bonnie_bee's reviews
131 reviews

 

I wish that I enjoyed this a lot more than I did. Starting with things I did like, the family dynamics, I loved the portrayal of a realistic sister, their relationship and how they looked after one another was a strong 

The portrayal of men as aggressors, while unsettling as intended, felt too one-dimensional for my taste. These characters lacked the complexity to make their threats linger in a meaningful way. I’ve encountered men like these in real life, no doubt, but in fiction, I wanted more depth - personalities that extended beyond their antagonism, something to make them feel less like placeholders and more like real people, because that’s what makes men so scary, most of the time they don’t realise how their actions come across. We only got to see the extremes of stalking and cheating, there’s no real conversation. 

That said, Ji-Won’s arc kept me invested. Watching her reclaim control over the household was one of the highlights of the book. She’s clever, resourceful, and her fixations add an intriguing edge to her character. Her plans unfold in ways that are as calculated as they are satisfying, even if the broader narrative didn’t quite measure up for me. 

Finally what last half a star was the ending. I was enjoying it, until she got away with being that brazen - not to give out spoilers but I do not understand how she got away with that sequence, or what the plan was if any small detail had gone even remotely askew. She made a lot of assumptions and got very lucky, I suppose. 

 

 

Why did this book creep me out so much?

Horror doesn’t usually leave me peering around empty corridors and shuffling quickly to the safety of my room, but something about how eerie Starling made every closed door imbedded under my skin. Maybe it’s the pain meds talking but I was easily swept into the immersion, by the half way mark I’d had at least three instances of shuffling the book down and re-reading a line to double check why I was so nervous suddenly. And then I realised that Starling was also the author of The Luminous Dead and it all made a whole lot of sense. The writing is so polished but everything I loved about the first publication was here and neatly wrapped.|

A slower paced horror with a sci-fi style build up, the jargon can be a little overwhelming if you aren’t prepped for a natural-disaster focused introduction, geology and tech bundled in to solve the impending disaster. This similarly comes in a lot towards the end, it’s creeping and you can see where it’s going like a car crash in slow motion but I personally enjoyed it right up until maybe the last couple of chapters where I was eager for a little more meat and lean into just how horrific the situation would be to experience first hand. There’s a couple of parts that really slow down when I feel it should have been amping up.

TL:DR - Please give this a go if you’re invested in slow burn horror and lasting visuals, but maybe give it a miss if you’re not prone to that lurking suspense.

 

 

Full disclosure, I did not know this was a sequel to an already written book, I dove into this fully believing it to be a standalone and so take all of this with a bucket of salt since I was missing so much context. I do plan to read The Shadows Between Us just to catch up and see how much I missed - but that’s for something to tackle later down the line.

So with that being said, I thought this was actually decently nice for a dark romance! It has a lot more character to our protagonist that feels authentic, her anger and scheming and wit feel not only earned but justified, even as she’s acting hastily or actively being cruel - it feels in character and I genuinely wanted her to get her estate regardless. The ending was fun, and it gave an intriguing insight into a character that by the sounds of things I’m going to have not much appreciation for when I get around to reading the first book in the series (whoops).

Some cheesy misunderstanding at the end, and some lines were a little repetative/came across as stagnating while the plot was trying to move forward, but it was a low steaks easy read.

Thoughts To Be Added
Overall an amazing children's book though, big recommend it, wish I had dived into the story when I was younger.

Having a story so unapologetically gender progressive, it’s the first book I’ve read with characters that genuinely feel like they would have the same thoughts as I would, and godly hardships aside, experience the same problems I would. (Minor Spoiler for chapter one) Gem and Enzo being close friends and living cities apart and getting through the day thinking of going to see one another, getting out of dodge for a better life as soon as things settle down was cathartic to read, so much so I genuinely didn’t realise how much I’d been missing that from stories I gravitate towards. Every god is ready to throw hands on transphobes and racists is the kind of fantasy I need more of.

Speaking of needing more of. Characters that are actually flawed, doing horrible things and the author understanding that they did horrible things is a masterpiece. There are several morally grey characters that you can see have motivations that they stick to, you understand every side and I died at the ending. 

There are a few points where you have to roll with the logic to get to the sweet center of the pay off, some characters absolutely dodged some accountability for their actions but that’s part of the charm and point. If you can extend that disbelief (and abide by the small setting space) this is a really fun Young Adult read that actually lets the bad characters do and say bad things.

