bookedbymadeline's reviews
926 reviews

Thank you NetGalley and Fig Tree for the eARC!

An unsettling literary horror novel! I really liked the premise and felt pulled in right away. The novel is split into “testaments” from a lot of different characters and a present day timeline following “The Woman” which made this feel more like a collection of short stories rather than a cohesive novel. Especially because our narrator isn’t always present and I felt as if we didn’t get to know any of the characters seeing as we only spend 1 chapter with them, leaving me feeling detached from everyone.

There were some testaments that were fantastic and others that fell flat for me, I often preferred the ones with the most horror/creepy elements. 

By the second half, it started to drag and my interest was wavering, especially with the last couple of “testaments”🙃 I also was disappointed slightly in the ending; the epilogue felt unnecessary and feel it would’ve been stronger to end with the final chapter instead. There also wasn’t any dialogue punctuation so it could be confusing at times but eventually I became used to it.

Overall it had a lot of potential and started off well but eventually felt like it went on too long and lost a lot of the horror aspects. I’d recommend this for literary fiction readers as opposed to horror fans seeing as the horror elements get lost in later chapters 🤷🏻‍♀️

TW/CW: death of parent, death, animal death, infidelity, incest? (Implied), cancer, body horror, ableism, alcoholism, depression, suicide attempt (brief mention), domestic abuse, suicide, child murder, drug use, sexual content 

Rep: gay narrator/MC, biracial minor character, Japanese side characters, Chinese minor character, indigenous side character, bi side character 

So unbelievably boring for a “thriller” 🙃 I could not care less about these characters especially Elin who is so stupid for a detective. Over 100 pages in and nothing is happening aside from the same repetitive “I don’t trust my brother” “I’m having a panic attack” moments. This book is all telling, no showing with way too much going on and none of it is interesting.

YOU HAVE A CREEPY OLD SANATORIUM USE IT!!! The setting and creepy vibes with an isolated locked door mystery are all there and yet goes unused and removes any potential for tension. While it’s easy to read I’d rather not suffer through this idiocy one more minute and risk a reading slump

It’s very slow and scattered in Nayeri’s telling of her childhood stories when I expected various stories from other refugees as well and an exploration on the refugee crisis, not a memoir. I love a good memoir but this was slow, boring, and unengaging leaving me wanting to sleep every 2 pages 

I enjoy poetry so I’m not sure if this was the translation or the poems themselves. They just felt like random words and sentences strung together. Didn’t leave an impact on me and won’t be memorable

DNFGMTI-Did not finish, gave me the ick 😂

I was not vibing with the writing style and the info dumping in the beginning. But nail in the coffin was the way the women are depicted and treated. The real world is shitty enough and that was a…choice to make your fictional male character call the female characters a c u next Tuesday, whores, and bitches in the span of a page. No thanks 🙂‍↔️ 

Thanks to NetGalley and grove Atlantic for the eARC.

Thank you NetGalley and 47North for the eARC!

This was a haunting, animalistic story that explores being queer, finding your identity/coming of age, and female friendship with some occult elements. While this is marked as fantasy, I’d say it’s more horror especially as the novel continues forward!

I loved the prose and atmospheric writing! I highlighted so many quotes and could at times relate to Jo. She often times feels insecure and anxious, overwhelmed with her love for her friends and already feeling nostalgic about their time together.

The writing brought this story to life, allowing me to perfectly visualize Rotham, the characters, and their art! The characters felt so raw and realistic, each with their own unique personalities to set them apart.  I especially loved the queer love and friendships throughout the story, the affection they had for one another added to the believability of the characters and their shared history!

The horror aspects of the book were so well executed! It was unsettling and sinister, making me a bit too scared to read the book before bed without being over the top bloody/gore (which is a type of horror I don’t like). 

Their story (taking away the horror and occult elements) felt nostalgic of my own college experience and the friendships forged 💗 And finally a 5 star read for 2025!! I would highly recommend for fans of Brutes by Dizz Tate, Ethel Cain, The Craft, and/or “Weird girl” books especially if you want a book with queer, folkloric/witchy, artist vibes ✨

Rep: lesbian MC and side characters, bisexual side character, non-binary minor character, Korean side character (saz has the last name Choi)?, Indian side character, lesbian author 

Inanna

Interesting world building with the retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the myths of Inanna. Set in the ancient world of Sumer (now modern day Iraq), we get a glimpse at the first hero of literature, every day life in Mesopotamia, and the added lore of the gods, the Annunaki!

We get 3 different POVs from our main characters who are all different but connected which kept me intrigued. I also liked the occasional sarcastic sense of humor from Gilgamesh 😅 Most of the main characters had some decent development, although for some it took a really long time to get there. 

I enjoyed the first and last thirds the best, they were well paced and kept me more engaged. The first third had a nice set up for the story and I genuinely enjoyed all 3 POVs. However by the middle, I only liked Ninshubar and then in the last third I came around on Gilgamesh but Inanna lost my interest for a looong time until the last couple of chapters 🙈

Although it was easy to read and engaging enough to finish, I had a lot of issues with it that make me unsure if I want to continue the series or not:

1. The characters are pretty flat-we don’t get to know them all that well and I know it’s book 1 of a trilogy but for a 400+ page book where we spend all of our time with these 3 characters, I feel like we should know a little more about them by the end? Their actions and internal dialogue is just constantly repeated, and we don’t get a deep dive into their psyche/motivations with the occasional exception of Gilgamesh. Plus their voices all sounded the same so at times I questioned whose chapter I was reading.
2. The dialogue is stilted and unnatural, it felt so disjointed and forced at times. There were also times where an exclamation point was used for every! Single! Sentence! (I know I text and write captions like that sometimes but for a serious character that has never used them before that point, it felt wrong)
3. Too much telling over showing and repetitive-at one point Ninshubar is speaking with a man who says “I am the gatekeeper of Kur.” And she replied “I have heard of you. In temple stories. You are the gatekeeper to the underworld” NO FUCKING SHIT HE LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT!!!! 😫
4. Inanna bored the hell out of me for a majority of the book, she was the flattest character of all until the last 30 pages in which her character makes a huge shift without any lead up 
5. Inanna is out through some horrible things but it’s brushed past and doesn’t affect her. No one acknowledges it, I feel like the grooming and SA was poorly handled and shouldn’t have even happened 
6. Lastly and this is something I found out from reviews upon finishing; the trans/queer rep from the original texts has been removed from the novel (which to each their own). But the author kept only part of it in which she demonizes the androgynous/gender non-conforming nature of the minor characters, which is untrue based on the OG texts (back then being gender non-conforming wasn’t “strange” or “unnatural” at all and was quite normal and accepted, so the author made it negative just for fun and perhaps shares those views)

Overall it was entertaining and I really liked getting to know some mythology outside of my usual Greek or Egyptian cultures! I would recommend if you want to explore more world mythology purely because there’s a huge gap of mythology retellings that aren’t Greek based, but do be warned about the anti-trans twisting of the original texts 

TW/CW: blood, body horror, war, infidelity, death, grief, torture, slavery, transphobia (brief), infidelity, incest, pedophilia (brief), rape (off page)

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the eARC! I enjoyed Human Acts from Kang so I was very excited to read more from her.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the snow, which made it feel perfect to read in winter! Kang has a beautiful way with words. Although it could be confusing at times, it often felt like a fever dream with the way some things unfolded.

okay so Inseon is in the hospital but then she reappears? How does our MC hear about this story then? Is our MC still stuck in the riverbed since she’s out in the snow? Literally had no idea what the fuck was happening!!

So I felt like it was going over my head a lot of the time 😂

It also felt like two different books the way it starts versus how it ends. I had a hard time feeling engaged throughout the middle as things dragged with the telling over showing. While I did enjoy the imagery and learning about such a heartbreaking, horrific period in history (to the surprise of no one, once again US military involvement is to blame) I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more had it been more focused?

So to summarize:
-learned new history that I now want to look into more
-love the atmospheric setting/imagery with Kang’s poetic writing
-enjoyed the first and last thirds
-slumped in the middle
-too much telling over showing
-and for those that deeply care: there are no quotation marks for dialogue (I got used to it eventually)

What a great way to end the series!! It could slump at times but that partially could have been due to my being sick while in the middle of the book. I loved getting to know more about Vaysa and her family, Russian history, and the magical folklore of this world!

The blurb on the back about having your heart ripped out, filled with snow and Magic, then ripped out again is very accurate 😭🤭 I was sobbing at times from beginning to end so buckle up for one hell of a final book slash emotional rollercoaster; but damn also such a great story and one that makes me want to read more fantasy!!

Highly recommend if you want a fantasy series with an atmospheric setting, complex well written characters, and a magical world torn between religious belief and pagan folklore!

Labeled as a mystery/thriller and the synopsis also calls it a “gothic mystery”….gurl where?! It’s so painfully slow and overly descriptive. The writing style is not at all my taste and for a mystery or thriller there should be something to grab you but it’s all meandering thoughts. I couldn’t care less about these people despite being excited to read about a cursed family many reviews say it doesn’t really place much of a role.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss, Giroux for the eARC