Closer to a 2.5 Take my review with a grain of salt, but this book wasn't really for me. I was really intrigued by the first chapter, but then the storCloser to a 2.5 Take my review with a grain of salt, but this book wasn't really for me. I was really intrigued by the first chapter, but then the story really lost me after a while. The writing was absolutely stunning at times, and there were some quotes I thought were so powerful. But then I was also annoyed by all the misogynistic comments from the male characters constantly.
I read this book for a reading vlog where my BookTube friends controlled my TBR! Check out the vlog here: ...more
2 stars might seem harsh because this book wasn鈥檛 bad, it was just so forgettable, and the writing felt very basic to me. The amount of times she said2 stars might seem harsh because this book wasn鈥檛 bad, it was just so forgettable, and the writing felt very basic to me. The amount of times she said 鈥渉is eyes were full of stars鈥� or some other cliche line was annoying. It read like boy band fanfiction, but not in a fun way. There鈥檚 a 鈥減lot twist鈥� in this book that I thought was sooooo obvious. There was no chemistry between these two either, and the main character kind of drove me nuts.
I liked it for the cozy, winter atmosphere and the setting but that鈥檚 about it. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l be reading from this author again after disliking this book and her other book The Reunion....more
This horror book started off so promising!!! I flew through the first 70 pages so quick and I was so invested. It had alUgh, I鈥檓 so bummed about this.
This horror book started off so promising!!! I flew through the first 70 pages so quick and I was so invested. It had all the creepy atmosphere, I love the haunted hotel atmosphere, I love that we鈥檙e following a single mother who is fleeing from an abusive situation and she鈥檚 also pregnant herself with another child on the way. She鈥檚 doing whatever she can to protect her little girl, and getting a job at this hotel is all she can do right now.
I loved the set up of this book, it was reminding me of some of my favorite horror books like Lock Every Door and Nestlings. The owner of the hotel starts acting shady, strange occurrences happen, the residents who live at the hotel are acting weird, and she keeps hearing noises in the hotel, like slurping sounds and splashing sounds coming from the tubs. It had great creepy vibes~
But this book got very repetitive in a lot of ways. The way she kept calling her daughter 鈥渟tinker鈥� all the time was very annoying. And a lot of the conversations in this book felt so repetitive. I thought the first 50% was so intriguing but then the second half of the book got sooooo cheesy. The ideas in this book were cool, but the execution was not well done at all, and I found myself losing interest and skimming a lot in the end. All the potential was there for this book to be great, but it really lost me in the second half, which is such a bummer!!
Thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!...more
Closer to a 2.5 Sadly, this was just not the book for me. I'm not the biggest fan of cozy mysteries, and there were so many characters in this book, itCloser to a 2.5 Sadly, this was just not the book for me. I'm not the biggest fan of cozy mysteries, and there were so many characters in this book, it was kind of confusing me at times.
I read this book for a reading vlog where my BookTube friends controlled my TBR! Check out the vlog here: ...more
1.5 stars Cool premise, but the execution of the story was not great in my opinion. It felt so generic and cheesy, and I never once felt any suspense o1.5 stars Cool premise, but the execution of the story was not great in my opinion. It felt so generic and cheesy, and I never once felt any suspense or dread the way I was supposed to. I also thought the alien POV was very cheesy and didn't add anything to the story for me.
Here's the Christmas books vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
2.5 stars The concept for this book is so unique and fun, a prince of Christmas with a prince of Halloween? It sounds incredible. But this book is not 2.5 stars The concept for this book is so unique and fun, a prince of Christmas with a prince of Halloween? It sounds incredible. But this book is not exactly the fun festive rom com it markets itself as. This book almost read like fantasy at times with all the holiday 'politics' and the negotiations between the different holidays. It kind of bored me to tears at times, I'm not a big fantasy reader and I could care less about all the politics between the holidays. The romance in this book was just okay, I think this book would've been better if we had a dual POV instead of only getting Coal's POV.
Here's the Christmas books vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
2.5 stars This had all the elements to be great and it just wasn't. Such an interesting premise, but then the characters felt so one dimensional and I 2.5 stars This had all the elements to be great and it just wasn't. Such an interesting premise, but then the characters felt so one dimensional and I just didn't care at all about the romance.
Halfway through I got the feeling I should just DNF, and I kind of wish I did. This was just not for me. I'm tired of reading stories about weird "misHalfway through I got the feeling I should just DNF, and I kind of wish I did. This was just not for me. I'm tired of reading stories about weird "misunderstood" men sexualizing women in the creepiest way. I am not the audience for this book, I wanted it to get way more creepy or weird or interesting, but instead we spent most of the story in the head of this weird guy who is sexualizing one of his female friends. I was bored and I wanted more. I don't think this is the author for me tbh....more
I probably should've just DNF'ed this one. The beginning started out so strong, but then after the first 20% I got so bored with this story. This bookI probably should've just DNF'ed this one. The beginning started out so strong, but then after the first 20% I got so bored with this story. This book is supposed to be a horror book, but it reads much more like a police procedural mystery, and the POV of our protagonist who is a detective really started to bore me after a while. I think this author was trying to do too much with all the different tropes crammed into the second half of this book.
