White Fuzz was a mind trip. It was a great splatter punk that devolved into a human turning into a freaking slug. I read this before reading The Tower by the author, and I'm glad I read them in that order, because there's a tease of this book in The Tower.

There were parts where I squirmed and cringed, being slightly concerned at one point that it was going to turn into tentacle porn. Other parts had me laughing, and I love some dark humor.

Trigger warnings for sure for this book. Sex, violence and cringe factor.

Overall, this was a fun read. Thank you for the ARC copy.

To see more of my reviews visit my Goodreads and Instagram at Sacred Hearth Book Reviews.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/104047498-sacred-hearth-book-reviews

https://www.instagram.com/sacredhearthbookreviews/

This adult horror story suits my sense of humour. In the toxic environment of the Tower, a late night phone invitation leads to a mentally twisted weird date. Let me invite you to have fun listening to this book. Don’t worry you will be safe having fun on the outside while experiencing the inside horror inducing effect of the Tower. This is the second stand alone, but connected, book in The Bedlam Bible. Thank you to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Audiobook ARC in exchange for review.
I went into this book blind, thankfully I am not one to be sensitive to any topics but if you are, read the tw’s.
Initially I was really into the story, great world building and the author established a creepy atmosphere quickly and effectively. It went downhill from there though and completely flew off the rails, I found it got misogynistic and uncomfy with multiple scenes where the male mc excuses his bizarre thoughts with ‘just being a man.’ The female mc is extremely mentally ill and manic in a way that makes the whole story gross. You’re in for uncomfortable vulgar language and description of sexual assault, extreme self harm, conversations of incest & bestiality whilst sex scenes are taking place. I have no problems with spice nor shock value in books but this was bizarre and over the top. It’s a shame how quickly it went down hill for me because I was really enjoying it at the beginning! The narrator was excellent, and had a lot to do with why I continued reading this book along with not wanting to DNF so I could give a fair and accurate review.

Okay, this story has a completely different feel from the first book. The story, itself, still revolves around the residents of the Eighth Block Tower, but unlike the first book, this novella has only one story, and that story is a headfirst jump into insanity. No warning, just here you go. lol Every page I read, I was like, oh no this is all red flags, but like a train wreck, I couldn't stop reading. And just when you think you've reached the peak of insanity and your mind is about to quit, William Pauley throws you a deep thought nugget, and that's when your brain implodes at the wow moment you just received. And you know what, I was all for all the mental anguish I received, and man do I want more, because these books are so weird and so brilliant all at the same time.

A random text to a stranger. A hallway. A pair of scissors…and pills…and a razor blade. What do they all have in common? Those are just some of the things that link Lynda and Franklin together.

This story was strange and unusual and made me actually pause to think when I reached the end of it. I’m not even sure how to categorize this book because it had a lot of elements (romance, horror, sci-fi, complete and utter bewilderment), but this is the first story in a long while that I wanted to talk about with other readers. I wanted to tell them how much I enjoyed the storyline and its complex yet simplistic characters. I FELT something when I finished - not an easy task for someone who reads a lot.

Those who impact us most make us think. They give an alternative way of thinking. They’re different, they’re unique, and they’re enigmatic. The complexity of this story will give you all of those things. It really was an impactful read.

The narration was great, especially for me, who is picky about how voices sound. I’d absolutely listen to another Connor Brannigan narration.

“Everyone is a stranger, even the ones you claim to know.”

