Weird Dream Society - An anthology for the playful, dark and thoughtful

The Weird Dream Society anthology holds a host of wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful stories. The contributing authors themselves originate from across the English speaking world, with varying notoriety and existing bodies of work. The profits from this collection are to go to RAICES, a Texas-based non-profit which provides legal and educational services to migrants which is certainly a great cause to support.

I absolutely loved the diversity of setting, from clear references to our current pandemic predicament to entirely new fantasy words somehow brought to life in just a few pages. So many of these stories left me wanting to read more in their worlds, from the scarred faces of 'Skin Like Carapace' to the floating ice whales of 'Glasswort, Ice'. I know that weird may at times be a rather intimidating moniker, but that each of the contributing authors was able to fully embrace it meant that the extraordinary became ordinary and the worlds and happenings far more unique and captivating. The short story format enabled even small ideas to be explored for their practicalities and implications. One example of this is 'The Hoof Situation', which explores how being faced with the realities of aging can affect our perception of youth through a society where old women grow hooves in place of feet.

Moreso than the worlds, many of these stories left me sitting, quiet and pensive, contemplating what on Earth had just happened (in a good way.) This is certainly not an anthology to be read in one sitting, as you will almost certainly need time to consider and imagine. The characters were overwhelmingly well developed and despite the format also often grew with the progression of the story. One thing that did annoy me was that a couple of the stories used 'they' as a singular pronoun, which for me at times made it harder to understand and didn't always feel necessary. Although this might just be a me thing. I ended up vehemently googling several of the authors following these reflection comas and will almost certainly be exploring more from A.C. Wise, Steve Toase, Emily Cantaneo, and Chip Houser; the authors of 'Crossing', 'Skin Like Carapace', 'Glasswort, Ice' and 'Meat for Skritches' respectively.

I have to give this a 5/5 stars, and though I read this as an eBook I am certainly looking to buy it in paperback when I can. You can pick it up on Amazon, Kobo, Weightless Books and for the Americans out there: B&N Nook, Barnes and Noble (Paperback), and Indiebound.org.

I would like to thank the authors of Weird Dream Society, Julie C. Day who was also the editor of the anthology, Reckoning Press and netGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sentient frogs you say? Chaos Drive by Jamie Brindle

Matt and Charlotte, are young, vivacious, and just married. They haven't started to hate each other yet. Waking up the morning after their very normal wedding, they each wake up to find a not-quite-right version of the other. Oh, and Charlotte's somehow managed to get on a space ship, with a humanoid creature that seems a lot like her very normal cat to boot. Everything is decidedly strange and the not-quite-right versions of their partner are even stranger, babbling of stories and sentient frogs. If this sounds like a solidly weird sci-fi/fantasy novel to you, you'd be correct, but boy does it wear it well.

Like the Grand Idiot that I am I didn't realise that this was sort of part of a series before picking it up. And you make ask, how can a book be sort-of-part-of-a-series? The answer is of course The Storystream. This novel takes place in a universe of Brindle's creation in which many versions of a 'story' exist, the notion we simpletons would call a 'life' with parallel universes. The collective of these infinite versions is The Storystream. While we follow Matt and Charlotte in Chaos Drive, most other stories of the series do not so it can be read first with a little extra concentration. Each story must find balance between Order and Chaos, but the two stories of Matt and Charlotte which we follow don't seem to be doing that very well (of course leading to more glorious chaos.) I'm not going to lie, this took me a little to wrap my head around (probably because I didn't read the series in order), but once I did it was something I couldn't stop thinking about because it could entirely apply to our own boring world. And honestly I really hope some other version of me isn't sitting in quarantine.


This book was awesomely weird. From the race of sentient frogs to the magical cat, it never failed to make me smile at the simultaneous sheer stupidity and genious of its context. The sentient frogs were a complete and complexly thunk out society which we get to explore from the perspective of Headfrog 127, a Captain looking for power in the deceptive and bloodthirsty society of the Frogopolis. Do not underestimate the ability for one to enjoy the perspective of a sentient frog, because it's great. Throughout the book Brindle is able to weave a unique, whole and consistent look into the thoughts of Headfrog 127, allowing us to gain full perspective of a society which most values qualities of deception and a drooping underbelly are prized. This was a load of fun to explore this along with the rest of the oddness of The Storystream. As a sidenote, I also spent much of the book pretending Headfrog 127's commentary was that of Donald Trump, something that Brindle most probably didn't intend but made it even more entertaining.

