e_knight's reviews
711 reviews

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

Wow, this book really surprised me! I loved all of the characters, and the plot was very interesting. At the beginning, it almost gave me Six of Crows vibes, but after reading more of the book, it’s not super similar. But, if you liked Six of Crows, I think you will like this book. I’m very excited to see where the story continues in book 2! The only reason I gave this book 4.5 stars was because at the beginning, something about the story felt a little off – I’m not sure if it was maybe the pacing or some of the world building, but something just didn’t quite feel right to me.

For whatever reason, I was very suspicious of Theo almost the whole book. I kind of thought he would maybe betray them at some point, and then towards the end, I thought he might die lol. But, seeing his true heritage, I guess I was kind of right in thinking something of him in a way.

Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Slow to pick up, but snowballs SO quickly at the end! Sometimes the pacing and cuts between scenes made keeping everything in order difficult (which I think may have been purposeful to an extent) but overall a solid story. If you like Criminal Minds the TV show, I think you'll like this book too.

Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo by Adam Cesare

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

I don't know where to start with this one. The Clown in a Cornfield series has become so special to me and though Cesare states in the acknowledgements that he wants to return to Kettle Springs, it still feels like an ending to me. I really enjoyed the roadtrip-esque vibe of the setting, and how it kind of stepped away from the slasher/final girl feel of the first two books while still feeling true to the story. The new characters that were introduced were really compelling as well - sometimes I struggle with new characters, but these were really well-written and fit into the storyline nicely. Now onto the spoilers!

I LOVED Johnny D, and even though getting close to the end I kind of figured he might be on the chopping block, it still HURT when he did die. Second, I'm pretty bummed about Quinn (even though the body was "never recovered") so even if she didn't die, it still sucked to think about the effects it would have on her dad, Cole, and Rust. Speaking of whom, I'm so so SO glad they made an appearance at the end and that they were referenced throughout the book, even if I wish we could have seen more of them. I would LOVE a spin-off about those two!

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The pacing through this is kind of funky (though I did have to pause reading for a hot minute bc of a big work event I had so that may have affected my judgement) but the end is pretty solid!

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved just about everything about this book: the characters, the setting, the pacing… it all felt very well planned and executed!

I KNEW that the love interest would be either the King or one of the Princes of the Devils and I’m glad I ended up being right! Blackwell is just *chef’s kiss*

Bunny by Mona Awad

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely very mind-bending book; it left me feeling like potentially nothing really happened at the end? I had a few random thoughts while reading the book, but I’m not sure if any of them are coherent enough to put into a review LMAO. It kind of reminded me of a movie that I watched for a class once when I was studying abroad. I don’t remember the name of the movie, but it was about hippies in the 60s, and it basically followed their drug induced trip of shenanigans they get up to. All a bit cerebral and a little weird.

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

adventurous dark emotional 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

Telling the Epilogue from Ansel's POV??? A fucking punch to the gut GODDAMN 😭

What a wild ride! Building up the anticipation for the final battle so much while still telling the other elements of the story really left me feeling anxious at all times, even after the crew had somewhat of a win (which really wasn't that often or that much more than a tie TBH). A fitting end to the series!

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

While I have some mixed feelings about this book, I mostly enjoyed it! At some points it was messy but in a good way, but at others... not so much. I think the angst between Lou and Reid was dragged out a little bit too much, and it got tiring reading them having basically the same "argument" (not that that actually really talked much during these spats) over and over again. I get why it was happening, I just think reading about it so often was a bit overkill. 

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

OMGGGGG I was absolutely blown away by this book, and while I've read a number of amazing books this year, this has quickly shot to the top of my list. I know this was popular on bookish social media a while ago, but DAMN, I did not expect it to be this good. Everything about it is just so compelling - the characters and their dynamics, a non-black-and-white point of view of the world, how two opposing sides can be equally as dangerous in their zeal... incredible, just *chef's kiss.* I would rate this higher than 5 stars if I could!

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst

adventurous dark 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

4.0

I think this would have been just as good without the paranormal element, but I get that it is an integral part of the story as it is written.