I really thought I was going to love this – I like crime-with-a-twist, or I guess you might call it literary crime. Thriller plots but with sculpted prose. And, as many people have stated, the setup/pitch is very intriguing. Also I love the DIY, zine-style cover – at first glance it seems ugly, but it's unusual and that really appealed.

That's the good stuff. The downside is that I found this no fun to read. I have a high tolerance for self-conscious prose, but even for me this was a little much. It felt effortful, both to write and to read. It's a shame as I do think this author is very good, and I'll pick up her next book. But this one was just a bit too pained for me.

Ultimately wasn’t for me and I wasn’t able to finish the book. As a horror fanatic, either it “clicks” with me from the jump, or it doesn’t, and this was the latter case. I also wasn’t thrilled with the prose itself.

Didn't quite enjoy the writing and did not manage to finish reading the book. Not my cup of tea, but competent and I am quite sure it has an audience.

This book was hard to rate, y'all. Just going by the first half of this book, it probably would have gotten 2 stars, the last half bumped it to a 3.5, and then the end happened, knocking it down to a 3. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is the story of Detective Willow Wylde, a discharged ex-cop who is given a second chance, and a group of people possessed by the ghosts of murdered children who are tasked with the messy business of revenge. Sounds insanely intriguing, right? Well, for the first half of the book, it really wasn't. The author turned what sounded like a crazy intense plot into basically a snoozefest. I realize that we needed to establish what was going on with these possessed folks and what their purpose was, but it was just. so. boooooring. And I feel like that's a hard topic to make boring.

Thankfully, the second half of this book kicked into high-gear. All the intensity that I felt was lacking was slammed in and I was grooving with it. I started to jive with the characters more, especially our disgraced cop friend, Willow. I was digging how crazy everything was getting with the the Meetings, which are AA style get togethers for the people possessed by murdered children. And then the twist! I mean, I kind of saw it coming, but it still got me! I was loving it, I was charging through the book, I loved how that entire plot got wrapped up...

And then the end happened. And I was just... ugh... done. I saw the twist at the end coming, too, but I was really hoping that's not where the book was going to go. It just seemed unnecessary and, honestly, added nothing to the story. So, yeah, bumped that rating right down. Also, there are pretty descriptive scenes of child rape/murder, so if that's something you would rather not read, you might want to avoid this book. It made me uncomfortable and is another reason this book didn't get a higher rating.

All in all, it was an interesting concept, it had some good bits, and I liked it, but it's definitely not something I would force upon my friends and insist that they read.

Unfortunately could not get into this book - it didn't grab me and the Kindle formatting was weird - my apologies!

A Guide for Murdered Children has a fantastic premise and a lot of potential. It was a little bit of a push to read; I wish I liked it more!

A book with a really interesting premise that never manages to live up to its potential. It got very hyped up as a scary book, horror-esque, and what we get is a lackluster smattering of ideas with nothing to bind them together. Also didn't have nearly high enough stakes for me to care as the book went on. We're given the idea that crazy things are happening, but it'll all be fine in the end at the start of the book. Kinda takes the wind out of anything we might see later. Too many plot lines, not enough plot. I had really been hoping for more.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

2.5 stars.

I made through about 75% of the book before I realized that life is too short and quit. The premise is really interesting but it is a slog. It took me a solid third of the book to realize how all the characters and their stories were going to hang together. This book had a lot of potential, but I couldn't force myself to plow through it.

Thanks to my association as a book blogger with NetGalley, I get to read books that I ordinarily wouldn't catch on social media or see in the store. Today's post is about A Guide for Murdered Children: A Novel by Sarah Sparrow, an author I had never heard of before. I'll admit, the cover of the book drew me with it being pink and all, and then add the sparkles AND the unicorn and bam! it became a "must read" for me!

..... don't let that pretty cover fool you though...this book isn't one you'll find in a little girl's nursery.... Sarah Sparrow covers some topics that are not for everyone in this book - it depicts rape, abuse, and murder towards children. Nothing very pretty at all. In fact, this is a story about revenge, added with some policy procedural with a dash of fantasy thrown in.

This wasn't the type of book I find interesting - not thrilled with anything in the fantasy spectrum, and really don't like anything about the torture of children. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but this book was just not my style. I'm not saying it wasn't a good book though, I'm just saying it wasn't a book for me.

I received an advanced readers digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to provide a positive review but I chose to because it was a great book!! Thank you NetGalley!

The novel is recounted in the third person and begins with a writing style is difficult to appreciate and appears to read as a stream of consciousness. I grappled with the presentation of the first few chapters, trying to grasp onto words that seemed to be placed together with a forced atmosphere of chaos. Even though the pace is slow, the narrative jogs all over the place. There are alternating stories, multiple points of view, and timelines. Finally, there is an abundance of characters within characters and their full set of details which created confusion. I was forced to read and re-read. And sometimes I moved on and it made sense later. The chapter headings and sub-headings were helpful but not always.

But where the narrative fails in structure, it makes up in character development and imagination. I enjoyed Detective Willow, a character you can both love and despise at the same time. A loathsome man is attempting to reassert his place in his neglected family. His love is palpable as he rediscovers relationships. As a retired old cop, he takes a chance at getting his old job back but knows he is washed up. Middle age makes him feel invisible. But he has a gift of voices he has been suppressing.

Other noteworthy characters in the novel are a murderous duo. Laverne and Grundy's creepy rituals may keep me up at night. Although the descriptions of their killing are not gruesome, it is hair-raising and sinister.

Finally, The structure of the spirit world was impressive world building. There was a feeling of strangeness, and it was believable. The transparent hue of the Blue Earth, the train arriving at the station in dreams, the whispers of instruction, the Tom Collins and a cookie on a tray, the integration of body and spirit. The spooky and surreal ambiance was on point.

Overall, there is a mystery, mysticism, and some gruesome brutality. A great concept to juxtapose the paranormal/science fiction genre with horror. It fell short in the structure, but the story still unfolds, and those bits are brilliant. Not for the faint heart and for those who prefer a more streamlined read.

The title of this book drew me in but unfortunately the story just wasn’t for me. This is purely my opinion and I know others will enjoy the read.

I just could not finish this book. I wanted to love it, and the premise sounded great... but it just strayed too far from where it started.

At first it was a bit difficult to get into. The writing was a bit all over the place, but once I got used to it, I loved it’s unique voice. Not at all what I expected. Great story.

Strange deaths have been occurring in Saggerty Falls, Michigan. Willow Wylde, an ex-NYPD detective and recovering alcoholic fresh out of rehab, tries to start anew and takes a job running the cold case team in this Detroit suburb. However, he is still dealing with the demons of his recovery and is very self-destructive.

The most amazing quality about this book is the extremely unique, one-of-a-kind, and interesting plot. I have never read a story like this before. There is a guide book that is adhered to and provides order. There’s the Porter, Annie Ballendine; Tenants, which are the souls of murdered children; Landlords, recently deceased adults; and much more. A murdered child finds a recently deceased adult, revives him, they live together as “tenant and landlord”, the child locates his or her murderer, and exacts their “moment of balance”. Sounds complicated, right? Well, in a way it is, so paying close attention to the details is key.

The imagination that went into constructing this story and this other world is impressive and fantastically written. I am always in awe when an author creates such an incredible level of detail. Also, I enjoyed the character development and although there are a lot of characters, you still get a good understanding of each of them. Sound interesting? Well, it is.

The overall structure of the book is where things get a little rough as there are multiple perspectives, alternating timelines, and stories. My main issue is with the editing, but my guess is that it is corrected for the finished copy. Also, be prepared as this book does contain sensitive material such as rape, abuse, and the murder of children (obviously), so proceed with caution. Ultimately, I enjoyed the book for the originality, depth, and imagination. It is truly a horrifying, heartbreaking, and twisted read.

Thank you to Penguin Group Blue Rider Press for providing me with a copy of Sarah Sparrow's novel, A Guide for Murdered Children, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Willow Wade is a recovering alcoholic and former cop trying to get his life back together. His friend and current husband to Wade's ex-wife, convinces him to take a job in a cold-case unit in Detroit. Wade, who has psychic abilities, soon realizes that something very unusual is happening with regard to the cold cases of children who have been murdered. The murdered children are coming back for revenge.

LIKE- A Guide for Murdered Children is oozing with creativity and different from any novel that I've previously read. I love the concept that Sparrow has created: murdered children are able to live again through the bodies of recently deceased adults, adults who have died in a manner where no one else knows that they have died. For example, a woman is jogging and collapses,  but she rises from the dead to resume her life with this murdered child inside of her and no one else knows. The murdered child must work with the newly dead adult to exact revenge on the child's murderer before either body can have peace.

When the child takes over the adult's body, the adult's behavior changes. If the adult had been in a relationship, they are now no longer interested in being intimate with their partner. To the child inside of them, they can't grasp sexual intimacy. It's gross! The child may cause them to eat funny, such as one character who begins to favor gummy bears. I loved this creative element, where the adult and child are in equal shares trying to live through this one body. There is a poignant moment where it is mentioned that the children will experience sensations through the adult body, that they never had a chance to live long enough to do.

I love the concept of having the children meet at an AA type meeting, where they are guided through the process of being inside an adult and their goal of finding their murder. There were many plots twists that I did not anticipate. I don't normally take issue with scary stories, but I found myself unable to read A Guide for Murdered Children, when I was home alone. It's rather disturbing and unsettling. Even writing this review now (while I'm home alone at night) is giving me the chills.

DISLIKE- There were  times where I couldn't keep track of the large volume of characters and subplots. It made it a story that was an effort to read, rather than one that I could get lost inside. A Guide for Murdered Children has a lot going on and I'm not sure that it is all necessary. The pacing is uneven, sometimes breakneck speed and other times very sluggish. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. A Guide for Murdered Children is likely going to be very unique from any story that you've previously read and Sparrow's abundance of creativity shines above the pacing problems. This is a great pick for people who enjoy detective stories and don't mind if it's on the unsettling, creepy side.

This book was definitely outside of my usual fare. In fact, it was down right bizarre, and rather violent for my tastes. I by no means hated it, but I never really reached a point where I fell in love with it either. The plot jumps around various POVs but essentially, it surmises what would happen if the souls of murdered children came back into host bodies and were able to take revenge on those who had killed them (and likely others). In addition to viewpoints from some of these souls, we also follow Willow Wylde, a disgraced, alcoholic detective fresh out of rehab, working cold cases, and trying to figure out why his new rookies are so keen on their first case.

Let me just say first and foremost, that if violence towards children (some sexual) & graphic descriptions thereof are something that triggers you, then be warned that this book is rather graphic in a lot of its imagery and intensely hard to read at times. There is a story, but it also meanders along, coming to the central mystery every once in awhile, but also flitting back and forth through time and multiple people’s experiences. It was a decent read, but I never really felt myself sucked in until the very end. When the end did come, however, the whole book did finally make a kind of sense, though it made you wonder about the kind of universe in which these things occur.

Overall, it was a solid read, even though it was a bit intense at times. I really feel like a book like this is aimed at certain kind of reader, and I’m not sure I was that person. I am glad I finished it, and it provided a lot of food for thought. I find myself returning to it every once in awhile in my head, and I think it will stick with me.

Note: I received this book from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a very well-written book, with a lively style like a cross between Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore. The concept is very intriguing and the way the world and story unwind are thrilling. But I had to stop about half way. Once the brutal details of the children's lives and murders are included more and more it was just too graphic and dark for me. This goes on my shelf of books that are just too good at what they're doing for me to finish, next to the heartbreakingly beautiful Let The Right One In.

This is probably not a book you want to try reading on an e-reader. While I loved the premise that perhaps the souls of those who have been wronged and murdered can come back to wreak revenge on those that harmed them... this book is all kinds of crazy. A serious DNF, I really could not figure out for the life of me what the heck was going on. Maybe it was trying to read it on an iPad.... maybe I just couldn't stomach a lot of the plot... Either way, a well-written blurb/description/premise, but an execution that was just not for me.

I wanted to like this book, but, as silly as it may seem, the formatting in the Kindle edition was too disjointed and fragmented to keep me engaged in the plot. The plot sounds great, and what I did manage to read was enjoyable. I'm giving 3 stars because I can tell the book was headed in the right direction. I look forward to reading it in its published format.