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halfass_reviewer's reviews
114 reviews
Dissolving Classroom by Junji Ito
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I think of all the Junji Ito I’ve read this is in the top three for sure. I loved the interconnection between all the stories. I also love the ending of the Dissolving Classroom stories. My favorite (although the images of Chizumi in make up may give me night terrors) is “Chizumi in love”. It did a great job of breaking up the dissolving storyline while still adding to the plot and moving it forward. Honestly the book would’ve earned five stars but i didn’t get the reasoning behind including the last two stories (“The Return” and “Children of the Earth”). Had it ended right after “Interview with the Devil” it would’ve been perfect.
The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed about 50% of the stories collected here in 'The Wishing Pool'. It seemed like the ones I loved were way too short and the ones I could've done without dragged for hours. Almost all of the stories left me confused at the end except for maybe one or two. Some confused me from beginning to end and caused me to even reread from the beginning thinking I missed vital information for the story. I get this was supposed to be a collection of short stories, but again someone of the stories could've been cut to make others just a little bit longer. All in all, this was a good collection of stories. What I did love about this collection though was every story was connected in some way (mainly by this imagery city in Florida) but also by the ghosts that haunted people, by the plague that changed the world as we know it, by the way, humanity loves and fights and hates no matter the state of the world. Actually, I think that was the best part of the collection. The connectivity of everything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
I’m only marking it as ‘dnf’ so it doesn’t get lost in my hundreds of tbr list. I’m finished with it for now but I’ll revisit before it’s release day. I’m marking ‘dnf’ because i found the book dragged a bit and was often confusing. Again i just don’t think I’m in the headspace for a high fantasy novel so we’ll give it another go in a week or two
Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
5.0
This was an absolutely adorable book that was also super relatable. As someone who has just started really loving her natural curl pattern, this book was a beauty. All the adults (except Tía Ruby) kind of sucked, but I understood that generational disdain for hair being naturally beautiful without straightening, pressing, or perming it is so very real. It took me years to understand that myself so I understood where her mother, Paola, was coming from in making sure that Camila was "presentable" by having her hair straightened every week/during big family events. I also like the message that all hair is good hair. That is so vital and important in today's society that I appreciate it so very much. I wish more young adult books made a point of mentioning it. It's definitely something that could help young readers (and even some older readers). Also, I need to mention, my favorite character was indeed the chicken, Cantinflas
We Won't Be Here Tomorrow: And Other Stories by Margaret Killjoy
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What I enjoyed so very much about this book was that despite the stories being different they all had this centralized theme of gays and theys saying fuck the government and trying to survive in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world. I enjoyed the characters from each story immensely and I also enjoyed seeing the different ways people just try to make it from day to day. At first, I was confused about why some stories were entered (I'm looking at you random goblin killer story), but then when I got to the end and say that originally all the stories had been written for different publications and then combined it made more sense. The sad part is the stories I loved the most were some of the shortest ones while the ones I felt didn't really fit were longer. Regardless this was an excellent collection of stories that I enjoyed very much!
Black Paradox by 伊藤潤二, Junji Ito
emotional
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? N/A
4.0
Another amazing story from Junji Ito. A story about the depths humanities goes for the latest in something. A story about four wayward souls looking to die alongside each other and the beautiful world that they find instead. I've long given up being scared by Ito's stories but I will never not be amazed by them.
Momo -The Blood Taker- Vol. 1 by Akira Sugito
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I was so enticed by this series and excited to read it and immeditately dnf'ed it when the 200-year vampire is drawing like a 12-year-old child and tries to fuck the main protagonist. I don't get why 200-year-old vampires can't be drawn like adults but I wish manga artists would start. Then maybe I can finish a series. (also side eye to the fact that no where in the tags is there anything about sexualizing minors)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
technically i guess the vampire is 200 years old but fuck that cause she don't look 200 years old
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is one of the books that in 10 or 15 years someone is going to pick up and say "this isn't how plagues are, this isn't how people react to them" and for those of us who acknowledged, lived, screamed, cried for all we've lost, begged for those lost to come back to us will look at them. We will say to the doubtful, "we wish this was a work of fiction". Anyway, this was a magnificently sad book. I love that the characters appeared in each other lives. It's definitely a book you have to pay attention to when reading, because Easter eggs are going to pop up and those make the novel so much better. I loved it, and will defiantly be returning back to it.
And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book reminded me of the movie The Happening. Which is to say I enjoyed it immensely. The plot was interesting. In short, it's about a plague. It's about people who see monsters and people who are monsters. It's about surviving not just the monsters, but the narrative that people create and spread. It's about getting better, or not. What I really loved about this story is that it was told as if the reader was actually a member of the group. This is to say, the narrator talked directly to the reader, which really draws me into the story. It was also a short read so that was a plus as well. I think all in all this was a nice little, horror-adjacent story.
<spolier> My only gripe about the story, besides some of the dialogue tag and placement was Lelila's one chapter where she provided her side of the story. I felt the chapter was unnecessary and although it was good background as to how the infection affected her, it wasn't relevant. I was thinking maybe it would somehow relate to the Val guy she and Spence are chasing or maybe the last few chapters would focus on her, but neither of those things happens. We just get a story about how she breaks promises to her younger self, gets married, has a child whom she may not love, and then murders them. No relevance to anything that's going on before or after the story. Unless I missed the point.
<spolier> My only gripe about the story, besides some of the dialogue tag and placement was Lelila's one chapter where she provided her side of the story. I felt the chapter was unnecessary and although it was good background as to how the infection affected her, it wasn't relevant. I was thinking maybe it would somehow relate to the Val guy she and Spence are chasing or maybe the last few chapters would focus on her, but neither of those things happens. We just get a story about how she breaks promises to her younger self, gets married, has a child whom she may not love, and then murders them. No relevance to anything that's going on before or after the story. Unless I missed the point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Cannibalism