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bgaura's reviews
117 reviews
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I was so excited to read this arc after absolutely loving Manhunt! This story did not disappoint. I found the story original, compelling, and terrifying. It was certainly a difficult read, dealing with a lot of tough subject matter. I enjoyed the cast of characters although, I found myself having a tough time keeping up with everyone for the majority of the book. I felt the story jumped around quite a bit, dwelling on certain scenes that could have been shorter while not providing enough of others. Some scenes, I found myself a little confused of where we were and how we got there. I will say, this took me a bit to finish and, I think it would do this story justice to read at a quicker pace than I did. I got really strong It vibes from this book and I could clearly see the author's horror influences which, as a horror fan, I truly appreciated. A great, strong novel!
Gerald's Game by Stephen King
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Sadly, I watched the movie first. Luckily, it was so long ago I don't remember much. Besides the premise. I knew this was going to be a difficult read given the subject matter. It was. King challenged himself with Misery by asking: what if I limit two characters to one house? With Gerald's Game, he took it even farther by focusing on a single character in one room. This book will make you mad, upset, pissed off, and terrified. It seems like that's really all i read...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I don’t know what this is. I knew this was gonna take up a lot of time. And boy, did it. Have you ever walked through a really difficult and large maze? Bumped into dead ends constantly and felt your temperature rising to the point of steam coming out of your ears? This is what this book will do to you. The reading experience can get dragged on, frustrating, tedious. But it’s so much more than that. Despite the difficult reading experience, coming out the other side is… worth it. I went into a deep dive of theories surrounding this novel as soon as I finished and let me tell you, there’s a lot. To me, the best stories do this to us. They drive us crazy and don’t leave our thoughts. Even if I wanted to finish this book as soon as I started it, I’m so glad I read it and feel that I grew as a reader from this experience. So, go out and buy this, block off a month or two, lock yourself in your room and enter the house…
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Being such a big fan of Camp Demascus, I'm truly honored to be given the chance to read the arc of Chuck Tingle's newest novel! And let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed Bury Your Gays. The concept alone would be enough to sell me: a horror movie/television writer going toe-to-toe with the very monsters he helped to create. This novel dealt with quite a lot of important issues from the use of queer tragedy in pop culture to the dangerous machine that is capitalism. The story covered many ranges of emotion from some hilarious comedic moments, to moments that brought tears to my eyes as we explored our main character, Misha Byrne's, past. As a huge horror nerd, I really enjoyed picking up on the author's references to the genre through character names, descriptions, etc while also coming up with some very creative original ideas to explore! This novel already leaves me excited and ready to pick up whatever Chuck Tingle writes next, and I'll be sure to recommend this one to everyone I know.
The Sandman Book One by Neil Gaiman
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Hell House: A Novel by Richard Matheson
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Man, how many times are you going to go back into the house. This book solves the true mystery of how to exorcize a ghost, make fun of it! There was definitely some cool elements and scary scenes but it didn’t really do it for me. One of the big “reveals” in the end was just what I thought was obvious the whole story. Not my fav!