minimicropup's reviews
542 reviews

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I don’t know if I could have stuck this out without the audiobook. It was a compelling synopsis, but the execution didn’t work for me.  
 
Energy: Somber. Muddled. Restrained. 
 
🐺 Growls: Almost every character has a tragic backstory that’s mentioned in a way that came off a little trauma-dumpy without fleshed-out personalities. The pacing is super slow with repetitive introspection. 
 
🐕 Howls: I’m not sure how well the mental health challenges were represented – the ‘is it  supernatural or a delusion’ element plus how the MC managed her severe symptoms by just remembering they aren’t real seemed a little shaky. Spotlighting the twist (but that might be reading this as an adult). Still, The Big Bad reveal felt contrived in a bit of a personality transplant way.   
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The audiobook is easy to follow, and narration is good. 
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 A small town with underground caverns in Ohio, USA
Perspective: A 16-year-old with a family history of tragedy and traumas. They are struggling with their mental health and trying to hide it from their caregivers, while aiming to be independent and less of a burden on them. 
Timeline: 2010s or 2020s. Summer. Linear. 
🔥 Fuel: How will Neely do in her new job? Will she be able to befriend her crush? Can her brother’s friend help her heal? How will she navigate friendships, work, family, and her mental illness? What happened the night of the party and why can’t she remember anything? 
📖 Cred: Over-the-top
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Dinner table. Cavern tours. Voices. Cemetery. Sacrifice rock. Childhood bedroom. Dust bunnies. 
  • Direct, gritty, verbose writing style
  • Deep in a character’s mind (first person)
  • Sympathetic, unreliable, troubled characters
  • Hiding mental illness
  • Family tragedies, loss, grief
  • Angst, coming out, haunted by the past, life unraveling
  • Character-driven coming-of-age sadness and heartstring hits
  • Love at first sight, crushing on a coworker
  • First job workplace drama
  • Grandparent-child dynamics
  • Historical cavern settings
  • Descent into madness, distorted reality, guilty-or-innocent main character
 
Content Heads-Up: Alcohol, cannabis use (underage, partying). Animal death (dog, cat; described). Bullying (passive aggressive, rejection). Corpse (discovery of). Death. Fleas. Hallucinations (visual, auditory). Homophobia, transphobia (town protest; anxieties about; brief recalls). Incel (character opinions, online posts/agendas). Loss of parent (as child; witnessed). Loss of sibling (as teen). Mental illness (untreated). Mentally ill parent. Misogyny. Murder. Non-consenting sexual images (distributing). Potential false accusation. Sexual harassment (workplace). Rape (intoxicated, passed out). Schizophrenic symptoms. Suicide (graphic recall). Toxic relationship (brief recall). 
 
Rep: American. Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Freckled, pale, and ambiguous skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Library Audio
 
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Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I liked this. It’s a slow burn psychological thriller that reminded me a bit of Freida McFadden’s and Megan Collins’ style. If you don’t mind leaps in logic, it’s a decent read, especially if you like unhinged characters and popcorn thriller reveals.  
 
Energy: Ominous. Uneasy. Incensed. 
 
🐕 Howls: The big reveals at the end felt rushed, I wish it was hinted at more throughout and slowly incorporated. The plot holes stretched believability with all the convoluted long-cons and scheming that made no sense to me. It read clunky when the main character’s personality suddenly flipped from dangerously obsessive to chill and reflective. 
 
🐩 Tail Wags: Messy protagonist. Toggling between wanting the MC to get away with everything and wanting her to face the consequences. Well-placed flashbacks. Building tensions about how far the MC will go to get the guy. Entertaining.
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Manhattan, NY, USA
Perspective: We first meet our main character fresh out of being fired, dumped, and on the verse of losing their apartment lease. They are working a low-paying temp job auditing a law firm’s communications when they find themselves falling hard for one of the lawyers whose personal emails they are reviewing. 
Timeline: November. 2019. 
🔥 Fuel: Why was Cassie fired from her previous job? Why is she so smitten with the lawyer whose emails she’s reviewing? How far will she go to get to know more about him? Will she be caught? Will she lose this job? What is she doing when she blacks out from drinking too much?   
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief to over-the-top
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Notebook. Mouse clicking. Venti dirty chai. Screech of train brakes. Juice press. City sounds. Higher-ups. 
  • Breezy, intimate, reflective writing style
  • Tagging along, overhearing character thoughts, reading through emails (first person)
  • Chaotic, flawed, somewhat sympathetic, unhinged character study
  • Escalating obsessions psychological suspense
  • From couple goals to I’m-gonna-steal-your-life
  • Second-hand cringe and embarrassment
  • Precarious grip on reality
  • One-sided love at first sight, I-can-change-for-them romance
  • Desperate measures pick-me plotting
  • Everything-has-to-fall-into-place-perfectly-to-work scheming
  • Touch of did-not-die-that-way mystery
  • Fall from grace, double lives, manipulation, web of lies, online sleuthing popcorn thriller reveals
  • Workplace drama 
 
Content Heads-Up: Alcohol (intoxication, stress drinking, black outs). Allergy (peanut, shellfish). Blackmail. Cancer (loved one, terminal; brief recall). Cheating, break-up (unexpected). Grief. Loneliness. Loss of adult child. Loss of parent (as adult). Mental instability, breakdown, rage. Obsession, stalking. Parental abandonment (as child). Physical violence (former romantic partner). Suicide (off page). Unrequited love. 
 
Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Ruddy, tanned, ambiguous skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Kindle
 
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Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this, especially the audio. If you like quiet horror, introspective psychological suspense, or have ever felt trapped or taken advantage of, check this out. Just know that the vampire elements are subtle.  
 
Energy: Persevering. Charged. Haunting. 
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The audio narration. The atmosphere. The subtle dread. Exploring Lenora’s internal struggles, childhood trauma, shaky relationship, and how she gradually realizes who she is and what she’s capable of. The slow but natural pacing (especially for the romantic elements). Beautiful, meaningful writing with lines that hit. The thoughtful exploration of trauma and abuse. 
 
Scene: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sheffield and the Peak District, England
Perspective: Our main character is in their 30s, without children, and in a strained marriage. They invest all their efforts into supporting their spouse’s business endeavours. After purchasing a rundown estate, our MC works tirelessly to restore it in time for a shooting party their spouse wants to host, while also caring for an injured stranger they met along the way and navigating an unexpected visit from a friend. 
Timeline: 1888. Linear. 
🔥 Fuel: Our main character’s backstory. How was she orphaned? Why is her husband being distant, snappy, and secretive? Who is Carmilla and where are her people? Why are the villagers nearby acting strangely? What does our main character hunger for? 
📖 Cred: Historical supernatural realism
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Kedgeree and strong tea. Metallic taste. Bristling moorland. Heather and gorse. Dark wood panelling. Tin of pastilles. Guts cramping. Coal smoke. Hunger. 
  • Tagging along, character kind of speaking to us and filling us in (first person). 
  • Cathartic, reflective, atmospheric writing style
  • Morally good, likeable, morally ambiguous, and villainous characters
  • Transactional relationship
  • My How The Tables Have Turned & good-for-her justice
  • Quiet psychological horror
  • Life and death poetic justice
  • Sapphic gamma hero romance
  • Estranged, loveless relationship
  • Rage against the selfish and self-absorbed
 
Content Heads-Up: Animal attack (dog). Animal death (chicken, hunting birds; brief on page). Blood (menstruation). Cannibalism (brief on page). Childless (wanting child). Gun violence. Infertility. Loss of parent (as preteen, orphaned). Murder. Narcissism, gaslighting. Patriarchy. Poisoning. Sexual content (on page, descriptive; “duty”; consenting; desire). Sexism (from spouse; internalized). Sleep paralysis. Toxic relationship. Vehicle crash (fatal; blood; descriptive). Vomit, diarrhea.
 
Rep: English. Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Spilt cream, milk pale, ashen, pale, mottled, washed gray, pink, fair, and freckled skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Audible + Library Digital
 
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Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

This was okay and mostly entertaining. It started off fun and campy but took itself too seriously at the end. 
 
Energy: Melodramatic. Forlorn. Pragmatic. 
 
