Star Cat Books

Four Four-Letter-Words to Praise Gretchen McNeil’s Newest Novel, Four Letter Word: Rich, Real, Eerie, Wild

Written By: Sable Quinn

Sable’s Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Content Warning: there is mention of the ‘Casanova Killer’s’ victims, the gory details of some of the cases, and how he brutally assaulted and murdered the women.

Four Letter Word, Gretchen McNeil. Disney Hyperion, March 5, 2024. 320 pp.

Review on Gretchen McNeil’s Four Letter Word, her newest thriller, set to be in stores by March 5, 2024. This newest thriller is based around Izzy Bell and her small hometown of Eureka, California. The audience is given Izzy Bell, her swoon-worthy and gorgeous love interest, a study-abroad student the Bell family is hosting from Florence, Italy, and a serial killer terrorizing the West Coast, nicknamed the ‘Casanova Killer,’ what could go wrong? Release date: March 5, 2024.

Rich–

My absolute favorite thing about McNeil’s writing style is her knack for description. It does not matter if she is introducing a new character or detailing the charming Bell house (a charming Queen Anne Victorian, if you will) her detail seemingly allows their readers to be transported directly into whichever scene she is presenting us with. I know not only the entire layout of the Bell house, but I can also vividly see all of the tiny quirks and small intricacies of the different rooms; Harry’s workshop represents his inner turmoil with endless unfinished projects and scraps of materials littered everywhere, Izzy’s bedroom in the attic and how it represents both her safe haven and her prison, etc.

Not only is McNeil’s attention to detail causing flutters in my stomach, but her characters are some of the most layered characters I have come across, so much so that I can still sense who each character is and what they embody.

Izzy is our lost lamb. She does not know who she is, what she wants, or how to stand up for herself. She plans her life out just to appease her mother’s long-lost dreams. Those long-lost dreams of Beth Bell’s rapidly became Izzy Bell’s future: studying abroad in Florence, Italy, and majoring in Art History. This is not the future that Izzy wants. She isn’t even sure what she wants in her future. Instead, Beth is using her daughter to vicariously live the life she never got the chance to live. Izzy goes along with her mother’s plan, the Italian Scheme, as we call it, just to ensure that Beth remains happy and peace restored throughout the Bell household. 

Beth is despair, heartbreak, and fraying seams all wrapped into one person. She met Harry Bell in college, where she was on track to study Art History in the rolling, golden hills of Florence, Italy. However, as life does, it interrupts Beth’s plans. She ended up falling pregnant with Izzy’s oldest brother, Taylor, and just like that, her Italian dreams were shattered. She ended up leaving her New England hometown and moving across the country to the small fishing village of Eureka, California, with Harry. It is perpetually overcast and an extremely slow-living community within Eureka, i.e. Beth Bell’s personal Hell. Having been trapped in Eureka for almost thirty years, Beth is now made up of nothing more than isolated loneliness and bitter resentment. 

Jake, my lovely, selfless, darling Jake Vargas. This guy undoubtedly became my favorite character, other than Izzy, of course. He is the embodiment of a ‘gentle giant.’ From the moment Jake returns from his internship in Monterey and is introduced, it is like a missing puzzle piece is found. He is the only character within this entire novel that has actually given a single shite about our lovely Izzy (which is bs!), he is the only one that truly knows Izzy, and he is the only one who takes any time to make sure Izzy is okay. Jake is the only thing that has brightened the colors and turned the sounds up in Izzy’s world. 

We must protect Jake Vargas at all costs. 

Real–

I do have to take a moment to show my appreciation to McNeil for not only avoiding making the Bell family a ‘hallmark’ family. Instead of creating the idea of what a ‘normal’ family looks like, McNeil inserted real-life problems into their dynamic. 

I am particularly grateful and impressed that she has Beth Bell struggles with Bipolar II within the novel. I feel that mental health is not introduced enough in fiction; it is usually understated and glossed over or overstated and exaggerated. The representation of mental health within literature has improved with time, but having one of the main characters in Four Letter Word representing Bipolar Disorder is phenomenal.

Not only does McNeil include Bipolar Disorder in her novel, but she describes the illness the best that I have witnessed so far. As aforementioned, Bipolar is usually understated or overstated within literature, and McNeil successfully avoids doing either. Not only does she weave Bipolar in pretty well which represents Beth’s fluctuating moods, manic episodes, hair-trigger temper, and major depressive episodes, but she also inserts Jake’s dad dealing with PTSD from active duty. McNeil expertly and seamlessly includes these details in her excellent writing style. 

Four Letter Word and Gretchen McNeil, are incredibly real and authentic for including this information. She also introduces the serial killer into the story well. The serial killer is almost happening in the background for the first few chapters, only really coming into the story when mentioned in Izzy’s brief true crime podcast episodes in the beginning. The serial killer is a more pressing topic once Alberto enters the story. McNeil slowly introduces the serial killer aspect to the story, which I love, rather than dramatizing the serial killer angle like most books tend to do. I find that most novels tend to compare serial killers of any type to dramatized versions like Criminal Minds. McNeil, however, does the opposite.

Eerie–

As the book starts to pick up, around the time Alberto arrives to stay with the Bell family (about page 50), I constantly feel like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up while reading this book. Any encounters the reader ended up witnessing with the ‘Casanova Killer,’ my fingertips were white from gripping the book so hard, I was quite literally sitting on the edge of my couch, and my sweet little grandmother was getting pretty annoyed with my high-pitched chatter as I rambled and freaked out during the more intense scenes later in the book.

During the essential ‘thriller scenes,’ McNeil impressed me with the unfolding of the serial killer’s actions, making sure to weave a brilliant and articulate plan for the killer. Every reader lives for the moment the entire novel and plot click together. The feeling is as if every question I have ever thought up is answered without the questions ever passing my lips.

Wild–

Unfortunately, I do need to leave you guys with some mystery to uncover for yourselves when Four Letter Word, the newest thriller by Gretchen McNeil, is released on March 5, 2024.

The only complaint – not necessarily a complaint – would be the slow take-off. As aforementioned, the book started to pick up around the fifty-page mark for me. The only reason it is such a gradual take-off is because McNeil is so invested and skilled with her backstory and details throughout the novel. However, this quickly became one of my favorite books because of the phenomenal writing, the clever and intricate way the thriller aspect of the book unfolded, and simply because my heart is bursting and rooting for Izzy and Jake. 

Four Letter Word, the newest thriller fiction novel that Gretchen McNeil created and will be sharing with the rest of the world, will be in stores on March 5, 2024. It is an intricately woven thriller with a hint of a love story to give my fellow hopeless romantics’ bleeding hearts some action of their own.

**Content Warning: there is mention of the ‘Casanova Killer’s’ victims, the gory details of some of the cases, and how he brutally assaulted and murdered the women.

Happy Snow Day from Star Cat Books! We thought that since we had to take a snow day, that we could still cozy up with a nice ARC and share our thoughts with our lovely customers and friends! Without further ado…

Written By: Sable Quinn

Sable’s Rating: 5/5 stars

Content Warning: there is a brutal scene involving Wendy, Sam, Aurelia, and Logan when the police are called outside of the pharmacy. The scene does show an instance of police brutality that some readers may prefer to skip.

The Z Word, Lindsay King-Miller. Quirk Books, May 7, 2024. 256 pp.

Review on Lindsay King-Miller’s The Z Word, a new spin on the horror genre. A story surrounding the bisexual main character, Wendy. The audience is thrown directly in the middle of gay drama, the start of the apparent zombie apocalypse, disgusting hard-seltzers, and all of it coming to you from what has been dubbed the ‘Last Pride.’ Release date: May 7, 2024.

When one hears the collective words ‘zombie apocalypse,’ ‘gay pride,’ ‘outbreak,’ etc, you know this new novel, The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller, will either be the next book to write home about or it will be the cheesiest god-forsaken thing ever to grace this Earth. I mean, hell, even if you hear the words ‘gay’ and ‘apocalypse’ being even briefly mentioned in the same vicinity of each other, the hair stands up on the back of your neck just because this could have the potential to be the literary world’s worst nightmare if not executed properly.

King-Miller falls into the former category because The Z Word is an intricately crafted story of life interruptions and what it means to be human. All the while, King-Miller also has her audience experiencing an entire range of emotions throughout the entire journey of her latest work. I swear I transitioned through a whole spread of emotions while reading this lovely book, even the ones I only break out for special occasions!

I wasn’t sure whether King-Miller’s writing would even catch my attention at first, simply due to the misleading, slower introduction to the book. The first scene starts with the first Pride party of Pride weekend. Our married couple, transgender Aurelia and lesbian Sam are hosting it at their house (side note: I am LIVING for the inclusivity King-Miller brings to the table within her new book. The amount of new knowledge and phrasing she has introduced me to about the queer community as a fellow queer person myself is enlightening and phenomenal. I felt, while reading this book as if I were progressing my knowledge and awareness while simultaneously enjoying the book and doing what I love).

We first meet our main character, Wendy, while she rummages through the Seabrook hard-seltzers. Seabrook is a hard-seltzer company that only just recently started trying to make a difference within the queer community strictly due to their association and good publicity/sales that comes from sponsoring this Pride event. We are artfully informed of this through King-Miller’s weaving of subtle information and her use of flashback chapters to help us fill in their histories with each other and Seabrook within their friend group.

As the party continues late into the night, we are introduced to all of the convoluted queer drama and our main characters: Wendy, Aurelia and Sam, Leah (Wendy’s ex-girlfriend that is kind of now participating in a poly-relationship with Aurelia and Sam — awkward!), Logan (our drag queen goth god — hearts for Logan!), Sunshine (our she/they pizza delivery driver who is a wet dream themselves and completely slays the entire zombie apocalypse), and our very butch-lesbian bestie Beau! All the while King-Miller is laying the land for us, she is also creating vague and strange behavior within others that starts in our peripheral vision during the party. This upcoming release is a crazy, entertaining, heart-warming, hilarious, and even romantic Horror book. 

As aforementioned, King-Miller has a certain mastery of her craft so she can emote directly off the page and into our emotions. Let me just tell you this: the contempt I first felt toward Aurelia, Sam, and Leah was unmatched; the heartbreak I could feel echo in my chest during the **police brutality scene in front of the pharmacy was earth-shattering; I felt deeply the deafening and isolating loneliness, crippling regret, and involuntary self-sabotage that follows Wendy everywhere she goes as well as the giddiness Sunshine undoubtedly has swimming in their stomach.

King-Miller is an insanely talented author. She is particularly gifted with her world- and character-building, but the life she can breathe into her complex, damaged, and downright relatable characters is an extremely rare talent that only a few seem to truly do well. 

Wendy, King-Miller’s main character, feels as if she were an extension of myself. I am confident that King-Miller has created an infinite and wholly relatable main character that will resonate with a specific part of her sapphic audience. I hope I was able to help give you a sneak peek at the truly genius story that King-Miller created. In this book, she shares a novel with us that represents a lot of the different types of drama that all Queers have experienced at one point or another, which intrigues her audience even further but also aids in healing our own experiences. I hope Lindsay can sweep you off your feet as she did to me!

The Z Word, the newest horror fiction novel that Lindsay King-Miller created and will be sharing with the rest of the world, will be released on May 7, 2024. It is an immense and captivating sapphic horror with a hint of a love story! Feel free to use our Star Cat Books Bookshop to order your copy of The Z Word! Stay safe during the snow day we’re having! Books always keep me warm and safe inside, just saying!!

**Content Warning: there is a brutal scene involving Wendy, Sam, Aurelia, and Logan when the police are called outside of the pharmacy. The scene does show an instance of police brutality that some readers may prefer to skip.

Hi, Hello, Howdy!

