voxvenati's reviews
159 reviews

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Predictable and frustrating, I do admit I came back to it after almost DNF’ing around the 25% mark. Was the resolution worth it? Eah. Glad I finished it in any case so I could stop wondering. 

This book suffers the most from poor pacing. I think if 100 pages had been cut and the plot tightened up from there, this could have been a fantastic one-day read. There were some interesting bits in the beginning and toward the end, but the middle dragged unbearably. 

I might give this author another shot, but it would need to have a more interesting premise than this one. 

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

sad tense 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

3.5

Reread for the first time since the 2010’s. It hasn’t aged well in some ways, but King’s characters always captivate. Holly and Jerome are especially sweet in the last ~1/3 of the book. 

This remains my favorite in the trilogy. It’s the most grounded and interesting, imo. 

However, there’s just no reason King needs to use so many slurs. A couple specific uses for emphasis of character traits (read: this is a nasty dude or etc.), fine, I can understand, but this was just not it. It was published in 2014 for Christ’s sake. 

Slurs:

Cr*pple, n*gger

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Prose and characters pulled me in despite it being pretty predictable. Boy, that ending was sad, though. 

Told the story it wanted to, sprinkled some interesting contemporary magic concepts in. Nothing wow’d me, but I never wanted to give up on the book. 

Mostly enjoyed it, and I do think I’d read from Gailey again. 

Flux by Jinwoo Chong

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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 went into this blind, and I think I had a better time because of that.

The blurb/synopsis kind of gives the game away and doesn’t feel totally accurate. If I had read that first, I don’t know if I would have been that invested in finishing the book. The company’s sketchy activity didn’t turn out to be all that dark, though I wish it had been. Still, it was fine. 

I think the themes of grief and being an asian american/half asian were stronger overall than the scifi and plot. I did cry in a few places related to his family situation. Plus, the prose and audiobook narrator were both very good. 

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Solid thriller, but nothing fancy.

I wouldn’t classify myself as a thriller reader, but this was definitely a nice, fast read. I thought the characters felt real enough, and the pacing was good. I appreciated it wasn’t a standard dual timeline, and I did kind of like the podcast/Netflix angle.

There just wasn’t much in terms of twists. One sad reveal, but otherwise everything was laid out pretty basically. Great if you just want something pulpy and a little bit juicy. 

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Sort of perfect in its length. Atmospheric, gothic, strange, and juicy. I can’t wait to read more in this series. 

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

dark emotional fast-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

4.0

It took a while for me to get into this, but Ring Shout packed a lot into a very short page length.

I really enjoyed the supernatural elements and how they were seamlessly blended with the historical fiction side of things. Normally, world building is one of the first things that gets cut in shorter works, but there was plenty to be found here; it gave me something to gnaw on after finishing the story, and I'm still turning it over in my head.

Overall, really loved this book and can't wait to read more by P. Djèlí Clark.

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

There were few answers in the end, but I really enjoyed the ambiance and experience reading this book. It was soft and sad and cold with lively prose. I will definitely read more from Yoko Ogawa. 

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book was a solid 4 until that ending kicked my ass and boosted it a half star.

I’m not huge on teenage protagonists, and that’s a me problem. If that wasn’t an issue, this might have been a 5 star.

I love how slasher tropes were handled here. It felt kind of like this is what Black Sheep wanted to be in terms of horror tropes, but Teenage Slasher nailed it whereas Black Sheep fumbled every one (each address different horror sub-genres, but the point stands).

Lots of things working for this. It was funny. It was romantic. The emotional payoff was exquisite. Audiobook narrator was excellent. Worth a read, especially if you like SGJ.

Below by Laurel Hightower

funny tense fast-paced

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

2.75

What the fuck (derogatory).

Friend and I buddy read this; every theory we came up with along the way was more interesting and relevant than what ended up happening. Hmm… Also, not enough mothman. 

The Luminous Dead did psychological, isolationist cave horror MUCH better than this. 

In the end, I just want to be in mothman’s warm, leathery embrace.