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ebonysbookshelf's Reviews (119)

Scanlines

Todd Keisling

4.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

The Graveyard Shift

Maria Lewis

4.5

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Mister Magic

Kiersten White

4.25

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes

Eric LaRocca

3.5

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Horrorstör

Grady Hendrix

3.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Perfect way to spend my Sunday afternoon - finished this one in one sitting! It was fun, fast-paced, and grabs you from the very first page. I absolutely LOVE the whole design of this book from cover to concept; the artwork is brilliant and the numbering of chapters was 🤌. I’m super late to the Grady Hendrix train, but have had my eyes on this particular one for ages. I’m really glad I started with Horrorstor and looking forward to reading more of his work now. The writing was easy to digest and pacy, the plot - though sometimes to me felt a little farfetched - was a wild ride that keeps you turning the pages. I was probably hoping for a bit more of a haunting in a ghostly way (if that makes sense to those that have read this one) rather than what it ended up being. I didn’t mind at all how it progressed but it fell a little flat against the concept that drew me in. Following employees of Orsk, a knock off IKEA store, as they pull an all-nighter to catch whoever is breaking in and wreaking havoc upon the showroom… only for them to quickly realise they were never alone there at all…

Super fun, fantastically unique, and a great one to get out of a bit of a slump.

Design & concept 10/10 😮‍💨
Story itself 3.5/5 ⭐️

The Twat Files

Dawn French

5.0

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

There Should Have Been Eight

Nalini Singh

4.5

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was such a fun book to kick off my 2024 reading goals! Vivid in its sense of place, creepy in a relatable seeing-shadows-in-the-corner-of-your-eye kinda way, and pacy to the extreme.

The action was jam packed and to the point, without feeling rushed (this is still just over 400 pages in length). There are a few mysteries rolled into the story and everything becomes clearer and clearer, and yet I still didn’t predict the finale. Not that it was left of field (thank goodness); it made complete sense yet went over my head. I love when a thriller can do this!

I am a big mood reader and actually picked this up New Year’s Day, never having heard of it or the author (from whom I will now gladly read more!), and it turned out to be just the thing I needed. A room of old high school friends, now adults, ending up isolated in a gothic mansion, with secrets bubbling at the surface. Not a new trope, but one I find I love in a suspense thriller and this was executed beautifully. The characters were realistic, irritating, funny, charming, and twisted. The house itself became another character and I’m a sucker for a creepy “haunted” setting that comes alive through the author’s writing.