🐺 Growls: How it excused toxic, abusive behaviours as a product of social anxiety and loneliness. 
 
🐕 Howls: The epilogue oversimplifies things. The preachy moralizing read like it was saying ‘being nice’ means letting people trample your boundaries and force you into friendships? I lost interest after finding out who the Big Bad was and all the convoluted scheming involved.  
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The ‘Then’ chapters about how everyone met and how they did or didn’t become friends and why. Easy listening while multitasking (once you know who all the characters are, I just had to pause to take notes). 
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 A desert community and Los Angeles, California, USA
Perspective: Our main character has recently had a baby, and their partner has become distant and unhelpful. They eagerly seize the opportunity to reconnect when an old friend they have a complicated past with unexpectedly reaches out with an invite. 
Timeline: May. 2020s. Then (2 years ago) & Now. ☀️ Hot and dry. 
🔥 Fuel: What is this compound? Who started it and why? What’s the friendship background and how did the characters meet? What happened leading up to the visit to the compound? Why does one character want to insert themselves so desperately in their lives? 
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief to unbelievable
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Barbed wire. Adobe walls. Water misters. Caves. Phone pings. Lunch invites. Clothes shopping. 
  • Invisible in the room, overhearing character thoughts (third person limited)
  • Dramatic, simplistic writing style
  • Mix of naïve, questionable, unhinged characters
  • No-Men-Allowed Mommy commune
  • Obsessive, stalky female frenemies
  • Women behaving badly
  • Cling wrap friendship
  • Betrayal, confession, doubts, dysfunction, manipulation, and secrets
  • Slow burn, light popcorn thriller
  • Unhinged mastermind villains and scheming
  • Who to trust, who betrayed who
  • Insular desert community
  • ‘My Baby!’ suspense
 
Content Heads-Up: Bomb threat, explosion. Childless (wanting a baby). Confinement, kidnapping. Guns. IVF, fertility. Obsession. Murder. Panic attack. Parental rejection, neglect, substance abuse. Physical attack. Sabotage. Stalking. Suicide attempt (brief moment).
 
Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Freckled, sunburned, tan, ivory, and pale skin tones.  
 
📚 Format: Library Audio
 
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All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A highly poetic, often cryptic story that leans heavily on symbolism and shifting dreamscapes. I think you need to be patient and in the right headspace to connect, it’s not a very grounded story so can be challenging to follow. If you like deeply symbolic, lyrical writing, introspective literature (and don’t mind feeling lost at times) you may find it a great match. 
 
Energy: Dreamy. Morose. Melancholic.
 
🐕 Howls: Getting knocked out of the story with the elaborate similes, surreal dream sequences, and mystical worldbuilding. I lost patience trying to piece together who’s who, where things are happening, and what’s real or imagined. It lost the plot in the lyrical language, especially in the more fantastical sections. Staying immersed demanded near-total concentration. 
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The emotional exploration of trans experiences and societal cruelties. Core empathetic message about prejudice, mental anguish, and identity. The resonant quotes and diary entries. 
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Cape Morning, Massachusetts, USA
Perspectives: A 29-year-old working as a barista at the local café who is present when a body is found on the beach during their morning swims. Diary entries from the 19-year-old found on the beach leading up to their death. Two friends of the deceased mourning their friend and feeling like she is trying to communicate with them from beyond.  
Timeline: April and June 2018. Then & Now. ☀️ Coastal summer. 
🔥 Fuel: What happened in Cabrina’s life leading up to her being found dead on the beach? What was the meaning of the note she left behind? Why are some in the town experiencing vivid dreams of a parallel universe and seeing creature entities around? Are they dangerous? Will they choose to follow them? 
📖 Cred: Nonsensical & Fantastical
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Ghost Cat Island. White sand. The Summer people. Porch music. Death poem. Hyena laughing. Salt spray. Thick musk. Spirit board. Driftwood angel. 
  • Thrown in, deep in a character’s heart & observing from afar (third person limited)
  • Dense, dreamy, poetic, sensory, interpretative, philosophical writing style
  • Mix of morally good, sympathetic, troubled, and likeable main characters
  • Beyond the grave hauntings
  • Spectral otherworld portal fantasy elements
  • Spiritual voyeurism and guidance
  • Symbolism on gender, trans experience, small towns, narcissistic abuse, friendships, love, persecution, hate, loss, grief, and transformation
  • Good-for-her revenge moments
  • Feral/primal romance
  • Coming of age tragedy and friendships
  • Cosmic vampire vibes
  • Fever dream existential crises and ennui
  • Heartstring hits, horrific things happen, humans are the real horror
  • Multiverse, small towns and secret worlds
  • Stream of consciousness reflection and debate
 
