corissamcc's reviews
52 reviews

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

2.0

It was so hard to get through. It trudged and trudged on for me. I really wanted to like it but I hated the characters the entire time and just couldn’t get invested in the story. Sorry Herbert

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

I wasn’t every able to get fully into the story. :( I’ll try again later 

Vincent Price Presents Volume 1 by Chad Helder

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

3.5

Scary stories which end in suspense or with their characters having met a grim fate. Fun to read if you like spooky stories. I tend to prefer my spooky with a hopeful ending, so I don’t know if I’d listen to it again

The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

A fun, easy story. A great one if you want something lighthearted and quick!

The Flying Stars by G. K. Chesterton: Super Large Print Edition of the Classic Father Brown Mystery Specially Designed for Low Vision Readers by G.K. Chesterton

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

It was OK, but I don’t think I would read again. I didn’t find it to be drawing me in very much, and I think that is very able to be done for a short story. It had too much development for the beginning that didn’t seem to really make a lot of sense for the ending, in my opinion. I really love the Father Gilbert Mysteries, so was told that I would enjoy the Father Brown mysteries, I will continue to read the father Brown mysteries to see if maybe this was just one that I did not care for. On to the next!

Dracula by Bram Stoker

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Literary Hot Take:

Thoughts from just having read The Great Gatsby and Dracula back-to-back. Do with this what you will. 

The Great Gatsby isn’t worth reading nor is it a good piece of literature. (At all nor especially in High School curriculums.) It fails as a Tragedy and/or Satire; I see no Dramatic Irony, Metaphors, or Allegories. The characters are bad people who learn nothing and the reader is not warned against their actions. It states it as fact and that’s it. It is depression for the sake of depression. It drags you down and leaves you there -- and that's the point. 

Soullessness like that is not worth reading. 

Replace it, instead, with: Dracula. 

Dracula is also dark. It takes you to evil places. It shows the worst of creation and it harms all that is good and pure. However, there is one key difference — hope. The mission of the book is the simple, yet beautiful, missing of Good to conquer Evil. With that, Dracula is a deeply religious book and has so much reverence for Christianity and the True Presence in the Eucharist that one cannot help but to meditate on the dichotomy of Good and Evil. It is simple yet so deep. 

Where The Great Gatsby leaves you sad and hopeless, Dracula leaves you feeling bittersweet yet hopeful. Hopeful that there *is* Good in the world and it can overcome what is evil. Taking a reader to a place of destitution and hopelessness is just fine, as long as you give them something to reach out to by the end. That, Dracula accomplishes. 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I think I’ll re read this later in life. I can tell it should be a great book. I missed a lot while reading. I could tell I wasn’t fully invested therefore not as interested. 

I look forward to reading this again. 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.0

I’m sure it’s a beautiful story. But it is not for my brain and was a tad lost on me. Maybe I’m not a deep enough thinker, who knows? I will have to read it again later in life to see if it empresses itself on me then.