Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lkmreads's reviews
1139 reviews
Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book... it's somewhere between a 2.5 or 3 for me.
I liked it, but it wasn't the greatest thing I've read, and honestly, it didn't go the way I expected it to before buying it/starting it, which made it slightly disappointing.
Before I begin, I want to point out: The blurb is quite spoilery on what the book is about, which makes it a bit meh that you know how it will end going into it; but I guess it will also avoid some nasty surprises for some readers, so I can't really fault it.
So when I say it didn't go the way I expected, I mean more in a way of telling it, not the ending itself, which, as you read, becomes quite predictable anyway.
On that note, I guess I will start with what I didn't quite like about it.
And the first thing I'll go with, is the predictability. As I mentioned, while the blurb doesn't hide the subject matter, you can pretty much see the ending coming a mile away.
The book was narrated in 3rd person present, which was... a choice. At first I didn't realize what felt so WRONG when reading it, and I just couldn't shake it off. I did not like the writing style as a whole. It took me the better third of the book to "get into it" and be able to look past the 3rd person present tense. It's just not for me.
As for the style of writing itself: it felt very pretentious. Not just that the main character was, the style in and of itself was.
It was a struggle not to put it down because of the writing, because the story, I was enjoying.
Speaking of pretentious--boy was the main character, Rosemary, pretentious. I wanted to like her, I really did, sometimes I almost did. But I just couldn't. Every time I could sort of feel for her, she would get into her thoughts or open her mouth and remind me why I disliked her.
She was also a bit of a walking Academic Stereotype, which is really the lesser of the issues--had she not been so annoying about it.
Ash wasn't bad at first, but towards the end she became a bit of a caricature of the evil slasher type too, which I didn't like. Her background story-- what little we learned of it --was meh, too. Her whole spiel towards the end? Meeeeeeh. The whole genius thing? Eyeroll worthy.
So: I didn't like the writing, or the characters. What did I like? lol
Well, the story itself was good.
I really enjoyed the cottagecore vibes and the whole "waste nothing" thing. The descriptions were nice.
I loved the way the characters interacted when they first met.
Ro's growing obsession with Ash was good, though I think it could have leaned more into the horror of it too (as in, make her more obsessed).
Ash was a nice character at first, and even towards the middle, where her darker impulses were showing. I wish the author would have worked on her more too in the end, rather than fall into a more typical slasher type of thing.
I don't know if you're not supposed to like the characters or what, but I can't fully enjoy a book if I can't root for or even relate a little bit for at least one of the characters (even if it's the evil one).
Anyway, it's not a bad read. The start is fine, the middle is a little slow, and the end falls into a regular slasher story.
Enjoyed.
Would I recommend? Meh, if you like slasher types that start off slow, yes. If anything, it's a very short read anyway, so, give it a try!
I liked it, but it wasn't the greatest thing I've read, and honestly, it didn't go the way I expected it to before buying it/starting it, which made it slightly disappointing.
Before I begin, I want to point out: The blurb is quite spoilery on what the book is about, which makes it a bit meh that you know how it will end going into it; but I guess it will also avoid some nasty surprises for some readers, so I can't really fault it.
So when I say it didn't go the way I expected, I mean more in a way of telling it, not the ending itself, which, as you read, becomes quite predictable anyway.
On that note, I guess I will start with what I didn't quite like about it.
And the first thing I'll go with, is the predictability. As I mentioned, while the blurb doesn't hide the subject matter, you can pretty much see the ending coming a mile away.
The book was narrated in 3rd person present, which was... a choice. At first I didn't realize what felt so WRONG when reading it, and I just couldn't shake it off. I did not like the writing style as a whole. It took me the better third of the book to "get into it" and be able to look past the 3rd person present tense. It's just not for me.
As for the style of writing itself: it felt very pretentious. Not just that the main character was, the style in and of itself was.
It was a struggle not to put it down because of the writing, because the story, I was enjoying.
Speaking of pretentious--boy was the main character, Rosemary, pretentious. I wanted to like her, I really did, sometimes I almost did. But I just couldn't. Every time I could sort of feel for her, she would get into her thoughts or open her mouth and remind me why I disliked her.
She was also a bit of a walking Academic Stereotype, which is really the lesser of the issues--had she not been so annoying about it.
Ash wasn't bad at first, but towards the end she became a bit of a caricature of the evil slasher type too, which I didn't like. Her background story-- what little we learned of it --was meh, too. Her whole spiel towards the end? Meeeeeeh. The whole genius thing? Eyeroll worthy.
So: I didn't like the writing, or the characters. What did I like? lol
Well, the story itself was good.
I really enjoyed the cottagecore vibes and the whole "waste nothing" thing. The descriptions were nice.
I loved the way the characters interacted when they first met.
Ro's growing obsession with Ash was good, though I think it could have leaned more into the horror of it too (as in, make her more obsessed).
Ash was a nice character at first, and even towards the middle, where her darker impulses were showing. I wish the author would have worked on her more too in the end, rather than fall into a more typical slasher type of thing.
I don't know if you're not supposed to like the characters or what, but I can't fully enjoy a book if I can't root for or even relate a little bit for at least one of the characters (even if it's the evil one).
Anyway, it's not a bad read. The start is fine, the middle is a little slow, and the end falls into a regular slasher story.
Enjoyed.
Would I recommend? Meh, if you like slasher types that start off slow, yes. If anything, it's a very short read anyway, so, give it a try!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Vomit
Minor: Confinement
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
El libro de la noche by Holly Black
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Slow. Unlikeable characters. Unclear world building. Boring.
Corona de Trueno: Bestias de la Noche 2 by Tochi Onyebuchi
adventurous
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25