1/18/26 - Christina Critiques

PIG WIFE

By: Abbey Luck

Release: 1/13/26

Page count: 542

KU: TBD      Hoopla: TBD

Synopsis: A young girl goes missing and finds secrets that her stepdad’s aunt has had buried for decades.

First line: “Just tell the office I won’t be in all week.”

Favorite line:”… Police rabies.”

Thoughts: How kidnapping, mental illness, and embezzlement can be funny at times, I will never understand. Luck makes the reader care about the characters (minus two… and I’m side eying them). The plot and story are quick, the action is paced perfectly, and the storytelling is phenomal. I love the little bit of backstory we get at the exact moment we needed it. I will say, the bumbling cop is my favorite - “Police rabies.”

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: https://a.co/d/dCxEWiO

VERY VIOLENT GHOST

By: R.J. Benetti

Release: 1/10/26

Page count: 100

KU: TBD        Hoopla: TBD

Synopsis: Four film students visit a celebrity house known for being haunted. They are in for a killer time.

First line: “I got an idea… a ghost who’s scared of other ghosts.”

Favorite line: “If I were dead, Martha, like you said, who gives a flying squirrel’s twat about a little light fondling?”

Thoughts: Just when you thought Benetti had written it all, he gives us ghostly reverse beastiality. That aside, the story is surprisingly complex - a commentary on suppression of trauma, the lengths people will go for stardom, and the protective nature of a mother. But, mostly ghostly reverse beastiality for sure.

Rating: 5/5

Other recommendations: UNFIT, MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Very-Violent-Ghosts-Never-Movies-ebook/dp/B0GDQ7QPHH

MAULS OF THE WILD

By: Evan Baughfman

Release: 11/25/25

Page count: 266

KU: Yes          Hoopla: No

Synopsis: A collection of stories where the animals fight back and it gets bloody.

First line: “Standing on the sidewalk outside her apartment building, Jess shivered beside a tree mummified in toilet paper.”

Favorite line: “Love is doing what needs doing, Mr. Hickman, even when it’s hard.”

Thoughts: You would think 20+ short stories of animals participating in bloody shenanigans would get old, noooooope. Baughfman takes us from werewolves to upset marine life to traveling zoos and back again. Standouts are: Slaughter Hearse, Plenty of Fish, Afloat, and my personal favorite Bird’s Eye View. This story kept me tense and stressed out my jaw hurt from clinching so tight. One of my favorite stories I’ve ever read.

Rating: 5/5

Other recommendations: VANISHING OF THE 7th GRADE, BAD FOR YOUR TEETH

Find it here: https://a.co/d/bN9BiNT