bitchywitch's reviews
103 reviews

Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Fantastic, edge of your seat, read. My only complaint is that the title book is only a small fraction of the whole book. The whole book is actually a collection of (very good) horror stories, and I just feel like that should be more obvious on the cover and beginning of the book.
Fast-paced and action packed every page. I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

The Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical's Change of Heart by Mark Achtemeier

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Torture and Trafficking

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.75

I really wanted to like this book but just couldn't get behind it. It was paced too slowly for me and it felt like there were too many irrelevant details.
As political commentary, it was good, but the execution could've been better. I almost DNF it several times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, and Pregnancy

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Compared to 6 of Crows, this was a bit of a letdown. Still absolutely fantastic and well worth the read. It was just more predictable than I would've liked.

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
Did not finish book. Stopped at 66%.

Could not finish. The pacing was just too slow. I started speed reading to get to something interesting but it'd immediately go back to being boring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Overall a very confusing, yet ominous read. I've read that the title "Fever Dream" is an inaccurate translation and that "Rescue Distance" makes more sense. Given the context of the book, I would agree. It delves into the guilt that is involved in parenting and that despite our best efforts, we can't protect our children from everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Faithful by Dean Skinner

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. You can read it through quickly, partially because it's easy but also you're on the edge of your seat and want to know what will happen "next". The book is written... backwards? And the style of it just works so well with the content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Forced institutionalization

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Love this book! The only thing I would want would be more dialogue and interaction between the characters. But it was inspiring to read about Jazz and how he overcomes this adversity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Suicide