beeeenerys's reviews
96 reviews

The Collector by John Fowles

dark slow-paced

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

3.75

An interesting read but not as dark as other readers have made it out to be. That can be both a good and bad thing. Maybe I'm a little desensitised?

Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Weird as hell, couldn't tell what was going on and enjoyed every minute of the confusion. 

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.

Yeah I lost interest and forgot about it. Maybe I'll get back to it another time.

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy shit this was so good! A definite contender for my favourite read of the year, it's dark, funny, very queer, thrilling, had some tasteful gore and grossness, and did something I don't see often in the haunted house trope

by takening the ghost out of the house and haunting the MC instead!

none of my predictions came true.

It took me so long to finish this book because I didn't want it to end. I was a little confused about where it was going in the penultimate chapter but it pulled me back in as I kept reading. 

The relationship between La Dama and Anna definitely has the flags of DA so take care if you're sensitive to that.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Bunny by Mona Awad

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a bit of a tricky one to document because while I've had the book for ages I hadn't gotten around to reading it until I saw the audiobook available at my library. It gave me something to listen to at work and I was so invested I start reading along while listening in my off time. 

I really enjoyed this, for a satire about cliques it does a great job, taking something to it's worst possible conclusion (that the clique of rich mean girls is actually a coven/cult who make their own boy toys. Even girls do stupid stuff when they're horny.

Samantha has a strong hint of queerness imo. The way she talks about Ava and the Bunnies both complimentary and insultingly, it seems as though she's trying to understand her queerness through her previous comphet experiences of friendship, envy and competition,

and Max is this version of Samantha that is free to express that side of her sexuality and a romantic relationship with Ava

.

I was hooked after the first few chapters, the only reason I decided not to rank it a 5 is because despite the satirical nature of the book, I still wanted to see the bunnies in a slightly more sympathetic light, given the fact that their sexualities appear to be just as repressed as Samantha's.

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

slow-paced

3.0

Doppelganger felt like it was only half about Doppelgangers and the rest about a bunch of other stuff that affected the author's life like covid, parenthood, her career, political injustice and stuff (which absolutely, talk about them) but the through line to connect it back to the main topic of Klein's doppelganger experience was often so thin and flimsy it felt would snap and be kind of jarring.

Mrs. March by Virginia Feito

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

What I felt was missing from My Husband, Mrs. March has it. This book was a fun and convoluted spiral of paranoid delusions which felt a little bit slow in the middle but really picked up at the end.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm really glad this was the first Tremblay book I read, it's dark and convoluted, I was never quite sure what was actually happening since each character had their own set of beliefs and stuck to them. There's lots of possibilities that could have lead up to the ending and all the theories are valid. 

I always love a good critique of the horror genre and I think that's what this book is about. What happens to the mentally unhealthy under the premise of possession? They're taken advantage of, neglected and often used as a scapegoat or guinea pig for religious extremism and entertainment. 

I listened to the audiobook but I HAD to pick up a physical copy because this book deserves a re-read and it'll be interesting to see if my perspective and opinions change with the format.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.

I had high hopes for Godkiller but I gave up on it because it felt very predictable for a fantasy. I saw the romantic subplot from a mile off and it turned me away.

The disability rep is great, conceptually it could have been so good but the writing executed it poorly. I wanted to explore the world of gods and mortals, consider the political and social implications when semi-immortal deities use humans for their personal gain but what I got was: traveling, monster attack, more travelling, "isn't this man amazing he can cook, he has a mysterious past, and now he's singing...", and then another monster attack. I GOT BORED!!

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

dark fast-paced

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

4.5

Loved the monsters, the way they were described felt very Soul Eater/Ghibli esc. I wish Maryse had more of an ethical struggle when it came to the final few chapters but that's solely based on my preference for morally bad characters.