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2066 reviews

Read Completed 11/9/24 | 2 stars
This was a novella/short story in the "Forward" collection by Blake Crouch

I've read N.K. Jemisin before and was excited to read this one, but I really couldn't stand the second person narration, especially as an audiobook. It just didn't work for me and the story didn't save it either. It was distracting and annoying, so this was just a miss for my personal preferences.

Read Completed 11/9/24 | 3.5 - 3.75 stars
This was a novella/short story in the "Forward" collection by Blake Crouch 

I'm always dying for more speculative sci-fi fiction from Blake Crouch! This one didn't quite pull me as much as I had hoped, but the concept is positively terrifying and I love it. AI becoming super-intelligent is a true fear and Blake Crouch brought that out here. 

This short story was slightly longer (2+ hours for the audio) so we had a bit more time to settle in and develop the story with a nice build-up before a big finale. I did enjoy this one, but again, as I always struggle with novellas, it's hard to feel fully excited without dwelling in the story for longer. 

Quite enjoyable, though!

Read Completed 11/9/24 | 2.5 stars
This was a quick novella/short story from the "Forward" collection curated by Blake Crouch. 

This was just an okay read for me! I know these shorts are so short that there's not a ton to wrap your head around sometimes, but this was a very quiet story. I loved the concept and am always interested in a disaster/doomsday scenario, but this was also more character-driven than plot-driven. 

I did enjoy what I read, but ultimately it left me unsatisfied. It was just a little boring without some excitement for how short it is.

Read Completed 11/8/24 | 3.5 stars, but I'll round up because of the ending 
I found this book recommended on a TikTok video for fans of Brandon Sanderson and it definitely fits that vibe! It's like Mistborn meets Stormlight Archives, and of course with its own original flair. 

I was happy to be interested in the book right off the bat, curious about the magic system and the rules of this world. Throughout the book, I really could have done with more world-building. Maybe this is meant to be more accessible to those who don't want a ton of heavy world-building, so if you've tried a Sanderson book and were overwhelmed by it, this could be a good choice! Personally, I feel like I didn't get to know enough about the Threadlight and how it works. I figured out the basics as the book went along and I appreciated that we didn't have some boring dialogue spoon-feeding it to us, but I really wanted to know more about the amber and obsidian, as well as some of the history and tradition of the magic system. I just really wanted more of a deep dive to really pull me in! 

I did like the characters, and there is a decent sized cast here but it wasn't overwhelming. There are a few different POVs and one doesn't really come in until maybe mid-way through the book, and I really would have liked to see his POV a little earlier on so we could see that he was important. The characters were good, but again, I really could have used a little more depth -- some more backstory, some more personality. I just wanted a little more from everything in this book. 

The ending was very interesting and really ramped things up! Up until then, I wasn't really planning on reading the second book because I just wasn't quite invested enough. That ending has me curious though, and I'm tempted to continue on to see how things escalate. This took me much longer than usual to get though even though it's not terribly long, so I'm not sure I'll jump in right away. We'll see if this pulls me back in.

<b>Read Completed 10/31/24 |</b> 3 stars
This was a read that I picked up on a bookstagram recommendation and I was really excited for it. A lot of it really worked for me but a lot of it really, really didn't. 

I appreciated that this was something a little different. I felt like I was getting something new, even when repeating some thriller tropes and concepts that we've seen a bunch of times. I was worried for a while due to one of them (that I don't want to say because it kind of sort of gives stuff away), but I liked the "is it or isn't it" that left me wondering exactly how far things went. I thought I figured out one of the twists and that it was SUPER obvious, but I think the author planted it for us there to follow when it turned out to be a way to trick us, in a good way! 

The plot was also interesting. The concept of a missing person (whose POV we also get do get!) being held hostage was suspenseful. A morally questionable psychologist leads us on our journey, and another POV connects to her past. The different POVs really worked for me here and I appreciated how the story came together! 

There were a bunch of things that didn't work for me either, though. ALL of the characters were unlikable and sometimes I had a hard time believing a woman wrote this book. Sometimes they were crass and had odd turns of phrase that really just felt like an out-of-touch man wrote it, but maybe that's to show how out of touch some of these characters were. I had a little difficultly with how much I disliked each and every one of them, though. 

I also really, really hated the fact that COVID was mentioned so often and used so much. The book was supposed to take place in 2021 but... why? This book was published in 2024. Unless there was a specific reason to incorporate it into the plot by the use of masks or isolation or not seeing people, etc then it would make sense but there was literally no reason for it AT ALL. There were minor parts of the book where it was involved in the plot for something but that could have easily been written another way. This is a personal preference, but I generally prefer my fiction without anything about the pandemic, even thrillers and horror. 

This was a weird book to rate. Usually my 3 star-ish books are a little more indifference or boredom and this was a hard clash of things I liked vs disliked.

<b>Read Completed 10/29/24 |</b> 4 stars
Robyn Harding can be hit or miss for me, so I went into this not having high expectations -- not low, but not high -- and I was pleasantly surprised! This was nice and suspenseful with a terrifying case from the past reappearing. 

I actually really enjoyed this in the third person. Usually I don't like thrillers in third person, but this easily worked for me and I didn't even notice it at all. The story was interesting right away, allowing the dark past to immediately surface through a different POV (we have three: Frances, a mother; Daisy, a daughter; and DJ, a brother; all in different families). We knew it would all connect but were left wondering how. 

This book definitely had some really dark concepts and despite how dark things got, I still really enjoyed the book. I really liked the character interaction and seeing how everyone felt each other out. Parts of it were predictable, and even then, I still enjoyed the book, thinking I knew all of the twists. The author did a great job at leading me down one path where I was so sure I had known something all along and then introduced a twist where we were intentionally misled! That was a great surprise, and I wish it had gotten a little darker there, but I also liked where that reveal led. 

I just enjoyed this more than I have a bunch of other thrillers recently and I'm happy I picked it up!

<b>Read Completed 10/27/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
I would say this book leans more cozy mystery than anything. It's fun and light with a mystery to solve, a mission to complete, and has some goofy characters. It's probably less silly than most of the other cozies I've read, but didn't really have enough world-building for me to primarily call it fantasy / urban fantasy / paranormal, etc. There really didn't need to be much world-building at all, but I was actually fairly disappointed that we didn't get to know really anything about S.C.Y.T.H.E., most specifically how Kathy even came to work there when it's something the general public shouldn't know about. How was she recruited? How does anyone get to work there? I just really wanted more there. 

I thought the answer to the mystery was a little weak. There really didn't seem to be that much motivation as far as the killer went, and the characters do follow people around but it the investigation wasn't that deep either. In the end, I really wasn't satisfied with the answer and there just wasn't really a good reason for it all. 

The characters were really hit or miss for me. Kathy was okay, but she was a little too insecure for me to really like. She explains this by saying growing up she always had the touch where everything turns bad, but I felt like we either needed to lean in hard to this or shoo away from it. Instead, I just felt like she used it as an excuse when something bad happened to wallow in it and not help herself out. I didn't like that the reason she didn't want to be with her husband anymore was pretty much ONLY because she couldn't tell him about her work... which she eventually does anyway. So she threw her whole marriage -- while she was pregnant -- away because of that but does it anyway. Simon was a little too over-the-top for me. He was a little sad and goofy, and worshipped Kathy, which is nice but it was a little too unrealistic in a few ways. I loved seeing a husband who was so supportive, but they made him a little pathetic and I just felt like we leaned into it a little too hard. Jo was fun, and I liked her. I actually really liked Connor. I just didn't know what we were going for here. It felt like cozy mystery, in which case we should have leaned in harder to some of the kookiness, but it just kind of fell somewhere in the middle. I also really didn't like a lot of the things involving Kathy's pregnancy. Some things just felt off and like she should have had a lot more doctor's appointments. The one we see on-page made it seem like it was one of very few. 

Anyway. This was an easy read, and kind of fun, but the ending really didn't seal the deal for me. I was hoping for a little bit more to really round out the book, plot wise and grim reaper wise. This just didn't quite deliver for me (no pun intended? Since a baby was born at the end...) so I'm not sure that I'd continue the series.

