kaabtik's reviews
381 reviews

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

oks ra, i did enjoy the first half more than the second half despite it being a bit too long to establish the setting though for 301 pages igo2 ra bya pd siya.

second fungus related horror of the year, surprisingly. it has its charms which i do like.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

The first half of the book was tediously slow and honestly made me want to drop it several times.

While I do agree the second half makes up for it, 200 pages na dili man gale kaayo nagmake sense na scenes sometimes kay dili worth it.

Naay scenes na repetitive and the actual na mystery wasn't clear until the second half despite it being Tell, Not Show sometimes.

Overall, oks lang. Would recommend if you have the time to finish in one sitting para dili ra kaayo siya slow jd ang first half kay kung imong basahon slowly na madrop jd idk.

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This has been on my shelf for a while now and I'm so glad I finally read it.

The Stars are Legion is an all-women led space opera where we follow Zan and Jayd in their mission to save their planet from its deterioration.

Pretty straightforward premise, right? Reallt easy to jump into, right?

WRONG.

Thrust into the world with little preamble, you really see the world through a shroud — bits and pieces coming to light as you read on. This aspect really kept me reading despite it being a bit hard to keeep track of things.

Pregnancy and childbirth—its pains and joys—are central to the book and was carried out in an interesting manner.

I have a lot more questions tbh but I did enjoy it a lot.

King's Man by Sally Malcolm

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.

makalagot makabwesit and it's barely 300 pages bisan unsaun push and pull pero dili pd in any makaakit na way? like murag gina TELL tanan and dili na siya yearning para sa akoa. flimsy kaayo na pagkaexecute naglagot ko

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The beginning was pretty slow and the constant switching of POVs made it muddled in the beginning.

However, I was completely engrossed by the end! Definitely took me a while to warm up to the book as it isn't exactly a topic I lean towards but it was a great read.

Discussion in The Dead Muses Society Bookclub:

finished it this just before dinner!

initially i did not enjoy the beginning half as the constant switching of POVs really threw me off as the chapters were short and very little was happening that felt warranted to switch POVs. many a time i would find myself reading carly's chapters in scarlett's inner voice - which, upon finishing, is an excellent way of hinting of the two people being one all along.

the red herring of the two girls that scarlett saw during halloween almost made me throw away the theory but the reveal made it satisfying imo. the end endeared me to the three women - though it would have been interesting to see a trio POV of scarlett, carly, and mina just so we could get to know mina better and how she was a narrative foil to carly's allison - which upon reflection makes the final murder a full circle of carly's freshman year and first kill:

scarlett shedding her identity as the beloved yet strict professor at gormon - just as she shed carly, her timid self, when she was a freshman in order to confront bash

bash and stright being the object of scarlett and carly's bloodlust - only to escape death by a hairsbreadth.

wes and jasper — her supposed love interests, the former a snake lying in wait with a silver tongue and very dark intentions, while the latter baring his fangs the moment they met.

mina and allison — those she had truly cared about, while allison ran upon the discovery of scarlett's true self, mina welcomed it - encouraged it, even.

mikayla i suppose represents the carly that first committed a murder - whether or not she follows the same footsteps as scarlett... well that's up to her. overall it was quite enjoyable and writing out my ideas here really made me realize i picked this book apart more than i should have.

Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles

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adventurous funny medium-paced