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Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater
2022 is officially dead to me. look, i don’t know what to say or write besides me not liking this book is one big & unwelcome twist. having loved every TRC book and book 1 and 2 in this dreamer trilogy, i wasn’t even worried about not loving this. ah. what a fool. the more…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTISTS, brothers, cambridge (us), confusing for the sake of being confusing, Contemporary, Dreams, f/f side, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, Harvard, lgbtq+, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, queer, queer side characters, read in 2022, series that went downhill, the dreamer trilogy, the raven cycle, unreliable narrative, URBAN FANTASY, virginia -
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
My review for No Gods, No Monsters will not make a lot of sense. The main reason for this is that, to be quite frank, I did not ‘get’ this novel. I did try, I persevered in spite of my mounting confusion, hoping that at some point I would be able to understand the what/why/who/hows…
3 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Cadwell Turnbull, confusing for the sake of being confusing, Contemporary, cults, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), FANTASY, gay side characters, HORROR, lgbtq+, MAGIC, male authors, monsters, My reviews, MYSTERY, No Gods No Monsters, PARANORMAL, polyamory, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, SUPERNATURAL, TRANSGENDER, URBAN FANTASY, violence, werewolves -
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
“A library at night is full of sounds: The unread books can’t stand it any longer and announce their contents, some boasting, some shy, some devious.” Confusion galore! What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a relentlessly inventive and delightfully playful collection of interlocked short stories. These intentionally bewildering fabulist stories are inhabited by…
3 STARS, Adult, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), england, f/f side, FANTASY, female authors, Helen Oyeyemi, interconnected stories, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+, libraries/bookshops, m/m side, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, nigerian british author, published in 2016, queer, read in 2021, reading, short stories, story within a story, surreal, weird -
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
As per usual I was swayed by a pretty cover. I mean, just look at it! Anyway, as much as I wanted to like Build Your House Around My Body, it left me feeling rather underwhelmed. The narrative seems very much intent—hellbent even—on nauseating its readers, at times adopting a playful tone to do so.…
1940s, 1980s, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, arc, Build Your House Around My Body, confusing for the sake of being confusing, creepy setting, curses, dark humor, DEATH, f/f side, female authors, FOLKLORE, ghosts/spirits, grotesque, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, interconnected stories, lgbtq+ side, loneliness, love triangle, missing persons, missing women, MYSTERY, netgalley, playful style, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2021, revenge, sexual assault/abuse/rape, Vietnam, vietnam war, Vietnamese American Author, Violet Kupersmith -
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The cover for this book is goals…its contents not so much. I found this novel to be an odd melange of confusing and simple. The characters came across as flat (little more than names on a page), the world-building, although at first promising, ultimately struck me as patchy, and the storyline and…
American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, environmental, female authors, identity, insta love, ISLAND, Joan He, MEMORY, My reviews, netgalley, plot over character, published in 2021, read in 2021, ROMANCE, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, sea, SISTERS, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The ones we're meant to find -
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón — book review
From the blatant sexism pouring through each page to its bloated plot, The Labyrinth of the Spirits offers an inadequate conclusion to what I considered to be an entertaining series. If anything this disastrous farewell has made me reevaluate the whole Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. I vaguely remember finding the female representation in these…
1950s, 2 STARS, 20th century, 3rd pov, Adult, Barcelona, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, books i hate, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, confusing for the sake of being confusing, DETECTIVE, drama, GOTHIC, HISTORICAL FICTION, Madrid, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, MELODRAMA, men who do not seem to know how to write women, modern gothic, MYSTERY, published in 2016, rape, read in 2020, sensation fiction, sexual assault/abuse/rape, spain, spanish author, story within a story, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, The Labyrinth of the Spirits, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley — book review
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is a somewhat disappointing followup to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Having really enjoyed The Watchmaker of Filigree Street I was really looking forward to be reunited with Thaniel and Mori. Within the first chapters I had a slight sense of deja vu. The main difference between this sequel and…
1880s, 19TH CENTURY, 2 STARS, 3rd pov, alternate history, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, confusing for the sake of being confusing, cultural dissonance, drama, england, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, japan, lgbtq+, LONDON, m/m, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, MYSTERY, Natasha Pulley, plot over character, published in 2020, read in 2020, STEAMPUNK, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, VICTORIAN -
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton — book review
Whodunnits, Agatha Christie, mysteries, and puzzles are all favourites of mine…so I was pretty excited to read The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle as it promised to combine all of these things together. “I suddenly have the sense of taking part in a play in which everybody knows their lines but me.” With a fascinating…
1930S, 1st pov, 2.5 STARS, 20th century, action, AGATHA CHRISTIE, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Books that take place in a single day, British author, confusing for the sake of being confusing, CRIME, DETECTIVE, england, Groundhog Day, HISTORICAL FICTION, lgbtq+ side, manor/big house, morality, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, published in 2018, read in 2020, SPECULATIVE FICTION, Stuart Turton, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, whodunnit, why the hype
luce [is reading] 