition for it too
Firstly, Mango is a gorgeous girl! Agree with your reasons for not reading the first two books! I'm the same with films as well. No animal harm allowed!. Thank you for being so candid regarding your autism. I've taken my daughter out of the school system due to anxiety it causes her. We are home schooling now. She is 100% happier. As always, love your vids. You're an awesome creator and young lady. X
this vlog was so lovely! I really enjoyed the calm and rambly style 😊 I’m in the minority in really enjoying Murder Road, I had fun and I think the Evernight customizations were so much fun and brought a lot to the reading experience 🚘🖤
I didn’t like The Eyes are the Best Part, glad I read it but it just wasn’t for me!
I'm the total opposite 🤣 I'm hoping novembers vlog will be more books and more adventures 🥰
First of all, I've had my first ADHD/ autism diagnosis visit lately, and I already feel validated as I've been self diagnosed already. I love that I understand the things you talk about so deeply.
About The last house on needless street, I don't mean to say you're wrong in any way, you're fully valid not wanting to read a book with this kind of twist and protecting your peace is the most important thing. That being said, I think I'll chime in with my take, but you truly don't need to read it if you don't feel like it!
I don't have the same mental health problems as the main character, but I've had a lifetime of severe depression and anxiety, so I'm pretty sensitive to how others portray mental health issues. The twist actually shows the character as a victim and not as a villain, the development was the coping mechanism after his trauma, and I feel like this book might actually be doing de-vilainizing of him. Also, the author's note solidified my views, the author was talking with people with DID a lot and I feel like she truly tried to show it in a compassionate way. And yes, the start was uncomfortable and portraying the character in a negative light, but it made to show we should be treating him with compassion and sympathy because he didn't really have support in his life and coped the best as he could, without really harming anyone. That being said, I fully get not wanting to read the book, especially if it's a hard topic to you personally.
Oh, life long anxiety, social anxiety, not coping well with work environment, being chronically tired, everything checks out for me.
Thanks for adding context for people re TLHONS. It sounds like the author tried to at least approach her idea in a sensitive manner before continuing to write it. I still think psychological problems are over represented in horror though compared to any other genre!
@Wanderness Yeah, to be honest, I don't read much horror at all as it usually makes my anxiety worse, so I might have felt differently if I had already read similar 'twists' a lot of times..
It's been in quite a lot I've picked up where there's a crime involved unfortunately. It seems to have been a bit of a trend way back when. I know true crime makes me anxiety so much worse but I still consume it 🤣
@@Wanderness Yeah, then I'd definitely assume the worst about all of the books with this trope. I've heard about a few on booktube that definitely didn't touch the subject with compassion. And I avoid horror books, but I still do some things that make me more anxious but I can't help myself, so I get it. 😅
I'm now watching the part where you told you disagree that autism is something good, and I fully agree. I feel like in theory, it isn't good or bad, it's just a way of brain functioning. But we live in a society made mostly for neurotypical people, and it can't be separated from the whole experience. And the fact that we've just recently started having women diagnosed and some psychiatrists still only know stereotypes about neurodivergence doesn't help..
Thank you for sharing your experiences and diagnosis of Autism.
Enjoy your trip to Edinburgh with Rebecca. Hope you get to visit Book Lovers Bookshop.
Thank you!
Thank you for speaking about your experience with a family member having psychosis. My mum has bipolar disorder and has had psychosis many times since I was born. It wasn’t until recently that I felt able to even tell anyone what I meant when I said my mum was ill. It helps to know other people have been through similar situations. (And thanks for the heads up re The Last House on Needless Street - I’ll avoid that one now).
I know exactly how difficult it is and I'm so sorry to you and your mum ❤ My mum spent 3 years in hospital, coming out about a year ago, and it was hard but it really did help and we've had a nice relationship in the past year. I didn't think it would ever happen, to have something of a normality, but it's good that things are advancing now in mental health support and understanding. Thinking of you!
@ thank you 💜 I’m so sorry that you and your mum went through that but knowing things have improved gives me hope. My mum is currently in hospital but we think they’ve found the right combination of medication now and they’re looking to discharge her soon as she seems to be the most well she’s been in several years. The hardest thing this time round was that the stress of being her full time carer made my dad have a breakdown and he’s now in a different hospital suffering from severe depression with psychosis. Dealing with mum’s illness is something we’ve always had to cope with but this has been a huge shock and unknown territory for my sister and I. We’re doing our best to look after ourselves and each other but it’s really hard.
I love this vlog! I am literally trying to decide what to read next, having started 3 books already, but now I want to read the eyes are the best part! 😂
Also love hpw your face lit up when you were looking at Mango, such a cute doggo!❤
It's actually a quick read if you can squeeze it in! She's my world ❤️🥰
I love Magic the Gathering! When I get into building a deck, I could be there for hours 😭 ♥️
I'm so amazed someone knew hahaha 😂 I only got a Bloomsburrow deck to do something with Alex but then the collecting part really fed into my habits 🫣
@Wanderness I love the Bloomsburrow set, all the cards are too cute I want to build so many decks with those cards !
