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.

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.

First of all I would like to say the front cover of this book is a huge selling point for me I thought it looked very original and enticing. I would like to say thank you to the publisher the author and NetGalleyShelf are allowing me a copy of this book. I want into this book not really knowing what to expect because I was a little bit on edge but considering I have not read from this author before I’m very much enjoyed the work it was unusual a little weird very different from my usual reading genre but I very much enjoyed this book

Being from Baltimore, I was really excited to have a chance to read this book. It was a really neat story with a twist to it, and it gave me all of the spooky vibes just in time for Halloween! I hope Ian Kirkpatrick continues this series.

Such an amazing story! So original with a bit of (early) Riverdale vibes about a town where weird things keep happening. And an awesome purgatory place. Nothing seems the way you think it is and who can be trusted? You never know.. or will you, eventually?

One night, Joey receives a call from her best friend, asking for his car to be picked up from the infamous body dumping grounds of Baltimore: Leakin Park. When she arrives, there’s little more around than a stalled-out car and a couple of ravens, so she leaves only with the car. Back at the body shop, it doesn’t take long she opens to boot to find a corpse. her friends absence is his guilt, but Joey knows better so she looks for him.
But something isn’t right in Baltimore. It’s not just the feeling that someone is always watching from the city’s abandoned buildings... Her search for her friend reveals something much worse hiding under the city. A ghost town, a reaper, regret. Suddenly, the city’s rage and the stink rising out of the dirt make much more sense.

This was a great book, whilst the writing could be a bit juvenile the story is intriguing and the uncensored writing matches the gritty tone of the book as you discover more about Baltimore and what is happening. The writing is a stream of consciousness which gives the book a strange disembodied feeling which goes with the subject and the feel of the book perfectly. It sucks you in and made me forget I was reading a book I just wanted to know what was going on.

This book is entertaining and dark and perfect for horror fans that like weirder story lines. I also loved the incorporation of some greek myth references and the obvious nod to The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

Overall this was a fun book and I look forward to reading more by this author

I rarely say this but there are two things you need to do as soon as possible; 1-Go out now and get this book! Get the physical book, the ebook, the audiobook, it doesn't matter…
2- Put the name Ian Kirkpatrick on your must-read list. Yeah, really. Right next to Stephen King...do it now, I’ll wait…

Now why I say these things; Ian Kirkpatrick was an unknown name to me until I read Bleed more, Bodymore. But it’s a name I will not only remember but will pop over to Barnes and Nobel and Amazon to see what else I can find of hers to read.

I want to be careful here because it would be so easy to give spoilers in this review, and there are few things I hate more than spoilers...and cheaters...and bad horror that’s not horror...of yeah, and rats...but I digress.

So Bleed More, Bodymore takes place in good old Baltimore, Md. A place I did not realize, even after years of going there for business on a bi-weekly basis, that it was so God awful deadly! And this book gives a very valid and believable reason why it smells the way it does, but to tell you would be a spoiler. (See above paragraph).

Ok, the particulars; Joey’s a mechanic. One night, she receives a call from her best friend, asking for his car to be picked up from the infamous body dumping grounds of Baltimore: Leakin Park.  Back at the body shop, it doesn’t take long for the smell of rot to permeate the trunk. Inside? A corpse.  But something isn’t right in Baltimore.  Her search for her friend reveals something much worse hiding under the city.  Suddenly, the city’s rage and the stink rising out of the dirt make much more sense.

I loved every page, every word of this book. I loved Joey, one plucky, strong, street-wise woman who goes looking for a friend even when she’s scared out of her mind.
Joey’s life has not been easy, her mom walked when she was a young kid, and her dad is a drunk who sits in his recliner watching bad TV and drinking beer when he’s not trying to beat Joey into an early grave. She can come across as a bit of a jerk, but it’s the woman hiding behind the snarky remarks and the rebellion that is the real Joey. Don’t judge her too quickly, she’s worth knowing.

This book is about to be one of the hottest titles out there, trust me on this, I know good horror and Kirkpatrick writes dang good horror! I am hoping and praying this is just book one in a long series, like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. I kid you not. The situations, the horror, the murder, the ghost just in Baltimore could fill at least 10 full novels...just saying.


Thanks to NetGalley, Steak House Books, and Ian Kirkpatrick for this ebook and audio in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Lifelong Baltimore resident Joey knows that something isn’t right in the city. It might just be the very suspicious park that has claimed many missing residents, but she thinks that it goes deeper than that. And when her friend, Wayland Cross, disappears in the park one night, leaving behind a corpse that isn’t his, she knows for a fact that her gut was right all along.

Steak House Books was kind enough to send me an arc of this book really early on in the year and I read it well in advance of Halloween.

I’ve been exploring the horror genre a little more this year—at least within the literary world—and it is safe to say that Bleed More, Bodymore is a horror novel through and through. There is no last minute cliche of everything having been inside our main character’s head, rather Ian Kirkpatrick’s book wholeheartedly delves into the paranormal: ghosts and all.

While the book is like the dark urban fantasy version of TJ Klune’s Under The Whispering Door, I found it to be a little too fast-paced for my own liking. In trying to overcome what happened to Cross, Joey is constantly on-the-go, digging in places where she shouldn’t be and getting herself into a lot of trouble. There is a lot of worldbuilding that is happening in this book and that means a lot of backstory has to be given to the audience so they can understand what is happening.

Coupled with general contextual clues about Baltimore, as a non-American reader, I was definitely a little lost at times. Several months after having read this book, I don’t really remember much of the plot of Bleed More, Bodymore. I remember myself enjoying it sure, but the story didn’t really stick with me in the way I wanted it to.

Even so, Kirkpatrick wrote a beautifully thrilling horror story about death and ghosts and trauma and if you’re a fan of horror books à la Stephen King, Bleed More, Bodymore might be right up your alley.

Joey gets a call from her best friend, asking her to pick him up from Leakin Park, an spot known for decay and death. All she finds is his car...and a dead body in the trunk. The cops say her friend did it, but Joey knows better. She will find her missing friend and she will prove his innocence. Her search for her friend takes her under the deadly city: a ghost town, a reaper, regret. Will she discover what it takes to find her friend and will she survive the journey?

Ok, let's start with what I liked. The concept of a ghost town with reapers and ravens, soul collection and second chances sounds right up my alley! l think there was a lot of thought put into this idea about what this world could be. Unfortunately, for me it wasn't executed well.

The writing felt stream of consciousness and gave a weirdly disorienting feeling to where I wasn't quite sure where I was in the story or why. The narratives on Baltimore, its citizens, society, and the police were all repetitive generalizations. Baltimore is terrible, police officers are incompetent, Sol is emotionless, and Joey has a lip ring. It was too much for no reason. Some of the things that happened to Joey were too convenient (like her final "deal") and hard to believe.

As for the characters, no one was fully fleshed out, especially Joey. She deals with a lot of trauma, but all I got were poor decisions, clichés about not crying and dumb jokes. Oh, and these characters had zero chemistry.

I won't be continuing with this series. The main questions of this book (what happened to her friend and who's in the trunk?) go unanswered. Hopefully, the characters get some more depth and the plot a little more concise and engaging.

Thank you NetGallery and Steak House Books for the eARC.

This book took me a little bit of time to get into, but I soon couldn't put it down! Very interesting story; I like the supernatural aspect. Definitely great for the Halloween season!

Thank you to NetGalley and Steak House Books for the ARC!

3, 5 stars ⭐️

What better way to open the spooky season than with a horror book?
So while it took me some time to get into the story once it happened I was glued to the pages, this is a great spooky atmospheric horror book. It was an easy read and surprisingly a pleasant one.
The characters were great and the plot was also really interesting. The reason why I'm rating it 3 stars is because it doesn't compare to other horror books I've read, but overall it's an interesting story and I recommend it if you're into the genre.

It took me a while to connect with this book, but once I did, it was a rollercoaster! This book was very suspenseful and an undeniable horror book. A definite recommend!

Joey's a Baltimore mechanic. One night, she receives a call from her best friend, asking for his car to be picked up from the infamous body dumping grounds of Baltimore: Leakin Park. When she arrives, there's little more around than a stalled-out car and a couple of ravens, so she leaves only with the car. Back at the body shop, it doesn't take long for the smell of rot to permeate the trunk. Inside? A corpse. The cops says her friend did it. His absence is his guilt, but Joey knows better. She will find her missing friend and she will prove his innocence.

But something isn't right in Baltimore. It's not just the feeling that someone is always watching from the city's abandoned buildings... Her search for her friend reveals something much worse hiding under her city. A ghost town, a reaper, regret. Suddenly, the city's rage and the stink rising out of the dirt make much more sense.

So I went into this one with great expectations, and sadly they were not met. I loved the characters and I loved the premise of the novel (this spooky nether region lurking in the forest of a local town), but for me the novel failed to go anywhere.

At the end I really felt like saying out loud ‘huh I have no idea what actually happened?!’ And I felt like throughout the book I was constantly waiting for that lightbulb moment where all the weirdness and abstractness came together and finally made sense - it just never did.

There were some epic scenes and some great writing but I still don’t really know what the book was about if anyone actually asked me!

#bookreviewsbymrsc #bleedmorebodymore #iankirkpatrick

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book for me to review before the publication date of Oct. 31, 2021. This review contains my honest thoughts about the novel. Also, I'm subscribed to the author's YouTube channel, where she discusses her writing.

Bleed More, Bodymore is an interesting horror read that I would recommend to fans of books with a supernatural mystery element. The author includes lots of fun wordplay, which is evident even with the title in which Baltimore is called Bodymore because of all the murder happening there. The main plot revolves around tomboy Joey looking for a missing friend that she fears is dead.

I don't think it's a spoiler to mention that this story really goes into the supernatural with ghosts and such since the author has been very clear and upfront about that in promoting the book. The first twenty percent of the book seems to be grounded as a mostly realistic urban horror story, but then the book shifts into an atmosphere that feels, to me, like a mix of Dante's Inferno and Westworld. Again fun wordplay appears in the text when Charon is jokingly called Sharon. I appreciate this type of humor since it doesn't take away from the tone in the scenes in which it happens.

As an urban supernatural horror novel, this book felt real enough to me that, with all the crime and murder mentioned, I no longer have any desire whatsoever to visit Baltimore; I wouldn't necessarily call that a negative consequence of reading this book. My only actual complaint, and it would be nitpicking, would be that the pacing felt slow in the first twenty percent of the book, but I understand the author was establishing the atmosphere and getting me to care about Joey and her desire to find her missing friend. Overall, the book is an enjoyable read with a lot of fun intrigue.

Excellent story! Totally engrossing!. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Could not put this down!

Bleedmore, Bodymore is a YA fantasy horror with a very nice nod to Greek mythology. Our protagonist, Joey, is thrown immediately into the fray, showing up in the slums of Leakin Park after a call requesting a tow. Only there's a body in the trunk of the car of her friend and her friend is nowhere in sight. Who is the person in the trunk? Did her friend kill him? If he didn't, why has he disappeared? Down the rabbit hole goes Joey into a whole different world transposed on the city of Baltimore and Leakin Park.

I was all for the atmosphere of this read. It's dark and gritty showing the shadowed side of Baltimore. There's a dank and mealy vibe coating everything and you can conjure the wet asphalt and garbage smell in the air without even trying. That's where the novel excelled. The pacing worked well enough though there were some slowdowns and breakneck parts.

Where it lost me was taking a hard right turn beyond the murder and mystery sticking us straight into mythology and the underworld. I was expecting paranormal. That wasn't the problem. Additionally, I love a good mythology/horror combination, but I was honestly confused enough to backtrack thinking I missed something. Once I reoriented myself, I loved the addition—this dark underworld filled with a ghost town, a river of regret to drown in, heart-devouring raven shifters, a reaper, and dead-but-not-dead abusive alcoholic fathers. (Tw - abuse, alcoholism, and suicide)

I didn't care so much for Joey aka Josephine. I wanted to like her and I wanted to care about her plight but it didn't happen. She never quite made it past a one-dimensional character for me. She comes across as being very immature and she makes some extremely stupid decisions for seemingly no other reason than "I'm tough and edgy". If I had to hear about her licking or sucking on her lip piercing ONE MORE TIME, I was going to lose it. As far as the secondary characters went, the most interesting ones were Charon and Val. I wanted to know more about them. This is a continued series though so surely the author will expand on that later.

There's plenty here that worked well of though. There is loads of action and it moves the story along fairly quickly. Joey is actually pretty witty and some of the dialogue will give you a laugh. There's some great imagery as well and the atmosphere is top notch. I feel like this would be better promoted as urban fantasy versus horror, though it certainly contains horror elements. Hopefully, book two can address some of the weaknesses and give a stronger more cohesive read.

The cover snagged my attention first then the description. It took me about a chapter to settle into the author’s style. I wanted to love this book, and there was enough action at first to keep me reading… until things got weird. Or weirder…

At first Joey came across as a male character, which left me feeling confused. She’s so masculine at times it was hard to picture her and Jag together. With the way she constantly pushes him away, I’m not sure she genuinely cared about him as more than a friend. There wasn’t much about Joey, or even Jag and Donny, that I found even slightly likable.

The book starts with a murder mystery, and Joey trying to find her missing friend. And then it takes a strange turn. While I think the paranormal aspect of the book had potential, it was so randomly thrown in and rushed, it comes across as more of a square peg being jammed into a round hole. I found Val and Charon to be the most interesting characters in the book. They stole the show, casting Joey, Jag, and Waylon into the shadows.

Too many questions left unanswered. There was entirely too much crammed into the book in not enough pages. It didn’t give the author room to adequately complete the various story threads and tie everything up.

Since the book ends with an unfinished feeling, I hope the story will continue. Preferably with Charon and Val as the main characters.

Bleed More, Bodymore is unlike any other horror novel I’ve read. It’s got touches of Poe mixed in with a modern urban setting. The element of fantasy is different and provided a unique twist on the story. It was face paced and interesting. It was a little hard to follow at times, but still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Ian Kirkpatrick, Steak House Books, and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley and Steak House Books for giving me an E-arc of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not normally a reader of horror at all, but the cover (and the premise) sound fascinating enough for me to be intrigued. I quite enjoyed the setting the urban setting, and the darker fantasy elements were interesting. The main character is a little bit flat in some spots, but that could potentially as I couldn't fully connect with them. I think that it's a little bit too slow paced in some areas, but other than that it was a decent read and would recommend to those who enjoy horror/thriller.

While an interesting premise, Bleed More Bodymore lacks the finesse in writing and characters to match the plot. It's hard to keep engaged in a story when I felt disconnected with the writing. This just wasn't for me.