venusreadshorror's reviews
101 reviews

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

4.0

Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill

adventurous funny inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

This is hands down one of my favorite books I've read in the past couple of years! I loved that the story was full of less commonly seen low fae and other folk creatures. I really enjoyed the integration of Arthurian legend, and I loved the relationship building between the characters. The quest was so much fun and the action was thrilling and satisfying. This book fits within a currently underserved niche of less popular fantasy creatures and was exactly what I have been looking for. It stands out within its genre and I hope to see more stories like this!

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley

dark funny sad medium-paced

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

3.75

At its core, this story is a gem. I really liked the premise and liked exploring the murder mystery through the eyes of an illogical, teenaged, murder-victim ghost. The writing wasn’t super strong, which is where this book falls through for me. The plot twist felt like it wasn’t sufficiently carried throughout the book, which weakens the twist for me personally. The red herrings felt too obvious and some points felt too drawn out or pointedly ignored until they were convenient. However, like I said, I love the idea of the story and that was enough to carry me through.

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book kept going place that I didn’t expect it to go, in the best way. There were a couple reveals that didn’t feel surprising but still felt satisfying, and a couple plot twists along the way. Mostly I loved that the MC was a grown ass woman willing to go all the way.

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

4.5

Death's Country by R.M. Romero

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m so surprised by the amount of depth that was able to fit into this short book. I wasn’t expecting such great world building and emotional connection to the characters. Because it’s on the shorter end, there is no overly-flowery prose or repetitive romance, things just are what they are and the plot moves forward. I loved this so much.

We Are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

This book mixed two of my favorite things: the Beast of Gevaudan and the religious persecution of girls and women. The story was phenomenal. I loved the tender relationships between the escaping characters, it was a great mix of found family and communal survival. I also really loved this interesting take on the origins of the beast and how that was tied into the strength of women, the depth of their love, and their willingness to sacrifice themselves. The exploration and development of the relationship between Josephine and Clara was so sweet, it felt so loving and pure that it could have taken any form but its final form felt so endearing and satisfying. I will absolutely be putting this on my list for Female Rage Recommendations.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

Hey Holly, uhm, what the f*ck was that? I was really loving this until Pip went full on delusional in the arguable-too-early climax. I nearly DNF’d because of how unrealistic and out of character it felt. Sure, maybe it’s meant to be out of character to illustrate how traumatized and mentally unstable Pip is after the events of book two. But this felt wayyyyy off. I probably could have rocked with it if there was ever some type of addressing her mental state, but there really wasn’t. All of this led to a sad and unsatisfying ending. A one page implied potential HEA doesn’t really cut it for me after everything I’ve endured with all of these characters through three books. The only reason I even gave this three stars is because the lead up was appropriately creepy, even though the clues were glaringly obvious. Ugh, I don’t know. If I didn’t need to finish another book to meet my end of the year goal, this would have been a DNF.

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan

informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

It is magical how this story drew me into the world of a  people that I know about but don’t truly know. There is so much intimacy in following a family through four generations and the aftermaths of four wars. This isn’t just a story about Palestine, it’s a story about Palestinians. It is a story about endurance. Not just through war, but through life and death and grief. This is a story about people who find love everywhere despite a perpetual estrangement from their homeland. It is also about generational trauma and anger. Every character is so wonderfully real, wonderfully human. I haven’t cried this much at a book in a long time.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