Bleed More, Bodymore is quite the interesting book. I’m sad to say that I can’t rate it very high because honestly, I was confused the majority of the time. I understood the general concepts, but the specifics and time line were so confusing to me. The writing style was very stream of consciousness, which was a little too rambly for my confused brain. I liked the other world of the dead, the mystery of the story, and the personality of the characters. The narrator also did an excellent job portraying emotion and true dedication to reading the book.

Overall, it’s a 2/5 stars for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* im not sure what it was but it was hard for me to get into this book? and the lip ring reminded me of inception lol

This has been a journey. At the middle of the book, it has some “Corpse bride” vibes, which, as a Tim Burton fan, I really appreciate. It’s the perfect book for Halloween time. Besides that, I like the folklor about the ravens and grim stuff. I think this book is dark, sometimes spooky, and it has it’s hilarious moments. Oh, and don’t fogert the amount of dramatic moments (which I liked a lot). I’m still having some trouble finding out if I like the protagonist or not, she’s got some attitude, and she would irritate me a lot, but she would also be sweet and brave. I had the chance to read the digital copy and listen to the audio book. The audiobook is total different experience, I enjoyed it most. So well narrated, it kept me intrigued the whole time. I highly recomend to give it a try, because it’s so good.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The concept of this book was what drew me to it. It was an interesting idea that I hadn't come across before so I was excited to listen to this  just to see how it would play out. However, I think the execution wasn't quite there. It needed to be explained a bit more. The characters I thought weren't fully fleshed out, expecially the MC. She's sassy, sarcastic and she's definitely scrappy but she was also all over the place. Although I thought this was a well paced book, it was also confusing at times. I think with a bit more thought this could have been a really good book, it just lacked the execution.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this book. I tried on and off over the last two months to listen to it while painting, driving, cleaning, and even just sitting to listen and I just couldn’t get into it. 
I was really excited to listen to a horror/thriller on audio, but the narrator was really monotone and unenthusiastic, it was a struggle to get through it. The main character, Joey, is female (which I didn’t even realize until some gendered comments from other characters) but the audiobook narrator is male, and it felt like he really struggled to embody the character’s personality other than just being… dry. The stream of consciousness narration was really hard to follow at certain points, and Joey’s character is honestly just kind of rude. I’m sure that was probably intended, with her tough, not-like-other-girls attitude, but it wasn’t enjoyable.

None of the characters really held my interest, and I found myself not really caring what happened to them. The main plot of the story sounded really interesting, so I was disappointed that it didn’t keep me hooked at all. I may consider trying to read the Kindle version of Bleed More, Bodymore at some point and see if my opinion of the characters and the story overall change… but as for the audiobook, I DNF because it was physically painful to listen to the narrator. 
Hopefully the text version is better than the audio if I decide to pick it up again.
One star for audiobook, two stars in hopes that the text version is better.

I really enjoyed this one a lot and hope to read more from this author very soon. Fun, scary, with some supernatural, all around a totally relatable and awesome character that I would love to read more about in the future.

*I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Very disorienting, slow, and nothing develops.

I could never get into this. It isn't any fun when I never know where I am at and why. If it wasn't for the narrator, I wouldn't even have a clue about what was happening. The author does a good job of setting up an atmosphere. But a lot of the talk of the city and the main character's lip ring are repetitive.

Even though I liked the narrator, the main character is female (Joey). The narrator is male, which made this confusing. There wasn't enough about Joey (physical descriptions or otherwise). I never connected with her or cared about any of the characters.

This book needs a lot of work. It feels like this is the first attempt. And they just threw the outline together and put chapter numbers here and there. No questions get answered and nothing kept me hooked. I also think this leans towards a mystery, not a horror novel. Overall, even if this was redone, I can't see it being more than a 2.5-star book.

I received this book from Netgalley front honest review, and I would like to thank the author, the publisher, for allowing me early access.

The premise of second chances is heartwarming, particularly given its relation to the paranormal.
. I also enjoyed the overall concept of the ghost town with refills and ravens. And how that related to the soul collection. My affinity for the Macrab exceptionally played to throughout the narrative of the story. The issue I had came in the form of the writing style being a bit more of a stream-of-consciousness. The writing style choice gave difficulties orientation myself where I was in the story.

Let me start by stating the fact that the first half of the book kept me wondering what's even happening 🙈 Don't get me wrong... once you get a hang of it the story glides on ... just till then you will need to have patience. The overall idea of creating 2 different worlds in same timeline in same place is really novel. What I didnot know was the link between the Ravens and death.💀
The concept of life after life is so infrequent in the books that I have read that it pulled me back from breaks. The best part for me was it did not impose the typical norms of what we know about afterlife in human form. Nothing of that sort, so all that comes across is from a fresh angle and new perspective. Overall a decent read.

I received the Audio ARC of the book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars.

As I got the audio book I can only comment on that format. Unfortunately for me it was a let down. The many Baltimore cliches I was expecting giving the obvious Edgar Allan Poe reference in the book cover and name of the book I perhaps was expecting something a little different.

The writing style is ok but the overuse of adjectives and how many times Joey plays with her lip ring annoyed me as it doesn’t really add “sass” to the character. I felt that Joey’s Brocken home and difficult childhood could’ve made a better protagonist instead I ended up pausing the book more often so I could get away from her.

There are interesting ideas through out the book like having an underground form of Death replica of your actual area, having ravens collecting souls a river that connects both worlds, (note that’s not necessarily groundbreaking or new but it’s fun and gives a touch of folklore to the book)

I found myself bored and annoyed by the voice of the person who reads the book (Kieran Regan) Im sure he’s a great performer but it was a miss for me this time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Steak House Books for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the book intrigues me and still does. I listened to the audiobook and it just wasn't for me. I didn't think the narrator was the best choice. His cadence through me off and it was difficult for me to get into the story. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was reading it. I will say that it was easy to distinguish the characters in the book which is half the battle when listening to audiobooks. It was a bold choice to have a male narrator for a female narrator in the book.

The description in this book paid homage to Poe. There was a spooky vibe and a sense of urgency that you can't always find in thrillers or horror. The writing style wasn't always consistent and I felt that at times there were redundancies. I know other reviewers have mentioned this but there is this habit or nervous action that the main character does with her tongue piercing. You hear that quite often which after the third mention of it made me annoyed. I wish the author would've explored other ways to show the anxiousness or nervousness of the character or used that line sparingly to make it more of a statement. I enjoyed the nods to antiquity and witty banter between the characters. The story was a bit slow for me and wish it went faster.

This was a fast past and gripping story. I raced through the audiobook in 2 days and must say I really did enjoy this. and had a deep rooted need to know what was going to happen next.
The main POV is a girl Josephine, shortened to Joey through the audio, it took me a while to get used to Joey being a girl as this is narrated by a male voice.

What I did enjoy about this book unfortunately did not make up for what I disliked. I listened to it on audio and I did really enjoy the narration and the spooky vibes it had throughout the book. It was definitely a good book to read in the fall. My issues were mostly with the characters, I found them boring and repetitive. I had a hard time connecting with them so I honestly didn’t care about what happened with them throughout the book. I’m still not sure if it was the writing style or the plot that didn’t work for me but one of those aspects made it difficult to get through the book and made it just overall boring and too slow paced for me. I’m still glad I gave this a shot!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I didn’t like the audiobook narrator and just couldn’t get into it. I will check out the physical book/ebook, though, as it seems like an interesting concept. Thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to physically reading this book.

Well this was a hard one. First off this is a review of the audiobook. The author is really good. The story was pretty good. The audiobook is read by a guy (the main character is a girl and the story is told by her perspective) and Kieran Regan is VERY talented. Yet, everything about this story was unsettling and unnerving.
This is a very angry story. Maybe one of the angriest stories I've read or listened to in ages. It's different, it's unique, it's something I think one needs to experience to understand what I'm saying.
I don't know if I liked it or not. I had to finish it, I wanted to know what happened. At times it was hard to turn off. Unlike a dnf that I can't get into at all, I was interested in the story. As I said before, the author is talented. I would try another book by her.
When I was a teenager I think I would have identified better with this story yet this is not a YA book by any stretch of the imagination. It makes me remember how I'd listen to a certain song repetitively when I was fit to be tied back then. Building up my emotional breakdown. These characters are the embodiment of that emotional overload.

With all that being said it still deserves a 3 star. There's a lot of talent there. Just because it made me grind my teeth and want to kick something doesn't take away from the talent. I still couldn't put it down at times.
This was an audiobook ARC from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#BleedMoreBodymore #NetGalley

When Joey's called out to the infamous Leakin Park to pick up her best friends car, she isn't anticipating being pulled into the literal underbelly of Baltimore as a result.

This was a pretty fun read! I enjoyed following Joey as she tried to figure out what happened to her friend, and I especially enjoyed her no cares attitude.

My only dislike has nothing to do with the book itself, but rather the narrator of the audio book. I just don't think her voice clicked with me, and I think it took a little bit out of the story for me.

Other than that though, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing the series and picking up more from this author!

My thanks to Steak House Books for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Bleed More, Bodymore’ by Ian Kirkpatrick in exchange for an honest review. It was narrated by
Kieran Regan and had a running time of 9 hours, 3 minutes at 1x speed.

This was a fast paced urban fantasy/horror thriller set in Baltimore, Maryland. The novel’s narrator is Josephine (Joey), a mechanic working for Bodymore Body Shop. One night she receives a call from her best friend, Wayland, who asks her to pick up his car from Leakin Park, Baltimore’s infamous body dumping ground.

She arrives to find the car attended by some ravens yet no sign of her friend. Back at the body shop it turns out that there’s a corpse in the trunk. The cops (aka the Badges) immediately suspect Joey’s friend of the crime. Yet Joey is convinced of his innocence and intends to find him and prove this.

So far a fairly standard thriller plot yet then things start becoming strange as Joey encounters more ravens, including one able to transform into human form. She discovers a city of ghosts underneath Baltimore that includes the River Styx and memorable macabre architecture. She also meets a reaper. No more details in order to avoid spoilers.

This proved an engaging novel with plenty of surprises and a willingness to explore serious themes such as pain, anger, and grief alongside the tropes of the urban fantasy sub genre. I liked Joey very much for her loyalty, strength, and quirky sense of humour. There’s plenty of sharp banter though she definitely has a complicated home life.

I started the audiobook and finding the plot quite detailed purchased its ebook edition in order to combine reading with listening. This helped a great deal to keep track of characters and events.

In terms of the setting, what is it about Baltimore? It seems to have a very gritty reputation at least in terms of its representation in fiction, films, and tv. Still, a little online research reveals that Baltimore and especially Leakin Park indeed has a dark reputation.

One very small quibble - as an admirer of corvids (indeed the cover immediately snagged my attention) I thought it strange that a few times in the text there was reference to a ‘murder of ravens’ when that term relates to a grouping of crows. Ravens are referred to as an unkindness or a conspiracy and indeed in reference to the storyline a ‘conspiracy of ravens’ feels very suitable.

With respect to the audiobook, given that Joey is female and relating the story in the first person, it was a bit disconcerting to hear a male narrator though I am aware that Kirkpatrick has used him on her other Steak House Books titles. While Kieran Regan’s voice was quite gender neutral in range on occasion I had to remind myself that Joey was female.

Perhaps the point was to challenge assumptions about gender in narrators? Uncertain, though it was a little distracting. In general, I prefer audiobook narrators to carry me into and through the story rather than being too much at the forefront.

Overall, I found this an engaging supernatural horror thriller/urban fantasy and pleased to see it listed as Book 1 in a series and will certainly be looking out for more adventures for Joey and company.

I really enjoyed this story, it took me a while to get used to the narrator, but after a few chapters I settled in to the voice.
I enjoyed learning about the lead character, and what shaped her personality, there are twists a turns, I got gripped very quickly.
Well worth a read.
I hope there are sequels to this story, and seeing the characters grow more.

I received this as an ARC for the audio book on NetGalley

I don't like giving 5 stars, except for when I really love a book. This one has earned the rating.

If you've read Dead End Drive, you will see her growth as an author. Pacing, descriptions, and dialogue have all improved.

Now for the obligatory levelling out of the review:
Joey is not a character that I like and she has a habit of monologuing in her thoughts. This is not a shortfall of the author but rather just the character. I've known people like this, so it feels real. I'm fact, her not being a perfect person makes the book better. I do root for her, which matters more than adoring her.

Can't wait for the next book!

This is a great spooky read. Joey gets more than she bargained for when she picks up her friend’s car in what the locals refer to as Murder Park. Dead bodies are a dime a dozen in Baltimore, but Joey is still surprised to find one in Wayland’s trunk. With her friend missing, the police believe that he is responsible for putting the body there. As Joey looks for answers, she discovers that something very dark lies beneath Baltimore.

I’m a big fan of Kirkpatrick’s writing style. At once lyrical and edgy, Kirkpatrick paints a vivid, dark world. Her descriptions made it easy to sink into Murder Park and feel what Joey felt.

Joey was a well written character- flawed, funny, and relatable. I identified with her struggle, even if I’ve never experienced the things she has.

I look forward to reading more from Kirkpatrick and would really enjoy a return to Bodymore.

I received a copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.