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stormlightreader's Reviews (935)
Moreno-Garcia describes The Lover as 'wickedly sensuous' and I agree. I really liked this short story and that ending was great. Did not expect that. Definitely worth a read!
1689 lacked some of the atmosphere that I'm used to with Cross's books but it had a cosy feel to it and I'm happy to have found a haunted house series where the same house is the focus of the series but each book follows different residents.
What I liked:
- The humour
- The nonchalant main character
- The atmosphere
- Fredricka - she's so likeable
What I didn’t like:
- The ending
I liked this more than Camp Slaughter. Gomez creates more intrigue and atmosphere by keeping information about 'The Visitor' to a minimum. I was disappointed by the reveal of what The Visitor was but that's not a fault on the author's part, I think I just expected something better.
Great premise. Poor execution. I really wanted to read a good slasher, but this wasn't it. Some good kills, but I knew far too much about the killer. His overly detailed POV took away any intrigue and just made me feel like I was reading about a caricature of Jason Voorhees.
I had this on my TBR years ago, and I came across it on BorrowBox and figured I'd give it a go. It intrigued me enough to read all 704 pages, but I didn't love it. It has its issues (length, xenophobia), however, the overall story gave me Reacher vibes and has encouraged me to look at picking up more spy thrillers.
First read: unremarkable. (2*)
Reread: still unremarkable. Even for a short story, this felt overly long. (2.5*)
Reread: still unremarkable. Even for a short story, this felt overly long. (2.5*)
Fracassi takes a fear that many people naturally have of the ocean and makes it worse, and as someone who has worked with/studied animals for a long time, I now have a whole new scepticism of barnacles 😂
The continuous format of the book lends itself well to keeping you immersed in the horror of the situation, which chapter breaks would have interfered with. I was preparing myself to be disappointed by the ending, but Fracassi gives us a realistic and somewhat open-ended conclusion to the book, which I liked.
The book is slow to start, with characters that I initially found difficult to invest myself in. Though, by the end it was nice to see the brothers so concerned with each other's safety and their father's fate was also sad. The horrific situation sees a questionable action take place and does make you wonder if the scenario actually played out as described. The biggest negative was a pretty cliché nightmare scene, which wasn't necessary.
The continuous format of the book lends itself well to keeping you immersed in the horror of the situation, which chapter breaks would have interfered with. I was preparing myself to be disappointed by the ending, but Fracassi gives us a realistic and somewhat open-ended conclusion to the book, which I liked.
The book is slow to start, with characters that I initially found difficult to invest myself in. Though, by the end it was nice to see the brothers so concerned with each other's safety and their father's fate was also sad. The horrific situation sees a questionable action take place and does make you wonder if the scenario actually played out as described. The biggest negative was a pretty cliché nightmare scene, which wasn't necessary.
"Ugliness exists only where humans have altered the landscape"
I added Exquisite to my GoodReads TBR when I first joined in 2015/2016 and just never got around to it.
It was a well paced psychological thriller, focusing on an unhinged woman (or two?). Nothing groundbreaking, but I did get pissed off with Bo and Alice was quite easily taken in. Overall, a quick, entertaining read.
I added Exquisite to my GoodReads TBR when I first joined in 2015/2016 and just never got around to it.
It was a well paced psychological thriller, focusing on an unhinged woman (or two?). Nothing groundbreaking, but I did get pissed off with Bo and Alice was quite easily taken in. Overall, a quick, entertaining read.