Happy 1st Sunday of July, Boils & Ghouls! 👻
I’m still in awe that we have entered July and the latter portion of 2k25, but isn’t that just like time to be fleeting? Feels like I blinked and we were only just welcoming summer…
So how about we recap last month’s reads to get more morbid with it!
I make jokes but in actuality, there’s a lot of darkness around us lately in the world. And it’s truly up to our empowered spirits to cast light on the darkness, to balance it out (so we can enjoy our morbid curiosities with protective guards in place…)
June Theme: 🌈 Summertime Sadness
Speaking of shedding light on the darkness… I cleverly themed last month’s reading list after our lovely summer goddess Lana Del Ray’s song 🥀
And I think the books I gathered to read last month really captured those emo vibes 💔 (whether directly or indirectly through topics or the general mood conveyed throughout the pages…)
Check out some of the past monthly recaps here 👇🏻
- What I’ve Read In A Month – September 2025 Edition
- What I’ve Read In A Month – August 2025 Edition
- What I’ve Read In A Month – July 2025 Edition
June TO BE READ (TBR) List
I love using the Fable app to prepare monthly reading lists, and to share them with my fellow fantastic Fablers on the app to get hyped for the upcoming scares or fascinations I’m about to experience…
If you happen to be an avid reader and want more social in your book life, Fable is definitely the app to seek out 👀
Book Reviews
📖=physical/ebook 🎧=audiobook
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017)
Format: Audiobook 🎧
“In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.”
A highly anticipated book to read (and TV show to watch 👀) last month within the Novel Cinema 🍿 book club on Fable and boy, I was giggling throughout this incredibly written, witty sci-fi!
Rating:💀💀💀💀💀
Deadly Dolls by Elizabeth Dearnley (2024)
[ 🗣️Thank you to Independent Publishers Group & Netgalley for the ARC]
Format: ebook 📖
“Dolls, mannequins, humanoid toys and dummies are the quintessential symbols of the uncanny, referenced by Freud in his foundational essay on the phenomenon of the familiar-turned-unsettling, and remaining a terrifying recurring menace of horror media today.”
A collection of absolutely traumatizing stories about the toys that terrified us as children…
Rating:💀💀💀💀
The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark by Warren Wagner (2023)
Format: Paperback 📖
“There’s a raw, primordial scream echoing from each and every page of Warren Wagner’s The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark . It’s the scream of an exciting and impressive new voice in horror fiction. Deceptively clever and ferociously brutal, Wagner’s astonishing novella is a testament to LGBTQ+ survival against all odds-a gruesome, blood-soaked celebration of queerness.” – Eric LaRocca
When I saw this book while browsing online at Little Ghosts Bookstore, I knew I needed to add it to my collection (and would love to see a screen adaptation of this novella 👀)
Rating:💀💀💀💀💀
Subscribe to the blog for more haunted monthly recaps…
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets (2021)
Format: eBook 📖
“For readers of Leila Slimani’s The Perfect Nanny or Ling Ma’s Severance: a tight, propulsive, chilling novel by a rising international star about a group of young colleagues working as social media content monitors—reviewers of violent or illegal videos for an unnamed megacorporation—who convince themselves they’re in control . . . until the violence strikes closer to home.”
Since first discovering the existence of this book while browsing Book Outlet Canada last year, immediately my attention was grabbed and I knew I HAD to read it…
Rating:💀💀💀💀
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (2022)
Format: Hardcover + Audiobook 📖🎧
“In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh’s most exciting leap yet.”
A read last month with the Weird and Unsettling book club that was my first taste of Ottessa Moshfegh’s fever dream-like nightmares that will leave you with your jaw on the floor.
Rating:💀💀💀💀
The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Boone (2025)
[ 🗣️Thank you to Creature Publishing & Netgalley for the ARC]
Format: eBook 📖
“Midsommar meets The Final Girl Support Group in this horror novel about a woman who survived cult killings as a child and is striving to be “normal,” but a spontaneous trip into the woods and the voices in her head keep pulling her to the dark side.”
When I first saw the cover and read the brief description comparing this one to the film Midsommar, I was sold!!! 🤩
Rating:💀💀💀💀
Foreclosure Gothic by Harris Lahti (2025)
[ 🗣️Thank you to Astra Publishing House & Netgalley for the ARC]
Format: eBook 📖
“A multigenerational and deeply autobiographical gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality.”
I’m sorry, but is this not the BEST cover art you’ve seen?! And as you guessed it, my morbid curiosity peaked with this one 👀
Rating:💀💀💀.5
To see my reviews for Chlorine and I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, check out last month’s recap post.
I might have been a little too ambitious last month with adding 10+ books originally to my June TBR (while having to finish a few from May’s) but I’m extremely proud of the progress that I made and I’m excited for these next few months to get outside more often to read and soak up that natural vitamin D…
If you’d like to see what other books I’ve read, creep my books 👀
plus consider possessing your inbox with NEW blog updates…
High and Low vibes of June
I found June was one of my best months for reads 🙏🏻 and I’m so glad I was able to achieve most of my monthly TBR (with the exception of Sour Cherry, Incidents Around the House & 120 Murders that will end up in July’s Monthly Recap 🏖️… so make sure you’ve subscribed above to be notified ☝🏻)
✨ VIBED THE HIGHEST WITH…
Chlorine by Jade Song (2023)
Why did this book exceed my expectations?
While this was technically included in last month’s recap post and not rated as highly as others I’ve recently read, I still think about the story constantly…
I had been eagerly awaiting to read this book with the Morbid Mavens over in the Mor(e)bid Curiosities 💀 book club for so long, so the anticipation really built up the experience (and the book itself did not disappoint either with the body horror elements.)
I almost want to go back and annotate those beautiful sapphic quotes that still make my soul swoon! 🥰
☠️ HIT MY LOWEST Vibe WITH…
Foreclosure Gothic by Harris Lahti (2025)
What happened during the reading experience?
I’m such a sucker for captivating cover art and going into a book completely blind (with the exception of gathering a bit about the genre and author’s background) and when I saw this cover, I instantly thought of my favorite morbid YouTube channels and those “Scariest Footage caught on Doorbell Cameras!” videos.
And maybe that was a little misguided of me to believe this book would be a Horror-focused story with a Gothic touch… (I mean, there were scary elements within the story, but not with what I took from the cover art) so that would be my only issue. The book, story and experience was great and I would still recommend this book if you want an intriguing multi-generational telling of family bonds & struggles (which could be Horror to some…)
Again, so much gratitude to Astra House Publishing & NetGalley for the access to this advanced reading copy 📖🙏🏻
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you reading about reading 🙈
Drop a 👻 in the comments and share your reading highs and lows for June…
Do you have a morbid curiosity?
Join the club(s) 👀📚
Until we meet again,
What was your favorite book in June?
Drop a 🖤 Break a name