leahlovesloslibros's reviews
152 reviews

Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

- Loved the gruesome murders and devil storyline; figured out who it was before the reveal but it didn't take away from reading experience
- It was brave of Audrey Rose to use herself as bait; showed a strong, courageous FMC

- Liked Audrey Rose's grandma as a side character
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Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

- LOVED the tarot card integration with each murder; it was unique and interesting
- Really didn't know who to trust until the very end - did a good job keeping us guessing
- Love the trust and independence that Cresswell gave Audrey Rose, despite being jealous of her and Mephistopheles
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Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

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dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

- Liked the intro of Cresswell's sister
queer rep with her as well

- Good twist at the end
sister not being dead

- Lots of suspense - not knowing what was happening or coming next/worrying about next things
- Graphic ending - very creative and detailed
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Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

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dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

- Devastating twist that the brother was Jack the Ripper

- Very unexpected twist; strong ending with the reveal
- Great intro to Audrey Rose as strong FMC
- Loved the banter between Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell
- Strong premise of her being a science/medical student as a female in the 1880s
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NSFW by Isabel Kaplan

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emotional slow-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? Yes

2.75

I didn't realize this was literary fiction until I started reading it, and I don't particularly like that genre, so take my review with a grain of salt. I didn't mind the feminist storyline, but even that was a bit much at times, especially the mom of the unnamed protagonist. Speaking of which, the relationship between the protagonist and her mother was rough; it's possible that some parts reminded me of the relationship between me and my mom. (Mirrors are hard.) It wasn't a bad read but I found that I didn't really care about the characters or the storyline. I would maybe recommend it if someone were into lit fic, but otherwise probably not.
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Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This story is based on some real-life horrific events, specifically the forced sterilization of black girls and women in the 1960s and 1970s. the While I found the topic of this book to be something that more people should know about, I didn't particularly like the way this story was written by this author. The main character was quite insufferable as she was written, but getting hers and other characters' stories out is important. There is a lot of strong social commentary surrounding abuse of minority populations, especially BIPOC (Tuskegee Syphilis Study, forced sterilization). Finally, the ending was very disappointing.
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This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

We loved the normative queer and Black rep. Bri's character was realistic and relatable; so were her moms. Overall the family dynamics were well-written. We LOVE the Witchy and Greek mythology major themes. The surprise twist endings were done very well. We are now planning to read all (or most of) Kalynn Bayron's books, both backlist and future.
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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

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

3.0

The Vanishing Half follows twin sisters, one of whom is darker black and one of whom is lighter black. Colorism is a topic that I haven't read much about, but it was quite interesting to read about that in this story. Additionally, there was a lot of good social commentary, especially surrounding the gay and trans communities. Overall The Vanishing Half was a good story but it wasn't compelling enough that I couldn't put it down. It was mostly curiosity in the ending that kept me coming back to it.
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Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a quick, compelling read. I kept trying to figure out who "Charlie" was, and while there were some red herrings, the culprit did make sense. There were some good twists in the book, and they were appropriately spaced apart, making the story believable.
On a related note, I liked that the narrator became less reliable as the story went on and unraveled.
I would recommend this book, especially to book lovers.
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Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana

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

3.5

Overall the premise of this book was very intriguing and I was looking forward to reading it. While there were elements that I enjoyed, such as the all-Black cast, some common romance tropes, and the magic system, unfortunately there were also things that I just thought didn't land quite as well as I had hoped. For example, the pacing was off, which made the story somewhat disjointed and caused some of the character interactions to feel inauthentic. There were chunks of the book where it felt like the author just wrote scenes separately and then kind of mashed them all together into one book. That said, I did like the twist at the end; it was an unexpected, fun surprise. I will likely read book 2 when it comes out.
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