Liselle SamburyRecensioni

This is a story about trauma, forgotten black girls, and forgiveness Daisy can see dead people, which is unwanted and hard to forget. She and her mother move to another city when her mother inherits a home. The mansion is nothing Daisy expects, and it holds the secrets of her mother's past... Ten years later, Brittany, a host of a web series about haunted places, wants to focus on forgotten black girls. Brittanny's first episode is Daisy's tragic story at the mansion. She does this, not only, to uncover Daisy's story but also to expose her mother's lies at the mansion. As Brittany does her investigation in the present, Daisy's story in the past runs parallel. This was an interesting and engaging read from start to finish. However, look up the trigger warnings before starting the book. The writer is amazing and I look forward to more of her works.

To describe this book as twisted would be an understatement. It's so much so that pretzels all over the world must be jealous. Who's the bad guy(s) seemingly keeps shifting all the way to the end. It's an interesting and most unusual read.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury is an enthralling young adult read that had me hooked from start to finish. Despite its classification as a young adult novel, the horror elements are tastefully restrained yet effectively executed. This chilling and atmospheric tale delves into the intertwining lives of two teenage Black girls, Daisy and Brittney, across two different timelines.

Daisy, burdened with the ability to see the departed, finds herself relocating with her overbearing mother to an eerie, secluded mansion with a dark history, following the end of a toxic relationship. Meanwhile, ten years later, Brittney is determined to carve out a successful haunted house series to break free from her own abusive mother. Her list includes the very mansion that had altered her own mother's life.

One of the most striking aspects of the book is the author's portrayal of Daisy and Brittney's raw, unfiltered emotions as they grapple with the enduring trauma inflicted by their mothers. The characters are allowed to be messy, brimming with anger and resistance, as they navigate their paths to survival. Witnessing their struggles, particularly Daisy's, evoked an urge within me to intervene, a testament to the authenticity of the narrative.

If you haven't yet considered adding this gem to your reading list, I urge you to do so. My review merely scratches the surface of the brilliance captured within these pages. With hopes for more thrilling works from the author in the same vein, I encourage you to explore this captivating piece. Head to your preferred bookseller or online platform to embark on this haunting journey alongside Daisy and Brittney.

Objectively speaking this was very well done, if a little too wordy. The characters were strong (Sunny was a great protagonist) and the pacing and premise were solid. I would happily recommend this to anybody who likes horror; I’m not a horror fan myself and found it overwhelming cause it’s really, well, horrifying.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster who sent me an ARC for review.

This isn’t my type of book. It focuses a lot on abuse - emotional, sexual, and physical. I finished the book, but I strongly considered not doing so.½

It is incredibly difficult to avoid ghosts in Toronto, a skill Daisy is well versed in. However, she was not prepared for a breakup. Her grief is like a beacon for ghosts, creating even more discomfort in her life. Maybe, just maybe the House her mother inherits will offer the opportunity to escape. Ten years later, Brittney receives an anonymous tip suggesting the very same House be investigated for the show Haunted. The progression of the investigation leaves more questions than answers.

Delicious Monsters bewitches readers with the rhythms of horror, suspense, and paranormal. Liselle Sambury has produced an invigorating young adult read filled with friends, food, and ghosts. This standalone book reaches a magnitude of character development with its curated themes of mortality, identity, and forgiveness.

Delicious Monsters starts with an authors note which doubles as a trigger warning (child abuse, child molestation, and rape to name a few). Some resources include:
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline- text/ call 988 or online at https://988lifeline.org/
National Domestic Violence Hotline call 800-799-7233, text “Start” to 88788, or online at https://www.thehotline.org/
Michigan Sexual Assault- call 855-864-2374, text 866-238-1454, or https://www.thehotline.org/

I was talking to a co-worker and described this book as "a book about a house that is attracting ghosts, psychic neighbours, and a teenage girl that only wants to find out why her mother won't let her go in the house but brought them to the property to live in the guest house. So, you know, it is a paranormal mystery with some weird stuff going down in a freaky house, written by a Canadian author, and the story takes place in Toronto and Timmins." My co-worker was very excited and will be looking to borrow this book in the future. This is the third book of Liselle's that I have read and they have all been great reads. I am looking forward to reading more of her books in the future.

2.5 stars

this book was honestly on its way to a complete 3 star as i liked the characters and the family dynamic but that ending

"People love the trauma. They adore a chance to tell a Black woman how strong she is. More than that, she represents an out. A way for people to cleanse themselves of their past and come out shiny and new."

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury is out 2/28/2023 and I highly recommend you pre-order or pick up a copy on pub day!. This book is a thick one but I devoured it in two days. Sambury's blending of horror and the supernatural with true crime, suspense and social issues was brilliant. I could not put this one down even when I stayed up late at night and had goosebumps from terror and dread. I was invested in the mystery and ghosts from the first page.

Sambury captured my attention with the ways that she wove relevant themes into the horror and mystery. Both protagonists' perspectives showcased how media capitalizes on Black female trauma despite there being an epidemic of forgotten Black girls. The theme of monsters is prevalent throughout, both real and metaphorical. Sambury also touches on grooming, sexual assault, childhood abuse, fatphobia and the scars of other traumatic events that span generations and shape futures. Sambury shows through this book how whitewashed forms of media scream for diverse stories and engage in performative allyship.

