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themermaddie's reviews
467 reviews
The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett
4.0
Matilda Adelaide Victoria, or “Maddy”, is an old woman living alone, when she is one day greeted by the sight of a little boy waiting on her front porch when she gets home. He proceeds to be nosy and impatient as all little boys are, and asks her about her life, and why she lives alone surrounded by foreign objects. Thus, Maddy begins her tale, starting from when she was a little girl.
With a nearly always absent father and a mother who wanted a doll for a daughter, Maddy spends her childhood in solitude. The day she finishes school, her father asks her what she thinks is the most beautiful thing in the world. After some deliberation, she answers, “I think that sea-eagles are the world’s most beautiful things.”
Her parents laugh at her, and Maddy’s father decides she needs a bit more education, and for the next two years, he and Maddy travel the globe, in search for the world’s most beautiful things. That’s what the bulk of this book is about, really; the discovery of new experiences, and new beauty.
Maddy meets a boy, once she’s come back from globe-trotting, who sits by the water and watches the horizon. He goes by the name of Feather. She asks him the same question her father asked two years ago, and his answer? “Sea-eagles.”
Maddy falls in love.
Sadly, while their romance is deep beyond words and Maddy does everything she can to love him as they both are, their happiness is short-lived. Feather spends more and more time at the beach away from home, and he begins to remind Maddy of the beautiful creatures she’d seen chained down in zoos.
He leaves her.
She begins a search for him, for his answers to her questions. Maddy is a young woman now, and a sailor, and an adventurer. And with help from the animals of the sea (feat. Zephyrus the West Wind), she finds Feather, who tells her…
Well, I’m not going to tell you. Really, I swear.
Read the rest of the review here
With a nearly always absent father and a mother who wanted a doll for a daughter, Maddy spends her childhood in solitude. The day she finishes school, her father asks her what she thinks is the most beautiful thing in the world. After some deliberation, she answers, “I think that sea-eagles are the world’s most beautiful things.”
Her parents laugh at her, and Maddy’s father decides she needs a bit more education, and for the next two years, he and Maddy travel the globe, in search for the world’s most beautiful things. That’s what the bulk of this book is about, really; the discovery of new experiences, and new beauty.
Maddy meets a boy, once she’s come back from globe-trotting, who sits by the water and watches the horizon. He goes by the name of Feather. She asks him the same question her father asked two years ago, and his answer? “Sea-eagles.”
Maddy falls in love.
Sadly, while their romance is deep beyond words and Maddy does everything she can to love him as they both are, their happiness is short-lived. Feather spends more and more time at the beach away from home, and he begins to remind Maddy of the beautiful creatures she’d seen chained down in zoos.
He leaves her.
She begins a search for him, for his answers to her questions. Maddy is a young woman now, and a sailor, and an adventurer. And with help from the animals of the sea (feat. Zephyrus the West Wind), she finds Feather, who tells her…
Well, I’m not going to tell you. Really, I swear.
Read the rest of the review here
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
5.0
probably my favourite book of the trilogy bc of how fast paced it is, this story pulls no punches. completely different but still as engaging as book 1, i loved these characters introduction but the whole zalachenko storyline just sucks me in every time. i just love lisbeth and enjoy spending time in her head so obviously i'm delighted with a story that focuses more on her backstory.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
5.0
4.5 stars
oh man, this book fucked me up. was recommended this by a tiktok and holy hell, it needs ALL the trigger warnings. but it was also extremely good.
the suspense in this book is so well done. i started reading it past midnight and decided to go to sleep and pick it up in the morning bc i was so unnerved. it wasn't until we got a few chapters into So Be It that i was disturbed, because holy fuck dude. the unreliable narrator is out in full force here, i loved questioning what i thought after every chapter. the tension is built up so well, i just couldn't put it down.
i do wish that crew and april had been used more, and myrna was introduced and basically never mentioned again which i thought was an interesting choice. both crew and april had the capacity for a lot more creep factor than they were used for. i felt like beyond lowen's initial impressions of crew, he was actually just a normal 5 year old; i felt like i trusted him too much, and i would have preferred to be more suspicious of him. april was also a character i expected more out of, she was so wary of lowen and clearly distrusted her.
this was such a creepy fun read, i absolutely tore through it.
oh man, this book fucked me up. was recommended this by a tiktok and holy hell, it needs ALL the trigger warnings. but it was also extremely good.
the suspense in this book is so well done. i started reading it past midnight and decided to go to sleep and pick it up in the morning bc i was so unnerved. it wasn't until we got a few chapters into So Be It that i was disturbed, because holy fuck dude. the unreliable narrator is out in full force here, i loved questioning what i thought after every chapter. the tension is built up so well, i just couldn't put it down.
i do wish that crew and april had been used more, and myrna was introduced and basically never mentioned again which i thought was an interesting choice. both crew and april had the capacity for a lot more creep factor than they were used for. i felt like beyond lowen's initial impressions of crew, he was actually just a normal 5 year old; i felt like i trusted him too much, and i would have preferred to be more suspicious of him. april was also a character i expected more out of, she was so wary of lowen and clearly distrusted her.
this was such a creepy fun read, i absolutely tore through it.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
5.0
remains one of my favourite thrillers of all time.