cat

4.5 stars

DNF @ 90% lol
this was okay and I think would be a great read for younger girls, but I just don't think the lighter YA reads are really for me anymore

2.5 stars

DNF @ 60%

2.5 stars

one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read

3.5 stars

3.5 stars

DNF @ 25%

11/16/2020 - 4.5 stars
i love me a murderous, vengeful woman
11/10/21 - bumping to 5 stars upon reread

important story/commentary but ultimately didn't really do much for me. not really interested in reading from the perspective of a white boy discovering racism exists.

4.5 stars.
so so good!! would definitely recommend going into this thinking of it as a contemporary, not a thriller. I loved the social commentary and discussions of gentrification, redlining, & racism. I found the ending to be a bit rushed and too unbelievable which knocked my rating down a lil.

4.5 stars

3.5 stars
this could have been 10x darker and creepier

this was... fine? I liked & appreciated the overall message of how important it is to vote and the discussions of voter suppression, racism, police brutality, political activism, etc. but the characters just felt really flat to me and I didn't really feel the high stakes of the conflict.

DNF at 81% /:
was just not catching my attention at all and even being this far into the book, I don't really feel pressed to finish. had some really good creepy parts but it just didn't hook me!

this one was pretty disappointing as it started out SO promising. Molly's chapters seemed so creepy and dark and I felt so anxious throughout them! I was so interested to see what was actually going on. unfortunately, I found that out a little too quickly. as the author starts to give “little” clues, I started guessing what was going and who was involved. it sucked to see I was right on almost everything. I also was so unbelievably bored with Nicole's chapters and found myself skimming through them a lot of the time. in the end, what is actually happening just isn't as scary or creepy as it seemed in the beginning (I think I've been reading too much horror lately so “standard” thrillers have been disappointing). I was pretty underwhelmed but also was still left with questions about those involved and their motives.. it didn't really make sense to me. this focused a lot on familial drama and relationships and how grief can effect these things and I just didn't really care about those aspects.
I think those that enjoyed Emma in the Night will still like this one but it just didn't work for me!

3.5 stars!
this was a pretty fun, campy, horror read. I really enjoyed the writing style and how it really just felt like Sawyer was a friend casually talking to me and telling me this weird story. I wish there was a little bit more explanation throughout, especially with the ending, but obviously that's hard to do in such a short story. would definitely recommended and I'm excited to check out more from this author!

3.5ish?
likes
- book about books :')
- lots of interesting discussions in here
- no romance!!!

dislikes
- characterization was pretty week and one-dimensional
- ending wrapped up a little too perfectly

overall, this was a pretty good YA that actually reads like YA. not terrible, not amazing.

maybe more of a 3.25?
really enjoyed the first half and the ending, the second half was meh for me. did not focus on the “kill club” as much as I would have liked and who was ultimately behind it didn't really make sense to me and we don't get much of an explanation for that. I wish we had a little less focus on the relationships and more on the logistics of the club. appreciated the queer rep in a thriller

DNF @ 54%

likes
- lgbt+ rep in a mystery/thriller
- social commentary on who is considered a “throwaway girl”

dislikes
- pretty slow moving until the last bit
- no motive or reasoning is ever given for the killer
- everything just felt so messy and I was confused for most of this; I felt like I was plopped down into a story that had already started and wasn't given enough backstory/info to catch me up
- one of my least favorite twists/tropes - we're reading from two perspectives & don't know who the second is and the people in both perspectives are the same person but go by different names.. bleh

first read 10/7: 4 stars
second read 10/31: 5 stars

I'm convinced R.J. Parker has never met a child in his entire life

fun!!