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kristallmarie's reviews
217 reviews
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
1.0
I read the first Jurassic Park book not long ago, and it was amazing! And I had lots of people on Twitter telling me I should read the second one, and I listened because if the first book was great, it stands to reason that the second one would be, too, right? Wrong. Hoo, boy, wrong! This book was as big a disappointment as I've ever read. The characters (Including the resurrected Ian Malcolm, who I loved in the first book) are obnoxious, especially the kids, there's far less action, and any time a meaningful conversation is being had, it gets cut off for "Oh, look, a dinosaur!" Snoozefest seems an apt descriptor for this book. Such a shame, too, when there was so much potential!
On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe
3.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a romance reader. It sounded cute, though, since I am myself plus-sized and a fan of What Not to Wear! But alas, it turns out I'm just not a romance reader. I spent the whole story waiting for something exciting to happen, but there was nothing that wasn't mundane. A kiss or a makeout or even sex or an "I love you" isn't anything special enough to build a whole story towards. I do believe I'm gonna stick with fantasy and horror officially.
All that said, the story itself is fine, and the characters are likeable enough, so I'm giving On The Plus Side three stars!
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a romance reader. It sounded cute, though, since I am myself plus-sized and a fan of What Not to Wear! But alas, it turns out I'm just not a romance reader. I spent the whole story waiting for something exciting to happen, but there was nothing that wasn't mundane. A kiss or a makeout or even sex or an "I love you" isn't anything special enough to build a whole story towards. I do believe I'm gonna stick with fantasy and horror officially.
All that said, the story itself is fine, and the characters are likeable enough, so I'm giving On The Plus Side three stars!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
5.0
I knew that this book was gonna be a lot different than the movie before I started reading, but I didn't expect it to be a horror book! And I absolutely loved it! It totally makes sense, too, because yeah, dinosaurs in real life would be terrifying! Especially that one bit with the compys at the beginning of the book. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. It's horrific. And ironic! The little guys are scarier than the big guys!
The atmosphere was palpable, and the characters! I loved some the same as I did in the movie, but Hammond! God, what an asshole! I didn't expect that! And I really liked Genarro, which I didn't expect, either! The different deaths shocked me, and I really loved most of them, though the one made me really sad. And the differences in Tim and Lex! I do definitely get why they switched them around.
Overall, I really, really loved this book! My only issues were how many times things were described as moving "crazily," and how unsatisfying the ending was. I've been told I need to read The Lost World to round it out, so as soon as I finish the ARC in my NetGalley reading list, imma check that one out!
The atmosphere was palpable, and the characters! I loved some the same as I did in the movie, but Hammond! God, what an asshole! I didn't expect that! And I really liked Genarro, which I didn't expect, either! The different deaths shocked me, and I really loved most of them, though the one made me really sad. And the differences in Tim and Lex! I do definitely get why they switched them around.
Overall, I really, really loved this book! My only issues were how many times things were described as moving "crazily," and how unsatisfying the ending was. I've been told I need to read The Lost World to round it out, so as soon as I finish the ARC in my NetGalley reading list, imma check that one out!
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
5.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
Ooh, boy, this one was grotesque! And I mean that in the best possible way! You know how people are all about unhinged women and supporting women's wrongs? If that's what you're into, this book is for you! It's a nasty one! It did get a little predictable in a few places, but that might just be a personal problem, since I watch a ton of horror movie and have basically seen it all. It was still super fun to read! All the racism poor (Poor? I don't think that's right) Ji-won experienced was gross, but it made sense to include it within the story. I liked the pacing, too! It was quite quick, with short chapters, which is always a plus for me.
I give The Eyes Are The Best Part five stars out of five! What a great read!
Ooh, boy, this one was grotesque! And I mean that in the best possible way! You know how people are all about unhinged women and supporting women's wrongs? If that's what you're into, this book is for you! It's a nasty one! It did get a little predictable in a few places, but that might just be a personal problem, since I watch a ton of horror movie and have basically seen it all. It was still super fun to read! All the racism poor (Poor? I don't think that's right) Ji-won experienced was gross, but it made sense to include it within the story. I liked the pacing, too! It was quite quick, with short chapters, which is always a plus for me.
I give The Eyes Are The Best Part five stars out of five! What a great read!
Pages To Fill by Travis Baldree
4.0
This was a cute little addition to the original story! Inconsequential, yes, but fun!
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
5.0
I've been hearing about this one for ages, and I'm so glad my local library finally got a copy, because it was absolutely adorable! The writing style was nice and I really enjoyed the characters. Viv was fun and totally believable as a retired mercenary, and I liked Cal a lot, and I especially loved Thimble, what a sweet little guy! He stole the show every single time he showed up. Tandri was pretty cool, too, and was also probably the first character I've read that has a tail, now that I think about it! Here's hoping my library gets the sequel, too, because I can't wait to read it!
Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker
5.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
This book was weird, and I mean that in the best way possible. David is a supremely unreliable narrator, which is always a fun thing to have in a book. The writing is beautiful, especially when David's ruminating on his grief over his grandfather, and having lost a beloved grandfather myself, I nearly cried a few times. It's beautifully described. Everything is beautifully described, including the body horror, which is a really hard thing to portray in an effective way.
My only complaint is that I wasn't fond of the weird fourth wall breaks, but I didn't dislike them enough to cost this book a star.
I give Mothtown five stars out of five!
This book was weird, and I mean that in the best way possible. David is a supremely unreliable narrator, which is always a fun thing to have in a book. The writing is beautiful, especially when David's ruminating on his grief over his grandfather, and having lost a beloved grandfather myself, I nearly cried a few times. It's beautifully described. Everything is beautifully described, including the body horror, which is a really hard thing to portray in an effective way.
My only complaint is that I wasn't fond of the weird fourth wall breaks, but I didn't dislike them enough to cost this book a star.
I give Mothtown five stars out of five!
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng
2.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
I somehow missed the fact that this book has K-pop influences. Had I realized that was gonna be in here, I wouldn't have picked it up. I was gonna DNF it, but it's my own fault for not reading the description well enough on the NetGalley site, so I felt obligated to finish reading.
That said, I didn't enjoy this book. The writing itself is fine, and the characters are decent, but all the references to idols and K-pop culture in general had me cringing and rolling my eyes every other page. Candie's family history and the curse that came with it was really interesting, though! I wish the author would have leaned more into that. I was much more interested in that and Mina's place in everything than I was in the competition aspect. And the competition aspect seemed more like a plot device than anything, anyway. We don't get to see much of it. There's, like, two dance scenes and one practice scene, and the rest of it gets glossed over entirely.
I was originally going to give this book one star, but since it's my own fault that I didn't read the description well enough to realize that it wasn't going to be my thing, I'll give it some grace and two stars instead.
I somehow missed the fact that this book has K-pop influences. Had I realized that was gonna be in here, I wouldn't have picked it up. I was gonna DNF it, but it's my own fault for not reading the description well enough on the NetGalley site, so I felt obligated to finish reading.
That said, I didn't enjoy this book. The writing itself is fine, and the characters are decent, but all the references to idols and K-pop culture in general had me cringing and rolling my eyes every other page. Candie's family history and the curse that came with it was really interesting, though! I wish the author would have leaned more into that. I was much more interested in that and Mina's place in everything than I was in the competition aspect. And the competition aspect seemed more like a plot device than anything, anyway. We don't get to see much of it. There's, like, two dance scenes and one practice scene, and the rest of it gets glossed over entirely.
I was originally going to give this book one star, but since it's my own fault that I didn't read the description well enough to realize that it wasn't going to be my thing, I'll give it some grace and two stars instead.
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
5.0
To preface, I love the movie version of this book. It's a masterpiece. You know how they say the book is always better than the movie? That's true here, too! I don't know what to call a book that sits higher than its masterpiece adaptation. This book might just be perfect. Starling is a really interesting character, and to my surprise, in the book, she's really funny! It's a dry humor, but I love it. And Hannibal is, of course, a cultural icon. The writing is simple and snappy, and though it gets a little clinical at times, I'm not counting that against it, given it's necessary for what's going on. I might have to read the rest of these books!
Merciless Waters by Rae Knowles
3.5
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
I don't think I've read a pirate book since I was in high school, but the sailing element here was pretty cool! The writing was lovely, too!
A lot of the background characters had really interesting stories, and it bugs me that one of them wasn't given the leading role, because neither Jaq nor Lily really caught my attention. Lily is toxic as all hell, and not in a likeable way, and Jaq's obsession with her makes very little sense. How could anyone be attracted to that? Like, I get she's pretty, but girl, get a life.
I did like the story overall, though, even if I wasn't a fan of the characters. The way Scylla works is super cool! And the ending was so interesting! I didn't see that coming!
I give Merciless Waters 3.5 stars out of 5!
I don't think I've read a pirate book since I was in high school, but the sailing element here was pretty cool! The writing was lovely, too!
A lot of the background characters had really interesting stories, and it bugs me that one of them wasn't given the leading role, because neither Jaq nor Lily really caught my attention. Lily is toxic as all hell, and not in a likeable way, and Jaq's obsession with her makes very little sense. How could anyone be attracted to that? Like, I get she's pretty, but girl, get a life.
I did like the story overall, though, even if I wasn't a fan of the characters. The way Scylla works is super cool! And the ending was so interesting! I didn't see that coming!
I give Merciless Waters 3.5 stars out of 5!