summsummsummer's reviews
163 reviews

The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez by Simon Hawke

funny medium-paced

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

2.5

it was quick and fun, chosen fors it's cover and title but not much outside of a normal b-grade crime mystery novel except there's magic and a talking cat. the cat is a misogynist, the punk is a cop. Gomez says every woman is either fat or has big tits. levenhal points a gun at an elevator speaker. the humor is done really well but the reveal is kinda underwhelming, like most b-grade mystery novels are.

The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice

challenging dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

a strange turn in anne rices writing in that the last 100 pages I enjoyed the least. this is maybe the best written of tvc books and it's not an accident that it's the Armand book. 

Voices from the Rust Belt by Anne Trubek

3.0

like 3-5 of the essays were really good. most of them were fine. the rest were boring. I was hoping for more slice of life industrial city stories and instead there were like 4 stories about white flight and weird liberal city planning.

Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice

challenging dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

good god anne. I mean. really this is a tough fucking read. it is fucking dry. like of course she became catholic after this. the first 100 pages are dry but feel like they're leading somwhere. and the last 60 are the best and most interesting writing of the book. but that middle 300? tumbleweeds. like 3 stars is VERY generous but it truly is bc I really like the description of hell. 
you know those like 40 pages in the vampire lestat where marius says the most boring shit you've ever heard in your life? it's that but 300 pages and about region. memnoch and Jesus Christ have an 8 page conversation about dying on the cross as god incarnate vs as a human. I hate it here.

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg by Helen Rappaport

dark informative

1.0

so bias it's alarming. the last of footnotes means cross referencing any information is near impossible. the chapter structure was compelling but the actual writing was bland. until it got to the assassination at which point it got very graphic and the contrast to the rest of the book made it that much more uncomfortable. it's so anti communist that the parties and people who were anti-boleshevik but still leftist are pitied as being more victims of the evil communists. in the afterward the author seems to respond to critisism about the book but it only reenforces how bias. she doesn't want to cast judgement on the royal family but constantly calls the soviets brutal evil killers. I wanted a book that paralleled the last days of the romanovs with Russian history and stories of the population. instead it's an 

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

adventurous challenging

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

3.75

it seems with every book I like the story more and more but the story get crazier and crazier. 

A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

once again seems to be a book written perfectly for me. it's nearly nothing like days without end yet serves as a perfect continuation of the story. 

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I feel like I've been searching for this book all my life. the prose is beautiful, the story complex, and the characters come alive on the page. some books you read and recommend to everyone, and some books you read and recommend to no one because they speak to you so personally that to share them feels like you're revealing too much of yourself. this is that book for me. and a cameo of my hometown? it feels like this book was written only for me. 

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Helen Hoang is the greatest romance writer of all time. 

Bride of the Tornado by James Kennedy

adventurous dark funny tense

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

all the things I liked about this book had nothing to do with the plot. the tension and the eerieness and the visuals were so cool and well done but the plot. I realized about a 1/3 of the way through that it had become too complicated to be resolved in anyway I cared about. there was no satisfying conclusion and I doubt with the way some of the events unfolded there could be.