My name is Sable Quinn, I’m the newest edition to Star Cat Books! I’m currently pursuing a BA in English Literature, hopefully then moving on to obtain my MA next. I own two cats, Ari and Edgar, and an eight month old puppy, Padraic, who’s not necessarily a puppy anymore! I actually grew up coming in to Star Cat with my grandmother; ten years later and here I am as Nancy’s newest bookseller and website contributor! I will be sharing my book reviews right here on the Star Cat website, so stay tuned:))

Notes from the Porch, Thomas Christopher Greene. Rootstock Publishing, February 20, 2024. 130 pp.

Review on Thomas Christopher Greene’s Notes from the Porch, a collection of essays from the pandemic that not only helped Greene survive the pandemic with his sanity intact but also helped himself and others through some of the lowest of the lows. Release date: February 20, 2024.

Sable’s Rating: 4.5/5 stars.

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ll tell you my secret. I’m not the biggest fan of reading nonfiction. I am no scholar. I am simply a girl who reads fiction. However, something about Thomas Christopher Greene’s Notes from the Porch had my attention in a chokehold.

Maybe it’s this nonsensical idea of the future and love that his essays were able to connect and relate with my reader’s brain. The entire book, after reading it and sitting with the stories and his voice for a few days, just emanated a house that is filled with warmth like the peak of the sun when you’re tanning. The entirety of your skin feels freshly baked and incredibly good, filled with laughter that makes your abdominal muscles clench with pain the day after, filled with a love that wraps around your entire being – his book embodies the sense of what home feels like. 

Thomas Christopher Greene, you, sir, have compiled one hell of an essay collection. A pandemic essay collection, no less. The undertone that is present throughout each of his essays, the soul that lives in these stories, is love. He expertly weaves an all-encompassing sense of whole and genuine love within each essay. It’s as if this man has a prized custom-carved loom that weaves all of his gorgeous tales for him. 

I adored the essays that Greene picked to include in Notes from the Porch. Unfortunately, a girl has to leave some of the mystery for you to uncover yourself. Alas, I will only share and discuss my sappy thoughts, big feelings, and outrageous opinions regarding my top two favorite essays with you, just to give you a little taste of the magic.

I’m going to start with our runner-up, a very close second-place recipient: “Strangers.” I am particularly attached to the balance of descriptors that help the audience orient themselves with our setting (i.e. warm enough to work on the porch, having our setting be the infamous porch, the neighborhood of old Victorians, downtown Montpelier, VT, a “front porch culture,” women pushing strollers, our former garden designer, our favorite neighborhood boy, etc) and his setting scene for a smooth inclusion of his thesis. Within this particular essay of his, he is reminiscing and sharing with us his memory of witnessing two older strangers basking in the spontaneity of life and two souls finding one another again. 

These two older runners, the man with the thick gray hair and the brunette woman, both of whom are running a route that passes by Greene’s porch, are both running a relatively fast past. Suddenly, they both stop dead in front of each other in the middle of their supposed paths, almost as if the world stopped right then and there with them. They embrace in a quick but passionate kiss before they break apart and resume their separate journeys. 

All the while, Greene has been witnessing this encounter with a front-row seat on his porch. He cannot let go of the strangeness of this situation he has just witnessed, wondering if they somehow knew each other and coincidentally ran into one another or if they were strangers and it was meant to be kismet. His curiosity gets the best of him as he shouts after them, ‘I thought you were strangers!’

To which both the man with the thick gray hair and the brunette woman responded, ‘We are!’

This became my runner-up because not only does Greene’s writing translate into this beautiful poetry that will affect and inspire thousands of people across the world, spreading a little good at a time. However, Greene helps show his audience that love is everywhere, no matter who these two characters were in their current lives, their souls recognized one another. Soulmates in another life who happened to run upon each other and pause the world for one second to be able to connect, even ever so briefly. 

What interpretations did you get from “Strangers?”

My champion, my favorite essay of the entire collection: ‘Regret.’ I believe that this particular essay is one where Greene excelled the most with his craft. His gorgeous way with words transported me directly into the scene he painted. I can feel the faint artificial cool breeze from the fridge door leaning open, I can hear the addictive crooning of the Bahamas playing from his phone ‘I’m lost in the light/I pray for the night/To take me, to take you too…” I can so clearly watch Greene and this willowly, beautiful, brunette looking as if their two bodies were sinking into one. Ever so slowly, they sway to the beat right where the sharp fridge light with a hint of yellow melts with the stark white moonlight on the hardwood in the kitchen.

Greene stealthily coats his words in grief, heartbreak, and longing. As you read, his words emanate the pain we experience alongside these two slow-dancing in the kitchen. Pain because their love is showing the audience the right person, wrong time, type of love. A tragic situation of two beings barely missing each other in their lifetimes. 

Whenever “Lost in the Light” by Bahamas pops up on my Spotify now, I will always think of Greene’s gorgeous essay, “Regret,” and the art of dancing in the dark, with only the refrigerator light shining on things we take for granted.

I hope I helped you gain a vivid idea of what a fantastic literary voice Thomas Christopher Greene has revealed in his latest work. His latest collection of essays, Notes from the Porch, is a collection of essays that he wrote during the worst of the pandemic that helped him and others survive and cope. These short essays will make your heart jump with joy, make your inner child laugh, and make a tear or two escape at least once. Greene created a great work that is sometimes nostalgic, sometimes brings forth great memories, helps you remember to see the good in people, and also helps you feel a little bit better about the world. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did!

Notes from the Porch, a collection of essays by Thomas Christopher Greene, will be released on February 20, 2024! Greene might be familiar if some of you have read and/or heard of his award-winning book: The Headmaster’s Wife. Feel free to use our Star Cat Books Bookshop to order your copy of Notes from the Porch or The Headmaster’s Wife. Enjoy it curled up with a steaming cup of your favorite coffee (or tea! I don’t judge!). My favorite coffee is a hot hazelnut (or maple if I’m feeling adventurous) oat milk latte. Curl up with your favorite beverage, grab the warmest cat, and enjoy this lovely read! Let me know which essay ends up being your favorite!

Have you ever wished you worked in a bookstore?

Star Cat Books has an opening for Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting immediately. 

We need someone with a strong retail background, not afraid to converse with customers about books and just about anything else, can hand-sell, has a strong background in books and literature, is aware we’re going into the throes of the Christmas season, can do extra days during December (I’ll be there Sundays and Mondays for December & company is always appreciated!). A background in books is a big plus: we specialize in children’s, YA, and science fiction, but sell every genre in both new and used books. Must be a reader. Cannot be highly allergic to dust or cats.

Duties include light cleaning, keeping my beautiful but often neglected plants watered, reminding me when my phone’s alarms go off (yes, this seems redundant but isn’t), reading Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) during quiet times to help us decide on book ordering, making sure my bookstore-cat-in-training (Wesley) knows he’s loved.

This position will continue throughout the new year and isn’t just for the holidays.

Artistic prowess a big plus (we create chalkboard signs every few weeks).

Payment is on a hourly contractor basis via Square Team. Perks include free coffee (Melitta drip – your mug), a cute kitten (soon to be cat), discount on books purchased at the store, you don’t have to get up at dawn (store opens at 10am), laidback boss (or so I’m told).

CONTACT: starcatbooks@starcatbooks.com or call 802-222-5826

Have you dreamed of working in a bookstore?

We’re looking for 1 self-motivated person who loves books, preferably is conversant with science fiction & fantasy, loves children’s and YA books, loves working with the public. We need someone who can help water my thirsty plants, help keep an increasingly forgetful bookstore owner on schedule, do some light “house”-keeping, shelve books, learn the trade of evaluating used & antiquarian books, be willing to read Advanced Reading Copies of books coming out.

We need someone Tuesdays and Wednesdays and every third Saturday (honest, it makes sense) — winter holidays’ weeks this will increase.

Please apply via email to starcatbooks@starcatbooks.com — messages on Facebook sometimes get sidelined and I don’t want to miss your missive. Instagram messages: same deal. Yes, I’m “old.” But I also still code my own websites. ?

My name is Spike
As you can see
Enjoy fatherhood
Thoroughly
Though he may not
Really be my son
I groom and love
Like he is one
I teach him all
Of my best tricks
Like stealing hugs
And giving licks
But most of all
I teach him that
You get the best
Love from a cat ❤️