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carefulfearanddeaddevotion's reviews
131 reviews
Bunny by Mona Awad
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
????????????
very atmospheric, but that’s about all i got from this book. reading bunny was like having my brain pulled out of my head and wrung out. maybe i just ~didn’t get it~ but i REALLY did not get it.
overly flowery(?)/metaphorical(?)/confusing(?) (idk what word i wanna use, maybe that’s because Mona Awad stole all of them and put em in her book).
it just seems like the book wants the reader to think “wow! what an intelligent book and how intelligent am i for reading it,” sacrificing comprehensibility for it. i’m not saying books need to spoonfeed their readers because i hate THAT too but i could have done with like 2% more explanation / clarity. reading this book felt like watching a movie with a (veryy lovely) silk scarf over my eyes.
very atmospheric, but that’s about all i got from this book. reading bunny was like having my brain pulled out of my head and wrung out. maybe i just ~didn’t get it~ but i REALLY did not get it.
overly flowery(?)/metaphorical(?)/confusing(?) (idk what word i wanna use, maybe that’s because Mona Awad stole all of them and put em in her book).
it just seems like the book wants the reader to think “wow! what an intelligent book and how intelligent am i for reading it,” sacrificing comprehensibility for it. i’m not saying books need to spoonfeed their readers because i hate THAT too but i could have done with like 2% more explanation / clarity. reading this book felt like watching a movie with a (veryy lovely) silk scarf over my eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Addiction, and Drug abuse
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.75
sobbed like a little baby, heartbreaking book
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Unsure how this is the same lady who wrote The Long Game. I really enjoyed that book, but the writing in this one was just fuuuucking terrible omg???? Like literally wasn't even 5 pages in and already was dreading having to read the rest of it. Literally was brought to tears (and I'm not being dramatic -- ok well, maybe the fact that I was brought to tears is dramatic, but I am not lying about it happening) by how bad it was. Which is actually really sad and frustrating because I thought the romance was so cute/fun and I liked the characters! It was so obvious from like the very first interaction that that man was like hopelessly in love with her meanwhile she was like "ugh he hates me and I hate him" girl.....Rosie had some sense but miss Lina refused to listen.
Absolutely hated that they said each others' names every sentence. Soo annoying. Which is really my only complaint about the romance itself. I love a (not so) enemies to lovers / fake dating romance. I believed that they fell in love over a weekend,given that he was in love with her for 2 years, and the only reason she didn't realize her feelings is cause she was holding a grudge (so true of her, tbh)
Small thing to get stuck on, but I hate that she described an (American) football as "melonlike." Has this lady ever seen a football? or a melon???? they're two completely different shapes!!! wtf! google if you're not sure!
This book was a study in gaslighting fr. On one page, Aaron curses. The next page, "Aaron never curses." On one page, Aaron smiles. The next page, "Aaron never smiles." HELLO????? Why are you trying to convince me I'm insane??? This, more than the unnecessary metaphors and run-on sentences (and I love a run on sentence - my reviews are evidence), was my least favorite part of the book.
If the writing wasn't so shit, this book could have easily been a 4. What a sad sad case of wasted potential.
Absolutely hated that they said each others' names every sentence. Soo annoying. Which is really my only complaint about the romance itself. I love a (not so) enemies to lovers / fake dating romance. I believed that they fell in love over a weekend,
Small thing to get stuck on, but I hate that she described an (American) football as "melonlike." Has this lady ever seen a football? or a melon???? they're two completely different shapes!!! wtf! google if you're not sure!
This book was a study in gaslighting fr. On one page, Aaron curses. The next page, "Aaron never curses." On one page, Aaron smiles. The next page, "Aaron never smiles." HELLO????? Why are you trying to convince me I'm insane??? This, more than the unnecessary metaphors and run-on sentences (and I love a run on sentence - my reviews are evidence), was my least favorite part of the book.
If the writing wasn't so shit, this book could have easily been a 4. What a sad sad case of wasted potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Cancer
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
4.5/5
Stevie continues to be my little baby. She's so weird and awk and SMART! Oh I just wanna swaddle her. She's so unintentionally --and also intentionally-- funny (running away from David???? lmfao! ).
In contrast, we have my enemy: Nate 👿🤬. He's soooo fucking annoying I'm sorry literally the only reason this book is 4.5 instead of 5 stars. Every time he showed up I'd literally yell at my book for him to go away (let's remember, I never claimed to be sane). He irked me to my very core. Less of him in the next book, hopefully.
God, poor Ellie. To die like that. Fucking horrible.
The whole David/EK/Stevie situation was annoying, I both get and am annoyed by David's reaction to it. Def understandable given the circumstances but I wish he would just forgive her (selfish, ik). There's actually something clinically wrong with that boy -- someone needs to get a therapist involved frfr. But just like Stevie running away, it's hard to fault them for their behavior. They're literally 17.
Stevie continues to be my little baby. She's so weird and awk and SMART! Oh I just wanna swaddle her. She's so unintentionally --and also intentionally-- funny (
In contrast, we have my enemy: Nate 👿🤬. He's soooo fucking annoying I'm sorry literally the only reason this book is 4.5 instead of 5 stars. Every time he showed up I'd literally yell at my book for him to go away (let's remember, I never claimed to be sane). He irked me to my very core. Less of him in the next book, hopefully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Confinement, Grief, Child death, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit
Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
**spoiler alert** hm. might have spoken too soon. i didn't dislike this book by any means, but i def liked it less than this savage song.
personally, i found Kate and August, together, to be the strongest part of this savage song. For our dark duet to keep them completely apart for more than half the book - why mess with a winning formula. for the first 50% of the book, I really thought i was gonna give it 3 stars, but then Kate and August reunited and it reminded me why i liked the first book so much - but too little too late frankly, especially when the rest of the story didn't really hold up.
1. disappointed we didn't find out why the Chaos Eater was created -- side note: the discussion the wardens had about the monster names made me think, who came up with those names? i didn't give it much thought, but I assumed the monsters themselves had chosen those names-especially since they refer to themselves by them, something i don't think they'd do if humans had assigned those names to them -- i was really expecting to find out that it was Leo and that it was created by a Sunai killing another Sunai.
2. Did I misunderstand a massive piece of lore, or were we not told in the first book that the reason the Sunai go after sinners is so that the monster they created would die with them? is this something i made up? WHY WAS SLOAN STILL ALIVE??????? I swear that Alice, in the last page of the first book, had said there was no heart (in Sloan's chest where one should be), and I was expecting this to be the reason he was alive or that at least we would come back to it. Did I misread?? I really was waiting for this to come back at all in the second book, and it just didn't
3. Why did she kill kateeeee 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 all that fighting to live, those near misses with death, only to kill her????? fuck you victoria. fr. i literally said no so loud my mom asked me if I was alright from the other side of the house.
3b. um the wardens? riley? ok yea august finds those unsent messages, is the implication that he's gonna do anything about them? no, not really. what's going on in Prosperty, more monsters? who's dealing with them? i really wanted a warden (or at least riley)/kate reunion. mostly, i just didnt want kate to die 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
4. was really expecting the sunai's music to play a larger part in the whole chaos eater thing - like maybe they'd be able to separate the light soul from the red soul? idk. i also thought that Kate killing the monster she'd created would clear her soul. that also didn't happen 🥲 and then she died
hm writing this review is really making me think about why i wanted to give this book 3 stars. but like do i care about logic? not really. because i started cheesing the second kate reached the seam and didnt stop until kate died.
personally, i found Kate and August, together, to be the strongest part of this savage song. For our dark duet to keep them completely apart for more than half the book - why mess with a winning formula. for the first 50% of the book, I really thought i was gonna give it 3 stars, but then Kate and August reunited and it reminded me why i liked the first book so much - but too little too late frankly, especially when the rest of the story didn't really hold up.
1. disappointed we didn't find out why the Chaos Eater was created -- side note: the discussion the wardens had about the monster names made me think, who came up with those names? i didn't give it much thought, but I assumed the monsters themselves had chosen those names-especially since they refer to themselves by them, something i don't think they'd do if humans had assigned those names to them -- i was really expecting to find out that it was Leo and that it was created by a Sunai killing another Sunai.