There are so many trigger warnings for this book;
•Childhood abuse
•PTSD/mental illness
•Self harm
•Intense gaslighting
•Beastiality
•Incest/pedophilia
•Terrible, awful, horrifying writing

We follow our narrator, Franklin, who is extremely lonely. He answers his phone to a girl named Lynda who’s he’s never met asking him to come over and hang out at his apartment. Coincidentally, they live in the same complex - the same floor.
Upon meeting Lynda, it’s extremely clear she’s going through it. Franklin even mentions she seems to be going through a PTSD episode multiple times, but does that stop him from having sex with her? NOPE. An incel will do what an incel has to do! And god… is there mention of, “cum muffins”? Yes, yes there is.
Lynda mentions tidbits here and there of her past and the trauma that she’s endured, but Franklin dismisses it all and somehow still gets hard for her, “snail cunt.” I truly can’t make this up. But he’s not like other guys, no!!!! He’s only a MAN after all!!! And men just can’t help themselves when there’s a mentally ill woman begging for his apparently addicting dick!!!
This was just terrible. Bad writing, truly awful shock horror, it gave me the ick and not in a way I enjoy. The audiobook narrator really tried to sell it with what he had in front of him, though. I can’t imagine how many times he had to bleach his eyeballs after recording.
I really don’t have anything redeeming to say besides I really like the cover art for the book. Very Junji Ito inspired. The difference between the two, however, is that Junji Ito is a master of his craft and sells disgusting body horror like the God he is, and this writer seems to be outing himself as an incel with no knowledge or sympathy for mental illness in women. Yeah, let’s just fuck the trauma out of her. Disgusting. Pissin n shittin n sluggin.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley who provided me with an audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

this is an incredible story about all the red flags an incel will ignore just so he doesn't miss out on the possibility of getting sex.
it also shows the fucking audacity a man can have that leads him to agree to be the /boyfriend/ of and then sleep with someone he sees is struggling mentally. she tells him she's struggling mentally! she needs to be completely wrapped in a duvet and carried through the hallway to get from one apartment to another. and yet he goes ahead and has sex with her. not a crumb of care or empathy for her! it's ridiculous!

this book isn't "what the fuck did i just read" in a good way, rather in the most horrible way possible. it's shocking just to be shocking.

on the positive side: it's not the worst writing, and if you squint you can see some decent insight into the incel psyche.
on the negative: the insight doesn't feel like it's purposefully written. oh, and everything else.

p.s. the woman's saliva and white discharge get described as slime while he describes her vagina like a "snail's cunt". do with all that what you will.

A solid work of bizarro horror fiction. I enjoyed the conciseness of this book and felt that the narrator did a great job of telling the story and conveying the protagonist's emotions. I would recommend this to anyone looking for up and coming and unique horror authors.

Super weird. I really enjoyed it, but it was seriously super weird (in the best way). Disgusting, horrifying, funny, awkward, vulgar. I would only give it 4 and not 5 stars just because I wish it was longer, but that’s a personal preference. Aside from that, it goes down as 5 stars on my list. The storyline was easy to follow, dialogue felt authentic, details were incredible. I’m looking forward to reading more from the author.

Trigger warnings: self harm, gaslighting, mentions of: rape, sexual abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, beastiality.

One night when home alone Franklin gets a text from a stranger named Lynda asking him what he’s doing and if he wants to come visit her. On finding out that she lives in his apartment building he decides, against his better judgement to go see her. What follows is a fever dream of a hellish couple of hours that I can guarantee that you are not prepared for.

This is the third book I’ve read from this author and this is by far my least favorite. I don’t think I would have read any of his other works if this was the first one I’ve read. I spent most of the book just deeply disgusted. The most disturbing of topics are randomly brought up for seemingly no reason other than to bother the reader in between some of the most vile imagery I’ve ever had the unpleasant time of listening to. The book is shocking and disturbing just to be shocking and disturbing. The sheer amount of times mucus and mucus like substances were brought up was me if the worst part of this. There were multiple sex scenes. I hated every single one of them. I lost count of the amount of times I almost stopped reading this. Also the amount of times I gagged while reading. The only reason I’m not giving this 1 star is because I liked the ending.

The one positive thing I have to say is I listened to the audiobook of this and the narrator did as good of a job as he could with the material he was given.

Overall I regret reading this. Some of the scenes are burned into my memory and not in a good way. I’m sure there are some people that would like this but I’m not one of them. Do not recommend this book unfortunately.

