erin0999's reviews
188 reviews

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

funny lighthearted medium-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

4.0

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

challenging funny reflective tense 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

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This might be the most perfectly paced book I have ever read. Like wow. AND within 250 pages? Get outta here! Susanna Clarke, I revere you.

This book was beautifully written, has one of the coolest settings that just set up shop in my mind so perfectly, and had a plot that was totally unexpected. She writes an insane character so well and the way we see the plot unfold and piece together the puzzle the same time Piranesi does was such an exciting experience for me. I stayed up late last night to finish it because I just had to know how it ended! And then once it ended, I immediately reread like the first 20 pages!! I can’t remember the last time I did something like that! But wow, I’m so glad I enjoyed this so much

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account Of The Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

youthjuice by E.K. Sathue

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

Ok, this book took me a long minute to get into but then I read 70% of it last night and stayed up til 1:30 AM to finish it which I haven’t done for a book in a long time. I just had to know what was going on and to see the characters end up alright in the end. I really loved the messaging in those book, the way we can hold onto our generational trauma and have that consume our lives as well as the desperation to completely avoid it. I love the message that your family is something you can find and make for yourself and that it doesn’t have to shackle you. It had me very weepy at the end. I love the setting, Starling House feels like a version of Howl’s Moving Castle, and Eden, Kentucky feels so real. You can tell Harrow loves Kentucky. I love the fabricated history that feels so close to real life and the way stories pass through oration. There were so many elements that helped with the immersion. 

Also, I gotta say, I personally don’t like the male protagonist who is broody and quiet with a heart of gold, but Arthur Starling really got me swooning and kicking my feet and I kinda resent that lol

I definitely need to keep reading Alix E. Harrow, this was my first full length novel by her (her short story, Six Deaths of the Saint, is one of the greatest short stories of all time to me) and I loved it.

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Excuse me, who tf put a cliffhanger final line in my romance book series

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

Angry, vengeful, bloody, gay, and SO horny. I really enjoyed the setting and there’s a definite catharsis to the ending. This book was a fast and wild ride and if you just want to read something short and angry that takes place in a particularly interesting point in time and involves a particularly interesting group of healthcare workers in America, the Frontier Nurse.

I attended Lee Mandelo’s lecture in Richmond, VA a couple weeks ago where he discussed the inspiration for this book, the explanation for certain scenes, and the overall sex positivity/horniness he wants to bring to queer art. All of which I massively enjoyed and support and comes through super honestly in this novella. Anyways, sometimes revenge fantasies are fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Lesbophobia