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rubyreadfox's Reviews (128)

Mister Magic

Kiersten White

5.0

dark 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: No

This book gave me chills the entire time I was reading it. I devoured this in one day and could not bring myself to put it down. It was almost too scary to leave it alone, I had to know that the monster was no longer lurking. White creates such a comprehensive world that makes me simultaneously scared to read anymore of her works and crave them all the more.

Val has always lived on a rural horse ranch in Idaho, as far as she knows. The years before she was 8 are locked up tight in her memories. Her protective father has insisted she stay close and away from the outside world. This includes not going to school, doctors, and especially no T.V. Following his death some unexpected and unknown guests arrive at his memorial and she begins to question why her early childhood memories are so locked away. Why has her father kept the whole world away from her? A quick impulse decision takes her out into the world for the first time to find the answer to her now dozens of questions. Those answers however may do her more damage than good.

This is my second book by Kiersten White and it was just as bone chilling as the first, “Hide”. The way she tells these bone chilling stories is phenomenal. The entity in each of her stories is so rarely actually seen but its influence over the entire cast of characters is substantial. What I enjoyed most about Mister Magic was not being able to decide if I could trust a character or not. Each one seemed to have their own agenda and wasn’t sure which side they were working for. I can also appreciate how White creates the lore without taking you out of the story. She can seamlessly blend the lore into the story while still leaving it mysterious to the end. It has gotten me even more excited for her future works.

A Study in Drowning

Ava Reid

3.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This dark academia book is meant to be read in a large library on a stormy night by a roaring fire. Reid delivers such a beautiful prose that the story can only really be fully understood by savoring each word. The story is in the details of each look described and breath notated.

Effy is an architecture student with dreams of being in the literature college. She can quote her favorite novel front to back and finds solace in between the pages. Her life has blurred the lines between reality and fantasy. When presented with the opportunity to go to the home of her favorite author to redesign his now crumbling home she excitedly goes. However, while she is running to this new opportunity, she is truly just running from her life at the university. She arrives at her hero’s home to find more questions than answers, the hero’s son more foe than friend, and a fellow student that might be able to help her find those answers.

I spent the entire time reading this book constantly asking myself if this was true or a figment of Effy’s imagination. Her flighty and nervous narration makes me as the reader feel like I cannot rely on her truth. Personally I would have loved this to be a dual POV between her and Preston, however the lack of Preston’s POV adds additional mystery to the story. I also can see how her unreliable narration gives the reader a deeper understanding of how she feels, that she can’t quite get her footing under her after all she’s been through. Truly a thought provoking piece that leaves the reader with the idea that there is magic to be found everywhere.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

5.0

dark mysterious tense 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: Complicated

Moreno-Garcia of course did not disappoint with this novel. The world she creates in her
stories makes you feel like you are there and can see everything going on with crystal
clarity. Set in late nineteenth century Yucatan, Mexico, the story explores colonialism’s
after effects, racial issues, and what it means to be family.
Carlota has grown up in her perfect home that she adores almost as much as she does
her father. Her father, Dr. Moreau is conducting experiments to build the perfect human
body by any means necessary. Montgomery is an alcoholic that needs to pay off the
vast amount of debts he has accumulated from trying to be the perfect human. When he
arrives he learns the secrets of Yaxaktun and those who reside there. For years the
three alongside others reside on the property with little issue. When the man financing
Dr. Moreau’s research shows up to rescind the funding, more secrets are uncovered
and Carlota’s whole world comes into question.
I adored this story and could not put it down from the start, as with all of
Moreno-Garcia’s works. She paints such vivid pictures of what is going on you feel like
you are there with the characters. The relationships she creates are deep and
meaningful showing that family is deeper than just blood. Her work doesn’t have the
clean ending of happily ever after and reminds me that life continues on. That living and
being is an everyday thing and finding joy in the little things are essential. Her
immersion into the culture is one of the best parts of the writing. Understanding the
historical context of the book is easy, she explains things beautifully without loading
down with too many details that can drag a story. She seamlessly blends sci-fi with
historical fiction giving away to a new genre that is exclusive to her writing.