Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are

Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are

by Kathryn Foxfield

 

It's possibly the last episode of the reality show It's Behind You and the producer needs to it be amazing so she locks five teens into a series of "haunted" caves with a diary cam and one cameraman to try and survive a night with the "Puckered Maiden". Those who last the night without trying to escape will share a $10,000 prize. 

Lex is determined to be the sole survivor of the night and take that money to travel the world. She needs to figure out ways to scare the other four teens to leave the caves early to help guarantee her win. Being the skeptic that she is, she figures that she can handle anything that the producer can throw at her.

But things aren't what they seem when some of the contestants have a history with the caves, the producer is trying to save her career, and it's possible there is something in the caves that no one had predicted.

As the night goes on, things go more and more wrong and a simple scary night turns deadly. 

Can the teens survive a journey that was just meant to scare them?

Final thoughts: Upon looking into this book for this review, I discovered that this is the exact same book as It's Behind You published by the author just a year and a half before this release date. I can't understand why the re-release with a different title. With regards to the book itself, it's pretty light and empty. The edits and shifts can be very confusing and the story and characters are just incomplete. It's rushed and feels like the outline for a movie or series treatment, as if Foxfield is trying to sell the premise to Netflix or a movie company to create a franchise. I got through it quickly but that was mostly because I was speed reading to get to the end instead of really getting involved in the story.

Rating: 2 (ish) out of 5

ARC from NetGalley

The Facts of Midlife

 

The Facts of Midlife

by Robyn Peterman

 

Of Cages and Crowns

Of Cages and Crowns

by Brianna Joy Crump

 

Monroe Benson was born with the gift of fire. As a Goddess Touched girl, Monroe is bond for the capital of her country once the prince comes of age. It is her fate to fight to the death to become the next queen of Erydia.

As one of ten girls, she is destined to either be queen or be dead.

While Monroe has no desire to be queen, she has no choice but to go to the capital and fight to live. As one with the mark of the Goddess, she must go and fight for the hand of the prince.

But it's not just the other nine girls that Monroe has to fear. The current queen and mother of the prince has really enjoyed the power of being in charge. Her husband is so afraid of her and her power that he has let her take complete control of the kingdom. Queen Viera's power is poison and she uses it on anyone and everyone. While she may be allowing this tradition to start, there is no guarantee that she'll allow it end on anything but her terms.

There is palace intrigue, battles for power, and a rebellion stirring and Monroe is caught in the middle of it all.

Final thoughts: I actually was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It wasn't perfect but the characters are well done and it's almost all show and not tell, which is a rarity nowadays. There was some confusion with the physics of the world-building since it often felt like it was going back and forth between pre-tech and tech. It sometimes feel like everything is just candles and wagons, while there are also cars, trains, and they have electricity. Decent story and just kind of a fun read.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!