elitheradguy's reviews
119 reviews

By Way of Sorrow by Robyn Gigl

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

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adventurous funny reflective tense

4.5

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

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dark hopeful tense

5.0

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

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dark tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this book. It was more tense than horrific, which is fine but may be disappointing if you go into it expecting it to scare you. There were a couple of disappointing aspects and I agree that the book was a little too long. Ultimately, though, it was very atmospheric and I mostly liked the way they handled the relationship between Em and Gyre.

Spoilers regarding specifics:

Things started to drag a bit near the middle, where Gyre was still really distrustful of Em when I felt like it was undeserved at that point. I could've done with less of that, and I think the story would've benefited from Gyre trusting Em completely, and then Em actually doing something to break that trust and having to earn it back. That said, once I got past this section, the tension came back full force and I couldn't put the book down until I finished it.

I am a little disappointed with how the Tunneler was handled. I wasn't expecting it to be anything more than an animal, where some people were expecting it to be really freaky? I wasn't expecting it to scare me, but I thought it'd be more aggressive and wouldn't die immediately. When facing off against it at the end, I expected more of a face off, which we didn't get much of.

I really liked when they introduced the fungi because it added an element of unreality with Gyre's hallucinations and really made me question if Isolde was still down there, with Eli. I was almost expecting the ending to reveal that the "hallucinations" werent actual hallucinations, but mushroom infested corpses that operated as some kind of hivemind, and that Gyre was contaminated with them. I thought Gyre trying to convince Em to climb down was going to have been her infested with the spores and trying to get another person into the hivemind. I still liked the ending, but I thought that would've been a cooler way to end it off, even if it is a bit more dismal.

I'll add more thoughts if I think of anything else, but I think those were the main things that stood out to me.

Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell

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3.25

The Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham

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funny informative

4.0

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced