Brom at his finest. I was provided the ARC audiobook by @macmillanaudio And, audiobook is definitely the way to go with this book. The story is set inBrom at his finest. I was provided the ARC audiobook by @macmillanaudio And, audiobook is definitely the way to go with this book. The story is set in the mid 80s and is a horror love letter to the punk rock scene. And, punk rock does make an appearance by way of the main character. There is an actual song called Evil in Me. Love and respect audiobooks with music. There may also be the cutest spirit/human bonding relationship and some odes to female rage and power. Brom is solidified as one of my favorite horror authors.
If you have ever read any book by Paula Brackston, then you know exactly what to expect from her books. She is the queen of cozy witchy reads. With thIf you have ever read any book by Paula Brackston, then you know exactly what to expect from her books. She is the queen of cozy witchy reads. With this current book, we find ourselves in Northern England in the late 1800s and our witchy heroine is named Hecate after the goddess of witchcraft and my personal favorite Greek god or goddess.
Like all of her other books, her female main character has a great deal of internal strength and independence that fits the setting of the novel while also having the emotional vulnerability to invoke sympathy from the reader.
I was provided an advanced audiobook copy of this book by @macmillan.audio . All opinions are my own.
As for my opinion of the narrator, Marisa Calin is a superb narrator, especially for characters whose stories take place in Northern England. Her voice, inflections, and accent help bring the characters to life. I can easily visualize Hecate as well as her facial expressions and body movements.
The only thing that bothered me about this book is that it is clearly labeled as Part 1. How many parts are there and how long do I have to wait for these loose-ends to get tied?!?!?
Topics/Themes: grief, family secrets, rebuilding life after tragedy, returning to your hometown
Audiobook Review: Bahni Turpin has solidified herself Topics/Themes: grief, family secrets, rebuilding life after tragedy, returning to your hometown
Audiobook Review: Bahni Turpin has solidified herself as one of my favorite narrators. She gives such a great voice counterpart strong black female characters.
I always like to be cozy mysteries in between larger and more intense books. They are a nice refresher after reading books that play with my emotions or my brain. This book is no exception.
Evander Myrick is a woman in her mid-40s that has had to move back to her hometown after a tragedy. She used to be a cop but now she’s a private eye looking for her first client. Throughout the course of the book we get to learn how damaged Evander is. She is a person looking to put her life back together and I found it hard not to want the best for her.
As for the mystery in this book, it’s a cozy mystery for a reason. It is overly complicated, but it does have its twisted turns. In the end, the original mystery which seemed simple at first was found to have liars that ultimately led to more character development for Evander.
I think that most cozy mysteries hinge on whether or not the main character is likable. Evander is likable, but so are the other minor characters.
Also, I feel that I must mention that the woman has multiple love interests. However, Evander is only interested in sex. Finding out which love interest ultimately chooses, if she chooses either of them, is a storyline I can’t wait to read about.
Thank you @macmillan.audio for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own. I leave this review voluntarily.
The plot thickens and the world expands while the Sylah and Anoor regress into acting like teenagers. They have both transformed into raging A-holes. The plot thickens and the world expands while the Sylah and Anoor regress into acting like teenagers. They have both transformed into raging A-holes. Anoor is a stupid A-hole while Sylah is a rude and disrespectful A-hole. Character growth be damned! This book is categorized as adult fantasy but reads like NA/YA with how these two act towards the people around them. Hassa, you are my only hope!! Please don’t regress in book 3. ...more
I started reading this book with an open mind. At first, the structure and the writing style intrigued me. It felt like a puzzle I was meant to solve.I started reading this book with an open mind. At first, the structure and the writing style intrigued me. It felt like a puzzle I was meant to solve. This kept me interested in the plot for a while. But, eventually my interest and attention waned. The introduction of the main character and artificial intelligence wasn’t even enough to keep my interest.
I half want to blame myself for not liking this book. I am a huge fan of sci-fi movies and shows. Books though? Not so much. I do like science fiction concepts, but there is just something about the portrayal of sci-fi plots in books that make them appear dry. That’s what this book suffered from, a dry plot progression. It is more of a science-fiction character study than anything else. And, I think that’s where the larger part of the plot problem stems from. If it were less character driven with a slight bit of action, the plot would have flowed better.
I am a large fan of Star Trek, so I am a huge fan of sci-fi. Star Trek can come off boring to a lot of people because it involves a lot of thinking and a lot of questioning of your beliefs. However, what people fail to see is that Star Trek also has action, tense moments, and smoothly paced plot progression. This book could learn from Star Trek.
This was just an ok book for me. The plot was slightly complex but very easy to figure out. The suspense wasn’t very strong. And, I honestly didn’t reThis was just an ok book for me. The plot was slightly complex but very easy to figure out. The suspense wasn’t very strong. And, I honestly didn’t really care much about the characters. Ryan was ok, but I never felt any kind of deep emotional connection to him. I also never really cared about Allison or finding out what happened to her. If I am being honest, most of the characters felt shallow or one dimensional.
The audio narration was great though, especially since parts of the books were in different countries. It was probably the best part of the book actually.
Thank you @macmillan.audio for this audio copy. All opinions are my own. I leave this review voluntarily.
I unfortunately have to start this review off negatively. I borderline hated this book. I’m giving it two stars, but my frustration with it is trying I unfortunately have to start this review off negatively. I borderline hated this book. I’m giving it two stars, but my frustration with it is trying to make me give it one star.
There were a couple of major problems that won’t let me like this book. The first one is the plot. When I read a story, I like for that story to be fed to me through hidden unveilings and discoveries that lets you know that something is afoot even though you might not know exactly what is going on. I like a plot that gives evenly and slowly but just enough to keep you interested until eventually all the pieces come together to form a bigger picture. None of that was done in this book. The pacing was slow, the plot was almost nonexistent for most of the book, and then about two-thirds of the way in everything kicked into gear. This pacing change was then followed by a few info dumps of really important information. It made the book feel clumpy like the author copied and pasted different parts of the plot together.
The other major problem I had with this book is the utter lack of emotional depth in the characters. At the start of the book the Keating family witnesses a major life changing event that causes Jackson Keating and each of his children to suffer their own versions of PTSD. Because of this, you would think that the reader would be enticed to have some sort of emotional attachment to this family. But, you don’t. There is a monster killing people violently, characters that were introduced with thoroughly explained histories and backgrounds. Normally, you would develop some kind of emotional attachment to these characters when they come close to death or even get killed by the monster. Tragically, I felt nothing. I even speed read through the end of the book just to find out who died and who lived. I really wanted to feel for those kids, but in the end, I just couldn’t muster up the energy to care. I regret not caring for Charlie and Chrissy the most. Charlie got tagged as the responsible one after their family tragedy although he suffered from near crippling anxiety. Chrissy was the horror book nerd that reminded me of myself. I loathed that I did not feel for them in their time of monster dodging. It’s such a tragedy.
So, yeah. I’m supposed to read another book by this author, but I just don’t know if I can. ...more
Such intricate political world-building. Still hate Vin. Her character growth is like the Bunny Hop. I have some small gripes. What was the point of ZSuch intricate political world-building. Still hate Vin. Her character growth is like the Bunny Hop. I have some small gripes. What was the point of Zane?!? Could have been a great character. He was wasted on the romance with Vin. Loved all of the Sazed time and the theories and philosophies about religion and beliefs. Sazed and Tindwyl FOREVER!! ...more
I wish I had good things to say about this book. It had all the opportunity to be a great book. It had a unique concept, main character, and setting. I wish I had good things to say about this book. It had all the opportunity to be a great book. It had a unique concept, main character, and setting. It had amazing potential to be unique in and of itself. But, it was ultimately sabotaged by pacing, story connectivity, and character development.
Dead Girls Walking is about a girl named Temple Baker whose father is in prison for serial murders. Before the start of the book, Temple visits her father in prison. He tells her she knows where her mother’s body is buried. He also told her that he killed her. So, enter the beginning of the book where Temple has somehow fandangled her way in as camp counselor to a group of queer African American high school girls just so she can be on the grounds of North Pointe Farms. It’s the farm she grew up on where the house she was raised in still stands today empty and haunted. It’s also the place where all the bodies are buried, the bodies of the victims the police couldn’t find.
Temple is a girl on a mission. She’s here to find her mother’s body, and that’s all she’s at camp for. Or, is it? Real question because I don’t know the answer. Temple’s intentions seem to sway back and forth between proving her father’s innocence or at least his less guiltiness and finding out the truth about what actually happened. I guess that’s an honest depiction of a teenager, not knowing what they actually want in life. However, I found that Temple’s inability to focus on one goal made it difficult for me to focus on Temple, and it also interrupted the development of my sympathy and empathy towards her past and trauma. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her to pile drive the hell out of the lead Barbie amongst the campers. That girl was ratchet. But, Temple had a severe case of wobbling direction and mental fortitude. I needed her to have more of a one-track mind so that I could empathize with her and want her to meet her goal.
The body count in this book meets the slasher limit. Girls were getting chopped up left and right. Plus, add in all the bodies that were already in the ground, and North Point Farms could just be renamed a cemetery. I enjoyed every one of the murder-death-kills. I just didn’t really like the way the plot unfolded. I liked the unveiling of the real villain, but it just took way too long to get there. And, by way too long, I mean the actual movement of the plot was so incredibly slow.
There were multiple points in the book where I thought the real villain would stand up. I mean there were at least four different points where I thought the monster mask was coming off either one of the campers or some sort of malevolent spirit living on the grounds. And, all four of those points were wild goose chases. I’m a fan of plot twists but not to the point where they become redundant. At about the eighty percent mark, I was done with the red herrings and just wanted the villain and their motivations to be revealed already.
Keeping those constant red herrings in mind, the plot of this book was so complicated. It was incredibly twisty-turny. I felt bad for Temple. She would find or follow clues to one solution only to find out it revealed nothing just to start all over again. And, she did this several times. Again, at the eighty percent mark, I just wanted to know what happened/was happening already. I was tired of being led around by a carrot on a string. The story needed to reach the finish line already.
I also dnf'd the book at the aforementioned eighty percent mark. I was almost completely fed up with the plot. Thank goodness this book didn’t have a romance because if it did, it would have been over at eighty percent, and I would have never known who the culprit was.
Thank you @rbmedia for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own. I leave this review voluntarily.
Grey Dog is a book about a nearly thirty school teacher in the early 1900s who gets an assignment at a small town in the middle of nowhere. Going intoGrey Dog is a book about a nearly thirty school teacher in the early 1900s who gets an assignment at a small town in the middle of nowhere. Going into this book, I foresaw small town isolation vibes that may or may not be accompanied by some weird goings-on. What this book is instead is historical women’s lit with horror elements thrown in.
Ada Byrd is a 29 year old school teacher. She is unmarried, never having any prospects. Therefore, by traditional patriarchal standards, she’s an old maid. As the book opens, she comes to the town of Lowry Bridge to take on a new assignment. Evidently, the school can’t keep teachers. They either run off or go missing. As unsettling as that sounds, Ada has no choice but to go. School teacher is the only profession an unmarried woman can have, and Ada’s last assignment didn’t end so well. So, to keep her creepy, uncaring wretch of a father off her back, she does what she has to.
As Ada stays in Lowry Bridge, we are introduced to a few different female characters. There is Mrs Greer, her boarder, Mrs. MacPherson, the pastor’s wife, and the Widow Kinsley, the shady woman in town everyone gossips about. Lowry Bridge is a small Christian town and expects everyone to have small Christian minds. Ladies are supposed to act like ladies and children are only supposed to learn what they need to in order to run the farms when their parents no longer can. I would suffocate here!
At first, the female characters all come off as stiff, but as Ada gets to know them, they become more layered. They each have their own independent and feminist ideas stuffed inside while they suffer from societal pressure to be ladylike. My prediction for these other female characters was that Ada would find some sort of kinship in them and begin to confide in them, but as it turns out, Ada was mostly left to her own devices. With the exception of the Widow Kinsley, the other women in the town chose to be christian ladies over camaraderie with Ada.
And, why did Ada need camaraderie? Well, she was too independent for her own good. She just wanted to be a present day woman living in 1902. She was ahead of her time, so everyone in the small town began to think she was strange. They gossiped about her. They told the school board about her. They confronted her in front of other people to the point where Ada began to feel alone.
Or, it could have just been all in her head. Was Ada really experiencing things the way she was describing them or was she actually going nuts? Was she seeing a grey dog spirit creature in the woods, or was she just insane. I really don’t know. This book was giving The Yellow Wallpaper. Ada was extremely unreliable. I question everything that I read because Ada’s point of view was the only point of view. And, that ending was insane whether it really happened or not!
The pacing of this book was slow-normal. It was slow, but not slow enough for me to quit. The prose was poetic and was able to keep my attention. The audiobook narrator was amazing. I have listened to her narrate before. She seems to always do an amazing job.
3.5/5 I had to take away some points because I wanted a little bit more horror throughout the book.
Thank you @dreamscapemedia for this audio copy. All opinions are my own. I leave this review voluntarily.
SpellsBooksandKrystals
>
Books:
Read
(585)
Loading...
