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wordswritinstarlight's reviews
177 reviews
The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A tense, spooky romp with a great world build and a compellingly open ending, but some pacing issues while getting up to speed.
This book should be a movie—by which I mean, almost all of my criticisms would be fixed if this was a visual medium rather than a written one. I really enjoyed the slow, steady build of the tension as supernatural elements began to appear. The premise of the House is compelling to me. Tommy and Kate are fairly reasonable horror protagonists, and their reasons for not summarily abandoning their obviously haunted house are pretty legitimate. Personally I think I would have just taken the hit and counted my life cheap at the price, but I also don’t think I would impulse-buy a house in Italy, so maybe we’re just different people. The cast of supporting characters is charming, if somewhat under-developed.
This brings me to my primary complaint: this book has severe pacing issues through the first act, because my god is that first act deep in the weeds with irrelevant information. There’s a lot of page space dedicated to the ambiance and environment of the story, with a lot of detail to the visuals of the House and a straight-up info-dump to catch us up on Tommy and Kate’s backstories. There were sections that dragged just because there was such an excess of information on the page. It feels like the author wanted this to be a screenplay, and honestly I think that being a screenplay would fix this problem! Instead of dedicating pages on end to renovation descriptions, you could do one montage over maybe two minutes of screen time and get the whole thing out of the way, etc. In the novel itself, I think you could have achieved it with a harsher edit, especially through that front half. It would have given more time to spend on the horror elements in the back half, which feel somewhat underused when you compare their prevalence on the page to everything else.
All of that being said, I did quite enjoy this book, and I would watch the living hell out of a screen adaptation. I’m thinking Netflix miniseries by the Hill House/Bly Manor people. Honestly, I doubt there’s going to be a sequel, but I’d read it in a second—I’m frankly even more interested inhow the House of Last Resort actually works now that it’s up and running again than I was in the premise of this novel.
Recommended for someone who doesn’t mind a slow build to their horror stories, or particular fans of religious horror where the Catholic Church comes off looking decidedly mixed, in terms of good vs evil.
This book should be a movie—by which I mean, almost all of my criticisms would be fixed if this was a visual medium rather than a written one. I really enjoyed the slow, steady build of the tension as supernatural elements began to appear. The premise of the House is compelling to me. Tommy and Kate are fairly reasonable horror protagonists, and their reasons for not summarily abandoning their obviously haunted house are pretty legitimate. Personally I think I would have just taken the hit and counted my life cheap at the price, but I also don’t think I would impulse-buy a house in Italy, so maybe we’re just different people. The cast of supporting characters is charming, if somewhat under-developed.
This brings me to my primary complaint: this book has severe pacing issues through the first act, because my god is that first act deep in the weeds with irrelevant information. There’s a lot of page space dedicated to the ambiance and environment of the story, with a lot of detail to the visuals of the House and a straight-up info-dump to catch us up on Tommy and Kate’s backstories. There were sections that dragged just because there was such an excess of information on the page. It feels like the author wanted this to be a screenplay, and honestly I think that being a screenplay would fix this problem! Instead of dedicating pages on end to renovation descriptions, you could do one montage over maybe two minutes of screen time and get the whole thing out of the way, etc. In the novel itself, I think you could have achieved it with a harsher edit, especially through that front half. It would have given more time to spend on the horror elements in the back half, which feel somewhat underused when you compare their prevalence on the page to everything else.
All of that being said, I did quite enjoy this book, and I would watch the living hell out of a screen adaptation. I’m thinking Netflix miniseries by the Hill House/Bly Manor people. Honestly, I doubt there’s going to be a sequel, but I’d read it in a second—I’m frankly even more interested in
Recommended for someone who doesn’t mind a slow build to their horror stories, or particular fans of religious horror where the Catholic Church comes off looking decidedly mixed, in terms of good vs evil.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a beautifully written book that needed a lighter hand on the core metaphor. Evelyn's struggles with guilt and responsibility would have been evident without making it so glaringly explicit in the last act, and I think it weakens the climax of the book to have it laid out to the reader in such clear terms. The author has a great eye for worldbuilding and scheming, but needs to trust the reader more to pick up on things.
Also, I confess that Evelyn made me a little insane--for someone who is almost immediately established as a black market "medicine" dealer and a ruthless businesswoman, she's oddly passive, almost paralyzed by indecision at times. For example,she's immediately ready to murder her crewman in cold blood to hide the outbreak, but unwilling to take even the mildest risk to gain information on the soldier, whose presence is frankly far more consequential to her life. There are a number of points where I felt like I was reading the anxiety disorder version of an idiot plot--points where the unfolding disaster would have been averted or decreased by Evelyn taking literally any action at all. I concede that this kind of person does exist, and often digs themself into a hole they can't crawl out of by their own inaction the same way Evelyn does, I just found it her paralysis about any problem within the confines of her house very dissonant with her total willingness to gamble on murder in the wider world.
I feel like I've been very negative about this book here and I want to repeat that I did really enjoy a lot of it. The Gothic horror of it all was fantastically well executed, and, while the core points about guilt and responsibility were pretty heavy handed, the slow unpacking of Evelyn's backstory was a great slow creep of tragedy and tension. I feel like there's a fantastic book in here, but it needs to be a little tighter and a little lighter to really make the horror elements come together.
Recommended for someone looking for something to tide them over until the next Sworn Soldier book.
Also, I confess that Evelyn made me a little insane--for someone who is almost immediately established as a black market "medicine" dealer and a ruthless businesswoman, she's oddly passive, almost paralyzed by indecision at times. For example,
I feel like I've been very negative about this book here and I want to repeat that I did really enjoy a lot of it. The Gothic horror of it all was fantastically well executed, and, while the core points about guilt and responsibility were pretty heavy handed, the slow unpacking of Evelyn's backstory was a great slow creep of tragedy and tension. I feel like there's a fantastic book in here, but it needs to be a little tighter and a little lighter to really make the horror elements come together.
Recommended for someone looking for something to tide them over until the next Sworn Soldier book.
The Abyssal Plain: The R'lyeh Cycle by Michelle Garza, Brett J. Talley, William Holloway
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
I hate every major character in this book and it feels like most of the first quarter is a lovingly described episode of a man devolving into such severe drug addiction that he hasn't noticed the fucking apocalypse. I need to stop reading this before I have a stroke from sheer frustration.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
I’ve been having a really bad reading slump for the past month or so (it has been, in absolute fairness to me, a very long month or so) and I decided to see if T. Kingfisher could cure me and you know what, yes, yes she can. I loved this book, it has a great balance of fantastical drama and scheming along Kingfisher’s usual ironclad grip on Very Real Problems. Cordelia is a great protagonist, and I loved watching her grow up a little over the course of the book. This is a fantastic twist on classic fairy tale tropes and elements—she really had me in the first half with Falada—and the horror elements are handled with a light, subtle touch that integrates wonderfully with the less tense fantasy elements. No notes.
Recommended for people who like a twist on familiar fairy tales, or for people who like to be very pedantic about the age of Disney Princesses.
Recommended for people who like a twist on familiar fairy tales, or for people who like to be very pedantic about the age of Disney Princesses.
The Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.
I really, REALLY want to like this book, because the individual elements all work great. It’s the assembly that’s the problem. The chapters are incredibly short, averaging about ten pages, and rotate through three (briefly four) points of view. This isn’t a problem when multiple of the protagonists are in one place, since you get a couple perspectives of one thing and then a break to see what the third person is doing. But in the second act they’re all in separate places, doing separate things that do not impact each other at all, most of them with extensive down or travel time, and you only spend eight to ten pages with someone before you switch to, essentially, an entirely different book. It’s driving me insane, and making it impossible to focus on ANY of the plots because the book is bouncing so fast between them.
It feels overwhelmingly like this is a book about Taishi and Jian, and a novella about Sali exploring the other side of the war, mashed up together without a lot of regard for the fact that those narratives don’t really…improve each other? They NEED to converge earlier, or have less down time, or not be so married to the POV rotation so that the narrative just outright skips travel chapters. All three of these plot lines are interesting, but they combine into something that’s less than the sum of its parts.
It feels overwhelmingly like this is a book about Taishi and Jian, and a novella about Sali exploring the other side of the war, mashed up together without a lot of regard for the fact that those narratives don’t really…improve each other? They NEED to converge earlier, or have less down time, or not be so married to the POV rotation so that the narrative just outright skips travel chapters. All three of these plot lines are interesting, but they combine into something that’s less than the sum of its parts.
The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is an extremely sweet romance that I would call a great intro to monsterfucking as a subgenre. Nothing too crazy happens in the sex scenes and the relationship is what I would call scrupulously above board, but also, he IS a dragon man! Baby's first monsterfucker romance, if you will. It's only not a 5 star read from me because of how incredibly sweet and tender the romance is--I like my romances, monsterfucker or otherwise, a tad more fucked up than Sol and Briar's incredibly adorable vibe.
Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this! Zhen and Xian are both very charming protagonists, and their love story is very sweet and earnest. The side characters are a great backdrop (I love Qing with my whole heart), and the twist about Fahai legitimately surprised me in a way that not many twists actually manage, without feeling like it was totally out of nowhere. The only thing keeping this from being a 5-star rating from me is that I wish the falling action was a little more fleshed out, rather than being relegated to a brief epilogue. That being said, the current trend in YA is “no falling action whatsoever, end the book the second the climax resolves,” so maybe I should count my blessings and take what I can get.
Recommended for anyone looking for a book that has the feel of a c-drama or a c-novel, while still being very accessible to a Western reader who might not be familiar with the details of Confucianism or cultivation or any of the other things people occasionally complain about not understanding in danmei or other translated Chinese media. This is a great bridge for someone who wants to get into that genre but isn’t sure where to start—it provides a nice knowledge base to work from, for anyone who might be nervous that they’ll struggle to follow a genre with an unfamiliar set of tropes, worldbuilding standards, and magical norms.
Recommended for anyone looking for a book that has the feel of a c-drama or a c-novel, while still being very accessible to a Western reader who might not be familiar with the details of Confucianism or cultivation or any of the other things people occasionally complain about not understanding in danmei or other translated Chinese media. This is a great bridge for someone who wants to get into that genre but isn’t sure where to start—it provides a nice knowledge base to work from, for anyone who might be nervous that they’ll struggle to follow a genre with an unfamiliar set of tropes, worldbuilding standards, and magical norms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love Halla and Sarkis deeply and I also love T. Kingfisher’s deeply pragmatic approach to fantasy. Sure, people can be imprisoned in swords for time immemorial, but also sometimes your shitty in-laws try to steal your inheritance and what you REALLY need is a good lawyer. I would join the Order of the White Rat tomorrow with no hesitation. I would love another book in this series, I need to collect this entire world of books in hard copy immediately.
A Bone in His Teeth by Kellen Graves
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m in love with this book. This is the monsterfucking content I crave. Alba is a stubborn little asshole, and Eridanys is a murderous fish man, and they are in love. Graves does an amazing job with their dynamic. I described this book to my wife as being a book about the virtues of taking violent revenge on systems that treat you as subhuman and also about fucking a murderous fish man. Wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in that description.