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faerieoftheforest's reviews
222 reviews
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
4.5 stars
My Darling Dreadful Thing centers around Roos, a young woman who can see spirits. Her mother is abusive and exploits her so-called "madness" by organizing sham séances. Roos’ lone solace is found in Ruth, her spirit companion that only she can see. As luck would have it, an opportunity to escape her mother’s clutches arises when Agnes Knoop, a young and wealthy widow, attends one of the séances. Suddenly, in true gothic fashion, Roos finds herself swept away to live at Agnes’ isolated and dilapidated estate.
The synopsis itself reminded me a little of Crimson Peak, one of my all-time favorite films. The story is fraught with lush descriptions, secrets and sapphic longing. Every page is just brimming with desire and hunger. I found the depictions of the spirits to be quite intriguing and unique. Roos describes their features in a way that should be frightening, grotesque even, and yet she finds them beautiful. I loved the tragic romance between Roos and Agnes. They are two marginalized women who have experienced immense trauma that ultimately find refuge in each other. The story expertly alternates between Roos’ time at the estate and transcripts of interviews between Roos and a doctor, where she explains what occurred. This narrative style made the story far more engaging.
My Darling Dreadful Thing was a very lovely but also tragic novel. I’m excited to read what this author writes next!
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC. (This book was published on May 14, 2024.)
My Darling Dreadful Thing centers around Roos, a young woman who can see spirits. Her mother is abusive and exploits her so-called "madness" by organizing sham séances. Roos’ lone solace is found in Ruth, her spirit companion that only she can see. As luck would have it, an opportunity to escape her mother’s clutches arises when Agnes Knoop, a young and wealthy widow, attends one of the séances. Suddenly, in true gothic fashion, Roos finds herself swept away to live at Agnes’ isolated and dilapidated estate.
The synopsis itself reminded me a little of Crimson Peak, one of my all-time favorite films. The story is fraught with lush descriptions, secrets and sapphic longing. Every page is just brimming with desire and hunger. I found the depictions of the spirits to be quite intriguing and unique. Roos describes their features in a way that should be frightening, grotesque even, and yet she finds them beautiful. I loved the tragic romance between Roos and Agnes. They are two marginalized women who have experienced immense trauma that ultimately find refuge in each other. The story expertly alternates between Roos’ time at the estate and transcripts of interviews between Roos and a doctor, where she explains what occurred. This narrative style made the story far more engaging.
My Darling Dreadful Thing was a very lovely but also tragic novel. I’m excited to read what this author writes next!
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC. (This book was published on May 14, 2024.)
The Last One by Will Dean
3.0
Entertaining but also utterly ridiculous and unbelievable. What the hell was that ending?
Bespelled by Laura Thalassa
3.5
Not as good as the first one :/ Selene makes several questionable decisions that had me wanting to pull my hair out. On the bright side, Memnon has grown on me. I fear most of the characters lacked personality and I wish the Fortunas had been fleshed out more. The whole explanation regarding the forced bonds, however, was very interesting and made the story so much darker. The ending wasn’t super shocking to me but idk. 🤷♀️ I’m too invested now though. I gotta finish the series.
Us Dark Few by Alexis Patton
3.75
3.75 stars (rounded to 4 on GR)
Recommended for fans of The 100.
➵ dystopian/ post-apocalyptic setting
➵ nuclear fallout
➵ enemies to lovers
I learned about this book from a TikTok on my fyp and I’m glad I gave it a shot. Us Dark Few is about Khalani who was born in Apollo, an underground city constructed following a nuclear war that rendered the surface uninhabitable. She is wrongfully convicted of a crime she didn’t commit and is sentenced to life in Braderhelm, a brutal prison. There she meets the mmc who is a guard and the captain of her cell block. They despise each other at first. As she attempts to survive there, she discovers secrets surrounding Apollo and Genesis—the domed city on the surface where only the wealthy live.
At first I thought this was just another cookie cutter YA dystopian story. The genre is oversaturated and the book was certainly very predictable at times but it also pleasantly surprised me. I appreciated the discussions about censorship and the power of knowledge/art. The poetry throughout was easily the best part of this book, it was very beautiful. This author needs to put out a poetry book! I will buy ASAP. Besides some clunky dialogue throughout, this was really great. The ending had me like 👁️👄👁️
Can’t wait for the next book that comes out this December!! 🥳
Recommended for fans of The 100.
➵ dystopian/ post-apocalyptic setting
➵ nuclear fallout
➵ enemies to lovers
I learned about this book from a TikTok on my fyp and I’m glad I gave it a shot. Us Dark Few is about Khalani who was born in Apollo, an underground city constructed following a nuclear war that rendered the surface uninhabitable. She is wrongfully convicted of a crime she didn’t commit and is sentenced to life in Braderhelm, a brutal prison. There she meets the mmc who is a guard and the captain of her cell block. They despise each other at first. As she attempts to survive there, she discovers secrets surrounding Apollo and Genesis—the domed city on the surface where only the wealthy live.