Another fantastic thing about this novel was the way the dynamic switched it up around halfway through. I had just started to get a bit sick of the relationship between the Matts and Charlottes, but Brindle seemed to know that I would, and created character growth and layers for each through this change. This would also go on to be integral to the progression of the plot and our understanding of the implications of the predicament which they have found themselves in. As above, one of the three viewpoints which we read from is Headfrog 127, and the other two are the normal Matt and normal Charlotte. It was fascinating to see how their perception of themselves and each other mushroomed through their interactions with the other version and strangeness itself.

About a third of the way through, I realised that Jamie Brindle might just be shaping up to be a new favourite author. He combines the humour and worldbuilding abilities of Derek Landy with a splash of nitwit, blubber, oddment and tweak. In fact, I'd highly recommend getting into The Storystream for fans of Landy. At this realisation, I promptly went to amazon and bought the first two books of The Storystream, and immediately read The Hardblokes of Sparta after finishing this, about to start Chaos Born and I loved it. Definitely look out for its upcoming review. To conclude this one, I think it's safe to say that I am a fan of Chaos Drive and what it brings to the table, I'm also now obsessed with frogs. I gave this book 4.5/5 stars.

Check out this book on Goodreads and Amazon.

The book that made me scared of the dark again.... Anna Dressed in Blood

Cas Lowood is a real life Ghost Buster, who also happens to be dealing with high school and the legacy of a father who died at the hands of a cannabalistic ghost. We learn early on that he tends to be a loner but the story would be depressing if he didn't pick up some friends at some point, and that he does. On arrival in Thunder Bay, Cas is expecting to kill Anna Korlov and soon learns that things were going to be a lot more complicated than the average stab-n'-go.

For my second time reading the book, I expected a bit of boredom. Some time had passed since I first picked it up, but the main surprises would still be gone. I was wrong. This story doesn't even know who boredom is. I was at times completely terrified and had to use a flashlight to save myself from the dark. I was sure that ghosts were hiding in the walls of a house which no one could possibly have died in (or so I choose to believe). I am not particularly fond of being afraid of my house, but the great thing about this book is that the horror was always balanced out with the humour. While I probably won't drop a dedicated review on Girl of Nightmares, the second part of the duology, I can say that it didn't disappoint on the horror either. Anna Dressed in Blood never takes itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either.

This world has stuck with me for the past four years. Blake has managed to bring complexity and humour to being a teenage ghost buster. Anna's relationship with our main characters is utterly ridiculous, but also completely reasonable for a world in which each murderous ghost is given a story and pain. Somehow this book manages to turn murderous rampages into pity, and I love that it does. From the first ghost we met I was hooked. And if ghosts and ghost-busters weren't enough to sell you on giving this a read - there's also an entire paranormal network to learn about. The fantastic world-building was coupled with fabulous characters and a fast-paced plot. Anna, Thomas, Carmel and Cas had me absolutely flying through the book (which only took me a couple days to finish thanks to pretending impending deadlines didn't exist.)

However, my one sticking point for making this God-tier would have to be the romance aspect. While it was great to see a ghost buster fall in love with a ghost, I did find myself getting a bit sick of it by the end. Despite this, I'm going to have to give this a 4/5 for being so damn memorable (and because I recommend getting it stuck in your head too.)

Light Years by Kass Morgan

'Light Years' by Kass Morgan follows the story of four soon to-be space academy students from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds as they fight adversity, and some aliens too. I don't know why I thought that sounded interesting but it actually kind of was. The story, and the characters were all super interesting, but I found the novel lacking in other ways. Rating this was actually a real challenge for me since while I really enjoyed it I don't think it deserves 4+ stars given that the writing itself lacked a bit of finesse and complexity. 

Each of the characters had their own story to tell, and their backgrounds well reflected this. With one rich kid, two poor kids from the outer planets, and an alien? spy, we certainly got to see a few different perspectives. The politics of the world were therefore really interesting, but I felt that they could have been fleshed out more as while the characters often spoke about perceived prejudice, there could have been more examples of it in action, especially in regards to Deva and Chetire, where the prejudice was felt from afar, but not seen directly in action on the planets themselves. My favourite perspectives were those of Rex and Vesper, but Arran's naivety and Orelia's coolness weren't that enjoyable. I liked the role that romance played in the novel, but I don't think that it was very realistic. I mean, who seriously feels 'electricity coursing through their body' when they kiss someone?

There were some pacing issues with this book, and I think that the end was pretty rushed. The first few weeks were really well fleshed out and then the remainder of the year was wrapped up in the same amount of words. I did enjoy the cliffhanger at the end of the book, even if it was pretty obvious. Another issue I had was with the teacher-student thing going on, and that when the student was with this teacher it was the only time they truly felt safe. It's honestly kind of weird, even if they are of similar ages (which was reinforced way too often.)  

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley, and would like to thank Hachette Children's Books, and most of all Kass Morgan for giving me opportunity to read and review this book.

The Edible Cookie Dough Cookbook by Olivia Hops

So this might be a bit random, but I feel like 'cookie dough' should be one word. It's a common enough phrase anyway, at least in my head. Cookiedough just looks like it belongs together. Anyway, when I saw The Edible Cookie Dough Cookbook pop up on Netgalley I knew I just had to give it a shot. Who doesn't like eating cookie dough? One of the reasons I usually bake vegan is because I don't want to have to remotely worry about salmonella when eating that stuff off my hands. Here, Hops has managed to compile a whopping 75 different totally edible cookie dough recipes, even coming with instructions on how to heat treat flour for safety (although I can't say I bothered with it.) 

This book comes with 3 major sections: 

The obligatory introductory basic how to stuff was about as interesting as it ever is. I did enjoy the author's writing style and personal notes about how she fell into the cookie dough business, but as usual my focus was on the glorious tasty treats themselves. 

Cookie dough recipes: There were SO many awesome sounding recipes in here, from your classic double choc to a lemon cardamom dough that looked amazing. Every recipe started pretty much the same way, beating a ton of butter and sugar into the fluffy goodness we all know and love. One thing I will say about these recipes is that they seem to rely on premade flavourings, such as cake or brownie mix. And while that does make for a short ingredient list, I think that it would have been nice to get some less artificial flavouring going. 

Recipes using the cookie dough: these were pretty cool, including cookie dough layer cake, cookie dough stuffed cupcakes, and cookie dough party dip. Am I going to make any of these? Probably not. But there are certainly plenty of ideas that I think would be great for kids birthday parties, or barbecues and picnics. 

The recipes are all formatted well, and easily understandable. Most people with basic baking experience should be able to make them once they work out how to cream butter and sugar. The problem, for me anyway, is that this book recommends a paddle beater, which I do not have, and resulted in some pretty sugar-grainy dough. Not every recipe in this book has a photo, which I personally like, because you can never be misled by how something looks, only how it sounds, but if you're a photo fiend, this probably isn't for you. There isn't anything incredibly exciting about the photography that is there, nor is there anything particularly exciting about the formatting, so if  you're looking for an average kind of cookbook with inventive recipes, go for it. 

I made two recipes with this book to varying degrees of success. The birthday cake cookie dough tasted  fine, but I did not beat the butter and sugar nearly long enough and it was a dry, crumbly mess. Thankfully I forgot to take pictures of that monstrosity. The taste was only ok, maybe because I used cheap cake mix, or maybe because the flavour was supposed to come entirely from cake mix. 

The second recipe I tried was the White Chocolate Chai Cookie Dough, minus the white chocolate, because I was too lazy to go to the shops. This turned out much better and is pictured beside (because I know you've missed my amazing food photography.) The taste was again kind of bland, and tasted basically just like chai tea powder, the basis of its flavouring. It just left me feeling like there was something missing (maybe the white chocolate.)  The texture was better, getting to a cookie dough consistency, and not being too dry, but I could still feel the individual sugar granules. 

Overall I gave this a 3.5/5 stars, because there was a huge variety of recipes, they just could have been better. 

The Beast of Kukuyo by Kevin Jared Hosein

***

For the second time in her life, 15-year-old Rune Mathura comes face-to-face with a brutal murder when her classmate Dumpling Heera goes missing and is eventually found dead. 

Dumpling’s murder drags the small, rural village of Kukuyo into the national spotlight, revealing a darkness curdling in the town. But Rune knows that the memories of the villagers and police are short. Inspired by her love of detective television shows, she launches her own investigation. 

Yet, Rune soon learns that real life is not the same as television and neither justice nor evil appear in black and white. Her journey takes her along a bloody trail of chicken feathers, down a muddy ravine and into a grimy den where she encounters dark secrets and a terror that is very, very real. 

