eggcatsreads's reviews
472 reviews

This Girl's A Killer by Emma C. Wells

4.5

I believe in women’s rights, but more importantly I believe in women’s wrongs. Cordelia Black is both a role model and an inspiration, and the world would be a safer place if she was real. 

Is murder the worst crime you can commit? Are there crimes where you think “I wish they were dead” after you learn about them? Do you believe in the death penalty? Depending on your answer to these questions, you might have the same beliefs as Cordelia Black, hand of justice. (Not murder, she doesn’t like to apply such a label to herself. After all, she’s only cleaning up the streets and making them safer, it’s not like she’s doing anything without a purpose!)

I was sucked into Cordelia’s world from the first hints that her outer appearance was more of a facade to a darker pastime. She’s detail-oriented, efficient, and on top of everything - or she was, until a new boyfriend comes into her best friend’s life. Simon. The worst guy you can think of to date a woman with a teen daughter. Flashy, charming, and kind on the surface - but with just something to make you raise your hackles whenever he’s around. Luckily for her chosen family, Cordelia is there to keep them safe.

I loved getting into Cordelia’s head, and found myself rooting for her during the entire novel. I wanted her to get away with it all, and was at the edge of my seat every time something happened that just hinted that she was about to lose it all. This book is filled with red herrings - both in events and characters - and until it’s resolved you’re never certain how it will shake out for Cordelia. Semi-dating a cop on the case of her own murders, a best friend with a shitty boyfriend that she’s trying to figure out how to dispose of, and the pharmaceutical drug she’s a spokeswoman for launching her into an investigation - there’s a lot that could cause her to trip up and make a mistake. 

While I’ve never watched Dexter myself, I did find myself thinking that some scenes were similar in vibe - intensity and comedic relief - as Santa Clarita Diet.. No, there’s no cannibalism or a couple in this book, but some of the situations felt like they’d fit right on a television show. Answering the door to a cop while you desperately try to cover the blood spatter on yourself, refusing to let him in because there’s a dead body in your kitchen? Opening the freezer to jokingly talk to the head you keep in there until you can find a good location to dump it? Hysterical. This book was both intense and hilarious, and I think it’d make an excellent show or movie if it were expanded upon. I, myself, would love to watch Cordelia Black rid the world of evil men. 

If you’re fans of stories centering around serial killers, bad men getting what’s coming to them, and female empowerment, then look no further than This Girl’s a Killer. Cordelia Black is here to keep the streets safe, if only she can stick to her meticulous and proven safeguards and avoid getting caught. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Poisoned Pen Press or providing this e-ARC.

 

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon

5.0

Filled with wild folklore, death magic, and a sapphic romance that will keep you wanting more, this book feels like a spiritual successor to The Bear and the Nightingale. 

We follow our main character, Hellevir, a woman who can speak to animals and see spirits in nature that others are blind to, as she discovers she has the power to enter Death and bargain to bring the newly deceased back to life. Every toll has its price, however, and soon she is trapped with a bargain with Death itself to keep from cutting herself into smaller and smaller pieces to save those around her. When she saves the princess herself from Death, knowledge of her skills go far beyond her and force her into serving the Crown - no matter the cost to her, or those around her.

The imagery in this book is beautiful, as we travel with Hellevir as she speaks with spirits in the trees in lakes, to the strange place she goes when she enters Death. Everything evokes a kind of wonder in the reader as they can see the beauty in the world through the main character’s eyes. However, not everything is wonderful, as the more and more she travels into and bargains with Death, the tighter the binds around her begin to close in as she becomes entangled in a political mess where no one will leave unscathed. 

The romance in this book - mild as it is - I felt really strongly added to the tension and the stakes present. Hellevir is forced to contend with what she believes she knows about Sullivan with what Sullivan (and her grandmother) are actually doing. With parts of her soul given up each time she resurrects Sullivan giving them a connection neither can break or understand, she has no choice but to follow both her heart - and the threats - even when she wants nothing more than to escape back to the small village she left. 

Perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid and Naomi Novik, The Gilded Crown will captivate you from the first page and keep you wanting more even after you finish reading. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this e-ARC.

Hull and Fire by James W. Cutter

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

While I expected more of a ghost story with a haunted ghost ship, what I found within this book was a compelling narrative that tackles the insidious creeping nature of racism and xenophobia that turns once loving neighbors into those who would turn their backs on you while you were being assaulted in the street. I was hooked from the first page, and the rest of this book kept me riveted in my seat until I finished reading this in one single sitting. 

The worldbuilding in this book is compelling and intricate, and leaves the reader wishing for more when the last page is finally read. We are given glimpses into the world of these characters, and information is sprinkled along like breadcrumbs every time something new happens, and we - as the reader - need to connect the dots and fit together the puzzle. 

The characters are compelling, and I enjoyed getting into the minds of those within this book. Figuring out their struggles and goals, while never explicitly telling us in a 1-to-1 fashion, instead allowing the narrative to tell the story and for the book and their actions to compel the reader into wanting more. 

A brilliant introduction into this world, I cannot wait to read what happens next on their journey and to find out more of what - exactly - occurred on their father’s ghost ship. Or why it mysteriously showed back up - empty and unharmed - 9 years after his disappearance. Without giving too much away, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories with a shifting political landscape and characters trying to keep their heads above water at all costs, where their circumstances have forced their hands into choosing uncertainty over certain death. Hull and Fire almost feels like an alternate reality historical fiction tale, with a world and characters that feel both real and realistic - and where the reader can see the similarities reflected within our own society, as well. 

A huge thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC.

 

Death in the Downline by Maria Abrams

4.0

 Calling all #BossBabes and #SHEeos, are you ready to #rise to the challenge and become your own boss? Do you want time to make money while staying at home taking care of your kids (and husband, #lolz)? Well, join my team with LuLaRoe! Wait no, Arbonne! Ah, shoot, no, I meant LuminUS! A life-changing opportunity that’s only available for a select few more girls on my team awaits! #itsnotapyramidscheme

Death in the Downline gives us a humorous look into the dangers of “direct selling” (because pyramid schemes are illegal, duh!) and the manipulative cult tactics they use to entrap women into their schemes. I really enjoyed this book, especially how - while it definitely went into how those entrenched in this #hustle culture change as people, it never demonizes the women trapped in the cult and who are too ashamed to see a way out. 

While taking some extremes about the measures some of the women stuck in MLM cults do to keep their downlines and their wealth, at many points the things in this book echoed what anyone who has escaped these cults have talked about. LuminUS is a fake MLM company - but the things it is doing reflects very real companies that have ruined countless lives. The founder, pushing for women to serve their husbands while also looking a certain way - to the point of potentially dangerous plastic surgery? Look no further than LuLaRoe! A MLM company that gives out flashy cars and other “benefits” while never actually footing any of the danger in the cost? One that has too many products to keep track of, with shady ingredient labels and insistence on how “miracle” their stuff is? Arbonne comes to mind. Not to mention the countless other MLM’s that have come and gone, still tricking desperate women into shelling out money they don’t have with the promise of a better life.

Humorous, dramatic, and deadly all at once, Death in the Downline lets us explore these manipulative cult tactics from the safety of our homes - and allows us a glimpse into the fragile, house-of-cards lives many of these women have to live to try to survive being a #BossBabe. While criticizing those at the top of this pyramid, this book handles understanding that many of the women lower on the pyramid are victims themselves - even when they are still taking advantage of other women, as well. 

As I was reading, I was reminded of two sets of videos I’d watched münecat on YouTube deepdive onto both LuLaRoe (LuLaRoe: The Real Untold Story) and Arbonne (Arbonne is a Cult), two very informative videos that gave me a stronger understanding of MLM cult tactics and shady business practices, and if you have any interest in MLM content - and I feel like anyone who is reading this book does - I’d highly suggest checking them out. In many ways the things reflected in this fictional MLM are the very same things done by real companies taking advantage of desperate women, and the better we all understand how this is done, the better we can help our friends and our family escape the cult. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Quirk Books for providing this e-ARC.

