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angelsbeforeman's reviews
1076 reviews
Plants of the Devil by Corinne Boyer
informative
medium-paced
4.5
enjoyed this !! i think i would've absolutely loved it when my special interest in witchcraft was super active, but it's good either way. the author incorporated both traditional folklore and some more modern ideas + the illustrations are really pretty and fitting ^^
In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
mixed opinions, which isn't strange since this is an anthology. i picked it up because i love dark academia as a subgenre, i like ml rio and some works by olivie blake. my favorites were the stories by helen grant, kelly andrew, ml rio, and olivie blake. though i liked the writing in susie yang's story, the theme was so not my thing. i hated the ones by david bell, james tate hill, j.t. hill, and kate weinberg, both theme and writing wise. some also didn't quite fit the dark academia subgenre, but anyway. mostly good, but not perfect.
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
beautiful, and i am switching it to 5 stars after rereading it. this is wonderful, and motivates me to write. this is the kind of philosophical work i enjoy. so much to highlight to come back and read it again and again. cried about it! i might write more about this when i recover from it emotionally a bit.
Love in Vein: Twenty Original Tales of Vampiric Erotica by A.R. Morlan, David B. Silva, Mike Baker, Melaine Tem, Poppy Z. Brite, Steve Rasnic Tem, Wayne Allen Sallee, Elizabeth Engstrom, Douglas Clegg, Kathe Koja, Brian Hodge, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, W.H. Pugmire, Nancy Holder, Gene Wolfe, Charles de Lint, Robert Devereaux, Barry N. Malzberg, Norman Partridge, Christa Faust, Danielle Willis, Ian McDowell, Thomas F. Monteleone
medium-paced
0.25
oh lord .... what happened there ?? 😭 since this is a collection, not every story was a complete disappointment, which is why i'm not giving it zero stars. extremely disorganised, nonsensical writing, gross, partially boring because of some cliches. the ... fetus story. that was a nightmare. horrible.
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.75
read this because i love vampires, and because this is marketed as gothic. the premise is also very intriguing to me and just a fun concept. i thought the atmosphere was great! liked the setting and the energy very much, and the blood maid system. the characters were mostly good, some less developed than others in a way that made me want more from them. the writing was alright. i enjoyed the mysterious aspects and this was a pretty easy book to get through.
i mostly liked marion as a main character, though sometimes her decisions and thoughts seemed unrealistic and almost out of character (?) or something. my main issue is that the book has a lot of inconsistencies and incomplete plot points, and it was so noticeable that i felt like i was reading a debut novel. i'm not familiar with the author so i don't know if it is, it's just the energy it had. this was also reflected by the messy pacing, but i wasn't as mad about it.
overall, it's alright, mostly because the concept and the atmosphere carried the story.
i mostly liked marion as a main character, though sometimes her decisions and thoughts seemed unrealistic and almost out of character (?) or something. my main issue is that the book has a lot of inconsistencies and incomplete plot points, and it was so noticeable that i felt like i was reading a debut novel. i'm not familiar with the author so i don't know if it is, it's just the energy it had. this was also reflected by the messy pacing, but i wasn't as mad about it.
overall, it's alright, mostly because the concept and the atmosphere carried the story.
Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
well ... thought i'd like it more, i guess? maybe i'm just not the one for this kind of romance, it doesn't spark much in me at all. i was hopeful because it was recommended to me and because the title is kind of cool.
i think i'll start with what i liked, which is mostly the vibes. of the setting and all that, not the characters. good atmosphere. the characters themselves were decent for a bit, maybe for like 10% of the book.
rae is kind of the worst thing about the book, because she continuously makes such infuriatingly stupid decisions. she's extremely unlikable, but the worst part is that she's not interesting about it. leon was boring, completely bland. kept talking about how powerful and mighty he is, but then he never did live up to it for me.
the writing style kind of made me feel ill, because it was so corny. especially the dialogue. it was one of those books where i kept reading despite it being long, just so i could laugh at the bad dialogue. sort of on that note, the erotica aspect did absolutely nothing for me. rae and leon's relationship as a whole was unconvincing and i didn't feel much for them. pretty disappointed </3 also, this book should not be almost 500 pages, in my opinion at least.
i think i'll start with what i liked, which is mostly the vibes. of the setting and all that, not the characters. good atmosphere. the characters themselves were decent for a bit, maybe for like 10% of the book.
rae is kind of the worst thing about the book, because she continuously makes such infuriatingly stupid decisions. she's extremely unlikable, but the worst part is that she's not interesting about it. leon was boring, completely bland. kept talking about how powerful and mighty he is, but then he never did live up to it for me.
the writing style kind of made me feel ill, because it was so corny. especially the dialogue. it was one of those books where i kept reading despite it being long, just so i could laugh at the bad dialogue. sort of on that note, the erotica aspect did absolutely nothing for me. rae and leon's relationship as a whole was unconvincing and i didn't feel much for them. pretty disappointed </3 also, this book should not be almost 500 pages, in my opinion at least.
First Creation by Mars Adler
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
this was recommended by rafael nicolás and i can definitely see why 😭
Blood Countess by Lana Popović
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
read this because it's based on elizabeth bathory, and she was. insane! i had an obsession with researching her as a child, which probably wasn't the greatest choice, but the special interest in vampires got to me very early on. anyway, that's why i knew i had to read this. also, it's about lesbians and the plot seemed interesting.
it was interesting! i honestly think it could've been more interesting, only if i didn't know as much about bathory beforehand. but either way, i enjoyed the author's take on the story, and the exploration of elizabeth's relationship with anna. i especially liked the writing style, because i thought the tone fit the historical setting. i had some issues with pacing, but it was good overall and i think the length of the book is pretty much perfect.
i kind of disliked anna most of the time? 😭 like 90% of the time. hated the gore at times, and other times it was alright, so i'm really not sure about that. obviously the relationship dynamic is terrible and sickening, but i'm assuming that's the point, so i'm not criticizing it. the worst thing about this was definitely the ending, which i won't spoil, but god i hated it.
it's good overall, but i wouldn't reread. i also wouldn't recommend this as a feminist book, despite the fact that i see people doing exactly that often.
it was interesting! i honestly think it could've been more interesting, only if i didn't know as much about bathory beforehand. but either way, i enjoyed the author's take on the story, and the exploration of elizabeth's relationship with anna. i especially liked the writing style, because i thought the tone fit the historical setting. i had some issues with pacing, but it was good overall and i think the length of the book is pretty much perfect.
i kind of disliked anna most of the time? 😭 like 90% of the time. hated the gore at times, and other times it was alright, so i'm really not sure about that. obviously the relationship dynamic is terrible and sickening, but i'm assuming that's the point, so i'm not criticizing it. the worst thing about this was definitely the ending, which i won't spoil, but god i hated it.
it's good overall, but i wouldn't reread. i also wouldn't recommend this as a feminist book, despite the fact that i see people doing exactly that often.
An Introduction to Yōkai Culture: Monsters, Ghosts, and Outsiders in Japanese History by Komatsu Kazuhiko
informative
medium-paced
3.75
actually liked this more than i thought i would. of course, i'm interested in the subject and that's why i read this in the first place. but what really made me enjoy it a lot is that it was more academic than i expected. typically, books with this theme aren't like that, but here i could tell that the author's a scholar. and that's great for me!
A History of Fear by Luke Dumas
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
sort of an analysis of human psychology through a guy who confesses to murder, but says the devil made him do it. the whole 'satan made me do it' part of the blurb is what drew me in in the first place. i actually quite liked it! not that i expected otherwise, it's just that i didn't expect anything at all, so it was a nice surprise.
i like books that analyse the way a person can essentially go insane, and if you add religious themes to it, then i'm very happy. especially because the execution here is alright, and i was honestly kind of scared that it wouldn't be (i found the devil's advocate thing a bit corny for just a second, my bad). kind of strange to say this book was easy to get through, but it truly was. the overall theme kept me interested and it turns out luke dumas is quite a good writer, so i might check out his other work. loved the atmosphere, the mysterious elements, and the way the horror aspects were more psychological than physical.
what i didn't like would be some aspects of the religious themes. personally, i'm not super offended by it, and different people will take this differently. despite not personally being shaken by it due to some of my experiences, i recognise that many could be uncomfortable with comparing being gay to having the devil in you. i don't know if the author's gay himself, so i can't say whether this should be considered good gay representation or not. depends. but it's something to be cautious about both when writing and reading something like this.
another thing i disliked was the pacing, mostly because it was sort of messy. sometimes things happened too fast, other times it dragged. don't think this should be 350+ pages, i'd cut some parts. i also hated the main character, but it's not an issue since he's not written to be likable. overall, pretty good.
i like books that analyse the way a person can essentially go insane, and if you add religious themes to it, then i'm very happy. especially because the execution here is alright, and i was honestly kind of scared that it wouldn't be (i found the devil's advocate thing a bit corny for just a second, my bad). kind of strange to say this book was easy to get through, but it truly was. the overall theme kept me interested and it turns out luke dumas is quite a good writer, so i might check out his other work. loved the atmosphere, the mysterious elements, and the way the horror aspects were more psychological than physical.
what i didn't like would be some aspects of the religious themes.
another thing i disliked was the pacing, mostly because it was sort of messy. sometimes things happened too fast, other times it dragged. don't think this should be 350+ pages, i'd cut some parts. i also hated the main character, but it's not an issue since he's not written to be likable. overall, pretty good.