ailishsreads's reviews
196 reviews

Strange Pictures by Uketsu

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life by Edward O. Wilson

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informative slow-paced

3.5

As a fellow ecologist, E.O. Wilson has way brighter hopes for Earth/humanity's future than I do
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

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dark reflective tense fast-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? No

3.5

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

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dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

Bone by Jeff Smith

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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? Yes

5.0

The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World by Malcolm Gaskill

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dark informative medium-paced

3.75

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

Woodworm by Layla Martínez

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

4.25

This was one of those books that, as soon as I finished it, I felt like I needed to reread it. And so I did, and it continues to be just as good, if not better. 

Martinez manages to fit a whole town and generations of pain and simmering contempt into just 140 pages, and she does it vividly. 

If you're really hoping the ghosts in this novella will be creepy enough to keep you up at night, I'd move on to another book. The haunted house is definitely haunted, but this book is pretty light on the scares. But if themes of poverty, class division, and generational trauma scare you, then this book might be your cup of spooky tea. 
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

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

4.0

This book is physically gorgeous. Like, seriously, if you can get the physical copy, because digital or audiobook cannot possibly do it justice. 

This is essentially a picture book for adults, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At it's heart, this story is essentially a nice little folktale that could be read as a bedtime story. Does it offer a lot of intrigue or depth? No. Does it need to? No.
The Hunter: A Novel by Tana French

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

This is my least favorite Tana French book so far. That's not to say it's bad -- French is an amazing writer, and I think she's incapable of writing a genuinely bad book. But this book just doesn't live up to the high standards she's set for herself.

At the end of the day, The Hunter just isn't what I expected from French, as the mystery takes a backseat pretty much the whole time, which is a shame because she writes damn good mysteries.
Nobody even dies until over halfway through. I think the intention was for you to wonder who's going to die, but let's be real, you know who it's going to be.
 

Read this book if you want simmering tension, social games,
and a whole lot of not fucking communicating.
If you're hoping for a juicy murder mystery, read any other of French's books.