Here's the vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
This book started off so promising. It had fun vibes at the start, I was sure it would be a new favorite, but sadly after about 100 pages in, the storThis book started off so promising. It had fun vibes at the start, I was sure it would be a new favorite, but sadly after about 100 pages in, the story got boring for me. There was a lot of action happening, but the story lacked any suspense, and I just didn't care about what was happening. This book compares itself to Ready or Not, and while I get the comparison, I think this book is like a watered down way less interesting version of Ready or Not.
Here's the reading vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
Ugh, I really wanted to love this, but this writing style did not work for me. I'm usually a big fan of grief horror and body horror, and while I did Ugh, I really wanted to love this, but this writing style did not work for me. I'm usually a big fan of grief horror and body horror, and while I did enjoy those things about this book, the writing itself just wasn't that great (in my opinion). The horror elements of this book were done so well, lots of gory descriptions of this character peeling off his skin, it made me a little squeamish at times, which is what I want out of a book like this, but I also couldn't stand any of the characters, especially his brother. There was also a story within a story element to this book, and those chapters also bored me, and I found it got so repetitive with the rereading some of the same chapters from the story over and over again. This just didn't work for me sadly....more
I don't typically love thrillers where we follow a detective POV, but this book had multiple POV's which kept it interesting. I was very fascinated byI don't typically love thrillers where we follow a detective POV, but this book had multiple POV's which kept it interesting. I was very fascinated by Ellie's chapters which were taking place in the past, and I liked alternating timelines between the past and the present day after she returns. There were some things I really loved about this book, but unfortunately, I found it to be just okay. The writing style was so repetitive and clunky at times -- it just didn't flow very naturally, and while I appreciated some of the social commentary, some of it was just sooooo on the nose. The ending was also a little far-fetched for me.
Here's the vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
This was such a strange book. I was really disliking it in the first half, Eileen's character was driving me nuts. It was like she was trying way too This was such a strange book. I was really disliking it in the first half, Eileen's character was driving me nuts. It was like she was trying way too hard to be edgy and different and *not like the other girls* and talking about her shit and "nether regions" way too often lol. But the second half picked up a lot once Rebecca got introduced into the story, it got a lot more interesting. The second half of the book was better, but I still felt like there was something missing from this book to make it great.
I read this book and watched the movie adaptation for a Patreon exclusive reading vlog, you can watch it here: ...more
2.5 stars Ahhh, I wanted to love this so bad. I usually love horror that involves a character dealing with grief, but this book just really didn't work2.5 stars Ahhh, I wanted to love this so bad. I usually love horror that involves a character dealing with grief, but this book just really didn't work for me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style; it got so repetitive with him constantly bringing up his father and memories from the past. This book is only about 25% about him getting swallowed by the whale and 75% of him talking about his father and the issues they had. I just didn't connect with this one emotionally the way I was hoping to, and I wanted the story to feel more suspenseful than it did.
Here's the vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
Sadly, wasn't a big fan of this one. I liked getting Calla's POV, but was not a big fan of Jamie's POV, and he took up so much of the story. Will be dSadly, wasn't a big fan of this one. I liked getting Calla's POV, but was not a big fan of Jamie's POV, and he took up so much of the story. Will be discussing more thoughts in a live show soon!
Here's the reading vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
2.5 stars Yikes, I have an unpopular opinion on this one. But I think this might be a ME thing and not necessarily the book. For me, this read a lot mo2.5 stars Yikes, I have an unpopular opinion on this one. But I think this might be a ME thing and not necessarily the book. For me, this read a lot more like historical fiction than horror, and I'm not the biggest historical fiction fan. I thought the pacing of this book was so slow, it was killing me. I also don't always love to read about witches, it's very hit or miss for me because sometimes it can feel a little too fantasy for me and I lose interest. I also realized about myself while reading this that I don't love body horror when it revolves around pregnancy and that was especially tough to read. I already don't want children, and some of these birth scenes in this book were so brutal and hard to read, it definitely reminded me why I don't ever want to have that experience. I love Grady Hendrix, but this just wasn't the book for me.
I read this during Winterween, you can hear more of my thoughts in this vlog: ...more
Sadly, this thriller ended up being so boring and forgettable for me. I liked the jumping back and forth between timelines and POV's, but there were sSadly, this thriller ended up being so boring and forgettable for me. I liked the jumping back and forth between timelines and POV's, but there were so many characters to keep track of it got a little confusing. I didn't particularly connect with either one of the sisters, and the reveals weren't very shocking either. I read this for Reese's book club pick and I think I've come to the realization that we have completely opposite taste when it comes to her thriller picks.
Here's the reading vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
This started off so promising, I love thrillers that involve weddings, and I was loving the atmosphere at the start of this book. But I quickly lost iThis started off so promising, I love thrillers that involve weddings, and I was loving the atmosphere at the start of this book. But I quickly lost interest in the story, and why did this book feel like it should've ended like 3 different times? The ending just drags on and on and on and I was so over it by that point. The main character was also driving me nuts at certain parts in the story, like why was he such a grouch about certain things???
Here's the vlog where I read this book and a few others: ...more
Loading...
