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daniellestarredpages's reviews
231 reviews
The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee
"The Dark We Know" follows Isadpra Chang as she is forced to return to Slater the repressive small town she ran away from. However, I found myself wishing this book was from any other character's perspective. Isadora's P.O.V. was quite the slog to get through, plus I found the overall reading experience to be overwhelmingly boring. Also, the flowery writing in this novel didn't match the tone I believe the author intended to set, so I didn't find the novel's atmosphere as chilling as I expect the author hoped I would.
To focus on Isa and her running away from Slater, I don't think that made much sense. Based on the current age of Isa and the other characters we follow, she was about 16 when she first ran away and started university and I'm pretty sure you need to have some sort of parental permission to enter university at that age. Then the timeline for the town doesn't really make any sense either. A big part of the creation of evil plaguing Slater is the mass death that occurred during/because of a plague. But as the story goes on, we discover that the plague wasn't that far back in history as the story initially led us to believe. And since this plague took place sometime in (earliest) the early 1900s, many of the actions taken by the characters in the plague didn't seem like things they could easily get away with.
As I said before, the overall reading experience of this book was really boring, I attribute this to the fact that almost the entirety of the novel lacked any actual suspense or tension. There were scenes that I felt should have heightened the overall tension, but the writing went on so much that it took me out of the story.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
"The Dark We Know" follows Isadpra Chang as she is forced to return to Slater the repressive small town she ran away from. However, I found myself wishing this book was from any other character's perspective. Isadora's P.O.V. was quite the slog to get through, plus I found the overall reading experience to be overwhelmingly boring. Also, the flowery writing in this novel didn't match the tone I believe the author intended to set, so I didn't find the novel's atmosphere as chilling as I expect the author hoped I would.
To focus on Isa and her running away from Slater, I don't think that made much sense. Based on the current age of Isa and the other characters we follow, she was about 16 when she first ran away and started university and I'm pretty sure you need to have some sort of parental permission to enter university at that age. Then the timeline for the town doesn't really make any sense either. A big part of the creation of evil plaguing Slater is the mass death that occurred during/because of a plague. But as the story goes on, we discover that the plague wasn't that far back in history as the story initially led us to believe. And since this plague took place sometime in (earliest) the early 1900s, many of the actions taken by the characters in the plague didn't seem like things they could easily get away with.
As I said before, the overall reading experience of this book was really boring, I attribute this to the fact that almost the entirety of the novel lacked any actual suspense or tension. There were scenes that I felt should have heightened the overall tension, but the writing went on so much that it took me out of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol
Cemetery Kids Don't Die #1 by Daniel Irizarri, Zac Thompson, Brittany Peer
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While the story of "Cemetery Kids Don't Die," Volume 1, follows four teenagers, Birdie is the true protagonist. Our progression through the story is guided by Birdie's internal monologue.
The character work in this story was done brilliantly. All four characters were well developed. They all acted in ways that one would expect from teenagers, I'm glad their actions didn't feel too old or too young. The way the characters acted in the story felt realistic both in terms of their ages and the situation they had found themselves in. However, I do think the story fell into the trap which many YA and Middle-Grade novels often fall into, where the authors need the young protagonists to be the ones to deal with certain situations so the adults are unrealistically absent. In this case, the authors had every parental figure show up as little as possible and when they did, their behaviour was odd. The parents were unconcerned or uninvolved not in the way absentee parents would be but in a way where they just weren't well written.
There was a scene in which a character states that Birdie prefers the game over real life because she has full mobility- which she no longer has in the real world due to an accident. I love how the author handled that situation. While I do not use a wheelchair or any mobility aid myself, I believe the response from Birdie was realistic and and well-done
The story itself was interesting and while I didn't feel frightened reading this book, it was the type of Horror Story where readers can understand why the characters would be terrified and would expect them to be afraid of what they are living through.
Finally, the art style. I loved it! The characters were well-drawn and the art depicted movement in scenes quite well. The art done for the scenes that took place within the game was probably my favourite. While I wasn't horrified I feel comfortable describing the artwork as horrifying and even then I couldn't make myself look away.
