nataliii's reviews
498 reviews

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

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

3.0

This was trying do a whole lot in a fairly small space/length. The main premise itself was a tall order, while also touching on or trying to tackle the identity and validity of immigrants, the ghosts of witch trials passed, feminist sisterhood, nationalism dynamics, the Underground Railroad, and I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two others - this book’s theme was often in question or just lost. A few threads that made it to the end resonated with me, but overall this felt a bit clumsy and poorly planned.
2.5 ⭐️ rounded up for the bits that were successfully touching or intriguing.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
Court of the Vampire Queen by Katee Robert

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

3.0

Malice House by Megan Shepherd

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

2.25

”Nights in Malice lasted sixty long hours, but the night that Malice House burned felt interminable.”


No. shit. 😅 I can see why someone would/could like this book, but the few interesting bits did not save this from being mostly a slog for me. Shallow characterization over all and the stronger plot elements being placed too far apart with what sometimes felt like filler in between had me feeling bored often and made finishing the book a chore by the time I got that far.

The characters and stories from “The Bedtime Book of Stories for Monsters” outshone the real world by far and I wish they would have been supported by the main story more. This was definitely where the dark and spooky themes were most successful, but I wouldn’t say they were actually scary.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
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The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

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dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A soft sadness outshines the outright brutality our two main characters experience in this historically inspired tale of two newly orphaned children, both 9 years old and on similar voyages 300 years apart. While the historical events of the Batavia’s ultimate demise move the story forward, it’s still very character driven with a cast that breaks your heart left, right, and center. Mayken’s dark whimsy and Gil’s quiet misery are both so endearing and had me feeling protective of them right away. Seeing the world through their eyes, often with beautifully told mirroring of their thoughts and experiences was both joyfully sweet and painfully real, not unlike childhood itself. Their respective support people were also well done with an interesting twist on Gil’s end that his found family was actual family he’d never met. What worked less for me was when the details of the Batavia’s shipwreck overtook Mayken’s part of the time line - what happens to most of the souls aboard is terrifying and so sad, but the telling was longer than I cared for and so bleak in a story already awash with so many hardships.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster / Atria and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

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dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Hoooo, okay - first, this was def triggering for me, and to have the blurb not mention even one little inkling about the domestic abuse plot line grosses me out. A lot of this read like trauma porn to me (yes, I read the dang author’s note), and while I can see why people are drawn to this book, I spent so much time yelling at the characters and trying to be Lily’s life coach and that does not make for an enjoyable reading experience. 

Was I rooting for golden boy Atlas? Sure. Was Allysa the perfect mix of annoying and endearing friend-sister? Sure. Even the funny moments went off pretty well (usually thanks to Allysa), but it was not enough to make up for selling this as a romance, which it is not. This was my first CoHo and I don’t even know what to think, y’all. 🧐
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Across the Sand by Hugh Howey

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

2.25

So much sailing. So much jargon. 🫤

So. I reread the Sand Omnibus before diving into this and I did appreciate it more and feel more invested in it than I did on the first read. However. As exciting as it was to have a new Hugh book (like really, whaaat), this next installment didn’t really do it for me. In a way it further de-mystified some of what happened in the end of Sand 1, and I felt like its mysterious nature was one of the best things about it. The plot in ATS also dragged major. Like I mentioned above, so much time was spent on the sarfers (sand sailboats) which was a downer for me twofold: the time it took to physically move people around beyond multiple times took forever, and the amount of sailing/boating jargon made me legit cross-eyed.

Anya’s realizations if the core truths of their society was a great moment, but it took so long to get there I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much as it merited after the long slog it took to get there, alas.

Thanks so much to Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!
Ithaca by Claire North

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

2.5

This book had glimmers of success in style/tone and touching emotional or reflective moments, but overall fell short of an engaging story and narrative style for me. I found it inconsistent throughout, starting out highly, nearly annoyingly, lyrical (said as one who enjoys lyrical prose) alongside strange dry snark that felt out of place coupled with the lyrical surroundings of the first 1/4. I did enjoy Hera as the narrator, though agree that it did create a lot of distance between the reader and main characters - I wanted to be closer to Penelope’s and Telemachus’s thoughts and emotions. 
Appreciated the potential and ambition, but this didn’t really pan out for me and I likely won’t read the next installment. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for an eARC of this book.
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The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

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

3.5

I started out with the audiobook of this title in which the narration was delightful - for as long as I could deal with the NG app’s deficiencies at sped-up playback, which wasn’t all that long. A shame, the narrator’s accent was beyond perfect for the setting and characters and their tone and inflection unique and enjoyable - if you’re into audiobooks and use another platform to listen to them I’d recommend checking this one out. 

The book then: a little adjustment was needed on what this book was really about, after which I enjoyed it more. Dev’s motherly tenacity spoke directly to me and I always appreciate a story that calls out the nature of fairy tales and how they can be used against girls and women. The characters (adored Cai full stop) and the writing impressed me for a debut, though one of the main plot threads and the character tied to them, Devon’s brother Ramsey, reduced my enjoyment a whole lot. His petulance and general attitude severely annoyed me as well as his order’s involvement facilitating chases and fight scenes that rarely work for me in any story. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for an eARC of this book!
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The Lost World by Michael Crichton

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

3.25

Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor

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

3.5

Mysteries of any kind aren’t usually what I gravitate towards in my very moody reading habits, but a few things in the blurb stood out to me so I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve been drawn to Australian narratives recently, past and present, and while some reviews mentioned that they didn’t feel a sense of place in this story, I have to disagree. To me it felt both familiar and foreign, small town where everybody knows your name + Aussie quirks (from an American point of view here ✔️). While the action lost me here and there, this story really succeeded in its heart and had some beautiful, heart-breaking emotional pops that made the book for me. The voices of the children were well done and the Greek chorus super eerie, and the adult were all just so sad (so real). 

The missing child element was really difficult - I don’t think I can read another story like this for a long while. 

Thanks to NetGalley and FlatIron for a digital ARC of this book!
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