Member Reviews
As a metal head, I found this to be a fun book. I also suffer from sleep paralysis often, so that part had me intrigued. I thought the concept of the band Suck-u-bus and it's lore were original. I was hoping for more female empowerment. I think that this book maybe tried that, but missed the mark. I actually thought that the spicy scenes were well written, which I find to be a rare trait in books these days. My biggest complaint is that this book didn't feel complete. I assume that it's going to be part of a series based on the cliffhanger of an "ending." There was one kind of battle scene at the end but there was a lot left that was not clarified. I really hate when authors leave books on a cliffhanger, regardless if it's meant to be a series or not. I know that this is a gimmick to make you really want to get to the next one, but so many series at least make each book end at a logical point. I really don't like gimmicks and normally I'd take a whole point off for that, but Idk, the book was fun and original, so I won't take it off this time. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
A brother and sister, both lovers of heavy metal music, find themselves attending the concert of the rock band 'Suck-U-Bus,' which made a deal with a demon to achieve success. Danny and Lisa immerse themselves in the lore surrounding this band, but strange events begin to occur in their life.
The book comes with strong trigger warnings, and it is essential that every reader carefully considers the content before diving into the book. Trauma is not properly processed in the story, and there are several types of traumatic events that are not addressed adequately.
The thriller/police storyline is unbelievable; an actual investigation would never follow the path depicted, and the police would certainly not behave like the detective in this book. The gore included seems to be there merely for shock value and does not add to the narrative.
The plot is laughable at times, making it entertaining to read, but it lacks real substance to be a great book. The story could have taken unexpected turns to elevate it, but every opportunity was missed, and the final plot twists did not achieve much.
Overall, the beginning was fine, but from the middle onwards, the book becomes a laughable mess. If you can overlook the gratuitous violence and trauma, it's a mediocre book at best.
Not everyone is included in the target audience for this book; it should be considered adult material only due to the profanity included.
I’m grateful with NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity of letting me read this before its publication.
Thank you to Blood Bound Books and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars. This was a weird punk horror novel. It was a quick and easy read that was also entertaining. There were a couple of timeline issues that left plot holes in my opinion. This reminded me of “We Sold Our Souls” by Grady Hendrix. If you enjoyed that, I do think you would like this. There were a few interesting twists and had a pretty propulsive narrative style that kept it moving nicely. The ending was very open and I am curious to see what they may do if a second book is ever released to build on this more.
Fun, and kept me on edge until the end. This is what your conservative parents think you do when you say you like metal.
The premise of this book was so good, the execution however was lackluster. I think if this book was longer than 190 pages it could have been executed better. I feel like there were a lot of elements that could have been explored more, such as the actual band, experiences with the succubus, the spice (for a sex demon possessing people there was not a lot of sex), and the depth of Lisa’s back story. Also, the ending is so abrupt. We never really get any information on the actual members of Suck-U-Bus until the last 15% of the book and it felt rushed and then we got a scene at the ending with them. It didn’t fit the rest of the book. I did enjoy the aspects of Lisa’s sleep paralysis and how that played a role in this story, as well as Lisa’s “ice queen” persona.
Overall, it was a quick fun rock and roll mystery type read it’s more of a vibes book than anything.
This was so much fun , i loved the brother and sister relationship between Danny and Lisa. There were multiple twists that completely took me by surprise, and the ending shook me.
It was such a wild idea. But i loved it.
A band working with a demon to get popular? I would never thought about something like that.
And the name - congrats, you are the best at finding cool names for a band.
It was fun, it was cool, the only thing that stopped me from giving it 5 stars was the ending.
Like why would this book end up like that? I just don't understand.
But i did have fun anyway (besides at the end).
Lisa and her brother go to a heavy metal concert for a band with a gimmick that they have a bus inhabited by a demon which only a few lucky fans every concert will get to "meet". When Lisa's brother is chosen they discover that the encounter is a lot more sinister than they bargained for.
The characters are likeable and the plot had me engaged until around three quarters of the way through when there were pages and pages of exposition which didn't make much sense. But other than that, this is a fun horror book.
This was a truly original, unique, and fascinating take on the occult and supernatural and I loved the author use of humor and with. The writing was clever and I really enjoyed the characters and story.
#NetGalley This book is a whirlwind of gorey fun with body horror, succubus, death metal bands. This isn't the faint of heart. I like to thank the publishers and Net Galley for letting me read this early in exchange for my honest review.
