Book Review — The Babysitters Coven

Title:  The Babysitters Coven

Author:  Kate Williams

Genre:  YA Comedic Horror

Pages:  Hardback, 355

ISBN:  978-0-525-70737-0

Opening Lines:  "The devil was an artist.  Her medium varied, from crayons to Magic Markers to finger paints, and she had coloring books, construction paper, giant pads of newsprint on a tiny plastic easel."

Rating

"Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it

"And lately Esme needs all the crash she can get because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree.

"Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria cooking. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even tak on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme's babysitters club?

"The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra's mother left her:

"'Find the babysitters. Love, Mom'

"Turns out Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they're about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home."

~ Jacket copy

The Babysitters Coven not only has an epic cover, it blew up my Facebook horror book community!  It seems as though comedic horror has move beyond film and started to eke itself in novels.  John Dies at the End will certainly not be the last in the sub-horror genre!  It has carved out its own niche audience, and it has declared it is here to stay.  And it appears as though Kate Williams is trying to bring it to YA literature, as well!

Book Review — The Bone Houses

Title: The Bone Houses
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: Hardback, 335
ISBN: 978-0-316-41841-6
Opening Lines: "The gravedigger's children were troublemakers. They chased chickens through the neighbors' yards, brandishing sticks like swords, claiming that the fowl were monsters in disguise."

Rating

"Seventeen-year-old Ryn cares about only two things: her family and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scaping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the food of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.

"The risen corpses are known as bone houses, and legend says that they're the result of an old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with a new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

"Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the deeply buried truths about themselves. Equal parts classic horror novel and original fairy tale, The Bone Houses will have you spellbound from the very first page."

~ Jacket copy

Bānhūs is a kenning in Anglo-Saxon literature meaning "body".  It is one of the many kennings made famous by Beowulf.  When the title of this novel caught my attention while I was teaching Beowulf to sophomores.  (It was not actually during the middle of class.  Rather, Viking and I were wandering through Barnes & Noble, and I squealed with excitement while repeating  "bānhūs" over and over again . . .)