DeAnna KnipplingRecensioni

Lots of good description and really makes the food sound enticing. I got hungry reading! Not sure how I feel about some of the characters yet, though as they get more fleshed out in future books that should help. One of the rare books where the mystery is not a murder, nice to read something different every once in awhile.

I'm not sure how to classify "The Witch House." I really thought that since the title of the book was, in fact, "The Witch House," there might be more focus on, explanation for, and activity tied to the actual, physical, house - but no. If you are looking for a real "haunted" house story, this book is NOT it! I can't even say that the book was particularly scary, even though it was moody and, other than Lola (who likes pink and sparkles), fairly dark. Although it was well-written from the standpoint of being interesting and kept me turning the pages, I found the plot very difficult to follow and the overall metaphor the author was trying to convey as heavy-handed and confusing more than clever. I feel like it could be a better book with some significant editing.

Specifically, "The Witch House" is about a middle school-aged girl (Jayla) whose father is out of the picture and who lives with her mother in a town far away from the only place the girl has ever known. Her mother remarries a man who is very distant and our young protagonist has difficulty relating to him. Basically, she has difficulty relating to anyone - until friendly Lola sort of "adopts" her at school the way extroverts have been adopting introverts forever. Lola asks precocious questions and, as noted previously, love sparkles and the color pink - pretty much the opposite of Jayla's all-black wardrobe, dour demeanor, and penchant for watching horror movies alone in her basement.

The plot, from here, is kind of...messy and all over the place. There's a witch in town that might be the school librarian (although we're really not ever sure), and people are being kidnapped into the shadow realm and replaced with witch versions of themselves, and Jayla's house - or at least, her kitchen - is half-haunted, and there is cat who I never quite figured out if it was alive and looked like a ghost, or was an actual ghost. Lola's parents abandon Lola so she stays with Jayla, and the girls are sucked into trying to fight the shadow realm and the fake witch-people. Or something like that. Basically, people we thought were good, aren't; similarly, people we thought were bad, turned out to be good. And some things were just back and forth and never quite categorized as one or the other - just, they were, then they weren't, then they were again, etc. Rinse and repeat.

I liked the characters - I found them to be realistic portrayals of pre-teen and teen girls (based on my own experience and that of raising three daughters.) I also realize that good characters can do bad things and bad ones can do good things, but every time I thought I had the plot figured out and knew the rules of the shadows and the boxes and the connections in the dark corridors filled with boxes - all aspects of the alternate world created by the author - I'd read a few more pages (or chapters) and find out I was wrong - I didn't understand it, at all.

Of course, part of that might be due to my own deficits, but at least part of it was due to the author's insistence on making the entire story a metaphor (I won't say a metaphor for what so as not to reveal any spoilers) even when some fact scenarios did not necessarily fit into the chosen metaphor. Let's just say there was some serious reaching going on by the author, and that although I recognized what she was trying to do, it was not a smooth conversion.

In the end notes (skip this paragraph if you don't want to know) the author does say that this book is, in part, based on her own childhood experiences. I think it would have been more effective as perhaps a two-part endeavor: A non-fiction version that closely resembles her own life, and a fictionalized version that is just a good story. Trying to mash the two together into one weakens both.

On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, I rate the individual elements of this story as follows:
Main Characters: 4 stars
Supporting Characters: 2 stars
Plot: 1 star
Pacing: 2 stars
Language: 3 stars
Setting: 2 stars
Grammar/etymology: 3 stars
Average: 2.4 stars out of 5

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is unique and interesting and most of the characters were great, and the author obviously has tremendous writing talent. It's a shame this book did not live up to the promise of that talent. Still, I would definitely read other books by this author as I think, given some heavy editing and time, she will only get better with the plotting and pacing (the two real detractors here.)

Great concept with fun characters and lots of interesting twists, but hard to follow. I loved the fact that you knew this was written from a middle schoolers point of view without having to be told. The dialogue and surroundings were spot on for how it felt to be in middle school. Overall an enjoyable fall read for any time of year!

