cassiecollins's reviews
267 reviews

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.0

This was a fun and interesting read. Keefe's writing is super accessible and laced with a dry humor that keeps each article engaging. I agree with some other reviews that the last article about Anthony Bourdain, while as high-quality as the rest, doesn't really feel like it fits thematically with the others. Still, this was great and has definitely piqued my interest in the author's other works.

Bred by the Alien Prince by Morrigan Black

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I'll be honest, I only picked this up because of the cover. (I thought it was new Ai no Kusabi media at first and got excited. When I realized it wasn't, I saw it was on KU and just thought, "Eh, fuck it!") Unfortunately, this whole piece is bogged down by its prose. The sentence-level writing is clunky and amateurish, there are a lot of disparate details to the plot and world-building that aren't handled well and make things confusing at times, and the characters vacillate between personalities from moment to moment. I can tell the author had fun writing this, though, so I did have a bit of fun reading it—enough that I hemmed and hawed on whether to rate this a bit higher. But, sadly the quality is such that this is what I settled on.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was some good ol' slow-paced, character-focused, true-blue literary fiction and I loved it. It's the kind of book where I'd love to be back in a literature class just to have a forum discussion analyzing this book and all its themes. Elitism and its othering effects; aestheticism and how people weaponize it for their own gains; homoeroticism contrasted with homophobia—this piece is layered expertly and I had so much fun sinking my teeth into it.

Nicky and the Night Owls: Part Two by Sierra Cassidy

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Pretty similar feelings to this as the previous entry, though some of my issues are exacerbated here. I appreciated that more of the pack members had their own plotlines in this one versus focusing only on Nicky. It's still way too long, padded mostly by drawn out sex scenes. The "villains" in this one were even more cartoonish and flat than the guy from the first book, and again the climax was far too intense for what is advertised as a "cozy" romance, in my opinion. Despite the inconsistent tone, it was still pretty cute overall.

Nicky And The Night Owls: Part One by Sierra Cassidy

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I got this for free as part of Stuff Your Kindle Day. This was cute! Both tooth-achingly sweet and exceedingly spicy at times. I appreciated that, though we mainly focus on Nicky, all of the intertwining relationships between everyone in the pack are explored. I will say for a self-proclaimed "cozy" romance, the stalking plotline was a bit too intense for my taste, and I think the story would've had enough conflict without (e.g. Nicky's insecurities). I also felt the whole thing was just way too long.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

This is definitely one of those retellings where I think you'd get more enjoyment out of it the less familiar you are with the source material. There are a couple points that I've seen in other reviews that I want to echo: the two perspectives are nearly identical in voice and tone and take away from the characters, and this book is chock full of aesthetic prose with not a lot of substance to back it up. I think my biggest hang up, though, is that the two main characters have almost no agency in this story. Laura and Carmilla are too busy lusting after each other while the actual narrative is pushed along entirely by De Lafontaine. The whole book is just things happening to Laura and Carmilla—even their romance is, perhaps unwittingly, facilitated by De Lafontaine. The prose itself is well-written (the author is also a poet, after all), but I would have liked to have seen more backbone to the narrative and characters to uplift it further.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

How to describe this book? I wouldn't say it's the most original story, there's a lot of common gothic tropes at play, and I clocked several of the plot twists early on. But, wow! Everything is woven together so incredibly I was very literally on the edge of my seat wondering just what would happen next. The characters are stellar and do the legwork of propelling the story forward. And, I was pleasantly surprised how grounded and believable everything was, even during the climax and the big reveals. (There's one bit that is a kind of wild coincidence, but y'know, every story gets one!) Highly, highly, highly recommend this.

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

This was great! I've always enjoyed Dave's interviews since he's such a great storyteller (hah), and I am so pleased to say that that talent is amplified tenfold here. I found myself laughing aloud and incessantly charmed by how humbly and fascinatingly these crazy life experiences are portrayed. Really, I think all I need to say to my fellow audiobook listeners is that I actually listened to this at—gasp!—normal speed, that's how engaging it was. Highly recommend if you enjoy celebrity memoirs, or you just wanna listen to Dave Grohl tell you funny stories with a lot of heart for several hours.

Wrath by John Gwynne

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Overall, a pretty satisfactory conclusion. There were a few characters whose arcs I was very disappointed with (mainly Fidele and Rafe), and I felt the pacing in this one was pretty rushed, with massive warbands covering large swathes of land with the turn of a page. But, the whole package was exciting and tense and a generally fun read. As far as the series goes, I found this to be a solid showing of a classical-style fantasy, with a unique take on the "chosen one" trope. Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Ruin by John Gwynne

adventurous dark tense 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

4.0

I think, of the series so far, this one does the best of evening out the wins/losses between each side and making the conflict more interesting. The first two entries lean pretty heavily on the bad guys succeeding in literally every endeavor, but here Corban and co. are actually able to go toe to toe with them for the most part. Looking forward to seeing how everything comes together in the end!