nocturnalbookworm's reviews
81 reviews

The Laws of the Skies by Grégoire Courtois

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault

Sold by S.J. Crusan

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Excrement

The September House by Carissa Orlando

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of those kept me guessing the whole time.  Abuse, healing from said abuse, and breaking the cycle is a big theme of it, and I appreciated the way it was explored and represented through the events  in the haunted house.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment

Moderate: Sexism, Stalking

The Waiting Room by Jonathan Kent

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide

Minor: Animal cruelty

The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam by Liz Clarke, Michael G. Vann

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Read for my World Civilization course.  Interesting combination of a graphic novel followed by a collection of primary sources.  Would recommend to anyone interested in Hanoi under French Rule

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime

Loki: Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster by Mike Vasich

funny relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

There were a few inconsistencies that had me a little confused at times but other than that I had no complaints with this book.
This is a collection of short stories that tie together loosely at first and then more cohesively towards the end.
I found it to be a very enjoyable read and plan on checking out this authors other book about Loki.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

funny informative fast-paced

3.0

Read for class and enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Slavery

Bloodchild by Andrew Neiderman

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I’ve been wanting to read books about creepy children so I was excited to pick this up.  I was a little disappointed that the horror elements were more divided among  a few different characters.  The other antagonists were more creepy to me personally.  

Out of the cast of characters there were only two that I liked, Colleen and Audra.  I was surprised to like Audra as much as I did, especially near the end.  

The book kept a creepy, almost claustrophobic at times, atmosphere, which I felt did well at holding the tension.  As far as enjoyment it varied, the first half I really enjoyed, the third quarter was hard to get through to the point of considering DNFing the book.  And the last quarter made me glad I stuck with it to the end.

Plot 3/5

Characters   2/5

Writing Style   4/5

Enjoyment   2.5/5

Overall Rating   2.88/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol