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findingmontauk1's reviews
900 reviews
Danganronpa: The Animation Volume 2 by Takashi Tsukimi, Jackie McClure
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Volume 2 of Danganronpa: The Animation did not disappoint or slack off in the slightest! If anything, it did the exact opposite. Where Volume 1 excelled in introducing us to this quirky and fatal school, the sadistic 'headmaster,' and all the Ultimate Students, Volume 2 completely throws curveball after curveball with killer twists! I gasped multiple times and screamed, "WHAAAAAT?!" Such a good second installment in this series and I cannot wait for Volumes 3 and 4 to arrive on my doorstep because I need to read them ASAP. I am absolutely loving this!
Blood, Flesh, and Tears by Robert Weber
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
3.5
BLOOD, FLESH, AND TEARS by Robert Weber read as a blend of dark fantasy, action, and horror. These pages are dripping with blood and bodily fluids. The pages are full of mutilations, stabbings, and slit throats. We follow Daemos (who gives me Kratos from God of War vibes just based on how strong and badass he is) and the lives of others living in Viscrucia, a place where there is a Carving Market / art alley of blood soaked canvases, living & flayed art masterpieces, and more. Blood covers the streets and violence is just a way of life. This definitely sounds like a place most of us would never want to visit let alone live. You really never knew who is going to get killed or who is going to be gifted to see another day in this story that will keep your focus until the end! And the ending is definitely one that will satisfy each reader on this bloody journey!
Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
5.0
Another fun Goosebumps re-read and this one had an ending I totally forgot about! A fun take on vampires and time travel as two friends try to stay alive and get home, VAMPIRE BREATH is entertaining and quite easy to devour on a lunch break. No issues with this one!
Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
After seeing this making the rounds online for a bit I decided it was time to pick this one up! And wow I cannot believe I waited so long to dive into SAVING RUBY KING by Catherine Adel West. I expected this to be just a good contemporary fiction piece, and was pleasantly surprised when I started to realize there were some elements of mystery/thriller in place. It's not going to be some "on the edge of your seat thriller," but there are elements that give this book some mysterious shocks and twists. A lot of that can be credited to the format of the book and the handful of POVs and time periods we are experiencing. The book focuses on Ruby and the recent murder of her mother. She is not in a good place with her dad and her life on the job front is not exactly giving her the best life has to offer either. And each POV and timeline starts to connect Ruby, her best friend, Layla, and her family, and quite possible her mother's murder. I had quite a few theories as to what was going on - most of them wrong! Family secrets and generational trauma are brought to the forefront in this book and it had me racing to the finish just to see how everything comes together - and it did NOT disappoint!
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
emotional
slow-paced
2.0
Hmm... reading a book about a pandemic while being in one may not have been the best idea. And this book is also like... just a lot of birthing scenes and descriptions. There's a lot of birthing going on in here. I'm here for the LGBT aspects. But this book was just not for me... I have never been a huge historical fiction fan and this book does help to reaffirm that for me. Everything was a little too slow for my liking, as well. I listened to this book and am glad because it had an Irish narrator - so that made it flow a little better - and I heard the book does not use quotation marks. Ugh... bye... I do not have the time or energy to wonder if someone is thinking to themselves or talking to someone else. Use quotation marks, people!
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
4.0
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING is a book that is described on the back cover as a cross between Get Out and Rear Window. Combining those two films, I could already guess there would be themes or blending of social commentary, racial inequity, and paranoia. Score! This book explores all of those themes and more amidst the overarching practice of gentrification. In an effort to understand more about her own neighborhood and the changes impacting it, young Sydney Green meets tour guide Theo and the two start to dive deep into this mystery before them.
Alyssa Cole can write! She creates two strong characters from the start and her descriptions of the city and connections to Black history are remarkable. The book toggles back and forth from Sydney and Theo's POVs with brief intermissions between each chapter consisting of comments/messages in a local neighborhood social media app. It is quite interesting to see some of the new and old residents in this neighborhood being gentrified and how they interact with each other (one of my favorites is when this white woman says she will bring potato salad with raisins to the block party... lol)
I enjoyed this story but I either wish it had been shorter or had a quicker build up. I enjoy all thrillers, but those with slower build ups tend to weigh on me and drag a bit. I know many people adore that slow burn with a crescendo that burns hard, but I like a thriller that is constantly making me gasp as compared to one that just has me continually wondering when something is going to be right around the corner, so to speak. The slow burn DOES work in this book and I can see why that was chosen over something more fast-paced. Around 2/3 of the book we start to get pretty wild and that was what I was living for! 4 stars!
Alyssa Cole can write! She creates two strong characters from the start and her descriptions of the city and connections to Black history are remarkable. The book toggles back and forth from Sydney and Theo's POVs with brief intermissions between each chapter consisting of comments/messages in a local neighborhood social media app. It is quite interesting to see some of the new and old residents in this neighborhood being gentrified and how they interact with each other (one of my favorites is when this white woman says she will bring potato salad with raisins to the block party... lol)
I enjoyed this story but I either wish it had been shorter or had a quicker build up. I enjoy all thrillers, but those with slower build ups tend to weigh on me and drag a bit. I know many people adore that slow burn with a crescendo that burns hard, but I like a thriller that is constantly making me gasp as compared to one that just has me continually wondering when something is going to be right around the corner, so to speak. The slow burn DOES work in this book and I can see why that was chosen over something more fast-paced. Around 2/3 of the book we start to get pretty wild and that was what I was living for! 4 stars!
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
What a book! And the verse format is just brilliant - and I think that is also a huge takeaway from this book as it focuses on faith, resilience, and art in the worst situations. Ibi Zoboi's writing is stunning and the assist from Dr. Yusef Salaam (of the Exonerated Five from the "Central Park jogger" case) helps to make this story even more powerful. A lot of Black stories dealing with injustice I have read have not focused on the time IN prison as much as this story does. It was quite consuming and emotional to see this young Black man fighting to stay who he is and not turn into a monster, ravaging himself with defeat and guilt. He does focus frequently on the Butterfly Effect and what small change(s) he could have made in the day of and days prior to the event that unjustly threw him into jail. But he uses that comparison, his art, and his love for family and a potential future to keep him grounded. Zoboi and Salaam have put together a remarkable YA book (even though this definitely speaks to non-YA readers as well) here that is definitely recommended!
The Curse of the Mountain by Tyler Cram
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
When there is splatter brain matter on the first two pages and the next chapter includes someone being gutted, that is a sign to me I am reading a book I will absolutely enjoy! Does that make me a psychopath? Perhaps.
But THE CURSE OF THE MOUNTAIN is so much more those first few pages. And there are some seriously dark and bloody scenes in this book, but there's not so much this would turn off any reader who enjoys horror or something a little dark. This is a coming-of-age tale rooted in friendships and family, this is a small town mystery, and this is a story with a flesh-bound book that calls forth beastly werewolves, demonic spiders, and even some these creepy pinhole eye people! And on a heavier level it explores our own humanity, or sometimes lack thereof, with topics of racism, bigotry, sexuality, death, and more. It really has a lot going on and it's written in a way that I fell in love with the setting so much that, despite the horrors of the small town and the mountain, I want to go hiking. WHO AM I? I just read a book that's like, "Yeah, this is a nasty evil place. Don't go there." So my first inclination IS to go there to see what the fuss is all about... because that is how great this writing is to me! And I love a story with an epilogue... because that always gives the chance there might be a sequel! 4.5 stars rounded up on Goodreads!
Side note: I SO want to see this as a movie! I can see it being extremely creepy given the appropriate director, cinematographer, sound crew, and cast!
But THE CURSE OF THE MOUNTAIN is so much more those first few pages. And there are some seriously dark and bloody scenes in this book, but there's not so much this would turn off any reader who enjoys horror or something a little dark. This is a coming-of-age tale rooted in friendships and family, this is a small town mystery, and this is a story with a flesh-bound book that calls forth beastly werewolves, demonic spiders, and even some these creepy pinhole eye people! And on a heavier level it explores our own humanity, or sometimes lack thereof, with topics of racism, bigotry, sexuality, death, and more. It really has a lot going on and it's written in a way that I fell in love with the setting so much that, despite the horrors of the small town and the mountain, I want to go hiking. WHO AM I? I just read a book that's like, "Yeah, this is a nasty evil place. Don't go there." So my first inclination IS to go there to see what the fuss is all about... because that is how great this writing is to me! And I love a story with an epilogue... because that always gives the chance there might be a sequel! 4.5 stars rounded up on Goodreads!
Side note: I SO want to see this as a movie! I can see it being extremely creepy given the appropriate director, cinematographer, sound crew, and cast!
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I have seen this book/series all over the place for a few years now and knew it was just time to check it out. I have to admit it took me about 30-50 pages to fully understand what was happening. It literally is about a whole new world/set of worlds, the vocab and speech was new and odd, and I had no idea who this cast of characters I started meeting were or would turn out to be. But I am so glad I stuck with it because I can definitely see how this is setting up a wonderful series!
Imagine going down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass, or into a painting and to a brand new magical world (as we have seen in movies and books our whole lives, right?) But what happens when you return to the real world? Most movies and books end then. And most of the time you might even age in the magical world and return to the age you were before disappearing when you go home. Here we have a group of kids in a school who have all undergone the same experience but to different worlds with different rules and laws of reality. Oh and some of these characters are SO fun and I can just tell they are going to be wonderful to get to know.
I am giving this one 3.5 stars - but only because it was only a ~170 page book that did not really flesh out the characters, their worlds, etc enough for me YET. I know most of the books in this series are around the same length, but I still have a feeling that so much will be revealed to me the more of these I read and I am excited!
Imagine going down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass, or into a painting and to a brand new magical world (as we have seen in movies and books our whole lives, right?) But what happens when you return to the real world? Most movies and books end then. And most of the time you might even age in the magical world and return to the age you were before disappearing when you go home. Here we have a group of kids in a school who have all undergone the same experience but to different worlds with different rules and laws of reality. Oh and some of these characters are SO fun and I can just tell they are going to be wonderful to get to know.
I am giving this one 3.5 stars - but only because it was only a ~170 page book that did not really flesh out the characters, their worlds, etc enough for me YET. I know most of the books in this series are around the same length, but I still have a feeling that so much will be revealed to me the more of these I read and I am excited!
Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Well, this book sure makes me glad that my book club meetings don't put nasty little dark twists on classic drinking games that ultimately result in PTSD, deaths, and a whole lot of tension. It's the small things, right?
NEVER HAVE I EVER took me about 40 pages or so to fully get into - I had thought about DNFing. At the end of the day, these neighborhood women did not really seem interesting enough to me to invest in and I think the appearance of mystery neighbor Roux to their book club was forced and just did not mesh well with any bit of the story. From then on, however flipsy-flopsy the pacing became, we get to see two women who never stopped playing a game with each other: Amy and Roux. Roux wants something from Amy. And Amy is not sure if she wants to give it to her - whoever she is or claims to be.
I will say that the middle of this book had hooked me more than the beginning (the poorly out of place book club turned 7th grade slumber party) and the end (what seemed to be the never-ending scuba dive and plot twist straight out of hell). I started to care about Amy, her past, and this new future and life she had built with her recent husband, stepdaughter, and their infant son. All in all, this was a LIGHT domestic thriller (may be more of a drama even) and I like my thrillers with a little more bite. 3.5 stars and I will keep an eye out for more of her works!
NEVER HAVE I EVER took me about 40 pages or so to fully get into - I had thought about DNFing. At the end of the day, these neighborhood women did not really seem interesting enough to me to invest in and I think the appearance of mystery neighbor Roux to their book club was forced and just did not mesh well with any bit of the story. From then on, however flipsy-flopsy the pacing became, we get to see two women who never stopped playing a game with each other: Amy and Roux. Roux wants something from Amy. And Amy is not sure if she wants to give it to her - whoever she is or claims to be.
I will say that the middle of this book had hooked me more than the beginning (the poorly out of place book club turned 7th grade slumber party) and the end (what seemed to be the never-ending scuba dive and plot twist straight out of hell). I started to care about Amy, her past, and this new future and life she had built with her recent husband, stepdaughter, and their infant son. All in all, this was a LIGHT domestic thriller (may be more of a drama even) and I like my thrillers with a little more bite. 3.5 stars and I will keep an eye out for more of her works!