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jenacidebybibliophile's reviews
413 reviews
Possession by Lauren Evers
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Tor Publishing, via Netgalley for an honest review.
Opinion:
"The night started to feel like the continuation of a story I’d begun and then lost track of somehow."
"What Is a Grave, If Not a Doorway?"
Ksenia and her brother Josh were thrust together by the foster care system, which might have been the only blessing in either of their lives. The bond the two share is unbreakable and unyielding. They have vowed to protect and love each other until the end of their days, but their separation looms closer and closer as Ksenia turns 18. Their foster parents want Ksenia and Josh to experience time without each other, because the intensity of what they share scares them. But desperation can be a dangerous feeling, especially when you'd give up anything for someone you love.
After a strange party at the gorge when Josh is lead away by strangers, and doesn’t turn up until days later, Ksenia begins to see how desperation can manifest into something dark and unforgiving.
“So we kept wandering , and the night colored blue all over us like it wanted to steal our shapes and paint us into being part of it forever.”
“‘This frenzied dependency that you and Josh feel for each other— that doesn’t look like love to me, Kezz.’ Mitch had said that to me just two weeks ago, when Josh was out of earshot, naturally.
‘Real love isn’t based on mutual desperation.’
‘That’s easy to say when you’ve never been desperate.'”
This book was a wild ride of a read, and one that made me feel a lot of different things. Confused and uncomfortable seem to be the top two words that continued to come to mind during and after finishing this book, and I am still so unsure if I hate it or love it.
This book felt like a dark fae, unseelie court story with a smattering of Peter Pan elements. It’s heavily focused on grief and trauma, consent, the true meaning of love and what it can drive a person to do. It’s a fever dream if I’ve ever seen one (read one?). It’s a less adorable Tim Burton nightmare, and a good ol’ fashioned “what the f**k did I just read” to envelop your winter days in.
Josh is sixteen, and Ksenia is eighteen. They are both products of the foster system and put into a home as kids with a couple who adores Josh and tolerates Ksenia. Josh and Ksenia, who also is called Kezzer, instantly form a bond and kinship that others find strange. And you probably should too, because they love each other A LOT. But Ksenia doesn’t show her love and affection nearly as forcefully as Josh. Josh, who is vivacious, colorful, animated and fairly naive is the complete opposite of the withdrawn, sometimes cold and stoic Ksenia. Their foster parents are pushing Ksenia to leave for college and to get away from Josh, because they are worried they will disappear together.
But after a strange party one night, Josh disappears and Ksenia wakes up alone in the woods. Which is where things start to get…odd. People in the town act strangely, and it almost feels like the reader is trapped in a blend of psychosis battling reality with Ksenia as she tries to find Josh. But once she does find Josh, days later, their world is forever changed.
Josh has made a deal while he was away, one that ensured that he and Ksenia could be together. But the cost of his deal changes them both drastically, and the story then turns into an acid trip of a doozy. It begins to switch POVs between a few main characters, which perfectly adds to the story and propels it forward.
“Her lips are tinting azure, and she asphyxiates in the midst of endless air, all of it hers for the taking, if only she could remember to inhale.”
Ksenia
She’s very different from the usual suspects of female MCs in fantasies. She is coated in trauma, and very withdrawn. She holds EVERYTHING tightly and barely lets anyone in. She is not physically strong, she does not have some magical ability lurking under her skin, and she is not being whisked away to be a queen and save the world. Through the story she comes face to face with her childhood, and the despair that she’s forced herself to ignore and push away. She’s a beautiful mystery, a wraith-like angel. I found her character beautiful and so easy to love. She’s imperfect and flawed, but a fierce and loyal friend.
“The feeling of his lips stayed with me. A cool, dry hush, hush on skin that shrieked and burned.”
Josh
I have to say it, I don’t like Josh one bit. And it wasn’t purely because of the horrific things he does in this story. His character rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning, and maybe he was supposed to. He’s so overly excited and pushes himself onto people, invading their space and exuding a positivity and fervor that feels disingenuous. The feelings he has for Ksenia are suffocating and manic, and he definitely views her as a treasured possession of his. The strangest part is that he’s only sixteen, and the author does a fantastic job of ensuring his dialogue and thoughts mirror that naivety and youth. I don’t feel like I have enough closure with Josh though. His story just feels like it was left in limbo and it makes me wonder if there will be something more to come of him.
“I’m the only one who ever understood any of this, and that proves I’m the only person who could ever deserve you.”
Lexi
The real stand-out character here. Lexi is a gem of a girl! She is so wise beyond her years, pure and has a fantastic head on her shoulders. She loves fiercely without restraint, and she cares so deeply for everyone around her. She’s an advocate for everyone, and is probably the only truly mature and stable character we see. She is the sun peeking through the thick, dense black clouds of this bizarre tale. Without Lexi, I think this story would have really suffered. She pushes this tale forward and gives it a mission and completion. I think her purpose was to be a supporting role, but she completely steals the show.
“I know he’s trying to be kind, but when he tells me not to feel guilty, he’s really telling me to forget my own heart and bury it along with my friend.”
“Only shadows are tender enough that I can bear their touch against my skin, against my raw and throbbing heart.”
Though a story with great themes and countless beautiful messages, the heavy “acid trip” feel made it hard for me to get through this. I understand the author is trying to paint a twisted and dark picture for the reader, but I just kept feeling lost in it and my eyes would glaze over. Trust me, I love the gritty and f**ked up tales, but this one was just not hitting the mark for me.
For those of you who are unsure if this is a book for you – this is not heavy on the fae, it’s a story about teens who are put into a fae realm. This is a dark fantasy. No, not Holly Black dark. It’s DARK. It’s the kind of dark that makes bile crawl up your throat if you’re not into horror and grotesque stories. To get through this, you’re going to have to keep an open mind and just let it take you where it wants. Though I’m still on the fence with my final opinion of it, I appreciate it for what it is.
It’s different, and I like different.
I’m putting this on my list of books to revisit again in a year or two.
Opinion:
"The night started to feel like the continuation of a story I’d begun and then lost track of somehow."
"What Is a Grave, If Not a Doorway?"
Ksenia and her brother Josh were thrust together by the foster care system, which might have been the only blessing in either of their lives. The bond the two share is unbreakable and unyielding. They have vowed to protect and love each other until the end of their days, but their separation looms closer and closer as Ksenia turns 18. Their foster parents want Ksenia and Josh to experience time without each other, because the intensity of what they share scares them. But desperation can be a dangerous feeling, especially when you'd give up anything for someone you love.
After a strange party at the gorge when Josh is lead away by strangers, and doesn’t turn up until days later, Ksenia begins to see how desperation can manifest into something dark and unforgiving.
“So we kept wandering , and the night colored blue all over us like it wanted to steal our shapes and paint us into being part of it forever.”
“‘This frenzied dependency that you and Josh feel for each other— that doesn’t look like love to me, Kezz.’ Mitch had said that to me just two weeks ago, when Josh was out of earshot, naturally.
‘Real love isn’t based on mutual desperation.’
‘That’s easy to say when you’ve never been desperate.'”
This book was a wild ride of a read, and one that made me feel a lot of different things. Confused and uncomfortable seem to be the top two words that continued to come to mind during and after finishing this book, and I am still so unsure if I hate it or love it.
This book felt like a dark fae, unseelie court story with a smattering of Peter Pan elements. It’s heavily focused on grief and trauma, consent, the true meaning of love and what it can drive a person to do. It’s a fever dream if I’ve ever seen one (read one?). It’s a less adorable Tim Burton nightmare, and a good ol’ fashioned “what the f**k did I just read” to envelop your winter days in.
Josh is sixteen, and Ksenia is eighteen. They are both products of the foster system and put into a home as kids with a couple who adores Josh and tolerates Ksenia. Josh and Ksenia, who also is called Kezzer, instantly form a bond and kinship that others find strange. And you probably should too, because they love each other A LOT. But Ksenia doesn’t show her love and affection nearly as forcefully as Josh. Josh, who is vivacious, colorful, animated and fairly naive is the complete opposite of the withdrawn, sometimes cold and stoic Ksenia. Their foster parents are pushing Ksenia to leave for college and to get away from Josh, because they are worried they will disappear together.
But after a strange party one night, Josh disappears and Ksenia wakes up alone in the woods. Which is where things start to get…odd. People in the town act strangely, and it almost feels like the reader is trapped in a blend of psychosis battling reality with Ksenia as she tries to find Josh. But once she does find Josh, days later, their world is forever changed.
Josh has made a deal while he was away, one that ensured that he and Ksenia could be together. But the cost of his deal changes them both drastically, and the story then turns into an acid trip of a doozy. It begins to switch POVs between a few main characters, which perfectly adds to the story and propels it forward.
“Her lips are tinting azure, and she asphyxiates in the midst of endless air, all of it hers for the taking, if only she could remember to inhale.”
Ksenia
She’s very different from the usual suspects of female MCs in fantasies. She is coated in trauma, and very withdrawn. She holds EVERYTHING tightly and barely lets anyone in. She is not physically strong, she does not have some magical ability lurking under her skin, and she is not being whisked away to be a queen and save the world. Through the story she comes face to face with her childhood, and the despair that she’s forced herself to ignore and push away. She’s a beautiful mystery, a wraith-like angel. I found her character beautiful and so easy to love. She’s imperfect and flawed, but a fierce and loyal friend.
“The feeling of his lips stayed with me. A cool, dry hush, hush on skin that shrieked and burned.”
Josh
I have to say it, I don’t like Josh one bit. And it wasn’t purely because of the horrific things he does in this story. His character rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning, and maybe he was supposed to. He’s so overly excited and pushes himself onto people, invading their space and exuding a positivity and fervor that feels disingenuous. The feelings he has for Ksenia are suffocating and manic, and he definitely views her as a treasured possession of his. The strangest part is that he’s only sixteen, and the author does a fantastic job of ensuring his dialogue and thoughts mirror that naivety and youth. I don’t feel like I have enough closure with Josh though. His story just feels like it was left in limbo and it makes me wonder if there will be something more to come of him.
“I’m the only one who ever understood any of this, and that proves I’m the only person who could ever deserve you.”
Lexi
The real stand-out character here. Lexi is a gem of a girl! She is so wise beyond her years, pure and has a fantastic head on her shoulders. She loves fiercely without restraint, and she cares so deeply for everyone around her. She’s an advocate for everyone, and is probably the only truly mature and stable character we see. She is the sun peeking through the thick, dense black clouds of this bizarre tale. Without Lexi, I think this story would have really suffered. She pushes this tale forward and gives it a mission and completion. I think her purpose was to be a supporting role, but she completely steals the show.
“I know he’s trying to be kind, but when he tells me not to feel guilty, he’s really telling me to forget my own heart and bury it along with my friend.”
“Only shadows are tender enough that I can bear their touch against my skin, against my raw and throbbing heart.”
Though a story with great themes and countless beautiful messages, the heavy “acid trip” feel made it hard for me to get through this. I understand the author is trying to paint a twisted and dark picture for the reader, but I just kept feeling lost in it and my eyes would glaze over. Trust me, I love the gritty and f**ked up tales, but this one was just not hitting the mark for me.
For those of you who are unsure if this is a book for you – this is not heavy on the fae, it’s a story about teens who are put into a fae realm. This is a dark fantasy. No, not Holly Black dark. It’s DARK. It’s the kind of dark that makes bile crawl up your throat if you’re not into horror and grotesque stories. To get through this, you’re going to have to keep an open mind and just let it take you where it wants. Though I’m still on the fence with my final opinion of it, I appreciate it for what it is.
It’s different, and I like different.
I’m putting this on my list of books to revisit again in a year or two.