annieecusack's reviews
183 reviews

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Memoir of a Mangled Mind: How Concealing My Dissociative Identity Disorder Unleashed Multiple Personalities by Steven Simmons Shelton

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Jonny Napper and the Dreamworld by Sasha Beetle

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

I haven’t read many children’s/middle grade books in my time as an adult reader, so my rating and review may reflect my naivety with this genre. I requested this ARC because the concept piqued my interest. 

As a fan of the Insidious movies, and a lucid dreamer myself, the idea of a book about a boy who adventures through a parallel dimension based in a dream world sounded like an exceptional read to me — and it was just that! Teleportation, pirates, boxing, Marilyn Monroe, rabbits with wings, ghosts, phantoms, creating objects from mystical sleep fog, and the underlying theme of familial devotion truly makes this a one-of-a-kind story. 

My biggest issue with this novel was that, at least the ARC version, contained a plethora of editing and format issues, which I hope will be fixed before its official publication. 

In short, this book was a trip — so much going on in so little pages! But it was definitely a unique idea and undoubtedly enjoyable. 

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

A Scholarly Journey Through Psychology: Theories, Treatments, and Applications by Dr. Kasey-Ann Cornwall

informative fast-paced

4.0

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

This was a super easy read and very informative — I finished the book in just a couple of hours. As a psychology student, a lot of this information was familiar. But my expertise is not in counseling, so the chapters on different therapy and treatment types were especially interesting to me. I suppose I’m only giving 4 stars because it was a bit less specific than I thought it would be, but is still a very well-written work for an audience maybe not as familiar with the psychology field. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick introduction to personality psychology, therapy types, ethics, and the effects of different societal and health complications on mental health treatment. 

The Scientist and the Serial Killer by Lise Olsen

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

3.0

*ARC provided through Netgalley by the publisher*

Wow, I have never read a book like this. I’ve read books about serial killers and other true crime before, but this book just had SO much information — about the killer, about the detectives, about the justice system, about the location, about the families, and about the victims. I think it all probably could have been condensed some, but I also don’t think any of the information presented was uninteresting or completely irrelevant (though I found a lot of it to be unnecessary). The timeline was very difficult to follow, too, as it sort of jumped all over the place. I believe there were just a few technical grammatical inconsistencies throughout, such as using acronyms for organizations only sometimes, and switching between referring to individuals by only their first OR last name. In addition, I thought it was (perhaps unintentionally) unsettling that the author repeatedly referred to the victims of Corll as “beautiful” or “handsome” boys out of context of direct quotes. Finally, I thought the photograph captions could have better specified who was who in pictures with more than one person, and the last photograph lacked a caption at all. 

Overall, though, a good insight into what the justice system was like in the late 20th-early 21st centuries in regards to social issues, mass murderers and kidnappings, and the process of identifying victims over time. If you’re a fan of highly detailed historical true crime, then this book is for you!

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5