minimicropup's reviews
496 reviews

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

As a lifelong member of the Claustrophobic Arachnophobes Club I both loved and hated this 😅. This capitalized on all my childhood fears around those gross gas station bathrooms. It was chilling and thought-provoking horror, but also fun with a little dark humour. I keep thinking about it, it

said a lot with a little.

Energy: Suffocating. Disturbed. Astute.

🐩 Tail Wags How it effectively blends extreme horror and gore with emotional depth and raw humanity. Showing how those who endured monstrosities can grow to dismiss others’ fears as trivial, but how that can also have a protective effect. Sharp, dark humour. Terrifying setting and tension. Vivid see-hear-feel writing style.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a gas station along a deserted stretch of American highway.

Perspective: Our main character is feeling down about their crush dating a bandmate and is driving late at night to get to visit their grandparent in hospital. They stop for a snack and a bathroom break along the way.

Timeline: 2016. ☀️⭐️ Summer nights

🔥 Fuel: Why is the gas station empty? Why won’t the bathroom door open? How are the creatures getting in? What do the ominous notes mean? Escalating stakes, what is happening out in the store? Will our main character survive and escape?

📖 Cred: Plausible

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Yacht rock playlist. Summer breeze. Corn Nuts. Googly eyes. Candy wrappers. Tangy meat smell. Neon condoms. Blood everywhere.

Feeling down about a crush
Show-not-tell exploration of life and death, survival, terror, and trauma
Cinematic sensory writing style
Arthouse-grindhouse horror fusion
Pit stop gone wrong
Swipes of unhinged bizarro villainy

Content Heads-Up: Stroke (off page). War (off page brief mention). Racism (character, bullying; off page mention/recall). Bullying (antisemitic slurs). Creepy crawlies. Body horror (blood, desecration, guts, bodies).

Rep: American. Jewish heritage. Cis. Hetero. Ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Kobo Plus

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You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray, Darren Wearmouth

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a fast-paced survival thriller with twisted justice, memorable villains, and a morally complex twist. This is a good one for fans of survival horror and book clubs that like a good ethical debate.

Energy: Devious. Diabolical. Amusing.

🐕 Howls The festive snowy atmosphere fades out. I initially listened to this while multitasking but found it’s better suited for focused listening or text to keep track of characters and developments (I think because it’s fast paced, but it’s also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it style read at times).

🐩 Tail Wags Schadenfreude-y bad guys face a reckoning. Rooting for some characters but also rooting for them to get picked off one by one. Twisted villains. Fast pace that avoids bogging down in overly detailed action or drawn-out bickering. The survival elements stay engaging. The twist at the end (I had my suspicions but it was still captivating). Creative traps that didn’t feel cartoonish and how characters meet their demise.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a deserted old west town made to look old artificially, with modern tech. I think in upstate New York, USA

Perspective: Mostly a career criminal who has gotten by through robbing vulnerable people. Their latest attempt goes horribly wrong when they wake up to find themselves in an unknown location with several strangers. We also get snippets of some peripheral characters POVs as needed.

Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s).

🔥 Fuel: Who drugged and abducted the characters? Why place them all together in this fake deserted town? What do each of them hide in their pasts that may have made them targets for this set-up? Will they work together or turn on each other? Is the set-up survivable?

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief with a side of camp

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Old timey town. Silent night. Blowing snow. Wine. Grizzly bear. Ax. Hatch. Barbed wire. Carousel horses.

Reminiscent of Home Alone style traps but with gruesome consequences
Abandoned eerie winter setting
Light exploration of eye-for-an-eye style ethics, morals, and psychology
Ethical and moral questions around criminals and bad people
Murder mystery while trapped
Picked off one by one slasher
Festive survival thriller
Short chapters
How far would you go for your child?
Sprinkling of reality-tv-but-make-it-a-murder-competition energy
Flip the script twist endings
Hints at a sequel

Content Heads-Up: Body horror. Gore, blood, dismemberment. Theft. Death. Murder. Confinement, abduction. Drugging. Animal attack (descriptive on page). Intoxicated driving (off page). Violence, homicidal tendencies (sexually aroused by). Serial murder. Psychopathy.

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Everand Audio

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The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

The synopsis of this sounds sooo good. Maybe I’m not smart enough to appreciate the literary elements here, but the writing style is driving me crazy. Every little thing is described in the most convoluted insider purple prose foreshadowing way possible in excruciating detail. And yet for all that word salad I often have no damn clue wtf is going on 😂. It’s so bogged down but also feels like a scholarly/literary arts thing maybe. Either way it’s something I’m not appreciating and getting frustrated with, so I’m calling it. Def not for me.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

Not bad I just can’t get into it and there’s so much sad animal stuff. The character is telling us her thoughts almost stream of consciousness, which I usually like, but for this one I found myself thinking ‘when does the story start?’ It’s good just not for me!

The Darkest Night by Lindy Ryan

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.

Everything I read so far was just sad fic or, as another reviewer mentioned, stories that drift off to nowhere.

They also were just ‘everyone is sad/grieving/heartbroken. It’s close to Christmas btw’. No atmosphere, festive vibes, chills, or horror.

So if you like sad-fic or grief/heartstrings horror, I think it’s a good collection (they aren’t badly written).

Edit: now that there are more reviews posted with story lists, I’m seeing that the last half of this sounds more like what I’m looking for (like from Nat Cassidy/Rachel Harrison on? I didn’t make it to their stories). So maybe I’ll give this another try but I’ll pick which ones to read based on reviews 😀

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

nothing bad about this i’m just getting bored and it’s not really my kinda book. But I think it’s well written, I got this far before calling it! The main character in this was so unlikeable but fascinating in a trainwreck kinda way.

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The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked the literary, dark, unsettling vibes, though it lost me near the end when that was replaced with high-stakes faster-paced thriller chaos. Once I got into the flow, it was okay, but I think this one is best suited for those who appreciate dark, complex narratives and can roll with its quirks.

Energy: Imperious. Condescending. Perverse.

🐺 Growls The narrators do a great job, but the audio-transcription app used in the story introduces intentional mistakes and cuts off, so the audiobook was hard to understand in those parts.

🐕 Howls Trying to do too much in one story. Seems like it’s trying too hard to shock or be edgy sometimes. The heavy-handedness near the end clashed with the subtler, slow-burn tone established early on. Don’t overanalyze - these characters are supposedly hand-writing novella-length letters to each other 😂.

🐩 Tail Wags Piecing things together as I progressed through the book. The stream-of-consciousness style letters. Some of the dark twists. How it captured arguments, passive aggression, and pettiness with excruciating precision. Intriguing exploration of deeply flawed humans. The atmosphere.

Scene: 🇬🇷 An unnamed Greek island

Perspectives (3): Two spouses writing to each other, but almost in a way where they don’t expect the other person to read them (more of a cathartic exercise?). The sleepwalker’s wife. And transcripts from recordings.

Time: Current (2020s). ☀️ Summery.

🔥 Fuel: How did these two end up married? Why is their marriage falling apart? What happened with the sleepwalking couple? High stakes action and questing. Can one of the characters find what they’re looking for?

📖 Cred: Plausible with emotional hyper-realism

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Soft heat. Underripe melon. Pomegranate. White-washed buildings. Distant lightning. Howling winds. Singing goldfinches.

Honeymoon gone wrong
Deep-dive into complex characters and relationship dynamics
Stream of consciousness narratives
Flowery writing style, veering into purple prose (fits the character writing it though)
Melodrama and scandal, marriage unraveling
Fast-paced quests and cat-and-mouse games
Exploring the same events from multiple perspectives
Immersive and atmospheric world building
Dark ominous themes with a mix of literary and thriller elements
Epistolary-ish reading notes and listening to transcribed recordings

Content Heads-Up: Classism, entitlement. Marriage troubles (dismissive, arguments, name-calling, demanding). Intrusive in-law. Sexual content (consenting, fantasizing). Hospice (recall). Sexual grooming (preteens/teens). Voyeurism of minors. Non-consenting sex (intoxication). Drugging. Trafficking. Refugee camp, status. Vomit. Dieting (food restriction). Fatphobia. Homophobia (prejudice, persecution). Sexual violence. Excrement (brief). Covid (fatal; very brief mention).

Rep: British. Greek. Turkish. Cis. Hetero. White, olive, tan, and ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Everand Audio

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Pyramidia by Stephanie Sanders-Jacob

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this. It’s a bizarre and darkly comedic story about an introverted teacher facing off against an invasive MLM neighbor. The ending left questions unanswered, but I was okay with the levels of that. It reminded me a little of Bloom by Delilah S Dawson (similar vibes, diff plots).

Energy: Strange. Charming. Farcical.

🐩 Tail Wags: So easy to imagine. The quirky characters and their interactions. Relatable main character (Harriet). Unhinged bizarro vibes and randomness. The humour. The MLM and stalky character conundrums.

Scene: 🇺🇸 🛳️ Set in Bentwood, Ohio, USA and on cruise ship departing from Miami.

Perspective: An introverted elementary gifted schoolteacher starting a new job in a new town. A pushy salesperson worms their way in to their life and things start to get weird from there.

Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s). Linear

🔥 Fuel: The strangeness of so many of the characters in the town and the town itself. The MLM situation. What is their angle? Why is Harriet feeling drawn to them?

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief surrealism

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Tea pouring. Musty cabin. Ice cubes clinking. Aggressive door knocking. Fresh sharpened pencils. Cruise ship horn. Helicopter blades. Farmer’s market. Garlic bulbs.

Grown up Goosebumps bizarro
Monsters, MLMs, and sapphic romance
Dark comedy meets supernatural cozy horror
Quirky cast of characters
Satirical strangeness and surreal randomness

Content Heads-Up: Depressive episodes. Death (overdose). Forced institutionalization (psychiatric). Psychosis, paranoid symptoms. Body horror, gore, body fluids. Murder. Loss of parent (as child; brief).

Rep: American. Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Pale and ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Library Digital

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It Will Only Hurt for a Moment by Delilah S. Dawson

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I liked most of this, even when I was angry at certain characters. It was engaging, thought-provoking, weird, and atmospheric. But the end felt incomplete or tacked on.

Energy: Hostile. Evasive. Cautious.

🐕 Howls Sudden switch from slow-burn weird horror to popcorn thriller (convenient rush of villains, chaotic bursts of violence). The story introduced a lot of mysterious sub-plots and angles, then lost or cut them off abruptly at the end (I have so many unanswered questions). Reiterating the commentary on misogyny and narcissism instead of progressing the story.

🐩 Tail Wags The art installation descriptions and insights into the art-making process. The slow, steady pace allowed for gradual character development.Showing how women have historically been labeled irrational, spoiled, or mentally unstable for expressing simple boundaries. How it didn’t shy away from exposing how some women are complicit in perpetuating those injustices. Balanced view of abuse and sociopathy transcending gender. Unsettling ending. The justice moments (the plot made me mad, but not in a frustrating way).

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Tranquil Falls Artists’ Retreat in Georgia, USA.

Perspective: A potter who hasn’t made art in the last five years while in a toxic relationship finally gets out and is accepted to an artist’s retreat. While there strange things start happening, including dreams where they are a guest at the abandoned resort on site.

Timeline: Current (2020s). 🍂 Beginning of fall.

🔥 Fuel: Cliffhangers. Group dynamics. Atmosphere. Why are the artists suddenly acting strangely? What really happened between the retreat leaders and an especially misogynist artist? What’s with the second floor of the cabin our MC is staying in? Why was the resort hotel suddenly abandoned?

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief with a touch of paranormal

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Oak must. Yeast cinnamon and apple. Distant roar of a waterfall. Lavender potpourri. Stained glass windchimes. Mildew. Rot. Cold stone. Antiseptic.

