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marlovve's reviews
169 reviews
Up Your HOA Hole by B.J. Irons
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
2.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Spectrum Books for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book fell a bit flat for me. It may be that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but reading the premise made me expect I would have a good time with it. Unfortunately, the writing felt very weak to me and the characters were not at all likeable to me.
The writing told the reader too much without showing anything much at all. We were simply told how welcoming and wonderful the community was, how kind everyone was to them, but we barely saw this in the characters at all. Sure, Gwen was quite welcoming from the start, along with Lacey, but we absolutely did not meet enough characters to justify their view of the area. Whilst it was meant to be a bustling community, only having 2-3 named characters outside our protagonists who get any time on the page made it feel sparse, and almost all were quite unlikeable. The dialogue also felt quite stilted, and relationships felt somewhat forced at times, even between the main characters. There wasn't much chemistry between any of the characters on the page, which I suppose could have been somewhat intentional for certain relationships, but it felt very jarring to read.
If you're just here for the drama, I think you'd have a pretty good time though! The characters here were absolutely agents of chaos, messy as hell and filled with drama to the brim. The ending felt a little rushed for me, and using the exact same chapter from the beginning twice felt a little cheap. If it had been altered somewhat, it would have been a good nod without just copy-pasting it.
Overall, I think this just was not for me.
This book fell a bit flat for me. It may be that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but reading the premise made me expect I would have a good time with it. Unfortunately, the writing felt very weak to me and the characters were not at all likeable to me.
The writing told the reader too much without showing anything much at all. We were simply told how welcoming and wonderful the community was, how kind everyone was to them, but we barely saw this in the characters at all. Sure, Gwen was quite welcoming from the start, along with Lacey, but we absolutely did not meet enough characters to justify their view of the area. Whilst it was meant to be a bustling community, only having 2-3 named characters outside our protagonists who get any time on the page made it feel sparse, and almost all were quite unlikeable. The dialogue also felt quite stilted, and relationships felt somewhat forced at times, even between the main characters. There wasn't much chemistry between any of the characters on the page, which I suppose could have been somewhat intentional for certain relationships, but it felt very jarring to read.
If you're just here for the drama, I think you'd have a pretty good time though! The characters here were absolutely agents of chaos, messy as hell and filled with drama to the brim. The ending felt a little rushed for me, and using the exact same chapter from the beginning twice felt a little cheap. If it had been altered somewhat, it would have been a good nod without just copy-pasting it.
Overall, I think this just was not for me.
The Household by Stacey Halls
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK | Manilla Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book was definitely an interesting read. The writing style was incredibly immersive and the writing style was lovely to read. However, I found the characters themselves felt like they all needed to be fleshed out a little more, and the plot itself felt meandering and disjointed.
Angela herself felt a little wishy-washy; one one hand you could care she really did care for the girls, but at other moments, it felt like she treated the house as a hobby; somewhere to grace her presence with once in a while to feel better about herself. That is not to say that she seemed selfish or full of herself, just that she felt a little inconsistent.And the way she treated Mrs Holdsworth at the end, despite the fact she was made aware she had requested help was frustrating. She wasn't perfect, but she absolutely cared for those girls and was doing the best she could in the situation she was given. It was a doomed idea from the start, but man. . I also did not enjoy the romantic subplot given to Angela, and felt her story would have been stronger if it hadn't been included.
Regarding the girls, only Martha and Josephine felt remotely fleshed out to me. Polly seemed to fade into the background and all the others were passing thoughts at best, which I suppose to some extent was the point, to emphasis the revolving door of girls at the cottage. Also, whilst I did feel they were more fleshed out than other characters, they still fell a little flat for me. I think the sheer number of plots Stacey Halls tried to incorporated weakened the book significantly.
This book was definitely an interesting read. The writing style was incredibly immersive and the writing style was lovely to read. However, I found the characters themselves felt like they all needed to be fleshed out a little more, and the plot itself felt meandering and disjointed.
Angela herself felt a little wishy-washy; one one hand you could care she really did care for the girls, but at other moments, it felt like she treated the house as a hobby; somewhere to grace her presence with once in a while to feel better about herself. That is not to say that she seemed selfish or full of herself, just that she felt a little inconsistent.
Regarding the girls, only Martha and Josephine felt remotely fleshed out to me. Polly seemed to fade into the background and all the others were passing thoughts at best, which I suppose to some extent was the point, to emphasis the revolving door of girls at the cottage. Also, whilst I did feel they were more fleshed out than other characters, they still fell a little flat for me. I think the sheer number of plots Stacey Halls tried to incorporated weakened the book significantly.
Eye of the Ouroboros by Megan Bontrager
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Quill and Crow Publishing House for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I had a decent time with this book! I found the worldbuilding to be very interesting, and some characters I came to adore and others I feel like needed more time to flesh them out. Roman in particular was so intriguing to me, but it felt like he was almost incomplete as a character. Whilst I also understand why we didn't spend much time getting to know Theo's sister, it felt like there was much more of a focus on the actual dissapearance and lack of her, rather than actually getting to feel the relationship between the two sisters. This also applied to the plot itself for me. It felt like there was such a big, interesting build-up to the finale, but it fell a little flat.
There also seemed to be a bit of a disconnect when it came to the tone, which wasn't too overly jarring, but it felt like it swung in a couple different directions throughout, without enough to connect and justify the change.I did really love the cosmic horror element, as well as the concept of the bureau itself, but I wish there had been more time spent fleshing out these concepts, since I left the novel feeling somewhat unsatisfied with how deeply they were explored. That is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the writing style of this book, just some elements I found were a bit disjointed to me.
The handling of grief I think was done well, as well as how it bleeds into Theo's relationships, particularly with Delilah,and the complications that came with her personal life and professional lives overlapping, vs the complicated feeling that came with a betrayal that was liekly done with good intentions.
Overall, I enjoyed most of my time with this book, and would absolutely reccomend this!
I had a decent time with this book! I found the worldbuilding to be very interesting, and some characters I came to adore and others I feel like needed more time to flesh them out. Roman in particular was so intriguing to me, but it felt like he was almost incomplete as a character. Whilst I also understand why we didn't spend much time getting to know Theo's sister, it felt like there was much more of a focus on the actual dissapearance and lack of her, rather than actually getting to feel the relationship between the two sisters. This also applied to the plot itself for me. It felt like there was such a big, interesting build-up to the finale, but it fell a little flat.
There also seemed to be a bit of a disconnect when it came to the tone, which wasn't too overly jarring, but it felt like it swung in a couple different directions throughout, without enough to connect and justify the change.
The handling of grief I think was done well, as well as how it bleeds into Theo's relationships, particularly with Delilah,
Overall, I enjoyed most of my time with this book, and would absolutely reccomend this!