eren666's reviews
84 reviews

The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Beautiful, bleak in a tragically grounded and realistic way 
Song for the Unraveling of the World: Stories by Brian Evenson

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

I wasn’t 100% on board with every story in this collection, but I found myself thinking about them long after reading them. Definitely some very cool, strong stuff here. I found myself leaving some of the stories a bit unsatisfied due to Evenson’s sparse writing style and the very short length of the stories in this collection. I think this showed me that I prefer his work at novella length at least. 


All this being said- I actually did really love the book overall and would recommend it to a friend. Ex-Mormon literary horror!!!!
Last Days by Brian Evenson

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dark funny 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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

No idea how this book worked as well as it did, but it’s one of the best things I’ve read in years.
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Glad I read this for its influence on the genre, but mostly found it slightly boring and anticlimactic. Has some cool scenes. 
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

At times can start to feel a little heavy on platitudes, but ultimately found it insightful, helpful, compassionate and radical.
Cabal by Clive Barker

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

2.5

Hypothetically Barker should be right up my alley. I love dark fantasy and surreal horror, and as a queer person I was excited to see what a gay horror legend had to offer. I wanted to like this book SO much. Unfortunately, I found Barker’s characters flat and uninteresting, his writing boring, his plot more like a cheap action movie than the kind of horror I usually like. 

If I had to say something positive I really enjoyed Part One, if I had ended there it probably would have been 5 stars.

Did not read the included short stories as Cabal was so bad it has soured me from any further reading from this author :(

All in all, Cabal just felt cheap and surface level 
My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?: A Memoir by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000

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4.0

A little short but super interesting 
Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price

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5.0

Pretty much life changing lol
Ring by Kōji Suzuki

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
I was so surprised at how dull and meaningless this book was.