Glimpse of 1800s pseudoscience health resort
Books to read in the forest, fall vibes
Escaping a toxic relationship, starting anew romantic energy
Cast of eccentric artists
Exploring secret areas off-limits
How did they die? Mysteries
Visions, nightmares, out of body experiences
Third person whispering context to us as we watch scenes unfold, getting to know everyone alongside the main character
Chaos and strangeness
Irony and ghostly revenge

Content Heads-Up: Alcohol abuse, alcoholic parent. Narcissistic parent, no contact. Animal death (brief on page; possum, snake, rabbits). Vomit. Corpse/skeleton (discovery of). Toxic, narcissistic colleagues. Bullying (vandalism, theft, threats). Confinement (implied, evidence of and on page). Misogyny. Ageism (towards younger gen). Sexual assault, rape (within relationship; descriptive recall on page). Medical (injuries, heart attack, bleeding). Drugging. Forced institutionalization (medical asylum). Personality disorders, psychopathy.

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Dark brown, pale, and ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Library Hardcover

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Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was an interesting exploration of violence against females and defining predators. It was sometimes a challenging read (like, literally. As in re-reading lines to get what was meant), but overall, I’m glad I read it.

Energy: Disheartening. Distant. Disturbed.

🐕 Howls The writing was sometimes hard to follow in a ‘these are words, but I still don’t get what is going on’ way. I found myself mixing up the different character names (Ruth, Rose, and Annie) especially when they’re also referred to by aliases. Ending was muddled. Too many uncertainties left unresolved. Twist at the end was just confusing. Story felt rushed once our main character got back to New York.

🐩 Tail Wags Deep dive into the main character’s mind. The feeling of eavesdropping, slowly piecing together what’s happening. Fascinating potentially unreliable main character. Believable portrayal of armchair detectives. Not idealizing all women as good. Suspenseful writing style. Literary fiction style feels.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Manhattan NY with little journeys to 🇳🇿 New Zealand and 🇳🇴 Norway.

Perspective: Our main character was deeply affected by the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year old when they were seven. They are living in a family apartment recovering from an incident that led to their removal from college studying criminal psychology, when an Amber Alert appears.

We also get brief flashbacks from our main character at seven years old, and the brief perspective of a teen connected to someone adjacent to the murders.

Timeline: Late 2010s. 1996 (briefly). 🍃 Spring (June)

🔥 Fuel: Who is the child confined to a small room? What happened to Ruth that has everyone so worried about her mental health? Can she really see and hear what she does? Is there a connection to a convicted murderer when another girl goes missing from her hometown?

📖 Cred: Realism with a touch of paranormal

Mood Reading Match-Up:

AMBER alert. Calm, spring air. Bourbon. Pebble beach. Hotel room. Airport. Paperback. Emails.

Ghostly sidekicks and feminist commentary
Fully unhinged or highly aware?
Armchair detective skills
Through the eyes of a child excerpts
Solved child murder…apparently
Complex, imperfect victims
Around the world amateur investigating
Hesitant, should-they-or-shouldn’t-they romance
Shifting our understanding of events reveals
Mixed up, morally grey, and Machiavellian characters
Fade to black sub-plots and endings

Content Heads-Up: Confinement (on page). Abduction (child; on page perspective). Loss of child (murder). Alcohol use (intoxication). Controlling, toxic relationship (off page recalls). Serial murders. Pedophilia (grooming; inappropriate touching & comments;

teacher-student

). Hallucinations. Medical emergency (dog). Domestic abuse (brief, off page). Homophobia (marriage equality, brief discussion). Sexual harassment (of minor; off page). Sexual assault (on page).

Rep: American. New Zealander/Kiwi. Cis. Hetero. Gay. Sun-kissed, dark, and ambiguous skin tones. Apophenia (tending to see patterns/connections between unrelated things).

📚 Format: Library Digital

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minimicropup's reviews 496 reviews

minimicropup's reviews
496 reviews