Take a photo of a barcode or cover
therivingtonreader's reviews
253 reviews
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
1.0
Unfortunately, I did not like this at all.
I can appreciate Khaw's prose and their ability to write a beautifully structured sentence, but this felt extremely wordy for 112 pages. I was having a hard time comprehending what was happening because of how it was written, and that really took me out of the story. I'm not sure I can confidently say what exactly happened, although it seemed not to be much. Lots of gore and lots of big words that amounted to not a great time for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book!
I can appreciate Khaw's prose and their ability to write a beautifully structured sentence, but this felt extremely wordy for 112 pages. I was having a hard time comprehending what was happening because of how it was written, and that really took me out of the story. I'm not sure I can confidently say what exactly happened, although it seemed not to be much. Lots of gore and lots of big words that amounted to not a great time for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book!
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
4.0
"All this time she'd thought death was coming for her, but perhaps it was she who was death coming for everyone else."
This was a very unique and horrifying story, both in the way of body horror and in the way of mistreatment of black people in the US. I found myself really rooting for Vern as she found herself throughout the course of this book, and the fungus-taking-over aspect was equally scary and intriguing. This is my first of Rivers Solomon's books, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from now on.
This was a very unique and horrifying story, both in the way of body horror and in the way of mistreatment of black people in the US. I found myself really rooting for Vern as she found herself throughout the course of this book, and the fungus-taking-over aspect was equally scary and intriguing. This is my first of Rivers Solomon's books, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from now on.
The Shining by Stephen King
4.0
*3.5 rounded up to 4*
Jack Torrance is hired as the off-season caretaker for The Overlook Hotel during the winter, where he and his family will essentially be cut off from the world for months due to the extreme winter weather. There are strange, and some evil, forces at work at The Overlook, that only Jack's five year old son Danny can see through his unique gift.
I really wanted this book to live up to the hype, and while I did enjoy it, there were also parts that seemed slow and to drag on for too long. The more of King's work I read, the more I've noticed that all of his story concepts are great, but there's a lot of meandering around until we get to the end. There were just so many unnecessary details, and I think this would have made a much better short story than a full 600+ page book.
I did really enjoy all the creepy elements surrounding the hotel, and the idea of that type of isolation is scary on its own. Not being able to leave even if you wanted to, and on top of that there were ghosts or some kind of evil at work that doesn't want to let the characters leave.
Jack Torrance is hired as the off-season caretaker for The Overlook Hotel during the winter, where he and his family will essentially be cut off from the world for months due to the extreme winter weather. There are strange, and some evil, forces at work at The Overlook, that only Jack's five year old son Danny can see through his unique gift.
I really wanted this book to live up to the hype, and while I did enjoy it, there were also parts that seemed slow and to drag on for too long. The more of King's work I read, the more I've noticed that all of his story concepts are great, but there's a lot of meandering around until we get to the end. There were just so many unnecessary details, and I think this would have made a much better short story than a full 600+ page book.
I did really enjoy all the creepy elements surrounding the hotel, and the idea of that type of isolation is scary on its own. Not being able to leave even if you wanted to, and on top of that there were ghosts or some kind of evil at work that doesn't want to let the characters leave.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
3.0
*2.5 rounded up to 3*
Richard Papen moves away from California to attend Hampden college in Vermont, where he's accepted into a small, elite group of 5 other students studying ancient Greek. He quickly becomes part of their every day lives, and begins to discover what secrets they hold. These secrets ultimately lead to the m*rder of a fellow student, and Richard is as much to blame as the rest of the group.
I know I'm in the minority here, but man, this story was such a bummer. I was thoroughly enjoying it up until about 60% of the way in. The first half of the story was a great build up to what was to come, and Tartt's writing does make the reader feel the tension in a situation.
After the big turning point, where the group m*rdered Bunny, I was under the impression things would be extremely tense as the group tried to maneuver the police and avoided being caught, but instead I was bored and felt like the later chapters started to meander away from the main story.
The characters in this story are extremely pretentious, which I've found is pretty common in a lot of academic-type settings, and typically I do enjoy ridiculously unlikable characters. In the first half of the book, it really reminded me of If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, which is one of my all time favorites. However, it quickly became clear that this was not going to be as fun for me. It felt as though Tartt was not aware of just how pretentious the characters were, and she wanted us to sympathize with them a little, which I did not. I found the majority of them incredibly annoying and one-sided.
Richard Papen moves away from California to attend Hampden college in Vermont, where he's accepted into a small, elite group of 5 other students studying ancient Greek. He quickly becomes part of their every day lives, and begins to discover what secrets they hold. These secrets ultimately lead to the m*rder of a fellow student, and Richard is as much to blame as the rest of the group.
