nicolinebl's reviews
254 reviews

Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.5

This is immediately my favourite piece of queer literature. I was just so happy reading about this cute as fuck wlw couple and although I thought I wouldn't care about Seth and Jasper much I was very wrong, I love these two so much. I like that the mystery Watcher isnt a far fetched random person as well, I hate when that happens. I do think the ending was a bit sudden though, everything happened really quickly and all the drama went quick and was sort of easily solved. On the other hand that was great, it was quite a light-hearted read although serious topics definitely were discussed. The only thing left to say really is: please give us a bonus book, maybe like a short story thing, when they're older and how they're doing. Would love that because these characters are so great!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Blood, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I've had such a reader's block for the last couple of months and picking up this book definitely solved the problem. It was a quick read because of how incredibly terrifyingly thrilling it was. It picks up a bit slow but has enough spookiness to make you anxious reading it at night and then the real scariness begins. Wonderful writing and very real characters. My only issue with the book is

the decision of them to keep going after their big fight and since they were very anxious about bears and murderers I would have definitely decided to return home. But yeah, that would be a boring horror book I guess. Plus the shared trauma has definitely helped forget the fight and strengthen their friendship. I do think they need at least a gap year for therapy before they do anything else though. Oh, and I wasn't a big fan of the serial killers, they felt a bit too much I guess. Not fully believable but definitely disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Quite enjoyed this graphic novel! Loved the artwork and the story itself was also very interesting!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Honestly not sure what to say about this one. I was definitely intrigued by it. The ending felt a bit off for the rest of the story (I mean, I guess we did see it coming but still)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.

Okay I'm so not into this. Sci-fi has never really been my thing but the concept seemed nice. But I just don't care about this story. So I'm going to just accept that and move on.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

Very obviously written by someone either vegetarian or vegan which I appreciate. It was a very heavy topic and I'm very disturbed still. That ending, the kinda gross descriptions of things. Aaaahghhh. Can't give a number to a book like this, honestly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

I think I'm gonna wait a few years before I try to read this again

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

A very disturbing read. Don't read this right before you want to eat. Not sure what to think of it, especially not of the ending.

Felt a bit weird that it is written by a men since it's very sexual and about lesbians but I don't think it is necessarily fetishizing because the writer seems to be gay himself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual content, Vomit

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide

Verity by Colleen Hoover

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Once I started reading I could barely stop. This was such an immersive experience, honestly. So frigging good. The best introduction I could have possibly had to Colleen Hoover!

I am going to add that I thought the sex scenes were a bit unnecessary at times; feel like it could have been shorter and less explicit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

This was a confusing but intriguing read. Honestly, just calling it that is underselling it; it was definitely an experience. 

I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended. 

It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled. 

None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!

There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.

There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?

Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part. 

Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!) 

I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary and

I hated that they had a whole supernatural plot, then decided to explain it all away and then afterwards sort of went back to the supernatural route.

I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all. 

PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Trafficking, Stalking, Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, Alcohol