https://booksbehindthetitle.wordpress.com/2019/07/27/blogtour-castleofsorrows-annecater-flametreepress-jonathanjanz/

I search and I search for horror movies. I love to be scared, but I can never find anything that does it for me. I knew Castle of Sorrows was a horror novel, but I had no idea it would actually scare me! Oh, Jonathan Janz has just jumped right into my favorite author pile. Holy crow. I’m so impressed, I haven’t been able to get this one out of my head.

I read this novel as a standalone, and did fine understanding everything. However, now I have to go back and read the first book because I know it’s going to be just as good!

The atmosphere in this novel…the pace…the characters…the plot. Wow. Just wow. I am so impressed with how captivating and terrifying this novel was. I was glued to the pages, but needed to turn on another light because it freaked me out. Love it.

I want to keep going on and on about how much I loved this book, but I’m taking up your reading time. Go grab this one and the first book while you’re at it. Make sure you leave the light on while you’re reading!

*I received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Random Things Tours. All opinions are my own.(

Janz has recently become one of my favorite authors and this book is yet another example of why I love his work.
The story starts off with some immediate intriguing details of what has happened at Castle Blackwood. From there, this book immedaiately jumps into the deep end with a very intense and harrowing, and bloody scene. Very much an "open mouthed" horror scene. It got extremely descriptive and the it was just the prolouge scene!
This book has plenty of characters in it. At one point, I did have trouble remembering all of them, but the more the story unfolded the easier it became to keep track of who was who and really added to the story. The characters seemed fleshed out in one way or another, whether they were the antagonist or protagonist. Everyone had their own motives as well as flaws. They were well rounded and I cared for them. Their various dialouges were authentic for who the character was. Even the 'unlikeable' characters were authentic to me, in their actions, descriptions, and tone of voice. Everyone seemed to have a bit of a hidden backstory that played to the overall plot in this story; and their own ghosts/demons of their past seem to haunt them. They're very real and very primal at times and I found myself loving or hating them as I should.
Janz's writing style really reaches and speaks to me. He knows how to grasp my attention and hold it through every page. He had a nice little nod to several of his other works in this book, and it made me smirk a bit. In a good way of course. His tone of writing is very dark, but sophisticated to me.

There is an insane amount of blood and violence and general gore in this book... and I for one am absolutely >thrilled about it. I, as a reader of horror fiction, love the over the top gore and blood and disgust in scenes and Janz absolutely more than delivered. It seemed once our characters arrived at Castle Blackwood, they weren't allowed much peace and it made for a fast-paced, action packed, gore inducing read. I can't begin to count the amount of scenes where I've grimaced or stared at the book in actual open mouthed horror and shock.

The descriptions are amazing. For the scenes, to the locations, to the character's movements. Everything is given enough vivid detail for reader's to see it quite literally played out in front of them. There was so much to interpret and comphrened throughout this. I had a moment or two of a fake-out where I thought I'd have something figured out, only to be smacked in the face with how wrong I was. This story had plenty of good twists that I didn't see coming and was therefore caught extremely off guard when they happened.</p>
>I will admit, there was maybe two things I felt were a bit over the top and unrealistic, but it was so outdone by everything that was amazing for this book. It does have a supernatural aspect that plays more heavily than originally thought, and it does so without making it seem hokey. I had so many thoughts pertaining to the supernatural aspect, and though I'd love to include them it would contain spoilers-- again I urge you to get a copy of this book!
Any horror fan is bound to enjoy this book in one way or another. Janz can write horror and he can do it superbly. This was an absolute gore-fest of a book, and I for one am blown away by it!

I first have to admit that when I committed to reading this book, I didn't realize it was a sequel. I honestly wish I'd read the first one, partly because I'm anal about things like that and secondly so I could provide some sort of comparison. However, that being said, I really felt like I was able to jump into "Castle of Sorrows" rather quickly and that in the beginning, enough backstory was slowly provided so that the book made sense and I didn't feel like I was missing anything.

Due to some incidents that happen early on, Ben heads back to Castle Blackwood. He travels under the direst of circumstances which is exactly what was needed to make him face the demons, both literally and figuratively, of his past. Along for the ride are Widow Blackwood, a medium, a PI, several FBI agents and a gang of mobsters.

Castle Blackwood has a life of its own and it feeds on people, their darkest secrets and their scariest emotions. It makes people do unimaginable things and Janz has done an excellent job of making the setting an atmospheric character of its own. Just this week I had mentioned how I needed more spooky castle settings in books and behold, "Castle of Sorrows" is just what I was talking about.

Janz's book is full of colorful characters and little by little, we learn more about them. In the end, as a reader I was cheering some on to succeed, and yearning for the downfall and demise of others. Any true horror lover needs to pick up a Janz novel, whether it's this one or some of his others, and give him a try. He has quickly become an auto-read author for me so bring it on Jonathan! I'm ready!

Omg omg this book scared me completely and brought the goosebumps out. I reacted viscerally and to top it all, I read the book bang on the bewitching hour, the midnight.

Ben's daughter was kidnapped by an ancient evil residing in the island off California coast The Sorrows. He had barely survived the evil in book 1 and his life had just come back to some kind of normal when he was struck by the beast again. He went back to the Sorrows with a group of characters, and things turned ugly.

Jonathan Janz is the master of horror, and this book made me feel everything the book intended, excitement, fear, anger, desperation, helplessness. This was book 2 in the Sorrows series, but I didn't have a problem understanding the story. Book 1 was explained quite well in its scenes without really giving away the twists.

I loved the way Janz had set the atmosphere in the story. The Castle and the entire island exponentially increased the fears and inner evil of everyone who stepped in it. Every negative deed or thought became alive with no route to escape. It was literally a place which breathed malice

The initial chapters felt a little disjointed till the connected them beautifully. The action was non stop, I got to know the characters via their deeds both past and present. The excitement filled with dread rose so high in me that I literally wanted to push Ben and his child off the island.

This was one rocking ride from beginning to end, my midnight read, and now I plan to sleep with the lights on.