wisteriariaa's reviews
131 reviews

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

4.5

The Employees by Olga Ravn

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this certainly wasn't it. I mean that in a good way, by the way.

This book is incredibly vague, but in a haunting sort of way. It paints a bleak picture of what workplaces would be like in the future, at least that's the way I interpreted it. The human employees are stuck out on a spaceship far away from Earth, their families, nature, and the things they took for granted while they were there. On the other hand, the humanoids seem to be able to feel human emotions and want human wants, but are unable to interpret them. The testimonies from various human and humanoid employees tell the story of a group of throughly unhappy people longing for a life outside the ship they're trapped on, which makes the way the book ends all the more tragic. Part of my criticisms of the book is that the author didn't go quite as far as I'd have liked them to with this concept. The other part is the objects.

I'm going to be perfectly honest- I do not understand the significance of the objects. You could take them out of the book, and it would be relatively the same. In fact, it may have been stronger for it. Just a story about a collection of unhappy workers talking about why they're unhappy- the weird objects felt unnecessary and distracting. 

There were also some plot points connecting some testimonies I didn't really understand, but I'm willing to overlook them. For the most part, the book seemed to achieve what it set out to do, and it was an emotional, interesting read.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

dark reflective 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

This book was fine. It was definitely nothing special or all that unique. The plot was very predictable and the characters didn't feel all that distinct from each other. I had to reread things many times because I kept forgetting which character was which. The themes that the book was explored felt very well handled, and that is the only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars. I also appreciated the way queer and transgender characters were incorporated into the narrative. One of the mc is sapphic, and she's the only one who ends the book in a healthy, albeit very rushed relationship. There are also two characters who are transgender, although they don't impact the story much.  

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Well, I definitely expected a lot more from this. It was all very bare bones, and a bit confusing at times. There is just no strong emotions from anyone in this book aside from Carmilla herself, and Laura specifically is a very dry and boring narrator. I'd definitely much rather read a retelling of this that emphasizes the queer elements a bit more, preferably by someone who is actually sapphic instead of some guy who seems hellbent on demonizing lesbians. I'm not asking for happily ever after, but some stronger reciprocation from Laura would have been nice. 

She Is a Haunting- Fox and Wit Edition by Trang Thanh Tran

dark mysterious tense 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

This book actually pleasantly surprised me. Although the first 2/3 of this book were very slow and boring, there was enough creepy little bits and pieces to keep my interest. And while the ending isn't the greatest thing in the world, it was a nice, bittersweet way to wrap the story up. Although the plot was a bit clunky at times the writing itself was actually pretty good for a debut, especially towards the end. My favorite parts of the book were the little interludes about the house, some of them actually kind of freaked me out. While this book is kind of just "meh" overall, there was enough to keep me engaged. I'm interested in reading more from this author in the future and see how they improve from here. 

Oh, also if your even slightly squeamish about bugs, I suggest not reading this book. I thought it was disgusting in a way that serviced the book well, but I was gagging a bit at some parts. 

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

This book had a very cool concept and atmosphere, but there were also a lot of issues with it. It didn't really feel like it had much of a plot at points, moreso like vague ideas and themes that strung the book together. It was way longer than necessary, and I feel like it tried to do too many things at once. There were also a lot of things being built up in the book that disappointed, like that lame final confrontation with the Tunneler. It was a very weak moment, and

the fact it was so easy to kill is pretty pathetic for a creature Gyre is so scared of.

I will admit Gyre's final breakdown towards the end was very well executed, it was so tense and creepy. 

I think my overall biggest issue with the book, however, is Em and her relationship with Gyre. Its very, very uncomfortable to read how horribly Em treats Gyre. She lies to her, abandons her, talks down to her, and yet Gyre always talks about how she "needs" Em and can't go on without her. It feels very abusive and toxic to me, and the fact that Gyre just forgives her and doesn't expose her for how terrible she is frustrates me. Like,

Em caused the death of so many people for selfish, ridiculous reasons

and she gets off scot free. Very disappointing.

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

You know, I originally had a fairly lengthy review for this book. But  decided to get rid of it, because there is no better way I can think of to describe this book then mean-spirirted. This is a mean-spirirted book that completely fumbles the message its trying to convey with how offensive, horrible, pretentious, and just plain mean it is. Thats it. This probably won't make sense to anyone else, but I don't care. I don't ever want to think of this book ever again. Don't waste your time with it, trust me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder

Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong

 Okay so I went into this book with the assumption that the plot was going to be something like this: main character stalks coworker which causes him to feel unsafe and fear for his life that he kills himself. Main character doesn't think she has done anything wrong so she searches for another reason he killed himself, until she slowly comes to the realization that she ruined that guys life and seeks mental help or something. And I was like "oh, interesting! A bit of a little character study where the narrator is unreliable. Mark me as intrigued!"

But then I started the book and realized that that wasn't what was happening??? Despite the blurb clearly indicating that??? It seemed like the book wanted me to root for the main character despite the fact that she is despicable. Then I decided to cut my losses and just skip to the end and BOY am I glad I did that! This is not the type of book I was looking to read and I also didn't read the whole thing, so I'm not going to rate it. But man am I disappointed. 

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.5

My only complaints are that there aren't enough horror elements for me to genuinely see this as horror and I couldn't really connect with most of the characters. They served their purpose, but weren't really that memorable. Other than that, this book was extremely compelling and an interesting take on Carrie. I also really like the way it's told, with the traditional story being intercut with news articles, book excepts, and true crime podcasts. It's very reminiscent of real-life conspiracy theories and weird unexplained events. Anyway, this was really good overall and I'm interested in reading more from this author.

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta

slow-paced

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

2.0

 This was very disappointing. The first half of this book was promising, with interesting worldbuilding. And while Indir's storyline was kind of boring, I was really interested in Saya and where her character was going. But the second half of this book was a confusing mess. It was a slog to get through, and it got to the point where I was skimming and skipping chapters. Things were just happening way too fast and without reason, especially with Saya's storyline. I kept having to go back and make sure I read things right because I was just so confused the entire time. The stakes felt very low as well, and I was a bit confused on what the danger was most of the time. This book just really wasn't for me and I do not think I will be continuing with this series.