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Thank you to Book Sirens and to the author for an ARC in exchange for a honest review. 


This book is extremely difficult to put to words but I am attempting to try for the sake of the review!

First of all, this is my first book from this author but I was completely drawn in by this stunning cover. 10/10.

This book is written non chronologically which took some getting to used to but once I did, I really enjoyed the format. 

The actual story itself is carried by these very interesting to read about  characters that are complex and relatable. I felt myself feeling seen as a trans and queer person. I thought it explored topics such as identity, relationships, and love extremely well and felt really hard hitting to someone who is currently experiencing a breakup.

The writing style was fun to read. For just a little example of a quote that I loved...
 “You can break things off, but you don't just turn off your love for the person you were ready to spend the rest of your life with, right? Emotions aren't a faucet. Even if that other person managed to turn off their love faucet for you.”

This book honestly just speaks to me. 

I will probably continue to read the authors backlist because I loved what I read! 

Thank you to Book Sirens and to the author for an ARC in exchange for a honest review. 

Wow. This was a very intense collection of short stories. It was intimate and engrossing pretty much the whole time. It's toxic sapphic relationships, complex characters and some interesting premises. If that's up your alley then I definitely recommend it! I thought some of the stories were better than others but they all were fun to read even given the trigger warnings.

My favourite would have to be If a Customer Asks You to Pretend to Be a Flower for the fun format and unfortunate horrors of humans using chat bots. I won't say anything else!

All in all a great debut and I'm greedily looking forward for the next one.

So I cannot speak for the validity of this book as I'm not Egyptian or living in Egypt but I thought this book tackled issues really well. I enjoyed how the book was plotted out into parts and part 3 was very fun to read. The writing was honestly remarkably beautiful. I would definitely read more from Noor.

Thank you to booksirens and to the author for an EARC copy in exchange for a review.

First of all, this books writing is gorgeous. I fell in LOVE with it. The prose and tone was beautiful and delightfully gothic. I could see, smell and feel the descriptions of the rain, the soil.

These characters were extremely well written and had depth. And the ghost characters?? So thought provoking about life and love. The romance was incredibly intimate and I loved reading about Lucy and Nats love. 

I called the ending but I loved reading up to the conclusion. I thought it was well paced leading up to the ending and I couldn't stop reading. I got emotional at the end too, this book tugged on my heart strings!

I thought maybe some of Lucien's everyday life to be a bit boring and repetitive but that could be the point. 

Overall a really well written book about love, grief, life, death, with ghosts, all wrapped up in a pretty gothic bow.

Thank you to the publisher and to Booksprout for the ebook in exchange for a honest review. 

This was such a cute children's book that really grappled the topic of childhood fear very well. I could feel the fear from the page! 
It brings me back to my own childhood, hiding under my sheets . Haha.

This was a refreshing read from a new to me author.
I really enjoyed the characters and I think this is a really great book for older children, it may have some spooky moments but it's comparable to the first Harry Potter book for scare level. It's nothing too crazy.

I am really interested in this world and I'm hoping for more exploration of the monsters in the next book!

EARC REVIEW! Thank you to the author and booksprout for the arc!
This is a book about being a call centre employee that deals with paranormal entities and possessions. 

I thought this balanced humor and horror really well. It was a really fun time and a very quick read. I liked following Samantha as a character, she felt like a real person in that situation! 

I think maybe just a bit more spooks and ghosts but I thought it was great regardless. 

This reminded me of the video game, Home Safety Hotline so I recommend this book for anyone who liked that.

It's cute but very very short so I don't have too much to rate it by. I'd probably continue reading because it's mysterious but I didn't like the comment in there about “not getting fat”

A very good horror short story collection! My favourites would have to be Our Lady of the Quarry, The Well, Where Are You, Dear Heart, and Meat!

I think it's amazing writing about important topics. Im a big fan of Enriquez and ill pick up whatever she writes next!

I've had this book on my shelf for 10 years and I had yet to finally read it. I loved a lot of Roald Dahl's other books and I enjoyed this one too. The language was fun, the world was fun to read about. However there was some gender stereotypes that was a little uncomfortable to read and  I can't give it higher then a 3.5 just based on nostalgia.

The first two stories, i thought were just fine but the last one was truly the standout! You can see the struggles with money in pre war Germany and I thought it was brilliant.

Thank you NetGallery and the publisher for the arc! 
I've heard many great things about this author and her writing and this is no exception! This is my first Emily Austin and it's definitely compelled me to pick up her others. 
First, I love the rambling-type thoughts as it seems like such good representation of mental health and specifically anxiety. Darcy as a main character was very relatable and I enjoyed being in her head a lot.

I loved the topics it discussed about library's and the importance of learning and knowledge. It was no surprise when I saw that Emily Austin studied library science. So cool! This is a love letter to libraries everywhere and it was beautiful.

I also really enjoyed the subplot, it was exciting and I just flew through it. However there was one point like 75% in that I started to not be as interested in the mundane life but that's on me.

Overall, this was really enjoyable and I'm so happy to have gotten to read this book!