2. Did I misunderstand a massive piece of lore, or were we not told in the first book that the reason the Sunai go after sinners is so that the monster they created would die with them? is this something i made up? WHY WAS SLOAN STILL ALIVE??????? I swear that Alice, in the last page of the first book, had said there was no heart (in Sloan's chest where one should be), and I was expecting this to be the reason he was alive or that at least we would come back to it. Did I misread?? I really was waiting for this to come back at all in the second book, and it just didn't
3. Why did she kill kateeeee 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 all that fighting to live, those near misses with death, only to kill her????? fuck you victoria. fr. i literally said no so loud my mom asked me if I was alright from the other side of the house.
3b. um the wardens? riley? ok yea august finds those unsent messages, is the implication that he's gonna do anything about them? no, not really. what's going on in Prosperty, more monsters? who's dealing with them? i really wanted a warden (or at least riley)/kate reunion. mostly, i just didnt want kate to die 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
4. was really expecting the sunai's music to play a larger part in the whole chaos eater thing - like maybe they'd be able to separate the light soul from the red soul? idk. i also thought that Kate killing the monster she'd created would clear her soul. that also didn't happen 🥲 and then she died
hm writing this review is really making me think about why i wanted to give this book 3 stars. but like do i care about logic? not really. because i started cheesing the second kate reached the seam and didnt stop until kate died.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Stalking
Minor: Death of parent
The Rom Con by Devon Daniels
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
i guess this whole review is mildly spoilery
need to stop dating men who fall out of love with me and start dating men who are Jack Bradford. annoyed at how quickly i fell in love with him. he was honestly kinda perfect to a fault, so much so that his reaction to finding out the truth just didn't seem believable to me.he didn't seem like the kind of person who would react angrily and make a scene. not talking to her for a month and a half? more believable. very confused how Cassie and her sister managed to blame Jack and Greg, instead of Cassie herself ?
the writing was funny and conversational, which i enjoyed, but could have done without the two pages of physical description at the beginning of the book.
this was very much How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days repacked, but I love that movie so im not complaining. however, the message of the book was really confusing??? couldn't tell if it was supposed to be feminist and fell short, or if it was supposed to be an argument against the "independent, headstrong, career-minded modern woman." whatever her point was, it didn't come across clearly. Like, ok, Jack pushed back against her "Betty" antics, especially that cringe-ass "sure a career is good, but that wont matter once i have kids" but it is still not easy (or possible) to ignore that she bagged a 10/10 millionaire once she stopped having sex on the first date, or any of the other more regressive 1950s tips (i am not talking about, "make him feel needed" "be complementary" "show him you're thinking of him" etc). and the grandma's "i cooked for your grandpa and wore makeup for your grandpa not because it was expected, but because i wanted him to know he was worth the effort" was all well and good, but the fact of the matter is that it WAS (and maybe, is) expected for a woman to cook and to "make herself pretty" for her man. idk, these are all things that gave me pause as I was reading but didn't really deeply consider until writing this review.
that being said, i enjoyed Cassie and Jack's natural dynamic (whenever Betty didn't rear her ugly head), adored Jack, and i had fun reading this book. when i picked it up, i was kinda preparing myself for the worst but i was pleasantly surprised! definitely one of the most fun and least cringy romances ive read.
need to stop dating men who fall out of love with me and start dating men who are Jack Bradford. annoyed at how quickly i fell in love with him. he was honestly kinda perfect to a fault, so much so that his reaction to finding out the truth just didn't seem believable to me.
the writing was funny and conversational, which i enjoyed, but could have done without the two pages of physical description at the beginning of the book.
this was very much How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days repacked, but I love that movie so im not complaining. however, the message of the book was really confusing??? couldn't tell if it was supposed to be feminist and fell short, or if it was supposed to be an argument against the "independent, headstrong, career-minded modern woman." whatever her point was, it didn't come across clearly. Like, ok, Jack pushed back against her "Betty" antics, especially that cringe-ass "sure a career is good, but that wont matter once i have kids" but it is still not easy (or possible) to ignore that she bagged a 10/10 millionaire once she stopped having sex on the first date, or any of the other more regressive 1950s tips (i am not talking about, "make him feel needed" "be complementary" "show him you're thinking of him" etc). and the grandma's "i cooked for your grandpa and wore makeup for your grandpa not because it was expected, but because i wanted him to know he was worth the effort" was all well and good, but the fact of the matter is that it WAS (and maybe, is) expected for a woman to cook and to "make herself pretty" for her man. idk, these are all things that gave me pause as I was reading but didn't really deeply consider until writing this review.
that being said, i enjoyed Cassie and Jack's natural dynamic (whenever Betty didn't rear her ugly head), adored Jack, and i had fun reading this book. when i picked it up, i was kinda preparing myself for the worst but i was pleasantly surprised! definitely one of the most fun and least cringy romances ive read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism
This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I do not want to get ahead of myself, but this might go (a healthy distance) under TRC and SOC as one of my fav book series. stayed up until 5am to read it. Ms Schwab, you've outdone yourself (though I guess Addie LaRue came out after this one)
i adoreeee both August and Kate, they're so funny and charming and sweet and i just wanna cup em in my hands. was giggling and kicking my feet every two pages. the supporting cast was maybe a tiny bit flat, but idrc because i just <3 A&K soo much.
I love a good R&J-adjacent story (basically just two kids from rival families making googly eyes at each other. do not like the "everyone dies" part of R&J - i'm a sucker for a happy ending idc), and now you've gone and added MONSTERS to it?? omg yes. lovee the parallel of August struggling against his nature and wanting to be human the whole book, and then finally, grudgingly giving in "for the greater good" and Kate wanting to prove she's a Harker and that she belongs beside her father and in V-City, in a way struggling to become a monster and then finally realizing that her father is not someone she should want to look up to or emulate, allowing August to reap Harker, and willingly leaving V-City and Verity . finally, some good fucking food
the one and only thing that made me "hmmmm🤔": I don't really understand why self-defense makes you a "sinner". like, i get "for the plot," or whatever, that Kate had to stop being an "innocent", but the man was attacking her and she didn't really know he was human (? or did she?) so wtf . but also i get that maybe it's to make the point that, despite the fact that they possess more nuance, Sunai are still monsters and also have trouble making that distinction between good and bad (though, obvi, in a less malicious way than Corsai or Malchai)🤷♀️
anyway, two thumbs up
ooohhh also very intrigued by the fact that Sloan is still alive at the end: he doesn't have a heart (can't be killed????) and didn't die when Harker was killed (it was my understanding that killing the sinner also killed the sin -- but then i guess it was the characters' assumption that Harker created Sloan, it was never actually confirmed iirc . book two already on my nightstand, can't wait to start reading!
i adoreeee both August and Kate, they're so funny and charming and sweet and i just wanna cup em in my hands. was giggling and kicking my feet every two pages. the supporting cast was maybe a tiny bit flat, but idrc because i just <3 A&K soo much.
I love a good R&J-adjacent story (basically just two kids from rival families making googly eyes at each other. do not like the "everyone dies" part of R&J - i'm a sucker for a happy ending idc), and now you've gone and added MONSTERS to it?? omg yes. lovee the parallel of August struggling against his nature and wanting to be human the whole book
the one and only thing that made me "hmmmm🤔": I don't really understand why self-defense makes you a "sinner". like, i get "for the plot," or whatever
anyway, two thumbs up
ooohhh also very intrigued by the fact that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Gun violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Car accident, and War
Minor: Domestic abuse
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
biiiiig fan of Stevie. what a cutie nerdy little weirdo <3
the writing annoyed me at the beginning, felt like she was trying too hard with the flowery language. if i've said it once, i've said it a million times, not everything needs to be a danged metaphor, people!!! i liked everything else about the writing, though. not sure if i just got used to it, or if she stopped trying to make everything a metaphor, but it def got better as the book went on.
i love a fun little mystery, and this was def that. already picked up the next one!
the writing annoyed me at the beginning, felt like she was trying too hard with the flowery language. if i've said it once, i've said it a million times, not everything needs to be a danged metaphor, people!!! i liked everything else about the writing, though. not sure if i just got used to it, or if she stopped trying to make everything a metaphor, but it def got better as the book went on.
i love a fun little mystery, and this was def that. already picked up the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Classism, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Drug use, Car accident, and Racism