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soobooksalot's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
The Dead Spot has made Angela Sylvane an auto-buy horror author for me.
I had previously read and enjoyed her debut novel, Frost Bite, and was most excited to read her debut short story collection. Thank you to the author and Dark Matter Ink for my eARC!
This is a collection of 17 fictions, with the common theme of lost girls, in various chilling situations and forms.
These are girls and women experiencing the mundane turned remarkable. The everyday turned eventful.
Each story had an eerie undercurrent, which had me waiting in anticipation of the twists and reveals. And they delivered.
I truly enjoyed each story, but standouts for me included The Bride, Playing Tricks, Sorry, We're Open, Return Of The Wilderness Girls, The Dead Spot, and Unrestful Dogs.
Recommended!
(Up next for Angela Sylvane is the novel Chopping Spree, and I can't wait.)
For release on May 21.
I had previously read and enjoyed her debut novel, Frost Bite, and was most excited to read her debut short story collection. Thank you to the author and Dark Matter Ink for my eARC!
This is a collection of 17 fictions, with the common theme of lost girls, in various chilling situations and forms.
These are girls and women experiencing the mundane turned remarkable. The everyday turned eventful.
Each story had an eerie undercurrent, which had me waiting in anticipation of the twists and reveals. And they delivered.
I truly enjoyed each story, but standouts for me included The Bride, Playing Tricks, Sorry, We're Open, Return Of The Wilderness Girls, The Dead Spot, and Unrestful Dogs.
Recommended!
(Up next for Angela Sylvane is the novel Chopping Spree, and I can't wait.)
For release on May 21.
mariewikle's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
A collection of ghastly horror stories with something for anyone who loves horror. I loved the variety of gruesome and grim stories in this book. Thank you to booksirens for the advanced copy. I am leaving this review willingly!
wellreadintrovert's review
3.5
The Dead Spot. A corner drenched in shadow. An earthquake’s epicenter. The part of a roller coaster ride where the car rounds the final curve and all force dissipates, leaving those trapped beneath the safety bar feeling sick and hollow. The Dead Spot is a heart-wrenching collection of seventeen stories where lost girls and women live and die, where they laugh, cry, and disappear from view around that final curve.
Everyone loves a good anthology - especially between all of the other reads and The Dead Spot didn't disappoint. What we have is a macabre collection of stories, not all of them having a happy ending, all in one place ready for you to binge in one sitting like I did, or just take your time and enjoy one or two at a time. Some favourites of mine were "The Bride", "Playing Tricks" and "The Night Maere" with notable mention to our first story "Astronaut Dreams" for setting the tone for an emotional journey in a book.
Sylvaine has put together a wonderful group of short stories perfect for anyone in the mood for creepy, thought provoking and sometimes emotional reads. Thank you to BookSirens for an advanced copy for review.
Everyone loves a good anthology - especially between all of the other reads and The Dead Spot didn't disappoint. What we have is a macabre collection of stories, not all of them having a happy ending, all in one place ready for you to binge in one sitting like I did, or just take your time and enjoy one or two at a time. Some favourites of mine were "The Bride", "Playing Tricks" and "The Night Maere" with notable mention to our first story "Astronaut Dreams" for setting the tone for an emotional journey in a book.
Sylvaine has put together a wonderful group of short stories perfect for anyone in the mood for creepy, thought provoking and sometimes emotional reads. Thank you to BookSirens for an advanced copy for review.
cwgoodyear's review
4.5
A wonderfully haunting collection of captivating and at times devastating short stories. My personal favorites are Astronaut Dreams, New Hue, and Return of the Wilderness Girls, I wish there was more to the universe of each because I'm dying for more. Some of the stories were extremely short, making it super easy to devour this book in such a short time. The stories all focus on one or more "lost girls" and can be extremely hard hitting, I do recommend checking the content warnings for each story. I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology and can't wait for my physical copy to arrive!
Thank you to BookSirens and Angela Sylvaine for the review copy, all opinions are my own.
Thank you to BookSirens and Angela Sylvaine for the review copy, all opinions are my own.
redrumreads's review
3.75
I loved the range of these stories.
I have to say my favorite is the one about the bride, considering I’ll be getting married soon and I go dress shopping next week.
I wont be fighting any clerks about my dress though!!
Angela knows how to pack a punch into such short stories and thanks to her for sending me this book
I have to say my favorite is the one about the bride, considering I’ll be getting married soon and I go dress shopping next week.
I wont be fighting any clerks about my dress though!!
Angela knows how to pack a punch into such short stories and thanks to her for sending me this book
jackiesspookyshelf's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mikathereviewer's review
3.0
This review includes spoilers, read at your own risk.
• • • •
Quotes from the Book
'Bars are very sad places filled with people trying too hard to have fun, trying too hard to forget, and trying too hard to kill themselves, albeit slowly.'
- Emi (Sorry We're Open short story)
'A poetry of tastes that she wanted to share with me alone.'
- Tessa (Starved short story)
• • • •
• • • •
In Depth Discussion/The Review
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
Information:
Cover: Gloomy, fits the book.
Table of content: Yes, well-arranged.
Content warning: Yes, necessary, at the end of the book.
Likes:
The book covers a huge variety of words. There is almost no repetition of any words and if so they are spread so that one doesn't notice it. Every kind of happiness and pain is described and the way blood is described left me want to read more.
Description of surroundings even if it's short stories. Many forget to describe things when they write a short story and just focus on the story itself, but not it's surroundings, not what is around the protagonist. Just 'cause it's a short story doesn't mean one can leave that open. One must describe it. And the book did.
'Playing Tricks' was my favourite short story out of this book (properly 'cause it's about mental health). + the ending was unexpected.
After 'Playing Tricks' I liked 'If Heard, Please Call' and I think it's worth making a full story out of this. The idea is so interesting and I think quite original and I really would look forward to reading a longer version of this short story.
It felt like each character got their own voice as the narrator forms (first and third person) changed for each story. That gave the effect that one is actually listening of a story of someone else.
Dislikes:
Unrealistically possessive over a dress, even after an accident happened 'cause of it, doesn't even let her boyfriend take it 'He is going to try and take the dress, but I can't let him. I have to protect it.' Only good reasoning for the boyfriend is the wedding, but still a bit over the top with the 'I need to protect that dress'. (The Bride story).
If she wanted to have the dress so desperately then why does she worry if it fits her? Didn't she look at the size before even considering buying the dress? That's a bit unlogical.
Grammatical mistake 'I have ever lied to her, but I have no choice' instead of 'I have never lied to her, but I have no choice'. At least that makes more sense. (Page 32).
The end is always predictable of the short stories.
The word cringe has been used too often and sometimes it didn't fit the situation.
No blanket? Why no blanket? Why did the character not have a blanket? It costs less than renting an apartment so why wasn't she using a blanket? (The Bride story)
The genre 'LGBT' was there, I don't read LGBT stories, not 'cause I dislike people that are in that community, but 'cause I have no interest in reading it (unless it's manhwa). It wasn't labeled as a genre in the book before I read it.
Deliah (Antifreeze and Sweat Peas story) was punishing everyone who became evil, but not herself, which doesn't make sense for me. She saw only the evil in others, but not herself. That narcissistic behaviour of hers got on my nerves.
Trigger warning for cannibalism was forgotten for the 'Return of the Wilderness Girls' story.
• • • •
Rating
How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it affects differently.
[ Story 6 / 10 ] -
[ Characters 8 / 10 ] -
[ Triggering 4 / 10 ] -
[ Topic/Genre 9 / 10 ] +
[ Writing style 9 / 10 ] +
[ Grammatic and spelling 9 / 10 ] +
[ Ending 9 / 10 ] +
Final Rating
3/5
• • • •
Final thoughts/Questions
If the short story 'The Bride' and 'Antifreeze and Sweat Peas' wasn't there then I think I actually would have rated the book a bit higher. They don't change the fact that some other's were boring, but these two stories made an great impact on my rating and I wished it wouldn't have as I really liked certain stories. I think the author made a great effort writing this book and I am glad I read it and found a few short stories that inspired me.
Started the book: 03. March 2024
Finished the book: 04. March 2024
Wrote the review: 04. March 2024
• • • •
Quotes from the Book
'Bars are very sad places filled with people trying too hard to have fun, trying too hard to forget, and trying too hard to kill themselves, albeit slowly.'
- Emi (Sorry We're Open short story)
'A poetry of tastes that she wanted to share with me alone.'
- Tessa (Starved short story)
• • • •
• • • •
In Depth Discussion/The Review
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
Information:
Cover: Gloomy, fits the book.
Table of content: Yes, well-arranged.
Content warning: Yes, necessary, at the end of the book.
Likes:
The book covers a huge variety of words. There is almost no repetition of any words and if so they are spread so that one doesn't notice it. Every kind of happiness and pain is described and the way blood is described left me want to read more.
Description of surroundings even if it's short stories. Many forget to describe things when they write a short story and just focus on the story itself, but not it's surroundings, not what is around the protagonist. Just 'cause it's a short story doesn't mean one can leave that open. One must describe it. And the book did.
'Playing Tricks' was my favourite short story out of this book (properly 'cause it's about mental health). + the ending was unexpected.
After 'Playing Tricks' I liked 'If Heard, Please Call' and I think it's worth making a full story out of this. The idea is so interesting and I think quite original and I really would look forward to reading a longer version of this short story.
It felt like each character got their own voice as the narrator forms (first and third person) changed for each story. That gave the effect that one is actually listening of a story of someone else.
Dislikes:
Unrealistically possessive over a dress, even after an accident happened 'cause of it, doesn't even let her boyfriend take it 'He is going to try and take the dress, but I can't let him. I have to protect it.' Only good reasoning for the boyfriend is the wedding, but still a bit over the top with the 'I need to protect that dress'. (The Bride story).
If she wanted to have the dress so desperately then why does she worry if it fits her? Didn't she look at the size before even considering buying the dress? That's a bit unlogical.
Grammatical mistake 'I have ever lied to her, but I have no choice' instead of 'I have never lied to her, but I have no choice'. At least that makes more sense. (Page 32).
The end is always predictable of the short stories.
The word cringe has been used too often and sometimes it didn't fit the situation.
No blanket? Why no blanket? Why did the character not have a blanket? It costs less than renting an apartment so why wasn't she using a blanket? (The Bride story)
The genre 'LGBT' was there, I don't read LGBT stories, not 'cause I dislike people that are in that community, but 'cause I have no interest in reading it (unless it's manhwa). It wasn't labeled as a genre in the book before I read it.
Deliah (Antifreeze and Sweat Peas story) was punishing everyone who became evil, but not herself, which doesn't make sense for me. She saw only the evil in others, but not herself. That narcissistic behaviour of hers got on my nerves.
Trigger warning for cannibalism was forgotten for the 'Return of the Wilderness Girls' story.
• • • •
Rating
How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it affects differently.
[ Story 6 / 10 ] -
[ Characters 8 / 10 ] -
[ Triggering 4 / 10 ] -
[ Topic/Genre 9 / 10 ] +
[ Writing style 9 / 10 ] +
[ Grammatic and spelling 9 / 10 ] +
[ Ending 9 / 10 ] +
Final Rating
3/5
• • • •
Final thoughts/Questions
If the short story 'The Bride' and 'Antifreeze and Sweat Peas' wasn't there then I think I actually would have rated the book a bit higher. They don't change the fact that some other's were boring, but these two stories made an great impact on my rating and I wished it wouldn't have as I really liked certain stories. I think the author made a great effort writing this book and I am glad I read it and found a few short stories that inspired me.
Started the book: 03. March 2024
Finished the book: 04. March 2024
Wrote the review: 04. March 2024
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