lilipopmlml's reviews
937 reviews

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was the perfect moody, gothic, horror book for fall. Having read the author's previous novel Gods of Jade and Shadow and enjoyed it but felt that the overall development was holding back, Mexican Gothic was delightfully mature, taking more time to slowly develop the plot and immerse readers into the haunted atmosphere of High Place. Moreno-Garcia is an author to watch.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Murder

Attempted rape and 2 scenes with explicit sexual violence, other less explicit scenes of physical violence common in horror, would be PG-13 as a movie not quite R though

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3.75

I enjoyed this book, however I was surprised at how little action there seemed to be for an adventure-plot based book. It seemed like our two main characters spent most of their time talking/thinking in train cars and hotel rooms. While the characters were compelling and the overall storyline kept my attention, I couldn't help but feel the novel overall was stunted. 

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Lies and Weddings was an overall entertaining read told in Kevin Kwan's signature globe-trotting, over the top events for the megarich and famous. Despite being an overall light-hearted novel, there were times when the tongue-in-cheek narrative approach came across almost as pretentious as the cast of characters Kwan (mostly) lovingly makes fun of. Although the individual scenes and events were creative and wildly unpredictable, the overarching plot and ultimate ending of the novel were given away in the first few chapters of an otherwise lengthy novel. 

A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

A Thousand Times Before is the type of read you need to approach slowly and allow yourself to marinate with. Thanki expertly weaves together themes of motherhood, family legacy, identity, and the value of art alongside an immersive historical background that is intimate while still portraying the far-reaching effects of political turmoil. Similar in scope to Khalid Housseni's A Thousand Splendid Suns and Nadeem Aslam's The Golden Legend, A Thousand Times Before is refreshing in its multi-generational and women-centric approach to turbulent moments in history, with the character's fears and passions registering as more authentic for being written by a female author. 

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book started off slow for me. The narration is in first-person omniscient POV that is withholding information through Abi, an artificial intelligence system, which works given the blended genres of the book but did take a little while to get used to. I think having a narrator withhold information from the reader can be more frustrating to read than tagging along with a character as they discover the information, but since most of the book focuses on Emory, it ended up working out. The book overall is a blend of sci-fi, apocalyptic dystopian, and mystery. While the clues and turns were fun and each one seemed to add new pieces to the puzzle, the red herrings all seemed to point back and forth between the same two characters and the actual ending felt slightly more "gotcha" than earned. While this won't end up on my top ten list of favorite books, it was a worthwhile read overall if you are in the mood for something adventurous that makes you think just a tad without requiring calculus-level backflips.

I think if Emory had found a last, final clue in person instead of just remembering some last detail, the ending would have felt a little more earned. For a book that built so much tension around the apocalyptic aspect, that tension felt pointless at the end when the only two characters that died were the two we weren't really supposed to like the entire book anyways. And the Adil staged the murder to send everyone on a wild goose chase was the only loose thread-tie up that felt completely thrown in to me, as he would have had no way to know that Thea and Neima's fight would survive him smashing Neima's memory gem and a single fingernail wouldn't have convicted Thea otherwise.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

lighthearted

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.25

A quick contemporary romance read. I enjoyed this more than the author's The Love Hypothesis but overall found it predictable with some pacing issues.

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Good sequel, changes in POV and more quest-based plot made pacing a little quicker than the first book in the duology. Cast of characters were unique and each POV character had some development.

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Enjoyable fantasy read with a hint of romance. Unique magic system that made this stand out from other current fantasy books and had a more gothic atmosphere perfect for a fall read.

Dreamland by Alyson Noël

3.0

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Fallen; The Stolen; The Chosen by Liz Braswell

3.0

Liked the tv show better....