alex9's reviews
310 reviews

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Glad this was much better than All the Missing Girls for me, and I’m back to being a fan of Megan’s books again. The atmosphere of a small beach town of Littleport is seen through the eyes of a local who’s experienced both the busy summer season teeming with wealthy visitors and the cold, lonely winters when only the few thousand who live there full time remain. Avery is flawed and has a dark past, like most of Miranda’s MCs, and while I didn’t find her super likeable, her narration was interesting enough. I didn’t start to suspect the twist until pretty close to the end, and the slow reveal of everyone’s secrets kept my suspicions shifting throughout, which is exactly what I want from a thriller. 

Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 2 by priest

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m still party confused by the mythology/supernatural lore of this story but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Also the relationship in here really puts the slow in slow burn, but it makes sense for the story. In this second book, I felt like the characters spent more time learning about themselves and where they fit into the supernatural world, so I’m excited to read the third book and see how it all comes together. I also found the humour still great here and liked getting to read more about some of the side characters. 

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Probably the only Megan Miranda book that I really struggled to finish and at times had to force myself to continue. I just did not care about any of the characters, hated Nic, and I wasn’t engaged with finding out the truth of what happened to either of the missing girls. The idea of the story being revealed in reverse sounded like an interesting concept, but I think how it was executed made it difficult to follow. 

Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This is a very dark book, and I did enjoy watching the relationship between the characters grow. Even though neither of them are good, I was still rooting for them. The one thing that did bother me was the lack of consent in Johann’s advances toward Florian, and it made it difficult to want the two of them to be together. I also wish this was a bit longer, but even for a book just over 150 pages, we were able to get a sufficient backstory, a bit of the world building and mythology, a mostly satisfying conflict, and watch as characters changed throughout. 

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a very strange, whimsical book. I feel like I was missing some background on who some of the characters were and what folklore surrounded them. Still, I enjoyed this and was mostly able to follow it. 

This Wound Is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really loved the author’s first book, especially the tense atmosphere he created that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. A History of Fear was one of the few books I’ve read that genuinely made me look over my shoulder while reading. I was expecting the same chilling and eerie setting in this book, but really only felt like it was creepy for the first bit, and then it just became expected whenever a supernatural presence would appear. I think partly this was because the premise of a museum haunted by dinosaurs was too far fetched to be really scary for me, and also because I’m not interested in dinosaurs at all, so the scientific processes and Simon’s description of his work was something I had to fight to keep from skipping over. 
Despite not really feeling the fear from this book, I was invested in the mystery part of it which was enough to keep me intrigued, although I did guess a bit of what happened to Morgan about halfway through. I also liked the ending and how it tied everything together. I wasn’t always a fan of Simon throughout the book, and I felt that at points he seemed more of a device for the plot to progress through than a fully emotionally developed character. Still, I understood where he was coming from and why he behaved the way he did at times, and I think he grew enough through the story that I couldn’t really hate him at the end.  I also really appreciate a queer horror protagonist, especially when the story isn’t centered around trauma or pain from homophobia/coming out, which did add to me liking this book a little more. 

The Will of the Many by James Islington

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I did not think I would ever read this, despite the high rating and praise I’ve seen from people I follow. This was party because of the size (I can’t bring myself to DNF books so it’s daunting to start any that are 400+ pages), and because I haven’t found myself super interested by really anything in the high fantasy genre since I was a teenager. Nearly immediately after starting this book (like two chapters in), I was instantly drawn by the smallest hints about the world and characters and wanted to keep reading to find out how things progressed. 
Excellent writing, complex characters, and an interesting plot kept me engaged and soon I felt the elements of the genre that typically I couldn’t get into or that I disliked becoming things I looked forward to reading in this book. It’s only February but I already know this will be in my top books of the year.