The character work in this story was done brilliantly. All four characters were well developed. They all acted in ways that one would expect from teenagers, I'm glad their actions didn't feel too old or too young. The way the characters acted in the story felt realistic both in terms of their ages and the situation they had found themselves in. However, I do think the story fell into the trap which many YA and Middle-Grade novels often fall into, where the authors need the young protagonists to be the ones to deal with certain situations so the adults are unrealistically absent. In this case, the authors had every parental figure show up as little as possible and when they did, their behaviour was odd. The parents were unconcerned or uninvolved not in the way absentee parents would be but in a way where they just weren't well written.
There was a scene in which a character states that Birdie prefers the game over real life because she has full mobility- which she no longer has in the real world due to an accident. I love how the author handled that situation. While I do not use a wheelchair or any mobility aid myself, I believe the response from Birdie was realistic and and well-done
The story itself was interesting and while I didn't feel frightened reading this book, it was the type of Horror Story where readers can understand why the characters would be terrified and would expect them to be afraid of what they are living through.
Finally, the art style. I loved it! The characters were well-drawn and the art depicted movement in scenes quite well. The art done for the scenes that took place within the game was probably my favourite. While I wasn't horrified I feel comfortable describing the artwork as horrifying and even then I couldn't make myself look away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse
A Deadly Affair by E.V. Hunter
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
When I requested an ARC of this book I wasn't aware that it was the fourth book in a series. Luckily "A Deadly Affair" is understandable without reading the first three. Some minor plot points and character interactions required some background to fully understand, however, there were bits of explanation and even what I couldn't understand I can't blame the book or the author since I was the one who didn't read the first 3 books.
I did enjoy my reading experience with "A Deady Affair" but it wasn't a reading experience that stayed with me after I finished the book.
The mystery surrounding Gerry's murder was interesting enough and the amount of evidence that pointed towards Polly was enough that I looked forward to following Alexi's investigation. It is made known that there was no reason for Alexi to want to help Polly due to their interactions in past books. So I enjoyed the fact that Alexi and the other characters made it clear that Alexi had every right to refuse to help Polly. I enjoyed that Alexis and Jack were fully willing to step back from the investigation if Polly and her circle of friends refused to cooperate.
The twists and the route the investigation took were a plus in this book. The balance between new reasonable suspects and more evidence pointing to Polly being the murderer was absolutely perfect.
I enjoyed Cosmo's presence and the relationship between Alexi and Jack.
I did enjoy my reading experience with "A Deady Affair" but it wasn't a reading experience that stayed with me after I finished the book.
The mystery surrounding Gerry's murder was interesting enough and the amount of evidence that pointed towards Polly was enough that I looked forward to following Alexi's investigation. It is made known that there was no reason for Alexi to want to help Polly due to their interactions in past books. So I enjoyed the fact that Alexi and the other characters made it clear that Alexi had every right to refuse to help Polly. I enjoyed that Alexis and Jack were fully willing to step back from the investigation if Polly and her circle of friends refused to cooperate.
The twists and the route the investigation took were a plus in this book. The balance between new reasonable suspects and more evidence pointing to Polly being the murderer was absolutely perfect.
I enjoyed Cosmo's presence and the relationship between Alexi and Jack.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder
This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska. Highly Anticipated, Hugely Disappointing.
This Fatal Kiss did not give me the reading experience I was expecting. I struggled through the first 35% or so of the book, DNFed it, then gave it another try and then felt disappointed by the last 15%. My issues with this book can fall into a few different categories:
1. Writing
2. World Building/Setting
3. Et Cetera
Let's tackle my issues with the writing. The writing of this book struggled since the author - at least in my opinion- tried to include "tiktok humour" By this I mean, there were a couple of phrases or descriptions that were intended to be funny but instead came off so jarring as they didn't match the setting of the story (we'll get to my issues with the setting later). Phrases like "Sky Daddy" and "That's a mood" felt extremely out of place.
Now, World Building/Setting. My biggest issue with the setting was, that I had no idea what the setting was. Most of the setting had a vague historical vibe (what stage in history, don't ask me) but then there would be some throwaway phrases that had more modern or technically advanced items with no explanation of how they fit into the story. Now there was magic in this story, and magic was used as an explanation for some details but those details are not what I am focusing on. I was mostly confused about the transportation but there were a few other things that felt odd. I didn't judge this book too harshly for these issues since the book is Fantasy and because the author didn't give us a specific time period to work with I couldn't exactly say those details didn't belong there.
