hellokatya's reviews
152 reviews

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

my expectations for this book were pretty low, when i first got it, i read some reviews that weren’t the best, so i put it off for a long time; i’m very glad i read it.
this book was pretty slow for the first 30%, but after it got really good! 
it was hard to put down, kept me wanting more, and was the (more lighthearted, circumstantially) that i needed before fall time!
would highly recommend reading this book - and pushing through the first 30% - but be sure to look at content warnings before!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Stalking, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-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

this book was so nostalgic and beautiful. 
i just recently watched the movie in theatres, and it was so nice to read the book for the first time! 
i’ve always loved the film, since childhood, and it was so surreal to have it in the flesh.
i do wish that it had been written in a more adult fashion, it took me a bit to get used to, but overall: it was fantastic.
i enjoyed pinpointing the differences between it and the film, getting more detail of coraline’s thoughts and behaviors, and just owning the book in general. 
highly highly recommend!!!!

i do think the film was a bit more creative and colorful, but i suppose it’s because the book is so short, they had to elongate and really bring it to life.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Abandonment

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

i really enjoyed this book! 
the beginning was very lighthearted, and even funny, making it nice to ease into.
as it went on, the horror was very prevalent and caught me off guard! i was not expecting it to be genuinely scary, but there were many times that i was physically recoiling with what was happening.
very very good and engaging book, highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

i will admit, i watched the movie long before i ever considered reading the book, but i’m really glad i did.
i do wish that the story had been told in chronological order, but i can understand why it was told in two timelines. 
i thoroughly enjoyed how ominous and claustrophobic the book felt. it was truly unnerving and addictive. it was hard to put down once i got into it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Grief, Car accident, and Abandonment

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

this book is very fucked up.
oddly enough though, i really enjoyed it - the author has an addictive way of writing and weaving the story together, leaving you wanting more, even though you’d rather not continue on. 
it is quite predictable, but not in a negative way, it makes you want to continue on to see if it’s truly going in the direction you hope it won’t, and creates such dread within you. 

not a book i would necessarily just recommend to anyone, and definitely read trigger warnings - there’s some heavy stuff in here. will definitely be looking into the second book soon.
perfect for a start to the halloween season.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying

The Woman With No Name by Kate Bizos

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

1.25

i really did not enjoy this book.
jake’s paranoia and the jumbled way the story unfolded really made me not interested. 
the only reason i finished it was because i wanted to figure out if i was right in my prediction, and for the most part, i was. 
had the main character not been so insufferable, and the writing/unfolding of the story been better, it could’ve had a lot more potential.

Don't Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

i finished this book in one sitting. 
as much as the characters annoyed me, and were truly insufferable, the author really knows how to weave a story together and make it addicting.
definitely a strong recommendation for a thrilling binge read. 

i most definitely saw through the richard misdirect, but it was nice to even question just a little bit what really was going on.

i do wish there had been more done with the aspect of joanne being an unreliable narrator, with her mother’s history of PPD. i think it could’ve been a really good plot device, but it seemed to be put to waste.

the story reminded me of the omen or the good son. 
in its entirety, it’s very creepy, frustrating, and really puts you on the edge of your seat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Run on Red by Noelle W. Ihli

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

this was a nice, quick, read. from the first chapter you’re thrown into the plot and held tight by the suspense. 
the first plot twist was pretty predictable, but after that i hadn’t guessed what went on.
my only gripe was that it was written very YA style, which isn’t really my thing, but otherwise the story makes up for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

wow. i truly sat for a few minutes just saying wow. 
this book — the latter half — was amazing. the cliffhangers were spectacular, so difficult to put down, and really kept you so engaged and invested.
the first 25% are very slow, the only reason it was docked a quarter of a star, but it picks up from there and is addicting. 
i could not keep my nose out of this book and i highly, HIGHLY recommend. especially as a binge read. 
will most definitely be looking into more lucy foley books after this one. 

i also would’ve liked to have found out who the married people were in the newly wed’s bedroom was, but that’s neither here nor there

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

i absolutely loved this book and was completely engrossed. it was so difficult to put down and gave me a few day’s worth of lost sleep. i highly Highly recommend this book. i definitely saw (one of the bigger) plot twists a while before, but that is no where near a complaint; the author was so fantastic at leaving breadcrumbs so that it was extremely satisfying to find out you were right. 
my only gripes are:
1. 

I wish the elsie reveal had happened earlier or been longer. especially the aftermath, very much told rather than shown; but i was very glad to have had closure on that and it made complete sense.

2.

the confrontation with ruby shouldve also been longer. it had been 25 years and she had so much pent up rage, how did it go so quickly? i guess to an extent she wanted it to be over with and didn’t want to stoop to her mother’s level, but it would’ve made for a better send off.

overall, had it not been for those two preferences, this book is a 5/5. absolutely enthralling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Trafficking, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting