hellokatya's reviews
151 reviews

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i absolutely devoured this novel. super easy to digest, addictive writing style, and it reignited my love for a really shitty main character. 

this woman was ridiculous. the hoops she had to jump through to justify her actions and morals to herself was incredible. her macabre interests (and “care” for the women victims she obsessed over), waxing and waning interests in the main men, all the way to spending money she didn’t have to appease a man she’d never even met, withholding information from her parents, and an entire page more. 

the ratings / reviews on this particular book seem to be very skewed because of the incorrect assumption that the book needs to be taken at face value, and the incapability of an audience to filter out commentary on an issue vs complacency 

at some points, you have no choice but to admire how delusional our main character, hannah, had become. the way that she could truly disconnect from and cast aside anything that didn’t fit with the narrative she wanted to portray to herself is fascinating and should be studied in labs — especially to think people like her exist in spaces all around us every day! 

i think this book was a great portrayal and commentary on the true crime genre / consumption as a whole - especially, again, the hoops someone needs to jump through to justify said interests to themselves, or the ways people can fully detach emotion / empathy for entertainment value — to truly remove someone’s humanity and almost view them as a character instead of a real human that went through a tragedy. 

i think that’s also a big contributing factor to people not liking this book — can’t be faced with their own shortcomings. 

i predicted that bentley was the killer pretty early on in my read through. i think the author did a good job trying to throw off the trail of him, while still leaving good breadcrumbs to confirm his involvement. especially not explicitly naming anyone in the captive chapters.

did the red herring about mark: pg.166 “though cindy had nothing to worry about from me, i would soon learn that she was right to be suspicious of mark” end up going anywhere?? 

the captive chapters, when read sequentially, didn’t make much sense after confirmation that bentley was the murderer. the author tried just a tad too hard to keep anonymity that after the fact made it feel cheap. i think the chapters should’ve been cut out completely, and that the story would’ve run smoother sans them.

 

overall, a really fun and silly thriller that i would highly recommend. again, i devoured and ran through this one in two days - would’ve only taken me one had i not been busy. please pick this one up (and dont be so sensitive taking it at face value — live and giggle a little) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, and Sexual content

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

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? It's complicated

3.0

i went into this book being a straight romance virgin, and having no clue or expectations for what i was getting into. 
to say i was surprised when i came into (pun intended) SMUT, is an understatement. i dont know why it hadn’t crossed my mind that it was popular on booktok for that reason. 
this was one i had been thinking about for the duration a few books i had read, so i went in very excited about it. 
to be honest, i was not the biggest fan of the smut aspect, but the plot line was pretty okay. 
my only gripes are 
a. it felt like there was way too much going on and way too many characters. this one 400 page book felt like an entire first season of a tv show. very very busy 
b. the relationship becoming more than what anastasia had wanted

and the pregnancy / marriage in the end

felt like a knife in the back to her character. she was completely against everything that wound up happening to her - said by her verbatim numerous times across the novel - and rubbed me the wrong way. 
c.

it really took me out of the storyline hearing how “in love” and committed they were - talking about future houses and kids (even jokingly) THREE MONTHS into their relationship. have you no couth? no decorum? SOME SENSIBILITY? i just could NOT take them seriously for the life of me.

d. nate is so violent?

he was in so many arguments, fights, and altercations…. HUGE turn off and makes me worry about his emotional maturity / future with my dearest stassie.

get a grip! 
otherwise: i would wholeheartedly recommend this to someone who enjoys smut and would take it a lot less seriously.. it was a fun lighthearted read if you dont read too much into it (lol). 
dont think ill be venturing into the rest of the series (and books to come)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

* 3.8☆
i read this book as a palette cleanser, and it did me so right.
i ate this book right up. it’s fast paced, sucks you right in, and doesn’t let you go until it’s done with you. 
you think you know what’s happening or where it’s going, but you dont. very intricate and thought out, but still plausible. 
highly recommend. 

i do wish that she’d done something more with the damon plotline, but i suppose it was more of a misdirect / red herring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Death of parent, and Classism

Pageboy by Elliot Page

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

i went in knowing that things were a little jumbled, but he was very Very scatterbrained in a lot of the book. the timelines were all over the place and it made it very hard to keep up. felt like a connection of short stories or essays. 
overall, really enjoyed the raw display of emotion and mental health. felt like a friend opening up to you. 

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.0

this book was one i was really excited about, and i devoured it - ate it right up. 
very cute cheesy love story between two teenage boys. i picked it for pride month and was pleasantly surprised for it to be even More pride worthy with a cast full of queer representation! 

i will admit i got to a point where the high school romance of it all really just because a little cringe worthy, but it was a fun, quick little summer read. 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

this book was good, dont get me wrong, just not a personal favorite. it took me a while to read it because i just didn’t feel like picking it back up once i’d set it down. not sure that i’ll be reading anymore agatha but im glad i least tried one. have to read one of the classics

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

emotional reflective

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

3.0

i went into this book expecting different than what i got. 
good book, i think the writing is a bit sporadic at times, but still good. 
not sure that i understood it at the level it was meant to be, but i can still appreciate it.  

No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
Did not finish book. Stopped at 60%.

got too repetitive and annoying. dynamic wasn’t a great one for me

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

5.0

Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey

hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

3.75

i'm not normally a romance reader, but this one got me into it. pride month is coming up, so i'm wanting to read some queer (particularly lesbian) books, and this was the perfect start. 
the writing style was a lot more tell than show, and it seemed very amateur. plot makes up for that though, and i'm on my way to starting the second in the series. 
definitely recommend to pick this one up. had me giggling and kicking my feet.