#s.a. barnes

[roseunspindle]

What I read in April 2025

Was not expecting someone to get eaten right off the bat though given the title... XD

I would almost be following but things felt like they jumped around a lot and I kept feeling lost as to "when" I was in the story and often where.

Stuff was being stressfull at work so I re-read 1-11 of this series. It's bright and happy and silly and unserious so a good comfort read.

Totally needed more characters to have emotions about. ^_^ I do think it's unfair that Haymitch gets read-in to the rebllion like "here it is" when Katniss is eternally kept in the dark. Louella....

I get why this book is so popular. Awwww 🥰

Ended up re-reading OG Hunger Games trilogy due to Sunrise on the Reaping. Ended up notcing so many more things on this read. ^_^

Golem garden...

re-read 1-3 and read 4 for the first time. Do enjoy this series.

Ah...this series is over. Good ending. Also can I have a carry-on spirit attached cat? Pretty please?

Weirdly felt like the book was trying to be shippy between Gus and Sacajawea. Also a little between our boy and Lewis. ^_^' I may just have my shipping goggles on too much though. Did spend a lot of time appreciating Sacajawea for being amazing and all the crap she went through in her life.

This was really good! Had to fight myself not to order the authors other two books. In time...

My mom puts this little book out every year around easter so I felt compelled to give it a quick reread. ^_^

Some truths about the Anadalites past and poor Ax being lonely and torn between what his people have taught him and what feels like the correct course of action.

[haveyoureadthishorrorbookpoll]

Have you read...

A GHOST SHIP. A SALVAGE CREW. UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate. What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right. Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

submit a horror book!

[brightbeautifulthings]

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

"Staring out at the Aurora is familiar in a way I never imagined, like looking just ahead to see home. But only if your home is also the scene of a horrific crime. It is both known and unknown at the same time, foreign disguised as familiar."

Year Read: 2025

Rating: 3/5

Thoughts: This is a lot of fun if you're not too picky about the kind of space horror you're into. Barnes does a nice job in creating atmosphere and building suspense, and there are a few genuinely creepy moments on the ghost ship. I enjoyed the characters and their team dynamics well enough, and Claire has a pretty good development arc. There's also a surprisingly wholesome (you know, for space horror) thread of romance with one of the crew members. I'm not usually fond of those, but I think it serves its purpose here. Though I was surprised how quickly they were on the ghost ship, the pace drags a little here and there, mainly in the flash forwards of Claire in the hospital and some feet dragging on location changes. On the other hand, I flew through it in two days because I wanted to know what was happening, so it's plenty engaging and immersive. Spoilers below the cut.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

The reveal is a little bit of a letdown, especially if you (like me) prefer your dead things really dead. Barnes does a nice enough job building up to and supporting her plot explanation, but evil corporation just isn't as fun as ghosts or aliens--and by science fiction standards, it's positively tired. I was hoping for something a little spookier, like an Event Horizon (1997) style cursed ship. The ghost aspect, while not necessarily part of the horror, is interesting though, and I liked seeing Claire learn to stop running from her ability and even value it at times.

[libertyreads]

March 2025 Wrap Up--

March was probably the hardest month I've ever had so recapping the books I read during the month feels weird. I've been struggling with grief so, while I did read the books I said I was going to read, I found it really hard to read this month. What I was reading didn't always catch my attention and it would take a lot for me to even pick up a book in the first place. To be frank, I'm still struggling a lot emotionally and with reading. I feel like I'm in some bizarre world where there's a cloud of grief blocking out the real world that I'm supposed to be getting back to. But let's see what I read and how I rated those books.

Comics/Graphic Novels--

Short Stories/Novellas--

Novels-- 1. Archer by Rebecca Sharp (Kindle)-- 2.75 stars.

2. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes (NetGalley)-- 3.5 stars.

3. Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (NetGalley)-- 3.25 stars.

4. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (NetGalley)-- 4.25 stars.

5. The Long Walk by Stephen King-- 3 stars.

6. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky-- 3.5 stars.

The average star rating for the month was 3.38 stars. I'm hoping I get more in the mood to read in April, but we'll see.

[manyacivilmonster]

love when i read books that were published months apart with similar motifs that run SO SIMILARLY that i know full well the corporate espionage at the corporate level was likely done over overpriced liquor and crabcakes, but the horror hits! one took place in outer space, and the other one’s deep in the ocean. either way, there’s an abandoned ship, and the people who’ve found it are aboutta get fucked up!

[ill-try-to-do-book-reviews]

Ghost Station

S.A Barnes

RATING: 🕯🕯🕯🔥 (3.5/5)

Having read Dead Silence first, more than a few months ago, I was very excited to find out that S.A Barnes had another novel, and that it was available for me to read through my Libby app. In the time between the two, I had noticed online that many, many people did not like Dead Silence nearly as much as I did, nor did I ever see any mention of Ghost Station. In reading the latter, the parallels between the two are very apparent, lending to S.A Barnes' unique style and stories. Still, the complaints I saw listed regarding Dead Silence seem, to me, to be more applicable here. Regardless of its issues, though, this was still a gripping, 12 hour read.

SUMMARY: Space exploration can be lonely and isolating.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—a space-based condition most famous for a case that resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. When she's assigned to a small exploration crew, she's eager to make a difference. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.

While Ophelia focuses on her new role, her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something more sinister?

Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by… and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

MY DETAILED REVIEW (SPOILER WARNING): Going into this with my prior love of Dead Silence was, I think, setting myself and this book up for a bit of failure. It feels unfair to compare the two so often, but it's a hard thing to avoid during your read through. The two stories hold many similarities: the MC's life will be ruined, over with, or otherwise negatively affected in some relation to the trip they're on, the MC has a dark and tragic past they are keeping from their crew, there is an overt emphasis on capitalism and the ultra-wealthy benefitting no-one, how space as the final frontier leads to the ultimate corporate greed. It isn't that I find any of these messages bad, or annoying, or even that I disliked their inclusion in this story. It's just that, with so many clear parallels to draw between the two, I was hoping for something that pulled together the way Dead Silence did. In the end, I was just left with a lot of questions.

As its own story, Ghost Station is not a bad one. I've rated it as a standalone, careful to not let my love of Dead Silence influence my review here. That said, from here on in, anything said about this book will be strictly based on the materials within, and my own experience reading it.

It didn't take me long to find myself immersed in the world within this story. Ophelia Bray is a fantastic protagonist, though a bit annoying at times. The mystery set up within is great, but it is not executed quite as well as it could have been, in my opinion. Having read the book over the course of two days, following in my usual practice of finishing and then immediately reviewing so that I don't lose any important thoughts, I am left questioning what the hell was going on with the towers. It's clear they're some sort of alien lifeform, or technology, but why do they want to feed on the memories and experiences of its victims? It's a hivemind of some sort it seems, but even that isn't something I can be sure on. What exactly is ERS? It seems like a big set up in the beginning, but halfway through, it just seems to be dropped completely and never really mentioned again, at least not with any substance.

Who did Ophelia see outside the window while they were searching for Birch? Or what? Her hallucinations shouldn't have begun so early, if her (very briefly mentioned) theory regarding the order they took off their suits is to be believed. Why was that never brought up beyond the initial incident and her recounting it to herself once or twice? Was what happened with her father ERS, or a result of the towers, somehow?

Did Birch also survive the Goliath incident? This may have been explained at some point, just not very plainly, and I have overlooked it, but still, I am left wondering.

On the better side of the writing, Ophelia's father's portrayal felt very realistic, and reminiscent of my own father. Her struggles with her desire to not become any of her family and her inability to trust even herself felt very familiar as well. There were times during my reading where I found myself imagining my own father in place of Ophelia's, though that may speak more to my own need for therapy than anything else.

In all, I just find myself very confused and a bit dissatisfied with Ghost Station. Despite being a very fun and interesting read, I find it doesn't quite hold up well to scrutiny after the fact, nor does trying to piece it together during your read through work very well.

I will say though, in my hunt for a Goodreads link to put here, I found a Reddit thread showing that S.A Barnes was in the process of another space horror novel titled Cold Eternity, which actually may be out now by the time I'm posting this. Despite the lack of love I hold for Ghost Station, I still find myself excited by the prospect of a new space horror novel from S.A Barnes, and I am holding out hope that Cold Eternity will be another great one.

Though Ghost Station may not have been to my tastes, if it seems like something that you would like to read, I do encourage you to check it out. I saw mixed reviews online towards it, with some positive (which is more than I can say for Dead Silence), and also one particularly negative and honestly rude review on Goodreads. That review was brutal. Don't let that put you off, though, if you can help it. It's not what I was looking for, but it may be right up your alley!

[whatcha-reading-today]

Ghost Station |S.A. Barnes

I loved Dead Space and I think if you did too, you're really like Ghost Station. I did think that those two books are a bit similar, with this one taking quite some time to get real gnarly, spending most of its page length on consistently rising tension. A lot to like here, but I think Dead Space edges Ghost Station just a bit. But both stories are nasty locked space yarns that I think are deeply compelling.

Format: Audiobook

Read in: August 2024

[parklandcryptid-studies]

I'm so excited about all these books! I want to see if I can finish them all by the end of August but don't hold me to it.

I'm already halfway through Dead Silence and I'm really enjoying it!

[morgan--reads]

Dead Silence - S.A. Barnes

Summary: The sole survivor of a salvage mission of an abandoned luxury space-liner, the Aurora, Captain Claire Kovalik must explain what went wrong even though her memories are unreliable and she’s haunted by hallucinations of her crew and other dead people. But when the space-liner starts moving towards civilization, Claire has to face her fears and return to the Aurora. 

Quote: “The people you love will die one day, and sometimes it happens sooner and faster and more horribly than you could imagine. Sometimes it’s even your fault.”

My rating: 4.0/5.0   Goodreads: 3.80/5.0 

Review: This is not the most grim thing I’ve read this year, but it’s close. Claire is deeply troubled, both by her past and her uninspiring present. Almost everyone you meet in the book is dead by the end—which isn’t much of a spoiler given the concept—and their deaths are often grisly. It’s good horror, though, and it scratches the itch for good creeps. The space-liner—essentially a space-Titanic—is an eerie setting and the events that unfold on it, both in the past and the present, are horrifying. Barnes never tries to be coy about the horror, a real strength of this book. There’s also a nice twist of class/corporate horror that adds a note of dystopian realism.

[mightymur]

[ISBW] Dancing Through Genres with S.A. Barnes and Bully 3, The SPONGE

“Get [your book] all the way to the end. You learn so much that way that you will not learn in any other way.”- S.A. Barnes (This post went live for supporters on May 23, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon!) In this episode, we talk about the creative process with guest author S.A. Barnes. We discuss her latest release, Cold Eternity, a space…

[cynicalraccoon]

HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I hesitated on buying this book, mostly because of the mixed reviews. But I need some inspiration for space horror in an isolated setting and the book was available within my reach.

It was okay. Felt that the book was only building suspense and when the horror arrived, it fell flat. The death of the pilot, Birch, was in chapter 20 when I expected the pliot to be killed earlier. Then the second death, Liana, was near the end of the book. The plot was interesting, I just didn't feel scared.

Ophelia was a mix of emotions. It was neat to see her internally use her psychology knowledge. And while I get that the author was trying to nudge in romance, I don't think it was needed. Ophelia basically came out of a bad relationship (?) Friendship with another guy, and the moment she meets Ethan, it's open season despite the bad first meeting.

I do admire her for keeping her cool when taunted about her family name by the others. Also for being able to gain her confidence and mentally beat her demons during the situation with the alien organisms. I would not be able to do that if it were me.

That ending...It was a bit meh for me. Kate becoming the bad guy, and then them being in statis for eleven years after escaping the planet until they were found by Ophelia's little sister. It was just meh.

Despite the lackluster horror, I got another book by the same author. Gonna read that and see how it goes.

[scififr]

Cold eternity, S.A. Barnes (Tor Nightfire, avril 2025)

Une jeune femme idéaliste est en fuite pour ne pas servir de fusible dans une affaire de malversations politiques. Elle trouve à se cacher en acceptant un travail non déclaré de gardiennage sur un immense vaisseau spatial laissé à l’abandon depuis des décennies et qui abrite les corps cryogénisés de ceux qui, à l’époque, croyaient qu’ils pourraient être ramenés à la vie et soignés…

Un roman d’horreur SF finalement assez intéressant. L’autrice manipule efficacement le lecteur pendant toute l’histoire et les rebondissements sont très difficilement prévisibles, tout en étant parfaitement cohérents après-coup.

[libertyreads]

March TBR--

So, like February, we're going to have quite a few ebooks on the TBR for the month. We have three huge NetGalley ARCs we're reading in March (seriously, so excited for these). We'll also be trying out a new to me Romance Subgenre and reading this SciFi book that one of my husband's coworkers gave to him to give to me since I guess he heard I enjoy SciFi? I think he also heard I've been looking for some really good SciFi (the fucking Expanse has really ruined me for a lot of SciFi out there).

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky--I'm going into this one knowing very little. My husband said his coworker really enjoys this author and wanted to pass it along. After Earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species. In the silence of space they could communicate mind-to-mind with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors simply disappeared. Now, 50 years later, one of these elite finds something the aliens abandoned in space. But, are they returning? And if so, why? I'm just hoping for some good SciFi. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Archer by Rebecca Sharp (Kindle)--This will be my next attempt at reading Romance subgenres that are new to me. In this one, we're reading about a bodyguard romance. I think Goodreads calls is a "romance bodyguard thriller" so I really have no clue what to expect. This is book 1 in the Reynolds Protective series. Keira McKenna has lived her life in Witness Protection following her father's testimony against Boston's Irish mob. But when crimes start happening in the town she's settled in, Keira knows the mob has found her. She must rely on the Reynolds Protective agent to keep her safe. All the girlies love a good "Touch Her and I'll Kill You" moment so let's see if it will live up to the hype for me.

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (NetGalley)--When I saw the cover for this one on NetGalley, I was so drawn in. And then I read the synopsis. This is a cozy horror novel set in the idyllic town of Lake Argen. Generations ago, the founders made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. It's worked great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him and everything goes sideways. Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might be falling for.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (NetGalley)--In the follow up to The Tainted Cup, Ana Dolabra may have met her match. In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire's reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air--abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remain locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are under constant guard. Before long, Ana's discovered that they're not investigating a disappearance, but a murder. And that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to pass through warded doors like a ghost and who can predict every one of Ana's moves as though they can see the future.

Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes (NetGalley)-- Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads to a gigantic space barge housing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth's most wealthy citizens to lay low. The ship and its cry program are long defunct, but Halley starts to think she sees figures crawling in the hallways. It's not long before she realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from.

[manyacivilmonster]

me when the main character is mentally ill and suicidal and actively writing her own doom, but she’s also selfish so she’s dragging her entire crew into her doomed fate bc she’s the type to make her own problems everybody else’s problems

[ill-try-to-do-book-reviews]

Dead Silence

S.A. Barnes

RATING: 🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯 (5/5)

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes is a gripping, terrifying sci-fi horror that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The plights of our unreliable narrator, set in the vast, empty expanse of space, causing you to be wary even of what you, yourself are reading, is an incredibly fun read. Every detail matters, and it is so fun to pick things up as you go and then piece the solution/explanations together alongside the characters.

SUMMARY: A GHOST SHIP.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

MY DETAILED REVIEW (SPOILER WARNING)

Dead Silence is an absolutely fantastic book that had me absolutely gripped by the throat from the moment the action picked up.

I must admit, there were times at the beginning where I was a little disinterested in pushing through and reading, but that only lasted the first 56 or so pages - honestly probably a little less. Once the action picked up ever so slightly, I was absolutely hooked.

At the first sight of the Aurora to the final pages of Kane and Claire agreeing to partner up in a new business venture, I was absolutely invested. The characters feel like real people and their danger feels like real and tangible danger.

As the ending approached, I could feel myself hoping, wondering, trying to piece together what the end was going to be. Would it be actual ghosts? Would it be mutiny? An alien bacteria that had infected the ship and set up a home in the brains of the passengers?

The end was a positively gut-wrenching mix of corporate greed, espionage, and, in fact, ghosts.

It's a book that is so well-written, I was left with lasting and vivid mental images from the words on the page. I was - and am - positively obsessed. This is definitely a book that I plan on getting a physical copy of.