mythicmelon's reviews
15 reviews

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

4.5

An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.75

The Succubus's Prize by Katee Robert

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

How to Survive this Fairytale by S.M. Hallow

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 

Now, I'm going to be honest here. I was unsure about this at first. Second person perspective often feels fan fictiony or pretentious. Not here though. S.M. Hallow takes that perspective and makes it flow beautifully. It fits the story being told perfectly and you wouldn't feel the same impact without it. In fact I was so quickly grabbed by the writing style that I found myself plowing through near 1/3 of the book in one short sitting. (It would have been more, but I had to go be an adult for a bit.)
The words on these pages felt like a fever dream at times. How to Survive This Fairytale manages to be horrific, magical, romantic, tense, soft, dreamy and so many other things all at the same time. I don't even know how to adequately describe the experience that was reading this book. It's something you just need to read yourself. Just know that I will be impatiently awaiting all of S.M. Hallow's future work!

 

Lights Out by Navessa Allen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.

 I'm going to dnf this one. It's not terrible, but with still over 250 pages left I just don't think it's worth finishing for me. I liked the idea of it and thought it would just be fun, but it's turned out to be too tik tokified and full of social media speak. Now I've since found out the entire book spawned from a tik tok the author made and so I'm just gonna say it's not for me and move on. 

Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Twentieth Anniversary Screening by Jeff Strand

medium-paced

2.5

Normal People by Sally Rooney

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5