I know I'm in the minority here, but man, this story was such a bummer. I was thoroughly enjoying it up until about 60% of the way in. The first half of the story was a great build up to what was to come, and Tartt's writing does make the reader feel the tension in a situation.
After the big turning point, where the group m*rdered Bunny, I was under the impression things would be extremely tense as the group tried to maneuver the police and avoided being caught, but instead I was bored and felt like the later chapters started to meander away from the main story.
The characters in this story are extremely pretentious, which I've found is pretty common in a lot of academic-type settings, and typically I do enjoy ridiculously unlikable characters. In the first half of the book, it really reminded me of If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, which is one of my all time favorites. However, it quickly became clear that this was not going to be as fun for me. It felt as though Tartt was not aware of just how pretentious the characters were, and she wanted us to sympathize with them a little, which I did not. I found the majority of them incredibly annoying and one-sided.
The Last Word by Taylor Adams
2.0
Emma Carpenter has isolated herself with her dog Laika while house-sitting on Strand Beach. She immerses herself in ebooks to pass the time and distract herself from her life, and when she reads a particularly bad one called Murder Mountian by H. G. Kane, she leaves a one star review on Amazon. The author doesn't take this well, and soon Emma finds herself fighting for her life over a rating on the internet.
This book was really up and down for me throughout most of my time reading it. In the first 30% of the story, I was considering DNFing because the descriptions of H. G. Kane (and the way he described himself) were just so absurd that I couldn't help but laugh at him. Most of the sections involving him felt like satire. And while I know there are some men out there who truly see themselves this way, I never want to hear the term "sigma male" ever again lol.
Once the action picked up and Emma was aware that the author was after her, I started to kind of forget some of the goofiness from the beginning and the story started to hook me. It really felt like the action-packed thriller I was looking for. I started to connect with Emma's character more and I was really feeling for her when she talked about missing her husband, Shawn. The twists in the middle chunk of the story were unexpected, and there were some really tense moments that had me rushing to turn the page (well, tap the screen) and find out what happened next.
At 80%, things really started getting ridiculous again. We find out that
Ultimately, I had more issues with this book than not. I can appreciate the author's ability to write a tense scene, but I'm not sure that I'd go out of my way to recommend this to anyone.
What I liked:
1. Short chapters
2. There's a lot of action
3. The story is mostly fast-paced
4. There were multiple plot twists I didn't see coming
What I didn't like:
1. It was hard to take H. G. Kane seriously because he's so ridiculous, which made the first 30% of the book hard to get into
2. Some parts were hard to follow
3. The author moved on from some of the big reveals too quickly
4. The twists in the last 20% of the book were excessive and felt unnecessary
5.
This book was really up and down for me throughout most of my time reading it. In the first 30% of the story, I was considering DNFing because the descriptions of H. G. Kane (and the way he described himself) were just so absurd that I couldn't help but laugh at him. Most of the sections involving him felt like satire. And while I know there are some men out there who truly see themselves this way, I never want to hear the term "sigma male" ever again lol.
Once the action picked up and Emma was aware that the author was after her, I started to kind of forget some of the goofiness from the beginning and the story started to hook me. It really felt like the action-packed thriller I was looking for. I started to connect with Emma's character more and I was really feeling for her when she talked about missing her husband, Shawn. The twists in the middle chunk of the story were unexpected, and there were some really tense moments that had me rushing to turn the page (well, tap the screen) and find out what happened next.
At 80%, things really started getting ridiculous again. We find out that
Spoiler
Emma and Shawn's 4 month old daughter Shelby actually died in their car accident, NOT Shawn. This is one of my biggest issues with this book - the infant death was only used for shock factor, and I absolutely hated it. The initial reveal was shocking, but then the story immediately moved on to something else and, as the reader, I didn't really get to feel the weight of what had happened to Emma's daughter. I'm personally a mother of a 9 month old, and if my child died in a car accident while my partner and I walked away unscathed, I would not be able to function without thinking about my child. Every waking moment would be consumed by those thoughts, yet Emma only ever seemed to think about Shawn in this story. I understand this is meant to mislead the reader into thinking that Shawn is the one that's dead, but it felt very strange once we realize that Shelby is the one that died and Emma is never read to be thinking about her.Ultimately, I had more issues with this book than not. I can appreciate the author's ability to write a tense scene, but I'm not sure that I'd go out of my way to recommend this to anyone.
What I liked:
1. Short chapters
2. There's a lot of action
3. The story is mostly fast-paced
4. There were multiple plot twists I didn't see coming
What I didn't like:
1. It was hard to take H. G. Kane seriously because he's so ridiculous, which made the first 30% of the book hard to get into
2. Some parts were hard to follow
3. The author moved on from some of the big reveals too quickly
4. The twists in the last 20% of the book were excessive and felt unnecessary
5.
