Laura
Nat Cassidy does it AGAIN and delivers a tale of macabre wonder equal parts heart wrenching and thrilling. It takes a special kind of understanding of the human psyche to write something like this, and it becomes clear he does by the time you're reading the afterword (which had me, once again, in tears – as his experiences seem to mirror my own).
I could see much of what influenced this book, but it didn't feel derivative in the least. It's a pretty creative take on fairy tales, and I loved every moment of it. Definitely a new favorite.
Very mixed feelings about this one tbh
eta: after having slept on it, I can say I kind of hated this. The way religious trauma is described here might be the most interesting part but it still falls short and leave us with a protagonist who's a bit flat, even with all the development she goes through (which, again, isn't as deep or engaging to read about). There's also the way it's written. So many ‘ums' and short sentences and then there are sentences that are meant to sound poetic but they come across corny instead.
And then, we don't even get a proper pay off when it comes to the main character's main quest for most of the book? what a letdown.
3.5
Short story collections are so tricky to rate, and this one is not exception. While King's prose remains sharp as ever and I remained mostly engaged throughout, because there are some pretty good stories in here, I do think some do take a lot of time to get to the point and lost me a bit. Also it'll never be too soon for mentions of COVID in fiction but that's just my personal feeling.
Ms. Henry got me again! This was delightful, and honestly hit a little close to home. I don't always see myself reflected in fictional characters (nor do I really need to in order to enjoy something) but being able to see some of my own experiences with my dad so clearly put into words certainly hit a chord. Might be my second favorite book of hers after Book Lovers tbh.
thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC!
In this book, we meet Ji-won, who's still reeling from her father leaving her home. The book is a slow-burn as it takes a look at Ji-won's dynamics with her family (her mother and her sister) and the pressure she faces. Things begin to unravel when her mother begins dating a man named George.
While this book delivers in its very gnarly premise and has some nausea inducing moments, I unfortunately couldn't connect with the writing as much as I wanted to, as I often found every character aside from the protagonist was one dimensional and just doing things for the plot's sake and some events were just too convenient. Wanted to love it, but it left me feeling lukewarm.
Karin Slaughter really is THAT girl when it comes to thrillers. I actually found myself enjoying this way more than Pretty Girls, because I was so much more invested in the main characters and the sisters' dynamic. This book is dark, and content warnings abound, but there's a point to the brutality. There's a heart at the center of it, and it tests how far you're willing to go for the people you love.
While I think it could've been trimmed a bit, and I'm still getting used to reading about Covid (though in this case it seemed to work rather well), I was so enthralled by it the whole time any hang ups I may have don't really matter. I just loved it.
I debated for the longest time whether to read this book or not, thinking it wouldn't be an enjoyable reading experience, but boy am I so glad to be proven wrong! This did for me what Sally Rooney does for other people, and while I can see why some people might find some of the writing annoying or pretentious, this hit all the right notes for me. It's a stunning character study of extremely flawed and, yes, unlikable people at times. Definitely a new favorite of mine.
Wow, I didn't think this would be a new favorite considering I'd seen the movie a couple of times and thought it was just okay, but truly I loved this!!! Whenever I go into this type of survival horror, I expect to have a visceral reaction to it and this was exactly that. The body horror was top notch and the fact we're giving insight into our four main characters rather than being told from a single perspective raised the stakes and I was engaged throughout.
A lot was changed in the movie so I wanted so badly to know what would happen. It reminded me of Nick Cutter's The Troop, which is another one of my favorite books. So, yeah, a new favorite for sure.
This is what Rob Zombie thought he was doing! This book is short but it packs a punch and doesn't hold back. It's not for the faint of the heart but man, it was so compulsively readable for it and I loved the main character so much. I like the way the author subverts certain clichés as well even though I sometimes see the twists coming, but that adds to the charm.
So now excuse me while I go read another Sodergren book...
