clacksee's reviews
1178 reviews

The Drowning Hour by S.K. Tremayne

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

PTSD is keeping Hannah trapped on a small island. The only thing on the island is the hotel where she lives and works … and business isn’t going well. 

I was quite enjoying this one, though the ending felt very rushed and out of place. The solution seemed to come from left field and then suddenly everything was wrapped up with a neat little bow. 

But at least the dog lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

Journey Home by May Barros

adventurous

I feel like I read the outline to a novel rather than having actually read a finished short story. 

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

adventurous medium-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

4.5

Two strangers, Kel and Lilah, get caught up in adventures through four different versions of eighteenth-century London. 

It was good; I just wasn’t the right reader. 

Haunted: A Hallowe'en Adventure by Steph Shangraw

adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

Sweet, cosy paranormal adventure filled with adorable characters exploring a strange abandoned house on Hallowe’en night. 

This would have benefited from a thorough edit to tighten the story a bit, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

A Terrible Village Poisoning by Hannah Hendy

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-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

4.75

Margery and Clementine leave Dewstow on a rare holiday – only to find themselves suspected of murder in nearby St-Martins-on-the-Water. What a way to spend their anniversary. 

Fun, chaotic cosy mystery with a sapphic twist.

The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale

dark funny lighthearted 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

5.0

Sally finally strikes back at her abusive husband, killing him with her grandmother’s cast-iron pan. When three other women in the neighbourhood have similar problems, they have to work together to figure out what to do. 

Darkly hilarious and deeply twisted. It’s so hard – trust me – to write good, entertaining stories that bring the funny without minimising the seriousness of the subject matter. Casale succeeds on both counts. 

Plains of Utopia: Colony Six Mars by Gerald M. Kilby

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Just how many times can one robot die?

It’s a conspiracy … on Mars!

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

emotional hopeful slow-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

4.75

You know inciting incidents, right? The thing that kicks the whole story off, yeah? Someone should tell Back Chambers about them. And story arcs. And plots. 

But here’s the thing… No one reads a Becky Chambers book for the plot. Well, anyone who tries is going to be sorely disappointed. You read her books for the characters. And this one has them in spades. 

The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biswas

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

Cop uncovers big, terrible crime. He wants to investigate, but the top brass will do anything to prevent him from looking into it. Cop won’t  let  it go, so he ends up taking time off to investigate despite orders to stay away. 

The bones of the plot aren’t new. But what sets this story apart is the rich and vivid setting. The author drops her reader straight into the heart of Mumbai. 

I had trouble keeping all the characters straight, but it was still a worthy read. 

A Cut Below by T.W.M. Ashford

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

A murder mystery in a futuristic, alien setting. Not my favourite in the sub-genre, but definitely not terrible. 

My favourite character was Beads.