wisteriariaa's reviews
108 reviews

#NoEscape by Gretchen McNeil

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

I don’t know, I’m not sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, it’s ridiculous and campy in a way that I like. On the other hand, that final twist at the end…..it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Like, I like parts of it but it just doesn’t completely add up.  It makes the whole thing feel very tacked on. Because, there already was a twist, a pretty good one, two chapters before that FINAL twist, and it was pretty good! It made sense and the proper clues were laid out for me to figure it out on my own before it was revealed. I mean, I was also able to figure out the final twist before it happened, but I’m not really happy with some parts of the final twist, if that makes sense.

Also, so much of the writing in this book is so juvenile that I feel like it MUST be for the younger side of the YA spectrum, but then the characters are saying fuck every two pages and the last bit of the book with the wood chipper is too gruesome for any younger teens to be reading, which was confusing.  I will say that despite everything I didn’t like the author did keep me hooked and reading so I guess that’s all that matters. 

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

dark reflective sad 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

4.0

It by Stephen King
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I’ll come back to this later.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

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

3.0

Eh. This was okay, but it’s a lot different than what I expected it to be. The only part I really enjoyed was the beginning when they were finding all the pieces of the robot and putting it together. Once I got to the part all about threats of war and global conflict I completely checked out. I can’t express how little I care about a possible war with Russia that we never end up seeing.

Also, I found every single character (except for Rose) very irritating. Especially when that ridiculous love triangle started happening. If there was any book I did not want to have to deal with a love triangle in, it would be the book that was supposed to be about an ancient space robot.

For those reasons, I will not be continuing with this series. I can see why some people would like it, and it’s not a bad book don’t get me wrong. Its just definitely not for me.

Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories by Amparo Ortiz, Yamile Saied Méndez
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

Been having a hard time getting through this one. I definitely want to finish it, I'm just not in the mood right now.

Brutal Hearts by Cassie Daley

fast-paced

2.25

Eh. It was kinda boring and a bit poorly written. Thats all

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

dark informative slow-paced

3.0

Eh. Parts of it were interesting, but so much of it was written in such a dull anr boring way. A bit of a disappointment, if I'm honest.

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

slow-paced

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

4.5

The Witchery by S. Isabelle
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.

Now that I think about it, I think I'll save this one for October.

Wolfpack by Amelia Brunskill

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Interesting concept with a decent execution. I do think that there were some ideas that were introduced that could have been interesting but weren't really utilized very well. I also think that the main characters sort of start to blur together a little bit and it was difficult to remember who was who. Maybe that was part of the point, but it did make things a bit confusing. Oh well, it's pretty good otherwise.