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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
That was what Lethe and the societies demanded. Secrecy. Loyalty. Well, fuck them. In Hell Bent, the long-awaited sequel to the high-octane Ninth House, we are reunited with the danger-prone and dangerous Alex Stern. Still recovering from her several near-death experiences, and attempting to keep up with her coursework and maintain the facade of being…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, adventure, alex stern, alex stern #2, ambiguous protagonist, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, autumn, California, campus, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, DEMONS, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, ghosts/spirits, gritty aesthetics, hell, Hell Bent, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, Leigh Bardugo, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, place as character, PRIVILEGE, published in 2023, quests, read in 2023, rich people, secret societies, secretiveness, she is dangerous, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, violence, Yale -
A Carnivore’s Inquiry by Sabina Murray
“This is what exploration had opened up the door to. Not only widespread slaughter, but the necessary accompaniment of gorging.” Unapologetically solipsistic and deeply manipulative, Katherine, the central character of A Carnivore’s Inquiry, makes for an awful human being and a deeply entertaining narrator. A predecessor to Ottessa Moshfegh and Mona Awad’s protagonists, and many…
1st pov, 2000s, 4 STARS, A Carnivore's Inquiry, A Carnivore's Inquiry by Sabina Murray, Adult, affairs, age gap, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, ART/CREATIVITY, books about writers, cannibalism, cheating, class, cold tone, colonialism, Contemporary, dark, dark humor, desire, ennui, female authors, feverish, filipino american author, GOTHIC, history, HORROR, introspective, Italy, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, madness, maine, Mexico, modern gothic, MURDER, MYSTERY, navel gazing, NEW YORK, no plot just vibes, otherness, PRIVILEGE, psychological, Psychological thriller, psychopaths, published in 2004, read in 2023, rich people, road trip, Sabina Murray, satire, self-destructive, serial killers, she is dangerous, she is not feeling good at all, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the female malaise, travel, unreliable narrators, violence, womanhood/femininity -
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