Tense little novella with one or two great moments.

The good: the enclosed space as a concept, the ambiguous nature of it all, the descent into madness, a sense of strangeness, and of course

the man-dog-thing. Also, just the supernatural elements in general. Wasn’t expecting that, hallucinated or otherwise.

The concept was great, but those story elements could have been pushed further.

The bad: I hated the little brother. He didn’t feel like a real younger brother in the way he spoke or was annoying, and it detracted from my enjoyment. The pacing/escalation felt off. My favorite scene from the spoiler above felt like the peak of what we get. I wanted more of that, but the events that followed were less weird and felt like a deescalation. I also wanted more answers. Any answers. Last gripe - they absolutely could have used that toilet tank lid to bust through those American paper walls or even the particle board door.

Also, the mom cuts through the door in the end anyway!

I know no one in this family can think, but Christ.

Short and has its issues, but worth it.

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Dreamy and very self aware.

This was more literary than I expected, and I wish it had skewed harder into thriller or horror elements, but I ended up loving this book anyway. Anisa and all of the supporting characters were flawed and deeply human. The food all sounded delicious, and I’m craving a cup of chai now. The humor tickled me.

The thriller elements:

It wasn’t that much of a twist that cannibalism was involved. I was hoping for something really novel, but it didn’t detract from the rest of the book in the end. I was really expecting Shiba’s mom to be a plot twist! She died when she was young…maybe she had been the first test subject. But no. I wish the thriller aspect had been pushed further.

Despite the cover, the dark themes aren’t pushed that far, and I would say it’s more literary than anything else. Great read, but go in for the plot and not the twist.

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

As always, Silvia Moreno-Garcia delivers with her new book.

There really is just something about how Silvia’s voice comes through in all of her works. No matter the genre, subject matter, or time period - it flows like only she can.

I’ve been out of the bible fandom for a while now, but I’m (still) a huge fan of biblical themes, motifs, and aesthetics. So this was kind of right up my alley. I especially relate to the author’s note:

I sought classical paintings with Biblical motifs that had gory or dramatic scenes. Judith was a favorite heroine of mine…

I’ve seen others comment that they had issues with the POV switching or formatting between Salome and the rest of the Hollywood plot, but I never found it to be distracting, and the biblical segments are kind of what I live for. I thought all the major characters - and quite a few of the minor characters - had plenty of time for the reader to get to know them.

The only part that fell a bit flat was the very end. Everything leading up to it was solid, but the ending felt like it was rushing to wrap everything up and give us a sort of epilogue to boot. Also just a heads up that it is the 50’s in America, so be prepared for racism and maybe take a look at the trigger warnings if you’re someone who needs/uses them.

In all, a delightful read for those interested in 1950’s Hollywood, juicy biblical retellings, or fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia in general.

All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

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emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.25

This book devastated me.

I did a good amount of crying in the last part of the book. The entire epilogue had me sobbing from start to finish. I found the tales and stories to be really beautiful and a nice occasional reprieve.

It was a little hard for me to get into this, though; that might be because of the flipping timelines that are so common to thrillers. It wasn’t until maybe ~40% in, when the mystery/thriller aspect to the book really took off, and the pace picked up, that I was able to lose myself to the story.

This is a heavy book influenced by a real epidemic and pulling from real struggles and events. It makes some of it hard to get through. It’s heartbreaking. It’s powerful. It’s absolutely worth the read.

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

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sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked the journey of the story, but I’m not sure about the destination.

To start off with, this leans much more speculative than scifi. The scifi is extremely light. The dystopian elements were subtle, but they built up and I liked that.

The audiobook narrator was very good. That probably adds almost half a star just on its own.

Overall, it ended up being pretty light on plot. Things happen, world building happens, characters have arcs, but the plot itself was sparse at best. Also, I wish we got some sort of resolution to Crown’s story? It felt like we were set up for something but it never panned out.

There were plenty of heavy topics, and it was depressing throughout, but I think people interested in the synopsis should give it a shot.

Venus in the Blind Spot by Junji Ito

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Some stories were as high as a 4, others as low as a 2. Keepsake was probably my favorite, in terms of concepts fully realized.

Plot-wise, these probably would not hold up as short stories, for the most part. A good chunk of the enjoyment comes from the illustrations and full color pages - the art style is, of course, gorgeous. There were definitely some unique premises, though none got a visceral reaction out of me unfortunately.

Was hoping there would be something really fucked up here but these were pretty tame, in my opinion. Still, loved the art and some of the concepts.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The most interesting part of the book is the mystery that never gets solved.

I haven’t read any Riley Sager before and heard this was kind of his best book to date. It was very mid. If you’ve read Nestlings, these are like twins up until the ~80% mark.

For most of the book, I was bored. I didn’t care about anyone - except Jane. And we don’t get closure about that. I knew that going in, but it didn’t help.

This feels like someone watched Get Out and went “but what if it was also Rosemary’s Baby?” But, personally, I think it would be more worthwhile to read Rosemary’s Baby and watch Get Out than to read this.

If you vibe with New York and easy writing, don’t need big twists in your thrillers, or if you loved Nestlings, this is probably a book for you. If you didn’t like Nestlings, though, you probably won’t like this one.

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voxvenati's reviews 143 reviews

voxvenati's reviews
143 reviews