casparquarius's reviews
83 reviews

Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert

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dark 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

3.75

I have no real idea what I thought of this? it was interesting, and I liked the narrative voice. it felt a little sluggish in parts, and maybe a tad emotionally distant? which could just be a downside of the format, but I am a sucker for found media with all its drawbacks
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The Deep by Nick Cutter

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

man this just. wasn't good. for the first half or so it just felt mediocre - his writing wasn't for me, and I felt only neutral about the protagonist, but I love deep sea horror so I pushed through. by the time I got to the extended death scene of the [redacted] I was so over it I couldn't wait to be finished. Luke was barely a character at all, the writing felt stilted, there were some compelling and interesting visuals but a lot of them seemed to only serve as shock value? and gross gore descriptions just can't stand alone as compelling horror to me. really disappointed in this one and wish it were better, since all I want is horror about the Mariana Trench 
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A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition by V.C. Andrews

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

4.0

dark, emotional, and challenging are hardly strong enough to explain the feelings it gave me to read and man was it good. intense, mind the content warnings, but I am definitely glad I read it
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American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

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challenging dark sad slow-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

4.5

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Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

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emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson

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Did not finish book.
would really like to get back to this, but i had to return it to the library after a slump in my ability to read lasted too long
Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

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

3.25

man I wanted to like this so much more than I actually did. I really liked the characters, and I'm a sucker for a haunted house. this had some interesting things going for it! the pacing, however, seemed to work against the story at every turn: moments that needed to breathe to have maximum impact were brushed past and moments that could have been quick were lingered on. some of the writing choices were not necessarily my favorite, but if the pacing had been better that likely wouldn't have affected my enjoyment of the book. the end was surprisingly one of the best parts, usually I am pretty disappointed by horror endings but I enjoyed the twists. overall, this was fine but kind of a slog and I really wanted more from it. 
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