Oh I’m so gutted I didn’t like this. I thought the premise was great but the delivery just wasn’t there. It was a bit all over and tbh it just fell flat for me. I didn’t care about the characters, the romance was nothing to write home about and the fmc was irritating

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

Do you like Little Shop of Horrors? Do you wish it took place in a coffee shop? Do you also wish no characters had any consequences for their actions? This is for you.

I have read a lot of idiotic, dense main characters in my day. Adele may take the cake. If you found an urn with dog footprints on it and grey powder inside... would you assume it was a pepper grinder? Would you leave your apartment in Brooklyn unlocked while you went out and hope for the best? If a greasy banker that you didn't like asked you out and gave you terrible business ideas, would you date him for more than half this book? No I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't. What about if your employee revealed <spoiler> he's been killing people whose coffee orders he doesn't like and feeding them to a roaster, then using that roast to serve coffee to hundreds of unsuspecting people including you? Would you forgive him, hide it, and date him? <spoiler>

You can't have your main characters be murderers and cannibals and also expect me to think they're good people. If you want to go the dark Sweeney route, go for it! It's fun to root for villains. But you can't have it both ways. Especially when even Sweeney Todd killed pedos and child abusers mostly, not soccer moms.

Every one in this book except the very amusing health inspector is a terrible person in a really unfun way. There are no consequences, nothing spooky, and nothing interesting. Adele inherits coffee shop. Ben is hot. Roaster eats people. Ben and Adele get away with everything. That's the entire book. It's 300 pages long, and for what??

There's a cat in it. That's nice. And that's it. It's not autumnal, it's not atmospheric, I would say it's not even dark or paranormal really.

Two stars only for the cat.

The blurb for this sounded really good, so I was disappointed when I started reading and it was all over the place. Also the FMC came off as annoying which I don’t think they meant for her to be. It was a little hard to follow and chaotic. I ended up stopping at 30% when I realized I didn’t really care about the characters or what was going to happen.

First of all, I love The Little Coffee Shop of Terror's cover, it immediately drew me in. I've been looking for more books that fall in the cozy mystery/light horror genre. That may be a genre I just made up, but it's what I've been in the mood for lately. The Little Coffee Shop of Terrors by Hazel Graves definitely fit that bill.

As the blurb will tell you, Adele inherits Riffraff coffee shop, a cozy, eccentric local place previously run by her aunt. Slowly, she starts to notice weird occurrences taking place and starts snooping in the one spot the existing employee, Ben, has told her she can't go in. I will admit, there was a point in the novel where I was getting angry at the main character for her naivety. De facto dating a property developer bro, every time she second guessed his advice and almost saw the light, only to defer to him again... I almost wanted to throw my kindle at the wall. I enjoyed who Adele became later in the book without his influence.

Overall, there's a nice mix of horror and mystery, while not being overly gory or excessive. Sometimes I'm in the mood for that, but lately the world's been a little dark and I have been reading more of this kind of book. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy read.

Please be advised I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little Coffee Shop of Terrors follows Adele, struggling to make it on Broadway and living in a kitchen of her flat share. Thanks to a recently deceased distant relative, she’s inherited a coffee shop in Brooklyn and things are finally looking up, until they aren’t!

I found the pacing of the story quite slow to begin with and it mostly begins to pick up more than half way through. It is almost a spoof of Little Shop of Horrors and is full of puns, quirky characters and is obviously musical theatre HEAVY.

Unfortunately it left me feeling underwhelmed but it’s fun and a bit absurd but if you love musical theatre and the TINIEST hint of romance you’ll enjoy it. It’s a silly little read and worth it for a Halloween fun story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This story feels like Little Shop of Horror, which I love, but unfortunately did not work for me. The narrative did not flow and the characters just were not likeable. It's a good thing it was a quick read or I problem would have DNF'd it.

I had such high hopes for this book but it just didn't hit for me at all. It was slow and I didn't care about the characters or the story. The romance was flat. If this hadn't been an arc I would have DNF. 😞
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and Hazel Graves for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Started reading this and found it hard work. The story didn't flow for me, I found the main protagonist weak and annoying. I kept persisting with it & finished, but it just wasn't for me.