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The length honestly does this book a disservice. I flew through it but it didn't leave me satisfied. It seemed to have a problem where it used too much flowery language that it didn't really say anything. The “romance” felt extremely unnecessary and came at left field when it could've just been a friendship. Also, it doesn't have any stakes when she revived the doctor.That being said, I loved the descriptions of gore and it was wonderfully gothic. If you're looking for a short horror novel with mermaids, go for it!

This book was such a tough read. A book about poverty and addiction but at the core it's a book about love between a mother and son, even through addiction. The writing was beautiful, definitely worthy of the booker prize. The characters were very well fleshed out and I feel like it's an accurate representation. Please head the trigger warnings as this book can get graphic at times, but it doesn't glamorize anything. I'm glad Shuggie was able to leave and find solace in someone even if it meant his mother had to die.

the characters are still amazing but I liked it a little less because of the setting. I think why the other one worked more was because of the woods setting. It was so comforting. This one is still very good though. Such meaningful characters. And this book is made for me because I don't have things figured out yet, and maybe that's okay.

I thought it was entertaining and a really clever concept, however i thought more would happen in the time frame. Her leg disappeared in the last 10% of the book😭

I never wanted to give up, it was enjoyable but I wished it expanded on the world even a bit more.

Also the romance?? Not needed in this book. He doesn't even bring up the fact that he still had a wife and newborn and he cheated,, like..

Oh my god.

Maybe im insane but the hunger games is one of the best series of our time.

This book in particular, by far was the best book in the series. it had such a strong message, made me cry and for a YA to make me feel like this,, wow.

I do plan to read the prequels but I don't think anything could compare to this.

I guess I would say that the beginning actually took me some time to get into but it had such an incredible build up that i didn't care in the end.

This book was very interesting and definitely deserves a re read. I found myself getting stuck, feeling confused while reading it. Maybe it was the translation but it just kind of dragged for it being such a short book. I loved the topic of mental health and learning about Fanny and the Narrators experiences with her.

As a book this made me very emotional at the end. I thought this was a book about a non monogamous relationship (not the best rep but hey!) but I now realize it's so much more. Female companionship, identity, race, love. This book has it all. 

This book was honestly really surprising to me. Surprising because I thought that the language would be too young for me and at times the language was but I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would've. The twist genuinely got me and I knew Andrew was a very big unreliable narrator but I didn't expect THAT. The ending was sad but necessary. It sucks they didn't have a happy ending but maybe in another life? 

 The descriptions of rot and earth was gorgeous and I found myself really focused in on them.
I really founded myself relating to Andrew in ways as well!
I recommend this for the teens and tweens who like horror as it was still very effective horror, just the language is younger (that's on me)

A fascinating book that I read in one day, rouge tells the tale of a fear of aging, internalized racism, mother-daughter relationships and manipulation especially at a young age!! Please give this book a chance. 

I thought it was very clever in its use of language. This is my 3rd Awad book and I'm still impressed! I'm ready for my next one!

Honestly, this book is really just saying how men like to control and force women to do what they want. She has no control over her life and her refusal to eat is her trying to gain some semblance of control. This is so powerful. Especially the talk about autonomy and being a woman in South Korea. I wish I got the ending more but this book was beautiful and disturbing. Thank you Han Kang.

How crazy that a book from the 80s could predict the future. It was a warning.

I honestly just wish there was a different ending but that's me. I can totally understand why she wouldn't want to have a completely set in stone ending, I'm just being nitpicky.

OPINIONS!!!!

Build A Body Like Mine ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Horribly fucked up in the best way. Honestly an interesting glimpse into disordered eating.

The Problem Solver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Men having a saviour complex. That's the real horror. However, I was hoping for just a little bit more.

She's Always Hungry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm surprised the book is named after this one. At the start I was not in love with it. I was a bit bored. But then in the middle it begun to pick up and I was very interested and intrigued!! The ending was just a bit lacklustre but still good.

The Shadow Over Little Chitaly ⭐️⭐️

It was just like “well, that's over.”Weird for the sake of being weird and didn't go anywhere with it.

Hollow Bones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Sci-fi body horror with another parasite like in the first story.  This one was definitely more gory and I honestly really liked it. It made me a little queasy and my I started feeling phantom pains in my leg😭The ending was good!Goth GF ⭐️⭐️.5 Overall the story was just a bit meh. I can understand the satirical aspect of being obsessed with the “goth girlfriend” but, the ending was anticlimactic to me.

Extinction Event ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75A story about humans finding and exploiting resources but didn't have the ending to back it up. I was hoping for a more crazy ending, with the “plants” sentient and mass murdering humans but that didn't happen.
Nightstalkers ⭐️⭐️This story did not fit in this collection at all. Most of her stories have a horrifying aspect but this one was not really horrifying in any way. I would read a longer book about this one but as a short story, it didn't do much for me.Shake Well ⭐️⭐️⭐️I guess it was gross but i kinda wanted it to go even further than how it ended. I really loved the idea though.The King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5The dark humour was really funny in this one and even though it featured cannibalism, it was surprisingly less morbid than the others. I really enjoyed this one. It felt like a breath of fresh air.Company Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That twist!!!! holy shit. This one was good.
 

tears. tears everywhere.