Holly Horror: The Longest Night by Michelle Jabès Corpora

Title: Holly Horror: The Longest Night

Series: Holly Horror #2
Author: Michelle Jabès Corpora
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Young Adult; Horror; Paranormal
Publisher/Publication Date: Penguin Workshop; August 13, 2024

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads...

In this terrifying sequel, Evie Archer and her friends face a new evil ready to devour their town whole.

Find him, find me. It's been two weeks since Evie escaped the mines after solving the mystery of Holly's disappearance only to discover that Desmond followed her but never came back. Evie knows he’s alive, lost wherever the Patchwork Girl resides. When Evie tries to reach out to Holly again for help, she realizes that her connection to the Lost Girl—and the shadow world itself—has been severed. Desmond is gone, and it’s all her fault. Ravenglass slowly begins to move on from the tragedy of losing Desmond, but as winter creeps closer and the days grow shorter, a sinister being begins to threaten the lives of Ravenglass residents, stealing them away and bringing them back different. Wrong.Evie knows that the only way to stop it is to connect to Holly again. With the help of her friend Tina, and the troubled newcomer Sai, Evie begins to follow the clues Holly left behind, determined to find the Lost Girl once more, at any cost.

I read Holly Horror last year. And while it was a good story overall—and relatively self-contained—by the end there were still some lingering mysteries as well as the massive curveball thrown by the cliffhanger. As the saying goes, out of the oven and into the frying pan. So its sequel, titled Holly Horror: The Longest Night, was near the top of my list of sequels releasing in 2024. And it’s one of my favorites too.

Holly Horror: The Longest Night took what I liked about the previous installment and carried it over into Evie Archer’s second adventure, which pitted her against the shadowy and menacing forces buried beneath the town of Ravenglass.

Part of The Longest Night had aspects of a coming of age story, where Evie had to confront her past—her strained relationship with her father as well as her history with Holly Hobbie and Sarah Flower. She had a lot to work through in her personal life too. She was dealing with grief and guilt, which was tangled with the fallout from Holly Horror’s ending. And, considering how, in the previous book, she’d erroneously assigned blame to herself for the collapse of her family. She’d had this habit of hiding her emotions as well as her distrust of those who she should’ve been able to confide in the most, and it had opened her up to supernatural manipulation. In The Longest Night, enough time was devoted to fully exploring and resolving the complicated nature of Evie’s familial ties and her relationship to the abilities she was just beginning to accept. Her character arch is one of my favorite parts of this story.

On the other hand, the story had this creeping sense of dread, which was always in the background casting a shadow (both literally and figuratively) over the events of the story. One of the pivotal characters of these books, Desmond King, was missing. And the story was, ultimately, something of a race against time. And it was the case: Would they be able to save him or not? I knew something bad was going to go down, and it was about seeing when and how the shoe was going to drop. And Corpora did this to great effect, subtly building a mystery full of secrets around the spookiest aspects of The Longest Night.

The ending was effective with resolving the above mentioned mysteries, and even offered clarity to the tragedy that had given Hobbie House its nickname. Suffice it to say, the questions Holly Horror had left behind were more than answered in its sequel.

So, I got everything I was looking for out of Holly Horror: The Longest Night. It works as a sequel, and sufficiently wrapped up the story in a way that was satisfying for the mystery as well as the characters. And, if you’ve read Holly Horror, then this one is a must read.

 

About the author....

Michelle Jabès Corpora is a writer, editor, and martial artist. In addition to working in the publishing industry for more than seventeen years as an editor and concept developer, she is the author of two historical novels for middle grade readers, two horror novels for young adult readers, and soon-to-be the author of the Children of Khetara fantasy series for Young Adults. She has also ghostwritten five novels in a long-running middle grade mystery series. In her spare time, Michelle trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a blue belt at Crazy 88 MMA, and enjoys making home-cooked meals, doing tarot readings, and playing Dungeons & Dragons with her friends. Michelle lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, two guinea pigs, and a dog named Charlie.

Goodreads     Website

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Penguin Workshop) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Music Monday (295): Tems, John Waite

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: My original pick for the week was Do You Feel? by Aurora, but when I noticed the video was unavailable, I decided to change it. So instead I wanted to mention another one of my favorite songs from Tems' latest album (Born in the Wild). Check out Unfortunate!

Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Missing You by John Waite. Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?

I Listened to Megan by Megan Thee Stallion

Another June release I was waiting for was Megan Thee Stallion’s self-title third studio album, Megan. This is her first major release under her independent label (Hot Girl Productions), since leaving her old record label. It was supported by three singles, Boa, Hiss, and Cobra. And with that, welcome back to the music minded corner of Our thoughts Precisely!