Same for me, I used to collect Pokemon cards too but they just release sets so quick I can't keep up 😅
I want to make a Throne of Glass deck but it's so hard to do without proxy cards
@@Wanderness I feel the struggle some cards are so unnecessarily expensive 🥲
I dnfed last house on needless street very early on, for the same reason. It felt lazy and made me feel icky and not in the way you want horror books to! ❤
I honestly would love to hear more about your autism diagnosis!!
Also yesssss! I devoured the eyes are the best part and the ending left me like woah. Cuz yeah 100% the author tried to be all oh her slow descent into madness was due to the brain tumor. Psych! I don’t think I could sleep that night cuz I was so conflicted. Like yeah power to her! George 100% got what he deserved. But that college guy! (The one with the hat) like no maybe not a nice guy but didn’t seem terrible! And the guy with the dog seemed like a nice guy! So def felt very conflicted. But in a good, challenged way
Yeah she did some bad things but honestly what a girl boss, slay 👏
Just wanted to pop in to say thank you so much for sharing your Autism experience and diagnosis! I have not been diagnosed, but sound like I have many similar experiences to you and would love to hear more about it if you ever felt willing to go more in depth as you mentioned.
You're so welcome! I hope you're well :)
On The Eyes are the Best Part (with spoilers!!) - I thought Geoffrey was not a good guy at all. He stalked her, fetished her, and shown no appreciation for who she was as a person - he was just focused on the sole fact that she was asian (same as George, but Geoffrey was more subtle with it and I think he genuently did not mean wrong). So the ending and seeing her frame him was very satisfactory for me! And I think that the plottwist was just as you said - the fact that the tumor (which I initially thought was responsible for how she behaved) was not impacting her behaviour at all and we were just witnessing who she truly is.
Also, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the diagnosis.
Yeah i replied to someone else saying I forgot he stalked her until they commented the same thing! I found him quite boring throughout so didn't pay him much attention. I really want a sequel to see how she would deal with her dad 🤣
@@Wanderness Oh I am also most definitely curious about her plans with her dad :D
@ monika kim we need the sequel please and thank you
Halloween's over, so I'm kind of late, but I still enjoyed a spooky reading vlog :)
I'll leave some reading recs here for books I found actually spooky. (In order of spookyness)
(Vampires and family trauma)
Night's Edge by Liz Kerin
(A little spooky, good for getting into horror)
The Hollow Places or The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
(Terrible, unhappy people in medieval villages)
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
(Short Stories)
Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley
Things have gotten worse since we last spoke or any other short story collection by Eric LaRocca
(Extreme Horror)
Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt
Thank you so much for the recommendations!!! Looking at all of them on goodreads :)
I got so many witch books & hated them all 😭 I definitely struggled in October
Oh no!!! Which ones??
I read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and I enjoyed how he worked a bit of his father's books in it mentioning Easter eggs for Stephen King fans. I bit of a nod to him and if someone who is a horror fan and read his books would recognize it. I can't remember exactly what Joe mentioned because I read that a few years ago, but when I did I was like, oh I see what you did. I finally got off that wait list of Evernight so I got that eyeball book and it grossed me out so I didn't read it and unhauled it. I am hoping for books from them that I am looking forward to or look really good. I don't have a future TBR for horror really, but creepy eyeballs isn't on the list. I tried to read mostly Thriller/Horror books for Oct and I think I got through quite a bit. The Butcher and the Wren was good. The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden and The One by John Marrs was as well. I also read the ARC for Grimm Curiousities that was a historical, paranormal romance with a touch of fantasy but had some mystery to it and bad intent. I liked it. It reminded me of Paual Brackston books which I really love.
I do wonder how much influence Stephen had on his sons work, like does he help them? Does he give them ideas? Does he edit? Does he just see them when they go to print? I would love if they did some kind of documentary on this.
Hoping for some great future evernight reads!
Im intrigued on your perspective of Geoffrey as a genuinely nice guy. I hated him, thought he was a creepy white knight type that wanted to control the MC and was sort of like a mini version of the mums boyfriend
To be honest I didn't give him much thought because I was so intrigued by her attraction to Alexis! I've only just remembered now that he was basically stalking her, but he seemed mostly harmless and to be honest the bar is low for men at this point 🤣
It's interesting to hear your positive review of the eyes are the best part after listening to a somewhat negative review of the book. (Violet pyrenne) I haven't read it yet. I read invocation which I really enjoyed. I agre horror books are just not that scary compared to horror movies.
I've heard mostly good things from it, it's not for everyone but I actually thought it was one of the best books I've read this year!
I read The Last House on Needless Street and hated it for exactly the reason you mentioned. As far as I'm aware this is a standard occurrence (not DID specifically, but other stigmatized mental illnesses) in each of Catriona Ward's other works so I refuse to ever engage with her books ever again. ❤
Im just fed up of "psychological horror" relying on complex mental health conditions, no matter how sensitive the author approaches it
Thrillers, too! It's basically my entire GR review (aka rant) of The Last Word.
Like it's the 2020s and this should not be published, let alone hella popular anymore; do better.
❤ 📚 ❤
🥰