haileyrt's reviews
333 reviews

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

A YA perfect mystery where 18 year old girls have to be cutthroat, vicious, and cruel to fight for what they think they deserve, a place in the Remington family and their next generation's hand in marriage. I felt like so much of the story in the beginning was left to interpretation, and even though Hawthorne, Presathelia, and Esme kind of explained what happened between Adina and Esme that ended up with her getting her college offers rescinded, I still didn't fully understand what happened. Did they get in a fight and she got caught??? Why did they fight??? Besides this, I really enjoyed the twists and turns this book took me through, and the ending was so good. I still don't quite understand why the girls fought for Pierce, someone who only few of the characters actually know. I'm sure they all had there reasons as to why they wanted to compete in the Finish, but the fact that despite all the death and suffering of the other girls....they just kept....going?!? I mean there wasn't much they could do and escape could've been deadly or ended with something happening to your parents, but all these elite daughters from rich families and they were just okay with them being there knowing the consequences since it was a tradition??? Okey. Besides this, I still thought the dialogue and the writing was superb. Will read more from this author!

Night of the Living Queers by Shelly Page, Alex Brown

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

Great anthology full of interesting, quick-paced, queer mysteries/thrillers. The second to last story (the Southeast Asian rep) was the saddest and my absolute favorite next to the story with the demon and the high schooler trying to save his little brother. 

There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

A decent, final-girl YA mystery book with diverse characters. Not really incredibly scary or horror-based, but does have some slight gore. I'm not 100% familiar which "cool-rich-kid" lingo, so a lot of dialogue went over my head and sometimes was a bit corny/cringey. I did like the femcee being a devoted black horror fanatic, but I thought a few parts especially towards the end were a bit preachy. Not an incredible amount of character development besides Noelle, but the different roles each character played were interesting to read about. 

The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The Housemaid's sequel definitely did its job with pulling me out of a reading slump, but there were certain parts of the book that we a bit....I don't know....hard to believe? 

I still don't quite understand the ending, how did Millie get her revenge and how did Marybeth actually screw up her plans? How the hell did the cop that was handling Douglas' case know about Millie's past and was open to helping her out? Where the hell did Russell's cabin come from, and was Douglas the bad guy, or was Wendy the bad guy the entire time?

Despite all of my unanswered questions and slight confusion, I definitely liked the twists and turns the book took me through, and I liked Enzo being in the novel too. I hope to read the next book soon after it's released and hopefully it'll take an interesting turn.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

2.75

This was an okay "final girl" novel. I felt like the beginning and getting into the book was a bit hard since it wasn't the most interesting plot at first, and not much really happened in the beginning that kept me hooked to the story. I also feel like there wasn't much character development until the very end of the book, which wasn't really the best because the characters kind of fell flat for me. Although I see the importance of Lynette's character, she isn't the most interesting outside of the trauma she faced as a "final girl." I feel like the ending just sort of happened during everything that happened at Camp Red Lake, and I don't really feel like things aligned properly. Stephanie towards the ending didn't make much sense, and usually there'd be clues as to what they were up to, and quite frankly I didn't really understand Stephanie's character at all. I've read better Hendrix books, but I thought it was quite strange for him to write a novel about the absurdity and consumption of women in slashers to ultimately do exactly what the story raises questions about. 

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A great mystery novel that gets you out of a reading slump with ease! This book was definitely one of those books that you feel like you have to keep picking it up to read it to find out what happens next, and I definitely think that this was a book that was definitely executed very well. Just when you think you know what's going on, you really don't until the very end. I feel like I enjoyed reading about Millie and Nina throughout the book. Going through each of the three parts definitely took me through a lot of turns, and I feel like once I feel like I think I understand it, something happens and I'm like "OH SHIT WHAT?!" I definitely will check out the sequel!

The Between by Tananarive Due

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? Yes

4.5

My first Tananarive Due book and most certainly will not be my last. Due's writing style and storytelling ability are incredible. Although the beginning is a bit slow, the story building and getting to understand Hilton's conflict is very important to the story, so keeping reading! Once you reach the first threat Dede receives, it only gets more interesting and more challenging to read. After finishing the book and trying to understand what I read, I feel like the story was so good.

I feel like Nana's two deaths was incredibly important to understand what Hilton was going through, although I'm still left with questions. What was "The between" and the "doors" you could go through? Were they different realities/dimensions? Was Raul right or was Andreas right? Did Hilton face the same fate as Marguerite?

Despite the many questions I'm left with, I am quite satisfied with the ending, and the epilogue definitely made me tear up a bit. I can't wait to read more of Due's novels!

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Although the ending of this book was a bit confusing and up to the reader to interpret and understand what just happened (I still have no idea what just happened tbh lol), I really enjoyed this book. As the book is written in second-person, Thiago is grieving and dealing with the loss of his wife Vera, or you. Everything that happened to other characters due to Thiago being cursed was quite interesting and thrilling to read about. There were some spooky moments that made me want to read the whole book but I felt like after the second dog and the veterinarian had came to Thiago's cabin everything gets a bit confusing and gets a tiny bit rushed but I still enjoyed the book nonetheless. 

Resenter (Chapter 1) by Gigi Murakami

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing art and really cool, interesting concept. I love how badass Jackie is!

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

adventurous emotional sad 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

3.5

It has potential and it is an interesting read, but it's not as spooky, thrilling, or exciting as I thought it'd be.