Spoiler
Infant death felt like it was for shock value only
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
5.0
Synopsis:
When August moves to New York, she expects it to prove to her that all her cynicism about love and magic is right, but then she meets Jane on the subway. Between working at a pancake diner and trying to finish her degree, August's commute becomes the best part of her day - and all because she gets to see Jane. But is it a coincidence that she always happens to be on the same train whenever August gets on, or is there some kind of magic at play?
My thoughts:
I'm so glad I went into this blind, because I was expecting a regular old romance and got SO much more. I absolutely loved every second of it. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It's sweet and quirky and sometimes a little sad, but at the end left me feeling so warm and happy
When August moves to New York, she expects it to prove to her that all her cynicism about love and magic is right, but then she meets Jane on the subway. Between working at a pancake diner and trying to finish her degree, August's commute becomes the best part of her day - and all because she gets to see Jane. But is it a coincidence that she always happens to be on the same train whenever August gets on, or is there some kind of magic at play?
My thoughts:
I'm so glad I went into this blind, because I was expecting a regular old romance and got SO much more. I absolutely loved every second of it. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It's sweet and quirky and sometimes a little sad, but at the end left me feeling so warm and happy
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
2.0
A YA horror novel about a girl trying to save her family from a haunted house that's trying to destroy them sounds incredible, right? Unfortunately, the cover and the premise of this book were far more interesting than the story itself turned out to be.
I appreciated Jade's exploration of her sexuality, and what the book overall had to say about racism and colonialism of Vietnamese culture (I personally felt that I learned some things I hadn't known before), but those were about the only things I got from this story. It was not all that horrifying aside from maybe one or two scenes, and I found myself bored or confused most of the time. I had a hard time going back to it because I just wasn't interested, but I didn't want to DNF because I kept waiting for everything to be explained.
It felt like there was a lot of word-vomit here. I personally had a hard time trying to keep track of what was real and what wasn't, and while that may have been the point to make the reader feel unsettled, it wasn't done particularly well. I love reading from the perspective of someone losing their grip on reality, but the way this played out just left me wondering wtf was going on. I couldn't keep track of what Cam vs. Marion was doing or who's memories Jade was seeing. It was confusing and left me annoyed by the end lol.
I appreciated Jade's exploration of her sexuality, and what the book overall had to say about racism and colonialism of Vietnamese culture (I personally felt that I learned some things I hadn't known before), but those were about the only things I got from this story. It was not all that horrifying aside from maybe one or two scenes, and I found myself bored or confused most of the time. I had a hard time going back to it because I just wasn't interested, but I didn't want to DNF because I kept waiting for everything to be explained.
It felt like there was a lot of word-vomit here. I personally had a hard time trying to keep track of what was real and what wasn't, and while that may have been the point to make the reader feel unsettled, it wasn't done particularly well. I love reading from the perspective of someone losing their grip on reality, but the way this played out just left me wondering wtf was going on. I couldn't keep track of what Cam vs. Marion was doing or who's memories Jade was seeing. It was confusing and left me annoyed by the end lol.
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
4.0
This was a great and gory who-done-it. Not once did I have any idea who the killer was while listening to the audiobook. Coates does a great job of making it seem like every character is an equal possibility of being the killer, and I was constantly changing my guess for who it was. I never got it right
Providence Girls by Morgan Dante
4.0
I absolutely adore Dante's writing. The way this story was presented in letters between Vin and Azzie was perfect. It was equally sweet and heart-wrenching at times, both women having experienced a lot of trauma but finding a home in each other for a short time.
I loved the way both women started to open up over the course of the few months they knew each other. And I also quite enjoyed the body horror aspects of this story, it checked several of my boxes as far as things I like to read about. I would definitely recommend this!
*I received an ebook ARC from the author*
I loved the way both women started to open up over the course of the few months they knew each other. And I also quite enjoyed the body horror aspects of this story, it checked several of my boxes as far as things I like to read about. I would definitely recommend this!
*I received an ebook ARC from the author*
Seed by Ania Ahlborn
4.0
*3.5 rounded up to 4*
I was not sure how to feel about this at first. It started a little slow and felt like a pretty typical possession story, and I wasn't really connecting with the main character. But man, I'm glad I stuck with it. The ending was a total gut punch and absolutely worth pushing through for. I was not expecting the story to play out like it did.
I was not sure how to feel about this at first. It started a little slow and felt like a pretty typical possession story, and I wasn't really connecting with the main character. But man, I'm glad I stuck with it. The ending was a total gut punch and absolutely worth pushing through for. I was not expecting the story to play out like it did.