So glad I loved this one! I usually prefer the Wayward Children installments that revisit the original characters but this one really hit for me. I found it absolutely fascinating the fact that going through the doors steals your years? one of the most innovative additions to this series that I never saw coming.
Can't wait to continue on with Antsy's journey seeing that she's also going to be a character in the next installment.
I was EATING THIS UP. Until like the last 200 pages when I got kind of bored.
I got to enjoy the majority of this book thinking it was going to be a 5 star, but the end was more of a 2 for me. So I averaged it out and hit it with a 4 because the majority of it was SO GOOD.
I have never read anything like this before. Maybe other books like this exist but it was new to me and I thought it was really interesting.
This one was a surprise in the best possible way for me and I couldn't get enough of it. I was sad when it was over.
I read this cause Booksandlala really liked it on YouTube, but I forgot that her and my tastes are usually opposites lol.
I saw 2 of the plot twists coming and 2 I didn't. The first I didn't see coming I was really intrigued by but it was minuscule and didn't really add much to the story, and then the other one I really didn't like at all.
Sad I didn't like this one cause I really wanted to.
Brb as a I cry about the fact that I didn't love this one when I've adored the other two thrillers I've read by Ashley Winstead (In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is one of my favorite books of all time).
I am not a religious undertones thriller girlie unless it's a.) a cult or b.) historical fiction with a focus on witches.
So the premise was already not one that stood out to me.
I probably wouldn't have even picked it up if it wasn't written by Ashley. So maybe that's on me. But I did pick it up. And I did finish it. And here we are. With me being left extremely disappointed. It took me forever to get through when I've devoured all her other works as fast I could.
Oh and also I hated the ambiguity of the ending in this one. Just the last straw on a book I already wasn't enjoying.
I am heartbroken to report that I did not love this one as much as I did the first one.
It didn't read the same. It was much more of a drag for me to try to get through and it took me way longer to finish.
I found myself getting so angry at Violet and Xaden throughout this book and I was just yelling at them HOW FUCKING HARD IS IT TOO COMMUNICATE?? You keep having the same fucking fight about how he isn't telling you things, and she isn't asking. And then they fuck and it's all better. This book made them so toxic. And Xaden didn't even seem like the same person! The entirety of the first book was how he trusted her to take care of herself and he believed in her and this one undid all of that with how protective he became of her. It was beyond annoying.
I did cry again because I still love these characters so much and their pain also caused me pain. Theory:
I think Violet's dad is involved with the Venin and that's why none of them are allowed to kill her. but I will definitely be finding out if I'm right because I'm still going to be reading Onyx Storm as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on a copy.
OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK. I have not felt the way I felt about this book for too long. I found myself squealing, and laughing, and crying, and kicking my feet. I could not get enough. I adored every single part of this book.
The primary romance reminded me so much of one of my own (remembered fondly in this context).
I developed such strong feelings for all the characters, even minor ones that I cried over them.
I was so invested I convinced two of my friends to read it too and I bought merch before I'd even finished this books.
ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED. I need this novel injected into my veins.
This book was extremely well written. I'll give it that. It's what? Over 500 pages? And I read so easily, so fast, so smoothly.
The 2 star rating is a me problem.
If this had been a thriller I would have probably given it 5 stars. Like I said, I loved the writing. I loved getting to read from the perspective of the stalker.
I didn't even mind the graphic scenes.
It was when it turned into the “romance” part of the “dark romance” that it lost me.
I knew what I was getting into and I just couldn't do it. It's not for me, I can't suspend the disbelief for it to work. I just was angry at Adeline the entire time.
I didn't really like this book that much while I was reading it. It read slowly and I had to push through most of it. Kind of boring for awhile. And then it was just straight torture porn that didn't really do anything for me. Maeve was extremely unlikeable. None of the “reveals” felt like reveals and I saw them all coming.
But it made me feel a lot of emotions; emotions I didn't want to feel. Emotions that were very intense and confusing.
It made my heart hurt, but I felt bad that my heart hurt. I shouldn't have been heartbroken, but I was. The ending hurt my heart. Most of the book I knew it was going to be a 2 star. But the feelings the ending elicited against my will? That bumped it up a bit.
Half of this felt like a romance novel which is not what I came here for, yet the end jumped straight into the torture horror aspect but still somehow tied the romance back in?
I'm confused that despite not really enjoying the journey, and really disliking the majority of the “horror” (read torture porn) I'm somehow also kind of impressed? This is unlike any genre of book I've ever read, but it all came together and sort of worked for me in the end.
Let's just say this is not what I expected and not in a good way. much more paranormal than I thought it'd be. I was hoping for a dark psychological take on conversion therapy and a story that actually took place at the camp. But only like the last 3 chapters were actually at the camp Overall just largely disappointed, and didn't really enjoy. Marketed as a horror but it didn't deliver for me.
“You shouldn't have come here”
“I shouldn't have read this”
This book read extremely quickly and I was able to fly through it but it was not good.
This shouldn't be marketed as a thriller. It's a dark “romance” at best. But not a good romance either, a cringey, insta-lovey, romance that I felt zero chemistry and zero excitement from.
Not to mention the first like 90% of this book has nothing that makes it feel remotely like a thriller. Even with little seeds of mystery thrown about. Still boring.
And the plot twist didn't feel like a plot twist it just felt straight up unrealistic.
The majority of the time I was just bored hoping something was going to happen. But when something finally did it was quite frankly a disappointment.
This is not usually the kind of book I read. Not really my vibe for many reasons. So I'm not sure how I feel about it.
There were parts of it I really enjoyed (surprisingly to myself), and parts of it that I didn't like.
I'm not a classics girly and this clearly reads like a classic in the writing style. Which isn't for me. I also don't like historical fiction, so it doesn't really make sense why I picked this book up but that's besides the point.
