theneverendingtbr's reviews
372 reviews

The Whisperer in Darkness: Collected Stories Volume 1 by Matthew J. Elliott, H.P. Lovecraft

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

4.0

Finished the last two stories of this particular collection tonight, few very well known ones in this and a few obscure ones I'd never heard of before; all in all a nice wee collection. ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Now onto Volume Two, to read the ones I've not read from there. 🐙


The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P. Lovecraft

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

3.0

"I think they mean to get rid of me because of what I have discovered."

A blend of horror, science fiction and written in that usual Lovecraft style - cryptic, detailed, use your imagination to understand and be creeped out. 

I liked the references to Cthulhu and thought it was a cool concept, thought the ending was predictable but it still gets a 3/5 moderate rating because I did like it.

If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft or of interesting horror/science fiction stories in general, I think you will find this worth the while.
The Regulators by Stephen King, Richard Bachman

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

4.0

"Root-root-root!"

In an Ohio neighborhood there lives an autistic boy called Seth who gets possessed by the entity Tak, which is an ancient creature which is forced to take a human host in order to use it's powers to control and torture those around it to gain energy, however it's met it's match in Seth.

The book has a lot of supernatural elements, including Seth manifesting characters and scenery from his favourite television shows - such as The Regulators. 

I liked this book, would I read it again though? Maybe not.

It was a good story, I just wasn't into it as much as it's 'Twinner' novel Desperation; the characters weren't as good this time around but it definitely gets four stars because I did like it for a read-oncer.


P.s.

Never thought about it until now but Tak reminds me of Dandelo from The Dark Tower series, anyone else?

Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost

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informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

"Hello, Agent Cooper. I'll see you again in 25 years."

The Final Dossier tells us what happened to key characters in the 25 years in between the events of the second season and the third and we get details and insights to those characters which were left unknown after the second season.

I'm very happy with this book, it was again; compiled very well and easy to read. I was also glad to find out more about certain characters some of which were key characters and some minor - I was glad to find out more of them all.
The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost

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informative mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

“Fear The Double.”

This book was absolutely brilliant, you can definitely see the effort here by Frost in compiling this; it's just put together so well and he's given us Twin Peaks fans something very special. (thanks again)

It gives insight into the mythology and conspiracies tied to Twin Peaks.

Written in the form of a dossier, the book is a collection of journal entries, testimonies, and case files all to be analyzed by Special Agent Tamara Preston - who has been assigned by Deputy Director Gordon Cole to discover the identity of the person who compiled the dossier, referred to as the Archivist.

This is essential reading for Peaks fans!

Now for some coffee and massive quantities of pie.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Because,' she said, 'when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave.

This one tells the story of Coraline Jones, who finds a doorway to a parallel and sinister otherworld inside her new home, and must battle the evil "Other Mother" who lives there to secure her family's safety.

I feel like the main themes of Coraline are appreciating what you have and having courage to fight for those you love.

Very likeable, well-written novella, that has similar elements to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and which I believe will be at that 'classic' status in years to come.. 
Titan's Daughter by James Blish

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I'm not going to waste anymore time on this when I can be reading something else that I can get into, so I'm bailing on this because I'm just not into it. 🤷‍♂️

It's dated and slow-paced...so seeya! 👎
On the Beach by Nevil Shute

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dark emotional sad medium-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

3.0

"It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us."


On the Beach details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne, Australia as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, following a nuclear war a year previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with their impending death differently.

Okay, this was rather dated but the story of course is still very relevant in today's world.

But the way it's dealt with here is similar to other Cold War era novels of similar subjects.

This particular book was playing on the fear of nuclear war and how terrible radiation fallout/sickness is.

I guess I went into this with my expectations too high, I think Nevil Shute is a great writer but this one wasn't as great as I thought it would be but still gets three stars.

I didn't like the ending and the hopelessness of it.

Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King

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dark mysterious 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

4.0

“There is nothing of God or Light in that heartless sound - it is all black winter and dark ice.”

The plot of this one is pretty straightforward, it follows a year in the life of a small town in Maine called Tarker's Mills, on the night of each month's full moon, its residents are terrorized by a murderous werewolf.

I've put off buying this for years because it's very short and it's always been pretty expensive but my other half got it for me as a gift and I've just made this my 55th Stephen King read.

This one is fast-paced, there's not much plot wise, like I said it's straightforward but I did like it; the illustrations by Bernie Wrightson were very good at creating an atmosphere which was perfect for the subject matter.
Snotgirl, Vol. 3: Is This Real Life? by Leslie Hung, Bryan Lee O’Malley

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.0

I'd say this is the weaker of the three volumes, it felt like the story never progressed at all and it never finished with the usual cliffhanger; I hope there's going to be a Vol. 4 at some point because that's no way to end it.

I still liked reading it, it's such a mysterious graphic novel series and the artwork is really cool - it just didn't progress story-wise though.