Content Heads-Up: Abusive parent (controlling, corporeal, transphobic). Cannabis use (medical). Deadnaming (by parent). Death. Grief. Hypocrisy. Lookism. Loss of access to medication (hormones). Sexual content (on page; consenting). Suicide (suspected). Toxic masculinity. Toxic relationship (secrecy, transphobic). Transphobia (anxieties, limitation, judgement, persecution and prejudice). 
 
Rep: American. Trans. Cis. Lesbian. Queer. Pasty white, olive, eggshell white, pale, tan, and golden skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Library Digital
 
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Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

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challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So fun! Twisted, full of dark humour and derangement, with a raw oddly realistic edge. It made me laugh, cringe, and get a bit hungry with the lavish feasts (er, but not all of them). There are dark themes around contempt for children and their parents if that is a no-go for you. 
 
Energy: Unassuming. Cheeky. Brutally honest.
 
🐕 Howls: The ending diluted the “eat the rich” victory, but I still liked it. 
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The vivid, grotesque descriptions. Unapologetically deranged narration. The dark humour and shocking moments. The illustrations (I wish there were more of them). Biting social commentary. The MC’s deep-seated contempt for both adults and kids (low-key relatable sometimes in a “wish I could say that out loud” way). The MC’s prickly, sarcastic inner monologues. 
 
Scene: 🌍 Ensor House overlooking Grim Wolds Village
Perspective: We follow our main character, the newly appointed governess to the Pounds’ household to care for their two children. One child is deemed brilliant by their father, while the other is considered dull and spoiled. 
Timeline: 🎄 Leading up to Christmas day. Victorian era. Linear. 
🔥 Fuel: Ominous foreshadowing and increasingly strange thoughts and actions. What does our main character mean by “this shan’t be like the other time”? What are her old ways she’s trying to shed? What are her plans at Ensor House and for the family that lives there? 
📖 Cred: Plausible-ish
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Moorland. Rich, dark oak. Phrenology. Shadows of the deepest black. Vacant smile. Birdsfoot trefoil. Baby corpses. Sweat and exhaled food. Tallow candle. 
  • Tagging along, character speaking to us (first person)
  • Cathartic, flowery, ornate, snappy, and witty storylines and writing style
  • Spiraling, likeable(ish), unhinged, and insufferable characters
  • Rich People Behaving Badly meets Eat the Rich
  • Morbid curiosity, the darkness within
  • Short chapters
  • Insufferable parents and their broods
  • Elements of food horror
  • Gothic turned grimdark horror
  • Female rage descent into madness serial killer
  • Plot-driven perpetrator study
  • Historical ripped from the headlines feel
 
Content Heads-Up: Adult/minor relationship. Animal death (deer, crow). Blood. Body fluids. Caregiver abuse (by parent, by children). Child abuse (foster care; drugging, physical). Child death. Child murder (infant). Corpses (playing with, manipulating, decomposition). Cultural appropriation, theft. Execution. Fire (person, fatal; brief recall). Food horror (descriptive comparisons; raw meats). Forced gender roles. Gore. Infidelity. Massacre. Murder. Parental abandonment, rejection (as child; as adult). Parental neglect, attempted murder of child. Patriarchy (valuing boys over girls). Sexism (prejudice against women). Sexual harassment (from employer). Toxic femininity. Vomit.
 
Rep: British (I think). Half German, half Scottish (peripheral). Hetero. Queer. Rusted freckles, pale, blanched, colourless, and pink skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Library Digital
 
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The Return by Rachel Harrison

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really liked this – just the right amount of satisfying, eerie moments. Just be okay with some unanswered questions and poor-communication tropes. 
 
