Take a photo of a barcode or cover
rottingintheplot's Reviews (89)
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
I am rendered nearly speechless. How this exceeded my expectations is beyond me. This easily passed my love for Nestlings, and that was an easy 5 star read for me. This makes Nestlings feel like a 4. When I finished this, I wanted to put my head through my device and scream. It could have ended where it did, and I was speechless. But to go that extra step in the final part? WTF Cassidy?! That was clever. I can’t believe I missed that, and I’m a bit of a queen at digging that stuff out.
“Is love enough of a reason to keep doing stupid things?” … is love enough to make you miss those little, impactful, sincere things? Yep. Yep. Yep.
I feel for any person who has felt this was about a parent or a person they loved and trusted as a caregiver.
This was horror and magically dark.
“Is love enough of a reason to keep doing stupid things?” … is love enough to make you miss those little, impactful, sincere things? Yep. Yep. Yep.
I feel for any person who has felt this was about a parent or a person they loved and trusted as a caregiver.
This was horror and magically dark.
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3.5 - I really wanted to love this story! This was deceptively long ((slow)) book for how short it was. I think it may be because the language is so plain? I’d love to see/feel more prose and I’m quite confident the author could do so. First half was very very slow, I put it down several times and had to stop myself from nitpicking because I really did want to enjoy it. The last half had me feeling like I want to finish it and get on with it 🥲 it didn’t have me feeling overly philosophical, I may actually reread at a different time. A different mood. :)
The concept is fascinating to me, to wake up in Hell, not remember anything, and “fight for your life” and whatever that may entail - being dead and all with no one to trust and forever to go... But it just didn’t hit all the right spots. It was a miss for me, but it may be a bullseye for someone else!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“Could they see into a human’s mind? Could they know she was a young woman in love? Could they tell from this dip and rise in the EEG’s pattern that she was thinking simultaneously of earth and lover as if the two were continuous?”
————————
I read and digested Orbital over many days, as I do with most short but dense sci-fi novels. The writing waaaaaas beautiful.
If the novel wasn’t titled Orbital, it could have been “Crestfallen”.
It’s less about *WHAT happens* and more about *HOW it FEELS* to see Earth from space. The astronauts’ detachment mirrors humanity’s paradoxical power/helplessness. A feeling I think we all drown in, we’re able to observe destruction but not stop it.
If you wanted a thriller about astronauts, this isn’t it. If you want to feel sad about our environment, get on the ship.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First and foremost, thank you to James Kaine, Victory Editing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC of Devil of the Pines! Where “in these woods, legends become nightmares”…
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, how can I not when it’s got lore, horror, and history?!
We meet Patrick, his ghosts, and his future in a story that spans across the 1700’s, 2000’s, and present day to spin us a tale about the famous Jersey Devil. One that I didn’t really want to end! James Kaine had me hooked from the prologue and the atmosphere he set.
Kaine dishes out spectacular character development, and made some folks we could truly love (Meg & her music taste), and hate (looking at you, Vivian and Cam), too.
I can’t wait to read more of the American Horrors series. This is the perfect book for me to recommend to friends that aren’t super into the heavy horror, and still like a story they can follow with characters they can fall in love with too.
I hope you give this a shot, it’ll be out in time to get your own copy and curl up with during peak Spooky Season. As someone who regularly reads a lot of gory horror, this was giving a softer, spooky horror, and I loved it. Happy Haunting!
I could not get past the dense, repetitive writing. I was absolutely in love with the concept. The writing was no.