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chuckstafer's reviews
745 reviews
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This was a very charming story about what it truly means to be a family and an unconventional take on the adoption process and how it can bring joy and fulfillment to all involved. I loved the characters that you meet along the way and their quirky personalities and how the author gave each of them so much life. This story resonnated with me as my wife and I are starting our adoption journey and I just really appreciated the way the author talked about this (sometimes) difficult, but wonderful thing.
The Building That Wasn't by Abigail Miles
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This novel was a bit of a mess if I’m being honest. The premise of the novel sounded really interesting: a mysterious building existing where it shouldn’t that's full of creepy peeps and creepy happenings. Sounds like a hit. But the story was really jumbled and the writing style was hard to follow. I think this novel could have been about 30-40 pages shorter and still got the point across. But it got very confusing to follow along with and the characters weren’t very interesting either. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.
The Quiet Room: A Rabbits Novel by Terry Miles
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This 2nd installment of the Rabbits series focuses on a new main character (Emily Connors, who was also part of the original cast of characters from Rabbits) with the same world-saving mission. This iteration of the story hooked me quicker than the first version, but this novel stumbled a bit during the middle to end of the novel, I think mainly with its identity. Was it a love story? Was it a thriller? A mystery? It tried to be all of the above at times and I think that’s what spoiled it for me a bit. The characters were all engaging, but it seemed odd that they would go to such lengths to save each other, but just disappear so easily and then no effort would be put into finding them. Didn’t really make sense to me.
The “twist” at the end was a bit predictable for me as well and I guessed where the story was going towards the middle of the novel. Didn’t really ruin the ending or anything for me, but it wasn’t as earth-shattering as it could have been either. The author did do a good job of setting up a 3rd Rabbits novel and I am eager to finish this storyline sometime in the future.
The “twist” at the end was a bit predictable for me as well and I guessed where the story was going towards the middle of the novel. Didn’t really ruin the ending or anything for me, but it wasn’t as earth-shattering as it could have been either. The author did do a good job of setting up a 3rd Rabbits novel and I am eager to finish this storyline sometime in the future.
Eynhallow by Tim McGregor
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
The Space Person by Catherine Kuo
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This was a pretty trippy, gritty, gruesome little horror novella about space exploration gone wrong and I really enjoyed it!
The one note I would have is to add some indicator maybe when the narrator is switching to a new member of the crew. The story switched between folks very often and without warning and sometimes it felt a bit hard to track.
The sorry was really engaging though and I felt like at each turn, the new events were exciting and added to the growing sense of dread that fell over the ship. A follow-up (maybe a full-length novel?) that delves more into the origin of the Space Person and the moon and how it came to be would be a really neat continuation of the story and one that I would read for sure!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The one note I would have is to add some indicator maybe when the narrator is switching to a new member of the crew. The story switched between folks very often and without warning and sometimes it felt a bit hard to track.
The sorry was really engaging though and I felt like at each turn, the new events were exciting and added to the growing sense of dread that fell over the ship. A follow-up (maybe a full-length novel?) that delves more into the origin of the Space Person and the moon and how it came to be would be a really neat continuation of the story and one that I would read for sure!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I think this novella would have benefited from being a bit longer and more fleshed out. Maybe? It was not a bad story, but it felt a bit disjointed and too rushed. The concept seemed interesting for sure, and I loved the ending, but the story felt a bit anticlimactic overall.
I Can See Your Lies by Izzy Lee
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
This was a really nice novella fully of mystery, suspense, the paranormal, and revenge and I really enjoyed it! I on the fence on if this novella would have been better suited as a full-fledged novel to flesh out more of some of the story (like the origin of the characters mysterious powers), but I also think that the story wasn’t too rushed and was satisfying throughout.
Rabbits by Terry Miles
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
I think this novel hinted at a really robust and memorable world, but some of the writing was a bit clunky and repetitive and could have been tightened up a bit to produce a very well-rounded story of mystery, competition, saving-the-world, multiverse-traversal and love. Was the story bad: No, not at all. But there were numerous times that the author added way too much unnecessary dialogue. Too much “What?”, “What do you mean?”, “Why?”, statements that could have been eliminated to help the story run a bit smoother. I also think that there were several times that the MC met a new important character just completely out of the blue and it just didn’t really make much sense.
Over all I did enjoy the mystery of the novel and learning about the game and the interesting cast of characters the author imagined.
Over all I did enjoy the mystery of the novel and learning about the game and the interesting cast of characters the author imagined.
The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a compelling, albeit, slightly underwhelming tale of Hollywood aspirations and violence told from the perspective of a young British actress who is on the verge of stardom.
Our main character has just gone through a bad breakup while simultaneously reaching the pinnacle of success in London, so she decides to hop the pond over to LA to work with American studios during "pilot season" and stumbles upon the seedy underbelly of Hollywood and just how far some people will go to achieve success.
The main plot of the story was compelling enough, but the story seemed to drag on at times, held back by a protagonist who was frustratingly incompetent and who never quite did much. The author did achieve her goal of a suspenseful plot, but the ultimate conclusion felt rushed and left me feeling underwhelmed.
Our main character has just gone through a bad breakup while simultaneously reaching the pinnacle of success in London, so she decides to hop the pond over to LA to work with American studios during "pilot season" and stumbles upon the seedy underbelly of Hollywood and just how far some people will go to achieve success.
The main plot of the story was compelling enough, but the story seemed to drag on at times, held back by a protagonist who was frustratingly incompetent and who never quite did much. The author did achieve her goal of a suspenseful plot, but the ultimate conclusion felt rushed and left me feeling underwhelmed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
The Noctambulists by Nino Cipri
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0