mooshake's reviews
231 reviews

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

the five star drought that i’ve had since february is over!!!!!! thank god 🫠

i was worried that because i’m admittedly not a shakespeare girlie this would be a flop for me; but i was so blown away (i felt physically sick reading the climax lol) that i’m now realising that i just had bad english teachers all my life and shakespeare fucks, actually. wow wow wow
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

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dark mysterious medium-paced

2.0

i’ll give this book the kudos that i was interested in finding out what was happening despite the flat characters and hazy plot. but it also commits my biggest storytelling pet peeve of unnecessary romance with characters that only seem to be attracted to each other because the narrative calls for it, and once i realised that that was what the narrative was deciding to focus its time on instead of the school/students any previous built up good will dissipated with a big bang lol. 

there was also a gross amount of telling rather than showing too, which i don’t remember there being in alexis henderson’s previous work? i was excited for a new book from her and i must admit i’m disappointed in this one :(
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.
written by a man (derogatory)
Rouge by Mona Awad

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dark emotional slow-paced

4.0

listen…should this have been a 250-300 page book at most? yes. was the detective subplot unnecessary? yes. was the tom cruise thing, even though i understand the significance of it, silly as fuck? yes.

and yet! i made it to the climax and my brain finally started picking up what mona awad was putting down. maybe it's because i love explorations of grief and complicated parent relationships, as well as being a whore for anything fairytale adjacent- but the ending really touched me AND i had a ball pondering the symbolism afterwards in a way that i have not done with most of the books i’ve read this year. i don’t know how exactly but i came away really appreciating what this book did with its themes.

if i had read rouge before bunny i might’ve rated it higher, bunny is the better-crafted novel hands down. but i still have a soft spot for rouge in spite of myself. never underestimate the power of something tapping into your own damage i guess lol.

i do wish mona awad picked any other celebrity tho 😭

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

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adventurous lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

Throne in the Dark by A.K. Caggiano

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
i think this book is trying to be satirical, but it's not going far enough with its satire and everyone is just coming off as stereotypes. idk all it's doing is making me cringe for the most part and i couldn't even tell you what is going on world-building or plot-wise if you twisted my arm lol.
 
shout out to the male narrator who makes damien's dad sound like doug dimmadome 
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
not in the mood for something so heavy right now