hexentart's reviews
608 reviews

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

*insert Internal_Screaming.gif here*

WHAT A DAMN GOOD BOOK!

Such an intense and intricate tale, with beautifully crafted lore, and an intriguing cast of characters.

Still drowning in all the feels.


Waltzing with Witches by Hazel Mack

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Another sweet with heat installment in the Haven Ever After series.

Morgan and The Keeper's story is tragic and hurt my heart; it's now my favorite of the series thus far.

Although I figured out the villain way too soon, it didn't lesson the impact of the reveal. The author does her work well.

There were tears and there was rage; some of the lighter moments even had me literally laughing out loud.

A good read.
Nightmares & Sin by Quell T. Fox

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Dark, smutty goodness.

Mind your squicks.

Lots and lots of sex and an interesting plot woven in between.

I love a good sassy FMC, especially paired with MMCs who give her as good as they get. *muah*

Not a lot of angst, but definitely a lot of drama.

A steamy read. 
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

An interesting premise, intriguing plot, and a deplorable cast of characters.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It obviously held my interest, but it's rare to not positively engage with any character. 

Catalina and Ruth get a pass, but the rest of the characters were either sick, twisted, and thoroughly evil, shallow, self-centered, and pompous, or just woefully pathetic.

Noemi, the FMC/protagonist, is nothing more than a wilful, spoiled, rich girl with delusions of grandeur. She's flaky as hell, uppity, shallow, manipulative, and pig-headed. Not to mention her naivety. She's quite obnoxious and annoying. 

I honestly didn't care if any of them made it out alive, but the writing held my interest until the very end. I needed to see how this all resolved; good, bad, or ugly. 

Now that's not to say I didn't enjoy the book, it just wasn't quite what I expected. The world building, lore, and horror was top-notch. The characters were well fleshed out and felt quite real; they were all just awful people. 

If you're a sensitive reader I implore you to mind your squicks. There's a lot of abuse, gaslighting, and body horror within this book. 

I enjoyed it, but YMMV of course. 

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Kiss the Slipper by Anna Fury

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Moved me to tears.

What Jasper and Vale endure to get their HEA…oof. 😭🤬🥰

I'm a little sad to say farewell to this cast of characters in this series. I hope the authors do more collaborations together in the future. 
Temper the Flame by Anna Fury

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Sacrifice the Sea by Anna Fury, Amy Pennza

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Incredibly charming but difficult to read.

The things that Triton and Ari do for the greater good weigh so heavily on them and poor Ursan has to bear the brunt of the fall out whether he knows it or not. It was only the author's promise of a HEA that got me through at times. 

Ursan is an absolute cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs.

Ari is a delicate flower under the murderous facade and needs so much love and encouragement.

Triton is the stalwart leader who struggles to protect his people and the world at large. It's a burden one man wasn't meant to carry alone. 

It's easy to fall for this trio, which makes their journey all the more richer and painful to read. Although the urge to reach through the pages and slap some sense into them is VERY strong at times. Very. Strong. 😆

Good stuff.


Steal the Sky by Anna Fury, Amy Pennza

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh my. 

Tower du Sang and Daddy Gothel.

WHEW! 🥵🔥

Shout-out to the indomitable grotesques, especially Raoul. Dude saw some shit and went through a lot. He deserves a damn medal. 
Chocolat by Joanne Harris

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.0

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

*internal screaming*

Absolutely. Horrifying. Evil.
Oh, and demons too.


A gripping story of an evil cult masquerading as a church, the torture and abuse of young queer folk in the name of salvation, and
the power of love.

This book was A LOT and definitely not an easy read (mind your squicks), but it was all worth it. 

The ending was simply poetic and very satisfying. 😏

This was my first read of this author, but I'll definitely be looking into their other horror novels as well.

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