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quoth_thepaperraven's reviews
23 reviews
You've Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Honestly the end really fell flat for me and I have high expectations of LaRocca. I’ll probably re-read it again at some point with the ending in mind to see if I pick up on anything new. Otherwise it was just okay and pretty full of cliches.
The thing that definitely saved it was LaRocca’s impeccably twisted imagination and his ability to describe things in a way that leaves them nestled in your brain forever.
The thing that definitely saved it was LaRocca’s impeccably twisted imagination and his ability to describe things in a way that leaves them nestled in your brain forever.
The Clackity by Lora Senf
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
Loved this book. I would’ve liked the end to be stretched out. It felt too cinematic. And while the audience already understood that the demons would go after the camp workers it would’ve been nice to see rose figure that would slower in order to build tension. Otherwise it was great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Gore, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Drug use and Abandonment
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
thing have gotten worse is an excellent story. the other two were okay. enjoyable, but nothing compared to the titular narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Confinement
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Child death
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
dark
sad
slow-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
0.5
Some notes I sent to a friend while reading this book:
i do NOT recommend lost in the neverwoods
it’s so full of badly done cliches, the characters repeat themselves and contradict themselves so many times
also peter is characterised as a literal child (as he should be) but he looks 19 because he’s losing his magic so he and wendy have a romance plot which is GROSS because he’s still literally a child
and then they’re meant to be on a time sensitive expedition and they’re getting ice cream and playing in waterfalls
i’ve resorted to reading the first sentence of every paragraph and that’s it because it’s so bad but i paid for it and suck at DNFing
the amount of times i’ve read the sentence ‘she could feel the heat radiating off him’ i swear to god
—————
In the end, I did skim read the entire second half of the novel. The end did make me sad, but it was the subject more than anything because I did not care about these characters. There was nothing compelling or interesting about anyone in this novel. The plot was flat, and very basic. I definitely expected a more creative ‘retelling’ that had recreated the original story as something new and mysterious, as opposed to a story set after Neverland but without any of the good parts of the original story. I got the hard cover of this and everything. Really wanted to like it, and I had hopes in the first quarter, but those hopes fell flat at around page 150.
i do NOT recommend lost in the neverwoods
it’s so full of badly done cliches, the characters repeat themselves and contradict themselves so many times
also peter is characterised as a literal child (as he should be) but he looks 19 because he’s losing his magic so he and wendy have a romance plot which is GROSS because he’s still literally a child
and then they’re meant to be on a time sensitive expedition and they’re getting ice cream and playing in waterfalls
i’ve resorted to reading the first sentence of every paragraph and that’s it because it’s so bad but i paid for it and suck at DNFing
the amount of times i’ve read the sentence ‘she could feel the heat radiating off him’ i swear to god
—————
In the end, I did skim read the entire second half of the novel. The end did make me sad, but it was the subject more than anything because I did not care about these characters. There was nothing compelling or interesting about anyone in this novel. The plot was flat, and very basic. I definitely expected a more creative ‘retelling’ that had recreated the original story as something new and mysterious, as opposed to a story set after Neverland but without any of the good parts of the original story. I got the hard cover of this and everything. Really wanted to like it, and I had hopes in the first quarter, but those hopes fell flat at around page 150.
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Flywheel by Erin Gough
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0