Scan barcode
ladybugwrites's reviews
275 reviews
The Outsider by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This one is hard to put words to. I just finished it, like about two minutes ago, and I don't actually know what to think, but I do want to get my immediate thoughts out because I think those are the most accurate for how I feel about books (usually).
This is a book that starts strong. The first, say 100-150 pages are a strong crime novel I very much enjoyed reading. The real horror in this books is most certainly the murder and how ot happened, as in, the description itself is the horror and it gives me nightmares thinking about it. (A very good description of something I never actually wanted to read, tbh).
After those, 150 pages, it was slow going. Until the 300-350 mark, very little happened. It felt a lot like repeating what had already been established (there's one huge thing in those pages that couldn't be cut, but a lot of it still did feel redundant). I think you can cut maybe 150 pages from this book and youd get the same book, but it'd be slightly better bc you wouldn't hear everything 30000 times. I'm sorry, but that seriously annoyed me how much time things took, how much description went into the tiniest things completely unnecessarily. There was just, too much unnecessary details.
Now, the horror technically is there lurking from the start, but it doesn’t really get anywhere until we're at the 350 mark, which is way too fucking slow even though I know this is common with King's books. The worst part about it, even these pages are dragged out and I keep waiting for it to be over, and, it's not really that scary. It was kind of anticlimactic, in the end, which I was honestly expecting. So, at least he met my expectations, I guess. It was creepy, and I do somewhat regret finishing a horror novel at 4am and the next thing I should do is turn of my light and go to sleep, but, it wasn’t really scary. The elements themselves are horrible, and the maybe, 3rd to last scene was probably the creepiest, but it lacked the horror I expect from King. It lacked the creepy, disgusting, and uncomfortable feeling I got when I reaf The Shining, and honestly, that's a little disappointing.
All in all, I think it's well written, it just, left more to be desired and could've been shorter. But, at least I can cross of another Stephen King book of the list, and it wasn't bad, it was just... okay. I think it says a lot that the crime part of the horror novel wad the best, especially when it's a King book.
This is a book that starts strong. The first, say 100-150 pages are a strong crime novel I very much enjoyed reading. The real horror in this books is most certainly the murder and how ot happened, as in, the description itself is the horror and it gives me nightmares thinking about it. (A very good description of something I never actually wanted to read, tbh).
After those, 150 pages, it was slow going. Until the 300-350 mark, very little happened. It felt a lot like repeating what had already been established (there's one huge thing in those pages that couldn't be cut, but a lot of it still did feel redundant). I think you can cut maybe 150 pages from this book and youd get the same book, but it'd be slightly better bc you wouldn't hear everything 30000 times. I'm sorry, but that seriously annoyed me how much time things took, how much description went into the tiniest things completely unnecessarily. There was just, too much unnecessary details.
Now, the horror technically is there lurking from the start, but it doesn’t really get anywhere until we're at the 350 mark, which is way too fucking slow even though I know this is common with King's books. The worst part about it, even these pages are dragged out and I keep waiting for it to be over, and, it's not really that scary. It was kind of anticlimactic, in the end, which I was honestly expecting. So, at least he met my expectations, I guess. It was creepy, and I do somewhat regret finishing a horror novel at 4am and the next thing I should do is turn of my light and go to sleep, but, it wasn’t really scary. The elements themselves are horrible, and the maybe, 3rd to last scene was probably the creepiest, but it lacked the horror I expect from King. It lacked the creepy, disgusting, and uncomfortable feeling I got when I reaf The Shining, and honestly, that's a little disappointing.
All in all, I think it's well written, it just, left more to be desired and could've been shorter. But, at least I can cross of another Stephen King book of the list, and it wasn't bad, it was just... okay. I think it says a lot that the crime part of the horror novel wad the best, especially when it's a King book.
Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
adventurous
challenging
funny
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
4.0
I will forever love diving into the world of Percy Jackson. The world and the characters mean so much to me and bring me an intense amount of nostalgia. This was a lot of fun, and I'm loving seeing an older Percy who's constantly learning from his mistakes. This 2.0 series may feel like a bit of a cash-grab (which I really don't doubt it is), but I'm very much enjoying it all the same.
I will say, though, that this one was possibly a little boring to me. A lot was happening, I was never actually bored, I just felt like it was missing something. It left something to be desired. I also missed some of Percy's sass, there wasn't that much in this one. Either way, I did have a lot of fun, and I can't wait for the next one. I will forever love Percy Jackson (and it was still 4 stars and I devoured it in about 5 hours, so it's not like it was bad in any way).
I will say, though, that this one was possibly a little boring to me. A lot was happening, I was never actually bored, I just felt like it was missing something. It left something to be desired. I also missed some of Percy's sass, there wasn't that much in this one. Either way, I did have a lot of fun, and I can't wait for the next one. I will forever love Percy Jackson (and it was still 4 stars and I devoured it in about 5 hours, so it's not like it was bad in any way).
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
I cannot believe it has taken this long for me to decide to read Carmilla. I liked Dracula a lot, but I do like this one more. The writing style is beautiful, the story is short and not overly saturated by a lot of boring stuff, and the narrator for the audiobook is fantastic, she does a great job.
Absolutely a great way to start Halloween season in terms of books.
Absolutely a great way to start Halloween season in terms of books.
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.75
I will honestly admit that it's really weird how a boring book can be so fun to read. This is, by my own standards, a very boring book. I fell out at parts, couldn't always pay attention due to it's many listings of families and relations between people and how much of telling' this book does. I know that is kind of the point, that's the format is has been written in, it's just not my cup of tea.
However, that being said, this book has some amazing moments of pure excitement, of fantastic storywriting. The descriptions that sometimes pop up and blow me away with how they sound and what they make me think about, and God, I loved those moments. I also loved hearing the names of characters I already know and love, even though that didn't happen that often.
It took me a while to finish. I needed breaks sometimes, but I am so happy I did. I may be very hyped and happy with the ending (aka, the exact edition I read includes the stories 'The fall of Numenor' and 'Of the rings of power and the third age' at the very end and I had so much fun listening to them because I know these things, they were familiar and I thought that was fun), but I am still very happy I read this and that I have some more knowledge about the universe within which The Lord of the Rings take place.
However, that being said, this book has some amazing moments of pure excitement, of fantastic storywriting. The descriptions that sometimes pop up and blow me away with how they sound and what they make me think about, and God, I loved those moments. I also loved hearing the names of characters I already know and love, even though that didn't happen that often.
It took me a while to finish. I needed breaks sometimes, but I am so happy I did. I may be very hyped and happy with the ending (aka, the exact edition I read includes the stories 'The fall of Numenor' and 'Of the rings of power and the third age' at the very end and I had so much fun listening to them because I know these things, they were familiar and I thought that was fun), but I am still very happy I read this and that I have some more knowledge about the universe within which The Lord of the Rings take place.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0