dckathleen's reviews
214 reviews

The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0

This one loses points for some plot holes, but regains them for a really original plot. This was an enjoyable read. 

The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel

4.5

I really liked this. It's supposed to be about bringing a woolly mammoth to life as so many of our present animals are edging towards extinction, but really it's about family and dealing with loss and change. It's funny and sweet. 

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

4.0

Matilda + Charlie and the Chocolate Factory+ Ready Player One. This was sweet, even though there were some things that I thought were overdone, but mostly sweet. 

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

This book plays in 1950, and it's about a secretive murder training academy with an ethical mission. Parts read by Neil Patrick Harris. This was good, but could have been amazing. I felt like parts were a bit disjointed. 

The September House by Carissa Orlando

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

I really liked this, it was Gothic horror with a sense of humor, and a reflection on trauma. Couple buys a haunted house, and it's pretty intense. The wife, for reasons which unfold, is willing to hang in there. Husband leaves, and wife kind of shrugs and moves on. She has bleeding walls and ghosts to contend with. Adult daughter, who has never been to the house, shows up to figure out where her father went. Her visit shakes things up in unexpected ways. 

Flower Net by Lisa See

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.0

I finished it, but two weeks later I couldn't reconstruct the plot for you...much of which was convoluted. 

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

This felt reminiscent of a combination of Stephen King's Fairy Tale plus various Gothic novels based around a creepy house and messy family trees...but it was good, and if you like this genre you'll like this too.

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

The premise is great, there are humans with various animal mutations which slowly or quickly turn them into that animal. Our main character's husband is turning into a shark in the year after their wedding. It's a good metaphor for long term illness or other cataclysmic things that shift our relationships with those we love. How do you love someone who is turning into a cartilagenous apex predator? What lengths do you go to? What is their life like afterwards? 

Where the book lost it's way for me was in the telling of our main character's childhood. I see how the author was trying to reveal the story, but some things didn't hang together for me. Still a great book. 

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.5

A book about taxonomy and seekinh inspiration in the face of personal failures...and also murder, eugenics, and proving that the category of fish isn't accurate. Oh, and a very flawed hero. 

CW for self harm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.