chuckstafer's reviews
747 reviews

Logging Off by Nick Spalding

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funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

Logging Off was billed as a silly novel about a technology/internet-obsessed man who decided to take a "digital detox" from his screens and stumbled into some shenanigans during his time away from his technology. I really read a silly novel with a ton of heart. I read a dang Hallmark Movie!

Yes, some parts of this novel were just silly (driving into a duck pond for one example). Still, each chapter seemed to relay some profound message about finding balance in your life and focusing on the important things, like friends, and family, and actually doing something with your life.

I really enjoyed getting to know the main character, Andy Bellows, and the various characters that crossed his path along the way, and loved the heart that the author was able to build into his novel. The only thing that I think could have been changed, was how much talk of poo was included in the novel. It did serve a purpose for the larger plot, but at the beginning, it seemed a bit excessive.
BRZRKR, Vol. 1 by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt

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adventurous dark 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

The Troop by Nick Cutter

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Goodness, this was some story! It was gruesome. It was violent. But maybe most scariest of all, it was believable. I unfortunately, could see something like this happening today. I really enjoyed the added newspaper and courtroom transcripts that were spaced between the chapters. It really helped to add to the story and stitch some of the pieces of the story together. Each character had ample backstory to let the reader know who they were, but the added information that come from the story and the interspersed documents really kept you on your toes and kept you wondering if you really did have the characters figured out. Overall I thought this was a pretty good horror story. 
Stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a delightfully creepy short-story! I thought this was going to be a collection of short musing from different characters, but having it focus on one MC and her poly of view was the way to go. It added depth to the story and the author really captures the grief of the MC over her lost husband very well. The concept was really cool, the execution was great, and the added illustrations were also super creepy. A really fun read! 
The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 2 by James Tynion IV

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? N/A

5.0

The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV

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

5.0

Devil Is Fine by John Vercher

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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 powerhouse of a novel for sure! I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into because the synopsis seemed very vague, and early on I was wondering if this was turning into a horror novel/ghost story. This novel turned into a story of loss and overcoming grief, with some supernatural elements (but I think those were more the MCs imagination and his brain's attempt to comprehend his grief). 

The prose was very beautiful and I found many different times I was highlighting certain phrases and quotes from the story due to their relevance in my own life. 

Thanks so much to Celedon Books for the ARC of this novel! 
Double Walker by Michael Conrad

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Awesome little graphic novel! Very dark. Very spooky. Sucked me in real quick and never let me go. Great illustrations to go along with the dark story
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had seen so much hype about this novel from other readers and it was always in the back of my mind to read it one day, but after winning a Fable giveaway (thanks homies!) I had to give it a shot and WOW I wasn’t disappointed! This novel sucked me in quickly and I devoured it! It was written so well and the story just kept hitting high notes and the podcast element was really interwoven into the chapters really well. Very fun thriller and I think I’ll need to check out more Lisa Jewell after this!
The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville, Keanu Reeves

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thanks a ton to Del Rey books and to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel to read in exchange for an honest review! 

I really thought the concept of this novel sounded super cool: immortal super soldier doing super soldier things and a mysterious entity looking to end him, but the execution was severely lacking. 

There were certainly elements of this story that were really cool and part of the novel were very interesting, but the bulk of the novel was confusing and weighed down with very dense and hard to understand prose that lost me quite a bit. I think if the word choices were different and the novel was not as hard to comprehend, this could have been a knockout. 

I did ultimately enjoy the story, I just think the writing could have been better.