moodreadingmagic's reviews
913 reviews

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if every facet of our lives was documented and controlled by AI, including our dreams? The Dream Hotel offers a stark view of how technology, and particularly AI systems can control our not too distant future. 

Sara Hussein is used to extra questioning in airports but when she is flagged at LAX after returning from a business trip in London based on her risk score, specifically her sleep data, she quickly learns the consequences of allowing AI to scan personal data for risk. After reasonable pushback on Sara’s part, in combination with the nature of her dreams, she is deemed a risk to her husband and sent to a retention center for 21 days. She had no idea that the digital sleep program she opted to have implanted is actually recording and analyzing her dreams and that what happens in her dreams can be used against her. 21 days come and go and she soon realizes she will remain detained unless and until she figures out a way to disrupt the systems that placed her here.

This story could easily be an episode of Black Mirror, it evokes the scary side of technology and highlights its flaws in truly analyzing and understanding human nature. I loved the characters and found myself turning every page hoping to see Sara, and her friends, reunited with their families. This story evoked a level of anxiety I haven’t experienced since reading the School for Good Mothers. As someone who uses technology to track biometrics on a daily basis (Apple Watch, Oura Ring, etc.) stories like this are a good reminder that we must retain a balance in the use of technology and never trust AI to fully replace the ability to understand the human psyche. 

If you’re looking for some motivation to disconnect from your digital footprint or scale it back, this is definitely the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for my copy of this book; all opinions are my own. 

Head Cases by John McMahon

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A fast paced criminal thriller as a group of outcast FBi agents hunts for a serial killer who is killing other serial killers and leading these specific agents on a puzzling chase to stay one step ahead of him.

What happens when you’re an outcast  FBI agent? You’re assigned to the PARS unit to connect and hopefully solve cold cases through pattern recognition. Gardner Camden has a perfect memory recall and is particularly good at solving puzzles, unfortunately he also struggles with social skills. Agent Camden does not evoke emotions like others and often finds himself the butt of the joke or shunned because of his demeanor. He, along with a team of other misfit agents, form a found family bond as they work to catch a killer that appears to be sending them a message. 

Head Cases read as though the script for Mind Hunters and House MD became one. I really connected with the characters and found myself trying to solve all the mysteries alongside Agent Camden and his colleagues. The ending wasn’t necessarily predictable but it also didn’t blow my mind. Regardless I had a fun time with this one and found myself speeding through to find out what happens next. 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own. 

Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
Did not finish book. Stopped at 65%.

When your family trauma induced nightmares turn into a reality and you must band together with your siblings to outlive them. This book surprised me, it was far more literary than it was horror but I didn't mind that. The story highlights three adult siblings navigating the world as best they can with lingering trauma from their childhood. These characters are all going through it; their situations are raw and gritty but they stick together and protect each other the best they can. Especially the oldest sibling, Calla, who frequently has recurring nightmares in which she cannot protect her brothers from coming to harm while she remains helpless or incapable of coming to their rescue. When the siblings need to skip town for a while to avoid real problems Callas nightmares begin to evolve into tangible threats to the lives of these siblings. 

I really wanted to love this but I couldn’t get past pacing issues and unfortunately lost steam a good way through the book and decided to put it down. I didn’t finish it but I did look up the ending and I’m not too upset that I stopped, I’m not sure the ending was worth trudging through the clunky pacing. 

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

4.5

Grady Hendrix is an auto-buy author for me. I also have a real weakness for historical fiction that takes place in Florida; especially when it highlights the weirdness of old Florida (think Swamplandia by Karen Russell). I saw reviews that this book read more like historical fiction and less like horror and I agree but I'm not mad at it. 

What do you do when your teenage child becomes pregnant in the 70s? You send them away to have their babies secretly and pretend it never happened, to protect your family's piety and reputation. This is how we find ourselves at Wellwood House, a home for such wayward girls located in St. Augustine, Florida. The girls are sent to Wellwood House and are forced to do chores, attend lessons, and endure intrusive medical examinations until they go into labor. After their babies are born, stripped from them and sent off to be adopted, they are to return home and act as if nothing ever happened. 

When some of the girls stumble upon a way to buck the system, practicing magic given to them in a book from a travelling librarian, all hell breaks loose figuratively and literally. While there are horror elements abound (especially graphic and traumatic birthing scenarios), this story is far more rooted in feminine rage and sisterhood. Though told to remain anonymous while attending Wellwood House, four girls bond and decide to take back agency over their bodies. At times harrowing but sadly accurate for the period of time, this story really brings to light how bleak women's reproductive rights were only a mere 50 years ago. 

I really liked this story and will continue to be a fan of Grady Hendrix and his southern Gothic horrors.

A Monsoon Rising: A Novel by Thea Guanzon
Did not finish book. Stopped at 72%.

I read The Hurricane Wars last year and had mixed feelings on it. Ultimately I wanted to give the series some more time and a chance to tighten up the world building/magic system. Though I do think that the magic system was constructed more clearly, I really struggled through this. I didn't love the pacing of the enemies to lovers arc in the first book, and continued to struggle to understand the compatibility between our main characters in the second installment. The storyline seemed to suffer from being stuck in a cycle of we are from opposing kingdoms and our marriage is a farce to stripping down and getting busy with little to no growth in the relationship between Talasyn and Alaric. I continuously had to remind myself that these characters were in fact adults and not young adults because their interactions seemed immature and lacking depth. I think I had too high of expectations from this series and it let me down.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Sirens by Emilia Hart

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I read Emilia Hart’s debut novel, Weyward and instantly fell in love with her beautiful prose and storytelling. So when I saw that she was coming out with a new novel I immediately requested it on NetGalley. 

The Sirens is a dual POV story that spans from the 1800s to modern day. The story follows two imprisoned sisters on a grueling journey across the ocean to Australia as well as two sisters navigating their lives with a mysterious medical ailment in modern day Australia. 

This epic story of sisterhood is rich in history and lore from the shores of Ireland to the shores of Australia. We all know the old sailor tales of sirens, they’re savage beauty and ability to lure men into the sea to their deaths. Emilia Hart breathes life into these tales and gives us a beautiful story of resilience in womanhood. 

The Sirens is atmospheric, it is as beautiful as it is sad. At times this story reminded me a lot of Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning, another fantastical tale that highlights the danger of the sea. 

I absolutely loved this story, Emilia Hart has become an auto buy author for me for sure! 

Thanks to St Martins Press and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own. The Sirens is available on April 1st