I’m finding The Witch House difficult to efficiently recap. It is a middle grade book mostly told through the alternating journal entries of middle schoolers Jayla and Lola, and also there are witches! That’s the best I can manage, because TWH is way weirder and more experimental than a simple summary. It is a really cool and scary book. Like, imagine The Babadook but told from the perspective of the kid. That is the vibe, but there is more to it. TWH is a ride for sure and requires some active engagement from the reader, which I LOVE in a middle grade book. At the end there were some things left unexplained, which I appreciated. Once the scary thing is defanged with a description, it isn’t scary anymore, and I thought TWH did a great job sort of toeing that line between scariness and satisfying explanation. Absolutely recommend!
Thank you DeAnna Knippling and LibraryThing for the ARC!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This culinary mystery will be delightful for those who enjoy mayhem and watching one thing after another going wrong for the main character. Sam is an incredibly talented chef, despite being a chronic overthinker, who definitely does not have her "stuff" together at the moment - divorce (although we never learn exactly why...maybe for another installment?), new catering business, and an internet troll who is determined to see her fail. Readers should note that this was written quite a few years ago and refers to landlines and answering machines...

Your Soufflé Must Die by DeAnna Knippling was very different from what I was expecting. There is a mystery but no murder, or any real danger, involved. Although there are a couple of light red herrings it is pretty clear from the start who the villain is. I’m not entirely sure that matters though, since the focus is on the wacky characters and the relationship between Sam, the lead, and her ex-husband.
I really enjoyed the food descriptions, and the over-the-top, food-network-competition-style creations. There are some strange food and combinations, but they don’t seem terribly out of place for the sort of catering company Sam is hoping to build. I also liked the character of the mega-star actor and his mom—quirky but interesting.
Sam was a more difficult character for me. She is up and down, all over the place, way too overwrought in some situations and not enough in others. Her relationship with her ex is just sort of annoying. There are some places where scenes seem just sort of shoehorned in, almost like the author wanted to write something and then find a place it would go in the story which made some parts seem pretty choppy.
There were some amusing moments, and I’ve never read anything quite like this. Thank you to the author and Library thing for the advance reading copy.½

I received a complimentary copy of Your Soufflé Must Die through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program; my review is voluntary.

This was a strange ride and a bit of a mixed bag. The cozy genre isn’t my usual, but it was nice to get a taste of a murder-free mystery (though in moments there was an “and I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids” vibe). The stakes weren’t too high, but I still kind of cared about the outcome.

Knippling is a skilled, very sensory writer. I appreciated her descriptions and found it easy to visualize the scenes. Toward the end, at the party based on a pirate/alien movie (which I still find entirely bizarre), the descriptive nature of the writing made things uncomfortable as the scenery and foods ventured into gross territory (and upon realizing Knippling is known for horror writing, this makes sense).

The drawbacks for me: none of the characters felt fully developed. I had a hard time rooting for any of the relationships. Some scenes were jarring and unnecessary (Sam has a full conversation with items in her kitchen as if they’re in a battle; we have to sit through a lengthy scene from the aforementioned pirate/alien movie which still makes no sense). Occasional descriptors made me feel ill (bee larvae as a food; a man’s scent described as having “buttery undertones”).

Your Soufflé Must Die: Sam is recovering from her divorce and pivoting to a new career by starting a catering business with her best friend Kaley. But when she starts getting threatening messages on her blog, followed by falling soufflés, she worries her business will never get off the ground.
This is the coziest of mysteries because no one dies! Unless you count chocolate people. YSMD is also funny, which added to the coziness for me. I really liked the mystery and it was satisfying to figure out who was sabotaging Sam’s cooking. That said, it didn’t take up as much time as I would have expected. But also I didn’t care. The bulk of the book is about interpersonal relationships that I found fascinating! I was perfectly content to read about the characters. Sam is bananas, but very endearing. Her relationship with her ex-husband is weird and I hope there are more books in this series so I can read more about what is going on there. Also Sam’s burgeoning friendship with the chef she used to work for is super interesting. Lots of strange dynamics at play and I am here for it.
I am a sucker for any book that talks about food. YSMD is full of delicious food, described perfectly. Do not read on an empty stomach! Or at least keep snacks handy. Like, there is a chocolate pirate ship, so consider yourself warned.
Thank you DeAnna Knippling and LibraryThing for the ARC!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Such a wonderful cozy mystery. It was refreshing that the mystery was not a murder, but still get the same element of suspense and some comedic relief with our poor Sam. At first I was dying for some chocolate and desserts because the descriptions were just so delectable, but then she started describing some food dishes (before the alien party) and I found myself so hungry throughout this book! Can't wait to see Sam again!

A great cozy mystery with the right amount of suspense and some chuckles thrown in. It would have been helpful to have more information about the main character, Sam. Somethings didn’t make sense until the end. You want to cheer Sam on as she stumbles and grows. I hate to cook so I was worried that reading about that would make me want to skip over parts but the dishes and ingredients are so different that it was interesting. Best line in the book - “ you never knew when you were a character in someone else’s book”.

I really enjoyed All the Retros at the New Cotton Club, so i was really happy to discover that Deanna's also wrote some "Alice and Wonderland" stuff.

Instead of the fun clockwork story about Alice and all things Wonderland that i was expecting, i found a story heavily biased towards the real life of Alice Liddell and her relationship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll): this story is set several years after Charles' death.

I'm not going to get into my views about Dodgson here, this is about DeAnna's views, and she does a fairly good job of brushing over things (sweeping them under the carpet) and tidy things up in making a story out of Alice's and Charles' final years.   Although, to be honest, i think that DeAnna just makes things worse: i'm left with the opinion that this story could be a nice little dose of Streisand effect for a lot of its readers.

And for those of you feeling the effects of Streisand, you can begin at Wikipedia.

All that aside, it's a fairly good read, and a must for all Alice and Wonderland fans: just expect it to be more about Alice reminiscing, through thoughts and dreams of Wonderland, than a pure Wonderland adventure.   Sadly, there's a few typos that detract on occasion, and that are so obvious they should have been easily fixed before publishing.

Final words, other than those few annoying typos, DeAnna's a very good writer.   The Queen of Stilled Hearts is in "The Pile" and i'm looking forward to giving that a read soon.

De Kenyon is the name DeAnna Knippling publishes her children's books under and Deanna sent out a free copy of this in her newsletter.   Normally i wouldn't bother with some random children's book, but i've enjoyed DeAnna's grown up books and the title of this intrigued me.   When i read the synopsis and found out that it was about squirrels taking over the world, i just had to give it a go.

To begin, if you're a grown up and wanting something grown up to read then move along, this ain't for you.   But if you're like me and occasionally like a bit of silly sci-fi-ish stuff to keep us young at heart then this may be just what you're looking for.   Note: when i say silly i mean good, fun silly, not stupid silly.

Basically, it's about a young boy, Galileo, whose parents are mad scientists who make a replicator that makes guinea pigs out of sewage.   What they don't realise is that it's all part of the squirrels' big bad plan to take over the world by using said guinea pigs to wipe out all the humans -- because, as we all known, squirrels are the most evil creatures on the planet.

I have absolutely no idea if this book is suitable for a child near you, you'll have to read it yourself first: go on, you know you want to.

I would probably aim it at around 10-11 year old but don't quote me on that cause i'm useless at guessing these things.

All in all, i quite enjoyed it, but then i enjoy some good, fun silly now and again.

I'll admit, I picked this book up because of it's cover. It gave me a Cthulhu vibe, that I thought would fill the book as well. So if that is why you're also thinking about reading this book, I will just state here at the beginning, Cthulhu isn't in this book, or any creature of the likes.

With that being said, the story does have a very Lovecraft vibe going on leaving me with a 'the real monster is always men/humans' message as my final thoughts.

The story takes place in 1816 with flash forwards to the late 1800's, and the dialogue and actions of the characters all draw you into that time period very well. I enjoyed the format, timeshifts, and POV shifts. They added to the unsettling nature of the tale.

I wrap up was a bit lackluster for me, or I guess didn't really work/wasn't foreshadowed well? But I did love the flash forwards, they really tied the whole story together well.

I received this book via Hidden Gems Books

DeAnna Knippling creates some unusual characters and situations. Alien Blue demonstrates real talent for descriptive phrases. She is an up-and-coming author to take note of. While there was a Vonnegut air to this, and perhaps a manic touch of - dare I make the comparison - Hunter S. Thompson, I had trouble staying engaged in the action - and there was plenty of action. I put the book down. Having said that, I eagerly await her next novel. She's going somewhere, I just know it. Darned if I can figure out where, but with writing this talented, I'm ready to go for the ride.