Such a fun quick read! I expect great things from here on from hazel graves! Fun fall read. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing an honest review in exchange for reading an advanced copy! This is out now!

I love the idea of a modern retelling of the little shop of horrors but the execution wasn’t great. I loved Ember the cat and I did love parts of the story but I never felt satisfied with the development. It is a very spoof like and would be a good comedy sitcom but I feel like it could have been even better and developed further. Sometimes the writing would jump and I would be confused about what was happening or what they were talking about so ended up skim reading parts. But I loved the puns, the cat Ember and the idea of the long lost relative. The ideas are all there, I just felt that it left me underwhelmed. I loved the musical theatre references and that this was very much Audrey and Seymour reimagined but wish that it was more developed

Spoiler alert. It's Sweeney Todd meets Little Shop of Horrors. But coffee instead of meat pies. I figured the title was too on the nose to be a copy-paste situation. Alas. The whole thing is cringy. Nope.

This was a cosy and quirky read.
It definitely gave me little shop of horror vibes throughout.
It was a little slow burn in places, but it definitely made me laugh out loud in parts too.
I enjoyed the romance entwined in the story
Overall really enjoyed it

This was such a fun spooky read and perfect to get you into the season! I love musicals so I feel like this was a very me vibe! Down on her luck Adele inherits a cafe and she needs help to make it more successful! This was just so much fun and I flew through it!

A cute and fun read perfect for spooky season! The musical aspect of it is not usually my thing but it worked well for this book. I found myself enjoying the characters and the whole vibe of the book!

Enjoyable but there's a lot of musical theater references, which did put me off a little. And I found the characters quite cartoonish if that makes sense.

I'm not sure who id recommend this to in the shop.

A down on your luck want to be broadway star and an Australian barista, what a recipe for fun. Adele inherits her great aunts coffee shop right when she thinks she’ll need to pack up and leave New York. I had such high hopes for this, I love a spooky romance especially with Halloween approaching but there were many moments that fell flat for me. The execution of the story could have been carried out better.

Adele is a struggling Broadway actor who inherits a coffee shop from her eccentric aunt. Barista Ben & boyfriend Donny help her try to make the café a success. Nothing is straight forward. A great story with laugh out loud moments, worth a read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for letting me read this weird little book. I really loved this one.

Adele is the typical struggling broadway actor who is starting to give up on her big dreams of being on stage when she unexpectedly receives a blessing? In disguise which is a very strange little coffee shop from an estranged aunt. This seems like a dream come true except it comes with terms - one being that she must keep on Ben, the very attractive barista that currently works there. Things get off to a rocky start but all seems well until Ben refuses to let her go down to the mysterious and noisy basement and some regulars start to go missing.

If you are a fan of musicals then this book will be for you, it is absolutely packed full of musical references which meant I had a permanent smile on my face throughout. The book is very fast paced and almost jumps around a bit, think of Lorelei from Gilmore Girls but the broadway version. Audrey is a happy, bright and (luckily for this plot) a go with the flow character who loves to sing and talk to anyone. A perfect contrast for Ben, the sexy, mysterious and secretive barista who is very much the opposite of this. I love a good grumpy/ sunshine trope and their banter and dynamic was really fun to read.

One highlight of this book for me was the side characters that really shone through, I don’t think this book would have been half as good without all the zany coffee shop regulars that we get to know and love and their side storyline was a nice contrast to the more chilling and darker main plot line.

This book manages to mix the absurd overzealous comedy of broadway with the strange macabre of a horror B movie. The horror storyline did seem a bit secondary to all the other weirdness that went on but I didn’t mind that because I was having such a good time. I did like the reveal of what was in the basement I just wish that we got more of an explanation as it seemed wrapped up quite quickly which was slightly disappointing. Its a truly unique book though and so much fun.

“In truth, she was anxious about what she might find below. Like armchairs made out of human skin. Or a shrine to a football team.”

This book was wonderful! It was perfect for the spooky season with equally humorous and spooky scenes. The characters pull you in and refuse to let go! Add to your October TBR now!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun quick read. I liked the coziness and its silliness. There were times the main character frustrated me a lot because she was so naïve. I think this is a book you should read if you are in the mood for a fall cozy vibe mystery to read in one sitting.

My favorite part of the book was the cat who lived in the cat and was a menace in the best way!