Energy: Caustic. Whimsical. Genuine. 
 
🐕 Howls: Too many “just talk to each other!” scenarios got frustrating. 
.  
🐩 Tail Wags: The slow-burn psychological horror. The setting in a quirky, strange hotel. The creeping dread. Realistic friend group vibes. The writing style and how easy it was to get lost in the story. Figuring everything out at the same time as the main character. The sensory descriptions. 
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Themed hotel in the Catskills, New York, USA
Perspective: Our main character has a group of college friends they’re stayed in touch with; one goes missing on a hike and everyone believes they are no longer alive. Our MC thinks otherwise and, when proven right, discovers the return comes with a lot of strangeness and complicated feelings. 
Timeline: 2010s or 2020s. Linear. Autumn, October. 
🔥 Fuel: What happened to Julie? Why is she so creepy and unkept? Where was she the past two years? How will the friends navigate her rejoining their group?
📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief supernatural 
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Turquoise room. Hissing static. Putrid scent. Vanilla jazz. Rare steak. Beef jerky. Room service. Shared balcony.  
  • Tagging along, being told a story (first person)
  • Breezy, punchy, detailed writing style
  • Chaotic, likeable, sympathetic characters
  • Long chapters
  • Missing-assumed-dead return
  • Creepy whimsical hotel setting
  • Humming and hawing dialogue and thoughts
  • College friend group reunited
  • Swipes of food horror
  • Cozy, psychological, grown-up Goosebumps horror
  • Shadow menace, Missing 411, nosleep energy
  • Books to read in a hotel room
  • Retreat gone wrong
  • How far would you go for your bff? 
  • Loyalty, loss, new takes on life
 
Content Heads-Up: Animal death (pig; meat; brief). Blood, murder. Body shaming (parents, agencies; brief recall). Cancer (bone; childhood, brief mention). Eating disorder (anorexia). Infidelity, affair. Nicotine (cigarettes). Parental abandonment (as baby). Psychosomatic illness. Racism (brief memory; grandparents). 
 
Rep: American. Chinese American. Cis. Hetero. Lesbian. Pale, albino, pink, and ashen skin tones. Prostethic leg user. Albinism. Eczema. 
 
📚 Format: Hardcover
 
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My Sister's Daughter by Liv Constantine

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A brisk, plot-driven thriller. Well-paced, kept me guessing, and wrapped up before wearing out its welcome. 
 
Energy: Worrisome. Watchful. Wary.  
 
🐩 Tail Wags: Even though it’s a shorter read, it didn’t feel rushed. Snappy pacing. Plot drives the story forward. Easy (and fun!) to devour in a single sitting. Characters were surprisingly well-developed for such a quick read. The “creepy kid” vibe added tension without going overboard. Second-guessing every character’s motives. Clever fake-outs and suspicious behaviours. Resolves at good pace.
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 White Hall, Maryland, USA
Perspective: A spouse and parent with a 4- and 12-year-old. Their 13-year-old niece come to live with them after her parents died and initially fits right in despite all the worries she might be like her difficult parent. 
Timeline: Autumn. Linear. 2010s or 2020s. 
🔥 Fuel: Why are little accidents happening around the house so often? Is one of the teens acting up or are they being set up? How will the family handle the changing dynamics? Who can the main character believe? Does the apple ever fall far from the tree? 
📖 Cred: Plausible
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Birthday goody bags. Trampoline. Therapist office. Attic bedroom. Ketchup. Necklace. Building blocks. 
  • Invisible in the room (first person)
  • Breeze, casual, simple writing style
  • Creepy things kids say (and do)
  • Plot-driven psychological domestic suspense
  • Interplay of personality, genetics, and bias
  • Short, to-the-point family drama
  • Accusations, close calls, doubts, and suspicions
  • Guilty or innocent, everyone’s a suspect
  • Middle school feuds and friendships
  • How far would you go for your family?
  • Whodunit sabotage, who to believe, mom-turned-amateur-sleuth
 
Content Heads-Up: Alcoholism (off page). Drowning. Drugging. Foreclosure. Gambling addiction (off page). Infidelity. Loss of parents (as teen; as adult). Loss of sibling (as adult). Parental rejection. Potential false accusation. Rape (off page). 
 
Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Creamy, pale skin tones. 
 
📚 Format: Kindle Unlimited
 
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Painted by Kirsten McKenzie

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
Started off super in to this and loving the creepy alone in an estate setting. It went downhill for me as others joined and they were all insufferable and this book really tells you that. Multiple times. 
Our MC is being treated terribly and we just sit there watching her take it for the most part while the narrator reminds us over and over why she isn’t really sticking up for herself. The scary vibes were gone and replaced by annoying conversations and arguing. 
The writing style where it’s like a script and will tell you something is happening behind the character without her knowing wasn’t really working for me either as the plot progressed. 

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Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield

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challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I liked this but just know that the horror in this is mostly the internal horrors of mental illness and adulting struggles. Definitely check content warnings and go in with caution for depression and suicidal thoughts. Overall, I recommend checking it out if you like moody lit fic or quiet horror.  
 
Energy: Malaise. Dissociated. Enmeshed.
 
🐕 Howls: The ending is open to interpretation which could make for a good book club read but could also be frustrating.
 
🐩 Tail Wags: The slow creeping dread of feeling trapped in your own head. How the main character is unraveling while juggling guilt, self-pity, and the hurdles of affording medication. The main character was frustrating sometimes but it really worked in a grim sort of empathy way. Not a whole lot happens plot-wise, it’s more about the experience of being in the MC’s headspace. The eerie undertones and lingering unease.
 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Ananite County, Minnesota, USA
Perspective: Our main character is heading cross country from NYC with their partner so they can work together on the sugar beet harvest for a few months, which will net them a good chunk of cash to pay off debts. Or at least, that’s the plan.
Timeline: Early 2010s. Linear. 🥶🥵 Late September.
🔥 Fuel: How will our main character navigate her debts and relationship insecurities? Are her coworkers leaving because of the gruelling hours or is something else going on? Will our main character make it through the harvest as her mental health degrades? Is she hallucinating because of the long hours as her life falls apart, or is she seeing reality?
📖 Cred: Hyper-realistic surrealism
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Nostalgic indie pop. Dirt. Sinister vegetal. Barbed wire fence. Space heater. Camper. Church kitchen. Gravel road. Beet piler. Phone-watching Pretty Little Liars.
  • Thrown in, observing from afar, overhearing character thoughts (third person observational)
  • Bumbling, troubled, spiralling, sympathetic character study
  • Unresolved, open to interpretation plots
  • Inner turmoil quiet horror
  • Randomness, nothing really happens(ish)
  • Detached, nonsensical, lyrical, vivid writing style
  • Symbolic fever dreams and hallucinations
  • Upstate ‘ennui’, lonely in the crowd, existential crisis
  • Distorted reality, descent into madness, life unraveling
  • Quest for purpose, stability, and unconditional love
  • Relationship on the rocks, sad girl lit fic elements
  • Slice of life as a sugar beet harvester
  • ‘It’s in the beets’ suspense

Content Heads-Up: Abandonment (romantic partner). Alcohol (intoxication, partying, recreational). Anxiety, panic attacks. Body fluids (rash, vomit). Bullying (severe; body shaming; recall/memories). Derogatory self-talk, insecurity. Drug use (recall; cough syrup). Eating disorder (calorie counting, binge eating, bulimia, anorexia; descriptive, on page). Financial insecurity. Hallucinations (auditory). Loneliness. Mental illness (unmanaged; depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts). Overspending. Parasites (dog). Self-harm (hitting). Sexual content (self, objects, lust; brief). Shoplifting. Social anxiety. Suicidal thoughts (anti-depressant withdrawal; brief memory). Suicide (implied; on page). Voyeurism (teacher-student; brief recall).
 
Rep: American. Korean American. South Asian American. Cis. They/them. Trans. Bi. Hetero. Lesbian. White and Black skin tones. Eczema.
 
📚 Format: Library Digital
 
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