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moony_reads's reviews
391 reviews
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ARC REVIEW
In this standalone retelling of the original vampire story Carmilla, we follow Lenore, the unhappily married wife of a businessman, set in the industrial revolution. As Lenore and her husband go north to begin renovating their manor house, when they discover an overturned carriage with a woman inside — Carmilla.
As Carmilla recuperates at their house, Lenore grows closer with stranger and starts to discover a hunger inside of herself, while unusual events begin to haunt the manor.
Kat Dunn has really shone when it comes to narration, prose and research, as the way she has written about Sheffield, workers’ rights and the steel industry was very well done. Her ability to create a perfect atmosphere is astounding, her descriptions of the moors in particular were haunting. The scenes were set up so well that you could really imagine the locations and characters and moods.
The book also tackles themes of gender roles and the patriarchy/the oppression of women during the time period really well.
The only reason it didn’t get 5 stars from me is some of it seemed to drag and I struggled to keep my attention on it for too long, but other that, a brilliant novel!
In this standalone retelling of the original vampire story Carmilla, we follow Lenore, the unhappily married wife of a businessman, set in the industrial revolution. As Lenore and her husband go north to begin renovating their manor house, when they discover an overturned carriage with a woman inside — Carmilla.
As Carmilla recuperates at their house, Lenore grows closer with stranger and starts to discover a hunger inside of herself, while unusual events begin to haunt the manor.
Kat Dunn has really shone when it comes to narration, prose and research, as the way she has written about Sheffield, workers’ rights and the steel industry was very well done. Her ability to create a perfect atmosphere is astounding, her descriptions of the moors in particular were haunting. The scenes were set up so well that you could really imagine the locations and characters and moods.
The book also tackles themes of gender roles and the patriarchy/the oppression of women during the time period really well.
The only reason it didn’t get 5 stars from me is some of it seemed to drag and I struggled to keep my attention on it for too long, but other that, a brilliant novel!
Deviants by Santanu Bhattacharya
medium-paced
3.5
ARC REVIEW
Deviants tells the stories of three gay men over three generations in India; the present day told in the style in the form of a recorded monologue, his uncle, pitched as a manuscript of a memoir, and his uncle, as a story told after the fact.
Telling parallel stories of the gay experience at different points in history in India, contrasting social structures and attitudes are laid out through each generation and through hidden or open love.
I was (and kind of still am?) unsure about the tone of the narration. I found Vivaan’s sections truly infuriating, due to both the davt that he reads exactly like the cringiest of modern youth but also found a lot of his chapters slightly inept and rudimentary, which may have been the intention, but it wasn’t for me. However I found the other perspectives much more engaging and became invested in the developing narrative. These sections are beautifully written and are thick with the brutality of queerness in these timelines.
All narratives are rich with social politics, queer fear, queer joy, and culture. Deviants is definitely going to wow some readers, but unfortunately for me, a third of the narrative lessened it for me.
Deviants tells the stories of three gay men over three generations in India; the present day told in the style in the form of a recorded monologue, his uncle, pitched as a manuscript of a memoir, and his uncle, as a story told after the fact.
Telling parallel stories of the gay experience at different points in history in India, contrasting social structures and attitudes are laid out through each generation and through hidden or open love.
I was (and kind of still am?) unsure about the tone of the narration. I found Vivaan’s sections truly infuriating, due to both the davt that he reads exactly like the cringiest of modern youth but also found a lot of his chapters slightly inept and rudimentary, which may have been the intention, but it wasn’t for me. However I found the other perspectives much more engaging and became invested in the developing narrative. These sections are beautifully written and are thick with the brutality of queerness in these timelines.
All narratives are rich with social politics, queer fear, queer joy, and culture. Deviants is definitely going to wow some readers, but unfortunately for me, a third of the narrative lessened it for me.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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 don’t really think I could possibly ever find the words to describe what I feel right now.
In Memoriam is sensational. Beautifully raw and gripping with the most talented prose and narration I’ve read in a while. It’s intimate, it’s genuine, it’s moving and it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I don’t think I have it in me to write a full review now, but I might be able to later. It’s just an instant classic and I don’t have words.
