vwoodsburrow's reviews
88 reviews

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What a unique plot! Chapman is spectacular at brining the reader into the height of the satanic panic! This was a short, but eerily powerful read that will hit you in the back of the head even days after finishing it! 

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, what a unique read! This novel is set up in such a cool way- the names of the parts alone intrigued me. The story itself is original, complex and lingered on my mind well after I closed the book. The Invited executed the perfect spooky, haunted house atmosphere!  

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Wow, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a pick up solely based on the cover and I couldn't be happier about it! I was on the edge of my seat the entire read thanks to Richard's larger than life voice. I couldn't have guessed the ending if I tried. This is the perfect winter thriller to keep your heart rate up!

Billy Summers by Stephen King

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I'll open this review with: at least it was better than Later. I could just be a priest, horror brat, but King will forever be a King of horror in my mind. So naturally I go into his books thinking there will be at least one or more spooky, scary, gory, paranormal element. However, Billy Summers has none of that besides a minor cameo from another book. This would make a great action flick (it even has a bit of romance), but by King's standards, it's meh. 

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

Neon Gods was a good book, just not for me. I loved the Greek mythology aspect. Katee Roberts does a fantastic job creating characters. I felt very emotionally connected to Hades and loved his point of view. Sadly, there was just too much romance in relation to how much plot I got. I craved a lot more action and found myself bored during the sexy scenes. I picked this up not realizing it was a romance, so that's on me. Overall, it was just okay. 

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.5

I will devour anything Grady Hendrix publishes at this point. His ability to cultivate a unique, strong, spooky aesthetic in every world he creates in unmatched by any author. The Final Girl Support Group is the perfect love letter to the slasher genre, complete with quick witted sarcasm that the King of the Genre (Wes Craven) himself would approve of! The beginning may start off a bit slow, but by the end, I was out of suspects, and racing through to the heart stopping ending! A great, once-a-year, spooky season, must have!

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

The Silent Patient has left me with an empty, numb feeling. I enjoyed the story, though I felt like the book as a whole could have used more action. However, Theo's voice & character were sufficiently interesting; more than enough to keep me wanting to know the end of the plot. Unfortunately, the opposite can be said of ever other male in The Silent Patient-- they're all static and interchangeable. All in all, it was an okay psychological thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide attempt

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I did not end up finishing Ninth House for several reasons, though the effort was there. I love the idea of the book. I enjoyed the setting and Darlington's character, but not much else. The back and forth writing style from past to present was clunky and took me out of the story a bit-- as did the random "Ninth House Book" quotes/scenes. <In the end though, what made me end up stop trying to wade through this mystery was how often rape was used in the book. I'm not one to be easily triggered through literature, but by the time I got 60% through Ninth House ( and suffered my way through three- yes three- sexual assault scenes), I found myself anxious at the thought of trying to pick the book up again.>
It is a real bummer, because I really did want to know what happened to Darlington.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

The Deep by Alma Katsu

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

The Deep takes the prize for "Most Surprising Read of the Year" on my Read Shelf. I never thought I'd get so upset at characters from the 10's! These are some of the most engaging characters, I've ever read-- but in the most infuriating ways. All of their flaws run deep (no pun intended) in the plot. The plot itself is inquisitive, but not spooky enough to be in the genre it is in.  I can say that I have never been so interested in a historical fiction novel. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide attempt

Confessions by Kanae Minato

dark sad tense slow-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

2.0

Had this been written better-maybe it was the translation-Confessions would have been a Four or Five-Star read. I loved the characters, but the multiple points of view ruined the whole book. The plot ended up being over-explained and ultimately killed the whole experience for me. I swear the same twists are explained at least three times over. I will say that the end helped the story a lot, but by then, I just wanted to be done with the book. Make Confessions a shorter story and you've got a five-star read.