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mmccombs's reviews
676 reviews
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.
Immediately a dnf, I just cannot listen to this narration. I get that it’s a kid’s POV, but like… did it have to sound like that?? Grating!
The September House by Carissa Orlando
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I really loved this! The tone was both goofy and pretty dark at the same time, which can be challenging to balance but was done well in this instance. I listened to this via audio and I think the narrator (at 2.25x speed) perfectly captured Margaret’s voice, like foolishly stubborn, very compassionate, and yearning for a place to call her own. Margaret’s characterization was just very strong, she was so well rounded and made me wish this book kept going to spend more time with her (bleeding walls notwithstanding).
The allegory here for domestic violence and the cycles of abuse that feels impossible to disrupt was perhaps a bit on the nose, but mostly I thought it was wonderfully layered. A haunted house story is never just about the haunted house (at least in a good one) and that shone through here.
I was about to be very upset about the “twist,” I really dislike horror that ends up just being psychosis or a dream, but trusted that Orlando knew what she was doing. The fake-out twist actually makes a lot of sense given the allegory here, like of course she would be gaslit and then we’d get the pleasure of the house murdering a bunch of cops who didn’t believe her. acab
I think this will be my top recommendation for books to read for Halloween (and just generally), it was scary, thematically rich, and just very well crafted. I had such a good time reading this!
The allegory here for domestic violence and the cycles of abuse that feels impossible to disrupt was perhaps a bit on the nose, but mostly I thought it was wonderfully layered. A haunted house story is never just about the haunted house (at least in a good one) and that shone through here.
I think this will be my top recommendation for books to read for Halloween (and just generally), it was scary, thematically rich, and just very well crafted. I had such a good time reading this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Truly so impactful and well written. While I sometimes lost the thread between sections (and honestly feel like his section on Palestine could have been a whole book in its own right), I loved how he brought these seemingly distant places together through a perspective of shared struggle. His prose just strikes through the center of each topic he addresses, there is no dancing around or obscurity, only honest storytelling. I really appreciated where he said he was wrong and where he learned more, and how he learned more, I think this provides a great model for writers, journalists, and the everyday reader.
My only complaint was the note on the sources section, I feel very apprehensive about putting sources in a separate place, requiring folks to navigate to a website that may eventually cease to exist. In a book that felt so thoroughly researched and that heavily focused on his connection to ancestors and writers who came before him, this choice felt very weird and thoughtless.
Aside from this random issue, I believe this is a must read for almost anyone, it is accessible, honest, compassionate, and straight to the point, providing a necessary perspective on our collective role to responsibly witness and share each others’ stories.
My only complaint was the note on the sources section, I feel very apprehensive about putting sources in a separate place, requiring folks to navigate to a website that may eventually cease to exist. In a book that felt so thoroughly researched and that heavily focused on his connection to ancestors and writers who came before him, this choice felt very weird and thoughtless.
Aside from this random issue, I believe this is a must read for almost anyone, it is accessible, honest, compassionate, and straight to the point, providing a necessary perspective on our collective role to responsibly witness and share each others’ stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Police brutality, and War
Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
3.0
This was super quick and provided a solid and unsettling snack. I wish this was a bit longer to just develop the creepiness and turn it into legit scares, but for what it was it was fine. I always enjoy a good fictional band documentary book and this one was decently written and a good choice to read for Halloween. I wasn’t wowed and will probably forget I read this immediately, but it was a good “finish in a day” experience.
Forest of Noise: Poems by Mosab Abu Toha
dark
reflective
sad
5.0
As always, I don’t know exactly how to review poetry but simply on a gut level this collection was dripping with sorrow and grief and anger and love for the land and people of Palestine. I also enjoyed Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, many of his poems in that collection felt a bit more technical while this collection felt a lot more brutal and to the point, if that makes any sense. Abu Toha is a must read poet, he has distilled this moment (and year, and 76 years) with such clarity and pain.
“Sir, we are not welcome anywhere. Only cemeteries don’t mind our bodies.
We no longer look for Palestine.
Our time is spent dying.
Soon, Palestine will search for us, for our whispers, for our footsteps, our fading pictures fallen off blown-up walls.”
