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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 -
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
“It felt scary, as if she were stepping across some invisible boundary, as if she might not know herself afterward. As if she were becoming the self she’d always thought lurked just underneath her skin. Her coolest possible self.” The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is very much old-school Holly Black: edgy aesthetics, gritty/snarky dialogues, and…
3.25 stars, 3rd pov, Adult, adventure, age gap, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, balls, bi side characters, DEATH, drama, dystopia, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, gritty aesthetics, HOLLY BLACK, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, lgbtq+ side, monsters, no plot just vibes, PARANORMAL, published in 2013, queer side characters, re-reads, read in 2013, read in 2022, revenge, road trip, ROMANCE, SPECULATIVE FICTION, survival, The Coldest Girl, trans side characters, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, violence, YOUNG ADULT -
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
“I feel like giving up, lying down on this wall and closing my eyes and just doing nothing – not bothering to try to fit into the human world, not bothering to make friends and art, not bothering to source blood and feed myself.” Woman, Eating is a great example of a good concept being…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, adulthood, ALIENATION, arc, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, Claire Kohda, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, dark, eating disorders, england, FANTASY, female authors, identity, illness, jealousy, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, loneliness, midlife crisis, morality, mothers & daughters, My reviews, navel gazing, netgalley, obsession, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, sexual assault/abuse/rape, she is not feeling good at all, slow pacing, unrequited love, VAMPIRES, Woman Eating -
The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig
…and I thought that vampires were passé. The Fell of Dark is a fun take that on vampires and ‘the chosen one’ trope. Usually, I’m a nitpicking reader but with The Fell of Dark I was happy to suspend my disbelief. Is this novel perfect? Definitely not. Is it entertaining? Hell yes!Our narrator and protagonist,…
3.75 stars, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWS, Caleb Roehrig, chosen one, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, FANTASY, gay, HIGH SCHOOL, HUMOR, Illinois, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, m/m, m/m/m, MAGIC, male authors, PARANORMAL, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, ROMANCE, SMALL TOWN, The Fell of Dark, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, WITCHES, YOUNG ADULT -
Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire — book review
Although occasionally entertaining, Come Tumbling Down struck me as a rather unnecessary and insubstantial addition to the Wayward Children series. “Once a wayward child, always a wayward child.” Don’t get me wrong: Seanan McGuire’s writing style is as lush as ever. Her prose, with its use rhythm and repetition, echoes that of fairy-tale, lending a…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, Come Tumbling Down, FAIRY TALES, FAIRYLAND, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, female authors, lgbtq+, magic school, MAGICAL DOORS, MAGICAL REALISM, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, portal fantasy, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, science, Seanan McGuire, TOR novella, twins, VAMPIRES, Wayward Children, YOUNG ADULT -
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova — book review
What could have been the perfect historical mystery for bibliophiles ended up being an unnecessarily long-winded and frequently dull novel. “Looking up from my work, I suddenly realized that someone had left a book whose spine I had never seen before among my own textbooks, which sat on a shelf above my desk. The spine…
15th century, 1950s, 1970s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, adventure, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, bram stoker, bulgaria, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dracula, drama, Elizabeth Kostova, epistolary, female authors, FOLKLORE, FRANCE, GOTHIC, historians, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, istanbul, librarians, libraries/bookshops, LITERARY FICTION, modern gothic, MYSTERY, Netherlands, philosophical, psychological, published in 2005, READ IN 2019, Religion, Romania, slow pacing, story within a story, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, the historian, travel, Turkey, unnamed narrator, VAMPIRES -
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Le Fanu, who to his own discontent was proclaimed as being ‘the Irish Wilkie Collins’, is celebrated for having written one of the first vampire stories. One of the most discussed aspect of ‘Carmilla’ is not the vampirism itself as much as the fact that both the vampire and the victims are female. I was…
luce [is reading] 