imskylow's reviews
267 reviews

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

0.25

I got this from Book of the Month and had such high hopes but I had to DNF at 39%. I don't even understand what was trying to be attempted with this novel. It's set in New Orleans during a time where there are both carriages and cars on the roads where the women wear corsets and yet the characters say "fuck" pretty casually and talk as if they're from 2024 or at least the 2000s. The main character, Ophelia, signs herself up for a "who can last the longest in a haunted mansion" challenge in search of her sister, Genevieve, who ran away after a singular argument. (I actually really like their names though). I guess we're supposed to care about her? Apparently, this sisterhood of the traveling mansion is basically a gameshow with levels based on Dante's Nine Circles of Hell and is run by both devils and your average Joe of a ghoul. Only the house is often more gruesome and dangerous than it is suspenseful. I feel like the characters have a much higher chance of being mortally wounded than driven insane. Anyway, Ophelia bumps into a phantom named Blackwell (wtf kind of name is that. That's a last name) and is quite instantly smitten. She has all these warm feelings around in and feels "strangely" safe. Additionally, her heart shaped locket beats when he's near. Blackwell, is just so entirely full of himself. I don't even understand why they're attracted to each other. There's no witty banter or shared experiences that really bring them together other than the fact Ophelia is a necromancer and he wants to put his bet on her making it. Idk guys, I'm so tired of romantasy being like "I don't know why I feel this way around this person". Like, yes you do. You're horny and you're attracted to him even with his douchey personality. It's okay for a character to admit to liking someone even if it is just to themselves.
When I really had to stop reading was when the couple has acid rained down on them. Blackwell, being a phantom isn't affected, but Ophelia's clothes begin to burn and Blackwell has to help strip her out of them. (Sigh....). After the crisis is averted, she insists she still wants to continue exploring the mansion and Blackwell has to point out that sis is basically naked. Only then does she become embarrassed and tell him to look away. My eyes rolled so far back in my head I thought I almost lost them.

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Wtf is this even? I was confused the entire time through this book. The only reason I didn’t DNF it was because of my yearly reading goal. The pacing and passage of time in this book is positively bizarre. The characters feel half written and I don’t understand any of their motivations or actions. At no point in this book did I have an inkling about what might happen next. It felt like an everlasting prologue. I felt like I was told to care about characters I hardly knew. I was so detached through this entire thing. There was a lack of dialogue and a lot of telling rather than showing. Additionally, some scenes were filled in later after the fact like “oh yeah and that happened back when we were doing this”. Relationships were established and told to be very deep even though, as readers, we get not evidence of it. Additionally, the conflict was generic and bland with no complexity. It was all a fight of good versus evil, dark versus light, and they were referred as such. What is this, alternate universe Star Wars? It was so overly simplistic that it became confusing as to why anyone was doing anything at all. It was seriously a struggle to finish.
AND EVEN WITH ALL THIS, because I am so starved for gay fantasy, the .3 seconds of homoetrotic tension between Will and James had me questioning if I should read the next book.

Dark Restraint by Katee Robert

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

If you have a biting kink this one is for you

Content Warnings

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Justin is a sweetheart. He silly and young and loves his family but finds it exceptionally difficult to understand his mother who is going to jail for embezzling money. He's stressed and scared to take on the task of raising his siblings but is going to be there for them anyway.
Emma is fearless and a free spirit, always moving and never settled. What she would call a traveler, other would call someone always escaping their problems. The boundaries she's made for the world protects her from everyone and everything except the person that harms her the most.
One character is tied down, the other refuses to drop anchor but maybe they could try out dating for the summer.
I kind of doubt I will every read an Abby Jimenez book and not fall absolutly in love. Something about her writing makes me believe in love again in the first place. Her characters aren't doing wildly over the top things. They just show up. They're there and while that sounds simple, it means so much. I also adore how Jimenez writes mental illness. In some way everyone can relate, either experiencing it themselves to a degree or knowing someone who suffers. I understand what it is to wish for your parent to be someone they just aren't. I love the concepts of extending grace even when it's hard but also creating boundaries to protect your own peace. They way the characters hurt felt so real. Emma describing herself folding up and getting small was depicted in such a heartbreakingly believable way.
Maddie, let's not forget about her! She is such a spunky character. So often in romance novels, the best friend of the FMC is only there to support the main characters but have no depth and personality of their own, but Maddie was entire person. I've never wanted to be friends with a character so bad. She's protective and loving. She is indeed supportive but not in any gentle guiding way, she's going to drag Emma through life if she has to and she has the passion to do it. I absolutly loved her.
5/5 A+++ book. I cannot recommend Abby Jimenez enough.

Content Warnings

The Sinner by Shantel Tessier

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book is actually psychotic. Like I’ve read/listened to a lot of crazy books but this takes the cake by far. What on earth did I just spend 15 hours listening to? I can’t even recommend this to anyone like I could the first book. The first book was dark BDSM but this? This is that x100. It’s some of the most twisted, toxic, violent situations I have ever heard. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that my imagination hasn’t wandered in this sort of twisted direction a time or two but I have never put it to paper or tried to make a believable story out of it. Realistically, a life like this would give someone so much mental damage and trauma!

Ellington is not only groomed and preyed upon by her step father growing up but also his friends. And then when Sin swoops in and kills get step father, “saving her”, he then proceeds to force sex on her while masked. His identity is hidden but this is the extent of their relationship initially. Somehow he’s able to call what her step father did “rape” but not what he does. He thinks tying her down gagging her and giving her no way to say no is perfectly okay because she was made to belong to him? Psycho. This book still could have been dark, toxic and erotic if a safeword was included as well as aftercare. But no. Sin really just discards her after he’s rung everything out of her and she’s passing out. There’s almost 0% tenderness at any given point. There’s no halfway believable love between them. Ellie is just too abused to know any different and all the characters acknowledge that several times. Ellie honestly just needs to ditch everyone, move across the country and get extensive therapy and possibly go to rehab. You cannot honestly get me to believe Ellington would be a good sex therapist after her abusive mother (also a sex therapist???) knowingly allowing her daughter to experience CSA. ALSO, on that note, it’s was so effing unnecessary to have some of those CSA scenes on page. That gave me a massive ick. Shantel, babe, backpedal please. Goddamn, like what happened between the Ritual and this one?? Granted there were dubious things about the Ritual but it wasn’t ALL dubious like this book.

Content Warnings

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

UnSouled by Neal Shusterman

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

It’s just become your run of the mill ya fantasy. The first book felt literary almost with how drastic and horrifying it was but now it’s just a “teenagers will save the world” book

A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced