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inknosedowl's reviews
85 reviews
Souls and Sorrows by Sav R. Miller
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Waited too long to purchase these book kind of lost interest. Will try again later.
Ghost Music by An Yu
2.75
Honestly I don’t have a lot to say about this book. It’s short and I had to read something more for my reading goal so this is what I picked up. The writing isn’t great the story is very blah. Honestly I was so bored near the end I just skimmed the last few pages I was ready to be don with it.
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
This book was so good yet so devastating. It really felt like I was with Rin through out her entire life the book
Is finished and all of the characters are forever gone in the pages and it feels wrong.
I was so happy to see Rin finally have the courage and the confidence to be a leader. Not only a leader, but a good one with her powers. Until she started saying it felt good to kill people. Then I knew we were seeing the inside of Rins mind fall apart like every other Shaman. I knew it had to end badly. Either her and Kitay would die or Kitay would have to lock her away…..she ended up doing the deed herself which I’m not sure makes it better. It almost feels like the entire series was not worth. Rin had gone through so much to become the person she was and it ended in misery. Kuang told us through the entire series how it would end, it just doesn’t feel better getting to it. There are so many twists and turns in this novel it is truly amazing. This series is worth the read despite all that happens in the book. It was still amazing even though the ending broke my heart.
Is finished and all of the characters are forever gone in the pages and it feels wrong.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
5.0
This is my second read through of this beautiful novel and it is still as grand as the first time I read it. The story of Werner and Marie-Laure will forever be one my favorite stories to remember and read through. Giving the perspective of a German child during World War Two is, I would think, a daunting task to undertake. Doerr forces you to feel bad for someone that you never thought you would ever feel an empathic emotion for. But aren’t children victims of war just has much even if they are in the incorrect side of history? He shows the emotions in his majestic writing of a horrific event and I will never get enough of it. This book will forever be one of my favorites of all time, and if you haven’t read it I highly HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone. Even If you don’t like historical fiction, or books about WWII doesn’t matter. Everyone should experience the masterpiece that is All the Light We Cannot See.
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow wow wow! The second book to the Poppy War Trilogy does not disappoint. The story and the characters all grow and stretch into something even bigger than they were before it is beautiful to see Kuang write it. Rin has so much character development from beginning to end that I’m curious what she will do with the growth in the final novel.
I love how everything in this book is so gray. It’s not all good and bad until the end, but the entire story was surrounded by what was morally correct and there was never a bold line. Coming back to the characters felt amazing they’re all written so well. They all had depth even if they were in it for a short period of time.
I did have a struggle following all of the different powers and the names of people, but she put a little guide in the back for anyone struggling. I didn’t find that until much later, but I’m sure it makes reading a bit easier!
Amazing amazing book and I can’t WAIT to read the conclusion.
I love how everything in this book is so gray. It’s not all good and bad until the end, but the entire story was surrounded by what was morally correct and there was never a bold line. Coming back to the characters felt amazing they’re all written so well. They all had depth even if they were in it for a short period of time.
I did have a struggle following all of the different powers and the names of people, but she put a little guide in the back for anyone struggling. I didn’t find that until much later, but I’m sure it makes reading a bit easier!
Amazing amazing book and I can’t WAIT to read the conclusion.
Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Wow….just wow!
Mary is honestly one of the best horror novels I haves ever read. The start of the book was kind of hard to get into, but once you get going it is amazing! The writing wasn’t anything too special until the last 100 pages. Which I think is actually when everything ramped up and made it a 4 star book for me.
The feel of the ending honestly gives me the tv show the Haunting of Hill House vibes. Cassidy gives the ghosts purpose instead of just being ghosts in a haunted house and making them haunt people for no reason. For lack of better comparison, they were like Mike Flanagan ghosts which really made this book for me.
There are some twists that I absolutely love at the end as well. One I am not to sure about, but it for sure brings the whole thing together. Make sure to read the quotes at the start of each Part!
I honestly thought that this novel was written by a woman the whole time I was reading it. Finding out that it was a MAN that wrote a novel about menopause made me stop for a minute. I thought, “Why would he know what woman go though? Why would a man WANT to write about it?” But he writes about it well and respectfully and gives a voice to middle age woman that feel invisible everyday. He does acknowledge it in his afterword which I appreciate.
I didn’t expect this book to be as good as it is, usually horror disappoints me but this one did not! I’m excited to see what Cassidy comes up with next.
Mary is honestly one of the best horror novels I haves ever read. The start of the book was kind of hard to get into, but once you get going it is amazing! The writing wasn’t anything too special until the last 100 pages. Which I think is actually when everything ramped up and made it a 4 star book for me.
The feel of the ending honestly gives me the tv show the Haunting of Hill House vibes. Cassidy gives the ghosts purpose instead of just being ghosts in a haunted house and making them haunt people for no reason. For lack of better comparison, they were like Mike Flanagan ghosts which really made this book for me.
There are some twists that I absolutely love at the end as well. One I am not to sure about, but it for sure brings the whole thing together. Make sure to read the quotes at the start of each Part!
I honestly thought that this novel was written by a woman the whole time I was reading it. Finding out that it was a MAN that wrote a novel about menopause made me stop for a minute. I thought, “Why would he know what woman go though? Why would a man WANT to write about it?” But he writes about it well and respectfully and gives a voice to middle age woman that feel invisible everyday. He does acknowledge it in his afterword which I appreciate.
I didn’t expect this book to be as good as it is, usually horror disappoints me but this one did not! I’m excited to see what Cassidy comes up with next.
Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
4.0
This is a book full of horror short stories and it was hauntingly beautiful. There are multiple stories I will continue to think about in my every day life. I am not usually a fan of short stories, but most if not all of these stories are worthy of a read.
Three stick out to me specifically which are Perfect Symmetry, The Continuous Equality of the Circumference, and Architecture. All of these stories are extremely different in what the plot is about and the way Bazterrica goes about them. Perfect Symmetry was interesting and well thought out, but the ending was fulfilling an unnatural way that only Bazterrica could write. The Continuous Equality of the Circumference is strange and simple. I never would’ve thought of something so creative and uncomfortable. I think this is the one that will stick with me the most for the sheer creativity it presents. The final story is Architecture. Bazterrica writes beautifully in all of these stories, but this one in particular is a masterpiece. She is literally describing a Catholic Church and that is the entire story and yet it was hauntingly beautiful. That is how talented this author is. She can describe a church for a story and it will be one of someone’s favorite.
Absolutely worth the read especially during October! Will look forward to more of her stories.
Three stick out to me specifically which are Perfect Symmetry, The Continuous Equality of the Circumference, and Architecture. All of these stories are extremely different in what the plot is about and the way Bazterrica goes about them. Perfect Symmetry was interesting and well thought out, but the ending was fulfilling an unnatural way that only Bazterrica could write. The Continuous Equality of the Circumference is strange and simple. I never would’ve thought of something so creative and uncomfortable. I think this is the one that will stick with me the most for the sheer creativity it presents. The final story is Architecture. Bazterrica writes beautifully in all of these stories, but this one in particular is a masterpiece. She is literally describing a Catholic Church and that is the entire story and yet it was hauntingly beautiful. That is how talented this author is. She can describe a church for a story and it will be one of someone’s favorite.
Absolutely worth the read especially during October! Will look forward to more of her stories.
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This book for me was very meh. It wasn’t the worst Stephen King novel I’ve read, not the best for sure. It was entertaining enough to read and the climax of the novel was intriguing, but the entirety of it felt like it had no purpose.
The whole story is Dolores sitting in the interview room to answer questions about how Vera died and it doesn’t get to that until the last 50
Pages of the book. It felt like a waste of time.
It was also hard to read because there were no chapter or page breaks at all. It felt very long even though it wasn’t.
This is novel could’ve be handled much better than it was. It felt like Stephen King needed to just crank one out so fast he didn’t even bother to put chapters in it.
Again, good enough for me to finish it but not good enough to suggest it to anyone.
The whole story is Dolores sitting in the interview room to answer questions about how Vera died and it doesn’t get to that until the last 50
Pages of the book. It felt like a waste of time.
It was also hard to read because there were no chapter or page breaks at all. It felt very long even though it wasn’t.
This is novel could’ve be handled much better than it was. It felt like Stephen King needed to just crank one out so fast he didn’t even bother to put chapters in it.
Again, good enough for me to finish it but not good enough to suggest it to anyone.
Wolfsong by TJ Klune
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.0
I am not someone that reads about monsters, vampires and werewolves, but this book has changed that. Once again Tj Klune has made a phenomenal story with gay representation and I love it. I’m reading his collection backwards and I can see the upward progression of writing. He makes all of his characters so likable and yet so different in each of his novels and I will never get enough.
His writing of Ox really shows you the inside of this mind and how he thinks and grows. The reputation of what his father said to him and how he eventually accepts that crying is okay and doesn’t make you less of a man. There is a big twist I won’t say, but I did not expect it at all. It made Ox’s character even more interesting and the novel more intriguing.
There are a few reasons I didn’t give this book 5 stars, but the main reason is the age gap between Ox and Joe. It wasn’t a problem later in the book when Joe was more of an adult, but near the beginning when Joe was 17 made me uncomfortable. It didn’t go anywhere it shouldn't have when he was a minor, but it was walking a very thin line for me. I liked that he put the years between so Joe could grow up a bit, but it did put a bad taste in my mouth.
If you are a werewolf junkie this book and I’m sure the entire series, is for you! Amazing writing as usual and I will be continuing the series :)
His writing of Ox really shows you the inside of this mind and how he thinks and grows. The reputation of what his father said to him and how he eventually accepts that crying is okay and doesn’t make you less of a man. There is a big twist I won’t say, but I did not expect it at all. It made Ox’s character even more interesting and the novel more intriguing.
There are a few reasons I didn’t give this book 5 stars, but the main reason is the age gap between Ox and Joe. It wasn’t a problem later in the book when Joe was more of an adult, but near the beginning when Joe was 17 made me uncomfortable. It didn’t go anywhere it shouldn't have when he was a minor, but it was walking a very thin line for me. I liked that he put the years between so Joe could grow up a bit, but it did put a bad taste in my mouth.
If you are a werewolf junkie this book and I’m sure the entire series, is for you! Amazing writing as usual and I will be continuing the series :)