ghiblireads's reviews
484 reviews

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Every book in this series has been amazing and this one was no exception! I love these characters so much and they’re so much fun to read about. They’re a little crazy, quirky and get into a lot of trouble but that’s what makes them so special. My favourite characters will always be Bogdan and Ibrahim. As always it was really well written - it was well paced and intriguing but still cozy. The plot was interesting and had layers to it which I loved trying to unravel. It was pretty dark which was balanced out with the humour. It wasn’t necessarily twisty but I still enjoyed how everything came together and was revealed. This book was definitely a lot heavier and sadder than the previous ones. I didn’t love it enough to give it 5 stars - I found the mystery a little too unrealistic this time. However, it was still an excellent book that I loved! 

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

This is definitely not the best book in the series but it was still an enjoyable read! I love these characters so much that any book with them in is automatically likeable to me. It was really interesting to get some more of Anna’s backstory and childhood - I actually would have preferred a book focused more on that and when she first left home. There was quite a lot going on in this book which made it feel a little messy. I love Michael so much and I was sad that he didn’t even have one scene with Anna. I feel like some of the subplots (Shawna and Jakes especially) could have been dropped so that the focus was more on Anna. It was a really moving story about regret and family. Overall I liked it but not as much as the previous books in this series. 

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really loved the previous two books I read from this author but unfortunately this one just didn’t do it for me. There were definitely some positives: Avery was a great main character, it was mysterious with some good twists and I really liked the ending. It had a pretty slow but solid start and I liked the way it introduced all the characters and storylines. To begin with, I thought the main plot would be the murder of Cameron and whether Victoria was guilty or not but I feel like somewhere in the book it took a back seat to Avery’s storyline. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but I was incredibly confused at times and I just wasn’t really enjoying reading it by the half way point. It was slow moving because there was just too much going on. There were some unexpected twists in both plotlines that I liked and I enjoyed the final section a lot more. It left me with some questions which was a little annoying. I will still read from this author again but hopefully the next one will be better than this. 

Home by Harlan Coben

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Harlan Coben never misses. This was an amazing thriller and probably one of my favourites in the entire series. It was dark, twisty and heartbreaking. I loved getting some of Win’s POV - he is my favourite character and so much fun to read about. Myron actually took a backseat in this and in my opinion Win was the star of the show. The writing was great, it was fast paced and a definite page turner. The plot was quite complex and there were some twists that I wasn’t expecting. I had a lot of theories but none were exactly right - I loved the reveal and what it ended up being. The last few chapters were intense and the ending was very emotional. I loved the final twists in the epilogue and the ending in general was amazing. 

Chlorine by Jade Song

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow… this was an amazing book. It was less of a horror than I expected and more of a beautiful, dark coming of age story. There were so many things that I loved: obsession, sapphic romance, mythology and quiet horror. I loved the way it was written and the letters from Cathy added another layer to the book. It was reflective and melancholy in tone which I adored. All the talk of swimming was really interesting and I enjoyed learning about the sport. The toxicity of the competitive world was hard to read about - I felt for Ren and hated Jim. I enjoy when characters are passionate about something so seeing Ren’s love of swimming and mermaids develop into an obsession was something I loved. Ren was a good character to follow and I loved seeing her story. The body horror was fantastic and made my skin crawl a little!! Yes there could have been more but I actually think there was the perfect amount. The final chapters were shocking and disturbing yet almost beautiful. I think there were a lot of important messages in this book - about race, love, growing up and being who you want to be. 

In the Dark by Cara Hunter

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I bought this book randomly because the name and synopsis interested me - it turned out to be a fun little sci-fi read that I liked! It was written in a bit of a strange way that took me a while to get used to but I did love the humour in it. The characters were actually really good; I especially loved Annie and Ed but even the side characters were well written. Annie was such a unique character which I loved. The plot was slow moving for the first half - nothing much happens but I did enjoy learning about the town, the spaceship and the characters. Once things did start to happen it was a little stranger than I was expecting and I’m not convinced that I fully loved it. I’m not sure if I would read the sequel or not. Overall, I did enjoy this book. 

Small Game by Blair Braverman

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was an interesting book. I can definitely understand why people don’t like it - I think it was marketed wrong because it is definitely not a mystery/thriller. It was a slowish paced survival story that focused a lot on the people and it turned out to be something that I loved. The writing was really good and I loved the descriptions of the nature. The set up was great: a group of strangers left to survive in the woods. The reality TV show part was fun and I liked just following the characters during their days. When the crew went ‘missing’ it got a lot more tense and exciting. Mara was a really good character although I didn’t love her relationship with Ashley - it could have been better developed. Bullfrog and Kyle were interesting too. It was a really atmospheric and strangely beautiful story about humans and their survival. This book did ambiguity really well and I personally loved the ending. It left me with questions but I still felt satisfied with it. 

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh my god this book was so good. C.J. Tudor always manages to write books that are the perfect amount horror and thriller. This book was no exception: it was so well written, atmospheric and very hard to put down. I absolutely loved that it had literal vampyrs in it. It was so interesting to learn about the Colonies and to see a world where humans and vampires co-exist. It added a whole extra layer to the story. Instead of a murder mystery this book was so much more - it was both exciting and at times scary. There were some twists that I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed all the reveals that the mystery had. I loved the characters; Barbara was a great, strong female lead and I also liked Tucker too. Athelinda was interesting and had a tough backstory. The ending was heart-racing and quite shocking too - it left me with some questions but also the hope that there could be a sequel…. I REALLY hope there will be because I literally loved this book so much. An easy 5 stars. 

Finders Keepers by Stephen King

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was so much better than Mr Mercedes and i’m glad that I decided to continue the series. I really enjoyed that this was a book about books and I loved the exploration of obsession. It definitely has a Misery vibe to it at the beginning! The way it’s written isn’t like a traditional thriller and it isn’t the fastest paced either. There weren’t any twists or mysteries that the reader needed to solve. I did like watching Hodges, Holly and Jerome work things out and once the action started it was really exciting. I love the characters and their relationships with each other - Holly is definitely my favourite and I can relate to her the most. Even though I did enjoy this book, I still think King writes better horror than thrillers. Overall it was a very good book and I will be picking up the third in the series. 

The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I bought this book randomly because the name and synopsis interested me - it turned out to be a fun little sci-fi read that I liked! It was written in a bit of a strange way that took me a while to get used to but I did love the humour in it. The characters were actually really good; I especially loved Annie and Ed but even the side characters were well written. Annie was such a unique character which I loved. The plot was slow moving for the first half - nothing much happens but I did enjoy learning about the town, the spaceship and the characters. Once things did start to happen it was a little stranger than I was expecting and I’m not convinced that I fully loved it. I’m not sure if I would read the sequel or not. Overall, I did enjoy this book.