readingrobin's reviews
2322 reviews

A well balanced compendium of modern horror novels that has some top notch page design and organization. So easy to flip through and pick out your horror of choice. 

God, this is a hard one to review. On the one hand, this is a very readable book. The pacing is excellent, it flows naturally and every moment is earned. Dee is a likable lead, determined, resourceful, and you can see her build her strength as the story goes along. Gremma is a great ride or die roommate/friend, down for anything if it means backing Dee up.

I grew to like our secondary cast, Cal, James, Riley. Some characters felt underutilized. Cora kind of drops out of the story once she feels like it and we could have used more appearances from the Daemon to flesh out some worldbuiling aspects.

I think that's where some issues of the book come in. Everything feels...sketchy, not filled in. Like there's a good basis of a plot/world, but very little exploration or development beyond surface level. I WANTED to get to know these characters more, I WANTED to learn more about the Daemon other than what we got in the last fifty pages. It led me to feel like the stakes were so low even though they were dealing with an apparent apocalypse. It never really felt tense, it just felt like another job.

But what the book lacks in a deeper plot is emotion. The character dynamics are on point, the losses feel like true losses. You knew there was going to be a sacrifice, it was only a matter of when.

There was a moment when a character's motivation truly baffled me. I thought it was going to be yet another critique of the book, only to have my stomach drop when it was explained at the end.

I'm sure a better version of this book could exist, so I can't say I'm entirely satisfied.

But I will say, I am happy when a book commits to the death of a character, specifically if it's a romantic interest. I just like the gumption.

Just couldn't settle into this one. A lot of info dumping at the beginning and it really thrusts us into the action. Not a fan of feeling like we're dropping into the middle of a story at the very start.

Nora was too much of a blank slate character for me. It makes sense that she is the sort of protagonist that you project onto, but I need something a little more meatier than that. It seemed like a repetitive plot, basically return from each alter life scenario slightly disappointed only to wash rinse repeat. 

Have been working my way through the Rick Riordan Presents books and this one definitely breaks the mold. It doesn't focus on any mythic aspects, which makes it seem very out of place considering the other installments in this label, but that doesn't mean it's a horrible book, just one that I wasn't expecting.

Unfortunately for me, it felt like this book wasn't really going anywhere. I got halfway in and it didn't even really feel like we got an inciting incident or really much conflict. It's like a bunch of vignettes put together and connected through its characters. Fortunately, the characters are the strength of this book, as Sal is very charming and lovable and Gabi feels so relatable as that sort of energetic preteen.

It's very much a character driven book, and I don't think that's what I really wanted from a setup like this. The title feels very misleading, as the universe never really feel threatened and really the stakes (when they are present) are more emotional. In the right hands, this is going to be a moving story that is going to entertain and move many readers, it's just not going to be me. 

I would definitely recommend to kiddos that like more fantastical stories with a sci-fi twist to them and that are looking for likeable, funny male leads.

Actually feels like a modern fairy tale that has remnants of traditional storytelling. I'm always down for a fantasy that focuses on generational trauma, about the survivors and their descendants reckoning with a violent past. There is a comfort in the immortality of storytelling, how a thing never dies as long as there are those that live on to tell its story. It's a great resilience. and both of our characters manage to find that strength despite their insecurities.

To start with, I'm so glad that an autistic tween had a hand in making this book. I appreciate the commitment to an authentic voice and portrayal that will help readers get a better example of what autism can look like.

However, I struggled a bit with this book. As someone who was definitely an undiagnosed neurodivergent kid, I can relate a lot to Tally's struggles: the ostracization from other kids, the meltdowns, the little rituals to make things feel okay. All of those moments rang so true. But it felt like Tally never really got a lot of time to breathe. Each chapter ended in either a meltdown or a misunderstanding or Tally was so stressed out it was hard to move on just to be treated with more of the same. There were positive moments, like her moments with Rupert or her drama teacher actually being a good ally to her, but they felt so few and far between comparatively. It felt so cyclical after a while that I sped up my audiobook just so that I can get through it a bit faster.

Also, while Tally's emotions are valid and come from the exhaustion of having to mask all the time, she says some really hurtful things to her family that she never apologizes for. Emotional regulation can be hard for autistic kids, especially when every emotion feels so big and they all move so fast through you. But it doesn't excuse harmful behavior. 

The whole thing with Luke also rubbed me the wrong way, how he was able to get away with so much and then gets a get out of jail free card with "Oh if I had known you were autistic I wouldn't have bullied you." Which...isn't the problem. Bullying is wrong no matter who you do it to. 

Though I have a rocky relationship with this book, I could see fans of Wonder and Out of my Mind enjoying this one.

As a big Jekyll and Hyde enthusiast, I was instantly amused when I saw just the title for this book. The idea of that iconic duo solving crime seemed like a fun novelty and I'm always interested in different depictions of them.

The book mainly draws inspiration from the 1931 movie, one adaption I'm not really a fan of, but the mystery itself is compelling enough for this to stand as its own story. I've very picky when it comes to depictions of Jekyll and Hyde, so I was a little disappointed when the latter went with the "animalistic, ape-like" approach. There are moments when he exhibits deeper emotions and conflicts, but I don't think we spend enough time with him to make it an investing part of his character.

The angle of Jekyll wanting to go into detective work solely because he wants to feel good about himself feels on brand though. Good work on that.

Muriel Carew really does the heavy lifting in this novel, providing excellent insight and capability when going through each part of the investigation. I admire her gumption.

The mystery itself is very compelling and has some nice twists and turns. I'm somewhat disappointed that it doesn't exactly tie up all the loose ends, since sequels are never guaranteed, but at least an element of the case is solved. If said sequel does go forward, I would love to see more of Muriel and a little more development of Jekyll/Hyde, just to see if the elements brought up in this book go anywhere.

Originally read this when it was coming out on Webtoon and wanted to treat myself to a reread during the spooky season. It flowed a little better now that every issue to compiled into one book and I had a better time understanding some of the plot elements. Definitely for those who are fans of Hellboy/Mike Mignola, as there's a big influence in terms of art style and story beats. 

I know I was so close to finishing this one but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. What started off as a very promising dark fairy tale just kind of spiraled into a bumbling mess. It's clear that Albert is drawing a lot of influence from Angela Carter and Grimms Brothers, but the story never really has any teeth to it like those of these authors.

Hell, it can't even commit to killing off a character whose sacrifice would actually weigh on Alice. I don't know if it's trying to be subversive of the typical dark fairy tale, but it just feels spineless.

Alice was such a hard character to follow. She's needlessly antagonistic and, while I know that's supposed to be her character flaw, it leads to really weird situations. The cop scene felt so out of left field, especially with the shoehorned in message about white privilege. It's an important lesson to be sure, but it has no bearing on the actual story or characters, never comes up again, and doesn't serve as anything more than a shallow attempt to touch on real life issues. 

While the pacing in the first hundred pages or so was decent, it slowed down immensely when reaching the halfway mark. So many events could have been condensed or written out entirely. The story just kept spinning its wheels for over a hundred pages before the "bad guys" just happen to catch up and kick the story into gear again.

Was really looking forward to this one, but I just don't have the strength for it.