If you’ve listened to any of Megan Thee Stallion’s music before, then you pretty much know what to expect. For me, though. Megan was like a palate cleanser after all the other music I listened to and wrote about in June. It was released on the twenty-eighth, so it capped off the month quite nicely. Its solid hip-hop and rap with Megan Thee Stallion’s lightning quick lyric delivery and a creative direction in terms of beats, samples, and pop culture references (for the latter look no further than Boa and it’s video game inspiration as well as and Otaku Hot Girl, which had lyrics about Naruto and Jujutsu Kaisen).

Some of it was introspective—such as the single Cobra, which on the album was preceded by Moody Girl (the two complimented each other tonally). On other avenues, parts of the album showcased Megan Thee Stallion’s interests (Boa and Otaku Hot Girl). Plus it had good mixture of features: Kyle Richh on B.A.S., Yuki Chiba on Mamushi, GloRilla on Accent, Victoria Monet on Spin, UGK on Paper Together, and Big K.R.I.T. with Buddah Bless on Miami Blue.

Megan Thee Stallion knocked it out of the park with Megan. It was creative and just enjoyable to listen to.

 

Music Monday (294): Aurora

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: One of the best albums I've listened to so far this year was Aurora's What Happened to the Heart? I figured it was going to be good just based on how much I enjoyed the singles, but it still managed to surprise me anyway. (I go more in-depth about my thoughts on a different post, scheduled for later this month.) So my pick this week is: The Dark Dresses Lightly.

What are you listening to this week?

It Came from the Trees by Ally Russell

Title: It Came from the Trees

Series: n/a
Author: Ally Russell
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Middle Grade; Paranormal; Horror
Publisher/Publication Date: Delecorte; July 30, 2024

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads...

The legend of Bigfoot gets a bone-chilling update in this scary story about a young girl and her scout troop who are willing to brave the woods to find her missing friend when no one else will. Perfect for fans of Daka Hermon and Claribel A. Ortega!

The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. Her Pap was the first Black park ranger at Sturbridge Reservation, and she practically knows the Owlet Survival Handbook by heart. But she’s never encountered a creature like the one that took her best friend Reese. Her parents don’t believe her; the police are worthless, following the wrong leads; and the media isn’t connecting the dots between Reese’s disappearance and a string of other attacks. Determined to save her friend, Jenna joins a new local scout troop, and ventures back into the woods. When the troop stumbles across suspicious huge human-like footprints near the camp, scratch marks on trees, and ominous sounds from the woods, Jenna worries that whatever took Reese is back to take her too. Can she trust her new scout leader? And will her new friend Norrie—who makes her laugh and reminds her so much of Reese—believe her? After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the monster and survive the night.

It Came from the Trees, Ally Russell’s debut, is a new middle grade paranormal horror novel set in the great outdoors. With a Black main character who loves camping and the wilderness, and a mystery surrounding strange occurrences (and disappearances) at Sturbridge Reservation, there was so much to like about It Came from the Trees.

Norrie, like Reese, was a character who could worm her way into anyone’s heart. And, in fact, the Owlet Scouts were a far more personable and colorful group to follow. And then there was Jenna, who was a great main character, and I liked her enthusiasm and knowledge about the outdoors. This was shaken, of course, with the disappearance of her best friend as well as the situation she subsequently found herself in, where she felt silenced and isolated. It was part of her character arc, where the author showed her bravery and determination but also didn’t shy away from her vulnerability and fear. Her POV was nerve-wracking to read, and I’d credit that how immersive and atmospheric the writing was.

Another area of note was how Russell utilized camping. The woods were the perfect location for the story, especially after the sun was down and visibility was low. There was no quick way to run from any issues.

The story also touched on a negligent troop leader who played favoritism and was willing to lie, if it meant covering her own culpability when one the scouts in her care went missing. It was a difficult (and frustrating) situation that felt all too familiar, but the author did a great job with it, creating a balance between real world issues and a story which was, at its heart, paranormal.

Going into It Came from the Trees, I was expecting Russell’s spin on Bigfoot. It’s one of the main hooks of the synopsis. However, even knowing that much didn’t erase how tightly the legend was woven into the story. The way it was written was enigmatic and incredibly menacing. It wasn’t an isolated occurrence only Jenna knew about either, but there were clues sprinkled throughout the book about how deeply the strange occurrences were connected to Sturbridge Reservation—even in the form of blog entries and comments. And while I was reading It Came from the Trees, I kept remarking to one of my co-bloggers about how much tension there was as well as the intensity of its most frightening scenes.

At the end of the day, It Came from the Trees was excellent, and it has plenty to offer for fans of middle grade horror.

About the author....

Ally grew up on a steady diet of Halloween parties, horror films, Unsolved Mysteries, and Goosebumps books. She has always loved scary stories, and got her MFA from Simmons University and, eventually, a job working in children’s publishing. She hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Ally lives with her husband and her two black cats, Nox and Fury. She’s afraid of the woods, the dark, and heights. It Came from the Trees is her debut novel.

Goodreads     Instagram

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Delacorte) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!