readundancies's reviews
1665 reviews

Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong

3.25

Have a vomit of thoughts that I have no interest in jazzing up for anyone's reading pleasure:

• Pacing was on point.
• The dichotomy of relationships in this story was extreme but still compelling.
• I liked the characters but wanted to spend a bit more time with them in a character driven kinda way. Not sure how this would’ve been balanced with the pace being what it is and so effective at propelling the story forward, but it’s how I feel.
• There were a handful of moments where I got the heebie-jeebies and I commend Kelley Armstrong for her strong writing abilities. I got excited to the point where I had to physically put the story down more than once - just for a couple seconds to really absorb what I was reading and how unnerving it was making me feel. It was more to relish in the sensation and settle my heart rate rather than to try and make sense of things that were occurring or because I was actually frightened.
• The drama was entirely too much for me when it came to the reveals though. Which is not to say that I saw it all coming, but I also kinda anticipated that the explanations I was receiving weren’t exactly going to be top-tier in my books. And sadly, I was correct in my suppositions.
• Plot driven >> character driven
• Spook factor is moderate, somewhere central or mid on the scare scale
• I think the biggest fault I have is how Garrett and Sadie are depicted as characters, because they are true villains in terms of how they had acted in the past and the choices they made and yet Laney still manages to find the humanity in herself and them in her inner monologue when it comes to Madison.

My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

3.5

Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Muñoz

2.0

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

4.0

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

3.0

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter

3.5

Linghun by Ai Jiang

4.0

4 stars with the caveat that I need to re-read this because I'm 95% sure I liked the latter short stories included in this small novella over the titular one but I cannot recall much about my reading experience at all and 2023 was not a good note-taking year for me and my reading.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

3.75

It took me a hot minute to get around the strong religious aspects of this horror novel because the doctrines and tenets that were at the forefront of what effectively was a cult masquerading under the cloak of religious freedoms were beyond infuriating in their misogyny, manipulation and general gas-lighting overtures. The implications behind each of the four major Tenets listed were enough to make me enraged because the unsaid messages were deplorable. It worked out because I ended up loving how religion was reclaimed by Rose and how she began to create her own Book of the Bible with her own teachings and perspectives.

I think the length of this story is exactly where it’s supposed to be ballpark-wise since it’s very plot driven, but it wasn’t what I think I would’ve preferred when it comes to the fast paced nature of the narrative. I prefer a slow and gradual descent into madness, to really let the fear permeate and build into something bigger, whereas this was one initial chapter of backstory and then bam! we are led down a trail of sin.

The horror didn’t always have the solid impact that I wanted it to have; for instance the mayfly vomit is never really delved into nor explained to any significant degree. Some of the horror descriptions also just flew by way too quickly for me to process.

But all in all, this was better than anticipated, and I enjoyed my time with it for the most part.

Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian

3.75

All Alone with You by Amelia Diane Coombs

4.5