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rinitealeaf's reviews
96 reviews
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75⭐ rounded up
After reading the blurb, I was hooked. I really love a good mystery.
I enjoyed how this was written, in broken pieces where you try to piece the information together the same time as Aiden. What put me off was the gross fatphobia, I felt it was unnecessary and was there just to make that particular character as gross as possible via fat shaming.
I thought I'd had some sort of grasp of whodunnit but the end twists were a surprise, not all in a bad way :D But also the way the book ended left me with a lot more questions than I had before the revelation, more in the spoilers.
Ok so, if those "murder mystery settings" are the sort of "rehabilitation for prisoners, why it was obvious that even if they would have changed and atoned and all, they still would be stuck in the loop, why?
Also <i>how</i> they were made. Was it magic? some sort of Matrix setting? Some sort of Minority Report future crime prediction?
Who were the people in the plague doctor outfits?
They also said Aiden volunteered to go in. How? Did he search yellow pages and phoned some dude?
Who were the "supervisors"?
Now that Aiden and Anna are out, will they remember the place, do they get some sort of start money?
<img src="https://blog.innmind.com/content/images/2023/03/i-have-so-many-questions-smallfoot.gif"/>
After reading the blurb, I was hooked. I really love a good mystery.
I enjoyed how this was written, in broken pieces where you try to piece the information together the same time as Aiden. What put me off was the gross fatphobia, I felt it was unnecessary and was there just to make that particular character as gross as possible via fat shaming.
I thought I'd had some sort of grasp of whodunnit but the end twists were a surprise, not all in a bad way :D But also the way the book ended left me with a lot more questions than I had before the revelation, more in the spoilers.
Also <i>how</i> they were made. Was it magic? some sort of Matrix setting? Some sort of Minority Report future crime prediction?
Who were the people in the plague doctor outfits?
They also said Aiden volunteered to go in. How? Did he search yellow pages and phoned some dude?
Who were the "supervisors"?
Now that Aiden and Anna are out, will they remember the place, do they get some sort of start money?
<img src="https://blog.innmind.com/content/images/2023/03/i-have-so-many-questions-smallfoot.gif"/>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Murder
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It took me a long while to come up with this review, mainly because I still don't know what I think about it 😅 I enjoyed it but also at the same time when I felt like I knew what was going to happen, that it was too obvious. It also could be that it reminded me of the movie <i>Metropolitan(1989)</i>
I loved the idea and the setting had a huge potential but I feel like something was missing.
I did like the way they spoke by using known lines.
And the ending, the ending ending (yes you know what I mean) I loved!!
I was so happy that when Oliver finally realised that James had only faked his suicide and they'd finally be together. I ugly cried😭
I loved the idea and the setting had a huge potential but I feel like something was missing.
I did like the way they spoke by using known lines.
And the ending, the ending ending (yes you know what I mean) I loved!!
Broken Dolls by Mique Watson
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Oh boy where to start.
This book has been one of the most disgusting thing I've ever read.
I knew going in that it was going to be extreme horror & splatterpunk but oh my I was not prepared.
It felt like all the gore and foul graphic language was there to just pile up as high as the pile can go, there was no room for character development or world building because of the gore on top of gore with a side of gore.
I know things like this come with extreme horror but it can be done so that it doesn't feel like everything is there for the sake of shocking over and over, because after a while it just stops shocking you and then everything falls apart.
This book has been one of the most disgusting thing I've ever read.
I knew going in that it was going to be extreme horror & splatterpunk but oh my I was not prepared.
It felt like all the gore and foul graphic language was there to just pile up as high as the pile can go, there was no room for character development or world building because of the gore on top of gore with a side of gore.
I know things like this come with extreme horror but it can be done so that it doesn't feel like everything is there for the sake of shocking over and over, because after a while it just stops shocking you and then everything falls apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Also necrophilia as a tw
The Fervor by Alma Katsu
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
CW: arachnophobia, racism, death (parents, children, everyone), kidnapping, prejudice,
I really enjoyed this book, it would have been 4½ stars but those damn spiders and even tho they're spiders but I would have wanted to know more about the lore of the(view spoiler)
It's World War II and Japanese people are sent to internment camps all around US.
Meiko and her daughter, despite being American and Meiko's father is in the US Navy, are sent to one of the Midwest camps.
Meiko shares stories of the demons, yokai, to Aiko to pass the time at the camp.
There is a strange illness making rounds at the camp, a common cold or so they thought. The ones who became sick, quickly develop aggression, violent outburst and death.
What first thought to be infecting the Japanese people, starts to spread and no one seems to know where it came from and is there a cure.
In the same time outside of the camps, people are finding these weird balloons that are coated with some dust. Some of them have even exploded. German expat journalist Fran finds one of these are she starts to investigate, going from city to city and interviewing people who have been in contact with these. But soon she is getting blocked by the army.
In another City Archie, a small town widowed minister, is trying to handle his grief and stay sane among all the conspiracy theories.
When I bought this book, it was one my findings from my local bookstore's annual sale.
I read the back of the book and was hooked and even the cover looked amazing!
I should have looked at the cover a little better and realise the spider theme, but sometimes you're just too excited to find an interesting book with a good price. It was also the reason why it took me so long to read this, the descriptions of the spiders and their moving was little too vivid so I had to pace myself. This was my first book from Alma Katsu and I am definitely getting her other ones.
The idea was nice and the different perspectives to the same issues was a nice touch, all though at times I found myself getting slightly bored on Fran's side.
What kept me reading and not DNFing the book were the shared experiences Alma Katsu wrote about her family's and other Asian Americans from that time period, and how they are still treated to this day. Those were the real horror aspects of the book (and well the spiders).
In the Afterword Katsu talks more deeply about her feelings and thoughts and also the two incidents the book is based on, the internment camps after Pearl Harbor and "the fire balloons" or Fu-Go.
The story doesn't dig too deep on Fu-Go and she recommends those who are interested to read Fu-Go: The Curious History of Japan's Balloon Bomb Attack on America by Ross Coen.
She also lists the violent attacks on Asians on U.S. soil, newest being the coronavirus which increased the crimes against Asians almost by 200%.
I highly recommend this if you're interested in historical fiction with horror aspects. ⭐
I really enjoyed this book, it would have been 4½ stars but those damn spiders and even tho they're spiders but I would have wanted to know more about the lore of the(view spoiler)
It's World War II and Japanese people are sent to internment camps all around US.
Meiko and her daughter, despite being American and Meiko's father is in the US Navy, are sent to one of the Midwest camps.
Meiko shares stories of the demons, yokai, to Aiko to pass the time at the camp.
There is a strange illness making rounds at the camp, a common cold or so they thought. The ones who became sick, quickly develop aggression, violent outburst and death.
What first thought to be infecting the Japanese people, starts to spread and no one seems to know where it came from and is there a cure.
In the same time outside of the camps, people are finding these weird balloons that are coated with some dust. Some of them have even exploded. German expat journalist Fran finds one of these are she starts to investigate, going from city to city and interviewing people who have been in contact with these. But soon she is getting blocked by the army.
In another City Archie, a small town widowed minister, is trying to handle his grief and stay sane among all the conspiracy theories.
When I bought this book, it was one my findings from my local bookstore's annual sale.
I read the back of the book and was hooked and even the cover looked amazing!
I should have looked at the cover a little better and realise the spider theme, but sometimes you're just too excited to find an interesting book with a good price. It was also the reason why it took me so long to read this, the descriptions of the spiders and their moving was little too vivid so I had to pace myself. This was my first book from Alma Katsu and I am definitely getting her other ones.
The idea was nice and the different perspectives to the same issues was a nice touch, all though at times I found myself getting slightly bored on Fran's side.
What kept me reading and not DNFing the book were the shared experiences Alma Katsu wrote about her family's and other Asian Americans from that time period, and how they are still treated to this day. Those were the real horror aspects of the book (and well the spiders).
In the Afterword Katsu talks more deeply about her feelings and thoughts and also the two incidents the book is based on, the internment camps after Pearl Harbor and "the fire balloons" or Fu-Go.
The story doesn't dig too deep on Fu-Go and she recommends those who are interested to read Fu-Go: The Curious History of Japan's Balloon Bomb Attack on America by Ross Coen.
She also lists the violent attacks on Asians on U.S. soil, newest being the coronavirus which increased the crimes against Asians almost by 200%.
I highly recommend this if you're interested in historical fiction with horror aspects. ⭐