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novellearts's reviews
1663 reviews
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The prose was beautiful and I loved the folklore sprinkled in throughout this book but the overall story felt like it was missing something. This story was weird and I felt myself losing interest the more that I read.
A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don’t have much to say about this one. I absolutely adored The Unmaking of June Farrow but A Sea of Unspoken Things felt incredibly underwhelming to me. The story wasn’t bad by any means, but I guess my expectations were too high after June Farrow. I wasn’t too engaged by the story and felt like my mind was wandering at times while I was reading this. I will say, this cover is stunning though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Out of Air by Rachel Reiss
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have the biggest weakness for horror/thriller books about the ocean. I immediately had to pick this up.
Five friends go on one final scuba dive in Australia before they head off to college where they find a hidden cave. Of course they have to explore and after they return to shore, they start to notice strange changes. Later on the friends are taken as ransom by treasure hunters in an effort to gain knowledge on the location of this cave.
This was an entertaining read and had me curious about what was happening to them internally. I was less interested in the treasure hunter aspect of this story though. It reminded me a bit of the Outer Banks show. This story alternates between the past and present day. At times it felt a bit slow but I loved the urban legend feel that this had.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!
Five friends go on one final scuba dive in Australia before they head off to college where they find a hidden cave. Of course they have to explore and after they return to shore, they start to notice strange changes. Later on the friends are taken as ransom by treasure hunters in an effort to gain knowledge on the location of this cave.
This was an entertaining read and had me curious about what was happening to them internally. I was less interested in the treasure hunter aspect of this story though. It reminded me a bit of the Outer Banks show. This story alternates between the past and present day. At times it felt a bit slow but I loved the urban legend feel that this had.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5/5 stars. Absolutely amazing. I could not put this down. I had to eat dinner and I was reading the whole time.
Now that I devoured this, I understand why everyone is mentioning female rage in reference to this book. I was internally raging for Lenore!!
After ten years of marriage to Henry and no child on the way, Lenore feels the weight of burden strike their relationship. As Lenore and Henry prepare to host a special hunt, it brings up memories of the prior hunt and the secret that they've both been keeping since then.
Their lives get thrown for a twist when a carriage accident nearby brings a mysterious Carmilla to their home. As they offer Carmilla shelter to recover, they notice that she is sickly and weak during the day, but becomes much more lively during the night. Carmilla becomes a thorn in Henry's side as she works to help Lenore find herself. Lenore is hungry and needs to eat.
This is a beautiful retelling of Carmilla. The prose is stunning and makes you feel as though you're in the story yourself. There are so many amazing quotes from this book that I wish I could share. The story is atmospheric, mysterious, and tense. The characters were written extremely well. The characters that we're meant to love, I loved and the ones we're meant to hate, I certainly hated. While this is a slow-burn romance, the rest book certainly didn't feel slow to me. And the wait was well worth it. I love that this story dove into the problems with gender roles and expectations that are imposed on women. It was a beautiful story of Lenore's self-discovery and acceptance of herself, flaws all included.
The ending of this book was amazingly poetic. I left this story feeling overwhelming satisfaction and I can tell that this is a book that I will reread one day. This book isn't your typical horror novel, even though it is tagged as such. Please don't go into this book expecting scares. The horror comes more from the atmosphere and the depravity of the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for sending me an eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I immediately preordered this book upon finishing reading.
Now that I devoured this, I understand why everyone is mentioning female rage in reference to this book. I was internally raging for Lenore!!
After ten years of marriage to Henry and no child on the way, Lenore feels the weight of burden strike their relationship. As Lenore and Henry prepare to host a special hunt, it brings up memories of the prior hunt and the secret that they've both been keeping since then.
Their lives get thrown for a twist when a carriage accident nearby brings a mysterious Carmilla to their home. As they offer Carmilla shelter to recover, they notice that she is sickly and weak during the day, but becomes much more lively during the night. Carmilla becomes a thorn in Henry's side as she works to help Lenore find herself. Lenore is hungry and needs to eat.
This is a beautiful retelling of Carmilla. The prose is stunning and makes you feel as though you're in the story yourself. There are so many amazing quotes from this book that I wish I could share. The story is atmospheric, mysterious, and tense. The characters were written extremely well. The characters that we're meant to love, I loved and the ones we're meant to hate, I certainly hated. While this is a slow-burn romance, the rest book certainly didn't feel slow to me. And the wait was well worth it. I love that this story dove into the problems with gender roles and expectations that are imposed on women. It was a beautiful story of Lenore's self-discovery and acceptance of herself, flaws all included.
The ending of this book was amazingly poetic. I left this story feeling overwhelming satisfaction and I can tell that this is a book that I will reread one day. This book isn't your typical horror novel, even though it is tagged as such. Please don't go into this book expecting scares. The horror comes more from the atmosphere and the depravity of the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for sending me an eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I immediately preordered this book upon finishing reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was messy and I didn't like the characters. Somehow, everyone felt completely unreliable and they were very unlikeable. A few of the characters I wanted to reach through the book and knock some sense into. I also felt like the story was pulling me all over the place.
There were a lot of twists, but I didn't care for them too much. This book was a miss but there was nothing inherently wrong with it, it just wasn't for me. I think if I liked the characters more, this would've been a lot more tolerable to me.
There were a lot of twists, but I didn't care for them too much. This book was a miss but there was nothing inherently wrong with it, it just wasn't for me. I think if I liked the characters more, this would've been a lot more tolerable to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0
This book turned out to be more about internal conflict than I was expecting. Lydia is hungry but only consumes pig's blood. She practices self-control on humans and has a lot of internal conflict regarding who she is, stemming from her relationship with her mother.
This is not a traditional vampire book about destruction, death, and feeding but more about Lydia trying to overcome her internal demons and accept herself. This focuses deeply on her connections with other people and herself. Lydia could've benefited from a vampire therapist.
This is not a traditional vampire book about destruction, death, and feeding but more about Lydia trying to overcome her internal demons and accept herself. This focuses deeply on her connections with other people and herself. Lydia could've benefited from a vampire therapist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I accidentally deleted my previous review, so let’s try this again..
I love how seamlessly the author is able to weave together history with fiction. You still get to enjoy the supernatural horror, while also learning along the way. It really is a skill to be able to write historical fiction well enough that your readers forget that it’s based on real events. And who doesn’t like vampires?
This book was pretty brutal though with a lot of death and a lot of gruesome descriptions. This probably is not the book for you if you get squeamish with injury details. If you enjoy that sort of thing, then this book will be a dream!
The writing was beautifully done and I felt that the story flowed really well. The only qualm I had with this book was that at times it was a bit confusing to me. There were some things that I didn’t know the meanings of at first and I at times struggled with keeping characters straight. It just took some adjustment and highlights to reference back to.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book!
I love how seamlessly the author is able to weave together history with fiction. You still get to enjoy the supernatural horror, while also learning along the way. It really is a skill to be able to write historical fiction well enough that your readers forget that it’s based on real events. And who doesn’t like vampires?
This book was pretty brutal though with a lot of death and a lot of gruesome descriptions. This probably is not the book for you if you get squeamish with injury details. If you enjoy that sort of thing, then this book will be a dream!
The writing was beautifully done and I felt that the story flowed really well. The only qualm I had with this book was that at times it was a bit confusing to me. There were some things that I didn’t know the meanings of at first and I at times struggled with keeping characters straight. It just took some adjustment and highlights to reference back to.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Gruesome Getaway by R.N. Cogley
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.0
An Ireland getaway takes a brutal turn as Tadhg, his twin brother and his brother's girlfriend get caught in the middle of an intense "tradition." I don't want to give too much of the plot away, so I'll keep it briefly at this.
The characters I found to be slightly infuriating and a bit ridiculous. Their explanations and denials of all the weird circumstances surrounding their stay had me frustrated. "The wind" being one of the worst excuses. Not only that, but their determination to disregard warnings blew my mind. I would've immediately been gone!
I think this story would've benefited from some more background and explanation of the village. I was interested in the lore surrounding their village and I don't feel that we really received any details. Once the horrors started to unfold, I found this story much better. Unfortunately, I felt that the story revolved too much around the dramatics of Tadhg's failed relationship. With this being such a short book, I would've liked to see a bit more balance.
It was a very quick and easy read. The drama kept me motivated to keep reading, but as I said, I wish I had received more history regarding the Celtic symbols and the village.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!
The characters I found to be slightly infuriating and a bit ridiculous. Their explanations and denials of all the weird circumstances surrounding their stay had me frustrated. "The wind" being one of the worst excuses. Not only that, but their determination to disregard warnings blew my mind. I would've immediately been gone!
I think this story would've benefited from some more background and explanation of the village. I was interested in the lore surrounding their village and I don't feel that we really received any details. Once the horrors started to unfold, I found this story much better. Unfortunately, I felt that the story revolved too much around the dramatics of Tadhg's failed relationship. With this being such a short book, I would've liked to see a bit more balance.
It was a very quick and easy read. The drama kept me motivated to keep reading, but as I said, I wish I had received more history regarding the Celtic symbols and the village.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Crime comes to a hidden town meant to be a sanctuary. When a woman is drugged and dragged into the woods screaming, she narrowly escapes with her life. Soon after, a body is found in the woods. This frozen body seems to be a case of hypothermia, but it isn’t, is it?
I made the mistake of not realizing that this was book three of a series when I began reading. This (quite obviously) led to me missing some important backstory. This was a pretty strong thriller and kept me interested but I didn’t completely love the character’s story.
I didn’t expect so much of the story to revolve around the MC’s pregnancy. I don’t normally mind it too much but it made me uncomfortable hearing about the contractions and delivery.
I think I would like to return to this book after I read the first two books in this series. I do think the concept was strong, but the characters didn’t quite deliver for me. But again, that probably is due to my mistake of not realizing this was book three.
The narrator did a fantastic job reading this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook.
I made the mistake of not realizing that this was book three of a series when I began reading. This (quite obviously) led to me missing some important backstory. This was a pretty strong thriller and kept me interested but I didn’t completely love the character’s story.
I didn’t expect so much of the story to revolve around the MC’s pregnancy. I don’t normally mind it too much but it made me uncomfortable hearing about the contractions and delivery.
I think I would like to return to this book after I read the first two books in this series. I do think the concept was strong, but the characters didn’t quite deliver for me. But again, that probably is due to my mistake of not realizing this was book three.
The narrator did a fantastic job reading this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy
Below by Kev Harrison
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
Nick's grandfather is celebrated as a hero for helping miners escape out of a collapsed mine. Nick, Jess, and Sofia decide to go into the mine many years later to document the mines and end up with an accurate account of Nick's grandfather's final moments. As they enter into the mines, strange things begin happening and they start finding even stranger journal entries written by Nick's grandfather.
This story reminded me a bit of As Above So Below and The Descent. This story was fast-paced and pretty action-packed. My only complaint is that I felt as though the book ended abruptly. It was also a little bit predictable, but still very enjoyable.
This story reminded me a bit of As Above So Below and The Descent. This story was fast-paced and pretty action-packed. My only complaint is that I felt as though the book ended abruptly. It was also a little bit predictable, but still very enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail