seyoban's reviews
245 reviews

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It’s like The Bell Jar but with way more fame, glamour and melodrama. It’s brutally honest about the dark sides of fame and the film/music/TV industries, horrendous misogyny and homophobia included. In some respects, this book definitely needs to be perceived as a product of its time, though in others it’s scarily relevant to the modern age. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Dona makes for a fantastic protagonist, though that could be said for all of those written by du Maurier. There were so many times where I laughed out loud at her dry humour and double entendres, and I love that this character trait even made its way into the plot at the end

when the couple were speaking in code to plan his escape

. I love, love, loveee the way that du Maurier writes emotions; she manages to capture them so well and it makes her characters all the more relatable and real. 

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Lots of tense absurdity with a beautiful love story underlying it. Great writing, I was hooked until the end. 

Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

By far my favourite that I’ve read from AG Slatter. Although some parts were a little slow (I don’t care so much for the fairytales she writes into her books), it was an engaging read and I quite literally didn’t know how she was gonna wrap it up until the very final couple of pages. Lots of great feminist themes written into it without it ever feeling clumsy or heavy-handed.