mcgbreads's reviews
1125 reviews

So I've started my Darcy Coates journey and I found that this audiobook was readily available through Libby. I jumped on it because today was the perfect day to listen to an audiobook while working. 

This was entertaining, it had some good twists, and most characters were likable. I would say it's a fun mystery with paranormal elements more than a horror story. I never felt horror, but I did feel thrills here and there, and it maintained my attention. 

I'm reading The Haunting of Ashburn House by the same author, so I have another reference for one of her haunted house stories. Though I'm still not done with Ashburn House, I can say I like it better than this one because that one is, indeed, creepy and scary. 

I never once felt afraid listening to this book, mostly because it never seemed that the MC was in actual danger and it didn't feel like he was ever actually scared himself. I think it's because most of the paranormal characters were good and helpful and because this was more about unraveling a mystery than anything else. 

Overall, it lacked tension and truly horrific moments, but it was a good time and I enjoyed it for what it was.

The description of this book promises a "terrifying supernatural page-turner," presumably about ghosts based on the fact that it's about a drug that makes you see the dead. 

I didn't get any of that from what I managed to listen to. This was about addiction more than anything and there was nothing terrifying about it. No creepy atmosphere, uninteresting characters, no stakes, no depth. 

It's also not what I would call a "page-turner" if the first 32% was this boring. I think page-turners are supposed to be gripping from the start, but I could be wrong. 

The cover and the description really sold me something that wasn't there; at least not during the first 32% of the story. If it takes so long to get there, the road is boring, and I don't like the passengers I'm with, then I don't want it. So I'm getting out of the car.

I listened to this while I started my day and work, so it was great for that. The narrator did a good job with this. 

The story itself was entertaining and I liked the concept very much; it was also weird and atmospheric, which made it very gripping. However, I don't think the execution was the best. I think the author got in her own way a little and made this more difficult to understand than it needed to be. That took away from the story and my enjoyment of it as a reader, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it at all. So that's enough for 3 stars, I think. 

Fast-paced, thrilling, and easy to read. I couldn't put it down, it was very entertaining. I had already watched the movie, but I liked the book more. I really enjoyed that the story gets you in the mindset of "What would I do if I were in this situation?" It makes you think about your own morality and also what you think you'd be capable of doing/withstanding to save someone just because it's the right thing to do while the odds are stacked against you. 

ARC review; thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the access to this ebook. 

This was adorable. Fluffy, low stakes, good characters. I wasn't kicking my feet or anything, but it was a cute read and I think it's a good single-volume story. 

Not like other girls but make it misanthropic and unhinged. And also, quite convenient. Like, suspend disbelief, cause the fact this bitch got away with so much without being particularly clever will bother you if you don't. 

I expected to LOOOVE this, but I just liked it. It's not a bad book and I ate it up once I sat with it, it just isn't fully what I expected. Yes, there's gore, but a lot of it is just told to you, not shown to you and you're not immersed in it through actual scenes. That's not a bad thing and not an issue, I just feel like I've read so much worse. I was thinking of it more as a regular horror than extreme horror; it's still raw and shocking. 

There's also fetish and it's gross, and this character is crazy, but the pacing is a little off and there's a lot more focus on the romance than I thought. That said, this is more of a character study and it's weird AF, and I enjoyed that quite a lot. I also really loved the frame of "women don't need to have gone through trauma to be violent themselves" or have dark tendencies or be psychotic. I agree with that; women can be just as fucked up as men for no reason at all. That's just a fact, though, so I wouldn't say that framing makes this book or FMC particularly feminist. 

I liked the writing style and the character's voice a lot as well. I definitely see how this is American Psycho for the girlies, I just wish it gave me that 5-star feeling. It's a great debut but, like I said at the top, there are a lot of conveniences and they pulled me out of the story. Also, Maeve is more fleshed out than the side characters. I wouldn't care about that if they weren't given importance in the story, but they are and yet they feel like cardboard cutouts sometimes. 

I feel like these are all issues that aren't difficult to ignore if you're really vibing with the story, main character, and writing. So I'd say definitely give this book a try if it has caught your eye, but check TWs. 

Nov 2023 thoughts: 

This is why I read, to discover books like this. An interesting premise that was executed very well and didn't disappoint. I love it when that happens!

I had no idea I needed to read a book about the abusive dynamics of Dracula towards his spouses, but I did. It was fantastic. It explores a more intimate side of how predatory Dracula is and I think it was masterfully done.

It also explores a different side of his spouses, who are usually portrayed as heartless as he is. Sure, it's often shown that they fear their master and they feel for each other, but I had never seen things explored from their perspective this way. They had such emotional depth, it was great.

This was instantly compelling, beautifully written, and an instant favorite. These characters came to life for me and I felt their struggle. I was rooting for them because even if they're technically monsters too, they didn't lose all their humanity, and they were willing to fight for their dignity.

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Reread thoughts: just as good as the first time I read it. I loved annotating and tabbing this. 

I dragged myself through 39% of this audiobook while I was doing some work and, I have to say, I disliked it from the get-go. Stephen King is so hit or miss for me both in terms of writing style and plot. This was a miss on both. 

I already watched the movie adaptation, so I know what happens. I honestly don't care to go further. It took 37 FUCKING PERCENT for the Space Cowboy or whatever to show up. That's 37% of mind-numbing characterization and writing. Or at least it felt that way to me. 

Sometimes, someone should tell Stephen King to get to the fucking point, to the meat of the thing he wants to say, instead of going on for endless paragraphs and pages about shit that really doesn't fucking matter. 

Anyway, this is going right back to the library cause I don't want to continue. And, you know, sometimes it's the audiobook's fault, but I doubt that reading this with my eyeballs would've made a different impression on me. 

I loved the writing and Toadling as a character but wasn't invested in the plot and didn't vibe with the twist given to this Sleeping Beauty retelling. Still, it's not a bad book, just a little "meh" for me. 

This book has been on my TBR for soooo long and I really thought I’d love it, but I just didn’t. I didn’t like these characters or their sick, co-dependent, toxic sisterly relationship. And I disliked them both for different reasons so I couldn’t, like, care about them.

Also, this isn’t a thriller or mystery. It’s not thrilling at all. There’s a little murder mentioned, but that’s it, so it’s not horror either. This is more of a family drama and while I appreciate the way the trauma within the family affected these women and how that was explored, I just didn’t like this story.