I was excited to read Suck-U-Bus and it was a good time but it also didn’t reach its potential. The writing was choppy and scenes were rushed. Some of the descriptions were immature and not in a funny or cute way. I would read more by this author and give them another chance for sure but this one was not for me.
In the book Suck-U-Bus by S C Mendez and Nicky Noir, we meet Lisa and Danny hummer two siblings who lost their parents in the accident and have been all each others head for the past 10 years they are also diehard rockers and although Lisa since leaving her abusive boyfriend has tamed things down and now goes to school and lives in normal life her brother Danny is still all Lin to the rock scene. When her brother Danny makes an impromptu visit with tickets to the band Suck-U-Bus Lisa doesn’t really feel like going with Danny guilt her into it. At the concert when Danny is picked to go on the bus to meet the mothers which is the name of the three girls in the band he is super excited to do it, but when a redheaded corpse looking woman tries to warn them they both blow her off. When her brother Danny goes missing the next day Lisa tries to contact the tattoo artist that also went on the bus with her brother but when she is found dead by Lisa Lisa thinks her brother may just be in trouble Lisa follows the band to every concert in search of her brother but when she finally finds him he’s not the brothers she remembers. The more concerts they have the more people die and it’s always those who visits the bus that die in while at the show in Colorado Lisa gets picked to go on the bus.. This is one crazy piece of work OMG the ending is even crazier I do love horror stories but I am not big on explicit sex and although they didn’t have a lot of that in the book and most of it was just to get from point a to point B and not for nastiness sake I still don’t think I would’ve requested knowing that but now that I have it is a quirky well told story it is bizarre out the box with lots of OMG moments I want to thank Blood Bound books and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review
I enjoyed this read a lot: sex demons and Metal Concerts; I mean, c'mon.
My issue, however, is that even though the story is a lot of fun, the plot elements are confusing and feel like an afterthought. I'm not entirely sure what the ending meant--like, I get it, but por que? Also, by the middle of the story it almost felt like the only point was to showcase a sleeping condition and tie it to a sex demon. I still had fun reading it and will rec it to other horror readers because it's a quick, short read and hilarious.
Loved it. SC Mendes and Nikki Noir are becoming a couple of my favorites.
I am all about music mixed in with horror. This gets into the action quick and you won't want to stop reading.
I thought this book was okay! It didn’t quite scratch the itch I was looking for, but still found it enjoyable and finished it quite quickly! Not my most memorable read, but certainly not the worst thing I’ve read by any means.
A book that crawled inside my psyche well enough to give me a vivid nightmare where I was being chased through a house by a demonically possessed Emma Stone in a nun habit.
The idea of a band that uses it's mythos to serve a demon who makes them famous is hard not to get pulled in by - is it real, is it a gimmick, is it a mixture of both? Regardless, it's a horror story of obsession, violation, and destruction.
As someone who has occasionally experienced sleep paralysis, the description of some of the experiences felt very accurate, but the theory on what it was and the astral planes was very amusing to me. It might even make me entertained post-recovery from the next bout of it.
There's some emphasis on virginity that I found both an interesting take but also annoying; the ideas about sexuality and power didn't feel completely rounded out and ended up being insulting when I think they could've been really interesting with a little more page space.
This is graphic and sexual, surprisingly amusing, and it's going to eat your heart.
Can we just give a round of applause to this book because it did that. And it did it so well. Sex, drugs, demons, and rockandroll. It was a rollercoaster of a time. Iconic.
Suck-u-bus by S.C mendes and Nikki noir was a fun read for me!
I loved the vibes of this book
Demons, metal concerts, horror, nightmares & hallucinations, astral planes. I really enjoyed the imagery and the writing.
It was well written but maybe a bit too rushed for my liking. Some partS couldve been longer and more detailed in my opinion. But at the same time I did enjoy how short the book was and how much I was still able to connect to the characters at the same time.
#netgalley
Oh this was so much fun. I love the setting, I love the plot, I love the cover. I love it all really.
This book was a fast and engaging read that reminded me of the vibes from Jennifer's Body, one of my favorite horror movies.
It delves into themes of heavy metal, sex, the occult, demons, and hallucinations, making it a fun, creepy, and mysterious read with a surprising twist that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this advance reader copy in exchange for my unbiased review.