“Sir, we are not welcome anywhere. Only cemeteries don’t mind our bodies.
We no longer look for Palestine.
Our time is spent dying.
Soon, Palestine will search for us, for our whispers, for our footsteps, our fading pictures fallen off blown-up walls.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, and War
Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
This was fine! I do think Villavicencio is a phenomenal writer, but I thought it was a bit strange that her fiction voice and nonfiction voice read so similarly. Like I almost wished I was just reading a collection of essays instead? There was not much plot, but it didn’t feel “vibey” either like some other campus novels do, so it mostly just felt like a very long essay. I really enjoy her writing but I do think I’d be more eager to read nonfiction from her in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Deportation
The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 by Jonathan Healey
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Super informative and generally readable! This felt well researched and helpfully organized, and the author’s voice was casual enough for most readers to find it accessible. I found myself a little overwhelmed by the complexity and moving parts of this period of time, I think reading via audiobook was probably not the best way to read it because I often lost track of who everyone was and zoned out from time to time. But being able to connect distant history to our moment in time today (even in the US) was really interesting and I’m glad I know a bit more about this time (though the specifics will for sure leave my brain immediately!)
Coup De Grâce by Sofia Ajram
dark
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
Hmm… unsure how to feel about this one! There were moments where I was like “ah ha, I see what the author is doing!” but then it would go in a different direction that just didn’t feel right. I think I struggled the most with the inconsistent voice, in one sentence we’d get something so serious and wordy I assumed it leapt out of a classic poem and then the next sentence would be some kind of gimmick, I never felt like I got a handle on the vibe or our main character. And this is just a personal opinion but I truly hate books that do the “The End” “lol just kidding I totally got you!” thing, it’s just not clever and it didn’t add to this story. Doing the choose your own adventure thing definitely sparked some interest, but also felt like a gimmick. The writing was good and conveyed the bleak heaviness of suicidal ideation in a way that felt pretty authentic, and I really liked the concept (the elevator part was especially interesting!), but the execution was just way too all over the place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I can’t argue with the writing, it was often beautiful and emotional and poignant, but I’m not sure how I feel about the rest of it. This book was perhaps a bit long and often repetitive, and the sisters were mostly described to me, especially in the beginning. The characters felt a bit caricature-y, like the classic elder sister who is everyone’s mom, a middle child who floats around, and the youngest wild child who does whatever they want. There’s obviously some truth to this, these kinds of characters are common for a reason, but I wanted something more than that. Their relationship felt very real but also overdone. The ending was way too sweet and neat, I just didn’t buy their resolutions and dialogue. The mediation on grief and love and unburdening yourself from unhelpful expectations was good, but I just think other books/works have done this in more nuanced and interesting ways.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
This was fine! I wanted more: more Christmas, more music, just… more! I’m not usually into the second chance romance trope, and at first I was not convinced because their chance meetup felt SO unrealistic, but at the end I thought it was well done. The characters were fine and the plot was pretty flat, there were some glimmers of really great romance and fun banter, but on the whole I felt underwhelmed.
I’m also feeling a bit tired of Blake’s formula of two fairly femme white sapphics surrounded by Black and POC friends, like I’m into the queer found family Blake creates each time and would rather a white author write what they know, but it’s just like… we get it! The main gays are white and thin and pretty, and they have an incredibly diverse friend group (who never seem to have their own spinoff stories). I’d like to get a bit more variety from these romances in the future, this one felt like reading all of the others with a slight Christmas sprinkle on top. I’ve read much more compelling holiday sapphic romances, so I’d recommend those first.
I’m also feeling a bit tired of Blake’s formula of two fairly femme white sapphics surrounded by Black and POC friends, like I’m into the queer found family Blake creates each time and would rather a white author write what they know, but it’s just like… we get it! The main gays are white and thin and pretty, and they have an incredibly diverse friend group (who never seem to have their own spinoff stories). I’d like to get a bit more variety from these romances in the future, this one felt like reading all of the others with a slight Christmas sprinkle on top. I’ve read much more compelling holiday sapphic romances, so I’d recommend those first.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment