Scan barcode
slimy's reviews
186 reviews
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Did NOT expect this book to end up where it did! Very suspenseful and thrilling, a good spooky-season read.
I think my only critique is that it took a little longer than anticipated to get into the really thrilling parts of the book. It kinda felt like it was all just unconnected, weird occurrences until about halfway to three quarters of the way through. I think I would have liked things to happen a little quicker, but we got there eventually and boy oh boy…
I think my only critique is that it took a little longer than anticipated to get into the really thrilling parts of the book. It kinda felt like it was all just unconnected, weird occurrences until about halfway to three quarters of the way through. I think I would have liked things to happen a little quicker, but we got there eventually and boy oh boy…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Self harm, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Fangs by Sarah Andersen
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Adorable. Very cute, quick read.
Our Happy Time by Sora Kim-Russell, Gong Jiyoung
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Alright, look. I have a personal reservation in offering critique on books that were originally written in another language because I really believe they will always be slightly altered, so please take the following with a grain of salt:
This is a beautifully written book. A beautifully heartbreaking, frustrating book. I would put this in the same category as “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. I would not recommend this to anyone who is currently in a less-than-good state of mental and emotional wellbeing. It follows a tragic main character, who hasn’t healed from past sexual trauma, who starts accompanying her Aunt, a nun, on her evangelical visits to a ‘death-row’ prison. There she meets an inmate who sparks a change in her view of life, death, and her responsibilities to herself and her family.
Beautiful portrayal of Christian forgiveness, learned selflessness, and healing from sexual trauma. The main character is the one who carries and develops these themes; I felt that the secondary character (who I think is supposed to also do a lot of the developmental work as well) falls a little short as a fully-rounded character. I don’t feel a lot of empathy or emotion for them besides what is voiced by the main character.
I was recommended this book and told it was a romance. And like… it’s definitely not. Literally no mention of romance until the very end when it’s like “what if?”.
Rated three stars because this type of book just really isn’t my jam. I feel back because it was well-written and beautiful, but really really difficult to read because its just not what I want to feel when reading. I like to read for the escapism.
This is a beautifully written book. A beautifully heartbreaking, frustrating book. I would put this in the same category as “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. I would not recommend this to anyone who is currently in a less-than-good state of mental and emotional wellbeing. It follows a tragic main character, who hasn’t healed from past sexual trauma, who starts accompanying her Aunt, a nun, on her evangelical visits to a ‘death-row’ prison. There she meets an inmate who sparks a change in her view of life, death, and her responsibilities to herself and her family.
Beautiful portrayal of Christian forgiveness, learned selflessness, and healing from sexual trauma. The main character is the one who carries and develops these themes; I felt that the secondary character (who I think is supposed to also do a lot of the developmental work as well) falls a little short as a fully-rounded character. I don’t feel a lot of empathy or emotion for them besides what is voiced by the main character.
I was recommended this book and told it was a romance. And like… it’s definitely not. Literally no mention of romance until the very end when it’s like “what if?”.
Rated three stars because this type of book just really isn’t my jam. I feel back because it was well-written and beautiful, but really really difficult to read because its just not what I want to feel when reading. I like to read for the escapism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Cute, lighthearted, entertaining romance. A little cliche in parts, but the author does write in self-aware humor, which makes it fresh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
The Invisible Intruder by Carolyn Keene
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
2007
Aliens
Snowden
Empathy
Who has a right to know the truth?
This is such an intelligent, well-written book; surprisingly witty, charming in unexpected ways, accessible to someone who doesn’t read a lot of sci-fi.
Aliens
Snowden
Empathy
Who has a right to know the truth?
This is such an intelligent, well-written book; surprisingly witty, charming in unexpected ways, accessible to someone who doesn’t read a lot of sci-fi.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Abandonment
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf
informative
slow-paced
2.0
It’s a great history of how idealized beauty has been marketed and utilized as a tool in the suppression of American women specifically. I think that since this book was published, this knowledge has become more common, and therefore there was little new information I found while reading it. It was revolutionary at the time, but now (since this book has done its job), we’ve progressed to the breakdown of a lot of these tactics.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) by Oscar Wilde
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Look it’s a good book. Obviously it’s a classic, so it’s more challenging to read than not.
I was surprised by this book’s witty, cheeky humor that usually comes out in the dialogue. It really does a lot to humanize otherwise stiff, generally unlikeable characters.
Good social commentary, great use of dialogue. Really, it’s a masterclass in how to utilize dialogue.
I was surprised by this book’s witty, cheeky humor that usually comes out in the dialogue. It really does a lot to humanize otherwise stiff, generally unlikeable characters.
Good social commentary, great use of dialogue. Really, it’s a masterclass in how to utilize dialogue.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is generally a very well-written, entertaining book, and I think the main things that I didn’t enjoy mostly surround personal preference.
Some things I did like:
- very creative storytelling techniques
- detailed world-building and amazing concepts for deities/power dynamics
- gruesome war. Like honestly it’s a lot. Very creative and … yeah it worked.
- good friendships throughout
- great detail and description in martial arts
I did find it slightly repetitive. There were a few occasions when almost the exact wording was used less than two pages apart. I also found that the main character’s motivations got lost in the plot sometimes. The book favors plot development over character arc often enough that the MC’s motivation is often not even mentioned. This book also has a lot of war strategy and political maneuvering which (in my opinion) really disrupts the pace. I consider all these to be minor complains that overall didn’t take away from the very well-developed story.
But the climax was so disappointing. It feels like, towards the end of the book, the author was asked to make this story a series, and had to push out the final climax and replace it with something that has very little weight to the story we just spent 26 chapters involved with. Seriously it was so underwhelming. There’s a pretty major character who sacrifices themselves for the “greater good” (for the sake of the plot) towards the end that enables the MC’s action toward the climax. But that sacrifice means literally almost nothing to me as a reader because that character never had an arc. Like I don’t know them. I don’t feel like I need to, because they’ve always just been a device to further the plot. So I just don’t think the climax worked like it was supposed to because we didn’t get the emotional groundwork in the story.
I don’t think I’ll continue this series.
Some things I did like:
- very creative storytelling techniques
- detailed world-building and amazing concepts for deities/power dynamics
- gruesome war. Like honestly it’s a lot. Very creative and … yeah it worked.
- good friendships throughout
- great detail and description in martial arts
I did find it slightly repetitive. There were a few occasions when almost the exact wording was used less than two pages apart. I also found that the main character’s motivations got lost in the plot sometimes. The book favors plot development over character arc often enough that the MC’s motivation is often not even mentioned. This book also has a lot of war strategy and political maneuvering which (in my opinion) really disrupts the pace. I consider all these to be minor complains that overall didn’t take away from the very well-developed story.
But the climax was so disappointing. It feels like, towards the end of the book, the author was asked to make this story a series, and had to push out the final climax and replace it with something that has very little weight to the story we just spent 26 chapters involved with. Seriously it was so underwhelming. There’s a pretty major character who sacrifices themselves for the “greater good” (for the sake of the plot) towards the end that enables the MC’s action toward the climax. But that sacrifice means literally almost nothing to me as a reader because that character never had an arc. Like I don’t know them. I don’t feel like I need to, because they’ve always just been a device to further the plot. So I just don’t think the climax worked like it was supposed to because we didn’t get the emotional groundwork in the story.
I don’t think I’ll continue this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War