daijahsbookworld's reviews
803 reviews

the final chapter january 2025 bookclub pick: https://www.patreon.com/daijahsbookworld

those of you saying this is ms. feeny's most unhinged/best book are delulu i fear 😭

this by far is my least favorite feeny. i always enjoy her writing and i loved the setting in this one but i feel like 80-85% of this book was literal crumbs. no twists. no information gained. nothing. it was fast to read but nothing was happening AT ALL. and then from 80% to 95% is us just being teased back and forth about getting the twists revealed and then it switching povs multiple times. like why are you edging me this long? and then the twists were not crazy. they were not jaw dropping. they were just fine.

that's how i feel about this whole book honestly. it was just fine.

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i actually really really loved the ending of this book. it was so open ended but left just enough for me to have my mind race with theories. this whole book was extremely eerie but the first half was a bit slow for me but the second half definietly made up for it.

i lovedddddd the commentary in this one so much but i didn't love the art style which is why it was not a 5 star for me but everything else i adored and i HIGHLY recommend it!

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ik so many people love this one and think it is so creepy but paranormal horror is not usually my thing and i did have a couple issues with the execution in this one. why i do think being from a child's perspective added a lot to the story which i did enjoy, this caused the adults in her life to talk to her in an unrealistic way especially with language, since we weren't getting any of their perspectives. they parents were literally so stupid. i also think that this would have benefited from being a novella because the second half started to get a bit repetitive. i think a lot of people will enjoy this one especially if you like movies or concepts similar to insidious or paranormal activity.

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i genuinely feel bad i didn’t like this book because i read this based on the glowing recommendations from booktubers i trust for a video. but despite my efforts to enjoy it, this book just wasn’t for me. i’m not even sure i can fully explain what i just read. i went through the glossary, the family tree, the whole book, and by the end, i still couldn’t tell you what it was actually about.

first off, this book has no real plot. raeve is supposed to be an assassin working for this mysterious organization, which sounded so cool in theory and is the kind of premise i love. but it ends up being completely irrelevant to the actual story. the whole “assassin for justice” angle isn’t explored beyond a few scattered mentions and her organization is barely a factor. it felt like such a waste of potential. i kept waiting for the story to come together, for the stakes to rise, for something to happen, but it never did.

the world-building had promise but it was so poorly executed that i couldn’t even appreciate it. the glossary should’ve been supplemental but instead it was essential just to understand basic terms, places, and magical elements. even then it didn’t make the world feel cohesive. the elemental magic system could have been so interesting but it was barely present and didn’t play any real role in the story. it felt like the author had this big, unique vision but didn’t know how to make it accessible to readers. instead everything came across as clunky, confusing, and unnecessarily pretentious.

and the romance...oh god. i don’t even know where to start. i’m usually a sucker for a good enemies to lovers trope fantasy romance but this one just didn’t work for me. raeve and kaan’s chemistry felt nonexistent and their relationship seemed to revolve entirely around how hot and big kaan is. raeve would go on these long internal monologues about his looks but never about anything meaningful or emotional. the romance ended up dominating the book but it also managed to be shallow and underdeveloped. i think i could’ve overlooked this if the romance hadn’t been the centerpiece of the story but because it was it just made every flaw stand out even more. i didn’t buy into their connection at all, which made their moments together feel awkward and unconvincing.

to make matters worse, raeve is just not a likable or compelling main character. she’s supposed to be this badass, morally gray assassin but her actions are so inconsistent. she claims to care deeply about justice and protecting the little guy but as soon as kaan enters the picture, all of that flies out the window. her “sassiness” comes across as grating and her lack of curiosity about her own mysterious past is downright frustrating. i was ready to scream every time she pushed people away “for their own good” or made dumb decisions that felt more like cheap plot devices than genuine character choices.

by the time i finished this book i was exhausted. the prose was unnecessarily drawn-out, the pacing dragged, and the story felt like it was trying too hard to be deep and unique without actually delivering on anything meaningful. i kept hoping it would get better, that the world-building would start to make sense, or the plot would pick up, or the romance would feel earned. but instead it just left me confused and disappointed. i’m relieved to be done with it and i don’t think i’ll be picking up the sequel.

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this was my first tananarive due novel, and i’m so glad i chose it. this book is profoundly gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and challenging to read. while i can usually handle a lot of triggering content, stories centered on racial trauma hit differently for me because i am black and racial trauma is something i, and people i love, have to live through everyday. it's not something i like to read in my fiction often because of my daily experiences. that being said, i think this book addressed its heavy themes with an incredible amount of care and thorough research, which made it both impactful and deeply respectful of the subject matter.

the writing is absolutely stunning and incredibly immersive. tananarive due has a way of pulling you into the story so completely that you feel every emotion the characters experience. however i do think the book’s length worked against it in some ways. at almost 600 pages, it felt a bit too long and i believe trimming 100–150 pages could have made it even stronger. the repetition at certain points risked diluting the story’s powerful message and its emotional impact for some readers.

despite that this book is profoundly important and i cannot recommend it enough if you’re in the right mental space to handle its intense and triggering content. if you’re prepared for an emotionally raw and thought-provoking experience, this is a story worth picking up.

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i hate that i didn't like this book. i enjoyed the first third of the book which is what's described in the synopsis but the last two thirds, take a different turn that i didn't enjoy. i found it so boring. i understand this book was trying to say a lot of meaningful things, but i think just because those things are mentioned in the book, doesn't mean there is any meaningful commentary being made. i don't even think every book needs to have commentary but there is no other reason to read this book besides that. i feel like this book added literally no value to my life and i'll never think about it again

read for winterween 2025: read a horror book published 5 or more years ago & read a book with a house on the cover (or in the title)

this book really did keep me in suspense and i loved the insert of the book our main character is writing. the gore was also phenomenal but there was some racist remarks thrown in ofc

read for winterween 2025: read a book in the dark or at night & read a novella, manga, or spooky audiobook

junji ito always delivers and i lovedddddd the themes in this one

read for winterween 2025: read a thriller or horror book & read a book with a house on the cover

i've been hesitant to try out my first darcy coates because ik some of her books are not for me but i enjoyed this one! i loved a locked room isolated thriller or horror and this book definietly delivered on that and there was some pretty gruesome descriptions. i do think this book dragged a bit. a lot of people love to say it was fast paced but i disagree. it was a bit of a slog to get through for the first half of this story and then it picked up. i was going to give this one a lower rating BUT THE END?! wow i was shocked truly and i don't think i should have been but i was jaw-dropped, floored, gagged, gooped. so i just had to raise the rating.