cameronreads's reviews
524 reviews

I really liked the concept and the characters here. It was a lot of fun, with good action and body horror elements. I also loved the main characters and their relationship. There was something off with the pacing, but otherwise I really enjoyed it.

This was a pretty satisfying end to the series! The final battle finished up in a realistic way and we got to see what everyone was up to a year later. I had a great time reading this series and would definitely recommend it to all mha fans!

This volume essentially serves as the middle of the boss battle. Lots of action! I liked seeing everything Koichi’s been working for being utilised here, and also some epic evolutions of our villain! It’s also becoming more clear how this relates to the main mha series which is interesting…

Literally one of the best written books I’ve encountered. It makes so much sense that the author is a poet, it reads that beautifully. The themes were well explored and incredibly raw. The whole book feels weighty. I feel like this is one I’ll come back to again and again. 

Wanted to stay in Halloween Town for a while after my annual rewatch of Nightmare Before Christmas. I got that, but I also got a Sally who felt a little like a whiny YA protagonist, a repetitive writing style, plot twists that I predicted but wished I was wrong about, and slightly off pacing. However, Jack Skellington saying ‘what is wrong, my wife, why are you crying’ warmed my heart, so we’re adding half a star.

This was such a powerful and important book. It says so much in such a short space of time. It truly shows what it was like to be Palestinian both just after a great catastrophe and simply in day to day life, and the terror that both involve. If the numbers are hard for you to understand, I implore you to read this and see an individual perspective. 

This book was so oddly compelling. The both the writing style and atmosphere were haunting and wonderfully gothic. I outwardly cringed in disgust multiple times. Even the main character, although you’re rooting for her, feels spooky somehow. Her point of view felt almost twisted, as she’s biased by living with her father. I thought it explored its themes so well, especially those of trauma, desire, and story. I felt a little detached from the characters, but I think this is personal preference whether you’d be bothered by this or not (in some ways it adds to the haunting atmosphere). This did extend to the romance as well; there were times when I wasn’t even sure whether we were supposed to be rooting for the couple, but I do like where they ended up. There was also a fair bit of repetition - especially the ‘I’m the third sister and my sisters are beautiful and clever and I’m plain and stupid’, but whilst this was annoying to read it also emphasised just how much Marlinchen’s been brain washed to think this way. Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was the creepy, atmospheric almost horror-esque fantasy I was looking for. 

I don’t quite know how to articulate my thoughts about this book. I can’t even really tell if I liked it, all I know is upon ending it I’ve been left in shock about the entire reading experience. Watching this incredibly toxic relationship progress and reading Paul’s completely unreliable narration felt like watching a train wreck I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. I do think it is excellently and cleverly told; the slow pacing works well for the story, the writing style matches it perfectly, and the unreliable narration that is slowly revealed as more and more unreliable is fantastic. There is something addicting about the relationship between Paul and Julian - they are truly awful together and only bring each other pain but you cannot help but feel so much towards them. I will be thinking about this book for a very long time. 

For some reason I was sceptical that I would like this as much as Pet but I absolutely did; perhaps even more. The discussions in this book were genuinely so necessary and powerful, but also handled with an incredible nuance. There were conversations about responsibility to make change, when you should prioritise yourself, whether eventually peace is worth present violence, etc. I loved Bitter’s character and the friends she made. The representation, as always, was fantastic. This was a great prequel, and I think this duology is a must-read. 

This book somehow surpassed every expectation I had of it. It was simply wonderful; from the characters to the storytelling to the powerful and important messages it contained. I’d recommend this to anyone and everyone.