ursa_arlo's reviews
38 reviews

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol and Racism

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-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

4.75

Nargis by Forugh Karimi

hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

3.5

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

dark fast-paced

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

2.5

What irritates me most about this novel is that Grace has very little she fights for, except the death of her family. She hates everything equally, bringing everything and everyone down around her with overdone sarcasm that makes it hard to get a read on what she does care about. If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for? It makes her an intolerable MC and not in a 'character you love to hate' way. 

I did enjoy the first half of the book; it was interesting to read about how the murders took place, but there was no clear message to the book. Clearly, it was a not a feminist statement, nor did it make a clear statement about Grace becoming more like her father than she'd wanted. Although, I did not mind the twist as much, it was badly foreshadowed and muddied the message of the book even further. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body shaming, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Misogyny, Car accident, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug use, Drug abuse, Confinement, and Alcoholism

Minor: Miscarriage

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

The Adulterants by Joe Dunthorne

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0