First of all, I think that if a book relies so heavily on the twisted ending without anything else going for it in the middle isn't a very good book.
TFirst of all, I think that if a book relies so heavily on the twisted ending without anything else going for it in the middle isn't a very good book.
This book is about a small town that gets stuck into an occult and cult-like practices, that most of them weren't even explained by the end of the book. It's about the devil trying to come back using an old pact the first settlers made with him, in exchange for the souls of their sixth generation.
It was very confusing, the romance drama was very out of place, and the main character was so very annoying and there's something wrong with the way he set his priorities. I won't deny that the ending was startling and unexpected, but that's it. It was quite atmospheric, but not the best horror novel. ...more
A story of a father/daughter on the run, after the father comes out of prison with a death penalty on him and his family, definitely doesn't sound likA story of a father/daughter on the run, after the father comes out of prison with a death penalty on him and his family, definitely doesn't sound like something I'd read, but I read it for my awards project, and though it's not a favorite, I actually was hooked by this fast paced thriller.
The characters aren't my favorites by any means, and I had some trouble believing Polly's age, but I was intrigued and I wanted to see how it ends. The writing style helped in that aspect. I don't normally like stories of convicts, but the blossoming relationship between the father and daughter, despite how disturbing it was, was interesting to witness. ...more
This book had me at its tagline, and I wished there was more of the trauma cleaning business in the book, but nevertheless, it was good.
This book is This book had me at its tagline, and I wished there was more of the trauma cleaning business in the book, but nevertheless, it was good.
This book is about Sandra Pankhurst, a transgender woman who works as a trauma cleaner at age 70 (I guess? I can't remember exactly). The writer skillfully goes over Sandra's life alongside joining Sandra on some of her excursions on her work, from the homes of hoarders to suicides and their aftermath.
The book is brilliantly written, that many times I forgot I was reading a non-fiction book. Sandra's life is overwhelming at all of its stages, and I think it's truly a story that deserves its own book. I certainly don't approve of all of Sandra's decisions, especially when it came to her family, later on, but the writer made sure to relay Sandra's story with it's good and bad.
I'll be looking forward to more by this author, and I'll definitely read more about trauma cleaning, because that's certainly an interesting job! ...more
I can count all the ways that this book resembles Harry Potter, and there are lots of them. But at the same time, this book is so different and wonderI can count all the ways that this book resembles Harry Potter, and there are lots of them. But at the same time, this book is so different and wonderful and hooked me from the first page. I think the first feeling I got while reading is that this is giving me the Harry Potter vibes but with new details and magic system and characters and places.
This is a wonderful middle grade book about Morrigan Crow, a cursed child, who gets whisked away to Nevermoor, and the world that opens up to her as she discovers Nevermoor and knows more about it and about herself. I loved the quirky characters and the unique aspects of the story (The Hotel alone was magnificent), also the dark side of the story wasn't toned down so much just because this was a middle grade book, and I appreciated that.
I already can't wait to read the rest of the series, and know more about this world, I only hope it gets better from here, though it's hard to top this one. It was such a joy to read. Also, there's a giant talking cat....more
Because I related to this story of a woman's depression and destructive thoughts, and because I thought even thThis book made me choke up with tears.
Because I related to this story of a woman's depression and destructive thoughts, and because I thought even though she was fictional, what she was going through wasn't, and I didn't want it to happen to me. Because sometimes, I'd hear the same bad voices and the same clouds would surround me, and I try every day to remind myself that I have people who love me, and things to live for, but sometimes that's just hard.
This is a story of Beth, who we first meet in the prison, and we work our way to uncovering what got her in there in the first place, and in the process, we learn about her life, as someone suffering from mental and emotional issues from such a young age, that by the age of 21, she doesn't feel like it, from the things she has seen and lived through....more
I got a lot of problems with this book, but at least it was readable, and I flew through the second half.
I think this could be classified as a cozy myI got a lot of problems with this book, but at least it was readable, and I flew through the second half.
I think this could be classified as a cozy mystery about a retired actress (though I really wouldn't call her an actress from what I've read) turned detective, at first it was to get the prize money for solving a murder, but it slowly progressed into something more, as she kept discovering things the police didn't. With the help of her fashionista wanna-be celeb, actual celebs, and a former cop she works the case.
The writing style and the metaphors were cringy, I mean, describing parking spaces as anorexic is a bit insensitive, and there's more from where that came from. The description of LA, celebrities and their lifestyle, and people's appearances were all problematic. The chapters felt like episodes, each ending on a twist for the sake of keeping the reader's attention, even if some of the twists didn't make sense.
It was good for what it was, but I'm not gonna read more of this series....more
I loved this so much, that I'm tempted to just start it all over again.
This book is about Circe, the witch with a notable role in the Odyssey. She's tI loved this so much, that I'm tempted to just start it all over again.
This book is about Circe, the witch with a notable role in the Odyssey. She's the daughter of Helios, god of the sun, an immortal witch who comes a long since discovering that her power lies in witchcraft. I think because I haven't read the Iliad, the Odyssey, and isn't well-versed in mythology, I was surprised by a lot of events in this book, that otherwise I would've known were coming. but the thing I knew is that Circe as a character isn't that notable, so I really admire what Madeline Miller did with what's told of her.
I loved her interactions with Titans and Olympians and mortals and how each was different. I loved that there was a romance aspect to this book that I didn't know. I loved being inside her head and seeing her progress from a weak nymph to a powerful witch, with each experience she faced.
The writing style is beautiful and definitely flowery, but that suits a story about the mythological gods very well. I can't find a single thing I haven't liked about this book, and that is very rare. I think what I loved most about Circe was her humanity, even she was never a human, not even partly. But she felt for everything and everyone, and that's admirable.
I'm conflicted with rating this book. Because it was like junk food, I enjoyed it to give it 4 stars, but the problems with the book makes it hard to I'm conflicted with rating this book. Because it was like junk food, I enjoyed it to give it 4 stars, but the problems with the book makes it hard to give it more than 3 stars.
This book was a fun fest of cliches, which I realized all from chapter 1. But at least they were hooking me and kept me reading. But by now, I think that the trait I would use to describe most YA romances is: unrealistic. It's about two characters, Mallory and Rider, and their relationship as two fosters coming from a broken background, and how that affects them when reunited after being separated for years.
Some thing I wasn't okay with: - the cheating (minor or not) - the confusion I had with their age gap in the first half of the book - the two main characters' past make this relationship seem incestuous (the author tried to fix that in the 2nd half of the book) - The way he tries to convince her that all of his touches and hugs are all innocent, which are certainly aren't and were unfair to his GIRLFRIEND he had at the time (at least, the main female characters was thinking that, so that's a relief?) - the cliches were too much, and the descriptions were shallow
Things I liked/related to: - Mallory's anxiety with any social interaction: going to parties, talking on the phone, speaking in front of class, etc. I could relate so hard to that because I have severe social anxiety myself. - This wasn't just a romance story. It dealt with some hard-hitting topics. - The love scenes. They were cheesy and repetitive and too much "oh my god" were said and thought, but I'm a mushy person, what can I do? I liked them. - the character growth
Overall, I liked this book. It wasn't mind-blowing, but it certainly made me willing to give Jennifer L. Armentrout a chance. ...more
I love anthologies, just for the fact that I get to try the styles of so many writers so that when I see books written by them I have a better idea ifI love anthologies, just for the fact that I get to try the styles of so many writers so that when I see books written by them I have a better idea if I want it or no. The only names I recognize are Carmen Maria Machado whose short story collection is already on my wishlist so we'll see if I actually like her story, and Sarah Pinsker, who I already read one of her short stories and loved it, "And Then There Were [N-One]".
1- “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong: a wonderful representation of vicious thoughts and negative feelings with a slightly "vampire-ish" feel to it. I feel if bad thoughts were to manifest, it would be like the manifested in this story. I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending but liked the idea a lot. (4/5 stars)
2- “Selkie Stories are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar: this felt like a fragments from a good novel, I wish it was a bit longer, but I see the potential in this author. This is about mermaids or sirens or selkies, and their inability to adjust and what happens to the people they leave behind. I liked the tiny bits of background stories the heroine used to uncover her own life. I would've loved if it was a full-length novel. (3.5/5 stars)
3- “Tornado’s Siren” by Brooke Bolander: A tornado falling in love with a girl. yup. I honestly loved the creativity in this one! (4/5 stars)
4- “Left the Century to Sit Unmoved” by Sarah Pinsker: This was underwhelming. I expected more from a story about a pond that people vanish when they dive into it. but it was cut short, as if incomplete, maybe that's intended, but it's for sure my least favorite so far, which is a bummer since I liked a story I've previously read by this author! (2.5/5 stars)
5- “A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone: I had never heard of the seven-year-itch before this story, and when I looked up its definition, and thought how the author's gonna mix it with vampires, I was intrigued. Our main characters are Vlad the impaler and what I presume is in iteration of Buffy. My main problem is that I don't like cheating in stories, not even the hint of it, so that bumped down my rating for this. It was entertaining though. (3/5 stars)
6- “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon: This was such a fun story about shape-shifting jackalopes. I enjoyed its 2nd half more. (3.5/ 5 stars)
7- “The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu: I liked the glimpse into the lives of wasps and bees, and I felt that given the author's experience, she seemed to know a lot about them. But the pacing didn't work well for me and I felt it was missing something. (3/5 stars)
8- “The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise: I usually like the stories written as booklets or pamphlets, and I like the humor in them. But I found this dry, not humorous enough (as it tried to be), and not fantastical enough. (2/5 stars).
9- “The Tallest Doll in New York City” by Maria Dahvana Headley: It took me some time to get into this story, which is a shame because just when I was starting to get it, it was ending. but this is a sweet love story with "alive" buildings? I liked its uniqueness. (3.5/5 stars)
10- “The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi: First of all, this guy's biography is incredible! Secondly, I think this my favorite story so far in the collection and the first one I'm rating 5 stars. It's a bit more science fiction than fantasy but I liked it. (5/5 stars)
11- “Here Be Dragons” by Chris Tarry: This is an example of a pretty good story being ruined for me by its ending, it was going so well! It had humor and the prospect of dragons, but the ending was meh. and of course the stereotypes of men and what's manly and the child abuse were more than I liked. (3/5 stars)
12- “The One They Took Before” by Kelly Sandoval: I loved the lyrical and flowery writing, even if the story once again felt like fragments of something bigger. But I loved this story a lot, and would love to read a full length novel from this writer. (4/5 stars)
13- “Tiger Baby” by JY Yang: I love the freeing nature of this story, and I've always liked shape-shifting. Also, felines are my fav! (4/5 stars)
14- “The Duck” by Ben Loory: This has to be the sweetest thing ever. A duck in love! That was just adorable. (4.5/5 stars)
15- “Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar: This was kinda repetitive but I liked the writing style and the lyrical language. (3/5 stars)
16- “The Philosophers” by Adam Ehrlich Sachs: There are 3 very short stories here, and they all are so brilliant. It kinda blew me away? I think this an author I'm gonna keep an eye on waiting for his releases and maybe trying to buy his other two books because wow. (5/5 stars)
17- “My Time Among the Bridge Blowers” by Eugene Fischer: While the story itself was okay and felt like a wikipedia page on some fantastical creatures, the author's imagination is awesome. but still, the story was a bit dry and felt as if taken from a big novel. (2.5/5 stars)
18- “The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado: That was incredibly crafted but so very bizarre. It left me with more questions than answers, but I certainly like her style and I could read more from her. I like the way she incorporated stories into her own story, though sometimes I couldn't see how they related. (4/5 stars)
19- “The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman T. Malik: I'm in awe. This was the perfect ending to this anthology. A mix of spirituality and religion and jinns and theories and fairy tales and love and it's so authentic and wonderful. I think I found a new favorite author? (5/5 stars)
This was such a fun and varied collection, I would've given it the full five stars if it weren't for a few duds, still I highly recommend it even if you're not an avid fantasy reader, it's worth a read. ...more
This is Breaking Bad but with an old grandma, and minus all action and intensity. This is such a happy feel-good book that sometimes I forgot it's aboThis is Breaking Bad but with an old grandma, and minus all action and intensity. This is such a happy feel-good book that sometimes I forgot it's about a grandma who grows marijuana in her basement after being out of money.
What this book lacked in my opinion is climax and change of pace, the supposed climax wasn't intense and the book kept the same pace from beginning to end. I was disappointed in the humor, the whole reason I came across this book and planned to read is because it won an award for humorous writing, and the humor was okay at best, not that remarkable.
I liked the character of Jess, I would love to become as lively and independent as her when I'm at her age, and I loved the people she knew through growing. Her relationship with her family was ridiculous at times, and I was a little bored with the flow of information about growing and how to maintain pot plants and so on. It just wasn't an aspect of the story I was interested in, despite its importance.
I loved the mix of older and younger people, but at most it was an okay book, didn't blow me away, had the same pace and I wasn't excited at any point during reading it. ...more
This was such a pleasant surprise for someone who doesn't read romance. At least, I haven't in a long time.
I have a lot to say about their remarks forThis was such a pleasant surprise for someone who doesn't read romance. At least, I haven't in a long time.
I have a lot to say about their remarks for women and what they should and shouldn't do, and what they would be allowed to do after marriage, but I'd have to say that most of the time I expected a remark to pass by under the pretense "it's historical, so it should somehow reflect that age" they'd surprise me with standing up to the woman, of course not every single time, but I guess it should reflect being historical. I wouldn't have let it pass if it was modern.
Despite being cheesy and cliched, and sometimes unbelievable, I really liked this couple and their romance even though second chance romance isn't my favorite romance trope, they were lovely and their love scenes were steamy. (though a little problematic, because I don't like using sex in the plot as a tool to prove anything or to get a confession). But I loved Denys, he's definitely a dreamy guy, and he made me laugh a lot.
This novel definitely encouraged me to get into historical romances. ...more
I just inhaled this book! Poetry isn't something I usually enjoy, but this was amazing and strong and unique.
This is the story of Xiomara, the teenageI just inhaled this book! Poetry isn't something I usually enjoy, but this was amazing and strong and unique.
This is the story of Xiomara, the teenager questioning everything: religion, family, love, herself, friends, her abilities, and the journey she goes on with its bad and good days to accept herself and force those around her to recognize her. and It's told in verse.
I loved the ups and downs, and I related to her doubts on so many levels, and I couldn't put the book till I saw how everything resolved. Which leads me to the one thing I didn't really like: the ending. The climax was so strong but the book had such a calm ending, while I was preparing myself for something stronger.
Other than that, I loved the book, it was a bit slow at first to get used to the format, but as soon as I got into it, I was flying through it....more
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