A Book with Less Than 200 Goodreads Reviews

[Stephanie]

This prompt can go either way, you can pick something that is fairly new and therefore hasn't had that much exposure or something that is under the radar. Have you decided what book you want to pick up for this?

[Lauren]

cirque Berserk by Jessica guess. got it as a recommendation from the best of 2020 episode

[Crystal Staley]

Wormwood by Chad Lutske and Tim Meyer

[Brian]

Hunger on the Chisholm Trail by M. Ennenbach.

[Jamie]

Possibly Joyride by Jack Ketchum

[Charlotte]

Every time I think I've found one they have 250 and I have to start again!

[Charlotte]

Sapphistication wrote: "Every time I think I've found one they have 250 and I have to start again!"

I've got it! I'm reading Cultish by Amanda Montell, it's horror adjacent and at time of writing this has like 28 ratings. Boom.

[Whitney]

Sapphistication wrote: "Sapphistication wrote: "Every time I think I've found one they have 250 and I have to start again!"

I've got it! I'm reading Cultish by Amanda Montell, it's horror adjacent and at time of writing ..."

Read fast! It only has so few reviews because it just came out 3 days ago :-) It's on my TBR as well, let us know how you liked it.

[Leanne]

I'm halfway through Kristi Demeester's collection Everything That's Underneath, which has 108 reviews at the moment. Loving it so far.

[Whitney]

I read Maggie Siebert's Bonding, which has 74 ratings. I suspect this will change as word gets out. Holy crap is it good! Everyone one of these short stories is gut wrenching, disturbing, and brilliant.

I recommend this for any horror fan, especially of body horror, and anyone interested is reading extreme horror who is not a fan of "extreme for the sake of being extreme". Nothing is extraneous in these stories, they are perfectly constructed masterpieces of visceral and existential horror.

The PDF is available for free on Siebert's twitter, https://twitter.com/maggiecsiebert/st...

[Leanne]

Oh I've been interested in Bonding! Whitney, can you tell me if there's much in the way of violence against animals? I'm trying to avoid dog-related death in my horror these days, I get too sad.

[Whitney]

Leanne wrote: "Oh I've been interested in Bonding! Whitney, can you tell me if there's much in the way of violence against animals? I'm trying to avoid dog-related death in my horror these days, I get too sad."

There is some violence against animals. I really hate it when animals die in stories, and will usually avoid them like the plague. But if anyone uses it in a justifiable way, it's Siebert. None of the violence against people or animals is used extraneously. The worst is the last in the collection, but it's also a really powerful story. Spoilers below for what happens to animals, hope this helps.

In Best Friend, (view spoiler)[ Dog gets sick, and eventually ends up in a creepy, "Thing"-like mass of conjoined dogs (hide spoiler)]

In Every Day for the Rest of Your Life (view spoiler)[ a small child accidentally smothers a kitten he is hugging. There is reference to a puppy in a crush video, details aren't given but it's clear what happens. (hide spoiler)]

[Leanne]

Thank you! I'll wait until I'm in a good headspace to read those two stories. (I have a senior dog I'm a little worried about so I can't handle the sad stuff right now, but I do appreciate stories that address animal death in a meaningful way.)

[Whitney]

Sounds like a good plan. I hope your dog is okay, sending ear scratches and belly rubs.

[Leanne]

Whitney wrote: "Sounds like a good plan. I hope your dog is okay, sending ear scratches and belly rubs."

Thanks! He's a very happy boy.