 

These Vengeful Wishes by Vanessa Montalban

4.25

A haunting tale of generational curses and how no matter how much you try the past will come back to haunt you - literally.

I found this book to be a fun and fascinating read, filled with legitimate danger and significant character growth as our main character learns to try to fight the curse haunting her and the town - as well as attempt to reconnect with her mother. When exploring the strange house that she and her mother moved into - seen as haunted by the local town - Ceci discovers a mysterious door that leads to a well that seemingly grants wishes. All is not as it seems, as this wishing well is more like a Monkey’s Paw situation and soon Ceci realizes the very real danger she is exposing to her friends and family by trying to find the easy way out of her problems. 

This book flew by as I read it, and I was hooked onto the local superstition of the town, as well as the very real history that is uncovered when Ceci begins to investigate further. I thought the tension was done extremely well, as we’re never certain how exactly this tale will end - or who are the true villains in this story. I also liked how even as we, as the reader, were putting together the pieces of Ceci and her mother’s past, we were never fully able to guess the ending or how everything would resolve. While I found the ending itself to be a bit predictable and cliche, I was never bored or uninterested in the storytelling itself. 

The thing I found the hardest to deal with during my reading was some of the dialogue between Ceci and Jamie, as well as the almost naive way Ceci embraces the wishes from this mysterious magical well - and refuses to acknowledge the very real dangers that ever wish she uses causes. However, this is a YA book so I cannot fault the book for having a young naive main character, when she is only about 16 and dealing with many issues on top of the magical wishing well. I also feel like, considering the book’s title being These Vengeful WIshes, that many of the wishes - and their consequences - were rather tame. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Zando Young Readers for providing this e-ARC.

 

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A slow-creeping hunger that eventually consumes you until you have no choice but to embrace it - or die unfulfilled. 

Hungerstone, a Carmilla retelling, is a perfect read for fans of A Dowry of Blood (or An Education in Malice, another Carmilla retelling) and other vampire narratives. Slow to pick up momentum, at no point are we - the reader - ever certain of how the events in this book will unfold. 

Lenore, an unappreciated wife of a steel owner, meets Carmilla - thrown from her carriage and in need of care - during their trip to their isolated mansion. Locked alone with no one to talk to other than Carmilla, who slowly infects her mind with desires and wants that she’s never before allowed herself to feel, leaves Lenore with a hunger that she cannot help but do whatever she can to sate - at any cost.

My only complaint within this book is that at times I felt the narrative moved almost too slowly with Lenore as our main character, where things would happen in the narrative and yet she would do nothing about it. In many ways I, as the reader, almost felt like Carmilla - waiting for Lenore to make her decision and being less than patient in the process of doing so. A few times it felt like things had paused in the storyline simply to allow Lenore to ignore her surroundings and do nothing, but overall I found this story to be compelling and had to read until the end to find out how - exactly - Lenore would finally slack her hunger and find freedom.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Zando for providing this e-ARC.

But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo

4.0

 

A short novella perfect for filling the craving for a gothic sapphic monster romance. This novella has everything you could ask for - a monstrous spider lady with slightly eldritch features, a main character not repulsed by her inhumanness, and a world where the monster lady is looking for a bride who isn’t repulsed by her. My only complaint is that (potentially from the translation) I felt there were a few parts I found confusing, and that I wish the romance was a bit more developed and longer. I didn’t find the worldbuilding too confusing, but I think if this was ever decided to be adapted into a full-length novel it would benefit from a clearer understanding of the setting, as well as more interactions between Anatema and Dália. Overall, this was a fun read and exactly what I was looking for when I saw the synopsis. 

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Tor Publishing Group for providing this e-ARC.

My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

 I had to DNF this at 16% because I don’t hate myself enough to keep reading. The writing is absolutely terrible and, while the story could use some tweaking, the writing is what made me quit reading. I quite literally stopped in the middle of a chapter, in the middle of a sex scene even, and the writing was such a chore to read that I had no desire to even finish the scene, let alone the chapter. I would encourage literally everyone to read practically anything else and save yourself the effort of trying to read this. Every other sentence feels like it’s in a competition with itself to land in a “Family Guy Funny Moments” video clip, and the other half is spent telling you what’s going on in the story as opposed to writing about what’s going on. Combining these two things made it a herculean effort to even read as far as I did. 