The writing style is atmospheric and the fast pace will have your heart pounding. The ghosts will have you question what you think you know and you'll be glued to the pages until everything unravels. There are so many spine tingling moments and the moments of terror feel so realistic.

If you're looking for a fresh, new style of telling a ghost story with gripping storytelling that will have you on the edge of your seat, then look no further. Someone give Liselle Sambury her flowers because this one is a banger from start to finish.
Thanks to @simonteen and @hearourvoicestours for the gifted copy.

After years of waiting for her Calling—a trial every witch must pass in order to come into their powers—the one thing Voya Thomas didn’t expect was to fail. When Voya’s ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance to complete her Calling, she agrees—and then is horrified when her task is to kill her first love. And this time, failure means every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic.

Voya is determined to save her family’s magic no matter the cost. The problem is, Voya has never been in love, so for her to succeed, she’ll first have to find the perfect guy—and fast. Fortunately, a genetic matchmaking program has just hit the market. Her plan is to join the program, fall in love, and complete her task before the deadline. What she doesn’t count on is being paired with the infuriating Luc—how can she fall in love with a guy who seemingly wants nothing to do with her?

With mounting pressure from her family, Voya is caught between her morality and her duty to her bloodline. If she wants to save their heritage and Luc, she’ll have to find something her ancestor wants more than blood. And in witchcraft, blood is everything.

Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…

A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?

As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.

I liked the first book a lot. This one started out well for me, but I found it seemed to drag near the middle. However, the ending was very satisfying.

A great conclusion to Blood Like Magic, I would love to see one-offs with some of the background characters. Voya and her family have to deal with a lot of adversary in this book. Voya does a great job of developing her identity as the Matriarch, I loved the way she brought the family together. I cried a few times reading this novel. I am very much looking forward to reading more books from Liselle Sambury in the future.

Man I just do not know how to feel about this. Like, it was excitingly written and way cool, but it had a truly large number of murders and horrible deeds (how could she do that to her cousin? How?!) for a character/family who wasn't even really written as an anti hero.

Not a bad read. The fantasy/SciFi mashup was a little hard to get into at first but once I got the hang of everything it was kind of interesting. The romance was interesting and frustrating in equal measure throughout. I got this book from my monthly book box, and the biggest thing is the cover. OMG, it is the most beautiful cover. I probably would have bought it just for that. lol. All in all, I liked the book. But I'm just not sure if I like it enough to continue the series when the next book comes out. I'll see how I feel when we get that far I suppose.


How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.

Blood Like Magic takes place in a world only a few decades ahead of ours. Sciences has expanded to deep genetic analysis and modification and these things are amazing for those who can afford them, which does not include Voya Thomas’s family. The Thomas family has their own set of problems – specifically Voya’s Task to destroy her first love. It’s an unthinkable requirement for Voya to become a witch, and when she’s genetically matched to one of the head of NuGene’s sponsor kids, things get even more complicated.

In Blood Like Magic, we watch Voya Thomas face a serious of impossible choices. We see her surrounded by family that is well-meaning but flawed, and by neighbors that are superficial but they generally all stick together. The community, the magic, and the tech were all interesting to me, but the complex multi-level family relationships made Blood Like Magic particularly good. I loved it.

Voya has a huge family, and sometimes, it was challenging to keep track of everyone. I both applaud and bemoan Sumbury’s choice to name two different characters Keisha. For the most part, I was able to keep track of who was who and who did what… although admittedly I sometimes had to slow myself down in the scenes that contained both Keishas. The large cast of characters is something to prepare yourself for, but there is only one POV and that belongs to Voya.

The world is close enough to our own that the technological advances don’t feel leaps and bound ahead, a common flaw of futuristic sci-fi. I thought NuGene was interesting for the little times we spent learning about the company and its technology. I thought the Thomas family’s magic was even more interesting. Blood Like Magic focuses heavily on Voya’s story, since this is her Coming-Of-Age ritual. But there are so many interesting people in her family, all with their own gifts, and there are scores of ancestors with stories as well. Not only is the magic system interesting, there are so many individuals who have potential for bigger stories. I hope Sambury pursues them – there is already confirmation for the next book in the series next year, so we’ll see where she takes it.

Absolutely 100% pick up this book is you like Black girl magic, tech-related sci-fi, witchy vibes, family relationships, or messy YA stories. Blood Like Magic is entirely a fantastic book. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next one!

Fascinating read in what I would call the magical realism genre. When a story begins with a teenage girl relaxing in a tub of blood and reluctant to leave it because she's someone who is nearly incapable of making choices and a huge one awaits her downstairs, you gotta be hooked. An intriguing and well drawn cast surround Voya as she tries to figure out how to complete the assignment given to her by a deceased ancestor witch. What particularly impressed me about the story is how smoothly the plot moves while continuing to ramp up the tension right up to the end. That ending is messy, but completely right. A great story and I hope the author writes more.