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The Reading Room Nobody Asked For

@criticallyyoursreads

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Talking back to blurbs since page one
Cozy to chaotic, romantic to ruthless
📚 59/75

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🧟‍♀️ A PLOT 2 SHARE GIVEAWAY 🧟‍♂️

This week's giveaway comes with a choice between two blind books! Both are thrillers and have earned a place on my shelves. I've left some clues to help you choose your poison as this plot thickens.

🪦 TO ENTER:
• Follow @criticallyyoursreads
• Like, repost, share this post
• Comment which mystery package you'd choose and tag a friend
• For extra entries: comment your favorite Halloween emoji and tag another friend (you can do this daily)

Giveaway is open to US readers only and will close 10.18.26. Winner will be contacted by me on this account only, and must be willing to share their address for shipping. Giveaway isn't sponsored or affiliated with Instagram, Meta, any publishers/authors, or any featured brands.

Bugs & Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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6 days ago

RIP to my good intentions.

Here lie the ARCs I enthusiastically requested that now haunt the darkest corners of my tbr either waiting to be read or reviewed.

🪦
Fallow
I Am the Monster Under the Bed
Mother Daughter Sister Stranger
The Opposite of Murder
Hot Girl Murder Club
Pretty Dead Things
Better Than Revenge
Sisterhood Above All

The only thing buried here are deadlines.

⬇️ What book is haunting your tbr?

Bugs & Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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3 days ago

🎃 TRICK OR TREAT? 🍬

This week's TREAT is one of seven stories in Amazon's Dark Corners collection where nightmares lurk in the shadows and your fears really are in the dark.

Thirty-four years ago, a Halloween scavenger hunt took a cruel turn when a group of mean girls made lonely Hannah Talbott the target of their twisted game. Now, what happened that night has become the stuff of local legend, and this Halloween, the past has a few tricks up its sleeve.

From the very beginning, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread and sadness for Hannah, and those feelings only deepened as the story unfolded. McMahon packs an unsettling amount of heartbreak into such a short read while reminding us that some monsters don't need costumes. And that ending? An unexpected twist that made this a definite treat!

⬇️ What's one childhood fear that still gives you the creeps?

Bugs & Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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4 days ago

Sometimes you know exactly how a book made you feel but transforming that feeling into something visual can be difficult. The ideas and inspiration are there, but nothing really sticks.

Sometimes ideas are just ideas and sometimes chasing that perfect visual results in not sharing something with friends. So, before we get to the review, here are some concepts that got mauled in the making of this post.

🐻 Natural Selection, by Clare Edge 🐻

In Riverside, boys will be boys and reputation means more than accountability. As boys get the benefit of the doubt, girls learn to keep quiet, and the grown ups just pretend they don't see any problems.

Natural Selection takes the age-old expectation that girls should be pleasant and accommodating, and asks what happens when they aren't.

Beneath the claws and carnage, there's something worth chewing on, though, about the difference in having power and deciding what to do with it.

As far as Riverside's concerned, the consequences of your actions now come with fur.

⬇️ If you came with a warning sign, what would it say?

Bugs and Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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7 days ago

🦇 OCTOBER READING HOPEFULS 🪦

‘Tis the season for things that go bump in the night, so this month’s list includes some familiar horrors and fresh nightmares of various lengths. Whether I’ll make it through the entire haunted house of hopefuls remains to be seen, but I’ve never been one to let a little impending doom interfere with my ambitions. Besides, what’s spooky season without a few things coming back to haunt you? My unread books certainly know a thing or two about that!

I’m especially eager to read The Only Good Indians with my friend, @goodquietkitty. Somehow I convinced her to read it and Off the Reservation with me. While I’ve picked up a backup copy of TOGI, I may need to dabble in the dark arts of shipping to summon my Black Crow set before October ends. Otherwise, OtR will be haunting the reading room in November.

Aside from SGJ, my focus this month is on some new releases, revisiting Bon Temps, short stories, and Dorian Gray inspirations.

*As usual, I made this in Canva, not with AI.

⬇️ Would you rather spend a night in a haunted house or a town full of supernatural creatures?

Bugs and Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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10 days ago

🎃 TRICK OR TREAT? 🍬

Back from the literary graveyard, my original spooky season series returns for another round of tricks, treats, and questionable reading decisions! The first TRICK is one of six stories in Amazon's Creature Feature collection where the macabre transforms our greatest fears into bone-chilling realities.

