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manikahemmerixh's reviews
139 reviews
Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning
2.5
Way too on the nose for me, and too many of the big reveals really don't make sense if you give them any thought. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough, but I do understand what this book was trying to do by modernizing classic slasher tropes.
Virgin River by Robyn Carr
3.0
Well no wonder the show is so different, the timeline in this is...unique 😂 exactly what you would expect from this type of book though. Good in that it reminds me of my wattpad story days.
Sociopath: a Memoir by Patric Gagne
1.5
I picked up this memoir hoping to get an understanding, or sense of what it would be like for a person to go through life as a "sociopath". It's a word that gets thrown around a lot, and as Gagne talks about in her memoir, has a negative connotation. I operate under the belief system that just because we may fear what we don't understand, doesn't make it inherently wrong.
Now, that said when someone writes a memoir I don't think it's their job to teach the reader anything if they don't want to. In this case though, including PhD on the front cover and titling the book Sociopath, I thought that it would be more informative. Spoiler alert: it's really not. There is psychology talk, and even some medical jargon, but it's very rudimentary and all related back directly to Patric. The accounts in the memoir are super sensationalized and almost glamorous, which makes for fine story telling but fell flat on a broader level for me. It felt too long and repetitive. I struggled to sympathize with Patric, and because she did very little to share how she's taken what she learned about her own "sociopathy" and used it to help others, I didn't learn anything about individuals who lie on the ASD scale or how to better empathize with them.
There's other media that would better suite my interests/preferences, I think, and I'll look into that. Reading this did not really serve any purpose for me though.
Now, that said when someone writes a memoir I don't think it's their job to teach the reader anything if they don't want to. In this case though, including PhD on the front cover and titling the book Sociopath, I thought that it would be more informative. Spoiler alert: it's really not. There is psychology talk, and even some medical jargon, but it's very rudimentary and all related back directly to Patric. The accounts in the memoir are super sensationalized and almost glamorous, which makes for fine story telling but fell flat on a broader level for me. It felt too long and repetitive. I struggled to sympathize with Patric, and because she did very little to share how she's taken what she learned about her own "sociopathy" and used it to help others, I didn't learn anything about individuals who lie on the ASD scale or how to better empathize with them.
There's other media that would better suite my interests/preferences, I think, and I'll look into that. Reading this did not really serve any purpose for me though.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
3.75
I'm not exactly sure how to explain why, but this isn't the kind of book I'd normally read. I found the pacing a bit slow as I got into it, likely because the beginning quarter of the book feels helpless, and there's an air of flatness about the story. Plenty of things happen, and there are distinct characters (in fact the characters are what saved it for me - I loved Penelope and Hester), but it feels more one dimensional or like the entire story is draped in black and white. There's humor in it though, and I found it incredibly easy to read. Interesting that I know I feel positively but also almost don't know how I feel about it.
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
3.75
Do I admit that I liked this much more than I wanted to with a healthy does of shame? Yes. Did I giggle, and smile, and blush? Also yes. It does lack nuance in the murder aspect but the romance is strong. I don't think this is a book that needs to be nit-picked too much. It's probably either your thing or REALLY isn't.
My Husband by Maud Ventura
4.5
If you've ever wondered what it's like to have an anxious attachment style, this book is it (though taken to an extreme). My husband spans only a week and revolves around the thoughts and perceptions of the narrator, a wife who is "very passionately in love with her husband" (whatever you say girl, we'll call it passion) . It's almost more a character study than a novel. There isn't a market for books about unhinged women for no reason. I am the target audience, and this was no exception. I love deep dives into a character's psyche and this one was written so that even when the character was being stripped bare, the reader would continue to learn she wasn't giving everything away.
I may be in the minority by feeling like I could have done without the epilogue, but from a creative stand-point, and if I were in the shoes of the author - I understand it. I can imagine that many people would say the book almost doesn't "make sense" without it.
I may be in the minority by feeling like I could have done without the epilogue, but from a creative stand-point, and if I were in the shoes of the author - I understand it. I can imagine that many people would say the book almost doesn't "make sense" without it.
Daphne by Josh Malerman
3.5
At first I was quite enjoying Daphne, it does start a bit slow for a horror (but I would place this as more of a graphic psychological thriller anyway) but Malerman's writing does a good job of conveying the growing sense of wrongness in the atmosphere. I love the idea of the power behind thoughts driving the nightmare and an underlaying ghost story in a town that everyone agrees is too terrible to face, but that's kind of the extent of what I really liked about the book. The ending is pretty rushed and confusing. I don't care about basketball but it was a neutral element for me. The journal entries started to feel performative, and there's a "twist" but it has so little explanation or resolution that instead of being a shocking development it feels more like a plot hole. Maybe I just didn't get it though?
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
4.25
A very intriguing concept that I'm happy to say is executed successfully. I felt almost exactly like I was going back in time with Jen, piecing things together as she did, and trying to unfold the tangled web of events leading up to Todd's crime. It's mysterious but also heartfelt, and though it doesn't classify as a romance, there's also a beautiful love story woven within. It's the kind of book you can't put down because you're so curious to know how it ends.
The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter
4.0
I love villain origin stories, and I like that this one held elements I could recognize from Snow White but also read like it could be about a unique villain never explored before. Walter does the worldbuilding needed to let The Crimson Crown stand on its own, and I look forward to reading The Witch Queen. While there is a line of betrayals that I can see leading to how this book ends, I am curious to see how that further develops in the second book. You don't start a villain origin story expecting a "happy" ending, but I think that I need more to fully wrap my head around the trajectory of Ayleth's path (especially if I'm thinking all the way to the Evil Queen).