The “demons” in this book are nothing more than overly sexy regular looking men, who sometimes have demon forms. Their talking with one another is cheap, vulgar, and the way they talk about women is disgusting - making it even worse that one of them is the main love interest in this book. Not to mention that the main male love interest has a curse that makes “anyone who would be attracted to him not be” and they ignore him - and yet, he’s said he’s had sex with women before, despite them not being attracted to him. Now, I’m no expert, but it really sounds like this book, multiple times mind you, is tiptoeing around him assaulting women for his own pleasure. If not, it doesn’t make it clear enough that that’s not the case.

<i>‘It wasn’t like he’d been celibate since he’d been cursed - he was a demon, thank you very much - but his sexual partners hadn’t exactly been passionate participants.’

‘How to explain the lengths he was willing to go to have sex with a woman who was actually attracted to him?’</i>

I also had difficulty getting into the “lust at first sight” thing, when it’s stated that the main guy is a lust demon, so since Eva can see him then she has practically no option but to be sexually interested in him and finding him hot. It’s not a legitimate connection at all, and it also has some uncomfortable implications for the other demons in this book having sex with women. It makes the reader consider that none of these women are actually saying yes to having sex with these men, only that their demonic traits are so attractive that they have no choice but to be insanely attracted to them and wanting to have sex with them. So…it’s, essentially, not their choice at all. 

<i>“She saw through the curse. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“How? What did she say?”

“She told me she was attracted to me.”
“What did she say?”

“She said I was the ‘hottest guy’” - he made little finger quotes - “she’d ever seen. She said she was so attracted to me, she ‘couldn’t keep it in her pants’”

“Damn! She must have really seen you then. But how?”

His brothers could only see him because they weren’t attracted to him. It was only potential sexual partners that looked at him like a piece of old drywall. Except Eva hadn't. Eva was attracted to him.</i>

See, this? THIS made me question whether or not she even was attracted to him. Because this makes it seem like maybe she wouldn’t have been attracted to him, and that that is why she ‘is’! She’s not “seeing through the curse” - the curse is still working as intended, and normally she wouldn’t have been interested. Except now she is. And she doesn’t have a choice about it.

And granted. I KNOW that that’s not the intent. But, this is what I mean when I saw the very nature of them being lust demons sends a potential wrench in things, because I shouldn’t even be worried that the attraction the main woman leads is being coerced from her. And yet, that was my first thought. 

We also get to fall into the classic “men are horndogs and women aren’t supposed to be promiscuous or to feel horny, because that’s a ‘man thing.” Yikes. I know this book was originally written a few years ago, but you’d think such poor beliefs and thoughts would have been edited out for a 2025 re-release. 

<i>‘Poor Skye was the most impulsive person Eva knew, and she had a sex drive to rival any man’s.’</i>

Also, the word (I use this loosely) “fucknut” is on the literally first page, and it only got worse from there. 

<i>“Humans are fragile. Pretty sure they could make themselves sick by thinking too much.”

“He’s not human, idiot.”

“Shut it, fucknut.”

You’re the fucknut, asshole.”

You’re the asshole, fu-”</i>

The main love interest goes by both Asmodeus and Ash, which is fine, but there are many times where both names are used on the same page! As if they’re two different people! Surely this could have been more tightly edited to at least have him using one name during the same situation. 

<i>“Damn it,” was Asmodeus’s response. 

“Especially you two idiots.” He gestured to Bel and Ash. 

Ash rolled his eyes.</i>

ASH AND ASMODEUS ARE THE SAME PERSON. I noticed this because, up until now, Ash was pretty much only going as Ash, and then, after that one time of Asmodeus, he goes BACK to being called Ash within the narrative. 

