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Absorb ( The Forgotten Affinities book 1)
By Analeigh Ford
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Earth. Psychic. Ritual. The three magical affinities. No mage has ever been chosen by all three…until now.

My name is Octavia Hadley, and I am the mage who broke the affinity ritual. I have been at the New York Academy of Mages for less than one day and the school board already wants to strip me of my powers.

It would be a whole lot simpler if it didn’t also mean giving up on them—the four mages that I got paired up with: Kendall, my best friend’s twin brother, Draven, the leather-clad ritual mage, Cedric, the principal’s son, and Flynn, the only other mage who also has more than one affinity.

The school board tells me I am mistake, but I know that isn’t right. This magic is mine, and I will find a way to keep it. My paired mages will fight beside me even if it means losing everything—so long as it means they don’t have to lose me too.

It was an ok book it needed some improvements in world building but the premise was good. I got slightly bored with the teenage love tryst especially in such a short space of time and not a very long book. But it was ok for YA.
  
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ClareR (5864 KP) rated The Hungry Dark in Books

May 28, 2025  
The Hungry Dark
The Hungry Dark
Jen Williams | 2024 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Paranormal, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Hungry Dark definitely has a spooky undercurrent - although I have to admit that I actually thought that it was going to be about a scam psychic. I was half right. The MC, Ashley, CAN see dead people, but I don’t think they give her anything useful to go by (not easily understood, anyway).

Ashley’s ghosts, the Heedful Ones, have a history of letting her know when something bad is going to happen, but they’ve been quiet/ not visible in recent times. But that’s about to change.

I did have to keep reminding myself that Ashley was a 30 year old and not a child, but her father is extremely controlling and coercive. He’s thoroughly unpleasant. Her brother makes himself unavailable, and has escaped to some degree, and her mother is clearly damaged in some way. My favourite character is probably Ashley’s best friend, and that only developed as the story went on and her true colours started to show.

This is enjoyably spooky, frustrating and takes some unexpected turns! The flashbacks are helpful in developing the story, and explain a lot of Ashley’s reasons for doing what she does. And an eerie, big old house will always be a winning addition to a ghost story! If you like thrillers with a side order of ghosts, then this will definitely appeal to you.
  
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LucyB (47 KP) rated The Raven Boys in Books

Jul 23, 2017  
The Raven Boys
The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater | 2012 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
7.7 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
Very entertaining, rich, interesting characters (0 more)
A well-plotted, fresh take on the whole magical realism genre - very entertaining!
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I presumed, judging by the front cover, that it'd be some sort of high fantasy (which isn't normally my thing) and was very pleasantly surprised.

The story focuses on two main characters - Blue, a 16 year old who lives with her witchy mother and who seems to be surrounded by equally spooky aunts, and Gansey, a rich 'Raven boy' from the local public school, who is obsessed with finding the mythical Welsh king Glendower.

So far, so intriguing! And it really was. I found myself propelled through this book, eager to know what was going to happen next, which is the highest praise I can give a book really, I do love a good page-turner. I especially loved that the author so deftly avoided the boring stereotypes. The aunts are all psychic, but are they at all spooky / ethereal? Absolutely not. They're all very practical, down-to-earth, and fairly acerbic to boot. Are public school boys all over-privileged toffs? No! The characters were all impressively well defined, and I LOVED the character of Noah - I saw the twist coming, but wasn't sure how the author would pull it off. She did so, very effectively indeed.

A highly enjoyable read, and I'll be looking out for the next ones in the series.
  
Sadako Vs Kayako (2016)
Sadako Vs Kayako (2016)
2016 | Horror
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Atmosphere is fairly true to the early films of both franchises (0 more)
2nd Half starts to unravel and the last 20-30 minutes is...well its something (0 more)
Versus movies claim another victim
I love Ringu.

And I love Ju-on.

So although I was skeptical about this movie (Damn you Alien v Predator: Requiem), I was intrigued by how it would work.

How does Sadako, a well dwelling ghost of a psychic little girl, that killed people through terror, end up battling with the curse/spirit of a murdered woman who now makes cricking noise and crawls down stairs and under sheets.

Both combatants kill via terror/mental means, so what does this mean in terms of this movie?

Well an hour or so of the film is basically a mediocre version of Ringu and Ju-On, with some good tension, and a skill for unsettling moments in that way J-Horror still possesses, and I was very much enjoying the ride.

However, as the two titular characters meet...it all starts to get a bit...well silly really.

I won't spoil anything specific, but the final act is a mess of new mythos, old mythos, off-screen battling and really, REALLY weird choices.

I was left feeling frustrated, and that the film had cheapened the brands with their choice of resolution, which though surprising, failed to really add anything to either franchise.

Not a terrible film, but not a great either.