kristallmarie's reviews
232 reviews

This was a blast! Let's keep the "fantasy going in strange new directions" trend going, please! 

I don't usually read romances, but this was... Fine, I guess? It was also, y'know, a romance, and those are so formulaic and predictable it hurts. I thought maybe going sapphic might be more interesting than het romances, but nah. The concept of the Vegas wedding is kind of wasted. Grace spends the whole book boo-hooing about how hard her life is, and yes, it's hard and her mom's a flake and her dad's an asshole, but she's a grown woman. Cut ties and move on! And the third act focuses so hard on the flaky mom that you could almost forget that this book is about Grace Porter and the really promising story we started out with. 

There's also lots of repetition in the writing: Grace Porter (We aren't gonna forget the main character's name, girl calm down), star girl, sea salt and herbs. 

Also, since I didn't see it in any of the top reviews, if anyone sees this: TW for self-harm by way of pinching and scratching. 

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

I am, however, homosexually disappointed. 

Man, this book was a mess. There were lots of things that annoyed me (The Wikipedia articles about every building on campus, Luke being horrifically unlikable, the million stupid nicknames, Cal being a trusting idiot who's somehow a genius when it comes to puzzles that make no sense), but the worst one was: WHY DOES CAL TALK LIKE THAT? Slay? Legit? I cringed so hard so many times. My God, I don't think I've ever come across a more annoying character voice. 

At least the narrator did a decent job with the material he was given, though it took him a few chapters to realize Cal has an accent, even though Cal himself has said so a hundred times by that point.

I hate rating ARCs so low, but one star out of five for A Darker Mischief. 

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

In the beginning, I really loved this story. I couldn't put it down! The concept is so cool, and I loved the use of transcripts from the show! Up until the last third, I was having tons of fun watching Mara muddle through such a fun, unique job! My only complaint was that the whole woodcarving thing seemed weirdly shoehorned in and super out of place. 

And then we get to the last third and Mara suddenly going from slightly surly and annoying to a jealous, obnoxious little brat. This is where we meet Jo, and the woodcarving makes as much sense as it's going to, which still isn't much. Also wow, the family can make music but you can't. Girl, take a lesson and stick to it, like they're telling you to. No wonder Mara's an outcast. 

I enjoyed the story overall, but I really wish it would've gone in a different direction for the last third. Oh, well. It was still pretty fun and I don't regret picking it up. Also I loved how short it was! More short books, please! 

Three and a half stars out of five for Haunt Sweet Home! 

It's been a little over three years since I read Ninth House, and while I worried that that might be a problem, everything came rushing back with ease! 

The writing is easy to follow, and the characters are likable and interesting, but that's par for the course when it comes to Leigh Bardugo, isn't it? She's good like that. The Yale lore is especially interesting! How dare she make me feel compelled to look into the history of an educational institution! But I didn't regret it for an instant. 

The story went a little wild, though. Like... Vampires? Lame. Making vampires cool just isn't possible. Has it ever been? Demon Darlington is incredible, though. That one glowing golden bit? Yes, please! Even though his personality is still giving less charming Nikolai Lantsov. 

Favorite quote: "The devil knows your name now, Galaxy Stern."

 This is probably my favorite short story ever! It never fails to hit right in the heart! 

 This was weird and gross and I absolutely loved it! Best new book I've read in a while! It's bloody and dirty, and we love to see nasty queers, that's always a plus! 

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an e-ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

I usually take a peek at the star rating so far for ARCS out of curiosity, and I don't think I've ever come across a book that wasn't review-bombed getting less than a three star rating, but it wasn't review bombing. That super low rating is valid here. Considering the "an edgy twelve-year-old named it" title, I probably shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't good. The concept is amazing and the cover art is absolutely incredible, but the story makes very little sense. The writing goes back and forth between dry and clinical or informal to the point where it doesn't feel like a book at all, which was really jarring. Pick a tone! Its also really repetitive. The atmosphere was nice, though, I'll give it that much. Love me a seaside horror story. 

The narrators did as good a job as they could with the source material, so don't blame them. They did fine. 

Two stars out of five to the mess that is The Deading. 

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an e-ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

To preface this review: I've read Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books before. Both Mexican Gothic and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau were one-star reads for me, but this one seems to have an interesting concept, so I thought, why not give this one a try? It sounds totally different from the other books of hers that I've read. 

Unfortunately, it's more of the same. Her writing is fine. It's simple, it tells instead of showing more often than it should, but it's fine. Her characters are flat and show no development between the two time frames, and the whole concept just seems wasted. It had so much potential, especially given the 80s setting, which is my favorite historical setting. 

I'm disappointed by this book, but I'm not surprised. 

To preface this: I don't often read sci-fi. It's just not my thing. But I absolutely adore Ray Bradbury, I have since I read The Halloween Tree as a kid, and Fahrenheit 451 is in my top five favorite books ever. 

And this one is as gorgeous as the rest of his work. The fact that it reads like an anthology, with the pieces kind of disconnected, surprised me, but I really enjoyed it! I've never read anything like it! And that ending literally gave me goosebumps!