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essjay's reviews
562 reviews
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality by John Darnielle
4.75
This is how Cyrus Roger got sent to the school where they told him he'd never be famous.
When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you.
Hail Satan.
When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you.
Hail Satan.
My Time Machine by Carol Lay
4.0
Add another to my list of melancholy time travel 2024 releases pile. Can't help comparing it to the other things I've read and as such, it suffers a little. Still enjoyed quite a bit (the framing device of using Wells' The Time Machine as a non-fiction starting point was absolutely inspired), and will probably push it on a few people if asked.
Werecockroach by Polenth Blake
4.5
Probably my favourite alien invasion story I've read this year (which I was not expecting, given I didn't read the back copy or any reviews).
That's What She Said: A Novel by Eleanor Pilcher
2.0
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. Yay for queer-platonic relationships! Boo for being too handhold-y and having two PoV characters that read exactly the same.
The Divine Flesh by Drew Huff
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I love splatterpunk. I love cosmic horror. I love weird shit.
I did NOT love this. Disjointed and difficult to follow (in a bad way) and I found myself not caring enough to keep going.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I love splatterpunk. I love cosmic horror. I love weird shit.
I did NOT love this. Disjointed and difficult to follow (in a bad way) and I found myself not caring enough to keep going.
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
4.75
I guess this is the year for melancholy time fuckery? Here for it.
I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander
A lot less romcom-y than I was expecting, given the title and cover, BUT I still had a good time with it. Looking forward to an eventual adaptation.
3.75
"Just a story," she repeated, shaking her head. She was looking past me, the flickering lights of the candles snapping fire in her dark eyes. "As if stories are not the most powerful things we have."
A lot less romcom-y than I was expecting, given the title and cover, BUT I still had a good time with it. Looking forward to an eventual adaptation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism and Death of parent
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
5.0
Don't get me wrong, I love TEA, but this is where all of my favourite pieces start coming together.
Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen
4.75
Genuinely didn't think one of my top new releases of 2024 would be a middle grade novel I read aloud to my 14y/o.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.