harryjandrews_99's reviews
86 reviews

Final Girls by Riley Sager

dark 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? Yes

3.0

Wanted to read a thriller/slasher in the lead up to Scream 6 being released to get me excited. I found this book was just alright, nothing brand new or major, just a classic as it is slasher. I found the beginning of the book a little slow there wasn’t much ‘thrillNess’ to it at first, but it was there towards the end of the book. The twist at the end was just okay, nothing overtly shocking but enough to make the story make sense and add an edge of surprise. Your average run of the mill slasher

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It’s hard not to compare If We Were Villains to The Secret History as I read them quite close to one another, and whilst If We Were Villains is a great stand alone novel in its own. I do think The Secret History was better. I enjoyed the style of writing in If We Were Villains better though - the books is sepersted into Scenes and Acts (like Shakespeare plays) instead of chapters and it really made for an intriguing storyline - comparing the past to the present. I think there could’ve been more thrill in the story but it was good nonetheless and the little twist at the end satisfied me. The twist ending is kinda of up to the reader’s own interpretation of what they think happened which I think is a clever move to do, you can decide if you want a tragic ending, like a Shakespearean tragedy, or long for a more hopeful one

Breaking Dead by Corrie Jackson

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I received this book from a Secret Book Club subscription meaning I got sent it without knowing what it was going to be. When I got it I thought this isn’t a book that I would usually go for but I like mystery-thrillers and decided to give it a go. I thought I was gonna DNF it but I was actually intrigued by the story. It had a good twist at the end too. My only criticism is that I felt that there was a large amount of characters and I didn’t have enough knowledge/descriptions of them to tell them apart easily. Often I found myself wondering “who are they in about” but it was easy enough to go back and configure who was who. Good book, not groundbreaking, but far darker than what I originally thought it would be which I enjoyed

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I’ve been reading a lot of dark academia lately, and Daisy Jones was a breath of fresh air. It was so easily readable and still so enticing that I just wanted to keep reading to find out more about the band. 

Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-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

5.0

I was intimidated by the size of this book but truly I have never read a book quite like it. The vague description on the blurb keeps it’s secrets safe and makes the novel full of surprises and mystery. There were several points where I thought “oh I can see where this going to go now” but then no, Kuang tips the scales and the plot thickens and I was truly awestruck by the happenings - particularly in the latter half. This is only the second dark academia book I’ve read but I think it’s becoming a new fave genre

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

2.0

I’ve only read a handful of classic books before and having loved the modern movie The Invisible Man (inspired by H.G. Wells’ novel) I wanted to read the original story. It was a bit of struggle as the language used at certain points was old fashioned and the first half of the book seemed quite jumpy as in it would jump from scene to scene with not much flow between them. But the second half, from when Griffin meets up with Kemp, was much easier and more exciting a read to me.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed The Secret History, although I found myself reading long chapters which weren’t necessarily boring to read but I kept thinking ‘I’m enjoying reading this but can help but notice that not much is happening’. And the Greek language went over my head a bit too. But the general story was very intriguing and the conclusion was perfect, all wrapped up nicely.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

funny informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

Really enjoyed this book about the language of Cults it really puts into perspective how followers and leaders control and manipulate one another into following and abiding their belief systems. I felt some points were repeated occasionally but they were still interesting as they were put into examples of different cults

e.g. the point about thought terminating clichés arose often, which was a phrase I hadn’t heard before and was interested to learn about, but was put into context for different cults like Scientology and then Jonestown

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

After having read The Twyford Code last year by Janice Hallet, I was really looking forward to reading The Appeal - her first book. However, whilst I did enjoy parts of it and got through it pretty quickly I’m still a bit lost. The mixed media approach to tell the story was intriguing and exciting at first but as multiple plot lines emerge the crossovers between them begin to tangle. I found it a little hard to piece together what actually happened, but I believe I’ve got the gist in a roundabout way. I would recommended anyone interested in this book to annotate and mark, even make notes as you go as you could get seriously lost in this and there are lots of riddles to uncover

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cancer, and Sexual assault

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I wanted to read Where The Crawdads Sing before the movie came out, but sadly I didn’t get the chance too. Having said that, it had been a couple months since I saw the movie and I began to read the book. The book was incredible, the depictions of Kyra’s shack and the marsh were lively and wild. The movie actually represented the book very well - almost to a T.

The only difference I can think of was the poems Amanda Hamilton wrote that Kya recited often in the book, which I don’t think were mentioned in the film but I wish had been. As an extra incentive for the longing of acceptance by a lonely girl living in the Marsh.

Even though I’d seen the film and the story was pretty much the same, I still thoroughly enjoyed this read and glad I finally got round to it.