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My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby
Not to sound dramatic but I feel betrayed. Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears managed to be gripping and gritty reads that managed to pack an emotional punch. The only nice thing I can say about My Darkest Prayer is that it attests to Cosby having grown as an author. My Darkest Prayer reads like a…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, amateur detective, America, Black & Black heritage authors, Contemporary, CRIME, funeral homes, grit lit, male authors, men who are sleazy, men who do not seem to know how to write women, MURDER, My Darkest Prayer, MYSTERY, Noir, published in 2019, read in 2023, S.A. Cosby, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, Southern America, THRILLER, violence -
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 -
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 -
Men, Women, and Chainsaws by Stephen Graham Jones
Despite its short length Men, Women, and Chainsaws packs a punch. This novella is characterized by Stephen Graham Jones’ signature style, which is as propelling as it is chaotic. The central character’s knowledge of slashers and her intense personality brought to mind Jade from the author’s The Lake Witch trilogy, so I found myself rooting…
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Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
“You have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night” Although I have previously quoted Lady Gaga’s iconic “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same,…
1980s, 1990s, 4 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, argentina, argentinian author, atmospheric, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boyhood, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, creepy setting, cults, dark, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, graphic content, GRIEF, grotesque, growing up, GUILT, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, illness, latin america, lgbtq+, loneliness, Mariana Enríquez, missing girls, missing persons, morality, occult, orphans, otherness, Our Share of Night, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2019, queer, read in 2022, road trip, sexual assault/abuse/rape, strong sense of place, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, toxic relationships, tragedy, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unrequited love, violence -
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
We Had to Remove This Post is one of those books that leaves me thinking…well, not much beyond: this is a thing that exists It doesn’t happen all that much but now and again I read books that spectacularly fail to elicit any discernible feeling or emotion in me (beyond ‘meh’). This is ironic given…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, cold tone, Contemporary, dutch author, f/f, female authors, feverish, Hanna Bervoets, HORROR, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, morality, Netherlands, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, office, paranoia, psychological, published in 2021, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, social issues, social media, subject over characters/story, technology, TRANSLATED FICTION, unreliable narrators, violence, We Had to Remove This Post, work culture -
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 -
Lakewood by Megan Giddings
“America is only routinely good to women, especially Black women, when it wants something from them.” Having recently read Megan Giddings’ intriguing sophomore novel, The Women Could Fly, I decided to revisit Lakewood, a book that I have picked up and put back down on and off since August 2020. Each reading attempt saw me…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, creepy setting, doctors, female authors, feverish, graphic content, HORROR, illness, Lakewood, Megan Giddings, Michigan, morality, MYSTERY, near future/alternate reality, Poverty, psychological, published in 2020, RACE, read in 2022, reading, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, subject over characters/story, surreal, SUSPENSE, violence -
Lightseekers by Femi Kayode
Lightseeker is a propulsive thriller that combines a who/whydunnit with a thought-provoking social commentary. Set in Nigeria, Lightseeker is predominantly narrated by Dr. Philip Taiwo, an investigative psychologist who has recently returned to Nigeria after having spent years in the United States. A husband and a father of two, Philip struggles to readjust to Nigeria’s…
3 STARS, Adult, affairs, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, CRIME, cults, cultural dissonance, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Femi Kayode, graphic content, Lightseeker, male authors, MURDER, My reviews, MYSTERY, Nigeria, Nigerian author, politics, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, published in 2021, read in 2022, reading, SMALL TOWN, small town crime, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, THRILLER, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, violence
luce [is reading] 