The final category isn't necessarily a category but these issues didn't fit into one specific category. I took the biggest issue with the ending of the book. I went into this book, thinking "This Fatal Kiss" was a standalone but Jasinka wrote the ending in a way that left space for a sequel. This would've been fine except it resulted in the last part of the book feeling rushed and instead of the open-endedness feeling purposeful it just felt like Jasinka had no idea how to resolve some issues so she. . . . didn't.
I also felt that the dynamics in this book surrounding this poly romance could've used a bit more work. The only dynamic I felt was sufficiently fleshed out was between Kazik and Gisela, I couldn't didn't understand why I was supposed to believe Kazik had such a huge crush on Aleksey when all we know is Kazik finds him attractive and he was nice to everyone. But the initial impression I got was that even though Kazik found Aleksey attractive he didn't really like him. So I wasn't sure why he was so against Gisela choosing Aleksey to be the human to kiss her. Then Gisela and Aleksey didn't interact much without Aleksey there and I felt their connection was more friendship than romance.
There were parts of this book that I enjoyed. I loved the Slavic folklore and how it was included and explained throughout the plot. The discussions around sexuality (particularly bisexuality) and polyamory were interesting and enjoyable to see discussed and defended in the setting of the book.
The middle section of this book was very quick to read and I enjoyed that part of my reading experience. (Although I'm not sure if I actually liked it or if it was just a relief after struggling through the first section)
This Fatal Kiss did not give me the reading experience I was expecting. I struggled through the first 35% or so of the book, DNFed it, then gave it another try and then felt disappointed by the last 15%. My issues with this book can fall into a few different categories:
1. Writing
2. World Building/Setting
3. Et Cetera
Let's tackle my issues with the writing. The writing of this book struggled since the author - at least in my opinion- tried to include "tiktok humour" By this I mean, there were a couple of phrases or descriptions that were intended to be funny but instead came off so jarring as they didn't match the setting of the story (we'll get to my issues with the setting later). Phrases like "Sky Daddy" and "That's a mood" felt extremely out of place.
Now, World Building/Setting. My biggest issue with the setting was, that I had no idea what the setting was. Most of the setting had a vague historical vibe (what stage in history, don't ask me) but then there would be some throwaway phrases that had more modern or technically advanced items with no explanation of how they fit into the story. Now there was magic in this story, and magic was used as an explanation for some details but those details are not what I am focusing on. I was mostly confused about the transportation but there were a few other things that felt odd. I didn't judge this book too harshly for these issues since the book is Fantasy and because the author didn't give us a specific time period to work with I couldn't exactly say those details didn't belong there.
The final category isn't necessarily a category but these issues didn't fit into one specific category. I took the biggest issue with the ending of the book. I went into this book, thinking "This Fatal Kiss" was a standalone but Jasinka wrote the ending in a way that left space for a sequel. This would've been fine except it resulted in the last part of the book feeling rushed and instead of the open-endedness feeling purposeful it just felt like Jasinka had no idea how to resolve some issues so she. . . . didn't.
I also felt that the dynamics in this book surrounding this poly romance could've used a bit more work. The only dynamic I felt was sufficiently fleshed out was between Kazik and Gisela, I couldn't didn't understand why I was supposed to believe Kazik had such a huge crush on Aleksey when all we know is Kazik finds him attractive and he was nice to everyone. But the initial impression I got was that even though Kazik found Aleksey attractive he didn't really like him. So I wasn't sure why he was so against Gisela choosing Aleksey to be the human to kiss her. Then Gisela and Aleksey didn't interact much without Aleksey there and I felt their connection was more friendship than romance.
There were parts of this book that I enjoyed. I loved the Slavic folklore and how it was included and explained throughout the plot. The discussions around sexuality (particularly bisexuality) and polyamory were interesting and enjoyable to see discussed and defended in the setting of the book.
The middle section of this book was very quick to read and I enjoyed that part of my reading experience. (Although I'm not sure if I actually liked it or if it was just a relief after struggling through the first section)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop by Serene Khader
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0