In Jason Mott's Best of Luck, two lifelong friends find themselves on opposite ends of fortune. One seemingly has it all, while the other has lost nearly everything. They say misery loves company, but apparently so does good fortune. This friendship is about to take a rather parasitic turn.

A grotesque manifestation of illness was the kind of body horror I thought I was getting into, but instead, I got something not only more sinister but more perplexing. The real horror had more to do with what someone is willing to inflict on another, so remember to choose your friends carefully!

⬇️What's one friendship red flag that would have you running for the hills?

Bugs & Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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11 days ago

Just taking a trip through past Octobers to see which book was my favorite read of the month. These aren’t my favorite books each year, just a history of what’s been read. I wonder which book will come out on top this year…

⬇️ Predictive text: I opened my book and accidentally summoned _________.

xo,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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12 days ago

When I registered for my first author event last month, I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to snag a signed copy for a friend. And if you know me, you know I love a spoiler, so @goodquietkitty already knows what book’s been wrapped up, but not about any other tricks or treats hiding inside this repurposed @aardvarkbookclub box! 👻

I’ve been seeing a lot of giveaways lately, and decided I wanted in on the fun. So, I sent out another little gift to another friend, but why stop there? This season I’m transforming into the book fairy’s gothic cousin… the book banshee… book hag of giving… eh, whatever we decide, I’m embracing my seasonal calling and coming for your tbr!

Every Tuesday this month I’ll be doing a giveaway. Maybe it’s a book I loved, a new one I’ve yet to read, or something from your deepest desires (your wishlist). Excited to see you in the reading room!

⬇️ What’s one Halloween tradition you refuse to skip? OR which seasonal name above did you like best?

Bugs & Hisses,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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13 days ago

Please hold all literary inquiries as our beloved CYR consultant celebrates his birthday.

Pooch's professional assessment is that we've got another round of excellent @aardvarkbookclub books, but really he's just ready for some fun and treats.

🤰 Carrying by Samantha Kolesnik
🕳️ What Feeds Below by Tori Bovalino
🏚️ Solace House by Will Maclean
✨ Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske

⬇️ What book(s) are you most looking forward to reading this month?

*PS (edit): y’all, I did not upload blank images as some sort of Halloween trick, you know the feature routine. Sorry you can’t see Pooch’s handsome face overlooking the covers and details. 😭

xo,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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18 days ago

Though I took this on the first day of fall, I’m posting it on the last day of September because timeliness didn’t exist this month 🙃

We did the couples color shopping trend, and that’s how I learned that, in Drew’s mind, my favorite shade of green is apparently edible. Autumnal? Debatable (yes). Delicious? Absolutely. Book cover? Close enough.

🍂So, happy autumn from my aggressively pistachio corner of the internet!🍂

⬇️ Your partner gets $10 and five minutes to surprise you with a little treat. What are they grabbing?
↳ If it’s morning, definitely a coffee! Otherwise something with dogs, bees, or chocolate.

xo,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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19 days ago

Last week was a busy one, but that didn't stop my parents, daughter, and I from going to the fall library book sale!

As usual, I made a beeline for the animal section first, and because I'd set a limit for myself, only nabbed two dog books this year. Yay, growth! 🐾

The psychology, self-help, and social sciences tables were overflowing, and I was able to grab books just by recognizing the title/cover. Fiction and thrillers made up a solid chunk of the sale, so the limit didn't fare quite as well in those genres. There was a BoTM table, but no Aardvark one, though that's probably for the best. 😅

⬇️Which book would you pick up? OR What's the best book you ever got secondhand?

xo,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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a month ago

Pooch wants y'all to know that he takes his position as my least qualified literary consultant very seriously.

His qualifications include looking handsome near books, sleeping through most of my reading, having no concept of money, and sniffing for safety of delivered parcels. So, naturally, he has another two box @aardvarkbookclub month to advise on.

🐺 Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
🪰 Fruit Fly by Josh Silver (x2)
🍽️ The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes
🐦‍⬛ Crone by Keith Rosson
🎄 Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman

A perfectly normal reading list from a totally normal girl and her very exceptional dog.

⬇️What is your pet most looking forward to reading this month? OR Which of these would you read first?

xo,
Critically Yours by @criticallyyoursreads

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a month ago