Tag: simone st james

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Posted on by KnotMagick Studios

Genre: mystery
Secondary genre: paranormal
Format: audio
CW: death, murder
Rating: 5/5

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been…yeah, we’ll get there. Later. For now, just know I’ve been in a massive reading slump since 2020, and I’m trying to encourage myself to get out of it by resurrecting this blog for…reasons. We’ll get to those, too. In another post.

Anyway, as I said, reading slump. The slumpiest of reading slumps that I have not been able to shake myself out of. What does one do when once cannot make themselves sit down to read? Who even am I without my books?

Long story short, I looked up my favorite author to see what she was doing, and she did not disappoint.

This dual-perspective, dual-timeline novel walks the line between upper YA, new adult, and adult fiction with a college aged heroine, terrifying scenes, and practically no romance. I could not stop listening.

Carly has grown up in the shadow of her Aunt Viv, who vanished in upstate New York before Carly was even born. Now, grieving the recent loss of her mother, a quick trip over a college break accidentally turns into an extended stay in the town where Viv disappeared. In an eerie town with no cell service, limited internet, and shady characters around every turn, Carly is on high alert when her aunt’s old job as night shift clerk at the Sun Down Motel opens up unexpectedly.

But the motel has more than its fair share of secrets, from drownings in the locked up pool to PIs in the parking lot, there are ghosts in every room–some of them more literal than others. And all of them want Carly’s help. The only question is, can she stay alive long enough?

It took me a second to get into this book, but after about 2-3 chapters I was hooked. I fell in love with Simone St. James’ writing in her 1920s books, and while I’ve read a couple of her modern books I feel like this is the one where she really hits her stride and finds her modern voice. If you love a good thriller/mystery with a side of the supernatural, then you should absolutely give this one a go.

Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James

Posted on by KnotMagick Studios

Genre: Historical mystery
Secondary genre: paranormal
CW: mental health
Rep: violence against women, mental health
Rating:

One thing I love about Simone St. James’ work is that all of her book, though stand alone, are set in the same world. There are often references to other books or events.

In this particular volume we follow Joanna, a dejected war widow who has no choice but to work for her husband’s selfish, horrible relatives. Officially she’s Dot’s companion–her husband’s aunt–but later transitions to being more of a secretary. Dot treats everyone like garbage, probably because her husband is a horrible man who hates her and she’s the type of person who takes it out on everyone around her.

Anyway, it’s not until returning to the family home that Joanna learns Dot’s mentally unwell daughter died several years earlier, by “jumping” off the roof (it’s never specified what she suffered from, but it’s implied she was a high-support autistic). In the nearby village, however, rumor fly ranging from murder to an aborted German invasion during the war, to all sorts of paranormal explanations, including a ghostly dog that can be heard howling in the woods at night.

It would seem that her ghost has a message for Jo, and she keeps appearing at the most inopportune times. Already near an emotional breakdown, Jo is half convinced she’s going crazy.

While this wasn’t my favorite Simone St. James novel, I did really enjoy it. I love how atmospheric her books are, but she does definitely have a type when it comes to heroines: poor, lonely, and depressed. But that is one thing I really love about them–they start at rock bottom and always find their strength through the book. It did mean I found this book a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the reveals.