probably_reading_right_now's reviews
459 reviews

Earthdivers #8 by Stephen Graham Jones

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I’m always excited when a new Earthdivers pops up on my kindle! I preorder them as soon as they become available. The story really hasn’t died down at all taking new directions throughout time and history. The story is still keeping with its original objective and thought process and I’m always intrigued by the time travel aspect of this and where it will take us next. 

Of Tides and Snow by Darva Green

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

I love a good retelling, especially when there’s a twist! Based on Snow White, the fairytale influence is evident throughout. This came highly recommended to me and after reading I’m not surprised it was. I really enjoyed this sapphic pirate retelling. After reading this I’ll read pretty much anything this author writes. 

Uncharted by Alli Temple

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

This book is my latest read in my recent obsession with sapphic pirates and I think it’s going on the list of my favorites. Lou has a neck tattoo, and a gold tooth. Maro is a sassy monotone enby. George has a really great character arch. Rosie is everything you’d want in a friend character. Every character is so well thought out that even the side characters are equally if not more interesting than the mains, and as someone who’s usually pretty character driven that makes me really invested in the story. The storyline itself is filled with action from the beginning so I didn’t have to solely rely on the characters to carry the story, though they could have. This is definitely one of the better stories in general, but especially specifically sapphic pirate stories I’ve read. 

Sleepy Hollow by Kate Hershberger

dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I had the pleasure of reading the ARC for this novella, thank you to the author for offering it. I was so excited to read this one I love classic horror, and have read the original Sleepy Hollow. It seems like reimagining and modernization of classic horror is becoming more popular and I can’t get enough of it! For this reimagining specifically it’s set in the 90’s which was interesting, it almost had the vibe of an X-Files episode. This was dual POVs, but in a really fun way there was the main story through Elizabeth’s eyes, and then through journals, Katrina’s. This was the perfect read to make me even more excited for spooky season!

The Taste of Women by Cyan LeBlanc

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I want to thank the author for allowing me to read their book and providing an ARC! I haven’t read a book that’s horror and has sapphic rep in it that’s this good in a while. I don’t know whether to categorize this as horror that’s more on the extreme side I’d say in the vein of splatterpunk, or dark romance because it was equally both and didn’t forgo one subplot for the sake of the other. It also doesn’t forget plot for the sake of just gratuitous violence and gore , although there’s plenty of that too! A cannibal/serial killer who’s assumed the identity of a writer moving from place to place to avoid authorities is right up my alley and it didn’t disappoint. It’s as amazing as the premise sounds. The author also explores why the main character, “Katherine”, is the way she is and how she got there. I really recommend this if you’re into that kind of thing. 

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This book was just as much about Michelle and her life, and time researching the Golden State Killer case as it is about GSK itself. If you were looking for just something about the GSK this maybe wouldn’t be the right read for you, but I really enjoyed hearing Michelle’s perspective and all the work she put into this book. 

The Devil's Due by Ali Vali

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

This book continues the Cain story. I don’t want to say too much, but I am seeing from other reviews maybe I should have read this series because it seems like a lot of people aren’t enjoying the audiobook, or at least that the audio is affecting their enjoyment of the series. 

Dark Horse by A.L. Brooks

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

There were two major plot points in this story: The romance and the storyline between Sadie and her mother I felt extremely different about each of them. 

This book has a major pet peeve of mine, both in media and real life, where the queer person is just expected to be patient, and understanding with the homophobic family in their life. In books, like in real life, there will always be homophobes and unfortunately sometimes that someone is related to you, but how that’s often handled is that the responsibility for reconciliation, and understanding is placed on the queer person. Death or illness is often leveraged for sympathy which makes it even worse in my opinion. It’s a tired plot line that needs to be put to rest. If this book were just that, or majority that plot line between Sadie and her mom I would have only rated it 1 or 2 stars if I didn’t DNF it first. If I had been reading this book, and not listening to it on audiobook I may still have DNF’d it to be honest. 

The second major storyline was between Sadie and Holly which is the one that kept me listening. It was better done, better written, more enjoyable in my opinion. I would have rated this book 4+ stars if the book was just that storyline. 

I combined my ratings for both and bumped it up to 3 stars because I felt that was more in line with what the book overall deserved. 

The Queen's Lust by Ash Gray

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a really quick read. No thoughts, not much plot, just vibes. 

The Pirate's Booty by Alex Westmore

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

I love sapphic pirates and will read just about any book with them in it. I held off on reading this one for a while because the name is pretty goofy. I’m glad I decided to pick it up anyway though because this is definitely in my top favorite pirate books! This was exciting and fun to read. The premise is that Quinn has to dress as a man to join a pirate ship to find her friend who was kidnapped. In the beginning they kept stressing how much she had to hide her true identity to be able to accomplish that and how scared she was of everyone’s reactions if they found out the truth, but for someone so scared of her true identity being revealed she actually didn’t try all that hard to hide it really. I thought with so many books in the series that part of the storyline could have afforded more space to play out. It felt a little rushed like what was the point in the first place of even including it. I’m really interested to see how this will continue!