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natreviews's reviews
420 reviews
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
I found this book to be okay. The author took many liberties with the known facts of what happened with the Donner Party, and the supernatural twist in this one wasn't super developed. It was more inserted to make it supernatural instead of taking the horror of the real life tale and running with that.
I found the writing to be of the New Adult leaning Young Adult type. So it's written sort of in the way a young adult novel would be written, but a bit more mature (not enough to be classified as adult). It's not my favourite writing style, so no surprise I didn't really like it.
This book has good potential, but just misses the mark.
I found the writing to be of the New Adult leaning Young Adult type. So it's written sort of in the way a young adult novel would be written, but a bit more mature (not enough to be classified as adult). It's not my favourite writing style, so no surprise I didn't really like it.
This book has good potential, but just misses the mark.
Separating You: A Self-Help Book for the Lost, Lonely, and Psychotically Obsessed by Jason Carson
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
So a serial killer writing a self-help book. An interesting concept that could have gone really bad, but didn't (well, not in the quality department at least). What's really interesting is that this book does exhibit your typical serial killer traits; obsessing, harming animals as a child, planning, etc.
As a quick warning: other than the obvious, the R slur does get dropped quite a bit within the last 30-40 pages of this book. Just a heads up for you people who'd rather not read that word if they can help it.
While reading I couldn't help thinking how Joe from You would absolutely have read this book and took pointers from it.
As a quick warning: other than the obvious, the R slur does get dropped quite a bit within the last 30-40 pages of this book. Just a heads up for you people who'd rather not read that word if they can help it.
While reading I couldn't help thinking how Joe from You would absolutely have read this book and took pointers from it.
Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire by Amber Dawn
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
This anthology reminds me a lot of the show Love, Death and Robots. If you've never seen it, the show is an anthology of short films, having to do with at least one element of the title (so it either has the themes of Love, Death, and/or Robots in it). Like that show, some are better than others.
In this anthology, all of the stories have to do with being queer and fear. The majority of the stories does include descriptive sex, so if that's not your style you might want to stay away from this book.
My favourite stories of this collection are Homeland, In Circles, Crabby, Shark, and Here Lies the Last Lesbian Rental in East Vancouver. I'm keeping these books because of those stories.
In this anthology, all of the stories have to do with being queer and fear. The majority of the stories does include descriptive sex, so if that's not your style you might want to stay away from this book.
My favourite stories of this collection are Homeland, In Circles, Crabby, Shark, and Here Lies the Last Lesbian Rental in East Vancouver. I'm keeping these books because of those stories.
The Terror by Dan Simmons
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I had wanted to read this book after finishing my ABC challenge for this year. I am glad I did.
You can tell Dan Simmons did a lot, and I mean A LOT, of research for this story (as I'm told he does for all of his historical fiction books). He researched the very real lost expedition of Sir John Franklin and of the Indigenous people of Greenland and Canada (as some mythologies in the last third of the book comes from the Greenland Inuit people). He blends the historical and the supernatural very well.
He also got a lot of the details found from the expedition right. For those of you who don't know, after the ship went missing there were rescue expeditions which found items from the ship and evidence of the remaining crew escaping. I recommend reading this article for more information: https://allthatsinteresting.com/hms-terror
The only things he got wrong were things he couldn't have known. Parts of the last chapterwhen Crozier goes back and lights HMS Terror on fire, sinking the ship couldn't have happened, as the HMS Terror was discovered fully intact and having no outside reason to sink. This book was published in 2007, HMS Terror was found in 2014, and HMS Erebus was found in 2016.
I will say it's a very long read, but the last two chapters make up for how slow it goes in the second half. The second half makes up how slow it goes in the first half, and well the first half sets up the story that takes place later on in the book.
You can tell Dan Simmons did a lot, and I mean A LOT, of research for this story (as I'm told he does for all of his historical fiction books). He researched the very real lost expedition of Sir John Franklin and of the Indigenous people of Greenland and Canada (as some mythologies in the last third of the book comes from the Greenland Inuit people). He blends the historical and the supernatural very well.