Meh varied collection of short stories featuring magic. Good mix of settings and themes, but somehow none of the stories really grabbed me. A few felt like excepts from wider universes and lacked the punch a short story should have, others were just strange or uninspiring to me.½

I received this book from Library Thing in exchange for a review. This really is a manual for life if you are a writer. It could serve as a manual for life for many people! Not only does Knippling give good advice for overall mental and physical wellness [how to not go crazy from writing too much], but navigating the world of negotiating with publishers and editors and such. She shows how to improve your skills by analyzing the work of others. She has good to-do lists and summaries at the end of each chapter. Get the e-book. Print those lists off, and stick em on the wall next to your computer. Follow them. You can't go wrong. Thank you, Deanna; I now have a lot of work to do!

I love short stories, especially those tales that pack punches. This is one of them. In the end, I just wanted more. Even the horrible being seemed to have leaped from the pages of a Stephen King tome. If she can do that with a short story, I can only imagine her skill with an entire book. If, in your busy day, you just want to nibble on something horrifying, pick up this short story about a monster and an engaging little boy. I couldn't put it down until I finished the last bit. Just Wow!

I received a digital copy of this book from librarything.com in return for an honest review.
The mother in this short story probably echoes the fears from mothers everywhere when their children go off to war. Who will come home to me? Will I recognize my own child after they’ve witnessed war?
I enjoyed the story, but it was over far too quickly. Would read a longer version!

The narrator's daughter, Dorey, has chosen to go through the third portal, to fight in a war. It's a war than no one knows why it is being waged, but they know that there IS a war, and the theories are enough. Weeks later, Dorey comes home, but she's changed. Those changes are unsettling, and they're the basis of the rest of the story.

This was ultimately a very fast story. Too fast, in my opinion. I would have liked to know a lot more about what came back, and how life changed for the family afterwards. It would have been far more satisfying to have been longer, and it would have benefited from more detail.

Good short story. Enjoyed how the book was written. Could have been more detailed as to what the relationship meant to the story. Would definitely recommend to a young adult or teen. Story line would make a great long story starting with sibling relationship all the way through to this ending.

This book has twist after twist and proved to be very hard to put down. I loved the Gothic and Lovecraftian feel. The story draws you ever deeper into the mystery and weirdness. This is the authors re-imagining of a historical event. I look forward to reading more of this author.

Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s. – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

The House Without a Summer, by DeAnna Knippling is a Gothic horror tale with an environmental spin. The protagonist, a veteran of the Napoleonic wars gets leave from the military to come home to his family’s palatial estate upon the death of his brother. He also must deal with the growing insanity of his father. The subsequent plot is a tale of palace intrigue. The action is nested within a world being overtaken by a mysterious fungus and also being haunted by mysterious, humanoid beings. The plot is interesting and would be good material for a movie or TV score.

Knippling writes in a richly descriptive manner with enthusiasm. In doing so, she breaks a cardinal rule of at least one great writer. She leaves little to the reader’s imagination. To borrow her own words, as I moved through the text “it felt as though each footstep [I] made, was made while wading through a syrup.” She overburdens the reader with adjectives, adverbs, and context generally. As a result, the pace of this horror novel slows to something more like the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne than those of Stephen King.

meh. Starts out like it could be an interesting faerie invasion style, but becomes far more invasion / thing from the depths than any kind of interesting. Two college guys (jerks) find a mask floating in a stream and try to salvage it. Meanwhile a two college girls become instant friends. The spooky bridge over the tracks at the far side of town appears to have strange properties. Then all hell erupts, everything becomes animate and tries to kill you, but our plucky foursome find some notes in a photo album and save the world.

It s that cliched. The characters are actually quite good, but the plotting needs a lot of work. Apparently there are more books set in the same town which was almost completely destroyed. Continuity is not a strong point. I won't be bothering.½

What if Napoleon Buonoparte didn't ally himself with the French but sought power in Britain? What if, while in Britain, he makes the acquaintance of a vicar's daughter, Miss Jane Austen?

This was an interesting short story to read. It was difficult to follow, as it references many historical figures I didn't know about. The author did excellent research to get the details right, which shines on the page.

I will admit that I found the ending a bit abrupt. Still, it was enjoyable to see two famous people meet on the fictional page.

I was given a free copy by the author for reviewing purposes. All opinions expressed are my own.½

This was a great, quick read and a lot of fun!