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kristallmarie's reviews
195 reviews
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
1.0
Is this what people are referencing when they say Russian classics are unpleasant and depressing?
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah Howe, James Howe
4.0
When I was little, in second or third grade, this was one of my favorite books! And seeing as last month's illness put me behind on my way to my yearly reading goal, I thought I'd cheat a little and read something short. And I'm so glad this is what I chose! What a delightful little story!
Beholder by Ryan La Sala
5.0
Considering how much I loved The Honeys, I'm not surprised that I'm giving this five stars! La Sala's writing is fucking stunning. His characters are deep and lovely, and even his villains are charming and super, super intriguing. And the body horror! The body horror, man. It's incredible, possibly the best I've ever read.
Athan and Dom were doomed from the start, and while that ending was super rude, it was also incredibly fitting and very, very satisfying, particularly the very last scene. Ugh. I might have to read this again, honestly.
Note: I was sick for a long time when I was reading this, otherwise I probably could've read it in half the time!
Athan and Dom were doomed from the start, and while that ending was super rude, it was also incredibly fitting and very, very satisfying, particularly the very last scene. Ugh. I might have to read this again, honestly.
Note: I was sick for a long time when I was reading this, otherwise I probably could've read it in half the time!
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
4.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
As a horror movie fan, this totally hit the spot! And it was so cool to see a cast of entirely queer Black characters! I mean, yes, most of them died, but still. Hazard of the genre.
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, because oh, boy, Temple is obnoxious. She might just be the most unlikeable main character I've ever come across, even at the end, post-character development. The writing was lovely, though, so I stuck around, even though the middle was pretty saggy. Overall, though, I definitely enjoyed this book!
Four stars out of five for Dead Girls Walking!
As a horror movie fan, this totally hit the spot! And it was so cool to see a cast of entirely queer Black characters! I mean, yes, most of them died, but still. Hazard of the genre.
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, because oh, boy, Temple is obnoxious. She might just be the most unlikeable main character I've ever come across, even at the end, post-character development. The writing was lovely, though, so I stuck around, even though the middle was pretty saggy. Overall, though, I definitely enjoyed this book!
Four stars out of five for Dead Girls Walking!
youthjuice by E.K. Sathue
4.5
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
Wow, what a story! I knew what the secret of Youthjuice was, as I'm sure we all did, but I was caught off guard by this book so many times!
The characters were suitably awful while still being charming and interesting, and the writing style was nice. And the gore. The self-harm talk kind of surprised me, so to anyone reading this review, be aware: There's self-harm performed in this book. I wish someone had warned me, but it is what it is. I won't even take off half a star for it.
The half star is for the ending. It's so convenient? Like, girl, you've barely done anything for the company, and that's how they reward you? And what about that little thing in your apartment? Did you cop to that? It just feels too easy.
Overall, though, I really loved this book, and I'm gonna round up instead of down on my star rating where I can!
Wow, what a story! I knew what the secret of Youthjuice was, as I'm sure we all did, but I was caught off guard by this book so many times!
The characters were suitably awful while still being charming and interesting, and the writing style was nice. And the gore. The self-harm talk kind of surprised me, so to anyone reading this review, be aware: There's self-harm performed in this book. I wish someone had warned me, but it is what it is. I won't even take off half a star for it.
The half star is for the ending. It's so convenient? Like, girl, you've barely done anything for the company, and that's how they reward you? And what about that little thing in your apartment? Did you cop to that? It just feels too easy.
Overall, though, I really loved this book, and I'm gonna round up instead of down on my star rating where I can!
The Black Girl Survives in This One by Saraciea J. Fennell, Desiree S. Evans
4.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
What a fun collection of stories this was! Most of these were good, a few were great, and one had me saying "That's how it ends? Really? Lame!" out loud, but y'know, it's an anthology. There's bound to be at least one dud. But only one dud among so many stories? Pretty impressive!
I can't really comment on the characters or the writing style, since it changes from entry to entry, but overall very good!
A very solid four stars for The The Black Girl Survives in This One!
What a fun collection of stories this was! Most of these were good, a few were great, and one had me saying "That's how it ends? Really? Lame!" out loud, but y'know, it's an anthology. There's bound to be at least one dud. But only one dud among so many stories? Pretty impressive!
I can't really comment on the characters or the writing style, since it changes from entry to entry, but overall very good!
A very solid four stars for The The Black Girl Survives in This One!
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
3.0
This one came as a recommendation from a friend, and yeah, I can see why she recommended it! It's such an odd story! It feels like a blend of Lovecraft and The Most Dangerous Game. I knew the basic premise, as I'm sure most everyone does, given it's a classic, but there's so much more horror to it than I was expecting! And the writing is lovely! The characters are a little flat and the pacing is slower than I would've liked, but honestly, the concept itself was enough to keep me interested the whole way through!
Cherry on Top: Flirty, Forty-Something, and Funny as F**k by Bobbie Brown, Caroline Ryder
4.5
After a run of really mediocre fiction books, I thought it might be nice to check out a nonfiction one, and I've always loved the 80s/90s rock scene, so why not check out this one in particular one? And I'm so glad I did, because it was so much fun! Like, dude, Bobbie Brown is indeed funny as fuck! Who'd've guessed? Good for her! But this book isn't just funny. It's heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking, which I should've expected given the whole Janey Lane situation had to come up at least once. I really love that Bobbie Brown did the narration herself, that was great! My only issue was her weird fixation around Jamie Kennedy, which I understand, but he's obnoxious, girl, you could do better.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
3.0
After a brief hiatus to read a few ARCs, I'm back on my "let's read books I saw as movies first" kick. And this one... Yeah, the movie was better. Don't get me wrong, though: The book was still good! Bigwig is my favorite, as he's always been, and Hazel is humble and clever, and Fiver's such an eerie little guy! Now if only we could've had just them to deal with. There are so many bunnies, I couldn't even name them all! The movie did right in cutting down the sheer number of rabbits. The story itself is fascinating, especially in conjunction with the lapine mythology. What a fun concept! The writing was a little purple for my taste, but it is what it is. I still enjoyed it!
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
2.0
Not one, not two, but three BookTubers I really like and respect recommended reading this book. I was hoping it would break a streak of low-star reads, but nope, it's just added to it. Three low-star reads in a row. I hate giving such low ratings, but this was not good. The writing style was lovely, and that just makes it worse, because you know the author has talent and it's just not being utilized. The main character is "not like other girls" in the most annoying and anachronistic way, and the story runs obscenely long. Getting cut down to a quarter of its final length would've made it so much stronger! The concept is interesting and had so much potential, but the execution is just... It's not good. Get this man an editor who's willing to take a machete in hand and chop off some of the length, and this might have been really good! As it is, though? It's a no from me.