sarah984's reviews
628 reviews

The Terror by Dan Simmons

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

2.5

There are some great scares here, and some really well done character moments. Overall though, this book is too long (so many things are repeated unnecessarily), every woman is written really badly (but hey, at least
the author makes it clear that Big Tits survived!
) and the ending was terrible. I don't regret reading it but it's hard to recommend.

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The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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

1.5

Absolutely bizarre story. The endless winter has somehow been both eternal and five years.
The endgame villain is an animal spirit defending the environment.
The main character (and narrative) is needlessly cruel to her older sister in a way that felt very Narnia to me.
A major character dies and it's just nothing.

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THE CHRISTMAS MORNING MASSACRE: A Slasher Horror Novel by Nasser Rabadi

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This was fine, but nothing to write home about. The characters were pretty thin and the writing was nothing special, but the kills were creative and the ending was a little creepy. The stuff about the ghosts didn't really go anywhere and a bunch of dialogue was in italics for no reason.

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Fearless by Shira Glassman

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emotional hopeful 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? No

3.5

A short and sweet little romance - I liked the theme of rediscovering music and the relationship between the main character and her daughter. It's nice to see stories like this featuring older characters.
A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories by Bettye Collier-Thomas

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3.0

Interesting set of Christmas themed stories and poems published between the turn of the century and the 1950s. Each story is preceded by a short biography of the author and some information about the social context of the story.

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The Usual Santas: A Soho Crime Holiday Anthology by Peter Lovesey

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dark

2.0

The titular story is fantastic and as always I enjoyed the Helene Tursten story, but this is another weirdly mis-marketed holiday anthology. The copy is all about the stories being delightful and funny but most of them are really dark and for some reason a whole bunch of them don't even happen on Christmas?? Just call it winter noir or something.

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I Found Christmas Lights Slithering Up My Street by Ben Farthing

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adventurous dark tense 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? No

3.0

A surprising amount of heart for a story about evil Christmas lights
from space
. The voice was cute and the terrible decisions the character made worked because he was eleven. However I noticed a few distracting typos and I found the end a little disappointing.

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What January Remembers by Faith Gardner

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

3.5

This book is a sci-fi domestic thriller that takes place over the Christmas holiday. The characters are fun and the mystery keeps you guessing, but a few parts dragged a bit and the ultimate "reveal" was underwhelming. No one's doing "good for her" in the indie space like Faith Gardner, though, and overall I had fun.

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Language of Love - A Flirty, Festive Anthology by Astrid Ohletz

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  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

As with most anthologies, this one's a bit hit or miss. I loved the concept, with each story featuring different holiday traditions from around the world. The best stories were sweet and fun, but some of the others were weirdly violent or felt pointless. One wasn't even a romance, which is kind of a weird choice. 

Favourites: Mask by Sheryn Munir and Grand Market Bliss by Fiona Zedde

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The Visitor by Sergio Gomez

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This was a fast paced read with decent tension but it could have been a lot better. All of the POVs felt the same to me (even the dog!) and nothing really surprising happens. The writing style is pretty simple and uninteresting and there were a few obvious errors (misspelled or missing words).

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