desdemonarose's reviews
238 reviews

Mystery Writers of America Presents the Mystery Box by Brad Meltzer

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

It's a book of short stories, some better than others.  I will say that they picked a great one to end with.  It is a Karen Slaughter story.  I've heard of her, never really had any interest in checking her out, but this book has definingly changed my mind.  It was pretty funny.  

It is a pretty good mix with a lot of variety.  If you like short stories I'd recommend giving it a read, or if you want to try out a bunch of different authors at once.  I listened to the audiobook and it was well read with several narrators.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

I have been a student of psychology for a couple of decades, just learning though, it's not my profession.  Naturally, this book was right up my ally.  It was an interesting mix of history, psychology, and the human experience.  The only downside of the book is that it could give the impression that Schizophrenia can cause violence or bad behavior.  The book does talk about it as an illness and is not the worst for this by any stretch.  It was about real people and was more about nature vs nurture and not a sensationalist look at mental illness.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse

Girl A by Abigail Dean

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

The book is very well written.  The pacing starts out a little slow, but picks up.  You get the story through a single narrator, moving back and forth in time as she deals with the estate left by her mother's death.  I really liked how the story was laid out and revealed.  The entire book was good, but I was really invested during the last third or so of the book.  The book does a good job of revealing the horrors of the abuse that the kids suffered, but is not overly gratuitous, which I appreciated.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

I listened to the audiobook for this and I LOVED it.  The cast of narrators was fantastic, not to mention Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia.  Aunt Lydia is a character that I basically love to hate, and I really liked getting more of her story.  Of course, Nicole and Hannah/Agnes were fantastic characters as well.  It was interesting to see the other side of Gilead, as horrible as the society is.  I also love that she kept the Society of Gilead Studies (or whatever their name is, I'm horribly sleep deprived right now) at the end of the book.  I enjoy reading how she suspects the future would look back on Gilead.  I think she's is really spot on with that.  I can't say that I expect a literal Gilead to happen, but the future world definitely reflects today's world and how we view and react to societies that don't give a sh*t about human rights.  I very much enjoyed this and I am glad that Margret Atwood took the time to answer the question of her Handmaid's Tale fans (which she mentions at the end of the book, so I'll leave it up to you to go and find out what it was).

The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This is the second time I read/audiobooked the book.  I really like how Guy Gavriel Kay writes.  I also like that he gives you both sides of the story.  I don't know how accurate it is as far as Viking history.  It does seem to be Vikings from the Anglo Saxon's point of view.  I know I've seen some things more recently that paints Vikings as a little bit cleaner and more, "civilized," than how they are usually portrayed.  Still, I would still recommend.  It feels real, but has just enough mystery that it feels like it's touching fable.  Though, I do know that Kay used historical events to write his story, so still his usual category of historical fiction.

Alice in Murderland, Vol. 1 by Kaori Yuki

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

I have read several of Kaori Yuki's series.  It's been a while since I bought any manga, but when I saw that she made a Alice in Wonderland type story I had to check it out.  The first manga covers a lot of ground and is pretty fast paced.  It has several story elements that I've seen in other anime/manga, but not all in one place.  It will be interesting to see if she puts more elements from Alice in Wonderland or if she she just makes her own story.  I do hope the pace slows down a little bit so you can stay with the characters more, but I will definitely buy the next manga and continue reading.  If you like the dark and twisted stories that Yuki writes, then this is a good one.  She doesn't hold back.

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

A nice overview of Greek Mythology by Stephen Fry.  There are some fun and cheeky bits like you'd expect from Fry, but the book is more informative than comedy.  It's still a fun listen though, it's by no means a dry or dull book.  I really enjoyed his afterword.  If he put out stories with more detailed accountings of individual characters I would read them, and probably enjoy them more.  I'm more of a in the weeds type when it comes to stories vs broad overviews.  The parts where Fry shows how Greek mythology effects our language today was particularly enjoyable as well.

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

mysterious 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

3.5

Fun story, I probably would have enjoyed it more as a younger person or teen.  It was hard for me to really get into the teen drama aspect.  Some of the issues seemed to resolve a little too quick as well.  Kind of like what you'd expect in overly optimistic Disney drama.  Not the entire book, some of it is definitely not Disney.

The book did keep me on board with finding out what really happened in that detention room and the ending was interesting enough.  I liked some of the characters more than others, but in all it was a interesting cast.  A fun who done it, but not sure if it's fun enough for me to run to the sequel.  

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

In terms of a fun/quick read, 5 stars. I did find it somewhat predictable though. The story wasn't anything new or earth shattering. But, still a great read if you just want a book to suck you in for a few days. I went with the audiobook version and the narrator was great. 

The Mourner's Cradle: A Widow's Journey by Tommy B. Smith

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

A dark fiction that moves you steadily through the story. The story didn't go as I thought it might, which I liked. It is a quick read, but still has enough detail for you to place yourself in the story.