calicat42's reviews
145 reviews

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Reading this felt like listening to Stephen King telling a story around a fireplace—both knowing and not knowing what to expect each time he broke the fourth wall. Sometimes King lets you have the information the characters are passing along to each other, while other times you have to “watch” the characters share information without a hint of what is being said. The magic of this story and the way it’s told made me feel like a kid again! 
The Long Walk by Stephen King, Richard Bachman

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I felt like I was on the Long Walk as participant #101. It never ceased playing with my mind and emotions as the walk went on. I got frustrated with the characters, sad for the characters, and even found myself cheering them on when situations looked bleak. 

It has a slow start, but once you get going on the Long Walk it’s hard to put down. 
The Institute by Stephen King

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Go the Distance by Jen Calonita

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is good for some escape from the world; a way to adventure back into childhood with a twist. It certainly lacks deep character and plot development, but nevertheless is a nice way to make Meg the hero instead of the damsel, just the way she always wanted. 

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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The Goodbye Kids by Debbie Iancu-Haddad

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This felt a lot like the trolley problem played out in a dystopian world. In a way it’s a philosophical thriller, if those exist, because it seems to tell the story of our earth’s potential future dystopia. 

As a romance reader, it’s not the typical book to read for this genre, but I think it was important for the story to show how much humanity is getting wrecked as corporations and wealthy elite make the earth uninhabitable. 

Worth every second to read, and I need to know what happens next; both for the book and to have some hope!

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A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book reminds me so much of “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret.” As a young girl, I could relate to Margaret, and I grew up with her. Now, as a young woman who can relate in an unbelievable number of ways to Aria, I’ve grown (and healed) a bit more with her. 

It’s a beautiful companion novel to “Last Night at the Telegraph Club”, with another incredible narrator who allows you to experience the journey of finding oneself through complicated family dynamics, high school, and relationships. I wish I could read it again for the first time! 

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Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

A beautifully challenging story for anyone who has journeyed to love themselves and love another; to find who they are when the world says there must be something wrong. A validating story that truly details how scary and overwhelming it it can be to live an unapologetically authentic life. Although the time period falls in the 1950s, it sadly reads like a relatable story for far too many people today. That said, each moment of love, community, and unrelenting truth continued to create the hope we all need in this world. 

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A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I never want to stop reading new books about this world because I have somehow fallen even more in love with it after Fallen Night. 

Oh. My. Gosh. I’m still trying to process it all! The connections between this book and the Priory came with so many surprises, and made some of the Priory storylines so much more meaningful. Characters? What an emotional rollercoaster I had with them! 

My favorite part is that the connections even had a beautiful way of appearing to tell a story of what happened between the two novels without actually doing that—it’s almost like there was a story to read between the lines, if that makes any sense.  

I wish I could read this for the first time over and over. 
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book isn’t as dark and menacing as I thought it would be! It actually turned out to be quite an insightful, sometimes comical and sometimes sad, commentary on humans and our institutions. Yes, the apparent commentary is provided through a darker narrative, but I ended up having so many philosophical and moral conversations as I moved through each characters’ stories. I think the use of a darker and over-the-top narrative worked so perfectly! In no way does this book justify such violence (nor should it), but I do think it starts great conversations and it was a fun read. 

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