bakedbri's reviews
119 reviews

Misery by Stephen King

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

King’s writing is very descriptive and humorous at times even when the plots are dark. I enjoyed this one much more than I enjoyed my first King novel, Bag of Bones. However, despite him being a good writer, it’s hard to fully endorse his books since he does seem to be a white guy who enjoys creating characters who use the n-word and call women b!tches. Is this a consistent thread in his work? Disappointing if so since he’s so well-beloved. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke

informative medium-paced

3.0

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

5.0

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I think this is an instance where the visual adaption is better than the source material. The characters are too unlikeable in the book, in my opinion, to merit reading it when you can watch the show - which at least makes the characters endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Finding Me by Viola Davis

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Abortion

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5