mxpringle's reviews
271 reviews

They Were Here Before Us by Eric LaRocca

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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White Noise by Don DeLillo

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

At first I really loved this book, because the writing style and the concept of the book seemed really unique. I loved the first third of the book, but as the book continued, it just started to feel like the writing style was really hindering it. Despite genuinely having a plot, a lot of it made no logical sense, which was definitely on purpose, but it just made me constantly question what on earth was going on with every page. There was nothing solid that I could "hold on to" while reading. There were no solid settings, solid characters, solid dialogue, everything was just illogical and didn't have much continuity. It kind of felt like when someone is telling you a really dream that they had -- in this case probably a nightmare -- but the dream itself means nothing to you and is so illogical that you can't follow and don't particularly care about the ending. That's what this book felt like, and by the end of it I didn't feel like I knew what I had even read because there was nothing that followed the boundaries of reality. I'm sure that this was partially on purpose, and if that's the case then it really was masterfully done, but it was not really my cup of tea. 
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We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca

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dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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

1.0

The writing in this book was absolutely horrible. Concepts that were really central to the plot like mental health, suicide, and many worlds theory were so poorly researched that often things were shared about them that were blatantly false and uneducated. The characterization of all of the characters was incredibly poor, and each character was so shallow in their emotions and dialogue that it was painful to read. This was one of those books where it was simply so bad that it was funny, and laughing at how poorly it was written was the only reason I even finished it. Unfortunately, I don't understand the hype that this book has had the last few years. 
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Watership Down by Richard Adams

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
I might not the right audience for this but I found this book unbelievably monotonous and boring 
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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

5.0

Before reading this I was already familiar with the story of Medusa, so I expected to find it just okay, but this book was incredible. Something about the writing was just enrapturing and it is the first book in what feels like forever that I simply wanted to never stop reading 
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The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

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

5.0

A literal masterpiece. Sam and Frodo are gay for each other
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Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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

5.0

This was absolutely incredible. So well-written and the concepts were unlike any other horror I've ever read which was so refreshing 
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Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

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

2.5

I really wanted to love this book, and I had really high expectations, but it just fell a little flat for me. I felt like the first third of the book really gripped me, but after a certain point it just felt like the same sequence of events were being taking place, just with different audiences each time. However, I do really appreciate the political and social commentary that this book added that made it much more complex than simply an alien invasion story in Lagos.  
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Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

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

2.25

This is probably one of the most depraved and bizarre books I've ever read, which is definitely saying something. I feel like I could've used more background as to how the events that happened in Maeve's life or thoughts she had led her to doing certain actions in the book, because a lot of the actions she did just seemed so off the rails that I couldn't see any human reasoning behind it anymore. It kind of felt like the things she did were just like trying to get a reaction out of the reader rather than being authentic character development. However, this was still overall a really interesting/enjoyable read (though very dark and depraved). 
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