deepbutdazzlingdarkness's reviews
403 reviews

Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane

4.0

This was SUCH a quick, fun but emotional read! I loved the relationship between Darcy and Nat, they had such great chemistry, and you totally understood why they broke up but also why they could work for good if they got back together. The Olympics setting with the classic USA/Canada women’s hockey rivalry + love connection combination was SO fun, and the confession scene made me cry. The hockey metaphors!! 🥹 I really enjoyed this and I highly recommend it. 

 

Thanks to Harlequin Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC; all opinions are my own. 

The Wrath to Come by Sarah Churchwell

4.0

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

Just don't feel like it + my library loan is almost up. DNFed at 14%, maybe I'll go back to it next Xmas

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

4.0

Undercover by Tamsyn Muir

3.0

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out for by Alison Bechdel

4.0

When in Rome by Sarah Adams

3.5

Oh this was so sweet; a bit insta-lovey but not too bad. Despite the short time frame, the romance worked pretty well for me, and I teared up multiple times. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4! 

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

dark emotional hopeful sad tense

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn't necessarily expect to like this, because I haven't heard great things, and the fact that it's written by a male author makes me feel...weird and I do think it would've hit harder if it was written by a woman but god the climax/ending really got to me and I cried a lot. 

Honestly I’m still not sure if "like" is the right word to use, because I wasn't sure how I felt about it for most of the book, but it is compulsively readable, and I got through the whole physical book in two sittings, and despite various parts making me upset/angry/etc. I don't think I can necessarily rate it lower than this. I will say, also expected it to be gorier/worse than it was based on osmosis? That's not a complaint though, because I’m not really a horror fan. 

Idk. Mixed feelings but I had a really strong emotional response and I loved the various fucked up (in different ways) female characters and their relationships with each other. 

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard

3.0

This wasn't bad, it was interesting and I learned a lot, but most of the way through I realized I'd rather consume the information in a documentary format.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was just exhausting to read, that's the best way I can put it. The non-stop banter, where every single line is a Bit was too much for me, and Elsie…god I’m sorry but like everything about her as a character was designed to annoy me. Obviously stuff like not caring about/knowing her own feelings, not being able to stand up for herself etc. was the whole point of the character but it is so frustrating and not fun to read. 

 

I don't think anything about this book was really *bad* and despite what I said about it being exhausting, it was also a very fast read, but it was just not for me. (Which I didn't think it would be, hence why I haven't read any other Ali Hazelwood books, but my girlfriend wanted to listen to it together so we did that for the first ~27% and then I read the rest of it digitally.) 

 

Did I take off a full star for the whole “peerection” bit? Well I didn't NOT, but that scene put me off finishing the book for like 3 weeks so that’s why I rounded down to 2 stars on GoodReads.