Sarah
I wonder if I would have liked this more had I read it at a different time. I wove back and forth between finding it utterly beautiful and utterly boring. Elsa was an intriguing character to me, but at times I felt like I didn't know her at all. I did think that Newbound portrayed Elsa's experiences on the periphery of life very well. As someone stuck in their small hometown after tragedy, I had hoped I'd connect with this more, but it just didn't work very well for me.
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration.
My experiences with Malerman's books vary so widely and unfortunately Incidents Around the House was a miss. To start with the positives: I thought the premise was unique. We follow eight-year-old Bela, whose parents have a slightly tumultuous marriage. Bela has been seeing an entity in her room, who she calls Other Mommy. The descriptions – and lack thereof – of Other Mommy make her truly creepy. There are some genuinely terrifying moments in this, and Malerman is great at keeping the tension up.
Unfortunately, I also felt like a lot of this dragged for me. Between the eerie moments, there were a lot of monologues. My issue was primarily that I didn't understand what he was trying to convey here. I also struggled a bit with the writing style and would often have to reread passages to fully understand what was going on and who was speaking. My caveat being that I'm not sure how much of this was due to the writing or due to it being an advanced copy. Either way, I do seem to be in the minority as this has a pretty high average rating. So if it seems up your alley, it's probably worth checking out.
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration.
This was an intense read that throws you straight into the action of a home invasion. Deeply psychological and deeply claustrophobic, Nightwatching went places I wasn't expecting it to. On the surface this is a thriller, but it delves deeply into the consequences of not believing women.
Sierra skillfully conveys how easy it is to doubt ourselves as others doubt us. Is that guy you ran into a creep, or are you making something out of nothing? Do you really need to check the locks before bed, and why are you so paranoid? This made me anxious, it made me scared, but it also made me deeply angry.
This was a great debut that only lagged in a few places. I'll be keeping an eye out for future works from Sierra, and I'll be putting something silly on TV for a palate cleanser after this creepy book.
i was worried after seeing the low average rating and some of my friends' ratings, but i ended up loving this book. i inhaled it in one sitting. i felt like i was living this alongside the characters, the tension keeping me on the edge of my seat. the little reveals along the way could have felt cheesy, but i found them truly ominous. i can easily see why this wouldn't have worked for others, but i'm so glad i picked it up.
repetitive at times but incredibly informative! detailed research on abortion outcomes — compared directly to outcomes of those denied abortions. handily disproves the many abortion myths out there. a huge thank you to Diana Greene Foster and to everyone who put work into this study. i hope to see more awesome abortion research like this in the future.
4.5 ⭐️
just as deeply atmospheric as Dead Silence. SA Barnes really makes you feel like you're standing alongside her protagonists. the tension was immaculate and i loved the plot, it made this book so easy to inhale. i even wish that we got more! i really wanted to stay in this story. this definitely cemented Barnes as a must-read author for me.
compelling and atmospheric, but at the end i found myself wondering... why? there wasn't really a good explanation or message and it wrapped itself up too nicely. the author introduced arguably the most interesting character 50% into the book only for her to serve no purpose. there is no clear trigger to the events and i think it would have been much more effective to focus the entire book on the character introduced far too late.
i thought this was going to be an adult horror but it's really more a YA thriller with horror elements. had i known that, i don't think i would have picked it up. an incredibly important message, but not the book for me. i also struggled a bit with the alternating timelines. wish i had enjoyed this more!
3.5 ⭐️
i found this soooooo annoying to read and had almost DNFed 5 times by the 20% mark. but the relationship dynamic ended up hooking me and i had a good time! i would have considered continuing the series if it followed another couple, but i'm just not into the plot enough to read more.
also -- THEY DIDNT EVEN FUCK
3.5 ⭐️
for the most part i really enjoyed this, but i felt like the pacing was off at times. i liked addie and i liked henry, although luc often felt a little one-dimensional. i probably wouldn't have picked this up if my local book club hadn't chosen it, so i'm glad they did! if this had been pared down a bit and given a slightly different ending, i think it could have been five stars.