At first I thought this was just another cookie cutter YA dystopian story. The genre is oversaturated and the book was certainly very predictable at times but it also pleasantly surprised me. I appreciated the discussions about censorship and the power of knowledge/art. The poetry throughout was easily the best part of this book, it was very beautiful. This author needs to put out a poetry book! I will buy ASAP. Besides some clunky dialogue throughout, this was really great. The ending had me like 👁️👄👁️
Can’t wait for the next book that comes out this December!! 🥳
The Hobbit: or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.5
Wish I read this one sooner. Very nostalgic!✨
Peaches & Honey: These Immortal Truths by R. Raeta
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
4.5 ☆
A beautiful and poignant tale of gods, immortality, and forbidden love. It's quite a slow burn and definitely more of a character driven story. It was very lovely but also heartbreaking! I haven't read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue yet, but I've heard the two are comparable. ♡
Here's one of my favorite quotes:
"She's still a sparrow of a woman. Hollow-boned and fragile. Easily broken. He wonders how long it will take for her to realize that the thing that makes her weak is the same that will allow her to fly."
A beautiful and poignant tale of gods, immortality, and forbidden love. It's quite a slow burn and definitely more of a character driven story. It was very lovely but also heartbreaking! I haven't read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue yet, but I've heard the two are comparable. ♡
Here's one of my favorite quotes:
"She's still a sparrow of a woman. Hollow-boned and fragile. Easily broken. He wonders how long it will take for her to realize that the thing that makes her weak is the same that will allow her to fly."
Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison
4.0
4/5 ☆
“We don’t get to choose our parents or the circumstances we’re born into. We can’t change our blood. But it shouldn’t determine our fate. It doesn’t. We still get to choose who we are, who we want to be.”
This book was crazy! It was certainly a unique twist on family and religious trauma.
The main character, Vesper, leaves her religiously devout community behind at eighteen with the knowledge that turning her back on the church means never being allowed to return. That is, until she receives an invitation to her cousin’s wedding, beckoning her back home. She cannot resist the call, but is it a trap?
Vesper is a very cynical and judgmental character, which made it difficult to connect with her, but I was satisfied with her growth by the end. Although the twists are very refreshing, I still guessed everything pretty earlier on. This may not be the case for everyone, though. The writing style wasn’t my favorite at times, but overall, I did enjoy the fun yet sinister direction the story took. 🐑
“We don’t get to choose our parents or the circumstances we’re born into. We can’t change our blood. But it shouldn’t determine our fate. It doesn’t. We still get to choose who we are, who we want to be.”
This book was crazy! It was certainly a unique twist on family and religious trauma.
The main character, Vesper, leaves her religiously devout community behind at eighteen with the knowledge that turning her back on the church means never being allowed to return. That is, until she receives an invitation to her cousin’s wedding, beckoning her back home. She cannot resist the call, but is it a trap?
Vesper is a very cynical and judgmental character, which made it difficult to connect with her, but I was satisfied with her growth by the end. Although the twists are very refreshing, I still guessed everything pretty earlier on. This may not be the case for everyone, though. The writing style wasn’t my favorite at times, but overall, I did enjoy the fun yet sinister direction the story took. 🐑
Bound to the Battle God by Ruby Dixon
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
3.75
➵ portal fantasy
➵ gods
➵ slow burn
➵ possessive mmc
Surprisingly, this was not bad at all. I'm obsessed with portal fantasy!! I was hesitant to pick this up at first because it's by the same author who wrote that blue alien series, but it was pretty good. Although, I hate all the rapey-ness of the world that the fmc ends up in. But maybe that's realistic? Not everyone can end up in Narnia.
The romance was cute, very slow burn, but I really enjoyed that. It's definitely not just smut, and you can tell that ample care went into character development and world building. I hear many people complaining about the length of the book, but I thought it was fine. The plot concerning the gods was genuinely very interesting and original. The story kept me engaged for all 600+ pages!
➵ gods
➵ slow burn
➵ possessive mmc
Surprisingly, this was not bad at all. I'm obsessed with portal fantasy!! I was hesitant to pick this up at first because it's by the same author who wrote that blue alien series, but it was pretty good. Although, I hate all the rapey-ness of the world that the fmc ends up in. But maybe that's realistic? Not everyone can end up in Narnia.
The romance was cute, very slow burn, but I really enjoyed that. It's definitely not just smut, and you can tell that ample care went into character development and world building. I hear many people complaining about the length of the book, but I thought it was fine. The plot concerning the gods was genuinely very interesting and original. The story kept me engaged for all 600+ pages!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Gore, and War