Quietly devastating and utterly spellbinding, Alex Burunova’s Satisfaction is screening at the Glasgow Film Festival this weekend. Fans of Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount+ will recognise lead actress Emma Laird from her role as Iris, and know that she doesn’t shy from difficult material, though this performance ventures into particularly dark territory.
Set against the sun-washed beauty of the Greek Isles, British composers Lola (Emma Laird) and Philip (Fionn Whitehead) exist together in a relationship defined less by love than by distance and silence. For all the tranquillity of their surroundings, an unbreachable divide spans between them. When Lola meets the enigmatic Elena (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), the fragile equilibrium between Lola and Philip begins to fracture, revealing a much darker portrait of people bound together by trauma.
Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray for all the souls I keep
I love it when a film takes me by surprise. I went into Bury the Devil with modest expectations, shame on me, but it quickly became clear the film was something special. Adam O’Brien’s one-shot possession horror Bury the Devil is a standout at this year’s Frightfest Glasgow festival and comes from the team behind the 2024 festival favourite Mom.
On a dark and stormy evening, young hospice nurse Julia (Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez) helps her client Evelyn (Dawn Ford) prepare for bed for the night. Evelyn is slightly strange, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for someone with dementia. Following a visit from her estranged husband Randall (Bill Rowat), Evelyn's behaviour takes a turn for the worse and Julia begins to realise that all is not well in the house.
As the evening descends into chaos and violence, Julia must fight to survive the night and protect Evelyn. But what is she fighting against? What does Randall want from Evelyn? And is he the most dangerous entity in the house?
Bury the Devil is an intensely creepy film, so much so that the old house and the storm outside deserve credits of their own at the end. As Julia and Evelyn navigate the house, with all of its creaking floorboards and disturbing knocks, we begin to learn more about Evelyn through her artwork and the knickknacks that she collects.
The dynamic between the two women is powerful, despite their having met only that evening, and Canadian-born Martinez is flawless as Julia. Julia’s compassion and Evelyn’s rare moments of clarity contrast sharply with the palpable fear that grows as the film progresses.
What makes the film even more impressive is how it is constructed. After watching both Presenceand Bury the Devil, I think one-shot horror might be my new favourite subgenre. Director Adam O’Brien uses the technique to create a deeply claustrophobic experience, with the camera trailing the actors through every corridor and room of the house and rarely allowing either them or the audience a moment to breathe.
It is an exhausting watch, as you cannot lose focus for a second lest you miss the craft, but it is also exhilarating. I counted just two cuts in the camera work, one through a keyhole and another through a window. While Presence had the advantage of a larger budget and big names attached, Bury the Devil is a truly independent film with a tiny budget, which only adds to its charm.
Not satisfied with this technical feat, O’Brien takes it further through his use of sound. Even when the screen falls into darkness, what we hear becomes as important as what we see. Instead of flashbacks, the backstory emerges through recordings and illustrated diaries, revealing the narrative as the tension continues to build in real time.
For a perfect performance from Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez and for blowing me away in terms of technique, sound and cinematography, I give Bury the Devil a resounding five out of five stars and name it the must-see film of Frightfest Glasgow 2026. In an interview with The Hollywood News, O’Brien shared that the film is the first in an intended trilogy. I very much hope that is the case!
★★★★★
Bury the Devil receives its world premiere at FrightFest Glasgow on 6 March
There was never any question that I’d be watching Companion. As a massive Yellowjackets fan, much of my love for the show comes from Sophie Thatcher’s incredible performance as Natalie. So when Showcase Cinema announced mystery horror screenings, I had a strong suspicion that Presence and Companion would be on the lineup, and I didn’t hesitate to book my tickets immediately.
In Drew Hancock’s feature directorial debut, Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher) first cross paths in an ordinary grocery store encounter before heading off for a weekend retreat at a secluded lakeside cabin. Hosted by Sergey (Rupert Friend), the billionaire boyfriend of Josh’s friend Kat (Megan Suri), the getaway quickly takes a tense turn as it becomes clear that not all of Josh’s friends welcome Iris.
The situation escalates when Sergey is murdered, but this shocking event is only the beginning. As secrets unravel, each guest is forced to confront unsettling truths, turning the weekend into a nightmarish descent into chaos.
Companion is a visually striking film, with every detail meticulously crafted from the stunning cinematography and breathtaking scenery to Iris’s impeccable costumes and the seamless special effects. I almost let my guard down, questioning whether this was truly a horror film, until the moment a certain characters was bathed in blood, in scenes that instantly evoked memories of Carrie.
The performances are top-tier across the board. Sophie Thatcher is phenomenal as Iris, but it’s Jack Quaid and Megan Suri who truly excel at making Josh and Kat almost unbearably loathsome.
More than anything, it was just great to watch a horror film with a solid, well-thought-out plot. I won’t lie, I spent most of the night after watching Companion running it over in my head, not just caught up in the twists but totally unsettled by the moral dilemmas it dredges up.
As always with horror films, I made sure to go in knowing as little as possible, and I firmly believe that this is the best way to experience Companion. The twists and revelations hit hardest when discovered in real time on the big screen, completely free of spoilers.
Blending elements of sci-fi,
horror, and dark comedy,
Companion explores themes of artificial intelligence, morality, and the darker aspects of human nature.
An excellent five out of five stars. Director
Drew Hancock already has another horror film in the works, here’s hoping it delivers the same thrilling originality and sheer entertainment as this debut.
Steven Soderbergh famously talked about the three-shot rule in a 2017 interview with Amy Taubin. "After the first three shots, I know whether this person knows what they’re doing or they don't", he explained. I was reminded of this as I watched the opening scenes of Soderbergh's latest film, Presence, this film is masterful.
Presence kicks off in an eerily vacant house. The camera moves through its empty rooms, gliding from floor to floor, lingering at windows just long enough to hint at what’s going on outside. It took me a minute to catch on, but by the second scene, it hit me: these shots are long. Really long. Characters drift in and out of view, and conversations are captured almost by accident, like the camera’s just there, quietly eavesdropping.
An estate agent arrives, followed by a family of four who buy the house. Slowly, it transforms from a barren shell to a cozy, lived-in space. Everything seems perfectly normal except for Chloe (Callina Liang, Tell Me Everything), the teenage daughter. She keeps staring directly into the camera, wide-eyed and visibly unsettled. There’s also a painter who refuses to step foot in one of the rooms.
A creeping unease settles in as it becomes unmistakably clear thar the camera is no mere observer. It’s a silent participant, a character in the film with its own fears, its own motives. And as the story unfolds, you can’t help but feel that its gaze is anything but neutral; its intentions are rooted in a darker and more disturbing truth.
Presence taps into fear on multiple levels. It’s got the familiar ghost-story thrills - jumps, creaks, that creeping tension - but it’s also something deeper, the insidious sense of the true potential for evil that resides in ordinary human beings.
The cast is small, with a core cast of just five people, but it’s a powerhouse ensemble. Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan, as Rebecca and Chris Payne, bring a perfect contrast. Their characters are polar opposites: different personalities, opposite moral compasses, wildly conflicting parenting styles. It’s a subtle but brilliant dynamic that anchors the tension in the film.
Callina Liang owns the screen as Chloe, and it’s impossible to look away. The young actress commands every moment, effortlessly blending a haunting sense of innocence with the heavy weight of grief. It’s clear from the start that Chloe figures everything out long before anyone else does, and Liang nails that subtle shift perfectly. She doesn’t need to say much, her facial expressions say it all, capturing that eerie awareness that they are not alone in the house.
For a while, I thought I had the mystery figured out, but there was something oddly satisfying about getting it wrong. I was close but Soderbergh succeeded in concealing his final hand.
As the credits rolled, I realised one final thing, and I was totally fine with it. Fine with all the unanswered questions, the plotlines left to wither. I wouldn't call them 'red herrings', but there were many threads left up to the audience to answer on their own. It was a subtle message that much of what happens inside our homes is noise, that we need to focus on what truly matters, because life’s way too short to add more to our burden.
With impeccable direction (and some clever misdirection), stunning camerawork, strong performances, and enough scares to keep you on edge, Presence has it all. Consider this my enthusiastic five-star rating, along with a full mea culpa, because I genuinely didn’t think Steven Soderbergh had it in him to nail a ghostly horror film with this much finesse. I was wrong, and I’m here for it.★★★★★
The inhabitants of a remote Icelandic fishing village are no strangers to hardship. Reeling from the loss of one of their own, they are cut off from the outside world during an especially hard winter, with temperatures plummeting and provisions scarce. As they gear up for a perilous journey out to sea, young widow Eva and the fishermen are faced with an impossible choice when they witness a shipwreck before their eyes: do they save the doomed sailors and risk depleting their meagre resources, or do they prioritise their own survival?
Sometimes there is no right answer and once the crew make their decision, they have to live with the consequences of what they have allowed in to their tiny community.
Set in the 19-century and starring Odessa Young (The Stand) and Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), The Damned is a slow-burn folk horror that is as shocking as it is frightening. It is a keen character study as we witness how the morality of their actions weighs so deeply on the crew.
Rarely do we see the true cost of characters' decisions and actions on screen, be it the decision to save, to steal or to survive, or not to.
The cast handle this burden admirably.
Siobhan Finneran is honestly a national treasure and shines in her role as cook and housekeeper Helga. Odessa Young steals the spotlight in a standout performance among an impressive cast featuring some of the finest British acting talent. She is spectacular and you absolutely believe Eva's mounting bewilderment and discomfort as the story progresses.
The Damned is a beautiful film featuring wintery scenes of the fishing village, the mountains and the unforgiving sea. Daytime scenes, some with blinding midwinter sun, are juxtaposed with the creeping and relentless darkness of the long winter nights.
I love that this is a dark film set in dark times and yet every scene is so well lit. Cinematographer Eli Arenson expertly uses light and shadow to highlight the bleakness of Icelandic midwinter, all while maintaining exceptional detail and clarity in every scene.
Director Thordur Palsson is masterful in his delivery of this film, skillfully keeping the true nature of the threat facing the fishermen just out of view. Never have I felt such a strong desire to shake a creature by its shoulders and demand that it show its face.
Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place.
"The only thing I know is that the living are always more dangerous than the dead" - Daniel (Joe Cole).
Drawing deeply on Icelandic folklore, The Damned is haunting and disturbing, right up to it's shocking and unpredictable end. I sat with my mouth open in disbelief for far longer than I anticipated, wondering how I'd been so deceived.
For achieving the perfect horror scorecard on plot, scares, atmosphere, acting and cinematography, I give The Damned a superb five out of five stars. I recommend to all fans of folk-horror and will absolutely be keeping an eye on director Thordur Palsson in future.★★★★★
The Damned will be available in UK and Irish cinemas from 10th January 2025
Rural Yorkshire, 1970s. Starve Acre was meant to deliver an idyllic, countryside life for Richard Willoughby (Matt Smith, House of the Dragon), his wife Juliette (Morfydd Clark, Saint Maud) and their young son Owen. Inherited from Richard's father and situated on the edge of the Moors, the rural homestead held the promise of an unburdened life, despite Richard's unhappy childhood memories there.
All of that is thrown into disarray when Owen's temperament slowly changes, robbing him of his sweet nature and delivering a cruel and changeable boy. That is just the beginning of the family's trauma. Based on the award-winning 2019 novel by Andrew Michael Hurley and written and directed by BAFTA nominee Daniel Kokotajlo (Apostasy), Starve Acre is an atmospheric British folk horror that reaches into the depths of grief and the lengths people will go to in order to find peace again.
Starve Acre is delightfully creepy and very unsettling. It is subtle and slow-burning, with the central conceit dawning far too late on the audience for them to escape its horror. There are scenes that I fear I'll never be able to scrub from my mind, specifically those involving a miniature pony and a terrifying hare. It is years since I have recoiled in horror during a film.
Curiously, the homestead Starve Acre is itself a character in the film. Looming and foreboding, it is not so much a haunted house as a seething, malevolent entity. It seems unusual that Richard would return there, given his intensely unhappy (and frankly, unsafe) childhood but the way the land calls to Richard, Juliette's visions and Owen's cruelty foreshadow the tragedy that will beset the family.
Starve Acre is a beautiful film, assuming you find stark vistas of the barren Yorkshire Moors to be aesthetically pleasing. The original score and music by Matthew Herbert (The Wonder) is a moving accompaniment, especially the arrangement of “It Hails, It Rains” in the closing credits.
There is no shame in admitting that I watched the film for Doctor Who alum Matt Smith but the whole cast including Erin Richards (Gotham) deliver fine performances and look fantastic in their folksy 70s wardrobe.
I give Starve Acre an excellent five out of five stars. Drawing on the remote and foreboding setting of the Moors, this is the best on offer in the British folk horror genre. Director Daniel Kokotajlo has delivered a stylish and atmospheric film that fans of Midsommar and folk horror will love. ★★★★★
Starve Acre will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 6 September 2024 followed by a release on BFI Player, BFI Blu-ray and digital release on 21 October 2024.
Trailer: Starve Acre (2023), dir. Daniel Kokotajlo
On August 4th, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found dead in their home, brutally slaughtered with an axe. The main suspect was Lizzie Borden, Andrew's own daughter. One hundred and thirty one years later, I decided to watch The Inhabitant on exactly the same day.
They say that violence runs through the Borden family bloodline and that descendants of the Borden family continue to live in Fall River, Massachusetts, unaware of their dark lineage. Tara (Odessa A'zion, Hellraiser) is one such descendant. The teen field hockey player begins to experience disturbing nightmares and visions, convincing her that she is going to kill her family.
When people start disappearing in Fall River, including both Tara's main field hockey rival and a woman Tara babysits for, local police begin to zone in on one suspect.
Can Tara escape the Borden family curse?
With themes of mental illness, family legacy, and inescapable fate, The Inhabitant is the story of Tara's journey to the edge of darkness.
Directed by Jerren Lauder (Stay Out of the F**king Attic and written by Kevin Bacher (Jaws: The Inside Story), The Inhabitant is an unexpected teen scream triumph.
Odessa A'zion is mesmerising in her role as Tara. She commands her every scene and I liked that the viewer only gets to know as much as Tara knows. Dermot Mulroney and Leslie Bibb star as Tara's parents Ben and Emily and Lizze Broadway is Tara's best friend Suzy. Together they lead us down the garden path, deceiving the viewer as each in turn gaslights, manipulates and lies to the others.
It's not often that a horror film manages to mislead me to such an extent but The Inhabitant absolutely did and I was thrilled to get to the end and realise I'd been completely and effectively conned.
The Inhabitant is visually lush with great production design by Meg Cabell, cinematography by Brian Sowell and custome design by Summer Moore. There is a great use of light and shadow, giving the impression that scenes occur both in 1892 and present day simultaneously.
There is no time, only darkness, evil and mental decline
There is a feeling of disquiet as the film progresses and the viewer struggles to pinpoint what type of horror this is. Supernatural, psychological, slasher? This serves to make the film genuinely scary as you're never sure what to expect.
I give The Inhabitant an excellent five out of five stars. Highly recommended if you like unpredictable, and misleading independent horror. I enjoyed Jerren Lauder's direction / misdirection and very much enjoyed the ending. ★★★★★
The Inhabitantis coming to digital download from 14th August and can be pre-ordered on Apple Store here.
Not many films render me silent, staring into space and trying to piece together what I've just seen. Root Letter is a gritty, uncomfortably realistic film that delves into the heart of both the opioid crisis and the lasting effects of families torn apart by deportation. Despite the heavy topics, director Sonja O'Hara lifts the weight from viewers' shoulders, telling the story through the letters of pen pals Carlos (Danny Ramirez, Top Gun: Maverick) and Sarah (Keana Marie, Dash & Lily).
Carlos and Sarah are randomly paired through a school pen pal programme. Carlos lives in severe poverty, working his way through school while his mother has been deported to Mexico and his father lives in another state. Sarah is bringing herself up while witnessing the horror of her mother being eaten alive by an opioid addiction. Sarah is already living on the edge when her best friend Caleb decides to get in on the opioid-selling game with the dangerous and unhinged Jackson.
And then Sarah's letters to Carlos stop. He decides to carry on with his life, settling back into the grind of working to survive, but is stopped in his tracks when one last, anguished letter arrives from Sarah. Now, with Sarah missing, Carlos must retrace her steps and try to piece together what happened in those final days before she disappeared.
Based on the best-selling Japanese video game by Kadokawa Games and written by Tribeca Film Festival-winning screenwriter David Ebeltoft, Root Letter is a stunning feat of misdirection and devastating storytelling. There are no mansions or fancy cars in the lives of these teenagers, just a desperate drive to get through each day and make it out alive.
Throughout the film, Dan McBride's cinematography lifts the viewer from the depths of addiction, poverty and betrayal to the love, light and emotion of teenage friendships and connections made. The juxtaposition of dark and light makes the reality ever more jarring.
Danny Ramirez and Keana Marie give powerful performances as Carlos and Sarah, utterly believable and commanding every scene that they are in. I liked Ramirez in Top Gun: Maverick and Look Both Ways and now he is firmly on my list of young actors to watch.
I give Root Letter an excellent five out of five stars. This gritty thriller is perfect for fans of Euphoria and those who prefer a healthy serving of dark reality with their teen mysteries. In the meantime, I'm off to check out Doomsday which both director Sonja O'Hara and cinematographer Dan McBride worked on.★★★★★
I've finished Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris. I wanted to say 'finally finished' but I realise that it only took me two weeks to read. I have a bad habit of not finishing books on Bosnia. After studying both the war and genocide, and visiting Mostar and Sarajevo, I find the topic quite harrowing and exhausting because I know what's coming. Somehow I managed to push through with this novel but I'm quite depleted.
This is going to be a case of the book being far, far better than my review because I'm battling to separate this excellent book from all the emotions it's provoked in me.
Black Butterflies is superb. It is a fictional account by Priscilla Morris but she explains in the afterword that the characters are based on members of her own family, specifically her great-uncle and her maternal grandparents. The book is exceptionally well-researched and transports the reader to the siege of Sarajevo amid the Bosnian War.
Zora Kočović is an artist living in the cosmopolitan, multi-cultural city of Sarajevo when war breaks out and the city is placed under siege on 5 April 1992. Her husband Franjo is able to escape with Zora's mother to live with their daughter in England but Zora decides to stay behind, to continue her work as an artist and teacher and to look after both their home and her mother's apartment.
It is a decision with dire consequences.
Black Butterflies takes place in the first year of the Siege of Sarajevo and delves into the hunger, cold and desperation of Sarajevans as both water and electricity supplies are cut off, food and water become scarce, and Serbs relentlessly shell the city. We spend endless days with Zora and her neighbours as the seasons bleed into one another and the friends encounter unfathomable losses.
Morris does such a good job of fleshing out the characters of the book, weaving their various nationalities into their stories as we meet the Serbs, Croats and Muslims that lived in Sarajevo before the war (Morris explains that she does not use the term 'Bosniak' in the book as she does not believe that it would have been used by Zora in Sarajevo in 1992. This corresponds with reports that the term emerged in the mid-1990s).
Zora makes daily visits to the Vijećnica (City Hall) and Baščaršija (the old bazaar), she muses about bridges and the connections between people, and she works to resolve the often painful memories from her childhood.
Black Butterflies is a rare gem that combines historical events with deep character study. I loved, and lived, every minute of this book.
Lasting 1425 days (over 3 years and 10 months), the siege of Sarajevo remains the longest siege of a major city in modern history. The scale of deprivation and loss endured by Sarajevans during that time is unfathomable but their determination and resourcefulness equally admirable . I love that Morris chose to write about these events and look forward to more of her work.
I give Black Butterflies a superb five out of five stars and recommend to fans of historic fiction.
★★★★★
I received an electronic copy of this graphic novel from Book Sirens. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me
There's something about certain dystopian or post-apocalyptic novels that draws me in, keeps me reading into the quiet hours of night and doesn't let me go until I'm finished. I knew I had to read Jane Hennigan's Moths when a fellow Goodreads reviewer John recommended it, stating that it was going onto his list of favourite dystopian novels alongside a favourite of mine A Boy, His Dog and the End of the World. I went in with such high expectations - usually a bad idea - but in this case, my impossible expectations were exceeded.
I lived, breathed and slept Moths in the two weeks that I listened to it and might have flown through it sooner had I been reading it. I took long lunch time walks out on the marsh as I listened to this dark tale about nature gone wrong, knowing that I needed to draw it out for as long as possible. I didn’t want to finish this book, could think of little else in those two weeks and needed to know what would come next.
Moths is set about forty years into our future, following a catastrophic time when the tiny toxic threads of a previously unknown species of moths begins to kill men or fill them with uncontrollable, murderous rage. Society breaks down, systems fail, changes are made to ensure that both men and women can survive in this strange new world. Most of all, sacrifices are made and controls put in place to ensure that men are not exposed to the unrelenting threat of moth fibres that permeate the entire world.
The future world of Moths is a deeply horrifying place but I’m hesitant to go into details of the structures and practices because I want other readers to go in as blind as possible, to experiences the twists and reveals as I did. I can say that it is at once feminist and misanthropic, that it reminded me of both The Handmaids Tale and The Testaments and that I’ll be reading both Vox and The Power now due to favourable comparisons with those books.
I can also say confidently that it is unique and inventive enough to stand out in the world of dystopian fiction and that, like John, I will be adding this to my list of favourite dystopian books ever. I am absolutely thrilled that the sequel Toxxic is coming out in July!
I felt that Hennigan portrayed the effects of long-term institutionalisation very well as well as the consequential infantalisation of those who are incarcerated, how decades of medication would render them as empty shells. I didn’t quite agree with the complete breakdown of the electric grid, mobile grid and internet but it is clear that this is an issue that will divide dystopian writers and fans for ages to come. Just how much will society collapse following a catastrophe?
I listened to Moths narrated by Juanita McMahon on Audiobooks.com. Juanita’s narration was superb and absolutely contributed to my enjoyment of Moths. I liked how she changed her voice for each of the characters, making them distinctive and nuanced. I definitely recommend listening to this one on audiobook.
I give Moths a superb five out of five stars and recommend it to all fans of dystopian, post-apocalyptic fiction. I cannot wait for the release of Toxxic and will be following Jane Hennigan's writing career with great interest.
★★★★★
I was gifted a copy of the audiobook by the author Jane Hennigan. I will always give an honest and true review no matter whether booked are gifted or purchased by me.
Do you ever feel like you're not like everyone else? That while all the other unicorns are all sparkles and rainbows, you'd rather stab everyone? Me too. The good news? We're not alone. Meet Stabby the very cool unicorn.
The Story
The world's surliest unicorn Stabby is the star of Kaz Windness's graphic novel If UR Stabby. It's a quick read but the kind that becomes a cult favourite because it's perfect to read when you're in the mood to stab someone where it hurts.
The Art
Kaz Windness has both written and illustrated If UR Stabby and the artwork of the sardonic and surly unicorn is cute as a button.
Stan Zone
Recommended if you like: grumpy, sardonic, anti-heroes.
Verdict
Stabby was a fan favourite from Mother Goth Rhymes and it's only right that he got his own comic. I enjoyed this a lot and will definitely keep an eye on Kaz Windness in future.
Authors often share their thoughts at the end of contemporary YA novels, explaining why the issues were important to them and the inspiration for their writing. It's interesting that Charles A Bush chose to share those thoughts at the beginning of Every Variable of Us. The reader knows, from the outset, to expect depictions of racism, homophobia, poverty and crime from the onset but they also understand why he wrote this novel.
Every Variable of Us is one of the most gritty novels I've read in years. It goes places The Hate U Give didn't dare to tread and explores the life of a severely underprivileged Philly teenager as she experiences the loss of her future and navigates her sexuality.
Alexis Duncan is a star basketball player on her way to a college scholarship. Rising above her mother's drug addiction and a life in and out of foster homes, Alexis is set to escape the confines of her upbringing and become a superstar. That is until she is shot in a gang shooting. Barely able to walk properly, Alexis needs to explore other options for college admission, and fast, before she becomes another statistic.
Alexis makes the shocking (to her) discovery that sports is not the only way to get college scholarships and she joins the school STEM team as a reserve. Has she got what it takes to go from jock to swot? More importantly, who is the enigmatic Aamani Chakrabarti and why is Alexis developing feelings for her?
I related on so many levels to this novel and it might help to explain why. I spent time in care and absolutely thought I had no future after school until I was made aware of the possibility of a scholarship to university which changed my life. The descriptions of poverty, neglect, parental drug abuse, the contradictory experience in care homes, and living on the street were especially authentic in Every Variable of Us and very well researched. The chaos that Alexis experienced on an every day basis is a chaos that is familiar to many children living in poverty.
Bush also explores life in gangs and the allure and often inevitability of gang membership amongst deprived teens. While Every Variable of Us is about Alexis and Aamani, it is also about Britt, Alexis's best friend who shared Alexis's past but not her future.
Every Variable of Us features a diverse range of characters including a Black sportsgirl protagonist, bisexual and gay teens, a Muslim girl and a neurodivergent boy. I appreciated seeing underprivileged teens on page as books often focus on unattainably privileged and wealthy teens.
It wasn't always easy to read Every Variable of Us and this is why Bush's foreword was especially well placed. With on-page racism and homophobia, including significant slurs, I had to stop and think whether these words were appropriate in this novel. I feel that the depictions were realistic and that characters displayed character growth in moving on from these positions, or moving on from those who continued to hold them.
I give Every Variable of Us a superb five out of five stars and recommend to fans of Angie Thomas, Jewell Parker Rhodes and Brandy Colbert. I cannot wait to see what Bush writes next.
★★★★★
Every Variable of Us is released by North Star Editions on 1 March 2022 and is available to purchase on Amazon (affiliate link; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using this link at no extra cost to you).
I received an electronic copy of this graphic novel from Netgalley. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me
I think what I love most about graphic novels is the ability to pick you up and transport you to incredible, fascinating worlds at the flick of a pen. Comic books present a lurid, impossible view that can alter your consciousness in a matter of pages. I was reminded of this when I picked up writer Vero Cazot and illustrator Lucy Mazel's Olive - Volume 1 - By the Light of a Blue Moon, a tale about the incredibly rich inner world of a neurodivergent young woman that somehow receives a real life visitor.
The Story
Seventeen-year-old Olive has always received a lot of support at her school, with administration respecting her neurodivergency and allowing Olive to board alone. That all changes with the arrival of her room mate and the crisis it unearths in Olive's world.
But that's okay.
When things in the outer world get too overwhelming, Olive can escape to her own imaginary world complete with a laboratory, observatory and her favourite place of all, a dreamarium. It is all wonderful until one day Olive discovers a visitor.
The Art
The art in Olive is absolutely beautiful. Lucy Mazel captured Olive's inner world perfectly as well as illustrating the trauma of her outer world.
Verdict
Like Oliver, writer Vero Cazot is not keen on oral communication and prefers to express herself through the written word. Together with Lucy Mazel, she has created a dreamy, magical illustration of the inner world of a neurodivergent person that I found especially relatable.
I give Olive a superb five out of five stars and will definitely be reading the other three graphic novels in the series.
★★★★★
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Amazon (affiliate link; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using this link at no extra cost to you)
I received an electronic copy of this graphic novel from Netgalley. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.
I love it when books teach me something I didn't know about myself. For example, I had no idea that I loved spooky short stories with a definite historical slant but then I read Judi Daykin's Wayland Babes and now I know. Based on the terrible tale of the Babes in the Wood, Wayland Babes takes us to Norfolk's Wayland Woods and all the terrible things that have happened over the years following sightings of the ghostly siblings.
If I had to define Wayland Babes in two words, it would be 'delightful' and 'thrilling'. I looked forward to every moment when I could pick up the book again and I really enjoyed travelling through time from the English Civil War through the Blitz to the current era.
There are five short stories in the collection, each linked to a sighting of the Wayland Babes. Each tale was spooky and scary and I loved that none were predictable. I was incredibly inspired by the historical aspects of the stories, learning more about the English Civil War and Victorian sensibilities than ever before. What I enjoyed most is the local setting - Norfolk is not far from where I live and I can't wait to visit again. I might just avoid visiting during winter or in the dark or during times of national crisis and I'll definitely avoid the Wayland Woods!
I loved Wayland Babes and give an emphatic five out of five stars. I consider it high praise to say that I thought I wasn't a short story fan before and now I am. I also thought I wasn't interested in reading fiction set during the English Civil War but I was clearly wrong there too. Wayland Babes was written during the Great British Winter Lockdowns of 2020 / 2021 and I hope that author Judi Daykin enjoyed as much of an escape in writing the stories as I did reading them. Highly recommend to lovers of spooky, historic ghost stories!
★★★★★
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Wayland Babes is available on Amazon (note: this link is an affiliate link; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).
I received an electronic copy of this novel for the purposes of this review. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.
Wayland Babes Blog Tour
I'm taking part in the Wayland Babes blog tour. Definitely visit the other blogs on the tour for more reviews and other snippets.
August 2021: I'm sitting beside the pool on a long-awaited summer holiday and I cannot lie, it's bliss. I feel so fortunate to finally be away from gloomy, cold England where summer 2021 never seemed to arrive. I've decided that historical fiction is my pick of holiday genre for the week and The Boy Behind the Wall, debut YA novel by Maximillian Jones, is my first book.
Releasing on Welbeck Kids on 14 October 2021 and set in the 1960s, The Boy Behind the Wall is about two boys, Harry and Jakob, living on the West and East sides of the Berlin Wall respectively. The boys become penpals after Harry sends a helium balloon over the wall with two notes attached. The balloon is shot down, of course, but the notes find their way into Jakob's hands.
So begins a tale of friendship, mystery and sabotage set during the fraught and dark times of divided Berlin. The action is non-stop from the very first page and this book is near impossible to put down.
Perhaps the best thing about The Boy Behind the Wall is the characters that Jakob and Harry meet along the way and the stories they have to tell. There is the comic store owner who tells Harry about how Jews were treated during the war and the cafe owner who tells Jakob about his time in the resistance. Throughout the novel is the notion that a society on the losing end of a world war was further brutalised by an authoritarian regime.
I remember watching with incredulity as the Berlin Wall came down. Now The Boy Behind the Wall can give YA readers a glimpse of what it was like to live during that time and how it felt for a thousands of people whose families were torn apart when the wall went up.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Boy Behind the Wall and give it a superb five out of five stars. I recommend to fans of historical YA as well as those who love a good spy thriller.
★★★★★
I was intrigued about the identity of author Maximilian Jones and have discovered that the author is fictional! From the LoveReading4Schools website:
Welbeck Flame and Tibor Jones have collaborated to develop this book with a talented team of writers, including two German editors, who work collaboratively with a dynamic and creative approach echoing the TV script-writing model. The Boy Behind the Wall, and its sequel publishing in 2022, will be published under the fictional author name Maximillian Jones.
The Boy Behind the Wall is available to pre-order on Amazon and Bookshop.org (note: both these links are affiliate links; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).
I received an electronic copy of this novel for the purposes of this review. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.
One of the absolute truths about judging novels is that a review can in no way adequately capture a book and this is never more true than in Morowa Yejidé's incredible Creatures of Passage. Compared to Toni Morrison's Beloved, Creatures of Passage is a beautifully written, lyrical novel that deals with exceptionally heavy topics. As such, it must come with trigger warnings for child rape, murder, grief, racism, slavery and genocide.
Creatures of Passage is a tale about several lives torn apart by the actions of men. Nephthys Kinwell has been floating through life, cast adrift by the unexplained murder of her twin brother Osiris and burdened by the unbearable inertia of one.
Her alcohol-soaked existence is disturbed by the arrival at her front door of her great-nephew Dash. Dash has been plagued by visions of something he witnessed at school and he has been holding conversations with a ghost on the banks of the Anacostia River. It will take Nephthys longer to figure it out than the reader, but Dash is in grave danger.
Critical to Creatures of Passage is a magical realism that is so well written that the reader can't help but suspend disbelief. Of course magic, ghosts and post-life experiences are real in a novel that puzzles together the whole of existence in 1970s Washington DC from ancient cultures, through genocide, slavery, Jim Crow and racism, to murder and child abuse.
Creatures of Passage is a brutal read and I can understand why readers might feel unable to complete it. It raises the question of how do you talk about child sexual abuse, especially in fiction? In her unflinching style, Yejidé digs deep into the planning, intention, manipulation and delusion of the paedophile. These are not accidental events but a planned assault against a vulnerable individual. I once found myself in the crosshairs of such a person and despite my own trauma and triggers, I carried on reading to access that insight.
While this is but one topic in Creatures of Passage, Yejidé treats all of the other topics with a similar brutality. It's been a while since I've highlighted passages with such regularity in a fiction novel, moved as I was by the concepts and writing.
"And there would be latter-day nationalists and citizen circles and patriots, who from the forgotten fiefdoms of the territories heard the claxon bells of an orange-skinned king"
"And here Rosetta stopped, panting and dizzy, because she knew - as all the abused do - that there were no nouns or verbs or grammatical constructs to describe the depths of her outrage and pain"
I give Creatures of Passage a superb five out of five stars. This book stopped me in my tracks, causing an existential discomfort and making me contemplate the sheer unfairness of it all. Recommended for fans of literature that pushes the reader to contemplate the big issues.
★★★★★
Creatures of Passage is available on Amazon and Bookshop.org (note: both these links are affiliate links; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).
I received an electronic copy of this novel for the purposes of this review. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.
A short time ago, Archie Lox was a normal boy living in London. That all changed when he saw a young girl, Inez, being chased by assassins and he followed her into the Merge. The Merge is an alternative dimension full of danger, peril and the aforementioned axe-and-knife-wielding murderers. It is also where Archie learns that he is a locksmith of rare, considerable talent and that he might be the one to unlock the most complicated lock of all.
Archie, Inez and the band of thespians travel to Cornan, the capital of the Sapphire realm. There they will put on the performance of their lives, both on stage and during the Vote of Alignment. The whole safety of the Merge rests of their shoulders and Archie will learn just how important his role is. He'll also get to play a game or two of grop - an extravagant combination of basketball, football and utter mayhem - while eluding those pesky assassins. He may or may not succeed in either endeavour.
I thoroughly enjoyed the festival atmosphere of Cornan, with its intrigues and drama, atmosphere and performances. Archibald Lox and the Vote of Alignment truly transports the reader away to a different place, far, far away from the real world. I was also completely unprepared for that reveal at the end!
The Archibald Lox series is exactly what the world needs right now. It is inventive, magical and fantastical, terrifically readable and a lot of fun. All the books in the series are short, recommended for even the most reluctant readers, while those who prefer more hefty tomes can binge the full trilogy in one volume. The best thing about coming to the end of The Missing Princess trilogy? This is only volume one and the next book in the series, Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt will be released on 1 July 2021.
I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and give Archibald Lox and the Vote of Alignment a superb five out of five stars. Highly recommended for fans of superior middle grade fantasy fiction.
★★★★★
Support local bookshops and visit the Addicted to Media YA Fiction Bookshop to see my recommendations. All links and widgets in this post are affiliate links. I will earn a small commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you.
It's takes a lot to render me speechless but director Cody Calahan's The Oak Room is a very clever horror film that had my mind reeling for ages afterwards as I tried to piece the plot together in my mind. It's a story within a story within a story, reminiscent of Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, this time with an actual plot. The Oak Room starring Breaking Bad alumnusRJ Mitte is a slow-burn horror with an absolute killer of a reveal and I predict that it will be one of my favourite horror films of 2021.
A drifter walks into a bar moments before closing time. He's not exactly welcome and he owes the bar-owner a great debt. Keeper of secrets and confidant Paul (Peter Outerbridge, Saw VI) does what any good bar-owner would do and snitches on the drifter to some very nasty people. Far from phased, the Steve (RJ Mitte) offers to tell him a story which he promises will release him from his debt. Intrigued, Paul agrees to listen while he finishes off the closing up.
As Steve says, ‘a story is worth a thousand words’ and he begins to weave a tale about another bar, The Oak Room, and a very convoluted tale involving another drifter, another bar man and a case of mistaken identity.
Of course, that is all I can divulge because The Oak Room is a film that must not be spoiled.
Set in two bars in the depth of a Canadian snowstorm, The Oak Room is surprisingly bright with rich, lurid colours from the neon lights of the bar paraphernalia. The oversaturated colours and snowy conditions lend the film a claustrophobic feel and add to the creeping sense of impending doom as the film reaches it’s climax.
That breathless, heart stuttering feeling is definitely helped along by Steph Copeland’s soundtrack of eerie strings, sinister bass and devastating lyrics. If you loved The Oak Room soundtrack, check out the Soundcloud widget below.
Anyone who ever watched Breaking Bad will know that RJ Mitte can act but he was excellent in this film. He has the most expressive eyes, perfect for the capricious Steve and his tale of woe. Likewise, Peter Outerbridge was great in his role as Paul, a man whose fortunes are certainly altered throughout the night. Ari Millen (Orphan Black) and Martin Roach round of a fine cast who keep the audience guessing right up to the end.
The colours, the music, the atmosphere and plot, I liked this film a lot.
The Oak Room is the kind of film where you're best going in with as little information as possible and proves yet again why we need to support independent film. I give The Oak Room an excellent five out of five stars. Cody Calahan (Let Her Out) has created a very clever yet subtle horror film and I look forward to discovering what he does next. ★★★★★
The Oak Room will be released on digital download from April 26 in the UK (Lightbulb Film Distribution), from April 27 in Canada (Black Fawn Distribution) and from April 28 (also Lightbulb Film Distribution) in Australia and New Zealand.
The Oak Room - Original Soundtrack by Steph Copeland
How do you escape the inevitable, when you don't know what you're running from? How do you live through the worst possible experience a human can face and come out intact on the other end? How do you write about a masterpiece of a Swedish film without giving away the entire plot? These are the questions flying around in my head after watching Johannes Nyholm's fantasy horror Koko-Di Koko-Da.
Koko-Di Koko-Da is about a young couple on holiday with their daughter when tragedy strikes and there's just two of them left. With the event threatening to tear them to pieces, the couple takes a camping trip to try find their way back to each other. What they find instead is that they're stuck in a perpetual loop of horror as a sideshow artist (Danish rockstar Peter Belli) and his troupe of misfits arrive to terrorise and humiliate them. Day after day, they are stuck in the same pattern, inevitably tumbling towards the same terrible conclusion.
Part live action film, part puppet show, Koko-Di Koko-Da is utterly spectacular. It reminds me of The Babadook, the film that made me fall in love with horror back in 2014 and the puppet scenes also remind me of the brilliant Impetigore.
There isn't a single moment when Koko-Di Koko-Da releases it's closed-fisted grip on your heart; it is relentless and painful to watch, buoyed by the performances from Leif Edlund Johansson as Tobias and Ylva Gallon as Elin.
A Carnival of Emotions
Koko-Di Koko-Da is an emotional rollercoaster of a film, dragging the viewer along with Tobias and Elin's terrible journey. Grief is an utterly surreal experience; every day is a complete dumpster fire as wave after wave of devastation slowly takes you out. There are times when you question your sanity, when you simply can't fathom going on for a minute longer and other times when you are so angry that you feel it might physically devour you from within. You are never so alone as you are with your grief but loss has the added injustice of watching your loved ones in pain and being utterly powerless to do a single thing about it. And then you wake up again the next morning and start all over again.
Koko-Di Koko-Da captures this endless cycle of despair with surreal, utterly morbid clarity.
It's a long time since I've watched a horror film this perfect and I give
Koko-Di Koko-Da a superb five out of five stars. Absolutely recommended.
★★★★★
A Shudder Exclusive, Koko-Di Koko-Da premieres on Shudder on 18 March 2021. The film is in Swedish with English subtitles.
With impeccable direction (and some clever misdirection), stunning camerawork, strong performances, and enough scares to keep you on edge, Presence has it all. Consider this my enthusiastic five-star rating, along with a full mea culpa, because I genuinely didn’t think 
For achieving the perfect 
I give Root Letter an excellent five out of five stars. This gritty 