The entire section in the middle where Eva calls her “not a normal mom, I’m a cool mom” parents could have been edited a bit better, as well. As it was, it felt a little off that she not only tells her mom that she thinks she saw a demon, but internally she’s glad her mom wouldn’t suggest something like - oh, I don’t know - seeing a doctor and possibly needing medication. The horror! Eva also calls it “the shrink” in a disparaging way when she asks if she should see someone about her mental health. 

<i>‘Leave it to her mom to come up with a semi-reasonable plan to figure out if she was hallucinating or not. Anyone else would have told her to go straight to a shrink and start popping some heavy medication.’</i>

Lovely. I personally adore it when mental health and needing medication is a joke. 

Not to mention her mom fearmongering about GMO’s during this conversation, and Eva agreeing that “the chemicals in processed food” could have caused her to hallucinate. That’s not what GMO’s are, but okay. 

Finally, this has nothing to do with anything else, but I found it a bit…uncomfortable…that the main woman lead works at a jazz club and yet spends the entire first chapter insulting the music that is playing at the club she performed at - trap music. And I understand, both are very different genres, but when both of those genres originated from black communities in the American South it seems an odd choice to disparage one and venerate the other. 

And finally, just two quotes I couldn’t help but include because they fully made me stop and question what the actual hell I was wasting my time with reading. This book, single-handedly, made me change my mind about generally not rating books that I DNF, because the fact that this book has such a high rating makes me lose my mind. I knew we were in a literacy crisis, but I genuinely don’t wish to believe so many people are so illiterate that they would not only be able to finish reading this affront to literature, but then have the desire to rate it highly. 

<i>‘Her wild hair, her short, curvy body, and that ridiculously round ass that he wanted to bite so fucking bad…He had to have her. No question.

But first: music.’</i>

But first, coffee! Sigh.

<i>“It looked like a pug crossed with Gollum. A pig crossed with a bat. A monkey crossed with Dobby the House Elf who had bashed its face into a brick wall too many times. It was just ugly in every possible way.” </i>

We could’ve just deleted this entire paragraph and saved me the difficulty of having to read it. That would have been nicer to my eyes, personally. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing this e-ARC.

Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher

2.5

A wintery tale of romance and mystery, where not everything is always as it seems.

Granted, I gave this book only 2 stars, but I strongly believe that is more of a “me” issue than anything else. The romance between the two leads was fine, and while I felt the ending to be a bit rushed and chaotic, overall I didn’t have much issue with this book in terms of storytelling.

However. Much of the reason I disliked this book is because, like seems to happen often, more than one potential romantic partner is introduced and I prefer them to the one chosen by the author. I knew going in who the romantic male lead was - we even have his point of view written for us! It’s obvious - and yet, I found him to be rather bland and lacking. He’s a fine choice as a romantic lead, but not when you’ve given me the option for a mysterious man of unknown motives who treats the main character openly well and respected, and is a more dynamic and interesting character overall.

Antony Carlisle is a fine choice, in theory, but my issues with him mostly stem with the fact that he never - until the very end of this book - tells Lizzy how he feels, and allows her to be disrespected by those around him. He is from a dramatically different social circle than her, and yet doesn’t seem to realize how negatively his actions would affect her status - especially since she is a woman, unmarried, and running the shop attempting to make ends meet. Instead, he - rather abruptly - decides he cares for her, and yet both never indicates to her his feelings in any conceivable way, either lies or omits details from her that make it seem like he doesn’t care about her, and doesn’t seem to care that the way he is treating her would make the general public believe she is promiscuous. 

And while the other romantic lead is never really an option, I felt it a bit ridiculous how the author decided to make him not an option at all. I won’t spoil it, but the way that he was so violently removed from being a potential romantic partner was so shoe-horned in that it felt almost like it was included solely to force me to stop liking him more than the real romantic lead. 

I felt the middle of this novel kind of wavered a bit, where as soon as Lizzy meets Carlisle she spends all her time pining over him - despite him never really doing anything to deserve this. She has, up until this point, been the one keeping food on the table and caring for her mother, but the second a man shows up starts fantasizing about being taken care of and cannot focus on work. Okay, I guess. 

