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357 reviews
Lured by the Dusk by Angela J. Ford
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
"the devil on his demon horse with his bride, who wasn’t as reluctant as she should have been."
This book has the best world within a world from the entire series so far. Also...look at the cover, urgh, how gorgeous are these two!😍.I am officially Team Tanith and Oren; Toren? from the Tower Knights Series. The ginger Fallen/Fey/Magic-Thrall hottie and his flute can lure me all the way to hell or whatever that other dimension is called. I've removed my headphones sir, play your tune.
This story makes the first 2 look boring - and they were 4⭐books!
Comeuppance is a theme in all the books so far but Book 2 was repentence and redemption and Book 1 was revenge to facilitate liberation. This book takes those themes and cranks it to 100.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Music is such a guiding force in this series and I love that. Book 1, opera vocalists. Book 2, gorgeous cottagecore violinists and book 3 Flutes, Revenge, skulduggery, immortal torture and thievery.
Sigh, I'm over it but just to reiterate - why oh why do the MMC's in this series have 5 pov chapters nestled between the FMC's pov? Is it to keep us interested because okay sure you win. I'm interested AF.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Tanith is steadfast, strong, wiley, sneaky, orphaned and an abused high society woman trapped in the palace of her tormentor Uncle/Lord Faren of Dowler.
Oren The Devil of Dowler is powerful, intelligent, beautiful, angelic, feral-fey, tall, sexy, vengeful, protective, a freaking healer and my favorite from All the Tower Knights. He is too damn fine. He can turn me into an immortal anytime with his ...ahem... weapon
*Scoot scoot, into the Book Husbands shelf you go. Make friends okay?*
Lord Faren can just drop dead.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
CHAPTER 22 &23: The Storm. The Hag. Oren's roar. Blood of the Fallen. Se magnifique!
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “The dead need their gifts for the afterlife and if we steal from them, especially from a saint, there will be consequences.” (Don't do it Tanith. Did nobody watch The Mummy??? )
🖤 “A bolt of carnal lust went through me again. Why wasn’t my brain working? I should be screaming, begging, not thinking of furious kissing.” (why is this scene so ... hot?😍)
🖤 “This was drastic magic, dangerous, but I’d come back from the dead to win, and this time, I’d go to any extreme to free the thralls.” (Oren determined and darkly enigmatic. Lord have mercy)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■The Truth about Oren & King of Hearts
■Pip The Gargoyle😍
■Magic-Thralls
■Unwelcome Guest/Body Snatcher Witch
■Oren's Familiars: especially demon horse
■Immortality Transfer: carnality
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025
This book has the best world within a world from the entire series so far. Also...look at the cover, urgh, how gorgeous are these two!😍.I am officially Team Tanith and Oren; Toren? from the Tower Knights Series. The ginger Fallen/Fey/Magic-Thrall hottie and his flute can lure me all the way to hell or whatever that other dimension is called. I've removed my headphones sir, play your tune.
This story makes the first 2 look boring - and they were 4⭐books!
Comeuppance is a theme in all the books so far but Book 2 was repentence and redemption and Book 1 was revenge to facilitate liberation. This book takes those themes and cranks it to 100.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Music is such a guiding force in this series and I love that. Book 1, opera vocalists. Book 2, gorgeous cottagecore violinists and book 3 Flutes, Revenge, skulduggery, immortal torture and thievery.
Sigh, I'm over it but just to reiterate - why oh why do the MMC's in this series have 5 pov chapters nestled between the FMC's pov? Is it to keep us interested because okay sure you win. I'm interested AF.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Tanith is steadfast, strong, wiley, sneaky, orphaned and an abused high society woman trapped in the palace of her tormentor Uncle/Lord Faren of Dowler.
Oren The Devil of Dowler is powerful, intelligent, beautiful, angelic, feral-fey, tall, sexy, vengeful, protective, a freaking healer and my favorite from All the Tower Knights. He is too damn fine. He can turn me into an immortal anytime with his ...ahem... weapon
*Scoot scoot, into the Book Husbands shelf you go. Make friends okay?*
Lord Faren can just drop dead.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
CHAPTER 22 &23: The Storm. The Hag. Oren's roar. Blood of the Fallen. Se magnifique!
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “The dead need their gifts for the afterlife and if we steal from them, especially from a saint, there will be consequences.” (Don't do it Tanith. Did nobody watch The Mummy??? )
🖤 “A bolt of carnal lust went through me again. Why wasn’t my brain working? I should be screaming, begging, not thinking of furious kissing.” (why is this scene so ... hot?😍)
🖤 “This was drastic magic, dangerous, but I’d come back from the dead to win, and this time, I’d go to any extreme to free the thralls.” (Oren determined and darkly enigmatic. Lord have mercy)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■The Truth about Oren & King of Hearts
■Pip The Gargoyle😍
■Magic-Thralls
■Unwelcome Guest/Body Snatcher Witch
■Oren's Familiars: especially demon horse
■Immortality Transfer: carnality
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025
It's Not You, It's Biology.: The Science of Love, Sex, and Relationships by Joe Quirk
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
3.0
Lazy Researcher Review - I haven't laughed out loud for a Bio-Anthropological book in a very long time. Granted it's not a rigorous, peer-reviewed theory and you'd never ever be able to reference it in a thesis or a basic high school essay. PLEASE don't reference this book, it'll be like referencing Wikipedia. But for real this was hilarious. It should have been fiction...alas.
The writing is structured to get you all loosey goosey in la cabeza and willing to hear the alchemical, historical and biological absurdity of human attraction. It reeks of a novelist's flair for the dramatic:
"First we’ll analyze my personal research into what makes het-eros horny.
Then we’ll find out why love turns us into idiots.
Then we’ll find out why idiots in love are the smartest people alive, though they’re too stupid to know it."
Lest we forget that Quirk is the equivalent of a dancer telling a violinist how to play a cello - he has zero credentials for this subject matter but he is a compelling storyteller. 🤷🏻♀️I liked it.
Information Accessibility scale
If you're a novice at the topic. Let's look at it like this:
■1.Bob Ross Ease: don't overthink it, paint it and just enjoy vibe.
■2. CrashCourse Youtube: Phil Plait and team bite-size digestible chunks.
■3.Bill Nye, Neil de Grasse Tyson: mass cable style appeal but very edutaining.
■4.Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, Kaku, Curie: data, concept and theory heavy. Degrees non-negotiable.
■5.Christopher Nolanesque: gloriously mind-bending, time-bending, sanity-bending. Basically - fvck your degree and linear thought.
LEVEL: We're firmly at a 1. This was better than a few fiction books I read this month - looking at all you 2's from that short story collection (bloody draining). Way too many quotable pages. My annotating game came right through for a wee hang.
Rabbit hole Worthy or Nah?:
Strangely enough, this provided so much verifued and untested detail in an uncluttered way that I didn't feel the need to go and do some adhoc research. Instead, I cackled, read and then went to read a Romance book to see if all the insane ideas could be spotted in the one genre that lends weight to this book.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter
This book moves fast because it's not bogged down by linguistics for Doctors of the PHD and Doctorate variety. It's purpose is to entertain not really educate and keeping the audience awake seems to be a goal in the choice of prose. I read it overnight instead of sleeping.
Spotlight on Theorists
□"The turn-ons are different. A man is attracted to a woman’s ability to grow a baby inside her. A woman is attracted to a man’s ability to grow a baby outside him. How does he do that? Resources." (Chapter: What Women Want)
□"Psychologist David M. Buss pulled off a monumental study of over 10,000 people in thirty-seven cultures". (Why prestige matters )
□"Motherhood is much older than fatherhood. Fatherhood is the male’s imitation of the ancient female instinct to nurture off-spring.". (Color me beyond interested )
Significant Concept/s
■Apparently reading Cosmopolitan "leads to affairs" for a percentage of women in the US.
■ Kamikaze Blocking Manoeuvre: Sperm Teamwork
■Two-Timing orangutans, loyal Gorillas, slutty chimpanzees
■Male Fashion show: Power Suits😉
■The Ache tribe of Paraguay vs The Bakweri Tribe of Cameroon
■The Jerk Gene vs The Catfight Gene
■Chimpanzee Scientist🤣
OVERALL: If you're trying to navigate this ridiculous world on online dating and rules for texting and all that hogwash, you're gonna need wine and fortitude. But if you have that curious little cat lodged in your spirit and want to understand the insanity that is "courting, wooing, besottering" and all the other fancy words (some made up) have a laugh with this one.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Sciences) books by 2025
The writing is structured to get you all loosey goosey in la cabeza and willing to hear the alchemical, historical and biological absurdity of human attraction. It reeks of a novelist's flair for the dramatic:
"First we’ll analyze my personal research into what makes het-eros horny.
Then we’ll find out why love turns us into idiots.
Then we’ll find out why idiots in love are the smartest people alive, though they’re too stupid to know it."
Lest we forget that Quirk is the equivalent of a dancer telling a violinist how to play a cello - he has zero credentials for this subject matter but he is a compelling storyteller. 🤷🏻♀️I liked it.
Information Accessibility scale
If you're a novice at the topic. Let's look at it like this:
■1.Bob Ross Ease: don't overthink it, paint it and just enjoy vibe.
■2. CrashCourse Youtube: Phil Plait and team bite-size digestible chunks.
■3.Bill Nye, Neil de Grasse Tyson: mass cable style appeal but very edutaining.
■4.Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, Kaku, Curie: data, concept and theory heavy. Degrees non-negotiable.
■5.Christopher Nolanesque: gloriously mind-bending, time-bending, sanity-bending. Basically - fvck your degree and linear thought.
LEVEL: We're firmly at a 1. This was better than a few fiction books I read this month - looking at all you 2's from that short story collection (bloody draining). Way too many quotable pages. My annotating game came right through for a wee hang.
Rabbit hole Worthy or Nah?:
Strangely enough, this provided so much verifued and untested detail in an uncluttered way that I didn't feel the need to go and do some adhoc research. Instead, I cackled, read and then went to read a Romance book to see if all the insane ideas could be spotted in the one genre that lends weight to this book.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter
This book moves fast because it's not bogged down by linguistics for Doctors of the PHD and Doctorate variety. It's purpose is to entertain not really educate and keeping the audience awake seems to be a goal in the choice of prose. I read it overnight instead of sleeping.
Spotlight on Theorists
□"The turn-ons are different. A man is attracted to a woman’s ability to grow a baby inside her. A woman is attracted to a man’s ability to grow a baby outside him. How does he do that? Resources." (Chapter: What Women Want)
□"Psychologist David M. Buss pulled off a monumental study of over 10,000 people in thirty-seven cultures". (Why prestige matters )
□"Motherhood is much older than fatherhood. Fatherhood is the male’s imitation of the ancient female instinct to nurture off-spring.". (Color me beyond interested )
Significant Concept/s
■Apparently reading Cosmopolitan "leads to affairs" for a percentage of women in the US.
■ Kamikaze Blocking Manoeuvre: Sperm Teamwork
■Two-Timing orangutans, loyal Gorillas, slutty chimpanzees
■Male Fashion show: Power Suits😉
■The Ache tribe of Paraguay vs The Bakweri Tribe of Cameroon
■The Jerk Gene vs The Catfight Gene
■Chimpanzee Scientist🤣
OVERALL: If you're trying to navigate this ridiculous world on online dating and rules for texting and all that hogwash, you're gonna need wine and fortitude. But if you have that curious little cat lodged in your spirit and want to understand the insanity that is "courting, wooing, besottering" and all the other fancy words (some made up) have a laugh with this one.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Sciences) books by 2025
Trouble by Janelle Brown
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Geez they giving 9 year olds iPhone 13s now.I just had the nokia that was popular in my hometown at the time. Wait - is that Finnish company still churning out phones or has it gone the way of Blackberry?
I digress. Yeah okay remind me to seriously reconsider having kids. Like hell no. I cannot even ...I just can't with this mess. For now I'm good just being that aunt.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
We open on that delicate balance between nosy bitchy surburban moms who's kids belong at that fancy schmancy school "discussing" the *gasp* scholarship 6 year old who dresses as inappropriately as her maybe stripper mama ... nobody knows for sure.
"Polly couldn’t help wondering if they ever gossiped about her—would they pity her awkward scar, her country-girl naivete, her utter lack of career distinction? She tries too hard, she’s just an imposter." (Gossip is a fickle temptress)
And then the insanity and chaos began.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Now I don't feel awful for taking an immediate visceral disliking to Sylvie at first and it made me realize that if I were a mom to a nine year old kid, you can bet your last dollar I'd keep my kid away from her. But my instincts are honed to rooting out sociopaths and nefarious people - benefit/downside of being raise where they roamed free and ran while cities.
But manipulative little devil was not exactly what I was expecting.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
That playdate from HELL.
✔️Basic Bitch
✔️Megan Thee Stallone
✔️“We’re just having fun, Hannah’s Mom,” Sylvie being a little goblinshyte
✔️Prada Purse
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Sylvie can’t be trusted, I’m well aware. I’m going to get it out of her, the little liar, one way or another. She’ll learn her lesson. I promise.” (I always wonder about child-sociopaths, like does it start at age 5 or later?)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Small Town Girl, Big LA Spanish Colonial
■ Damned Covid Lockdowns. Almost triggered me.
■ Katrina vs Sylvie dynamic
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
I digress. Yeah okay remind me to seriously reconsider having kids. Like hell no. I cannot even ...I just can't with this mess. For now I'm good just being that aunt.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
We open on that delicate balance between nosy bitchy surburban moms who's kids belong at that fancy schmancy school "discussing" the *gasp* scholarship 6 year old who dresses as inappropriately as her maybe stripper mama ... nobody knows for sure.
"Polly couldn’t help wondering if they ever gossiped about her—would they pity her awkward scar, her country-girl naivete, her utter lack of career distinction? She tries too hard, she’s just an imposter." (Gossip is a fickle temptress)
And then the insanity and chaos began.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Now I don't feel awful for taking an immediate visceral disliking to Sylvie at first and it made me realize that if I were a mom to a nine year old kid, you can bet your last dollar I'd keep my kid away from her. But my instincts are honed to rooting out sociopaths and nefarious people - benefit/downside of being raise where they roamed free and ran while cities.
But manipulative little devil was not exactly what I was expecting.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
That playdate from HELL.
✔️Basic Bitch
✔️Megan Thee Stallone
✔️“We’re just having fun, Hannah’s Mom,” Sylvie being a little goblinshyte
✔️Prada Purse
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Sylvie can’t be trusted, I’m well aware. I’m going to get it out of her, the little liar, one way or another. She’ll learn her lesson. I promise.” (I always wonder about child-sociopaths, like does it start at age 5 or later?)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Small Town Girl, Big LA Spanish Colonial
■ Damned Covid Lockdowns. Almost triggered me.
■ Katrina vs Sylvie dynamic
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
Sweet Vengeance by Viano Oniomoh
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
"Ready, demon boy?”- Joy
“Whenever you are, little tiger.” - Malachi
Just and deserved REVENGE! - You sweet beautiful monster, ph how I have missed doing the mambo with revenge in the pages of books. Also ... very sexy shenanigans inbetween some righteous wrath and that deserves a badass guitar solo.
I find myself enamoured by Afro-mysticism with the same blind love I have for the Fey and all things Vampyre.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
An abused demon signs a contract with an abused human woman and together they reign terror on rapists. Two survivors take their power back.
Right bring it in people, this is how you do revenge.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
🤣Joy describes herself as six feet tall and "deliciously fat" and I laughed and I thought well that's cute and refreshing.😍 Also Joy is one helluva survivor and honestly, I would not endeavor to make it look like an accident. So in that regard she is one damn smart cookie. I wish she'd stop saying mean things to herself.
🔥Malachi is a demon after my own bloody heart. Just come get it, I'm barely using it. Oh yeah and he watched the last Thor movie ans didn't think it sucked - he's probably alone in that but isn't he just Sexadorable! (Hot and cute)
Oh my God - Iyore 😥😭
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
✔️Iyore and Joys heart to heartbreaking💔 revelation.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “The morally upright Christian she’d been raised to be protested: Isn’t death too harsh a punishment for a rapist? For any criminal, for that matter?
But the other side of her—the side that clawed for justice—for vengeance— screamed: death is not enough.” (Death is exactly the right amount of punishment)
🖤 “If I rip someone apart, bit by bit, can you put them back together and make it look like they’d died in their sleep instead?” (Yeeeeeh! Cue Xena Warrior Princess noise here for Vengeance!)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Nicquiris
■True Name
■Enigmas
■ Almighty Sovereign
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025
“Whenever you are, little tiger.” - Malachi
Just and deserved REVENGE! - You sweet beautiful monster, ph how I have missed doing the mambo with revenge in the pages of books. Also ... very sexy shenanigans inbetween some righteous wrath and that deserves a badass guitar solo.
I find myself enamoured by Afro-mysticism with the same blind love I have for the Fey and all things Vampyre.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
An abused demon signs a contract with an abused human woman and together they reign terror on rapists. Two survivors take their power back.
Right bring it in people, this is how you do revenge.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
🤣Joy describes herself as six feet tall and "deliciously fat" and I laughed and I thought well that's cute and refreshing.😍 Also Joy is one helluva survivor and honestly, I would not endeavor to make it look like an accident. So in that regard she is one damn smart cookie. I wish she'd stop saying mean things to herself.
🔥Malachi is a demon after my own bloody heart. Just come get it, I'm barely using it. Oh yeah and he watched the last Thor movie ans didn't think it sucked - he's probably alone in that but isn't he just Sexadorable! (Hot and cute)
Oh my God - Iyore 😥😭
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
✔️Iyore and Joys heart to heartbreaking💔 revelation.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “The morally upright Christian she’d been raised to be protested: Isn’t death too harsh a punishment for a rapist? For any criminal, for that matter?
But the other side of her—the side that clawed for justice—for vengeance— screamed: death is not enough.” (Death is exactly the right amount of punishment)
🖤 “If I rip someone apart, bit by bit, can you put them back together and make it look like they’d died in their sleep instead?” (Yeeeeeh! Cue Xena Warrior Princess noise here for Vengeance!)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Nicquiris
■True Name
■Enigmas
■ Almighty Sovereign
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025
Empire of the Feast by Bendi Barrett
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"Eternity can be pleasure and consumption. We will eat the stars and drench the darkness in ecstasy.”
I just realized this now but sometimes good books just fall under the radar relegated to exist in their quiet glory and within them, really great worlds and people are hidden. This is one of those books. What an interesting mindbend. So glad I stumbled on this.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Okay so what happens when a Space King almost a deity (in a world living in the bosom of the Sun, powered by a beast) has been reincarnated every single time as a woman, an empress and then, by some inexplicable fluke (or maybe it was the murder) is now a man, an Emperor?
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Leeds, The First Retainer sees the world as only the grand vizier, advisor, right and hand man of an omnipresent empire can- a bunch of planets on a screen, easily erased for the Empire's continued rule. Blot out a few million people as a warning like it's nothing before breakfast.
The Emperor Riverson is curious reincarnation.I wonder if the Empress was bloodthirsty or just allowed Leeds run of all affairs - this recent reincarnation out off his female form and into his male form has rewired his mind and he is different. I also wonder about his crown.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Uhm..😳 The Feast? The Bacchanal😉not yet clutching pearls I tell you. I did not expect that and the hierarchy of participants and acts is actually legitimised ... like a magnetic court driven by and outright orgy.
"Over the next few hours Riverson conducts the feast. He finds that the debauchery doesn't strictly require his presence or attention. If he focuses, he can sense the arrangements and reconfigure them with a minor push of his will"🔥
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
So many quotable lines, I had to rein my annotation craze and stick with just 1 key moment.
🖤 “Riverson shivers, balks at this power—unearned—dropped into his lap like a weight. He thinks a tiny treason, of what it would take to dismantle this engine, but abandons the idea immediately; how can he confront what he barely understands?.” (Riverson being entirely different to all his previous incarnations )
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■Staghead Empire: Corrected Center
■The River
■ The Feast
■ Empire Reincarnation
■ The Sun.The Rapacious. The Beast.
■General Celestin No-One
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025
I just realized this now but sometimes good books just fall under the radar relegated to exist in their quiet glory and within them, really great worlds and people are hidden. This is one of those books. What an interesting mindbend. So glad I stumbled on this.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Okay so what happens when a Space King almost a deity (in a world living in the bosom of the Sun, powered by a beast) has been reincarnated every single time as a woman, an empress and then, by some inexplicable fluke (or maybe it was the murder) is now a man, an Emperor?
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Leeds, The First Retainer sees the world as only the grand vizier, advisor, right and hand man of an omnipresent empire can- a bunch of planets on a screen, easily erased for the Empire's continued rule. Blot out a few million people as a warning like it's nothing before breakfast.
The Emperor Riverson is curious reincarnation.I wonder if the Empress was bloodthirsty or just allowed Leeds run of all affairs - this recent reincarnation out off his female form and into his male form has rewired his mind and he is different. I also wonder about his crown.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Uhm..😳 The Feast? The Bacchanal😉not yet clutching pearls I tell you. I did not expect that and the hierarchy of participants and acts is actually legitimised ... like a magnetic court driven by and outright orgy.
"Over the next few hours Riverson conducts the feast. He finds that the debauchery doesn't strictly require his presence or attention. If he focuses, he can sense the arrangements and reconfigure them with a minor push of his will"🔥
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
So many quotable lines, I had to rein my annotation craze and stick with just 1 key moment.
🖤 “Riverson shivers, balks at this power—unearned—dropped into his lap like a weight. He thinks a tiny treason, of what it would take to dismantle this engine, but abandons the idea immediately; how can he confront what he barely understands?.” (Riverson being entirely different to all his previous incarnations )
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■Staghead Empire: Corrected Center
■The River
■ The Feast
■ Empire Reincarnation
■ The Sun.The Rapacious. The Beast.
■General Celestin No-One
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025
His Happy Place by Zakiya Dalila Harris
dark
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? No
3.0
Yeah okay what an opening! Might need to read The Other Black Girl - or at least binge it on Hulu seeing as this month is almost over and I have 15 more books to go. But that opening had me peeking through the window like who did you just burn Ama?!!!!
Also I gotta ask, how does soooo much chaos happen in 48 hours??? I'm not talking scale like war invasions or pandemic levels. But like this, horror - it just takes off like woooosh and lives are destroyed.
Horrifying because of the threat of violence - impressive because there wasn't even a raised voice let alone manhandling or a weapon weilded in the air.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
First of all, dating for 4 months does not mean you go off into the woods with some dude who is still technically an acquainted stranger ...kinda sorta. 4 months? I'm calling in favors to a bestie who is excellent at doing a deep dive on a person before I am even getting in a car to go to some cabin.
But Ama, you do you girl. Smdh, Honeymoon phase and pheremones gon get you killed.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Oof, oh Nathan Davis why is it the moment she described it as being your cabin I just KNEW you aint shyte and also...something off about you and I hadn't even gotten to the whole "meet the character" part. Tut tut tut.
Ama seriously what you define as "hiccups" are yellow flags, you know, caution ahead - one sided emotional exertion ahead, caution, tread carefully one partner taking on too much etcetera ... smdh Corie was right.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Because hanging a machete on the wall of a remote cabin is just so not red flaggey. PSA: "Pageing intuition, intuition are you there? Why hath thee abandoned Ama???"
Also: Mount Sunday, New Zealand and Nathan.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt quite this isolated, this alone. It was a peculiar feeling. Paralyzing. Like she had been tucked away in a tiny box at the bottom of the ocean, only to be forgotten about.” (on nighttime in wilderness)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ The Cabin as a conduit dead imprints
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
Also I gotta ask, how does soooo much chaos happen in 48 hours??? I'm not talking scale like war invasions or pandemic levels. But like this, horror - it just takes off like woooosh and lives are destroyed.
Horrifying because of the threat of violence - impressive because there wasn't even a raised voice let alone manhandling or a weapon weilded in the air.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
First of all, dating for 4 months does not mean you go off into the woods with some dude who is still technically an acquainted stranger ...kinda sorta. 4 months? I'm calling in favors to a bestie who is excellent at doing a deep dive on a person before I am even getting in a car to go to some cabin.
But Ama, you do you girl. Smdh, Honeymoon phase and pheremones gon get you killed.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Oof, oh Nathan Davis why is it the moment she described it as being your cabin I just KNEW you aint shyte and also...something off about you and I hadn't even gotten to the whole "meet the character" part. Tut tut tut.
Ama seriously what you define as "hiccups" are yellow flags, you know, caution ahead - one sided emotional exertion ahead, caution, tread carefully one partner taking on too much etcetera ... smdh Corie was right.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Because hanging a machete on the wall of a remote cabin is just so not red flaggey. PSA: "Pageing intuition, intuition are you there? Why hath thee abandoned Ama???"
Also: Mount Sunday, New Zealand and Nathan.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt quite this isolated, this alone. It was a peculiar feeling. Paralyzing. Like she had been tucked away in a tiny box at the bottom of the ocean, only to be forgotten about.” (on nighttime in wilderness)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ The Cabin as a conduit dead imprints
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
Deluge by Charmaine Wilkerson
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
3.0
You know what I find curious about the "you" narrative, that contentious second perain voice - it's that it can be both accusatory and deeply intimate because it's like a finger pointed right at your person telling all your secrets even though its fiction and you're noth the character. Maybe that's why people tend to hate it.
Well, not moi. This being the 5th one I'vechosen to reaf, I find I am drawn more into the story when the finger is pointed at me because I want to say "well nah uh - I haven't done shyte" but then the story gets to that engrossing bit and I forget my defenses.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
So at the heart of it, would you do what Ma did? If you bore witness to injustice to the most vulnerable and there came a flood - would you do it?
Me? In a heartbeat.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Delayed misplaced rage that's been tainted by shadowy, half-memories tylical in childhood is dangerous. She - you ruined your whole life Dinara.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Honestly FFS you're 40!Just go to your damn birthday party. God I actually hate Dinara. That is TOO much righteous anger. And the vengeance is one sided, I'm all for revenge but thats all kinds of messed up.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “A person can fail another person and still do right by them. It happens all the time. This is the way of relationships. This is the way of family.” (On love, loyalty and loss and moving on)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ childhood memory
■There was life before the flood and life after.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
Well, not moi. This being the 5th one I'vechosen to reaf, I find I am drawn more into the story when the finger is pointed at me because I want to say "well nah uh - I haven't done shyte" but then the story gets to that engrossing bit and I forget my defenses.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
So at the heart of it, would you do what Ma did? If you bore witness to injustice to the most vulnerable and there came a flood - would you do it?
Me? In a heartbeat.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Delayed misplaced rage that's been tainted by shadowy, half-memories tylical in childhood is dangerous. She - you ruined your whole life Dinara.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Honestly FFS you're 40!Just go to your damn birthday party. God I actually hate Dinara. That is TOO much righteous anger. And the vengeance is one sided, I'm all for revenge but thats all kinds of messed up.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “A person can fail another person and still do right by them. It happens all the time. This is the way of relationships. This is the way of family.” (On love, loyalty and loss and moving on)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ childhood memory
■There was life before the flood and life after.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
The Candles Are Burning by Veronica G. Henry
dark
emotional
sad
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
3.0
Southern Gothicism - rooted in hoodoo and debt in physical.and otherworldly forms. It's everything I wanted but didn't know I wanted. Watch me go "quick as a jitterbug" to add a bunch of Southern gothic horror to my October tbr.
It has also made me rather curious about African American Hoodoo and actually the entire diaspora's connection to hoodo/vodou etc. That's another book I need to be on the lookout for.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Is this what they call rootwork? Or is it more like the devil at the crossroads? What really makes this so eerily beautiful in its haunting is that it's not some horror - its a slow burn into hell or a version of it without ever setting foot outside Savannah. In a word - claustrophobic.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Maybe they would have all been better off in thr north. Although I highly doubt it. Once "The Sight" made itself known, Maggie's life shifted into a perpetual path of tragedy.
Jackson and his "benefactor" are quietly terrifying.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
The phantom funeral procession.😬
She raced outside, screaming, “Leave us alone!”
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “There is something about this city, more abominations like her here than anywhere else. All I ask is that you use what I have given you to point me to them. If you cannot do that, you are of no use to me.” (the horror of being in an other things' crosshairs)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts :
■ Candles
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
It has also made me rather curious about African American Hoodoo and actually the entire diaspora's connection to hoodo/vodou etc. That's another book I need to be on the lookout for.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Is this what they call rootwork? Or is it more like the devil at the crossroads? What really makes this so eerily beautiful in its haunting is that it's not some horror - its a slow burn into hell or a version of it without ever setting foot outside Savannah. In a word - claustrophobic.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Maybe they would have all been better off in thr north. Although I highly doubt it. Once "The Sight" made itself known, Maggie's life shifted into a perpetual path of tragedy.
Jackson and his "benefactor" are quietly terrifying.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
The phantom funeral procession.😬
She raced outside, screaming, “Leave us alone!”
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “There is something about this city, more abominations like her here than anywhere else. All I ask is that you use what I have given you to point me to them. If you cannot do that, you are of no use to me.” (the horror of being in an other things' crosshairs)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts :
■ Candles
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
IMAGES of America FLORIDA'S HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN HOMES by Jada Wright-Greene, Althemese Barnes, Vedet Coleman-Robinson
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Lazy Researcher Review - Historical Preservation is so tricky right? After a heated debate with friends over the preservation of plantations as tourist attractions and the profits going to the descendants of slave owners (usually because said estate still belongs to the family anyhow) it's refreshing to see some structures reflecting the other side of that era.
Also, the granma on the cover looks like she's tired of everyone's shyte and I just love that. And yet - she also looks adorable but like she's seen a lot. Urgh...anyway.
Information Accessibility scale:
If you're a novice at the topic. Let's look at it like this
■1.Bob Ross Ease: don't overthink it, paint it and just enjoy vibe.
■2. CrashCourse Youtube: Phil Plait and team bite-size digestible chunks
■3.Bill Nye, Neil de Grasse Tyson: mass cable style appeal but very edutaining.
■4.Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, Kaku, Curie: data, concept, theory heavy degrees non-negotiable.
■5.Christopher Nolanesque: gloriously mind-bending, time-bending, sanity-bending fck your degree and linear thought
LEVEL: I'd put this at a 1.5 It's not enjoyable as in "Wow look at that!" It's a sobering account of living standards and a testimony of the human spirit and to how people still found a way to make barely a house feel like a whole lotta home. But also some houses are lush.
Rabbit hole Worthy or Nah?:
I love architecture and I love history and any other time I'd dive right in. But I don't want to because chances are high I'll stumble on a lynching or some thing related to Emmit Till and so much dark history. Forgive me but it's also the month of love so I'm tapping out now.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter :
Neither. It was a very quick read. Also, it was strangely nostalgic in a sad way, very bittersweet seeing all these people carve out a successful path even within societal chains.
Spotlight on Advocate/Activists/Archivists:
□"What is in a house? It is the lineage of memories, lessons, community, inspiration, authenticity, and relevance today and for generations to come". (Althemese P. Barnes)
□"Dorothy Tookes, an ambitious and bold woman, transformed her home into a 17-room hotel that served African Americans who were not able to have accommodations during segregation in Tallahassee." (Was this in The Green Book?)
□"Lincolnville homeowners included several African American women.". (on Mary "Mae" Martin)
Significant Event/Concept/Person/Place:
■Mary McLeod Bethune
■John E. Proctor was born a free man but was sold into slavery. 😥WTF???
■ Smokey Hollow
■Tookes Hotel
■Sunshine Manor was gorgeous!
■shotgun residences for blacks
OVERALL: I do think this book should have had more eyeballs on it. I was very surprised when I found it on GR with such a low shelf existence across the user base. Pity.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Humanities/History) books by 2025
Also, the granma on the cover looks like she's tired of everyone's shyte and I just love that. And yet - she also looks adorable but like she's seen a lot. Urgh...anyway.
Information Accessibility scale:
If you're a novice at the topic. Let's look at it like this
■1.Bob Ross Ease: don't overthink it, paint it and just enjoy vibe.
■2. CrashCourse Youtube: Phil Plait and team bite-size digestible chunks
■3.Bill Nye, Neil de Grasse Tyson: mass cable style appeal but very edutaining.
■4.Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, Kaku, Curie: data, concept, theory heavy degrees non-negotiable.
■5.Christopher Nolanesque: gloriously mind-bending, time-bending, sanity-bending fck your degree and linear thought
LEVEL: I'd put this at a 1.5 It's not enjoyable as in "Wow look at that!" It's a sobering account of living standards and a testimony of the human spirit and to how people still found a way to make barely a house feel like a whole lotta home. But also some houses are lush.
Rabbit hole Worthy or Nah?:
I love architecture and I love history and any other time I'd dive right in. But I don't want to because chances are high I'll stumble on a lynching or some thing related to Emmit Till and so much dark history. Forgive me but it's also the month of love so I'm tapping out now.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter :
Neither. It was a very quick read. Also, it was strangely nostalgic in a sad way, very bittersweet seeing all these people carve out a successful path even within societal chains.
Spotlight on Advocate/Activists/Archivists:
□"What is in a house? It is the lineage of memories, lessons, community, inspiration, authenticity, and relevance today and for generations to come". (Althemese P. Barnes)
□"Dorothy Tookes, an ambitious and bold woman, transformed her home into a 17-room hotel that served African Americans who were not able to have accommodations during segregation in Tallahassee." (Was this in The Green Book?)
□"Lincolnville homeowners included several African American women.". (on Mary "Mae" Martin)
Significant Event/Concept/Person/Place:
■Mary McLeod Bethune
■John E. Proctor was born a free man but was sold into slavery. 😥WTF???
■ Smokey Hollow
■Tookes Hotel
■Sunshine Manor was gorgeous!
■shotgun residences for blacks
OVERALL: I do think this book should have had more eyeballs on it. I was very surprised when I found it on GR with such a low shelf existence across the user base. Pity.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Humanities/History) books by 2025
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
dark
emotional
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? No
4.0
Is Ridley Scott still alive? If yes, tell him this one is the scifi-horror that Alien Covenant should have been (I don't hate Prometheus though so I'mma just trashtalk AC). Scourge is like a distant cousin to the first Alien but BETTER - don't even @ me. I'll die on this hill.
Love a good Space horror,- what's the dangerous force hanging out in the void flicking ships into non-existance just like that? Is it an external force? Is it inside the ship? Are these people hallucinating...hehe okay not the last question - they were a lucid bunch.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
So many themes here: grief, mental illness, exploration, failure, regression(Proxima b failure and an attempt to return to earth), progression(Android Tech), ethics (Otto), abuse (Otto), victimhood, group discontent, fear of the unknown, xenomorph and cosmic horror.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Oof by chapter 5 I started to realize what happened to the Captain. I kept wondering why Jackyln didn't piece it together. It's hereditary. Her family has different psychosis with the exception of Kimberly. She had these vivid memories of Captain Arlington swooping in with just the right words and inspiring his crew yet for a week he was radio silent? I think Jacklyn had experienced too much grief, hysteria and anxiety and her subconscious shut down any processing of clues even before the horrors even began.
Otto is the Fooking worst. He deserved it.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
INTRUDER. The scene that lead to Jack pulling up the schematics of the ship and the IDs of almost 6000 individuals and they all flashed a bright color. And then. In the food silo. RED dot.
It was chilling and I was reading in the dark. Brilliant!
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 "… is … the Atalanta. Something—ssssss—ollow … xima. It’s … the ship. Wa—ssssss—epeat, warning … ssssss—ssssss—ssssss … on’t … epeat, don’t … ssssss.This is Captain Isidora of the Atalanta. I—ssssss— anyone listening. Please. Don’t open the door.” (it begins)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Engagements on way back home
■Gamma shift
■Centauri
■ Goddess Flotilla fleet
■Droid Levels: Watson, hypodroid, palindroid,
■Space Sickness
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025
Love a good Space horror,- what's the dangerous force hanging out in the void flicking ships into non-existance just like that? Is it an external force? Is it inside the ship? Are these people hallucinating...hehe okay not the last question - they were a lucid bunch.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
So many themes here: grief, mental illness, exploration, failure, regression(Proxima b failure and an attempt to return to earth), progression(Android Tech), ethics (Otto), abuse (Otto), victimhood, group discontent, fear of the unknown, xenomorph and cosmic horror.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Oof by chapter 5 I started to realize what happened to the Captain. I kept wondering why Jackyln didn't piece it together. It's hereditary. Her family has different psychosis with the exception of Kimberly. She had these vivid memories of Captain Arlington swooping in with just the right words and inspiring his crew yet for a week he was radio silent? I think Jacklyn had experienced too much grief, hysteria and anxiety and her subconscious shut down any processing of clues even before the horrors even began.
Otto is the Fooking worst. He deserved it.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
INTRUDER. The scene that lead to Jack pulling up the schematics of the ship and the IDs of almost 6000 individuals and they all flashed a bright color. And then. In the food silo. RED dot.
It was chilling and I was reading in the dark. Brilliant!
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 "… is … the Atalanta. Something—ssssss—ollow … xima. It’s … the ship. Wa—ssssss—epeat, warning … ssssss—ssssss—ssssss … on’t … epeat, don’t … ssssss.This is Captain Isidora of the Atalanta. I—ssssss— anyone listening. Please. Don’t open the door.” (it begins)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Engagements on way back home
■Gamma shift
■Centauri
■ Goddess Flotilla fleet
■Droid Levels: Watson, hypodroid, palindroid,
■Space Sickness
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025