This book surprised me. It's not for everybody that's for sure. But I'd say it was pretty solid.
This was so creepy and atmospheric. I enjoyed parts of it, but other parts just didn't hit for me. I felt like there wasn't enough horror elements to have it marketed as a horror. It felt primarily like a contemporary mystery.
I had read reviews prior to reading this and was worried about the ending, but actually felt like it really fit.
This was... okay. It put me in a reading slump for like two weeks though because I had zero desire to read it. There were parts I liked but overall I just didn't really enjoy it that much.
My favorite of the stories was the one in the Red Dessert. But the rest left a lot to be desired for me.
I also hate to say this but I didn't really like Sam that much.
Someone tell me how this book was published nearly 10 years ago and I somehow managed to not be spoiled by the major reveal at the end of it?
This series is SO good that I don't even have comprehensive thoughts. Just vibes that I love it. And that I'm scared for the future and the characters I like.
Wondering why it took me so long to finally pull the trigger on reading this book because it was SO good.
I loved the competition element, the castle, the training montages, the mystery element. This book was giving everything I wanted and I'm hooked.
Shaping up to have ACOTAR be the least favorite of Sarah J Maas series for me.
The premise of this sounded really interesting to me. Carnivals, circuses, amusement parks are all settings i really enjoy. However, this book.... Was not it. The majority of the plot points revolves around an older woman taking advantage of teenage boys (18, but still wildly inappropriate since there was a power dynamic) but then they a full on 18yo man kiss one of our main characters who is FOURTEEN. And it's not portrayed as predatory or problematic. Like yeah he says “you're too young, I forgot” after the kiss but it's just glossed over???? Like okay gross.
There's also some very uncomfortably worded sex scenes that were minor infractions but still bothered me and grossed me out.
And I'm mad at the reveal cause the villain was the only character I actually liked.
I'm having a really difficult time deciding what to say about this book. I fully support Jackson and her reasons for writing this. The fact that these things happen day to day still in 2022 is absolutely horrific.
The racism shown in this is absolutely more of the horror story than the paranormal aspects to me. This book made me cry.
The systemic racism of an entire town that still practices SEGREGATED proms made me want to vomit.
The amount of people that had grown up with these beliefs and practices for so long that they don't realize why it was an issue. The lack of remorse for severely racist actions. Straight up hate crimes that the characters refuse to take responsibility for is revolting.
The deep rooted racism that some of these characters make apologies for, try to explain away, try to make excuses for is heartbreaking and maddening.
Including some of these actions coming from a black person. The internalized racism he's developed from being constantly exposed to casual racism form people who are supposed to be his friends is rough.
This book turned my stomach and infuriated me. Being inside the head of a racist and getting their POV broke my heart and boggled my mind. Especially knowing that the types of people that behave this way aren't even uncommon to run into during day to day life.
HOWEVER, the overall plot of the story as a horror kind of bored me. Yes, I know it's a retelling of Carrie by Stephen King but the paranormal aspect felt so disjointed and out of place for me. I think that the social commentary of this book was phenomenal, and extremely important and as a contemporary it could provide similar vibes to The Hate U Give. But I simply didn't enjoy the book as the horror/paranormal novel it told me it was going to be and think I would have enjoyed it more without that aspect.
I don't understand why this is getting such a bad rep. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it innovative and new? Also no. But it's still really enjoyable! Maybe going into it with low expectations has helped my enjoyment? But I loved it.
Predictable? Kind of. Convenient? Yeah. Every plot device is wrapped up pretty quickly. Isla seems to find things, and be rescued pretty easily. Is Isla annoying? Ugh yes. She never listens to anything anyone says, and only focuses on herself for like 75% of the book. She's also CONSTANTLY putting herself in reckless situations and getting her hurt/almost killed unnecessarily. She says she can't trust anyone multiple times and then proceeds to do exactly that and convince herself to hell with it let's see what happens! Which often bites her in the ass, but it's YA that's kind of to be expected! I feel like everyone is being so critical, when we should really just take it for what it is. It doesn't have to be that deep. It was an enjoyable read even if it wasn't perfect!
I do kind of wish that it hadn't been set up to be a series though. I feel like without that last chapter (or if we had explored that avenue earlier in the book) it could have been such a good standalone fantasy. Even without finding out about the ending in this book I feel like it was tied up pretty nicely and I'm not sure if I even want to read the next one. I'll be interested to read the premise and see how I feel.
I usually love books set at summer camp. This one fell a bit flat for me though. I felt like the mystery aspect was more of a side plot and I didn't find myself captivated. I was kind of bored most of the time.
One thing I really resonated with was the way Goldie felt about her friendship with Imogen and Ava. The feeling of being in such a close relationship yet also feeling left out is something that really hits with my own anxiety.
But overall this book just fell flat for me.
This was so creepy and atmospheric! I really liked it! I've seen a lot of thing comparing it to Mexican Gothic, which I can see. The creepy Victorian fungal horror stuff. However I do think that this book was a better length. This story really lent itself to a shorter page length in my opinion since it made the pace fast enough that I didn't get bored.
I adored this book. Probably one of my favorites of the year. It was so phenomenally done and there were so many twists that I did not see coming.
There were times where I was scared, time where I felt sad, times I felt confused. My emotions were all over the place. I just can't get over how good this was. I was NOT expecting to love this as much as I did.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke which was disappointing.
I really enjoyed the novella component and would give that section 5 stars.
However the rest of the book was boring for me which drug the entire thing down to a 3. I just didn't care about Martyr and Ambrose at all, and how were their stories even related to the novella?
They felt like two different books shoved together. The novella should have been the entire story and Martyr and Ambrose should have been edited out.