shereadytoread's reviews
727 reviews

This book was an interesting bend on the mystery thriller. It includes a lot of cultural and supernatural elements. The book plays into the trope of an unreliable narrator, but it is mostly in the way of her discovering events from the past (prior to the events of the book) that she doesn't remember, and not really whether her perception is true of what is happening now. The author's attempt to humanize mental illness and choices that the reader may not agree with, lands in some ways but in other ways does not (for me). 

I thought the mystery portion was pretty interesting a couple of the twists were predictable but I still enjoyed following the story. This was a book with a good variety of female characters that made both positive and negative impacts/choices. Some of the supernatural elements felt a bit forced.

I didn't really enjoy this one. I liked the premise and some of the moments were interesting but there was a lot I would have needed to make this an exciting read. I almost DNFed it at a few points. This is most vignettes with a couple ongoing plot lines throughout the book. 

The chapters felt very disjointed, even the chapters that formed an ongoing storyline. It is listed as a horror book, but I didn't really get that sense. If anything it felt like an attempt at a tense Literary Fiction or just general fiction? I don't know what I would call it, but I wouldn't call it horror. 

 Yes. Yes. Yes. This is everything I want from a funny and spicy monster romance. I stayed up late on a work night to finish this and I'm 90% sure I will be rereading this within a few months. This book I think was a big improvement from the Mead Mishaps series (which I also enjoyed).

The main character is a niche type of capable that fits into the story without making it seem over the top. There is a lot of variety in the creatures and world-building. There is a good amount of action but it still feels low stakes and not stressful. The situations are humorous and the adventure is fun. I enjoyed the banter between the main characters and some of the tension and conflict. This book had a good balance and variety in the spicy scenes that flowed well with the rest of the plot. There are both MF and MMF scenes.

I cannot wait for the next book in this series! 

 This is a book that focuses not just on paranormal occurrences but also the science behind it and the study of parapsychology. If you are a frequent reader of the paranormal, you may know a lot of these but there are probably a good amount that you have not heard of as well as some deeper perspectives on the more commonly known hauntings.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a claustrophobic, haunting, gory, horror novel. This book explores anti-Asian hate and hate crimes exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic using both crimes in NYC and the traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival. 

Cora is a character dealing with her own anxiety, obsessions, and compulsions related to cleanliness, trying to grieve her sister, managing complicated family relationships due to her multicultural background, and working her job as a crime scene cleaner. 

While the book is heavy both in theme and content, there are some light moments and the book sprinkles in moments of humor well. This book is squarely horrific, both with the imagery of the ghosts and killings, but also the reflection on racism and isolation. The inclusion of the lighter moments gives some reprieve from the dread of the story, without completely taking you out of the plot.

I found the plot really interesting. However, it also has a distinct three act structure where the plot specifically shifts. It's a little jarring, but Cora's internal musings do manage to keep the story moving along without feeling complete disjointed.  

Disclosure: I received an ARC and eARC of this book from the publisher.

This book had all the elements of something I would love but I ended up just liking it. Marriage of convenience in a high powered family. But this book felt a little too much like the first part of a series. It intros you to the family but it didn’t feel like a full story. It does end on a cliffhanger but in general it felt like all set up and not enough story. I enjoyed what I read but wanted a bit more from the plot. Looking forward to the next installment!

This was an excellent read and history of lesser discussed aspects of the Civil Rights Movement and the Freedom Movement. The writing is compelling and there is a lot of specific time and biographical information.

This author recognizes two things at the beginning of the book that did greatly affect my reading experience: 
1. It is not in chronological order and so there is some repetition and at some points it feels like backtracking 
2. There is lack of documentation of female organizers’ contributions to both movements. It is acknowledged in the preface but there is little to no discussion of the impact of that throughout the narrative and there is no discussion of where the gaps in the history exist. 

This book fell middle of the road for me. I found the ancestry compelling and seeing how the family sins fell through the generations but because there is no order to these happenings, it feels extremely disjointed. In general it felt more like an anthology of short stories rather than a multigenerational family novel. The author’s prose is compelling and with a short page count she manages to provide multiple deeply complex characters in their own separate stories. I think heavier magic realism would have served this story to connect the chapters. I would give this author another try.

This was an excellent read that expands the understanding of drag and gender performance. It is one of the most accessible texts on gender and gender performance that I’ve come across while still being very informative and introducing many texts and visual performances to explore. 

This book is a haunting depiction of a woman consumed by grief whose inability to move forward (or her failed attempts to) with her son culminate in monstrous horror. I think this book succeeds so well at depicting the rumination and spirals that happen with grief. Unfortunately its success is also its failure. The novella is very short and so the large focus on those spirals makes the book feel repetitive and the ending feel very disconnected and abrupt. 

There is not enough fleshing out of the relationships or any other plot points outside of the grief to orient the reader to the world or really give any interest into wanting the character to succeed. I genuinely didn’t care what happened to a single person in the book because you learn nothing except they are grieving. There is no sense of their life before the death and no indication of what has bappened in the time since.