maxgardner's reviews
366 reviews

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Though I don't think this book fully lives up to its potential, I had a lot of fun reading it and trying to solve all the little mysteries and codes throughout. I like the main character, and I think the pacing is really solid at building tension until you get these small bursts of creepy/terrifying scenes, which Kliewer does really well. It also pretty smoothly moves into "How the hell is she going to get out of this?" territory, which I usually like in a thriller/horror novel. However, there's so much lore being thrown at you here between the archive entries between the main narrative as well as what pieces you pick up as Eve gets deeper and deeper into the mess of this house, and most of it...amounts to nothing? It's this giant, ever-expanding, complicated mystery that is ultimately pretty inconsequential to the actual core story, and I was disappointed we got all this information that didn't really matter in the end. That being said, I like Kliewer's writing style and I like how weird this is, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for his next book.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

Jason Rekulak does such a good job with pacing and pushing the story forward, and I really liked Mallory—she feels well developed and fairly complex, and she's easy to root for—as well as the cast of supporting characters. The drawings add a lot to the reading experience, and I had fun trying to piece together what the central mystery was. The ending did not quite work for me—it felt like it was jumping the shark and relying on maybe a little too much suspension of disbelief. But it was difficult to put down, and I think ultimately the characters and the core mystery makes it worth reading. I'm looking forward to what Rekulak writes in the future!

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

There are some really interesting themes explored here—grief and one's relationship with mortality, navigating different approaches to parenting, the dangers of getting involved with something you know is powerful but don't understand fully—and I really liked how King introduced these and played with them. There are also some great moments of horror—the scene with the accident at the ER, the night terrors, the pet cemetery and the mystery around it. But it didn't quite work for me as a whole—it does feel a bit too long, and I didn't enjoy how King transitions between some of the time periods (specifically, I hated how he chose to write one of the saddest and most pivotal parts of the book—it takes all of the punch out of it and leaves you wondering if you missed a few pages). Add to that the poorly written sex scenes and the odd moments where we get seemingly unnecessary details about Louis (I'm sorry, did he

fuck a sex worker while on a business trip with his pregnant wife at home

or did I miss something about the timeline?). I like Stephen King, but this book more so than any of the others I've read by him so far had me exclaiming, "God, you can tell a man wrote this." I won't be reading this one again, and I think I'd only recommend it under specific circumstances.

Below by Laurel Hightower

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.5

This novella starts off strong, and I think it mostly maintains its momentum. We're pretty quickly thrown into chaos, and Laurel Hightower does an excellent job of continuing to up the stakes and push the story forward, forcing the character down a path that it feels difficult to imagine she can come back from. Great moments of tension and fear, some cool body horror, and an overarching sense of dread. The only gripes I have are the ending feeling a little "Huh?" and the wasted potential of making the protagonist a horror superfan on her way to a convention only to make very limited use of this fact throughout (we get maybe 1-2 horror references, maybe a line or two about knowledge learned from the genre). Why even include this detail about her at all? But all in all, a good creature feature and worth it to check out.

Come with Me by Ronald Malfi

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Malfi explores some interesting themes in this—grief, the cycle of violence, the tension between your internal self and the one you present to the world (even to the people who are meant to know you best). He does a good job of giving us moments of solid creepiness and tension throughout, and I am usually a fan of blurring the lines between reality and the unexplainable. However, I don't think he quite pulls this off, though—the story is a little too windy and unfocused. The moments where he plays with events that are possibly supernatural are a bit too scattered and seem more thrown in rather than fully integrated into the plot. Some of the themes also feel a little undercooked, maybe because of how long the book feels and because at times, it feels we're retreading insights we've already uncovered in previous chapters. I'm interested to read another by Malfi, but this was pretty subpar for me.

Bunny by Mona Awad

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Did I like this book? I don't know...I guess? I'd recommend it to others...but maybe with a disclaimer that I didn't necessarily enjoy reading all of it. This is such a strange story, and I'm not sure it fully worked for me, but I did feel compelled to continue reading and find out what the fuck is going on. It gets off to a bit of a rocky start for me—the perspective feels juvenile and melodramatic, which is perhaps the point as the protagonist is a young artist—and it has some sections that I found almost unbearable (the Bunny speak is pretty annoying, and those sections stretched on too long). But as a whole, it kept my attention and left me thinking at the end, so I guess...good?

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

challenging hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I just love Ursula Le Guin's prose. She has a way of presenting these complex ideas in a relatable way that makes sense in the flow of a story without necessarily derailing the plot. Some may not agree, which I'd understand, but for me, it has worked in both of the books I've read by her (and I love that in spite of having read only two, I can pretty quickly recognize her unique style). This book specifically explores the human's relation to themselves and their caste as well as to outsiders. Le Guin asks what these identities amount to, what they mean for us and do for us, how they impact our moral compass, and how they shape the social and political dynamics that impact everything we do. I found the overarching story and the characters really interesting to follow, and I really enjoyed chewing on the ideas Le Guin explores.

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

A quick read that has great atmosphere and tension throughout as well as some excellent body horror moments. Very weird but cool gothic horror tale.

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

This took everything from the first one and turned it up a notch! I love that Gillig promoted The Nightmare and Ione to more prominent characters; both are funny and complex, and I really enjoyed learning more about them and watching their stories unfold. Gillig also significantly ramps up the romance and sexiness, and though it's not something I'd typically want more of, it overall worked fine and felt natural. Ultimately, though, I just really enjoyed the two central stories we follow between Elm and Ione back at Castle Rowan and Ravyn/Elspeth and company on a trek to find the Twin Alders card. I'm glad the latter took us into the woods and finally showed us more about The Nightmare, the mist, and the Spirit of the Woods. With this, Gillig ramps up the horror elements, which I really liked - I found the descriptions of

the lake monsters

pretty creepy as well as the moment we finally

meet the Spirit of the Woods

. And then back at the Castle, I loved getting more of Elm, who's such a shit but is super loveable and has a big heart, as he tried to help Ione and battle against the responsibilities that come with his lineage. And then once again, Gillig finishes strong with a final scene that feels really tense and comes to a satisfying conclusion. All in all, I really enjoyed this duology and will definitely be reading others by Gillig in the future.

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

I am generally apprehensive about self-help books because I find most of them to be superfluous. Though this one had a few sections I thought could have been trimmed or cut entirely, I do think Cal Newport's writing style is very accessible and enjoyable to read, and I think his insights about our current cultural obsession with busyness are often spot on. Aside from the final section, which really felt more applicable to engaging in creative work than to slow productivity specifically, there is a lot of really sound advice and guidance here for how to incorporate the concept of slow productivity into your daily work.