hearth_hobbit's reviews
514 reviews

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

I received a free copy of this eBook from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. 

 

5 Stars: I loved it

Genre: Horror

You may like this book if you like:

• Ghost stories
• Hereditary (movie)
• Mother (movie)
• Existential dread 
• Black coffee

Summary: The spirit of La Llorona has her sights set on Alejandra and she won’t stop until she drags Alejandra into the same darkness all the women that came before her were dragged into. 

Thoughts: This story explores the horror of intergenerational curses, toxic cycles, and the trauma that’s passed on from parent to child if those who come before can’t heal. We all want to be a “cycle breaker” and while we all may not have to battle an ancient demon to do so, this story illustrates how monumental a task that can be. Alejandra was a fully fleshed out character and perfectly crafted for this story.

I felt Alejandra’s despair and I shared many of her worries about motherhood. The fear of failing as a parent, passing on unhealthy coping mechanisms to my (future) children, not knowing enough about my heritage to pass on to my children. 

While I feel like this story was done well symbolically, the monster was also genuinely scary. The description of it was very creepy, definitely something you might see at the edge of your vision in the middle of the night. 

*spoiler*

I loved that the breaking of the curse is finding community, learning about your heritage, and taking action for your own story. Horror stories don’t often offer a solution for the topics it touches on but I appreciated the conclusions this story came to. 

While I appreciate this book a lot, it did lag at points. I’m willing to over look that though because I enjoyed it but other readers may not. Also, if motherhood or parenthood is not a topic you’re interested in, this may not be interesting.

TW: Suicide, body horror, mental illness, SA, Death

    

#TheHauntingofAlejandra #NetGalley

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an honest review. 

4 Stars: I liked it

San Francisco, 1952: After being fired unceremoniously from the San Francisco police for getting caught during a raid on a gay bar, Andy’s plan is to drink away the remainder of his money and pitch himself into the bay. When Andy is asked to  privately investigate the murder of Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire, he jumps at the chance. At Lavender House he discovers a queer, found family who are able to live openly and while he’s enchanted with the Lamontaine’s living arrangements, Andy can’t get too comfortable because someone in this family might be a murderer.

You may like this book if you like:

• Murder mysteries
• Found Family
• Historical Fiction
• Knives Out
• Clue

Thoughts:

I’ve never watched a noir but I know the vibe and this book is exactly what I thought a noir would be. Each of the family members, I could see very clearly in my mind and I loved the dynamic between them in Lavender House. It was also very heartwarming to see Andy finding a place for himself as he conducted his investigation. Overall, the mystery was pretty predictable but the journey was obviously the main attraction. Even though this book is considered to be noir, I might label it more as a cozy mystery. The sequel is out and a third book will be coming out this year and I would be interested in continuing this series.

Vikas Adam was the narrator for the audiobook and I enjoyed his performance for this book. 

Self-Portrait with Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

 

1 star:  I did not like it

Summary: Ula Frost, a famous portrait painter, is on the run after she is accused of summoning doppelgangers of the people she paints portraits for from parallel universes. After Ula disappears mysteriously, her estranged daughter, Pepper, is left to investigate what happened to Ula.

You may enjoy this book if you enjoy:

• The Butterfly Effect (movie with Ashton Kutcher)
• Sliding Doors (movie with Gweneth Paltrow)
• Stories with the lightest hint of Sci-Fi but not too much Sci-Fi
• Gritty mysteries
• Complicated birth mother/daughter relationships

Thoughts: While the premise is really interesting I felt like the book was way too long and oftentimes got too caught up in the little details which really disrupted the flow. Pepper’s point of view was not super entertaining to read from. She is understandably dealing with a lot but her indecision at times felt very irritating. 

Jesse Vilinsky was the narrator for this audiobook and I think they did a wonderful job bringing this book to life. 

Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

 

Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole

TW: SA, Abuse

I received a free copy of this eBook from Netgalley and Labyrinth Road in exchange for an honest review.

2 Stars: I read it.

Genre: Poetry, Young Adult Fiction

Summary: Alicia mourns her life before she was assaulted by a popular teacher and is intent on building high emotional walls to protect herself from anyone and everyone. When Alicia starts to get notes implying there may be another victim, she begins to notice the signs that point to that being the case.

Thoughts: This book reminded me of the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson that I read as I was growing up. I think that was an important book to read because it shed light on what the aftermath sexual abuse may look like from the point of view from a teen. The main character in that book didn’t speak at all and avoided people as much as possible where Alicia went in the opposite direction. Throughout the book the only time Alicia felt like she was normal was when she was essentially retraumatizing herself by engaging in dangerous and promiscuous behavior. While it was very hard to read, I appreciate that a book like this called attention to that behavior because its not uncommon amongst sexual abuse survivors. There were no graphic details but it is made clear what is happening and for young adult readers (probably on the older side), I think it would be important to know that that could be a sign of abuse/trauma. People react to traumatic events in many different ways and I appreciated that this book pointed that out. The same way Speak was educational for me, this book has the potential to do the same thing for young adults now. 

Alicia had many thoughts and topics she was passionate about that were brought up in her narrational thoughts. On one hand, I thought it was realistic of the character to have so many topics on their mind for someone who was so bottled up that she would be brooding nonstop. On the other hand it did make the story seem a little disorganized and it felt a bit like there was a checklist of topics that the author wanted to bring up in some small way but wasn’t able to fully blend it into the story in a way that didn’t feel forced. 

*Spoiler*

To compare it again to Speak, I appreciated that this book ends pretty abruptly and is open-ended. Speak has a very satisfactory ending. The bad guy gets caught and the main character continues their healing journey. While it would be nice if that happened every time, in reality that’s not always the case. Whether it was to appear more realistic or to be more sensitive to readers who may have had similar experiences, I think it was the right choice for the ending

Also, I take issue with the title. The main character only writes letters to Medusa a few times (like 4 or 5), and I didn’t feel like that made a lot of sense to title this book Dear Medusa. Given the amount of times wolves were brought up in this book, it would have made a lot more sense to make this book more Little Red Riding Hood themed.

Overall, this is not my favorite but I think there are many good things about this book.

 

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.0

The spice was immaculate. A great book to read if you’re planning for your own wedding. There are some cathartic moments in the planning parts.

The story overall was very sweet but it was a bit boring because I felt like the characters got over hurdles pretty quickly and virtually without any problems. The two main characters were great but there were so many side characters, I felt like they pulled focus from the plot. Would recommend if you like romantic comedies.

Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy

adventurous hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.5

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

challenging funny informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Satire is not a genre I like typically but I really enjoyed this.