Leopold Berry thought he had put and done away with childish things. His mom has passed away. He’s now living with an overbearing and self-important fLeopold Berry thought he had put and done away with childish things. His mom has passed away. He’s now living with an overbearing and self-important father who wants to map out every step of Leopold’s life. His friends are getting older and looking forward to their happier, brighter futures.
Leopold just spends every day in a daze, wondering if he’s losing his mind and if he’ll ever grow capable of standing up to his father. He just has this itch under his skin and in his hands telling him there’s something missing, or something is missing him, and he can’t go another minute without at least trying to figure out what’s humming inside of him.
From this point in Sunderworld, Vol. I, it’s an all-out roller coaster of urban fantasy, fantastic whimsy, a terrifically-constructed city layered over another city, great bits of Los Angeles lore, urban exploration, fun and imaginative world building, great pacing, teenagers acting like teenagers, explorations of grief, the beginnings of found family vibes, a fierce friendship, plenty of action, and a whole lot of fun secrets uncovered.
I wasn’t around for Riggs’ Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Those came out while I was raising my kids, I think, and my kids weren’t readers (still aren’t). So I was only peripherally aware of Riggs as an author and his imaginative worldbuilding skills. This is why I wanted to read Sunderworld even though I knew it was going to skew toward a younger YA audience than I normally read. This book is labeled inside as being marketed towards those 14 and older, but I don’t believe in age-bracket marketing. I’m putting it here because someone reading this review might. I will say though that I think a kid as young as 10 or 12 could read this and be just fine.
I’m definitely sticking around for the next installment. This was a lot of fun to read and there are not enough books with whimsy in them, in my opinion. Give me all the whimsy.
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Fantasy Series/First Book in a Fantasy Series/Urban Fantasy/YA Book Series/YA FantasyYA Fiction ...more
Have you ever read a book that felt like it blew all its best material in the first half of the book?
Honestly, that’s what reading A Mask of Flies feHave you ever read a book that felt like it blew all its best material in the first half of the book?
Honestly, that’s what reading A Mask of Flies felt like for me. The first half of this book was an amazing thrill ride for me, full of smash, crash, bash, and slash; however, slightly after the halfway mark, the book slowed down so much it felt like the transmission had stalled and it started resemble a game of “Hurry Up and Wait” until the inevitable showdown, which was beyond predictable by the time it happened.
The beginning of this book is incredibly engaging, with a compelling hook and an intriguing protagonist. Anne Heller is an enigma to us, and she’s a badass. Everything’s gone south for her and she needs to lay low until she can regroup and figure a way out of it.
Of course things go south anyway. This is a horror novel.
The first half of this novel has tension, fast pacing, lots of action, great dialogue, a lot of terrific inner narrative, and some great story revelations that help to move the plot along. This is definitely more of a plot-forward book than character-forward. There’s a great amount of violence and even more body horror. Anne is not a nice person. Is she good? That’s a moral subjective. But she’s certainly not nice, and I love how so much of that comes through in her characterization in the first half of the book.
If all of that could’ve been carried through the back half of the book then this book would’ve been fantastic. Sadly, the momentum falters and never comes back, the vast majority of the revelations have already come and gone, and even the body horror seems rather tame by the end. I was ready for it to end well before it actually did. That’s never a good sign.
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews three stars or under will not appear on my social media. Thank you.
File Under: Body Horror/Cosmic Horror/Cult Horror/Horror/LGBTQ Horror/LGBTQ Fiction/Sapphic Romance ...more
Meeting your in-laws for the first time is always a nerve-wracking event.
Toby and his son, Luca, are headed to Texas with Toby’s wife, a pediatricianMeeting your in-laws for the first time is always a nerve-wracking event.
Toby and his son, Luca, are headed to Texas with Toby’s wife, a pediatrician and heiress named Alyssa. Alyssa has given Toby every reassurance she can muster about her family, because Luca is starting to show signs of being queer and Toby doesn’t want him around bigots; and, well, Alyssa’s grandfather is a famous televangelist. Alyssa tells him her family is too rich to be bigoted. Well, you can see how well this is going to go.
I liked the idea of this book much more than I liked the book itself. I liked the individual story components more than the whole. I liked the tropes, but not how they were assembled. Does that all make sense? It was like the ingredients were all there but the measurements were wrong and it was baked wrong.
For one, it was baked too long. This book was too long by far. The third act of a thriller should be where you kick it up a notch, but I honestly thought the third act was the slowest of the entire book. I kept saying, “We’re not done yet?”
Second, the repetitiveness. By the end of the second act my eyes were starting to glaze over every time I read the term “mind palace”.
Third, the ending. I’m sorry, but I can’t vibe with the ending. It wasn’t good.
I am going to list off a few TWs for you: incest, “wilderness” camp, homophobia, internalized homophobia, transphobia, CSA, suicide. Those are the big ones.
In the end, it was a very average novel that was well-written for the most part but just didn’t vibe as a whole.
I was provided with a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Since this review is rated three stars or lower it will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.
Are you looking for a great book to sit by a body of water with and read? Maybe with a cold drink in hand? Some salacious, sReal Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
Are you looking for a great book to sit by a body of water with and read? Maybe with a cold drink in hand? Some salacious, soapy, and thrilling? Then you might be looking for Ladykiller.
Ladykiller is author Katherine Wood’s debut novel, and even if it’s pretty obvious this is a debut novel, it’s a pretty good shot for a debut thriller beach read being published smack dab in the middle of summer. Set mostly in the sublime Greek islands and filled with sun, food, drink, sex, and secrets, there is nothing about this book that doesn’t meet the criteria needed for something fun and diverting to read when it’s hot outside and you just want to drink your daiquiri and be left alone.
This book is mostly told from two POVs: Gia is the scion of a wealthy family who is in the midst of divesting herself of the beloved family estate in Greece, and Abby is her best friend who was also the daughter of their family cook growing up. Abby’s story is told in first-person POV, while Gia’s is told in chapters from a manuscript she wrote for the majority of the book. Along for the ride as a narrative foil is Gia’s younger brother, Benny. If you’re thinking unreliable narrator, you got it. If you’re thinking “best friend’s brother” trope, you got it. Is it spicy? Not in my opinion. There’s titillation, but no explicitness. Nudity, but not smut. Fade to black, mostly.
This book isn’t heavy and it’s not meant to be; even so, there’s just so much of this book that seems to breeze by and so much stuff that seems to be a bit too incredulous. I can only suspend disbelief so much. Either that, or I’m more of a cynic than I thought I was. Either way, I just wasn’t as engaged as I’d hoped. I want to be swept away by my beach reads. This was fun, but not quite fun enough for me.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
How well do you remember your childhood? Are you sure you’re remembering it correctly?
Lenny Marks is alive, but she’s not living. She’d be fine with How well do you remember your childhood? Are you sure you’re remembering it correctly?
Lenny Marks is alive, but she’s not living. She’d be fine with that if it weren’t for the fact she knows it makes her mom (well, her former foster mom but the closest thing to a mom she’s had in a long time) upset if she doesn’t at least try and engage with the world around her. If Lenny had it her way she’d keep to her strict routines and schedules, never letting anyone get too close to her or know anything much about her. It’s safer that way. No one can abandon you if you don’t let them in, after all.
The themes of abuse, abandonment, fear, anger, loneliness, and loss are all at the heart of Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. If you think this book is lighthearted at all, be forewarned it’s not. I cried more than once. My eyes are unhappy with me.
Debut author Kerryn Mayne has written a book with an extraordinary protagonist who will rip your heart out from your chest, break it, then repair it before placing it back inside and stitching you back up all shiny and new. Lenny Marks is written as a neurodivergent character who also has a large issue with dissociation surrounding a traumatic event from her childhood. Lenny’s type of neurodivergency isn’t explored or explicitly stated, but Mayne did a terrific job of writing a neurodivergent character without coming across as precious or exploitative. If you don’t fall in love with Lenny I don’t know what kind of person you are, because Lenny is so easy to love. I think that’s why this book has been so widely lauded for breaking people’s hearts and making them cry. You just feel so much for Lenny and what she’s been through. And after all she’s been through, she’s still out there trying her best to survive and do right when so many people who should know better choose to do wrong.
The pacing of this book is lovely, with a natural progression and no filler. Mayne’s writing style is sharp and insightful, with a dark sense of humor and a deep well of emotion. Her characters are well-drawn and her plotting is clear and well-rounded. The dialogue in this book is a delight and one of its best features.
This is definitely women’s fiction, but it’s definitely on the lit fic side of women’s fiction. It’s women’s fiction because the book deals with, in a large amount, issues that widely affect women and their children. The take on these issues is more on the darkly humorous side, which I always enjoy. If you love a tale that ultimately results in revenge, then you’ll end up loving this.
TW for child abuse TW for mild animal abuse (one scene) TW for violence TW for child death TW for domestic abuse
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Dark Comedy/Disability Rep/Literary Fiction/Women’s Fiction...more
I confess I’m obsessed with Veronica Franco, Lucrezia Borgia, and Giulia Tofana. All three of these women were incredible exReal Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
I confess I’m obsessed with Veronica Franco, Lucrezia Borgia, and Giulia Tofana. All three of these women were incredible examples of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. The Assassin of Venice takes place roughly a couple of decades after Lurezia’s lifetime, during Veronica’s, but around a century before Giulia’s. Do I really just like Renaissance women and the idea of them making any combination of sex, intellect, power, and/or violence work in their favor? Why yes, yes I do. Am I under an assumption that all the stories are true? No, no I’m not. Let a girl dream.
Alyssa Palombo takes us readers back to the early half of 16th-century Venice, where Honest Courtesans ply their trade and the Council of Ten watch over the city-state to keep it free of any and all outside influence. Venice was a vitally important port city to Italy during the Renaissance and the military security of the country, the Adriatic Sea, and a chunk of the Mediterranean depended on the Italians due to the threat of the Ottoman Empire from the East. Italy was insular and paranoid, with good reason. Political intrigue and the trading of secrets was a national sport.
The plot of The Assassin of Venice is a good one, romantic and dramatic with an almost-cinematic feel to it. It would make a good movie. That doesn’t necessarily mean the book was executed in the same manner. While well-paced, I never once felt concerned for the characters in this story. I never once felt like any of them were in any real danger. I actually felt like they were being overdramatic more than once and not seeing the forest for the trees. There were also quite a few speech anachronisms in the protagonist’s inner narrative that made me wish the editor had done a bit more thorough job.
It’s a diverting read, if not too exciting or challenging. I think you’ll love it if you love your historical fictions heavier on the fiction side and a bit soapier without a lot of accurate worldbuilding or detail. If you’re looking for accuracy and high stakes, then I’d look for another story.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I was initially skeptical about reading and reviewing this book because the central victim involved is another All-American girl and it’s written by aI was initially skeptical about reading and reviewing this book because the central victim involved is another All-American girl and it’s written by a man who’s worked for two media outlets I completely despise (the New York Post and The Daily Mail). What made me change my mind is the fact that I’m always intrigued by the stories of disappearances that just don’t make any sense. So many people saw Lauren Spierer the night she disappeared. She was seen in multiple locations and on multiple cameras. There just happened to be no cameras in the last place she actually might have been, and then it was a handful of rich college boys who were all in that same spot and had enough time to cover their butts before anyone came after them with questions about what happened that night.
I would’ve been really into this book if I felt it wasn’t anything but a waste of everyone’s time, in the long run. It’s not that Cohen is a bad writer, it’s just that all the new “testimony” that Cohen collected isn’t really testimony: it’s more like anecdotes from friends, potential witnesses, and some of the potential suspects. None of this comes into play until far into the back half of the book.
Otherwise, the book feels rather repetitive, somewhat exploitative, and more than a little tawdry. I feel like there were some discussion topics that could’ve been explored here that would’ve contributed well to the book and to who Lauren was as a person but maybe weren’t approached, possibly out of courtesy to the Spierer family, but if you want to paint a portrait of a college girl gone missing, you should paint a complete one.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or under, which means it will not be appearing on my social media pages. Thank you.
This certainly has been a year for horror books about horror films!
How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is author Craig DiLouie’s second foray in aThis certainly has been a year for horror books about horror films!
How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is author Craig DiLouie’s second foray in a row with writing Hollywood horror into an unsettling novel (Episode Thirteen is about a paranormal reality show). The blurb calls it darkly humorous, and it has its moments. The tagline for the book is, “Horror isn’t horror unless it’s real”. Make of that what you will.
The first 25% of this book was very wobbly for me. While I was invested in the story and intrigued by the characters, it felt like the pacing was off and like the tone of the novel wasn’t quite tuned. When the book found its footing I was very satisfied with everything about it until the last 20% of the book. Then it started to crumble again a bit for me and then limped a bit to the finish. I want to be clear: At no time did I stop reading this book. At no time did I think about DNFing. I was invested the whole time and felt compelled to finish. It’s a total page-turner. I just didn’t find the book as a whole to be completely solid. I think the issue may have been that the book was probably too long.
What I loved about this book was the sheer love of horror movies it showed as a whole. From quotes by famous movie directors to film references to on-page deaths that would be at home in a “Final Destination” movie, this book shows a deep and abiding respect for the horror genre, even for what came after the time period after this book is set in.
Craig DiLouie is a fantastic horror author and his books are always a great read. This one may not be 100% solid, but I still recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I absolutely adored Bewitched, the first book in this series, and Bespelled ensnared me with its charms just as effectively. I’m not the hugest fan ofI absolutely adored Bewitched, the first book in this series, and Bespelled ensnared me with its charms just as effectively. I’m not the hugest fan of straight-up MF romance, but there’s just something about the way Laura writes her lead couples that sucks me every time and causes me to become heavily invested in them and their story. I can’t pinpoint what it is about them yet (yes, even though we’re at the end of the second book) that has me so captivated, but I know there has to be other authors out there that wish they could bottle this particular blend of writing witchcraft.
Bespelled picks up almost right where Bewitched left off, with Selene having been framed for the witch murders by Memnon, because someone’s still stuck on his tour of vengeance. Selene has the memories of her past life back, but it’s kind of hard to focus on anything but being, well, under arrest for crimes she didn’t commit. Luckily, the situation rights itself pretty quickly, and soon we get back to the incredibly charismatic push-pull dynamic between Selene and Memnon as they try and navigate each other, the situation they find themselves in now that Selene can remember the past, and what to do about the ongoing murders.
We get to meet a whole slew of supporting characters, see the overarching plot develop some more, see a new major plotline develop, see the rise and fall of a whole subplot within this book, and have it end with not a cliffhanger but a huge question mark. There’s a ton of magic, a whole bunch of intrigue, a great deal of action and violence, some great swoon-worthy romance, decent spice, and buckets of blood.
A lot happens in this book. I mean, a lot, a lot. Thalassa does a great job keeping the story moving and not letting everything get too tangled together at the same time. There is a pretty large infodump via looking into memories (not by flashback) near the beginning of the book, but I can’t in all fairness call it lazy storytelling in this instance because it falls in line with the way magic works in this series and the way the characters exist. There just wasn’t a better option to get the necessary information across to we readers.
It was a fantastic read and I’m absolutely anticipating the final book!
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
The Singing Hills Cycle novellas are something I look forward to every time a new installment is announced. They never disappoint in any way and The BThe Singing Hills Cycle novellas are something I look forward to every time a new installment is announced. They never disappoint in any way and The Brides of High Hill is no exception.
We’re used to mysterious adventures, spooky adventures, dangerous adventures, and sad adventures being in store for Cleric Chih, but never before has the adventure been scandalous…even a little salacious. Chih is in over their head and Almost Brilliant isn’t even around for some reason!
As with most of the Singing Hills Cycle books, the messages here revolve a lot around gender norms, feminine rage, class warfare, and the theft and/or destruction of one’s heritage by a group of people who see themselves as superior to you and yours. Whereas previous installments in this series have either taken place during travel or otherwise mostly in open air, The Brides of High Hill has a distinctive gothic feel to it, with everyone trapped inside a walled-in compound for the duration of the book. This places the threats as coming all from within, as opposed to the other novellas, where the threat was always coming from without.
The storycraft here was clever and sharp-witted, with a razor-edge thrill to it. The story was absolutely compelling to read, but as with all the Singing Hills Cycle stories, Nigh Vo gives us the perfect amount of story to satisfy us. It’s another job well done.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinion, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Epic Fantasy/Fantasy/Fantasy Series/Historical Fantasy/Mythological Fiction/Novella...more
I fell in love with the cover and the summary of this novella immediately, and the fact it was a translation sealed the deal on me wanting to read it I fell in love with the cover and the summary of this novella immediately, and the fact it was a translation sealed the deal on me wanting to read it because I not only try to aim to read translations as often as I can but I’ve also been loving the Korean translations I’ve read in the last year or so.
First, a caveat: I read the eARC for this on a Kindle Paperwhite, and this may have messed with the formatting somewhat. This title does have some illustrations and as Amazon has it classified as a manga in hardcover format I worry I might have missed some of the illustrations due to reading it on a Paperwhite. I can’t know for sure, so I’m putting this statement here just to let any readers of this review know I might not have had the full experience with this title that some others had.
I really did love the story and plot as it was first put to us in this book: When do we stop being “girls”? When do we actually “grow up”? Is there a point in time when a Magical Girl stops being magical? Is it ever too late for someone to become magical, or can we bypass that issue by giving some magic to every girl so she can navigate the world with a little more power under her belt?
It’s impossible to read this novella and not think of South Korea’s 4B movement, which has only been growing in strength and numbers since 2015-2016 (that I know of). The women of South Korea are rejecting Korean culture due to its inherently patriarchal and misogynistic nature and often outright boycotting the presence of any males in their lives–sometimes even to the point of having no male friendships. The central conflict in this book hinges on how to handle feminine rage as the result of mistreatment by the patriarchy.
Sadly, this story is split in half for me. While the first half is entertaining and read smoothly for me, the second half is rather chaotic and doesn’t read as smoothly, resulting in a great deal of confusion on my part as a reader. The narrative and story felt a little choppy in places, and the ending didn’t quite make as much sense to me as I would’ve liked. While I absolutely loved how you could tie this story into the 4B movement, it really felt like an incomplete metaphor.
In the end it was fine, but I would’ve liked a little more to chew on.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or lower, so it will not be posted to my social media. Thank you.
File Under: Fantasy/LGBTQ Fantasy/Novella/Urban Fantasy ...more
One of my favorite books of 2023 was Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows, which follows a PR executive and a disgraced PI as they unravel a gritty neon-noOne of my favorite books of 2023 was Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows, which follows a PR executive and a disgraced PI as they unravel a gritty neon-noir mystery at the heart of Los Angeles. Ever since I’ve been looking for that magic pairing of “PR and PI” in the hopes I can find more books where these two seedy, seamy undersides of Los Angeles come together in some kind of mysterious tangle.
I was hoping Your Dark Secrets would give me the high I was searching for, but I spent the whole book chasing it and then was absolutely upset with myself at the end for sticking with it.
The first half of this book is interesting, if a slower build than I like to see in a jet-set suspense thriller with so much on the line for the main characters and taking place over what seems like a pretty short time frame. The pacing is off, there’s a bit too much filler, but it wasn’t unsalvageable. Sadly, in the back half of the book it just fell apart for me: the pacing was all over the place, the characters were inconsistent, there was too much filler, there was a very obvious evil villain monologue, and everything was either tied up too neatly or left dangling like a snagged sweater.
Ultimately, it was a very flawed book, in my opinion.
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Reviews rated three stars or below will not appear on my social media. Thank you.
If there’s one thing you definitely can’t be if you want to be a saturation diver, it’s claustrophobic. You have to train even Are you claustrophobic?
If there’s one thing you definitely can’t be if you want to be a saturation diver, it’s claustrophobic. You have to train even the slightest amount of animal instinct to back out of too-tight spaces out of your system in order to be a saturation diver. You also have to quickly grow okay with the idea of being packed into a very tight space (smaller than a train car) with five other fully-grown adults under increased pressure and temperature while you’re all up in each other’s business for about a month.
Thank goodness we’re merely readers, so all we have to worry about is if these kinds of things trigger us before we read. If they don’t, then we just get treated to a suspense thriller about six saturation divers who go down in their chamber while in the North Sea and they start mysteriously dying.
This is advertised as a locked-room mystery, but it really isn’t. If you go into this expecting it to be a traditional locked room, you’ll be disappointed. It’s closer to a closed-loop, but it’s not even truly that because there’s almost an element of possible conspiracy to the mystery in this story. Every time it seems as if the field of suspects has narrowed, Will Dean creates opportunities for the list of suspects to either widen or to shift, changing the perspective and/or the motive.
That’s the largest part of the charm behind The Chamber: Divers, just like other people who live their lives on the sea and do their jobs based on a very strict set of rules and rituals, can be set very off course by ill omens and superstitions. One bad omen can shift a character’s (maybe more than one) entire point of view and it could roll into a completely unrelated event, tainting it with a seeming darkness that otherwise may not have colored it so. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Or maybe it’s not all in your mind. Or maybe it’s both.
Will Dean’s last two books have been absolutely bangers for me, but The Chamber left a little to be desired in the way of excitement for me. I felt the suspense. I felt the claustrophobia. I felt the paranoia and germaphobia. I felt the pressure, the heat, and the fear. For some reason, though, I didn’t feel engaged with the story or compelled to keep reading. The story lacked propulsion. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was while I was reading and I still can’t. I just felt like I could walk away from this book and it wouldn’t really matter.
Will Dean is a wonderful writer and this is a great book, so I totally recommend it. I just didn’t feel like I needed to finish this story in order to get on with my life. This is a wonderful story, though.
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Normally, I love historical fantasy. Normally, I absolutely love historical fantasy set in Italy (whether it’s supposed to be our Italy or if it’s jusNormally, I love historical fantasy. Normally, I absolutely love historical fantasy set in Italy (whether it’s supposed to be our Italy or if it’s just inspired by our Italy). Normally, I love coming of age fantasy. Despite all this book should’ve had going for it, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea.
If you don’t mind books that don’t even seem to commit to a solid plot until halfway through the book, then you’ll like this book. If you don’t mind a lack of worldbuilding and atmosphere, then you’ll like this book. If you like a protagonist who’s a bit of a supercilious dullard, then you’ll like this book.
I, however, didn’t like this book. Which is sad, because I went into it thinking I would. Paolo Bacigalupi isn’t a bad writer, I just don’t think he’s the writer for me.
I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or under and will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.
File Under: Coming of Age/Fantasy/Historical Fantasy ...more
There’s slow burn, and then there’s just a book that never catches light.
The Monstrous Kind doesn’t lack for atmosphere or aesthetics, believe me. ItThere’s slow burn, and then there’s just a book that never catches light.
The Monstrous Kind doesn’t lack for atmosphere or aesthetics, believe me. It also doesn’t lack a sense of romance or chemistry between characters. The dialogue is actually the best part of the novel, which is nice when dialogue tends to be a problem in some other gothic fantasy novels.
None of these positives can make up for the host of negatives that this novel is composed of, however. From its slow, predictable, and writ beginning that failed to engage me, to the absolute cookie-cutter trope-ish characters, to the painfully apparent foreshadowing and false leads, and scenes that were obviously filler and could have easily been cut to help the dreadful pacing of the story, this book just never took off. I can honestly say I didn’t even become halfway interested in how the story might end until almost 60% of the way through, and by then I had already guessed how everything went together. I just wanted to see how they were going to assemble it all at the end.
Even there I was disappointed.
I can’t recommend this book. I just think it’s a lackluster example of gothic fantasy in a world where there are thousands of gothic fantasies that outshine it by far.
The premise behind Tell Me Who You Are sounded very intriguing when I first read it and in the long run that’s not my issue with this book. The plot iThe premise behind Tell Me Who You Are sounded very intriguing when I first read it and in the long run that’s not my issue with this book. The plot is still very compelling and the book itself is well-paced and well-constructed. This book just didn’t vibe with me from the beginning in almost every other way: I didn’t enjoy the writing style, the narrative voice was rather annoying, and there seemed to be a few holes here and there that maybe could’ve been taken care of with another pass through with the editor.
I didn’t find it to be as sharp or propulsive as other reviewers have found it to be. While it does have some unpredictability in its favor the shock factor isn’t that great when the turn comes.
Sometimes we just don’t vibe with a book, and I think this is one of those times.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review was rated three stars or lower, meaning it will not be appearing on my social media pages. Thank you.
I love comic thrillers. In accordance with family tradition, about 30% of my sense of humor is set aside specifically for dark and morbid humor. When I love comic thrillers. In accordance with family tradition, about 30% of my sense of humor is set aside specifically for dark and morbid humor. When an invite to read this book came along you can bet I accepted it right away. Come on, look at that cover! The title! Like I had a chance. I knew I was going to enjoy it, but enjoy it I did.
You’d Look Better as a Ghost walks down the middle of road somewhere between two of my favorite comic thrillers: Sascha Rothschild’s Blood Sugar and Katy Brent’s How to Kill Men and Get Away With It. Wallace’s writing is more irreverent and sly than Rothschild, but has more of a sense of self and less sociocultural satire than Brent. Wallace likes her humor drier than bones in a desert and dark as a cave, her inner narratives extensive and hyper-critical, her plotting full of little unexpected twists and turns, and her protagonist (Claire) is a delightful serial killer to read as she tries to play catch up with a tiny mistake, understand the process of grieving, and play the unexpected role of vigilante (even if it’s only a means to an end, really).
On a personal note: Even though I’m not a serial killer, I appreciated reading a book with a protagonist who doesn’t grieve in the manner which people are accustomed to, because I don’t and I never have. I don’t go to funerals or memorial services anymore because of the looks I get at my lack of grief when people pass away. Nothing happened to me or anything–I have Alexithymia, and the way in which it presents itself is that my sadness meter isn’t there most of the time. I’m either mildly sad or I’m having a complete depressive breakdown. There’s no in between. It’s either shallows or an abyss. I’ve been like this my entire life. It’s led to everything from me being called a sociopath or narcissistic to being accused of not loving those who have passed away or not missing them.
The protagonist in this book, Claire, is grieving her father. She’s just grieving him in her own way. The only way a person like her can. Just because she’s not crying her eyes out or drinking her nights away doesn’t mean she’s not grieving. Everyone grieves differently. Sure, she chooses to take out her grief with a hammer at first, but no one can accuse of her of not caring for her father in her own way.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Dark Comedy/Murder Thriller/Psychological Fiction/Serial Killer/Suspense Thriller ...more
Tropes: Queer Representation (more than one LGBTQ+ character); Historical (17th century England); Forbidden Romance (physician and patient, but they dTropes: Queer Representation (more than one LGBTQ+ character); Historical (17th century England); Forbidden Romance (physician and patient, but they don’t become familiar until he stops being her physician); Interfaith Couple (Christian and Jewish); Forced Proximity (for the time period); Yearning and Pining like Pine Trees. (Fated mates is also listed as a trope but since there’s no magical element to this story I’m leaving it off).
Sometimes you get interested in a book due to Shiny Cover Syndrome and it works out great!
The Phoenix Bride was a lyrical, engrossing, romantic, and lovely book to read on a dreary day like today (where I live, anyway). If you like your historical romances to be full of swoon-worthy moments, pining like evergreen forests, feelings of desperation and helplessness, emotional outpourings, lamentations of “we can’t!”, and that whole vibe of “we rescued each other”, then you’re going to love this book.
There is young love followed by great loss, terrible grief, desperate dealings undertaken by loved ones, tentative and surprising friendships, frightening circumstances and courage under fire, and daring maneuvers for the sake of a chance at happiness.
Does it end happily? Yes. I was happy to have read it, because it made me smile and it was easy to love.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Rob Hart won me over with his darkly funny, intense action-adventure-in-a-hotel, tragically romantic novel The Paradox Hotel, which is a book I think Rob Hart won me over with his darkly funny, intense action-adventure-in-a-hotel, tragically romantic novel The Paradox Hotel, which is a book I think about all the time and constantly recommend because I love authors who know how to write perfect blends of dark comedy, intense action, and love of varying types.
Assassins Anonymous runs in a similar-but-definitely-not-same vein as The Paradox Hotel: darkly funny, intense action-adventure (not in a hotel), and a few different types of love. The plot is what it says on the tin: An assassin gave up the game almost a year ago and joined a 12-step program to stop killing people. A few days shy of earning his one-year chip he gets attacked and now he’s on the run to get to the bottom of the matter and get back out all without relapsing and killing someone.
Why wouldn’t I want to read that? Why wouldn’t anyone want to read that? That plot sounds like the bee’s knees.
And it was the bee’s knees! This book was fantastic. From the first page to the last this book was an interesting and fun read. It’s witty, dark, action-packed, adrenaline-fueled, reflective, and emotionally-aware. I nearly cried a couple of times, and I really loved the found family aspect that comes in clutch. I totally recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
This novella speaks my language: queer, noir, cyberthriller. This combination of genre keywords is like magic for my mind and soul. I’m always up for This novella speaks my language: queer, noir, cyberthriller. This combination of genre keywords is like magic for my mind and soul. I’m always up for the latter two (see Harkaway’s Titanium Noir!), but add in queer and I’m soaring.
This is an engrossing and intriguing novella about a trans woman who sets out to investigate the murder of her former lover who was still living at the anarchist commune that she herself left in a fit of grief and pique some time ago. It explores themes of identity, memory, grief, belonging, nihilism, control, security, friendship, ethics versus morals, creating and maintaining safe spaces, and self-discovery.
I think reading the afterword for this novella is very important. I don’t always read the afterword in a book, but sometimes it’s nice to read where an author’s head was at when you have questions about why they might have written something a certain way (even if you have your own theories, which is fine). When some authors write, characters take on minds of their own and start to make choices the author didn’t think they’d make when they started writing. Reading the afterword for this book helped me understand where Wasserstein was coming from in her writing, even with my own theories floating inside my head.
This was a great read and I highly recommend it. Since this is a trans sci-fi and does involve trauma and some hate speech I suggest you look up CW/TWs online if you need them.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
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