curiousherring's reviews
290 reviews

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

You by Caroline Kepnes

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

I wish I had read this before seeing the TV show, but unfortunately, Netflix got to me first. That's not a bad thing–I absolutely loved the show, but it just made me read the book in a different light. It's always hard to visualise characters in any other way after seeing them on screen, and I couldn't imagine it any other way.

However, I'm not sure if that made me love the book more because it made me think of the show, or if it hindered my thoughts because it took away some of the creativity that reading offers. Would it have been a five-star read had I not seen the show? I have no idea.

I think it must be really hard to write a book from the perspective of a psycho, especially as it's easy for people to then judge the author for being sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, racist or whatever. In many cases (for me, at least) if a character is vile, it's because the author has done a great job of representing them in a sadistic way, aiming to make the character's traits provoke the reader. It's not because the author themselves feel that way. Maybe some do, but I feel like a lot of authors (and, after reading some other reviews, Kepnes seems to have fallen into this, unfortunately), get a bit of a harsh time because of it.

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed this so much. Like American Psycho, I'm amazed that people can write characters so undeniably fucked up. Kudos.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Praised by SK and Ruth Ware, two authors I absolutely love, so I knew I'd have to give this one a go.

It was alright.

Besides it taking a good 100 pages to really get going, it was also quite predictable. However, it kept me reading, and at times, you really do question everything and everyone.

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

adventurous lighthearted fast-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

3.0

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"I mean, The Tommyknockers is an awful book. That was the last one I wrote before I cleaned up my act. And I’ve thought about it a lot lately and said to myself, “There’s really a good book in here, underneath all the sort of spurious energy that cocaine provides, and I ought to go back.” The book is about 700 pages long, and I’m thinking, “There’s probably a good 350-page novel in there.” - SK

The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli

adventurous dark lighthearted 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

4.75

Oh man, that endingggggg

This book is the perfect example of character development and world building. When I started reading The Crimson Moth, I thought it was okay, but wasn't desperate to get home and pick it up. However, just over halfway through, I found that every time I put it down, I was just thinking about when I could read more.

Last Breath by Joe Hill

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0