In Memoriam is sensational. Beautifully raw and gripping with the most talented prose and narration I’ve read in a while. It’s intimate, it’s genuine, it’s moving and it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I don’t think I have it in me to write a full review now, but I might be able to later. It’s just an instant classic and I don’t have words.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
ARC REVIEW
The Boy From the Sea is a Gently written story of two boys growing up in a fishing town, Declan, the birth son of Christine and Ambrose, and Brendan, who was adopted after being found in the sea as a baby.
The fractured relationship between the two brothers continues as the boys grow and change as they get older and the reader’s sympathies follow them.
There is great, tactical narration throughout the story, moving it along the timeline whilst it highlights the realities of a life in a town centred around the harshness of commercial fishing.
Thank you to Picador and Netgalley for the ARC.
The Boy From the Sea is a Gently written story of two boys growing up in a fishing town, Declan, the birth son of Christine and Ambrose, and Brendan, who was adopted after being found in the sea as a baby.
The fractured relationship between the two brothers continues as the boys grow and change as they get older and the reader’s sympathies follow them.
There is great, tactical narration throughout the story, moving it along the timeline whilst it highlights the realities of a life in a town centred around the harshness of commercial fishing.
Thank you to Picador and Netgalley for the ARC.
The Boy I Love by William Hussey
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ARC REVIEW
I have never hid the fact that William Hussey’s books are very hit or miss for me (The Outrage is one of my favourite books ever point blank, but some of his later works didn’t do anything for me) so when I was granted an ARC (twice over, actually) for The Boy I Love, I was nervous.
I had no reason to be.
It is a truly wonderfully written novel that delves into a side of the First World War that is missing from war literature, and it is presented in a way that is deft, gripping and so well researched.
It’s no secret that Hussey brilliantly crafts his characters so that it is easy for the reader to sympathise and root for them, and this work is no exception. The romance between Danny and Stephen is so poignant and captures how even in the darkest of times that love can prevail, but it is also written in a way that never once clouds the brutality of the period, and though it is at its heart a romance, it does not by any means make what the characters go through (and what real life men went through) okay, and there is a great skill and sensitivity in doing that.
Their story is one of truth for countless men during the war and Hussey is able to capture their story in a beautiful way.
The characters that we meet alongside Stephen’s journey are well developed and integral, leaving the reader aching for them, or seething at them. The trio of Danny, Percy and Robert, the respect shown to Ollie and Arthur, the slow break of the hardness Stephen carries. It is all so masterfully done.
Not to mention the way Hussey writes, almost inadvertently — in that the cast are not really aware that is what they are experiencing — about the soldiers PTSD and mental health is clearly so expertly researched and well handled.
A truly outstanding novel. Integral. Hussey should be proud.
Thank you to Andersen Press, Netgalley and Tandem Collective for the E-ARC and physical ARC respectively.
I have never hid the fact that William Hussey’s books are very hit or miss for me (The Outrage is one of my favourite books ever point blank, but some of his later works didn’t do anything for me) so when I was granted an ARC (twice over, actually) for The Boy I Love, I was nervous.
I had no reason to be.
It is a truly wonderfully written novel that delves into a side of the First World War that is missing from war literature, and it is presented in a way that is deft, gripping and so well researched.
It’s no secret that Hussey brilliantly crafts his characters so that it is easy for the reader to sympathise and root for them, and this work is no exception. The romance between Danny and Stephen is so poignant and captures how even in the darkest of times that love can prevail, but it is also written in a way that never once clouds the brutality of the period, and though it is at its heart a romance, it does not by any means make what the characters go through (and what real life men went through) okay, and there is a great skill and sensitivity in doing that.
Their story is one of truth for countless men during the war and Hussey is able to capture their story in a beautiful way.
The characters that we meet alongside Stephen’s journey are well developed and integral, leaving the reader aching for them, or seething at them. The trio of Danny, Percy and Robert, the respect shown to Ollie and Arthur, the slow break of the hardness Stephen carries. It is all so masterfully done.
Not to mention the way Hussey writes, almost inadvertently — in that the cast are not really aware that is what they are experiencing — about the soldiers PTSD and mental health is clearly so expertly researched and well handled.
A truly outstanding novel. Integral. Hussey should be proud.
Thank you to Andersen Press, Netgalley and Tandem Collective for the E-ARC and physical ARC respectively.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing
The Warriors by Sol Yurick
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5