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My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
“Horror’s not a symptom, it’s a love affair.” My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a magnificently chaotic ode to slasher, one that demonstrates an unparalleled knowledge of the genre, its logic & tropes. I saw quite a lot of reviews describing this as a slow burner, and sì, in some ways Stephen Graham Jones withholds…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, addiction, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, ALIENATION, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, Blackfoot, blackfoot author, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, creepy setting, dark, dark humor, female friendships, films, friendships, gore, graphic content, HIGH SCHOOL, Idaho, incest, indigenous, indigenous author, loneliness, male authors, meta, MURDER, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, MYSTERY, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, obsession, playful style, Poverty, psychological, published in 2021, queer undercurrents, read in 2022, reading, revenge, sexual assault/abuse/rape, she is dangerous, slasher, Stephen Graham Jones, strong sense of place, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the female malaise, THRILLER, trauma, violence -
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater
“Your Boyfriend Called, He Thinks You’ve Joined a Cult, Please Advise.” Mister Impossible may be Stiefvater’s trickiest novel. I inhaled it in just a day and part of me knows that I need to re-read in order to truly absorb everything that went down. This is the kind of novel that leaves you feeling pretty…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, adrenaline fuelled reads, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, BOSTON, brothers, cambridge (us), chronic pain, Contemporary, dreamers, Dreams, f/f side, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, great storytelling, Harvard, heist, lgbtq+, loneliness, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, Massachusetts, My reviews, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, road trip, Ronan Lynch, self-destructive, series that went downhill, tarots, tdr, the dreamer trilogy, trauma, unreliable narrative, URBAN FANTASY, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
re-re-read: what can i say, whatever this book has going on, i here for it. re-read: it hasn’t even been a year and I have already re-read this. This book slaps. Ninth House can be best described as: “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, abuse, academia, addiction, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, alex stern, Alex Stern #1, all of the trigger warnings, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, California, campus, Contemporary, dark, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, FANTASY, female authors, ghosts/spirits, graphic content, it’s about the *aesthetics*, Leigh Bardugo, MAGIC, mental health, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, Pedophelia, place as character, published in 2019, rape, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, rich people, secret societies, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social issues, strong sense of place, SUPERNATURAL, terrific prose, THRILLER, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, violence, violence against women, Yale -
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
“Creature was a good word for him, Ronan thought. What the hell am I?” Every time I read this I am blown away. This novel, I swear, is something else. The Dream Thieves is pure adrenaline. Ronan Lynch is my favourite asshole, which is probably why The Dream Thieves is my favourite book in The…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adrenaline fuelled reads, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, boarding/private school, brothers, class, cliques, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dreamers, Dreams, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, great storytelling, henrietta, HIGH SCHOOL, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, male friendships, MYSTERY, occult, PARANORMAL, queer, re-reads, read in 2014, read in 2020, read in 2021, rich people, ROMANCE, Ronan Lynch, SMALL TOWN, Summer, tarots, The Dream Thieves, the raven cycle, TRC, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
“You were never out of the Life completely. You were always looking over your shoulder. You always kept a gun within reach.” Blacktop Wasteland is a thrilling, adrenaline-fueled read that gives a fresh new take on the One Last Job™ premise. S.A. Cosby’s pitch-perfect sophomore novel is brutal, twisty, and very gritty. Blacktop Wasteland will…
3rd pov, 4.5 STARS, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, American, Black & Black heritage authors, Blacktop Wasteland, cars, Contemporary, CRIME, DEATH, family, fatherhood, fathers & sons, grit lit, heist, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, male authors, Noir, published in 2020, read in 2020, rural setting, S.A. Cosby, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, Southern America, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, THRILLER, violence, virginia -
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson — book review
I more or less inhaled this book. “You get to choose who you are. Legacy, memories of the past, can serve us well. But we cannot let them define us. When heritage becomes a box instead of an inspiration, it has gone too far.” This is easily my favourite book by Brandon Sanderson. A few…
4.5 STARS, action, adrenaline fuelled reads, adventure, ALIENS, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Brandon Sanderson, coming of age, Cytonic Series, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), fathers & daughters, friendships, identity, male authors, ON BOOKS, published in 2018, read in 2020, REVIEWS, SCI-FI, Skyward, SPACE, space battles, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, Spensa Nightshade, war, YOUNG ADULT -
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin — book review
Rusting Earth…The Fifth Season is a spectacular read. “This is what you must remember: the ending of one story is just the beginning of another. This has happened before, after all.” Reviewing The Fifth Season is no small feat. We have N.K. Jemisin’s writing style, her intricate and all-encompassing world-building, and her unflinching and emotionally…
5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, action, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, apocalyptic, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), environmental, fantastic worldbuilding, favourite authors, female authors, FOLKLORE, gay side characters, GRIEF, high fantasy, hugo winners, lgbtq+ side, morality, motherhood, mothers & daughters, myths, N.K. Jemisin, nature, philosophical, post-apocalyptic, POWERS, queer side characters, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2020, revenge, REVIEWS, SCI-FI, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, survival, terrific prose, The Fifth Season, tragedy, trans side characters, trauma, violence -
Luna & Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald
LUNA A review by The Guardian of Luna perfectly captures the novel’s content by calling it a ‘cut-throat soap opera in space’ in which ‘Mafia-style mining families’ clash with one another. Ian McDonald’s has written a vicious and intense story populated by an array of brutally fierce families that compete against each other to exploit…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, action, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, British author, family, futuristic, hard sci-fi, IAN MCDONALD, lgbtq+, Luna, Luna #1, Luna #2, male authors, moon, political intrigue, politics, queer, read in 2017, SCI-FI, SPACE OPERA, SPECULATIVE FICTION, survival, violence, WOLF MOON