Women in Horror: Lizzie (2018)

It's 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden lives with her sister Emma, her father Andrew, and stepmother Abby. The family has wealth and lives comfortably, but Andrew rules the family with an iron fist, relying on psychological cruelty with withholding money to keep them in line. Bridget comes to the house to be employed as a maid, where Abby will call her Maggie as with all her Irish maids, and she and Lizzie form a friendship that turns into romance. When Andrew catches them together and threatens Lizzie with incarceration and already followed through with disinheriting her in his will. The next day, Andrew and Abby are found dead, killed with a hatchet and Lizzie goes on trial for their murder.

I've personally been fascinated with Lizzie Borden and the murder of her parents since a young age, mostly because of the famous rhyme and my mother's strong opinion that I should go by my full name (Elizabeth) because any shortened version reminded her of the supposed murderer. I've read quite a few books on the subject that belabor where everyone claimed to be and the possibilities of who the murderer might be, but this film shows a different perspective. It recontextualizes the story into what Lizzie's life would be like in 1892 as an unmarried, queer woman. Her close friendship with actress Nance O'Neil in addition to a huge fight and later estrangement with Emma when she was much older may point to this being the truth, but we'll never know.

Lizzie doesn't care what society might think of her being unmarried and going to social events by herself. She's portrayed by Chloe Sevigny as headstrong and confident, only bending when her father is especially cruel or a plan of hers backfires. Because of her father, she can't have a career of her own or take over his business, so she's relegated to taking care of the home and going to social events. Women at the time were essentially property that the men in their lives could do what they wanted with them and face no legal or societal repercussions. To go out on her own would be to have absolutely no resources and be completely ostracized from the society she lived in for her whole life. Being openly queer is also out of the question unless she wants to be put in an institution, which her father threatened her with when he caught her and Bridget together. Their relationship is an escape for them both, but acknowledges the troubling difference in their social standing where Lizzie has considerable power over Bridget. When her father reveals he disinherited her, it's the final nail in the coffin of her freedom. She would be equally beholden to her uncle who made it clear he doesn't care if she and Emma starve to death.

Many factors put Lizzie's future in danger. Andrew Borden was first and foremost because he controlled what happened to his money with a will and proved to be quite unpopular because of his unsavory business dealings, which seems plausible considering the state of Fall River at the time. Threatening letters were dropped by their house and broke family members try to ingratiate themselves with him for money, further muddying the mystery and competing with Lizzie for her father's money. On a more personal level, Andrew was incredibly frugal, keeping the house free of electricity and running water even though he could afford the luxuries. The film portrays him as a cruel man who rapes women on his staff and commits cruel acts. After Lizzie defied his wishes and embarrassed their family by having a seizure at the opera, he kills the pigeons she lovingly kept as pets and served them for dinner the next day. Looking at all of these things, there is a case for Lizzie killing her stepmother and father for her own safety and to secure the future for herself and her sister in addition to her own freedom.

The film Lizzie is so different than any other portrayal of Borden I've seen and opens up many more questions. Other films make her a beautiful, smiling monster like the Christina Ricci Lifetime movie and series, where she killed a huge amount of people and kept getting away with it. This one shows the precarious nature of her position as a woman and a lesbian in 1892. The structure of the film works well, at first skipping over the murder, hearing Lizzie's version of events as she was questioned, and then flashing back to it at the end to reveal their version of events. Chloe Sevigny makes Lizzie relatable while still keeping her straight forward demeanor that put off police officers that questioned her. Jamey Sheridan makes Andrew a repugnant, angry man that I was frankly glad to see dispatched. Lizzie is well worth your time and a passion project from Sevigny to show a different side to this notorious figure.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores is alone. She used to have a best friend name Riley and it was always them against the world, being weird and doing magic together. Riley was very recently found drowned in the local creek, ruled as a suicide. Mila doesn't believe it and, after every adult alienates her, she decides to use magic to solve the crime. Her plan was to raise Riley from the dead for a week, but ends up raising two more girls, June and Dayton. They also supposedly killed themselves, but they insist they would never. Now Mila has three zombie teenage girls to hide from the public, provide for, and solve their murders before their week is up.

Undead Girl Gang is a surprisingly heartwarming read that also exposes the reality beneath high school cliques and stereotypes. Mila Flores is out of place in her town as a fat, Mexican witch (of sorts). She embraced her otherness with Riley, a kindred spirit rejected because her parents own and live in a funeral home. Popular girls used that to isolate and bully Riley since elementary school. Together, they dabbled in wicca and found true friendship within each other. Since Riley's death, Mila is alone, mistreated by every adult and student around her (except Riley's brother Xander). The other students never accepted her, but the adults truly failed her. The school psychologist is literally no help and her parents force her to return to school two days after her best friend died as punishment for walking out of the sham funeral. She's the only one who doesn't believe that Riley killed herself and rages at all the crocodile tears, fake hand wringing, and cringy show choir tributes that Riley wouldn't like or want. I felt for Mila and admired how as a teen she was able to push through all that to do what she thought was right.

The zombies are produced by an elaborate magic ritual from a tome shipped to the abandoned house they practice magic and keep all their supplies in. Three girls are raised from the dead, Riley, June, and Dayton, because of the wiccan rule of three. They look normal while they are within 100 steps of Mila, but revert to their rotted state with whatever injuries they had. As time moves closer to the 7 day deadline, the regenerative powers work less and less. These zombie aren't flesh eating, opting for junk food. They don't really have any special powers and they don't remember much leading up to their deaths, so things aren't going as well as Riley hoped. There's also the huge issue that she can't keep an eye on them at all times. They stole disguises, but they aren't exactly being super secretive as they walk all over the school campus and even yell at their insincere friends. This time together for all of them makes them lower their guard and truly see the other people beneath the clique they belong to. Over time, June and Dayton where no longer just popular and cruel shells. Through a lot of conflict and some good times, Riley, Dayton, June, and Mila all became friends while trying to figure out the murder.

Undead Girl Gang shows that even the bully or the loner at school are real people underneath the social expectations and cliques. I found this book incredibly progressive with its sensitive discussion of suicide, the smashing of expectations, and the emphasis on female friendship. This book warmed my heart and impressed me with its different view of magical lore. I would love to see a sequel or really anything else from Lily Anderson.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

#FashionVictim

Anya St. Clair is clawing her way to the top of the fashion industry as a writer. She needs to be just a little bit thinner and prettier to make it to the next level, being invited to the most exclusive parties and fashion shows with front row access. The person she simultaneously puts on a pedestal and identifies as a rival is the flawless and beautiful Sarah Taft. Success and fame come to Sarah effortlessly while Any works hard to fall short. Anya wants to be her best friend, be her, and destroy her all that the same time. To claw her way to the top, she has to take the cutthroat nature of industry literally.

#FashionVictim is kind of like You meets The Devil Wears Prada with the dark humor and social commentary of American Psycho. Everything is pitch perfect, hilarious, and biting. Anya St. Clair seems like a struggling fashion writer at first. Her name is never recognized or found on a list right away and her seat is never in the front. She's tagged in hideous Instagram pictures and constantly teased about her weight. I thought I knew what to expect until she had visions of an assistant with a shard of glass in her eye that turned into a real murder. Anya decides to solve her work problems with murder. Toss in her very unhealthy love/hate obsession with Sarah, the woman whose every move is front page fashion news, and things couldn't be more uncomfortable.

As she spirals out of control, Anya still completely follows the fashion industry and their ridiculous expectations. She doesn't really fit in, but she's willing to break herself to do so. Over the course of the novel, Anya's troubled background and delusions become more apparent. It starts with small comments like her recognizing the sound of bones breaking to more obvious things like being annoyed with typical police questioning. Her delusions include hallucinating her victims around her and considering the police investigator an interested suitor. The story bounces from her normal work experiences to her creating obsessive collages to her carrying out her planned murders. It plays out like a slasher film from the perspective of the killer with a large dose of black humor. Every detail drew me in and proved to be different than other killers.

The fashion industry comes out looking pretty terrible here. Everything is extremely superficial and nothing is based on merit. People only care about weight, fashion labels, and accessories. Conversations are riddled with backhanded comments, cruel gossip, and vapid subjects. All out screaming is only acceptable at very top along with outright abusive treatment. The book also touches on institutionalized racism within the industry that has companies not wanting to be branded "ethnic" and hiring one person of color per department to basically not be sued. When the body count piles up, most people aren't bothered. Sarah makes particularly cruel comments about the murder victims, which makes me root more for Anya even though she's a literal murderer.

I read #FashionVictim in a day because the story just grabbed me and ran. The world of fashion felt alien and cruel, not too different from Anya's twisted mind. With both, certain people have no value and are treated accordingly whether that's screaming and basically being treated like a slave or murder. This book worked for me on every level. It's a biting commentary of the fashion industry that brings in pitch black comedy. I would love to see it as film because it's untreaded waters and could be super fun. Highly recommended.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Audrey Rose Wadsworth has a privileged life with a wealthy family. After her mother dies, a rift appears in her family as her father isolates himself. She turns to science and throws herself into studying anatomy and forensics at her uncle's laboratory against society's expectations and her father's wishes. One day, the body of a mutilated woman is delivered for her uncle to collect evidence in a disturbing case of multiple murders. Audrey throws herself into the investigation along with an annoying but brilliant rival Thomas Cresswell despite the risk of danger and irreparable damage to her reputation.

Stalking Jack the Ripper is the story of Audrey and her unconventional science education, her endeavor to solve the true crime mystery, and her first love. Some of these aspects work better than others. Audrey is a smart young woman who suffers from "not like any other girl" syndrome. She soundly rejects other women as frivolous and beneath her, which left a bad taste in my mouth. Victorian society pressures women into a certain mold that doesn't necessarily show how they are inside. This goes against her anachronistically modern view of women and their abilities. I relate to Audrey's grief about her mother's death and the negative changes she sees in her father. Her grief also led her to learning about anatomy and forensics. She takes courses dressed as a boy and stays silent even though she knows the answers. As a whole, I didn't hate Audrey, but she annoyed me.

The biggest problems I have are with Thomas Cresswell, the picking and choosing of what part of Victorian society are used, and the way the villain is treated. Thomas Cresswell is incredibly intelligent and also incredibly arrogant. His condescending nature has a misogynistic tinge to it as he mocks Audrey for not being as educated as him (because women are barred from classes). He seems to be there only to be better at everything than Audrey. I didn't find him likeable in any way and grew even more annoyed that she grew attracted to him when he's so awful. The book played lip service to some aspects of Victorian society at the beginning and then completely ignored them by the end. Audrey gallavanting around the city with Thomas and no chaperone would have destroyed her reputation. The final nail in the coffin of this book was how they treated the villain when his identity was revealed. Audrey and Thomas has the audacity to offer him resuming his normal life if he agrees to stop murdering. I felt so angry reading this because this isn't the action of a hero and it shows such privilege.

Stalking Jack the Ripper is not my favorite book. It has numerous flaws that include an annoying love interest who puts her down at every turn, inconsistencies with Victorian society (either go with it or ignore it), and an infuriating protagonist. My favorite part of the book is Audrey's view of anatomy, how she's adapted to work with the bodies, and her skill at finding clues. I also didn't guess the mystery before the end, which is rare for these teen mysteries. I am a sucker for Victorian era mysteries and this one lost me. I won't be continuing the series.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

Friend Request by Laura Marshall

In 1989, Louise had the choice between a real friendship or a hollow friendship with acceptance to the cool crowd. She chose the cool crowd and succeeded in making Maria's life hell with cruel pranks. In 2016, Louise is a divorced single mother who works as an independent interior designer and dotes on her son. One day, she receives a friend request from Maria, who has been missing since prom night 1989 and is presumed dead. Threatening messages follow and Louise has to confront her uncomfortable past and the people from it to find out what actually happened to Maria.

Friend Request is a thriller novel about the past coming back to haunt wrongdoers. Louise is pretty insufferable and spends most of her time bemoaning her teenage mistakes and mooning over her ex-husband who replaced her with a younger woman. Right from the beginning, their relationship was creepy because she said they were everything to each other and didn't bother having any friends. The way she spoke, he seemed to tell her (maybe in not so many words) that no one would want her if they knew what she did. She keeps saying how she's changed, but then goes back to those old bad habits and clearly hasn't. Her penchant for lying to police over and over after someone died is really frustrating and does nothing at all to help her.

The novel is told in chapters from 2016 and from 1989, so we get to see first hand just how Louise was as a teenager. I fundamentally don't understand her as she oscillates for real friends and fake popular friends. It's abundantly clear that Sophie, queen bee, only wants Louise as a "friend" to do her dirty work, to make fun of, and to make herself feel better. Maria wanted to be her real friend and support each other, but then Louise would be the target of those same pranks. Maria also had rumors about her swirling around her about what happened at her old school and that she was promiscuous even though she was harassed by a stalker. Louise gets more and more entrenched in the popular crowd until she commits an unforgiveable act.

Friend Request is a frustrating book with a horrible main character. She never seemed to act in her own best interests. I kept reading to find out what the horrible act was in her past and see what other secrets would be revealed. The ending wasn't suprising. I'm surprised I read the whole book and Laura Marshall's next book has to be incredibly intriguing for me to pick it up after this one.

My rating: 1/5 fishmuffins

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

Kacey is new to the small town of Broken Falls. She moved there with a family she barely knows after living with her mother and her endless stream of boyfriends, getting fed up with their explosive relationship, and running away. Now, she has two best friends in Bailey and Jade, but they want to do things like sneak out at night when she would rather enjoy being with her fairly even tempered, loving family. Then Bailey doesn't make it home after a party and no one seems to know what happened to her. Kacey dives head first into her own investigation to find out what really happened to Bailey.

Little Monsters is a teen mystery thriller centered a disappearance. Of course, rumors swirl around what happened due to the bloody discovery at a historic crime site linked to an urban legend and the sordid reputation Bailey had. Bailey was blamed for a football star Cliff drinking, driving, and losing his scholarship because she was in the car with him. Never mind that he drank and drove of his own volition and had a way more promiscuous reputation than Bailey. The whole school turned against her after that and it's completely ridiculous. It shows how if you're a football star and a guy, you can basically do no wrong in people's eyes and if you're a girl, making out with one guy means you're a degenerate slut. This difference of perception and Kacey are what set this book apart from a lot of the other teen thrillers I've been reading lately.

Kacey isn't perfect, but she tries to be. When she lived with her mom, she was prone to fits of rage, blackouts, and physical fights with her mom. Now, she has an overly goody goody facade to hide who she used to be and consistently lies to people about her past. She kept feeling that she was evil or something was wrong with her for being so violent and angry. This rang true because girls are expected to express anger in much different ways than boys and then she went to the other extreme end of the spectrum to counteract it. Even though her father is distant, she's gotten to know her stepsiblings and stepmom much better and is starting to feel like she belongs. Bailey's disappearance and her own investigation land her in trouble over and over, almost like history is repeating itself. Kacey can't just let it go when the police seem to ignore things right in front of their faces. I felt for Kacey and her need for a fresh start. I understood her feelings of self loathing and need to conform to perfection.

Little Monsters is kind of like Sharp Objects for a teen audience. The mystery is well constructed and at the end, it's shown that seemingly insignificant details were much more important. I didn't see the ending coming and it blew my mind a little when everything was revealed. The story did have some flaws. I would have liked Kacey's temper and blackouts to be established earlier. It seemed to be shoehorned in when Thomas wanted us to suspect her. I also wish she didn't lie to the police so much since it only served to muddy the investigation instead of helping in any way. Other than that, the story was enjoyable and surprisingly dark. It replicated that feeling when your gut feels like it's falling and suddenly everything you know is wrong.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Lovemurder by Saul Black

Valerie Hart and her boyfriend Nick Blaskovich are adjusting to a new dynamics where she is a homicide detective, available at all hours, and he transferred to forensic technology with consistent hours. They are trying to have a romantic weekend when a murderer who hasn't killed in 6 years strikes again out of nowhere. His accomplice Katherine Glass was given the death penalty and waits in jail. The mystery killer demands the she be released or he will continue to kill. With each murder, they get closer and closer to Valerie and her loved ones. The only clues sent are ones that Katherine can decipher due to shared memories and references. Can Valerie catch the killer before he does irreparable damage to her family?

Lovemurder is the second book in the Valerie Hart series. The first was good, but I had some problems with it. This second one is so much better. Valerie is in a much better place. Her relationship with Nick is stable and she's even thinking about having kids. They're adjusting their dynamic since Nick transferred out of homicide. He's the househusband, cooking dinners, making plans, and being left alone when she has to rush off on an investigation. Since he's done the job, he completely understands her and there's really no conflict there, just a bit of guilt on her part for becoming so absorbed with her job. I love their relationship. They fit together so well and there's no hidden resentment or grudges. It's heartwarming and balances the dark parts of the book.

On the other side, Katherine Glass captured public hatred due to the brutal nature of crimes she committed that contrasts with her beauty and intelligence. She knows how to get under someone's skin and enjoys mind games especially with Valerie. I liked seeing how their dynamic had changed since the first time they interacted with Valerie beocming much less easy to shake and Katherine a bit cowed by her time in prison. Katherine's relationship with her murderous partner looked so similar to a loving relationship in the videos they made while they raped, tortured, and murdered women that it's grotesque. Working with her is a nightmare since she enjoys making everyone as uncomfortable as possible and it gives her leverage for getting things she wants. You never know if she's just bored or if she has some sort of plan going on underneath it all. The only think known about her partner is that he's amazing with technology and as well educated as her. I didn't know who he was at all and I was pretty surprised when it was revealed.

Lovemurder has a bit of a silly title, but contains lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect. Black's writing kept me reading for hours and replicated a Lecter-Starling-esque relationship that wasn't a carbon copy. The tension builds as it goes along and gets more intense. I found it far superior than the first in the series and I would love to see where it goes next. There's no sequel listed anywhere, but I'll have my eye out for it.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Mom and Dad

The Ryan's are a normal family with typical problems. Teenage Carly is defiant, abrasive as hell, and no longer confides in her mother. She fights with her little brother Josh, who is young and rambunctious. Parents Brent and Kendall mourn their lost dreams sacrificed to be parents and raise their family. Amidst their drama, something is making parents rage filled monsters whose only motivation is to kill their own children.

Mom and Dad is a crazy, over the top movie with a premise to match. The very first scene has a mother leave her car (containing her child) on the train tracks just before a train goes by. It's bold and tells the audience immediately what kind of film it is. Afterwards, the Ryan's are shown in their normal life with bickering kids and unfulfilled parents. Carly is an insufferable teen with nothing but disdain for her parents. She feels no guilt about stealing right from her mother's purse or saying purposefully hurtful things just to get a reaction. I felt a lot of sympathy for Brent and Kendall because society feeds people that the norm is having children. Both of them envisioned something else for their lives despite having conventional successes as a business man and a stay at home mom. They are unhappy and frustrated, a typical state for suburban parents. Both tried to do something to change up their lives (Brent built a pool table and Kendall tried to get her old job as a graphic designer back), but their attempts fail miserably.

The disease or contagion causing parents to savagely kill their children is never identified. Some random static appears on electronics preceding this behavior, but it's never said what it is or how it seems to affect anything technological. Parents' first instinct in an emergency is to find and protect their children. This contagion completely weaponizes this instinct. It starts out with come parents acting oddly at the high school, hovering outside of the SAT testing place and outside of the school. This behavior isn't completely strange because some parents actually do this on a daily basis (usually for smaller kids at the schools where I teach). Suddenly, the parents basically riot and physically fight anyone who gets in the way of them and their children. They act like killing their children is completely normal and otherwise act normally. The pandemonium following is gruesome and brutal. The child I felt most for was Carly's boyfriend Damon. His father is clearly an alcoholic that Damon has to care for. It's heartbreaking to watch Damon defend himself from and accidentally kill his father. The actions were necessary, but the result accidental.

Once Kendall and Brent are affected by the signal or disease, all hell breaks loose. Both parents go from struggling, unhappy, and exasperated to the happiest we see them in the movie since their teen years. Nicholas Cage is at his most extreme here and makes the film so much fun with how far he's willing to take the character. Before he's even infected, he destroys the pool table he built while screaming the Hokey Pokey. Afterwards, Brent and Kendall get along nicer than they have in years, united against their children. Kendall is slightly less insane and even has some fleeting moments of fighting the urge to kill. The last quarter of the film is a cat and mouse game with the kids trying to survive their parents' attacks that involve an infomercial saw, flooding the basement with gas, and a meat tenderizer. Apparently, all parents are affected, so Brent's parents also try to kill him. Lance Henricksen plays Brent's dad and almost matches Cage's insanity.

Mom and Dad is violent, insane fun. Some of the violent situations seemed a bit sanitized for my taste. If the filmmakers are going to touch on taboo subjects, they should be delved into instead of backed away from. The ending is abrupt and makes it seem like the creators either wanted a sequel or simply didn't know how to end the film. Carly makes a big transformation throughout the film to be a responsible human being, but I still found her parents to be more compelling characters. If there is a sequel, I'm first in line to watch it for Nicholas Cage alone. By itself, Mom and Dad is a darkly comic film that proves to stand out.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Maniac (2012)

* spoilers *

Frank Zito runs a mannequin restoration store inherited from his recently dead mother and spends his time looking for love on dating sites. He often stalks them for a while to find out their routine and discover all he can about them. All of the dates eventually end with him murdering them, scalping them, and attaching their scalps to mannequins. His relationship with Anna, a woman as interested in his trade as he is, might end differently. With the cycle of murder stop or is it simply too late for Frank?

Maniac is a slick remake almost completely filmed from the point of view of Frank Zito, a seemingly awkward and shy man who murders women for their scalps. Elijah Wood portrays him so sympathetically that I felt sorry for him quite a few times during the film despite his horrific actions. He is physically diminutive and sickly with bouts of extreme anxiety and panic attacks. This and his approachable appearance greatly contrast with the strength and brutality of his attacks. At times, he seems to loathe his cycle of murder and truly wants to break out of it to have a normal relationship. Other times, his rage explodes out of him, seen when he treats a victim as a proxy for his mother, screaming at her and then scalping her while she's still alive.

All of his neuroses and hatred of women come from his childhood and his mother. His mother was a sex worker and drug addict who forced him to watch her have sex with men. Frank murders women because he simulataneously hates and loves them. He obviously has abandonment issues and wants them to stay with him. Whenever they act in a way he doesn't like, such as any sort of sexual interest, he is overcome with rage. His solution for their free will and refusal to adhere to his view of them is to collect their scalps and place them on mannequins to live with in his home. This act recalls the only happy memory of his childhood, brushing his mother's hair. There are a few moments of black comedy, like the way he stocks up on bug spray to keep the flies away from his beloved scalps.

The violence is brutal and graphically portrayed often in closeup. We see these murders from Frank's point of view, but they aren't justified in any way. Their horror and pain are seen just as closely as their deaths. The women are often in various states of undress when they are murdered because they are in vulnerable states, never expecting this attack. The ending has the women fighting back in Frank's delusion. Once he has their scalps attached to a mannequin, he still isn't satisfied. He sees all the women but Anna as crass, horrible, and cruel. Anna simply turns her back on him and refuses. Even though it's all in Frank's head, I prefer to view it as the women he murdered getting their revenge.

Maniac is told almost completely in the first person from Franks point of view. The striking visuals set this film apart from other slasher movies as well as the unique view. Frank's face is only seen in flashes with reflections. Because the story is told from his view and Elijah Wood is so sympathetic, the audience tends to feel for him up to a point because of his abusive background and conflicted nature. Maniac is a must watch if  you can stand the subject matter.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Book Mini-Reviews: The Killing Lesson and Blood Rose Rebellion

* The Killing Lessons

Valerie Hart is investigating a series of murders where young women are tortured, raped, murdered, and then have an object placed in their bodies. The murders have been going on for years and Valerie isn't even close to any real leads which is wearing on her physically and psychologically. While going through footage of the zoo, she sees someone suspicious which sets off a chain of events that puts her hot on the murderers' tail when another woman has just been kidnapped. Will she save the woman in time or will she be too late yet again?

The Killing Lessons is a murder mystery thriller that has a dark and twisty protagonist, a disturbing killer, and some unexpected twists and turns. Valerie isn't what your typical female hero with her excessive drinking, obsessive nature, and tragic backstory. I appreciated her drive to do whatever she can even at the expense of her health and career. I found her backstory where she pushed her boyfriend away and made sure he caught her in the midst of cheating on him hard to relate to. I did like their relationship where they absolutely know the other person practically down to their thoughts. The killer has interesting motivation and a bizarre childhood of abuse. I found his methods deplorable, but kind of underwhelming as an actual character. The twists appear in the latest victim who has a few unexpected tricks to try to get free that I know I wouldn't have the awareness to even think of let alone carry out.

I didn't like that everything is spelled out for you instead of connecting any of the dots yourself. I also didn't like the weird rivalry between Valerie and a new cop Carla. It screams that Valerie isn't "like other women" as if she's somehow above others of her gender. However, she rises to Carla's bait far too often which hurts her credibility. Carla's reasoning for attacking Valerie and almost destroying her career is motivated by her love for the man who loves Valerie, which is so stereotypical. She also spouted misogynistic sentiments and made Valerie look amazing in comparison. The pacing is a bit too slow and each subplot is perhaps a little too detailed, but overall, it was a read that got me through my flight to Texas. I'll be reading the second book hoping for some improvements.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffinsa

* Blood Rose Rebellion

In a world where the elite and privileged are magic users, poor teenaged Anna Arden is left out in the cold. She never developed any magical powers, barring her from much of the rich society she grew up in. Few if any suitors will ask for her hand, leaving her future looking pretty desolate. When she effectively ruins her sister's coming out magic demonstration and party, all eyes are on her, including those of the council that effectively rules all of England. What will the future hold for Anna?

I did not finish this book, which is rare for me. It did have some interesting aspects, but once I hit page 50, I didn't see any need to go on. The world's magic system is interesting with only the rich and powerful even being allowed access to magic due to a spell called the Binding. There are four types of spellcasters: elementalists manipulate nonliving elements and light, coremancers read and influence thoughts and emotions, animanti influence living things perhaps talking to animals or healing, and lucifera shape forces such as gravity and electricity. My confusing is that animant seems to be to close to coremancers considering people being living, but I didn't read far enough the differentiate the two more.

My main problem with the novel is Anna and her love interest Frederick. First, Frederick is obviously stringing her along and kissing her in secret while courting her sister in a more public way. In addition, he's incredibly condescending, treating her like she's stupid. How is he attractive in the least? Anna seems to be fine with this, convinced that he will choose her eventually. The kisses are discovered when Anna lies about who got her into the party she ruined and the council views the events through magic. Of course Anna is pretty much ruined even more than not having any magic, but she only cares about losing Frederick. I just can't support a character who acts so stupid and puts her infatuation for a boy above concern for her own life and future. I don't recommend the book based on what I read.

My rating: 1/5 fishmuffins

The Purge: Election Year

All crime is legal for 12 hours every year, allowing the rich to prey on the poor and the innocent. Charlie Roan knows first hand the damage the Purge can do after she witnessed her entire family killed in front of her. As a senator, she's running for president and advocating for the abolishment of Purge night, which angers the New Founding Fathers who directly profit off of its existence. So of course they decide to sabotage her security and kill her on Purge night. Can Charlie live long enough to see election day in the face of a hostile group with deep pockets, plenty of resources, and no qualms over murder?

The Purge: Election Year takes some themes and situations from our own political events then makes them over the top and satirical. Charlie is a clear reflection of Bernie Sanders made young and attractive. Both promise changes for minorities and the poor. Both come from outside establishment and advocate for their views through their actions. Charlie makes an effort to talk to all of her supporters away from her security. She chooses to stay at her own home during the Purge to prove a point and will made every effort to win the election the legal way. Her portrayal is a bit over the top as she starts criticizing someone who just saved her life over their tactics toward the same goal. The New Founding Fathers and their cronies are completely over the top. They are all rich, male, old, Christian, racist, and sexist. They color their hatred and greed with religion to justify it, much like Republicans do today. Of course these people are literally making human sacrifices in church and are the most one dimensional evil characters ever. The film captures the fanaticism and the vitriol I see from that side of the political spectrum.

This film takes what other Purge films did and makes it more interesting and at times more extreme. As always, the murder montages are shown with striking and disturbing images. The best clips are women dancing around corpses hanging from a tree, an old woman primly seated watching a body burn on the sidewalk, and an epicly large guillotine. I wanted to see way more of the guillotine. It takes so much time to make and it's so visually dramatic, but it only had 5 seconds of screen time. Some Purgers get clever and pretend to be dead to surprise passersby. The camouflage is genius. Another group of particularly spoiled teens take the opposite tactic and cover their car complete with Christmas lights, daring anyone to approach. People from Europe decide to visit during the Purge for some murder tourism. They dress up in American patriotic gear and happily murder some people. It's insane, but makes sense in this world. The masks and outfits are extra creepy this time. I like to think of these people slaving over their outfits like cosplayers going to a convention because their so excited.

Each Purge movie has such potential. The concept is strong, but the details around it are fuzzy. I've always wanted to see exactly how the New Founding Fathers come into power, but it's not in this movie. I'm always a bit disappointed. This film does a little too much manufactured sob stories to elicit emotion. It felt out of place and manipulative. The pacing isn't always the best and people don't always take the most logical actions. Some characters are completely unnecessary. I would definitely see more Purge films. The films keep getting better and better as it goes along. I hope they keep the ideas fresh and keep pushing the envelope. I especially appreciated how timely the film is in skewering our current state of politics.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Girls on Fire

Hannah Dexter was just a bland girl going through the motions until Craig decided to kill himself and through their small town into chaos. After feeling the burn of humiliation at the hands of Craig's love Nikki Drummond, she bonds with fiery newcomer Lacey and they become inseparable. Lacey dubs Hannah Dex, giving rise to a persona who cares about music, experiencing life, rejecting the norm, and Lacey's approval. Dex is suddenly somebody, but is it the person she wants to be or the person Lacey wants her to be? Lacey is pretty clearly hiding something and won't share with her best friend no matter how close they get. Her secret threatens to destroy their relationship and their small town.

Girls on Fire is an intense read that takes place in the early 90's featuring teenage girls in the most dramatic point in their lives. Everything is about surviving the horrific landscape of high school where one wrong move can destroy you. While I like aspects of these girls, each of them is so steeped in manipulating others and projecting a socially appropriate or a socially disastrous image that they become desperate and willing to do terrible things. Hannah is pretty bland and fine with doing well in school, but then Lacey turns her life upside down. Lacey introduces her to drugs, parties, Nirvana, and not caring what others think of her. Lacey's approval means everything to Hannah and she will do anything to keep it. Lacey has her own issues and secrets. Her whole persona is designed to be rebellious. Hannah makes her feel powerful because Lacey molded her new persona and manipulates her when it suits her. To Lacey, she's being benevolent and protecting her, but it's clear she just wants to control something in her life when she controls nothing. Her home life is horrible with an alcoholic mother and a controlling, religious stepfather. Nikki Drummond, on the other hand, is the golden girl externally, but the queen bee mean girl underneath. She can manipulate anyone to do exactly whatever evil move she wants and come out looking like a paragon. All of them choose to be cruel to each other and all of them come out with scars they try to hide from the others.

The format of the book is interesting. The "Us" sections are Lacey and Hannah's alternating points of view. The "Them" sections show other people's point of view like Hannah's, Lacey's, and Nikki's mothers. It shows that absolutely everyone has inner depths beneath what they project to the world no matter what their age or experience. We see their true selves and their inner thoughts. Everyone tempers themselves to fit in to whatever society they are a part of. Every character has something to relate to and thoughts and feelings they would never share with anyone else. At first I thought it should have been a teen book, but the violence, the sex, the grey morality, and the honest and multilayered depiction of each character is much more adult.

Girls on Fire is a magnetic read that I couldn't put down. Robin Wasserman's amazing writing crafted a complex story that was masterfully revealed through multiple points of view. Craig's suicide story loomed in the background of the entire narrative until all is revealed in the final pages. The only flaw I found was the ending. I just didn't quite believe it, but it had an interesting symmetry with the rest of the plot. I look forward to the next book Robin Wasserman comes out with.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Women in Horror: Pretty Little Dead Girls

Bryony Adams is destined to die. Everyone who sees her or meets her knows of her horrible fate and expects it at any moment. Bryony knows her fate and accepts it at first. When she survives to her teenage years, surrounded but untouched by death, she goes out into the world to experience a great love before she dies. A small circle of loyal friends develops around her over the years and she does finally find her great love, but is it enough for her? Should she still accept her tragic fate without complaint? What would happen if she fought against it?

Bryony, named after a deadly but beautiful flower, is somehow destined to die. She and everyone who comes into contact with her knows she will die young and violently. Despite her dark fate, she exudes positivity and becomes a beacon of hope to some. Many would become depressed or angry or simply accept their fate, but Bryony decides to not let her fate define her and to make a life for herself. Bryony could have easily been a one dimensional Mary Sue character, but Mercedes Yardley infuses her with life and a magnetic quality that draws characters in the book to her as well. I rooted for Bryony from page one because who says she needs to die? I did get a little annoyed when she just wanted to accept her fate, but she changed her mind later and really fought for what she wanted. I got progressively angrier when other characters would look at her, note her fate, and then kind of shrug their shoulders and go on with their lives. I read this to be a commentary of our society when the murder of young girls and women is so pedestrian that it barely warrants notice anymore.

I love the way Pretty Little Dead Girls is written. Our unnamed narrator tells the story in the third person mostly from Bryony's point of view, but we get snippets of other character's back stories and inner thoughts. I like these little glimpses into other characters because it fleshes out the world and gives insight into the minor characters. The narrator also acknowledges the reader and plays upon our expectations, our thoughts, and even flatters us a little. The language is at times simplistic, like a fairy tale, but at other times paints beautiful images without being too flowery or distractingly descriptive. Mercedes Yardley knows how to turn a phrase and keep the various threads of the story in a cohesive whole.

I enjoyed Pretty Little Dead Girls and I would definitely read other books by Mercedes Yardley. In the novel, everyone made a huge deal about Bryony's numbered days, but everyone's days are numbered. Everyone was born to die, not just those who die violently or young. This book shoves that fate in our faces and tells us to make the best of the time we have in a darkly whimsical way.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Dear Daughter

Janie Jenkins was just released from prison after 10 years due to evidence tampering. She used to be like Paris Hilton: rich, frivolous, promiscuous, and spoiled, until her mother was murdered. After years of people accusing her, Janie isn't even sure if she didn't kill her mother. So she dons a disguise and sets out to investigate for herself. Her efforts lead her to a small town in South Dakota chock full of its own secrets. It seemed like her classy mother would never be caught dead there, but her connections go deeper than she ever thought possible. Janie races to find the truth, trying to outrun the bloodthirsty press, the residents intent on keeping secrets, and maybe a murderer,

I was instantly drawn into Dear Daughter's story because of Janie's perspective. From the first paragraph, Janie's personality shines through whether you like her or not. (I did.) She's bitingly sarcastic, manipulative, and sometimes cruel. She has changed a lot from her charmed socialite days where her only concerns were fashions, partying, who to manipulate, and how to get her face in the media. Janie is less sure of herself and more prone to examine every angle of a situation. Despite her years in prison and the psychological toll it had on her, her quick witted and sarcastic inner monologue isn't worse for the wear. Janie is brave, but also reckless and eager to throw herself into dangerous situations.

I loved the different media clips and such between the chapters: newspaper articles, text message conversations, or online posts. It added a dimension and reality to the story. The one thing that bothered me about it was no one came out in favor of her. Even the most guilty and brutal killers have die hard fans and supporters. The TMZ writer who called for vigilantism to make her pay or her crimes was crazy and added an urgency to the story. He would report on any of her whereabouts and encourage people to deliver justice.

While the story is interesting and the protagonist is unforgettable, the pace of the book is off and the ending is a let down. Once she gets to the small town, the plot slows down a lot while she gathers clues and follows leads. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying. The actual reveal of the killer was good, but everything else is trying to hard to be Gone Girl. I enjoyed most of it and I would read other books by Elizabeth Little.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

Butterfly Skin

Ksenia is manager of an online news website in Russia. She's very ambitious and professional at work, but in her personal time, her interests are much different, preferring to be dominated and harmed during sex. A serial killer is on the loose who rapes, mutilates, tortures, and murders young women. To further her career, Ksenia creates a site dedicated to the serial killer to address public interest that includes psychological studies, links to other websites, information on each murder, and message boards. At first it's just business, but she develops a fixation with the murders and even meets an online lover in the message boards who isn't who he seems.

The description of the book on Amazon is very misleading and this book shares almost nothing with The Silence of the Lambs. Every few chapters are from the point of view of the serial killer. He describes how he kills the women, his theories on how he came to be that way, his frustration (sexual and otherwise), his history, and his feelings. A few of the chapters are in a more poetic form and focuses on images (of the grisly variety) and feelings. It's grisly, rather descriptive, and  I liked these chapters and found them the most interesting parts of the story even though they were few and far between. You get right in the serial killers head and see what makes him tick. He's pretty abhorrent, but does realize what he is doing is wrong. The only other enjoyable part is the unexpected ending.

The majority of the book is populated by interchangeable characters that blur together. I didn't like the language used in these chapters because it was unnecessarily repetitive (which was a style issue) and it just felt stilted and unnatural (which may have been a translation issue). Some of the idioms didn't really make sense or seemed made up or just very dated. The characters have a lot of weird hangups about sex. Ksenia's preference for BDSM sex is labeled as abnormal and dangerous. Even "normal" sex is treated with a very repressed attitude by all the characters. There were a lot of abrupt and disorienting jumps in time from present to past and back again. These chapters were a slog to get through and dull as a whole. It only gets interesting when Ksenia and the serial killer's paths cross.

Butterfly Skin is disappointing and mostly dull. It might have been a translation issue, but the serial killer chapters were even written in a much more natural style. Not a big fan. I would recommend it.

My rating: 2/5

Kill You Twice

Archie Sheridan has been living a Gretchen Lowell free life while she is locked in a mental institution. For years after she tortured him, almost killed him, and then saved him, Archie's life has revolved around her and been basically ruined as a result. Now, he no longer pops Vicodin like they were candy and has begun to move on and heal emotionally away from her manipulation. He throws himself into solving a new case involving a serial killer who tortures the victims and leaves them in very public places, leaving no traces behind. With a string of victims with no real leads, Archie can no longer ignore Gretchen when she says she knows something about the current killings. Although he's treading carefully, she can be very manipulative and dangerous even drugged up and restrained in a mental institution. Can she actually help in the case or does she just aim to destroy Archie again? Will Archie find the killer before he/she kills again?

Ever since Heartsick, the first book in the series, I have found Gretchen Lowell to be one of the most magnetic and interesting antagonists in literature and one of the only fictional female serial killers. Each book uncovered a little more about her, mostly in the context of her relationship with Archie. The fourth book in the series, The Night Season, had only the barest mention of her character. I understood that Gretchen isn't the whole series and maybe Chelsea Cain wanted to move away from her and make Archie stand alone. I couldn't help but be a tiny bit disappointed. It is so nice to have Gretchen back in  a way we have never seen her. Kill You Twice delves into part of her origin story. Not her childhood or her biological family, but her inception as a serial killer in her teenage years, the start of the Beauty Killer. In the present, she has lost her infamous beauty and remains incapacitated by medication, which is pure torture for her as it takes away the some of her essential tools of manipulation. Seemingly desperate and less possessed of her mental faculties, Gretchen can still has that magnetic personality that both draws in and repels the reader. Like Archie, I have a love/hate relationship with Gretchen. I love her deeply twisted mind and her glee for what she does, but I also want her to be punished for what she has done. It allows me to understand her hold over Archie and his even more complex feelings about her. The conclusion leaves the story open to peel away more layers of the the mystery that is Gretchen.


The other characters are engaging and interesting in their own ways. Archie is much different than his Gretchen-obsessed self. He has completely cut her out of his life at this point and has started to form and maintain much more healthy relationships with people. Even when he eventually interacts with her, he holds his own much better, not allowing himself to be manipulated by her despite his conflicted feelings. Susan Ward of the ever changing hair is an awesome character as well with a spunky attitude and killer fashion sense. She pieces together some essential aspects of the case despite Archie's reluctance to involve her in another dangerous case. The new serial killer is brutal and interesting, bringing a religious dimension to the murders.


I absolutely love this entire series. I think this book is actually a teensy bit better than Heartsick, my previous favorite and the first book. I love all the characters and enjoy seeing them develop throughout each installment. I can't wait for the next book in the series and what the future holds of Gretchen and Archie.


My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins


** This book comes out August 7. Check it out or preorder it here! **

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

In 18th century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has not had a good life. His mother tried to kill him as an infant. He was passed around as a baby because of his odd lack of scent and his greediness. He ends up at an indifferent woman's house with many other children. She sells him to a tanner as an unskilled laborer and this is where his life truly begins. Grenouille is indifferent at best towards humanity. His only true enjoyment and love is in his overwhelmingly sensitive sense of smell, which is more of a burden at the time since everything stank badly. He goes around Paris collecting these scents, even killing a young girl for her exquisite scent. Eventually gaining employ at a perfumer's shop after demonstrating his wonderful ability, Grenouille learns how to make his own scents and capture scents from different things. As he travels around the world, leaving a trail of death in his wake, Grenouille's need for olfactory fulfillment prompts him to delve deeper and deeper into his depravity. How far will he go to bottle the most exquisite of scents?

Perfume had been on my list of books to read for a long time. I decided to finally read it because Dan Wells listed it as one of his favorite books at a book signing I recently attended. He reminded me why I was interested in it in the first place: serial killer, period piece, sociopathic antihero. The story was so weird and interesting. I can't think of any other book in which smells are described in such detail or play such an important role. Suskind had a wonderful way with words that really drew me into his world. There were a couple moments in the beginning where more elaborate words were used in an awkward way, but I think that would be more of a translator error. Other than that, the language was excellent and painted a vivid picture of 18th century France in all its horrible, disgusting glory. The heavenly and vile smells were both described masterfully well and Grenouille went around collecting and labeling them as if they were physical objects.

Grenouille was an interesting character. On the exterior, he was pretty nondescript, bordering on ugly. He didn't start out as very handsome and became increasingly malformed as each misfortune presented itself and left its mark on him. Inside, he viewed himself as the highest being. He valued no other person at all and didn't experience love or affection for anyone or anything except scents. His sense of smell was his greatest gift and he mastered everything he could about extracting scents from things and trapping them in oils and perfumes. The detail of these processes were detailed and showed a lot of research about 18th century perfume techniques. Although Grenouille isn't a likeable or relatable character, I still was on his side throughout the novel. Almost everyone who interacted with him either used him for their own gain or were simply pretty horrible people. It was almost comical that these people always met with misfortune and death after Grenouille left them. We also see these people through Grenouille's eyes for the most part, so we simply see how they can be used and discarded for his greater goal: successfully trapping scents. Suskind's writing made it easy to to be on Grenouille's side despite his sociopathic ways.

Perfume was a wonderful and unique novel that mixes fantasy and 18th century France. The shocking ending proved to be horrific and beautiful at the same time. I would love to read other books by Suskind, particularly The Pigeon, a followup novel to Perfume. I highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction who aren't afraid of a twisted story.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

The Night Season

Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, is finally safely locked up so Archie Sheridan can focus on other things. Their love-hate relationship is finally laid to rest and Archie has become much healthier. He no longer pops pills as if they were candy and religiously goes to his therapy sessions. There isn't long to relax because of the torrential, heavy rains causing the Willamette River to come to the cusp of flooding. As a result, drownings are becoming a more frequent occurence and the corpse of a man who died sixty years ago is found, which is possibly a link to a devastating flood that destroyed the city Vanport in 1968. The drownings, upon closer analysis, seem to be linked because of a strange mark found on the palm of each victim. Archie is on the case with quirky, nosy, indomitable Susan Ward. The increasingly bad weather and threatening flood make it harder for them to do their job and easier for the killer to disguise his actions. Can Susan and Archie catch the killer before they become victims themselves?

When I found out that Gretchen Lowell wasn't going to be featured in The Night Season, I was a bit wary of being bored or having this one not measure up to the rest of the series. Her presence is so magnetic and her and Archie's relationship is as sick and twisted as they come. I found out that Chelsea Cain's writing speaks for itself and doesn't need Gretchen Lowell at all to be incredibly addictive. It still has the same fluidity and holds my interest until I'm staying up at all hours of the night just to find out what happens. Gretchen's absence also allowed Archie Sheridan and Susan Ward to develop without her corrupting influence. Archie stopped most of his self destructive behaviors and is as healthy as he can be with extensive liver damage, scars, and no spleen. Susan shows another side of herself when she puts the friends that she has made in the police force over her job getting the latest scoop to publish the paper. She also has a larger role in story than she has in the past. Together, they make an odd, yet strangely harmonious mystery-solving pair.

The new killer is interesting enough with a very strange mode of murder, but the real star of The Night Season is the threatening flood. It makes simple, inane things very difficult and fills each scene with tension that builds until its climax at the end of the novel. It's almost as if the flood is a looming, silent character that is omnipresent and without human emotions. I really liked the prologue at the beginning of the novel that linked a horrific flood from the past to the current flood and unexpectedly tied the loose ends of the mystery together. It showed the mastery of Chelsea Cain's writing that the flood was not only a biproduct of the weather, but also created a tense ambience and was used as an integral part of the mystery.

I enjoyed The Night Season immensely and I highly recommend it to fans of mysteries or books about serial killers. The story is a great mystery that has unexpected twists and turns. This book could be read as a stand alone, but it's better to read the rest of the series to better understand the relationships and motivations of the characters.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

I Am Not a Serial Killer

John Wayne Cleaver is just starting high school in Clayton and he's not like his classmates. His mother runs a mortuary and his father has pretty much been nonexistent. John doesn't relate to anyone at all and doesn't connect with people emotionally. Plus his favorite hobby is researching and telling people about serial killers. He is obsessed with them because he thinks if he doesn't stick to his carefully placed rules, he would be one of them. It's not an unwarranted comparison since he shares many traits with them, including being recently diagnosed as a sociopath by his therapist. His only friend is Max, a talkative and annoying boy, who only serves as a cover for John's antisocial tendencies. Because of his inability to relate with his classmates, bullies frequently bother him and he has to will himself to grin and compliment them instead of gutting them like fish. John is intensely interested in a new development in his town: a serial killer who steals organs has been striking with increasing frequency in his very own town. John compiles a psychological profile on the killer, but some things just don't add up. Is this just a run of the mill serial killer or something more nefarious?

When I started reading this book, I automatically thought that I would be reading about a mini version of Dexter Morgan (from Jeff Lindsay's series and the TV show). To some extend the two are similar, but I was relieved to see that they have distinct differences. John was aware of his tendencies and tried to put rules in place to prevent him from becoming a killer. He would stop himself from staring at people or following people around. If he felt angry at someone, he would pay them a compliment instead of acting out the violent fantasies in his head. The killer inside of him is personified as a monster behind the wall of his rules. I think it's interesting that he sees himself and the killer as two separate beings when he's trying to repress it. Later in the novel, he decides he needs to kill the serial killer in Clayton, so he allows that wall to crumble and lets the monster out. Then, he and the creature blur together and he has to frequently stop himself from giving in to the homicidal urges with innocents in his town. The most interesting aspect of his narrative for me was his sociopathic view of people. He views them as objects and only connects emotionally through creating fear within the other person. It makes his relationships with other people like sick imitations of real ones. For instance, he feels drawn to a girl and I assume it's because he likes her and wants to be her boyfriend. Not so. He make her view him as the only person in the world and then kill her. The fact that John is only in high school makes his view of people all the more chilling. I think John is a bit darker than Dexter despite his age because he is still struggling between being a killer who kills innocents and a killer who kills other murderers.

I was a little disappointed that the villain in the novel turned out to be a supernatural creature. I don't really like my serial killers mixed with demons and the like when it's unexpected, which is the reason why I really hated the third Dexter novel. However, I accepted it and moved on. I did enjoy the rest of the novel and I am looking forward to the second book, Mr. Monster. Despite the violence, I consider the novel appropriate for young adults because it's a sort of homicidal coming of age story. I would also recommend this to fans of the Dexter TV and book series.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins