Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I understand why people like this book, the writing is so interesting and such a unique style (at least for me) but I just feel like a lot of this book went over my head. I didn’t feel very connected to our characters and was just sort of pushing to get through it unfortunately. just not for me, I guess
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did *not* like this book at. All.
It may have just not been to my taste, but I felt like the gore with sexual undertones and the bestiality and the cannibalism and the horror that never seemed to have a point or an end was just for shock value. I know this was essentially a retelling of a Grimm fairytale, but it just didn't feel cohesive. Instead it felt like a jumbled collection of some admittedly lovely phrasing and attempts at messaging that didn't come together strong enough in the end. Certain parts just dragged -- this could have been 50 pages shorter than it was.
There's a way to write horror that makes you think and peels back your skin to reveal terrifying truths about humans but this is not it. There was so much flushing of the MC and really just other characters ragging on the MC for being plain. It felt immature.
I enjoyed "A Study in Drowning." I thought Ava Reid's handling of sexual assault was tactful without flinching away from its awful long-reaching impacts. But holy shit, if I'd read this book before that, I'd never have touched another book of Reid's again.
It may have just not been to my taste, but I felt like the gore with sexual undertones and the bestiality and the cannibalism and the horror that never seemed to have a point or an end was just for shock value. I know this was essentially a retelling of a Grimm fairytale, but it just didn't feel cohesive. Instead it felt like a jumbled collection of some admittedly lovely phrasing and attempts at messaging that didn't come together strong enough in the end. Certain parts just dragged -- this could have been 50 pages shorter than it was.
There's a way to write horror that makes you think and peels back your skin to reveal terrifying truths about humans but this is not it. There was so much flushing of the MC and really just other characters ragging on the MC for being plain. It felt immature.
I enjoyed "A Study in Drowning." I thought Ava Reid's handling of sexual assault was tactful without flinching away from its awful long-reaching impacts. But holy shit, if I'd read this book before that, I'd never have touched another book of Reid's again.
Prob not a hot-take, but this was pretty biblical if ya squint.
Written in an interesting way. Not totally sure I’d say that I loved it but I definitely didn’t hate it either
Written in an interesting way. Not totally sure I’d say that I loved it but I definitely didn’t hate it either
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was one of the strangest books I’ve read. I considered giving it 2 stars, but am going with 3 since at no point did I consider DNF’ing. On the one hand, this book feels like a reimagined fairytale (which is appropriate given Marlinchen's knowledge of them), but on the other hand it has weirdly violent and/or sexual moments that don’t always mesh with the story. It was fun to read about the different magics and witches, though we didn’t get a lot of world building since it’s a short standalone novel.
Spoiler
If I’m being honest, Marlinchen killing the spiny-tailed monster is making me want to give this 1 star. It sleeping under her bed and going to her and licking her hand when beckoned made it feel like a dog to me and I was NOT happy to read about its death.
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5*/5
Boy do I love me a story about a girl and her monster(s)
Considering some of the (least enthusiastic) reviews, I was expecting a sex and gore filled fest, which I wasn't totally opposed to. What I got was a coming of age story about a traumatised girl clawing at her life to finally be set free, with beautiful prose and fascinating retellings.
First of: as far as sex and gore goes I've read... much MUCH worse. Like this was nearly painfully normal? There are descriptions of vomiting and blood and organs but nothing that disturbed me in any way, but maybe I'm just too used to gory stuff.
The sex scenes only come in at 70ish % and are overall short and matter of fact, so idk what some people read to be complaining about a book "filled with smut" and "oversexualising" but it definitely wasn't this one lmao. Like, does the protagonist focus on carnal stuff a lot? Sure, but given her past and the themes, it would be weird if she wasn't.
<b>You can't have a book about reclaiming your bodily autonomy NOT mention said bodies. </b>
This is more of a character driven story (my favorite) so plot wise it can feel a bit light/long, but I found it held just the right amount of tension, and overall I loved finding nods to different fairytales (Bluebeard, Rapunzel, etc). I'm not versed at all with the Juniper Tree one, which made the story unexpected in some areas!
Character wise, I liked most of them! Marlinchen is a fun MC. Some WILL hate the fact that she's so naïve and demure but it made her growth that much sweeter, and she never even bordered on annoying to me.
Her romance with Sevas was cute too. Not swoon-worthy, but it made sense, and I really loved the glimpses we caught of his own story.
Adored all the little monsters and creatures(her killing the spiny tailed monster was perhaps the most gruesome part for me) , would have enjoyed diving into specific folklore even more I think!
As for her sisters... I appreciate what the author decided to do with them, and it makes sense, but the main reason this isn't a 5* for me is because I craved some alliance between them and a strong sorority theme which just wasn't there, unfortunately.
The prose is delicious. Perhaps - and I never thought /I/ would say this - slightly over ridden with comparisons. It's the first book I listen to in audio, so I don't know if that made them jump out at me more than it would on the page. All of her metaphors were gorgeous, don't get me wrong, and some of the repeated ones made sense for the story. Just... when every sentence in a paragraph is a comparison, it's a bit TOO much, even for me.
Still adored the way she described everything though, so color me very excited to go and read some of her other novels when I get the itch!
In summary, a novel with themes/characters/description/prose RIGHT up my alley, with just a couple misses that draw it away from a favorite <3
Boy do I love me a story about a girl and her monster(s)
Considering some of the (least enthusiastic) reviews, I was expecting a sex and gore filled fest, which I wasn't totally opposed to. What I got was a coming of age story about a traumatised girl clawing at her life to finally be set free, with beautiful prose and fascinating retellings.
First of: as far as sex and gore goes I've read... much MUCH worse. Like this was nearly painfully normal? There are descriptions of vomiting and blood and organs but nothing that disturbed me in any way, but maybe I'm just too used to gory stuff.
The sex scenes only come in at 70ish % and are overall short and matter of fact, so idk what some people read to be complaining about a book "filled with smut" and "oversexualising" but it definitely wasn't this one lmao. Like, does the protagonist focus on carnal stuff a lot? Sure, but given her past and the themes, it would be weird if she wasn't.
<b>You can't have a book about reclaiming your bodily autonomy NOT mention said bodies. </b>
This is more of a character driven story (my favorite) so plot wise it can feel a bit light/long, but I found it held just the right amount of tension, and overall I loved finding nods to different fairytales (Bluebeard, Rapunzel, etc). I'm not versed at all with the Juniper Tree one, which made the story unexpected in some areas!
Character wise, I liked most of them! Marlinchen is a fun MC. Some WILL hate the fact that she's so naïve and demure but it made her growth that much sweeter, and she never even bordered on annoying to me.
Her romance with Sevas was cute too. Not swoon-worthy, but it made sense, and I really loved the glimpses we caught of his own story.
Adored all the little monsters and creatures
As for her sisters... I appreciate what the author decided to do with them, and it makes sense, but the main reason this isn't a 5* for me is because I craved some alliance between them and a strong sorority theme which just wasn't there, unfortunately.
The prose is delicious. Perhaps - and I never thought /I/ would say this - slightly over ridden with comparisons. It's the first book I listen to in audio, so I don't know if that made them jump out at me more than it would on the page. All of her metaphors were gorgeous, don't get me wrong, and some of the repeated ones made sense for the story. Just... when every sentence in a paragraph is a comparison, it's a bit TOO much, even for me.
Still adored the way she described everything though, so color me very excited to go and read some of her other novels when I get the itch!
In summary, a novel with themes/characters/description/prose RIGHT up my alley, with just a couple misses that draw it away from a favorite <3
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of the book and the last half of the book feel like they were entirely different concepts knit together. I think the magic system needed more development, the supporting characters come off really flat, and the sexual attitudes left a bad taste in my mouth.
I think that there WAS a point to this book in overcoming the horrible things you’ve survived and naming your abuser and those sort of themes, but it got lost in some of the hubbub gap fillers at the end like the workmen
I think that there WAS a point to this book in overcoming the horrible things you’ve survived and naming your abuser and those sort of themes, but it got lost in some of the hubbub gap fillers at the end like the workmen
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes