haileyrt's reviews
331 reviews

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

adventurous hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.75

I thought this was a pretty good novel. Besides how slow it felt up to a certain point, and especially the parts where Parks kept lowkey lusting and being a bit too sexual around Helen like they aren't in an apocalypse and having sex is the LAST thing you should be worried about, it was interesting to read about Melanie and her experience as a hungry. It took me a while to get used to the setting and it was good that they offered insight on the backstory of the hungries and how they were put in the situation, instead of leaving us guessing. Not sure if I'd read the sequel as I feel like it's good as a stand-alone, but if you really liked this book I think you'd like the next book. 

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I feel like I didn't necessarily love this book, but I didn't hate it either. I really enjoyed reading about each of the characters Andre, Chloe, and Charles' different perspectives of what's going on around them and how each of them feel and think. I feel like the bigger part of the story was how each of the characters interact with other, what they think about each other, and how they're psychopaths their own ways. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most terribly gripping or surprising, especially towards the end. I feel like it fell flat for me and I felt like there are still some loose ends.

What's Emma's deal? Why was Wyman meeting with her? Was it Trevor or Megan doing all of the sabotage?

I think that Charles and Chloe's relationship/frenemie-ship/friendship was a bit interesting to read, and her telling him how no one will love the darker, psychotic side of him like someone who knows what it's like is.....CRAZY. I wish we could've got more insight with Andre, especially seeing as, at least to me, he wasn't very psychotic, at least compared to Trevor, Chloe, and Charles. I also wish we got more insight earlier into the novel about Wyman's obsession with CRD and the twins, so that the twins being involved can carry and build throughout the story, instead of it developing around the last 80% of the book. 

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

One thing about me, I'm gonna DEVOUR a McFadden book. The plot was interesting and I enjoyed the past/present POVs between Sydney and Tom, but always expect the unexpected. I like how the book leads you to believe one thing, and then NOPE. I wasn't really happy with the ending,

but I did like what happened between Jake and Sydney. The fact that Gretchen did all that and he STILL did what he did is crazy though. Those psychos belong together I guess......

The Housemaid's Wedding: A Short Story by Freida McFadden

hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

Wasn't satisfying until the very end and wasn't as good and surprising as McFadden's other novels, but I did understand that there's not much happening in a short story novel that's meant for their just marriage. I read this after the trilogy but if you haven't read the books yet, I'd read it in between books two and three and if you'd like to read about Enzo and Millie getting married, otherwise it doesn't really add anything important to the series. 

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

This book was pretty good, but not as amazing as I thought it'd be. I suppose main character Theo supposed to be the unreliable narrator, as the way he speaks about himself and everything going around him as he is a savior trying to help everyone and be the hero of the story, which raised a big suspicion to me.

The series of events in the books are separated into different parts, before he found out about Kathy's affair and then when he took Alicia in his care.

I understand what happened with Theo and Alicia in the end, but I don't understand everything with talking to her family members, everything with Jean-Felix, Max, and Christian. I feel like there were a lot of empty subplots that didn't really go anywhere, especially

Diomedes and Yuri getting caught smuggling drugs to Elif at the end.

I feel like the other characters only really added to Theo and Alicia without adding anything to the plot or anything, and I didn't like that there were certain things happening that did get resolved the end, they just kind of happened without adding anything to the narrative. Theo's interactions with Alicia's acquaintances provided insights into Alicia's life and mental state, but outside of that I found a lot of the characters outside of Theo and Alicia to be flat. 

For instance, Jean-Felix's obsession with Alicia's art and Max's unrequited love for her add layers to Alicia's backstory but don't directly influence the main plot. Similarly, the incidents involving Professor Diomedes's departure and Yuri's involvement in smuggling drugs to Elif help illustrate the chaotic environment of The Grove. While these events add depth to the setting, they don't have a significant impact on the narrative.

The biggest part of the story, the familial relationships between Theo and Alicia and their pasts was very interesting to dissect and pick apart. I liked how despite both of them going through childhood trauma and problems with their separate marriages, they both negatively impacted themselves and others around them. I think it really went through the psyche well, and how despite hardship and trauma they will still add to someone else's pain and suffering in their own way. It really adds an interesting perspective on human suffering and how they are affected by the trauma and the world around them. 

I also thought the big reveal was kind of underwhelming but still a bit unexpected, but I can see how other readers did pick up on it earlier in the novel. This is a slow burn mystery novel, so if you want something that's going to take you through everything quick, I wouldn't recommend it, but it's still pretty interesting to see the dynamic between the two MCs. 

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Ushers by Joe Hill

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very interesting plot and conflict, would be a great short film adaptation!

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

"The dead want to die" whew what a line. I thought this novel was pretty good. Even though the first 200 pages were a lot and hard to connect to the actual plot, it still was decent getting into it. I went into this novel completely blind like I do literally almost every book I read, and I promise I would've never thought it'd end like it did. I thought the ending was actually pretty good too, and it was a bit more understandable and easy to follow rather than the beginning since we just jumped straight into the story without a lot of explanation to a lot of the characters. A bit in the novel I felt like there were so many characters and things going on that it felt hard to feel connected to the characters since there were so many in the middle and so much going on alongside Temple dealing with everything going on at the camp. Trying to digest and understand the dynamic of the Baker family while trying to understand the murders and how the victims were affected and while also having to digest what was happening at the campsite was a lot to comprehend at once, but I am satisfied with how it ended and that a slight explanation to what was happening with Temple's family and the victims was given even though I'm still confused about the scarring and how the possessions worked, but this still was a decent read. 

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Something Kindred by Ciera Burch

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

4.0