Welcome Fanciful Friends to my April wrap up. I would really like to do one of these every month, and will endeavor to do so in the future, but health issues are always at the fore, so we’ll see how that goes. Without further rambling, here are the books that I read in April, and what I thought of them.

Delicates by Brenna Thummler

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved Delicates so much. This is the sequel to Sheets, about a ghost hanging out in a laundromat. Here, we are introduced to a new character, Eliza, who is struggling a great deal with fitting in and depression. I related to her quite a bit, as I was the same in high school. She is interested in ghost photography, and falls into step with Marjorie and Wendell perfectly, who are also having their own teen issues (that, lets face it, adults still face themselves). CW for suicidal ideation on this one, but I think that it is handled with care and compassion.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My second five star read of the month! I have had this on my TBR for a million years, and I’m glad I finally got around to it. This has so many elements that I love. A book within a book, multiple timelines all combining to tell the story of a place as a whole. We also have a fantastic amount of lesbians and bi women here, so what’s not to love? In this story, a movie is being made about Brookhants School for Girls, and the terrible tragedies that occurred there, leading to its supposed status as a haunted location. That’s the modern day story line. We also witness some of these tragedies, either in a book that was written about them, or with our own eyes. Many of the characters were relatable, the tragedies were indeed that, and I had a fantastic time reading all about them! Does that make me a bad person? Maybe, but at least I had fun.

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a bit of a wild card read for me this month. I had just gone to the Lifeline Book Fair in Hunters Hill, and this was one of the books I picked up there. It sounded interesting, and I had recently seen it mentioned in a recommendations list, so I decided to get right on it, and I had a good time. This is a novel with a story taking place in the modern day (well, modern for when it was published anyway), and also a historical novel. Alongside Helen in the modern day, we read autobiographies, letters, and diary entries all related to the lone figure of Melmoth, a woman cursed to wander the earth alone for the rest of time, her feet bloody and always weeping (this is what drew me in, if I’m being honest). We visit different places and different time periods, all in pursuit of Melmoth. And watching Helen’s past catch up with her as she learns about all these people is very intriguing. If you are interested in a historical mystery with some light horror elements, I think you’ll enjoy this. There are many mentions of the atrocities of German occupation during WWII though, and other colonial occupations, so do go in aware of that if it is something you’re sensitive to.

Ring by Koji Suzuki

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If I’m being honest, this is a reread. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it, but I tend to read it at least once a year. It is something of a comfort to me. Given that I was coming up to the Global Book Crawl, I thought a nice, soothing reread before getting my hands on new books would be nice. I think most people probably know the premise of Ring; a haunted video tape causes viewers to die seven days after watching it. I will tell you that the plot in the novel is quite different from any of the adaptations, and the characters we follow are less likable. However, I still love this story (considering how much research goes into solving the mystery for the characters, which is something I love in books), and the setting is appealing to me as someone who studied Japanese language and history in university, and who travelled to and misses Tokyo every day. I’m also a big fan of Asian, and especially Japanese, ghost stories. CW for mentions of rape, and one depiction of it.

How to Survive Camping: The Lady in Chains by Bonnie Quinn

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was the follow up to my favourite book of last year, and I blasted through it in two sittings (it probably would have been one if it weren’t for the need for that sleep thing…) I loved this so much, and I cannot wait for book three. These used to be stories published in Reddit’s nosleep subreddit, but I never read them there, so these stories are all new to me. We are back to Goat Valley Campground, and Kate has yet more supernatural calamities to address. The Lady in Chains, a feared inhabitant of the woods, has woken up, the Harvesters have started a war against her, and other nonhuman inhabitants have started taking sides. It was awesome to see some new creatures, alongside returning ones. I like that the author creates her own, but also borrows from cultures all across the world to ensure her campground is alive and bustling. Of course, we have the human characters as well, who are generally fun (though some campers, yeesh… people are stupid sometimes). Does anyone know if there’s a fan club for this series? If not, I volunteer as tribute.

So that is what I read in the month of April. I would classify it as a good month, both in regards to the amount of books read, and how much I enjoyed them. I hope that May is just as good, if not more so, and I hope that you are also enjoying your own reading journeys!