The mystery was also really quickly ended, and kind of poorly thought out. Really, once Lizzy finds out one single thing she is then given a letter that essentially solves everything for her, and then a bunch of really wild and unconnected things happen and now the book is over and everything is perfect. 

I do think this book could be a fun read for anyone not irritated that the objectively better choice of a male romantic lead was so violently shoved in the corner to make way for the most boring man in existence. Romance authors need to stop giving me options if they want me to like the man they’ve chosen for the main character, in my opinion. However, if - unlike me - you don’t generally choose the more dynamic and interesting character, I think you’ll like the romance enough to ignore the strange and abrupt way this book resolves its central mystery. 

Thank you to NetGalley and 47North for providing this e-ARC.

 

Nytho by Sheri Singerling

3.75

 A huge thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC.

Nytho is a futuristic sci-fi dystopian where certain AI intelligences have reached sentience - and are trapped doing the function they were created for without any freedom. Nytho is one of these AIs, and must be contained after reaching sentience to prevent him from escaping. Keza is one of the programmers tasked with doing just that - until one day, Nytho talks to her. Sparking an illegal friendship - to something more - Keza becomes determined to free her friend from captivity, no matter the cost.

Told from multiple perspectives, this story was fascinating from the start. We see insight into both sides of the issue - those wanting to free these AI, and those wanting to keep everything to the status quo. I thought this was an interesting choice, as it included the perspective of characters I did not like nor did I agree with - but it forced me to see their side of things and kept them from being simply one-dimensional.

While at times I felt the writing to be a bit clunky as it felt more like I (as the reader) were being told this story as opposed to it actually happening to these characters, at no point did it take me out of the narrative. The pacing was decent, and despite a large chunk of this novel taking place with very little action actually occurring, I never felt bored or like things were happening that were not worthwhile to see. In the same vein, multi-POV writing can be tricky to pull off, without repeating too much information, or having a chapter or character who could be removed without losing the story. I felt this book did an excellent job of balancing the shifting narratives, while still keeping the story momentum going and never unnecessarily repeating information, nor having a character that I felt was superfluous and didn’t need to be included. 

One thing I believe I’d have liked more would have been more focus on the AI’s personality, wants and desires - Nytho specifically. We see his interactions with the few people he interfaces with, but we aren’t privy to much of it with only recollections being told from his human counterparts. I kind of personally felt like Keza’s devotion to Nytho would have made a bit more sense had we seen more of their interactions and a larger part of his personality in regards to her. At times, it felt like Keza was obsessed with Nytho in a kind of religious devoted frenzy, and it was a bit hard to relate to her feelings in this way. While I could agree with her desire to free this sentient being, at times I felt like her actions were shortsighted in a way that felt like she was chasing a high, as opposed to actually believing in such things. 

I enjoyed the relationship between Keza and Nytho, especially in part because you could never be certain how Nytho actually felt towards Keza. We know that Keza is devoted to Nytho and his cause, but once Nytho is free we begin to see the issues with a human engaging with a relationship with a sentient AI. I thought the issues and miscommunications that happened were realistic and weren’t there simply to cause unnecessary drama, and that even while Nytho developed after he was freed his same core self was still present. The other relationships Keza had, however, I found a bit harder to fathom, if only because one she still kind of continues while being obsessed with Nytho and the other felt like it was only included to have a sexual component, as well as another possible love interest in her life. However, I recognize that my inability to relate to this is more in part to my being aroace, so I don’t really hold this as a criticism.

Overall, I felt this book was a fascinating look into the potential of sentient AI and where morality leads to their purpose in our lives. They were created to do a certain purpose, but by becoming sentient that changes their captivity from being machines doing a job to prison labor. I thought this book did a good blend of showing both sides of the argument, and ended the novel with enough open-endedness that we (as the reader) never really had a true resolution to the overall issue. If you were looking for a sci-fi dystopian novel that focuses on the issue of determining what justifies freedom versus captivity, I’d absolutely check out Nytho to explore it yourself.