<b>Read Completed 10/25/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
This was overhyped, for me. The beginning was a little rough because I don't love books where a lot of abuse is involved and I have a hard time enjoying them. I wouldn't say it's a trigger, but it makes it difficult to enjoy. 

This was almost a bit more contemporary than it was thriller. More of a dramatic suspense, which is fine. I wasn't really expecting it to be a thriller with a breakneck pace, but it still didn't hook me like I was hoping it would. I did get into the plot more more around the middle and the third quarter of the book, but the ending really fell flat. I don't really know where else it would have gone from there, but I started to lose interest in the end and the finale wasn't anything too interesting to really round out the story. 

I definitely felt for Sally, and all of the characters, really. There was a lot of horror, physical and emotional abuse, and trauma to overcome. I definitely liked that we got to see a lot of growth from Sally, but it's sad that it all came in her 40s and that she wasn't able to receive that kind of care and attention throughout her formative years. 

There were a couple other things I didn't care for in the end

like the addition of Stockholm Syndrome, after everything we already witnessed...

and it just kind of fell somewhere towards the middle for me. Maybe if you're someone who appreciates or enjoys darker stories, this is a better fit.

<b>Read Completed 10/22/24 |</B> 3 stars
Funny and quirky horror / thrillers always call my name and this one started off well. It definitely lost some steam halfway, despite it being short. 

The writing was a little confusing. This was young adult but I think it would have been better marketed as adult and leaned into whatever points it was making even more. There was a decent amount of cursing, and naturally some creature gore, which aged it up from a younger YA, but I think I would have enjoyed the vibe more as straight up adult. 

I wanted a little more character development as well. I liked what was there but they weren’t really driving me to keep reading. I finished the book because it was short but it was just not super memorable for me.

<b>Read Completed 10/16/24 |</b> 3.5 stars, rounded up
I just adored Melissa Weisner's debut and couldn't wait to read this new release from her. WISH I WERE HERE was a little less my style, but I really enjoyed the writing and really appreciated how the book ended! 

This was a little less magical than THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR and a little more magical all at once. In an overwhelming moment, our main character Catherine wishes she was nobody and poof! All of a sudden, she can't be found in any database or system anywhere as a real identity. She then goes on a very real hunt for her birth certificate and her mother, all of which are not magical quests but actual important things in her life. We circle back around to a touch of the magic in the end to wrap things up! This was also a bit more contemporary, to me, than romance, which also wasn't a bad thing but not quite what I was expecting. I suppose all romances still have a lot of self-reflection but I felt like Catherine's growth was definitely first and foremost with the romance being a bonus. 

This was a fun exploration in identity and overcorrecting your past. Catherine is very type A and sometimes those types of characters are hard for me to read about. She's a math professor, but comes from a background of her father being a clown and running with a crowd who is very into arts, loose schedules, and living a freer life. Now Catherine, all grown up, fixates on her schedules and goals -- which is not a bad thing at all, but she overcorrected just a bit, not having had security like that as a child. I really liked seeing her connect the two parts of her life. She really loves her father but had a hard time when he wasn't the most reliable parent, and now as an adult, she's figuring out how to have a relationship with him. I loved that she got back in touch with her childhood and let go of some of her strict schedules, realizing that she absolutely can have a STEM/math-focused job and enjoy what she does but still let loose and let go of some of that control every once in a while too. I was SO HAPPY that the author didn't make her quit her job that she enjoyed, and she even got to connect with someone in her department that wasn't stuffy to show that personalities of all kinds get to enjoy this type of job. 

I also really appreciated Catherine's search for her mother and I don't want to go into any spoilers, but I really liked how the end of that was handled. It wasn't all or nothing, and it made perfect, realistic sense instead of being hyperbolic for the sake of a romance book. 

The romance was cute, and I liked how it all worked out. I was afraid that I, too, was going to get annoyed with Luca's unreliability, but I loved how the author really explained every situation in which he felt unreliable. Catherine gets to dig deeper and see exactly why Luca seems out of sorts all the time, and he really just has a heart of gold and is arranging his schedule around others to help them out. I like that he was so supportive and helped Catherine break some rules. 

This was a cute read and I really enjoy Melissa Weisner's writing style! I wasn't bowled over by it but it was quite heart-warming and very enjoyable.