 

The constant switching of narratives in "The Cat and the City" can be quite challenging at times, especially when it comes to keeping track of who is connected to whom, but the voices are so unique for every character and the author staples them with clear defining traits that piecing them together becomes just about manageable with an extra focus, and personally I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

You can tackle this one as short stories, and you could easily take them as standalone and still appreciate the stories they hold. Not to mention  how the number of narratives make the city feel vibrant and alive with experiences that go beyond just one singular event, everyone has lives to lead that interweave and overlap, some more strongly than others. And despite all that, you can experience a sense of internal isolation despite the abundance of potential connections that are painted and explored masterfully, the downsides of the big city rush. Artistically it's a very creative take on short stories, however, there ends up being a handful of loose ends that I wish we could have seen coming to a more explored closure, I'd have liked to get to better sit with their last appearances but due to the nature of the experimental style, I didn't get that. Likewise, some of the characters presented were hard to sit through, but not in an endearing way that I could get behind. Some stories were downright bland compared to the emotional scenes happening in a previous chapter, and the odd one felt like it would have been from a whole different book.

All in all some beautiful stories interwoven between lives and experiences. It has some interesting things to say, but that comes with the mixed bag of some stories being harder to sit through, thus is the nature of short stories and portraying such vastly different characters all in quick succession. 

I think the best and easiest way to describe Spell Bound is "Owl House but they live with humans". It's a daringly cute story with lovable characters that felt genuinely invested in one another. Interesting characters with a world that isn't hard to pick up on, it's romance with probably the younger end of readers. Things seem to get repeated a few times without anything extra being given, and it slows down the pacing and feels a little tell don't show. The ending was also hit and miss for me.

But that still being said, as a romance it's an easy book to pick up and holds a lot of personality in its pages. I wish we could have seen more between the apprentices and their teachers, but that's just because I'm greedy. 

 

Block Island plunged me into a chilling world where the [Redactced to keep spoiler-free] isn’t just a terrifying backdrop—they embody the raw pain of grief and trauma. The story kicks off with a gut-wrenching moment that sets the stage for a relentless exploration of loss, focusing on a fractured family grappling with demons that chase them wherever they end up moving. Each character feels real and relatable, with their struggles—from addiction to the scars of neglect—drawing you into their emotional turmoil.

The modern dialogue and authentic interactions create a really investing atmosphere that kept me on edge, I had no faith in any of the characters having a sure ticket to the end of the story. Confronting both monstrous threat and their inner tangle, the emotion resonated long after I turned the last page. Block Island is a haunting tale that lingers in your mind, combining horror with a powerful examination of resilience and the often-painful reality of survival. 

All this to say I loved this book, for a monster horror it's amazing, my only wish is that we could have spent more time with one of the last sprint characters as they have a solid ending that helps us understand the world more vividly, and I'd have liked to have been more emotionally invested in him specifically while we got that information to not make the ending feel as sudden. Still, what a read!

 

What a beautifully written book. Utmost praise for the reflective and insightful writing that makes up Palace of Eros. The slower pace, with a focus on characters and a clear message, was refreshing against the very popular medium of Greek mythology retellings. The writing is much slower-paced than I imagine most people are used to, but if you enjoy a story that isn’t afraid to take its time and pick apart its protagonists it’s a brilliant one to get into. It genuinely gave me things to think about and portrayed social issues in an ancient context while still keeping it relatable, down to the wick. There is some deviation from the original, liberties taken to encompass a conversation and expand on a concept that would otherwise not be possible in this context - and I admit that I was hesitant with it at first, but by the end of chapter 2, I was immersed and willing to set sail on the vision. 

All in all I would recommend highly if you can settle with slower pacing and poeticism. For people more  into YA fiction with action and quick shifts in scenery (not a dig, we all have our preferences and that’s valid!) I’d give this one a miss, but otherwise - I just know I’ll be coming back to read this one again sometime soon.

 

I think I was one of the few people who did enjoy the disjointed storytelling, I specifically loved the boy and the dog, piecing together their story as the other narratives came and went was my favourite part and I would have loved more structure around that, other peoples stories with these two souls surviving in the background. That being said, while the character's history and unravelling who they are to one another was interesting, I can understand why a lot of people seemed to find it tedious, the setting likewise doesn't have a lot of expansion, where there could have been more build up, or answers, it does somewhat feel that a few characters are left up to the readers imagination.

Good creative fuel, a nice experimental style that breaks a mold. I just wish there had been more to keep this as a lasting story.