djmysteryflavor's reviews
429 reviews

Saving Chupie by Amparo Ortiz, Ronnie Garcia

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

I have a deep appreciation and love for graphic novels and I have a mini goal set for myself to read at least ten this year. Saving Chupie is about a young girl named Violeta who is helping her grandmother and her family rebuild her grandmother’s restaurant. Well, she would be if anyone would let her. What she is able to do is find a new set of friends in Diego and Lorena and their search for a Chupacabra that’s been terrorizing the area. But when Violeta gets saved by the Chupacabra, she has to figure out a way to help the creature and get her friends to understand that he isn’t as bad as he seems. It was such a fun book! The art was beautiful, bright, and I really enjoyed the way Chupie himself was illustrated. It blends real world problems in with fantastical creatures and I think it really is an approachable way to talk about the issues it presents. Definitely a recommend for those younger graphic novel readers out there. 
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Lone Women by Victor LaValle

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

3.25

 Adelaide is carrying a deep secret, literally  in a steamer trunk, and she’s headed to Montana to make her own life. But what happens when the secret gets out is not what anyone expected, much less the other lone women living in the rough landscape of early 1900’s Montana frontier. While I did like parts of this book, some of the book I felt a little disappointed. I think I expected a bit more of a more horror than what it gives you, not that there isn’t any but I think it wasn’t quite what I anticipated. Still, though, I did like the writing and I liked a lot of the characters, especially in terms of the setting. And I found Adelaide to be an interesting and flawed main character who does grow in a way as the book goes a long. I can’t really say too much without spoiling the story but it might be something you’re interested in if you want to read about a woman’s life in the frontier landscape of the 1900’s with a bit of horror and found family mixed in. 
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Lights Out by Navessa Allen

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

4.25

 I will be honest, this one is a little out of my wheelhouse. I read a lot of romance but not much darker romance. I would say that this one feels more like it’s a bridge between the two. Not incredibly dark but not especially light. Additionally, I don’t know that I would have enjoyed this as much if I’d just read it outright. The audiobook is excellent and I definitely recommend it. It feels like a whole performance rather than just a great narration and that added to the enjoyment of the story. It has an interesting plot, extremely fun characters, and A LOT of spice. Be sure to check your trigger warnings! There are definitely some things that may cause unease. Overall I found it to be a rather sweet romance and I liked the chemistry between the main characters. If you want to check out dark romance but want it to be a little more on the sweet side, try this book. I absolutely recommend the audiobook, though. The performance, as I said, was worth the listen. 
Intensity by Dean Koontz

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Boy howdy, what can I say about this book. It was wild. I went into it not really knowing anything about it and I feel like the majority of the book did keep me guessing. There were a couple of things I guessed about the ending that did come to fruition but mostly I had no idea what was going to happen. It’s a gruesome story, though, so be warned. There’s a lot of violence and disturbing context. The main characters both have their strengths and weaknesses and I think they play well off of each other. It is insanely descriptive, almost to the point of excessiveness. I could have done without some of the added backstory bits because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next and I wanted it to hurry along in those instances. Plus, some of it was repetitive. But I do think the plot itself is solid and I did enjoy the book regardless. 
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Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.25

I feel like this hit me right in the nostalgia. It just feels like something that teenage me would have really enjoyed and there are aspects of Coley’s struggle that I would have related to then. Coley has moved to a new town, is stuck with a dad she doesn’t really know, and somehow manages to get hit by a van of teens that pull her into their circle. But Coley only has eyes for Sonya and she spends her summer juggling her feelings for a girl with her own issues to get through. It’s set in 2006 and as someone who was a sixteen-year-old in 2006, it feels eerily realistic. Growing up in a small town and realizing you aren’t like everyone else because your heart yearns for a love that is different can be devastating itself. In 2006, it was even harder. I enjoyed this book a lot for what it was. A love story, a coming of age story, an exploration of grief and how we navigate it. A YA book that I wish I’d had as a young person in the 2000’s who was falling in love for the first time and wondered if anyone else felt like me.
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Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio

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dark mysterious fast-paced

3.75

 This novella began really strong but by the end of the story I think it lost a lot of steam. It’s about a group of insomniacs, essentially, who meet every evening in a very old graveyard. One night though, there is a hole dug and a mystery ensues. I liked the characters because one thing this book does well is give the characters a lot of depth. However, I think I just wanted even more? Granted, this is a novella and it is meant to be short, but I felt like the ending happened so much quicker than I expected. Genuinely, though, I liked the writing and the premise, I just needed more book. 
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Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

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mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

 Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a captivating contemporary magical story with elements of family, betrayal, and ultimately learning to trust again. I really had a great time reading this book and did not want to stop reading it once I really got into it. The majority of it I read in one day. I will admit that I did predict some of the twists in the book but I was so taken by the plot and characters that I didn’t really mind that much. Additionally, the magic element itself was such an interesting take on how magic is learned, cast, and even felt. A recommend for those seeking out books that are a little spooky, a little funny, but mostly magical. 
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Murder Packs a Suitcase by Cynthia Baxter

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funny mysterious medium-paced

3.75

As a lover of Murder She Wrote, much to my mother's amusement since I watched it a lot as a young adult, I found this book to be a delight. It felt VERY Murder She Wrote-esque but in its own original way. Mallory, the main character, is widowed with two adultish children who is presented with the opportunity to become a travel writer. What she doesn't expect is to find herself in Florida amongst all the oddities trying to solve a murder that she's somehow become the main suspect of. I enjoyed the exploration of the weird little places Mallory visited and how she interpreted them. I also really liked the other characters because they were just so unique, especially Frieda, the senior citizen who writes for a travel magazine for other senior citizens. I just really had a good time reading this and found it to be incredibly funny. I wrote down so many notes about things that Mallory said or thought that were just hysterical. The only thing I can really complain about is that I did figure out the main twist fairly early on but I think it made a lot of sense over all. If you love a silly little mystery with all the sunny Florida fun, give this a go!
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Welcome To Nightmare Island by

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dark tense fast-paced

2.0

 Okay, so this is basically like if Jurassic Park and Thir13en Ghosts had a book baby. There was a lot of interesting little tidbits about the ghosts, the island itself, and the ghost hunter who set up the place BUT this book was a let down nearly everywhere else. The writing was almost too straightforward and repetitive. The characters were incredibly flat and when there was mention of their backstories it felt like it was just thrown in at the moment. The POV jumps around a lot, which isn’t necessarily a problem if these points are separated but they weren’t really. There is a ton of gore, which is fair for a horror novel. I think I just wish that the story felt more complete and had a bit more depth. 
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When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

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adventurous challenging emotional funny slow-paced

3.75

 I wanted to give this book a read because the premise sounded interesting to me when I read the synopsis. That being said, while there were things I enjoyed, such as the characters themselves and the magic system, I felt like there was just far too much going on. Every moment, there was an added extra layer of things that the reader has to try to comprehend on top of trying to understand the elemental magic system, the lore of the dragons, and the backstory of the main character. I definitely didn’t dislike the book but I did get a bit overwhelmed and was ready to be done by the end. An interesting concept, though. 
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