Gateway Reviews

HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER CJ Smith knows how quickly real life can turn to horror. Afer all, their hometown is Satterville (sometimes called Slasherville), the site of not one but two slasher-style massacres. CJ's dad survived the first attack. Only CJ and their little brother survived the second. So CJ isn't exactly a stranger to survival skills. They've been drilled since childhood--since the second bloody massacre rocked the town. And thanks to reclusive local writer Moon Satter, CJ has to relive that massacre each and every year when the slasher festival sweeps through town to celebrate Moon Satter's bestselling novels. But when an unpublished Moon Satter manuscript arrives on CJ's porch just before this year's festival is set to begin, CJ knows something is different. Because this manuscript isn't rehashing the past. No, this manuscript details murders that haven't happened yet... but will. This week, in f...

THE ROSE BARGAIN For centuries, England has been ruled by an immortal fae Queen, and nobody can say she isn't a benevolent ruler. After all, every citizen of England gets to make a bargain with her, one impossible wish granted (for a price). Now that Ivy Benton's debut season is upon her, she gets to make her bargain at last. Like most high society ladies, she's expected to bargain for a quality that will help her make the perfect match: some rare talent, a prettier face, an absolutely perfect smile. But when the Queen asks her what she wants, Ivy asks for nothing. She can't do it, not after what her sister went through. Even if that means she has less of a chance at winning a suitor's hand. But this matchmaking season, something's different. Because this year, the Queen's fae son himself is entering the marriage mart. He isn't just a regular suitor, and a regular courtship isn't what the Queen has in mind. Not ...

(S)KIN Marisol is a soucouyant. Like her mother and her mother's mother and her mother's mother's mother, she sheds her skin every new moon and shifts into a blazing fireball witch. She drinks from the lives of others to sustain herself, like the women who came before her. But unlike the islands that raised her, Brooklyn is no place for a fireball witch. Bright lights, heavy traffic, and windows shut tight against the cold... Genevieve isn't sure what she is. The daughter of a college professor and an unnamed woman from the islands he loves, she has always wondered if she might be half mermaid or half... something. Something mythological, from the stories her father collects. But trapped in a city and a family that doesn't quite know what to do with her, Genevieve has never felt at home. When Genevieve's stepmother hires a new nanny to care for her squalling newborn twins, Genevieve is relieved to have some peace and...

UNHALLOWED HALLS Page Whittaker doesn't need friends. That's what she's decided, now that she's on her way to Agathion College. Only the best, the brightest get a full scholarship to such an elite boarding school. And heading to Agathion is exactly the fresh start she needs. Agathion is everything Page wanted... kind of. The Scottish moors, the misty hills, the mystical standing stones: all of these things live up to (or, maybe, surpass) her expectations. And the rigorous intellectual debate is exactly what she dreamed, though it is a little light on literature (and heavy on ancient Greek texts). So what if the other kids are keeping her at a distance? That's what she asked for. But something at Agathion doesn't add up. And as Page gets drawn into a friend group against her wishes, she starts to find more and more pieces that just don't fit. Something is happening here at Agathion, something dark. Sinister. And if...

ROYAL HEIRS ACADEMY For fifty years, the kingdom of Ashland has been at peace, ruled by a strong leader, King Leander Eldana. And now, sixteen years after sending his grandchildren to be raised out of the public eye, it is time for him to bring them back into the spotlight. It is time for him to name an heir. But any leader of Ashland must be strong, to keep the peace in this country with its extensive bloody history. So King Leander knows that whoever succeeds him must earn their place on the throne. Ashland's future rests in the hands of his three heirs apparent... and a wildcard. Sent off to Almus Terra Academy, an infamous boarding school known for preparing the world's next generation of leaders, the three Eldana heirs must prove their worth. And thrown into the mix is Sadie Aurelia, a commoner from Ashland who has been given a scholarship... and the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to bring new blood to the throne. And unli...

THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH The world might be ending. For real, this time. At least, that's what all the recent visitors to Liz Flannery's bookstore have been saying. She's not sure she believes them. She lived through one deadly Storm, after all, and she's been sheltering in this abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey since. But with these rumors about a new Storm on the way... Liz might need to do some prep work to get the bookstore ready to weather another Storm. What she isn't prepared for is someone breaking into the store in the middle of the night. To be fair, Maeve didn't know anyone was living in the bookstore. She was just looking for her own shelter through the Storm. And as long as she's here, they might as well work together. But the Storm isn't the only threat bearing down on their lonely bookstore. THOUGHTS I adored th...