apollo0325's reviews
381 reviews

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

A really lukewarm and rushed end to what started as a really stellar horror middle grade series. I would still definitely recommend it to middle grade readers especially if they enjoy the frights and horrors of Goosebumps or other horror series.

I had really high hopes for this final volume since the last one felt the most rushed and especially with the cliffhanger ending. I don't think we spent enough time with Coco and especially Brian as well as Phil, who felt really underdeveloped over all (why was he constantly comparing himself to Ollie??).

We spend most of the novel with the kids constantly talking about their fear of the Smiling Man and hope for Ollie as well as them trying to convince their parents for the "final confrontation" to be resolved in two chapters? That's insane to me. Out of the entire series, this one was the most rushed and this series could have capped at 3 books rather than 4. We don't even get a resolution on the dolled people nor Ruth and Tim.

I still enjoyed the writing and overall horror elements, but I wish there had been more development of  the plot and characters and less of a rushed ending. 

Season of Love by Helena Greer

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Sapphics really do fall in love quickly, huh?

It was an easy read, and while I liked a lot of the elements such as the exploration of trauma and how trauma affects our relationships, I also felt like it didn’t do enough. We get told who Cass is, but we never get to SEE who Cass is. Despite her deceased status, I think we could have done some small flashbacks especially with the letter from Cass at the end. It contextualizes the relationships between Cass, Miriam, Hannah, Levi, and Noelle and it makes the reader understand the emotional toil Cass’s loss has put on the main characters as well as the community. It feels like the book forces you to rely on how it might feel to lose a loved one, and if the reader like me has not experienced that, the emotional punches of this novel become weak.

I also hated the epilogue lmao it’s so obvious that they planned sequels to this because of the epilogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Addiction

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This book had a strong premise, but the multiple “twists” in the back half just sort of irritated me. The twist prior to the epilogue was a good subversion of the Final Girl troupe because it was a little unexpected, but it didn’t really make that much sense to me on how Charity ended up at this camp. There’s no time outside of camp, so it was left field on that ‘revelation.’

Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I didn’t really enjoy this one as much as the rest which is unfortunate because I was really excited to have Brian play a bigger part in this one, especially after his very passive, backseat role in Dead Voices. I’m also glad we retained Coco’s perspective because I love her a lot.

I listened to the audiobook of this one as opposed to the ebook/print format of the first two, but I’m not sure if that affected my reading experience. This one didn’t lean into traditional horror a la snowy isolation or cornfield settings, so I was looking forward to a more aquatic approach. Unfortunately, it didn’t really have the tension that you might see in an aquatic horror like Jaws or Crawl. This one missed the mark for me, especially with it ending on a cliffhanger.

I intend to finish off the series and hope for a solid ending!

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Essentially the Craft meets Mean Girls but with werewolves and has a lesbian MC.

I think this could have been better had there not been so much micro-aggressive racial comments and more subtly in the storytelling.

It would have been more compelling had the girls taken their destiny into their own hands and killed Arianna themselves. Having a third party do so takes away their active autonomy and shows us that they really haven’t learned anything through this story since the point of them becoming werewolves was to have power over their own choices.

Boundless by Jillian Tamaki
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I’m bored lol

Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

The art sold me on this graphic novel, and while the story was fun, it didn’t feel like it tied enough of it together. Grandma gave Masha the tools to beat Baba Yaga’s tests, but the plot bits surrounding Masha’s deceased mother felt like a convenient way to have an annoying little step-sibling. I think the story would have been more effective had it focused more on Masha’s tenuous relationship with her father because of the loss of her mother and the loss of her grandma.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the folktale parts of this story!

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

challenging dark slow-paced

2.5

Really cool concept but not a great execution. For short novels/novellas, plot-forward stories seem to work better for me as character-forward stories either feel like they’re just throwing everything they can at you or they give you the bare minimum to strike an emotional chord at the audience IF there is an existing bias. The final fight was so boring and the big emotional reunion fell flat. 

Audiobook may have not been the format for me as the accents were sometimes difficult to understand, but that’s what I had.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

Started this A WHILE ago and never felt the urge to pick it back up.

Stargazing by Jen Wang

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A really cute and heartwarming story of friendship, imagination, and even a bit of commentary on the model minority/straight A-sian phenomena. Christine and Moon had an endearing friendship, and I really felt for Christine when it came to not wanting things and people to change. The art really enhanced the story and added some subtle foreshadowing to the revelation.