lindenw's reviews
13 reviews

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

Really good book to be honest/ loved the writing and the characters were well written and engaging. Problem is, I’m a scaredy cat and didn’t need to imagine an old man ghost in the chair by my bed each night. 

The Troop by Nick Cutter
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I really enjoyed the writing, super descriptive and I felt like I knew the characters, but when I put it down for the day I struggled for weeks to pick it back up. Maybe I’ll give it another shot soon, or try another book of Nick Cutter’s. I’m not against gory descriptions but I think maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for them. 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

5.0

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I love a YA mystery, and I love a summer camp as home base for a story. I thought this would be a home run- a creepy mystery paired with summer fun, what could go wrong? Well, a lack of plot & clues to follow along really did this one in. There was a whole lot of book for not much plot occurring, a lot of characters introduced without much follow through on them, and the fact that the book hinged on the main character doing one single thing to solve it- and the answers are all laid out there, with no way for the reader to have even tried to make an accurate guess along the way. Just thought I’d have more fun in this one, like I did with the trilogy prior to it. 

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

5.0

Everlost by Neal Shusterman

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book (& the whole of the Skinjacker trilogy) has been in the back of my mind since I first read them as they came out so many years ago. Definitely YA, but I had a fun time revisiting the first book of the series & seeing that it still holds up. 

Billy Summers by Stephen King

dark slow-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

2.25

This is my least favorite Stephen King book. I could get behind the first half, somewhat reminiscent & condensed version of 11/22/63, but the second half lost me entirely. 

This weird savior/revenge plot with the girl, the book within a book (within a book?), and the random Shining references (enough supernatural stuff to make it seem like there would be a relevant payoff, but of course not)… none of that did it for me. This felt like it could have been three separate novellas but he wanted to cram them all together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

The Long Walk by Stephen King, Richard Bachman

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

October Country by Ray Bradbury
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

I usually love both Ray Bradbury and short stories but I had a hard time getting into these for some reason. Will have to revisit when I’m on a short story kick and see if my thoughts change.

How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Weird, but honestly really refreshing. Not what I expected and I appreciated that. I wish we’d gotten a little more at the end to explain a small part of the plot, but that really wasn’t overall important to the story, in my opinion, so I’m not too latched onto it.