mayblegrace's reviews
67 reviews

The Terror by Dan Simmons

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

It's very good and scary and cold. 

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

A decent read. The ending was very, very finely written - the style that I found a little dragging in the middle worked to great effect at the end. 

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.25

The book is badly written but with the occasional gem of a description that makes a paragraph stand out. It's... fairly complex, unnecessarily graphic, and contains a lot of appalling poetry with no regard for metre. I don't know how I feel about it, but I'd say it's probably worth a read if you're interested in American Literature as a genre. 

The Small Hand by Susan Hill

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This is a very finely written book. Susan Hill is a technically skilled writer whose novels are delicious to read. I only wish she didn't write such sad books, because they do not spark joy with their plots, only the quality of the writing. Nonetheless, a very enjoyable read with some creepy moments and an interesting plot. 

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

dark relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

This book was not, in my opinion, very conclusive. It was however very nicely written. The translation was full of neat turns of phrase, and the author's prose writing is evocative and addictive. I liked the idea of the plot much more than its realisation though. I also found elements of the plot quite creepy - which I was not expecting. I enjoyed the descriptions of the protagonist's day to day life more than reading about her actual character and I found the ending rather weak and slightly unbelievable. A good book overall, well written, decently plotted. 

Hoffman by Ernest Gébler

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

3.5

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

1.5

Written well enough, but unforgivably racist. The major problem with the book is that the author says racist things as if she's setting up an irony or subversion or something critical, and it just never ever comes. I was glad to finish it. 

Alice by Christina Henry

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.75

A pretty heavy handed feminist retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with sex trafficking. Lots of extremely innocent young girls and extremely evil men getting murdered horribly with the occasional grotesque body horror thrown in for good measure.