This book was unexpected as a new reader/listener of this author. While the ending had a beautifully unexpected turn that allowed the reader a moment of realization that I thoroughly enjoy, the adult themes could have had more thought and effort poured into them. More realistic, more descriptive words, more psychological perspective in the physicality of the sexual acts could have brought the reader more excitement and frustration as the true underlying story begs for. The writing of the dialog also fell flat, as the conflict is understood, but could have been penned in a way that truly brought out the conflict of PTSD, abuse and confusion. The lack of effort in descriptions and dialog causes the reader to assume the main character (and author) is very shallow, when he himself alludes to becoming much more at the end of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this audiobook! I picked it up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised tbh

At the beginning, the story had an amazing psychological mystery vibe, but halfway through it took a spicy turn that was too much for me. I would have loved this book when I was younger, bc it’s so inspired by Chuck Palahniuk.

Both characters were horrible and confusing, and their psychological games almost got to me. I'm still not sure if I loved or hated this audiobook.

Overall giving this a 3/5. If you enjoy weird books, I highly recommend it, but be warned, there are loads of trigger warnings.
#WhiteFuzz #NetGalley

Well this audiobook went a little farther than I was expecting, but in a good way. After reading the description of this one I wasn't sure if I was really going to like it, but because the characters were so compelling and were so flawed it truly made this one an enjoyable listen. I wasn't expecting the story to really suck me in but here I am once again shouting to anyone who will hear it how enjoyable Pauley's work is to listen to.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* These books are super weird lol but this was better than the first one imo. Would recommend to ppl who like weird books lol

Just finished this book and I'm not entirely sure how to feel. This was a very strange book with some twist I did not see coming. I think if you are into smut you would enjoy this very much it also has a sci-fi feel to it.

I’m a horror lover and was intrigued by both the concept and the cover art of this book. I thought the narrator did a great job. I absolutely hated the protagonist of this book for taking advantage of a vulnerable child-like woman while claiming to care for and respect her. I think this book could benefit from a bit more clarity as to whether the protagonist’s behaviours were a symptom of whatever the woman was suffering from which was now infecting him. It seemed like he got worse as the book went on, perhaps turning mad like Lynda as is implied by the ending. This is my reading, but a bit more clarity to support this theory (if it is correct) would have dispelled claims in other reviews that the protagonist was intended to be received well, giving the book incel energy.

I don't understand the hype for this. The whole thing reads as incely and rapey. I don't care about a man's desire to rip the clothes off a woman he just met and have his way with her. It's disgusting that he knew she was in the middle of a PTSD episode and took advantage of her. Very unenjoyable. Fuck this book.

content/trigger warnings:
alcohol
animal death
child abuse (in the past)
incest/ped0 (in the past)
self-harm
sexual assault
sexual content

Thank you to NetGalley for the preview audiobook.

I’ll start by saying that I can understand if some people liked this book but am more of the side of those who didn’t. This was my first time in the authors world and writing and I didn’t enjoy it.

There wasn’t really a full story to begin with and everything felt forced. There was a lot of talk about SA and also the narrator was unreliable.

I think the author thought it was smart to end the book the same way it started; but I feel as the reader you need to have some understanding of what happened for this choice to be profound or just interesting.

Overall didn’t enjoy it and probably won’t look for the others in the ‘series’.

The second strange book in this series sees one resident of the odd Eighth Block receive a text message from an unkn0wn number. After a confusing phone call he ends up accepting an invitation to pop over to Lynda's flat for some "nice cheese, the expensive stuff".
The strangeness continues from there as this unusual girl, whose behaviour raises a number of red flags, ends up staying over at his flat and the romance blossoms from there.
It doesn't end well.
A very well written short story of loneliness and the search for mutual benefit, with the lurking suspicion that all is not as it seems.

Even though I accidentally listened to this audiobook before I listened to the first in the serious, I feel like I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. On the other hand, I had no idea what was going on although the end tied it up pretty well. The audio version was enjoyable to listen to, the narrater did quite a good job, Now I need to read/listen to the rest of them.