pulp_fiction_books's reviews
491 reviews

Super Sleuth by David Walliams

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

This was a funny, ridiculous (in a good way), not obvious (despite being for children) murder mystery. I loved our crime solving duo of Dilly and her dog Watson and the setting of a 1920's cruiseliner 'The Masquerade'. We get these fun diagrams depicting our entire cast of characters which was a fun addition. I had thought they could have been used as reference to figure out who the murder was (research a clue left behind for example), alas this was not the case. One other minor nitpick I had was Dilly's evil aunt. I just feel the evil parent/guardian trope is so over done (especially when it comes to David Walliams work). That aside however this was a wonderful time and I can't imagine any child not loving this after reading it. 

When Good Ghouls Go Bad by R.L. Stine

5.0

This is an almost completely faithful adaptation of the movie scene for scene but also in how well it conveyed the real heart that the source material did so well. There's a couple of small scenes missing that I loved from the movie but with this being written in first person I understand why they had to be cut. This reads very much like the very best 90's goosebumps books and I enjoyed this every bit as much as the movie.

Whiteout by Nicola Yoon, Dhonielle Clayton, Ashley Woodfolk, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas

3.25

This is a follow up to the brilliant 'Blackout' by the same authors, it isn't however a sequel but is still an interwoven narrative told through the eyes of black teens. Last time we followed a group of characters caught in a blackout in New York city, this time we follow a separate group of people during an Atlanta snowstorm. While this book is definitely a very sweet, romantic and cozy read, it just didn't have the same impact or depth as its predecessor. It felt like a lot of the budding relationships in here were very copy and paste, friends to lovers where there had been some sort of miscommunication halting them prior. Everything also felt too contrived, there was no conflict, nobody failing in their romantic pursuit or a couple at the other end of the spectrum ending a relationship etc.

The Whodunnit Puzzle Book: 80 Cosy Crime Puzzles to Solve by Laura Jayne Ayres, Gareth Moore

5.0

This is what Murdle should have been. It has a fun, cozy mystery style story narrative running through it and a vast array of unique puzzles across it's ten cases.

A Ghastly Shade of Green by M.D. Spenser

3.5

The setting here was fantastic, we're deep in the Everglades and you get a very humid, secluded feeling throughout. There's one shocking scene and it builds to a tense climax. There's also clearly a message in here about what we're doing to the environment and about accountability which was a nice touch. I enjoyed this but felt it was missing something to push it over the edge. Bizarrely the author kept sneaking in pre 1960 movie references which I can only imagine was to entertain themselves. 'Wizard Of Oz' gets three references and 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' and 'Some Like It Hot' also get dropped in, in a sneaky, fun way. 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

2.0

The premise and layout of this book were intriguing, we have a book within a book and each chapter ends with someone giving the author notes on the chapter they've just read. Unfortunately the story was very repetitive, the majority of which was the main characters meeting at the protagonists apartment and then going out for food, over and over. I can't help but feel there's more description of Boston eateries and their decor than there is time dedicated to the actual murder mystery aspect of the book. Speaking of which the reveal of our culprit was extremely obvious from very early on and the reasoning was extremely weak.

Recess in Peace: Dawn of the Dead Kid by Paul MoncrIeffe

4.0

This  entire story takes place within the confines of a single school day. It had a really creepy ambience throughout and the mystery of what exactly was going on with our protagonist and with the aforementioned school was very intriguing. There was also some solid body horror in here too. Accompanying all this was some great 'Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark-esque' artwork. A couple of issues I had were firstly, throughout there's incidents that happen that line up with a book our protagonist has and it's never explained as to why that was. Also there's this ever looming threat of detention and it being a big sinister thing to receive but the reveal of it turned out to be nothing at all, in fact it was exactly what every other child and our main character had already been doing  throughout.

The Cotton Candy Massacre: Part Treats by Christopher Robertson

dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

I fear this review is just going to be me regurgitating my thoughts from the previous  'Cotton Candy' books. This has all the pulpy, gory, clown crazed fun of its predecessors whilst adding some solid world building. It does a fantastic job of tying in the previous two books as well as the short story prequel. We have a new cast of characters (and a couple we've met before) and they are another great ensemble to follow, providing real moments of humour, horror and heart. There is also heavy referencing to two of my favourite movies ever and even a chapter title that is a possible Easter egg to a goosebumps book. All that wraps together to provide a very fitting conclusion to one of my all-time favourite trilogies (literary or otherwise) and that's the toot-tootin' truth!

Secrets Don't Stay Buried by J. D. Mills

1.75

I received an ARC of this in return for an honest review.
The first thing I want to touch upon is Lennon our protagonist is deaf, which I found a nice touch and a point of view I was excited to explore, imagining the uniqueness of this and the added difficulty it would bring to the writing, The author did a good job early on before seemingly abandoning it, there are large portions of the book where it seems to be simply forgotten. Lennon (and everyone she encouters) just seems to communicate without her disability ever being an issue or even addressed. It would have been nice to even get one scene where she doesn't know what's going on or feels vulnerable because of her disability. I also felt the book plodded along and just wasn't very engaging. Then we get to our final set piece and I don't know what happened but at the end of page 271 and the start of page 272 it feels like we're missing a section of the story, It's extremely disjointed and confusing but by then I was checked out anyway. 

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

adventurous funny mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

Things you can expect from a Richard Osman novel... An intriguing murder mystery, fantastically fleshed out characters, heaps of hilarity and an enormous amount of heart. I love the way it feels like these characters are our friends and we're tagging along on their adventures, it's something this author is able to do so effortlessly. There are two villain reveals to be figured out throughout, I found that one was fairly obvious and the other was fiendishly clever. Richard Osman constantly delivers cozy mystery at its coziest (despite a whole host of murders) every one of his books is like a warm hug in a hardcover. My only gripe is the fact I have to wait two years for the next installment