In this gripping new novel, Kevin Jared Hosein topples the tropes about truth and justice created in television shows and childhood detective novels like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Along her journey Rune learns that the road to justice can be paved with ill-intentions, and that truth is always complicated.

***

First of all I have to say that I know practically nothing about Trinidad. All I knew before going into this book was that it used to be a British slave colony and that it is in the Caribbean. And this book isn't really about Trinidad, but it is set there, so you can say that I had to Google many many things in order to understand what was going on. But that was actually one of my favourite things, as the author used Trini slang and hindu words to authenticate Rune's perspective. 

One of my favourite aspects of this book is that it is just as much character driven as it is plot driven, so it's kind of perfect for me. I loved watching Rune grow and learn and really just become who she needed to be. The other characters are also really well written and each one has their own complexities. Nothing is black and white. Nick, for example, is irresponsible and an alcoholic but as we see him through Rune's eyes it's clear that he's not all bad. 

There is only technically a romance element to this book and that's really just an awesome friendship that could lead to more at some point in the future. And I liked that. It was realistic, not all fifteen year olds have ever been in a relationship, in fact most haven't.

SPOILER! My one gripe (except it isn't really) is that we never get to find out who kills Dumpling. Rune laments that people will forget about Dumpling but along the way she stops being fueled by that death as well (in her defense she does have some crazy other shit going on).

I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good YA thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Blouse & Skirt Books and most of all Kevin Jared Hosein for giving me the opportunity to read this awesome book. 

Vegan Yack Attack On the Go! by Jackie Sobon

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Vegan Yack Attack on the Go! is an exciting new vegan cookbook with creative recipe ideas. Sobon created this book to give readers “a wide variety of meals that are fun, tasty, and quick to pull together”. Included are sections on pantry basics and appliances, which are pretty run of the mill, preceding the recipes. The recipes are split into seven chapters:

- Quick breakfasts, snacks, and treats: As with most cookbooks I find that the breakfast inclusions just take more time than I’m willing to take each morning to prepare. But that doesn’t mean the recipes don’t look awesome and that  I won’t try them at some other time.

- Prep-ahead recipes: This chapter includes thinks like granola, dip and veggie crisps (kale, squash etc.).  A lot of this you will have seen before in some form but the author always manages to put her own twist on it. A great example would be the White Bean Rosemary Hummus.

- Lunch box stuffers: I wanted to make pretty much everything in this section as I’m always looking for new lunchbox recipes. While some of the recipes take quite a while to make, they are also mostly usable in bulk so that I could meal prep for the week. How often am I going to eat 4 sandwiches or bagels anyway?

- Meals in 30 minutes or less: While most of these meals are true ‘30 minutes or less meals’, there are some which expect you to have pre-prepared sauces that would clearly make the meals take much longer. For example, the butternut squash mac and cheese wants you to already have the sauce on hand and takes its prep time out of the equation by putting the sauce in the ‘basics’ section. I don’t know about you but butternut cheese sauce is not something that my family actively has around. The other recipes which I have prepared from this section have come together in 30 minutes with prep time included so the preparation of this sauce may be included, however it is not made clear in the book itself.

- Bulk cooking:This section is filled with some great recipe ideas, which despite the title only make a small number of servings. The author says that the intention is to make multiple servings at once which is fine but I think that the only reason to have these recipes in a separate section to the others is because they don’t come together super quickly, and therefore fit into the title of the book.

- Food on the move:Some of these recipes are really unique, it is rare that I look through a cookbook seeing new types of foods (at least new to me). The grill packets especially look like something I should give a shot.

- Make your own staples: While I'm personally unlikely to use this section (as I'm a lazy f*ck), I think this could be useful for some people.

I tested two recipes for this book, both from the 30 minutes or less category. Both were well written and easy to follow. In fact the whole book was well-written and beautifully formatted, with amazing photos for most of the recipes. As a plus the food actually looked like pictures (sorry for the terrible ones of my versions which are below) .

The Summer Stew turned out great and used up some of the foods that had been sitting around the fridge for a while (like zucchini). I'd definitely make it again. The Kale Raspberry Grain Salad did not do so well, although I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I subbed agave for maple syrup and used defrosted raspberries rather than fresh since that’s what I had on hand and the whole thing ended up being a bit bitter. I probably wouldn't make this again. 

Overall I'd really recommend this book for those looking to explore vegan cooking and even for longtime plant-based eaters who are looking for fresh ideas.

***4.5/5 stars***