He also got a lot of the details found from the expedition right. For those of you who don't know, after the ship went missing there were rescue expeditions which found items from the ship and evidence of the remaining crew escaping. I recommend reading this article for more information: https://allthatsinteresting.com/hms-terror
The only things he got wrong were things he couldn't have known. Parts of the last chapter
I will say it's a very long read, but the last two chapters make up for how slow it goes in the second half. The second half makes up how slow it goes in the first half, and well the first half sets up the story that takes place later on in the book.
Lore Olympus, Season 2 by Rachel Smythe
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.75
So we're on the eve of the season finale! Lots happened this season, and I know I'll have to go back and re-read all of this seasons episodes in one sitting to get the complete story, but I'm so excited to see where the season goes in season 3!
Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison
dark
fast-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
So this took my three tries to read. Finally, I read it on the third.
I have the feeling this book was written to just be fucked up. Not because the story needed to be told, but just because the author wanted to write something fucked up. And outside of 3 moments of fucked up, the story isn't all that crazy or really a story.
I also expect that pro-life people think all pro-choice people are like Helen. It's their nightmare come to life.
The plot twist at the end was very good though. I wish more of that was in the novel.
I have the feeling this book was written to just be fucked up. Not because the story needed to be told, but just because the author wanted to write something fucked up. And outside of 3 moments of fucked up, the story isn't all that crazy or really a story.
I also expect that pro-life people think all pro-choice people are like Helen. It's their nightmare come to life.
The plot twist at the end was very good though. I wish more of that was in the novel.
X-Men and Spider-Man by Mario Alberti, Christos Gage
adventurous
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? It's complicated
3.0
It was fine. I'm not super into the X-Men and to be honest only read this to finish off the letter X for my Alphabet Challenge.
This comic is a quick compilation of one storyline through multiple series runs. It referenced things I had no clue about (as I haven't read the full line of comics) so at times it comes across as a bit confusing.
This comic is a quick compilation of one storyline through multiple series runs. It referenced things I had no clue about (as I haven't read the full line of comics) so at times it comes across as a bit confusing.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's been many years since I read this book. I think the last time was in middle school or freshman year of high school.
I will say it's not as good as I remember. Maybe that's because I'm no longer the age Ponyboy was, but it still is a really good read. I found I got more out of the story this time around as now I'm 23.
A good, short, classic read that you should definitely re-read if you haven't in a long time.
I will say it's not as good as I remember. Maybe that's because I'm no longer the age Ponyboy was, but it still is a really good read. I found I got more out of the story this time around as now I'm 23.
A good, short, classic read that you should definitely re-read if you haven't in a long time.
The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter by John E. Douglas
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An excellent read for anyone interested in true crime.
My main concern with this book going in was that the cases were going to be ones I'd never heard of before. To be honest, 3/4 of the cases were that, except John does an amazing job at bringing in other cases (Ed Kemper, Son of Sam, etc.) in to understand these killers.
This book is not for the light hearted, as it heavily deals with murder, sexual assault (of both minors and adults), torture, child abuse, etc., but if you can handle that subject matter than I highly recommend this read.
My main concern with this book going in was that the cases were going to be ones I'd never heard of before. To be honest, 3/4 of the cases were that, except John does an amazing job at bringing in other cases (Ed Kemper, Son of Sam, etc.) in to understand these killers.
This book is not for the light hearted, as it heavily deals with murder, sexual assault (of both minors and adults), torture, child abuse, etc., but if you can handle that subject matter than I highly recommend this read.
Queen of Kings: A Novel of Cleopatra, the Vampire by Maria Dahvana Headley
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I originally picked up this book to help complete my ABC challenge for this year, and found an enjoyable story. This deals with Cleopatra just before her "death" and a couple of years onward.
The only criticism I have is that at times the book is too long. I got bored at some points because it went slow, then the end went by in a flash. I found it could've been set up a bit better. It was also a bit difficult to keep track of characters.
Overall a good read and one I'll keep on my shelf for the time being.
The only criticism I have is that at times the book is too long. I got bored at some points because it went slow, then the end went by in a flash. I found it could've been set up a bit better. It was also a bit difficult to keep track of characters.
Overall a good read and one I'll keep on my shelf for the time being.